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[Peiper]

NGNG #105: Summary of Russ Bullock Interview Part 1 aired 3/15/14

This is part one of two, originally recorded 3 March 2014, edited and released 3/15.
Original Podcast can be listened to here:
https://soundcloud.c...-bullock-part-1

Disclaimer: I do not work for PGI or NGNG, and while I attempt to stay informed like the majority of you reading this, I may make mistakes in my interpretation (which is in parenthesis.) [Any words in brackets are my editorial notes, and not the words of PGI or NGNG and are signed. - Peiper] This is not a word for word transcript; it is a summary, paraphrased and the like for maximum information sharing with minimal reading. I transcribe this for the hearing impaired, or those who are reading this at work or whatever and can't put on a headset/broadcast the podcast. -Peiper

Duncan Fisher tells a story.

5:00 show start.

6:10 Examples of achievements? Based on his twitter stalkers, Russ says he's surprised his core followers support achievements as much as they do. He predicted they wouldn't care. He hopes that the achievements will help train and guide new players into becoming better players. Starting with 50-ish achievements, with infinite possibilities to come. (He didn't answer the question.)

8:30 Bombadil asks the other NGNG people what they think about the achievement system. [Are they SEEING a list of achievements in the studio that we are not? How can they answer the question? -Peiper] Phil uses that mysterious new word “exspecially.” The guys speculate on what the achievements might be and give the idea a favorable response. [So, no, they don't have a list of achievements, and they don't ask Russ for any examples to give informed responses. -Peiper]

10:15 What kind of prizes can we earn for our achievements? C-Bill, GXP and title awards. These titles (like Bad Company for surviving a match with 20% or less health) will probably be used on the forums and 'anywhere else' they can be used.

10:30 Any in-game titles? Hopefully by the time the clans launch. [Clan mechs, or Clan involvement in CW? -Peiper] Might appear similar to how the Grid Iron Limited Edition is displayed. [In other words, an overly long string of text to clutter up your opponents huds? /snicker -Peiper]

12:56 Will there be a forum where players can suggest new achievements and/or provide feedback and take polls about them? If Russ had it his way, he'd let the community design all the achievements moving forward. Some may not work technically, but if they fit within requirements, then he'd be happy to let the community design them and they'd implement good achievements in batches. [Translation: They really mean they'd let us design them but only pick the ones that Russ thought were good ideas. Oy, am I a grumpy Irishman tonight... -Peiper]

15:00 Phil and Bombadil talk about the success and popularity of the recent Centurion + mechbay giveaway and advocate for similar achievement/rewards/presents in the future. Russ responds with that he hopes that, for example, new players who complete the tutorial and jump through a few hoops would earn a new mech and stuff. Once they have set it up for rookie players, then they can look at some other similar prizes for advanced achievements.

15:45 When is the INTERACTIVE smurfy-like mechlab coming? [example: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...#i=103&l=stock] Not before the launch module is completed. He predicts mid-May, and would like to have it before the Clans arrive. Russ likes the non-interactive view so far, of which there are TWO views available. One is traditional, and the other includes information like module loadouts. So, at a glance, you can see the entire build. As he sees it now, the interactive smurfy-like tool won't allow you to do everything from that view. So, changing the loadout in a section may still bring you to the right arm section of the mechlab, and pop you back to the smurfy overview when you're done. Armor points WILL be adjustable in the interactive smurfy-like tool.

18:45 They remind Russ that we want a clone of the smurfy lab, not a half-functional one. Russ reminds us that the smurfy view takes up the whole screen on high resolution screens, so if you want to use that in MWO, you'll have to set your resolution very high and that could punish low end players. [I believe he thinks that the majority of the players give two scraps about seeing the hundreds of engine pictures when we're picking our engines, and that we'd freak out if MWO's smurfy-build pull down menus don't have little pictures showing the difference between a wireframe LRM 5 and LRM 10. -Peiper] He says that without the forced going into and out of the mechlab to look at the various pictures and stats for each piece of equipment, that we'd miss part of the experience of the mechlab and/or that putting ALL that information into ONE screen for ALL parts of the mech would make resolutions so tiny that it's impossible to do except for people playing on high resolution on 50” monitors. [He says that a true smurfy build won't be any time soon, and, well, his reasoning for being unable to do it just boggles my mind. You'd have to listen to it to see what I mean. It's as if Russ is unable to comprehend that a simple drag-and-drop equipment/flow-chart like interface is too complicated to put into MWO. I'm kind of see what he's saying as this: UI2.0 mechlab is like an flight of stairs, and smurfy is an escalator. Someday, you'll be able to use the escalator in MWO too, but PGI will still make you walk up the escalator as if it were immobile. Why? Because we don't want your visits to mechlab to go TOO easy. We still want you to squint at the tiny font and look and go through all extra clicks, just to be sure you don't forget that in Mechwarrior Online, you don't tweak your mechs, the mechlab tweaks you. There's a difference between bullshizzle and stupid, and I think I just found it. -Peiper] Note: no ETA on the broken escalator/interactive smurfy build.

Launch Module
22:00 Russ thinks development is going well. He is confident that we'll get it April 29th. He goes into the reasons why they're doing the public matchmaking the way they are: people like lots of brawling, variety of weapons, no metabuilds, balanced battlefield by tonnage as close as possible, equal amount of all class types. Like Bryan said in the last interview, groups will be limited to ONE per team per drop, and matchmaker will try to match you against an equal team. All drops will be 3 light, 3 medium, 3 heavy, 3 assaults.
...several minutes of the NGNG guys talking about the future changes, not real information...

31:00 Russ explains why they're going with classes over tonnage in public matches. This is because so many people only have one or two mechs. If you require players to play certain tonnages to get a match going, they may not have the mech in order to click launch. However, if they choose that they're going to join into a match playing as one of the three heavy mechs, then whatever heavy they have, they can use. The only place that this can hurt anyone is if four guys want to drop in a team together, and they ONLY have mechs of the same weight class. But very few four man groups will form with four guys who ONLY own the same classes of mechs. At least ONE of the four can play a different class.

33:40 Russ points out that the 'stretch goal' of matching both weight class AND tonnage is looking more and more likely with the first patch of the launch module. He believes that the tonnages will be VERY close no matter whether you take 3 dragons and 3 locusts or not, because matchmaker will look for 3x20 tonners and 3x60 tonners to help. There are 3 designers working exclusively on this issue, including Bryan and Russ. [I don't know if he means the first patch FEATURING the launch module, or the first patch TO the launch module. -Peiper]

35:50 Russ talks about public group queues possibly in the future for groups dropping more than 4 players. This would be separate queue from the 12 mans, private lobbies and regular pug drops. But he thinks that the 14% that would want those types of public matches would still rather have PGI work on community warfare and collisions first instead of delaying that any more so they can put staff on creating yet another public match queue. [Aren't they going to have to do this anyway for Community Warfare so house, clan and merc units can drop and fight for their factions??? I know a lot of guys who are praying for CW so they CAN do just that, even if they have to fill out the remainder of their team with pugs. PGI, you CAN'T break up teams in CW! Pugs will come and go, but faction players are your loyal base, the founders, and those who are waiting in the wings to come back and play. -Peiper]

39:00 Russ fully expects that those who currently run 12 mans to completely ditch the public 12 man lobbies for private lobbies, but they didn't know for sure, so they're leaving them in to start.
Phil points out that with private lobbies, if a team wants to fight another, they have to FIND another team. There is no way in game to find another team. All of the matchmaking would have to take place in the 'community' via visiting with each other in 3rd party chat systems, via forums to schedule matches and stuff. [Good point in favor of large team public drops, Phil! -Peiper]

41:00 Russ thinks the private match window is going to be magic. [Does this mean we can browse other groups to find matches? -Peiper] Russ explains private matches and how they will work. See: http://mwomercs.com/...93-feb-27-2014/ Looking at the flow charts there is easier than describing it all again (which Bryan explained thoroughly in his last NGNG interview).

45:40 Russ wants to run a bracketed tournament in May utilizing the private lobbies functions. These might even have cash prizes. He's talking to marketing right now about that jazz.

50:10 end.

[Deathlike]

I think the only word that can properly describe what I'm hearing is pretty simple:

INCOMPETENCE

[Roadbeer]

Deathlike, on 15 March 2014 - 10:47 PM, said:

I think the only word that can properly describe what I'm hearing is pretty simple:

INCOMPETENCE

No way, According to Russ, the 5 or so working on it have over 100 years of development experience.

That's why their taking the easy route and picking to pander to the 84% who are completely unaffected. In that 100 years they learned that programming is hard.

Since this will probably be seen more in this thread than the other one...

Quote

A group queue, right now, isn't something anybody wants us to work on, for the 16% of the player base, maybe that's higher, 20-25% of the player base... but still, for that small minority of the player base... we have a great solution for PUBS, yes you can only take 4, but Oh well.

35:30

So, you're ok with working on private matches for the Competitive players who represent <1%, but the rest... Oh well.

Edited by Roadbeer, 15 March 2014 - 10:58 PM.

[BLOOD WOLF]

nice nitpicking.

[Deathlike]

Roadbeer, on 15 March 2014 - 10:57 PM, said:

No way, According to Russ, the 5 or so working on it have over 100 years of development experience.

That's why their taking the easy route and picking to pander to the 84% who are completely unaffected. In that 100 years they learned that programming is hard.

The thing about it is... I've been having a blast tonight. Talking with the unit I'm in. Too bad it'll be few and far in between in the future while I keep trying to keep the jokes light about PGI and "progress" while trying to "soften the blow" of UI 2.0 and trying to "edumacate" people about it. I'm pretty sure these moments won't happen as much in the foreseeable future.

During this time, I saw a bunch of premades while dropping AND while this all occurring while the release of a new game (Titanfall), which is eating up other members time. While part of this will come to pass, other games will step up their game (far ahead of PGI in that) and take them away from MWO on a more permanent basis. It is unlikely by Fall of 2014 that CW will "bring them back". Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Peiper, on 15 March 2014 - 10:34 PM, said:

15:45 When is the INTERACTIVE smurfy-like mechlab coming? [example: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...#i=103&l=stock] Not before the launch module is completed. He predicts mid-May, and would like to have it before the Clans arrive. Russ likes the non-interactive view so far, of which there are TWO views available. One is traditional, and the other includes information like module loadouts. So, at a glance, you can see the entire build. As he sees it now, the interactive smurfy-like tool won't allow you to do everything from that view. So, changing the loadout in a section may still bring you to the right arm section of the mechlab, and pop you back to the smurfy overview when you're done. Armor points WILL be adjustable in the interactive smurfy-like tool.

18:45 They remind Russ that we want a clone of the smurfy lab, not a half-functional one. Russ reminds us that the smurfy view takes up the whole screen on high resolution screens, so if you want to use that in MWO, you'll have to set your resolution very high and that could punish low end players. [I believe he thinks that the majority of the players give two scraps about seeing the hundreds of engine pictures when we're picking our engines, and that we'd freak out if MWO's smurfy-build pull down menus don't have little pictures showing the difference between a wireframe LRM 5 and LRM 10. -Peiper] He says that without the forced going into and out of the mechlab to look at the various pictures and stats for each piece of equipment, that we'd miss part of the experience of the mechlab and/or that putting ALL that information into ONE screen for ALL parts of the mech would make resolutions so tiny that it's impossible to do except for people playing on high resolution on 50” monitors. [He says that a true smurfy build won't be any time soon, and, well, his reasoning for being unable to do it just boggles my mind. You'd have to listen to it to see what I mean. It's as if Russ is unable to comprehend that a simple drag-and-drop equipment/flow-chart like interface is too complicated to put into MWO. I'm kind of see what he's saying as this: UI2.0 mechlab is like an flight of stairs, and smurfy is an escalator. Someday, you'll be able to use the escalator in MWO too, but PGI will still make you walk up the escalator as if it were immobile. Why? Because we don't want your visits to mechlab to go TOO easy. We still want you to squint at the tiny font and look and go through all extra clicks, just to be sure you don't forget that in Mechwarrior Online, you don't tweak your mechs, the mechlab tweaks you. There's a difference between bullshizzle and stupid, and I think I just found it. -Peiper] Note: no ETA on the broken escalator/interactive smurfy build.

I like to think Russ focuses on the 1% of stuff that doesn't matter, instead of the 99% of what does matter... a more efficient mechlab, such as the one we had before UI 2.0.

Someone literally believes form over function... I might as well install Win8 because of said logic.

Edited by Deathlike, 15 March 2014 - 11:06 PM.

[BLOOD WOLF]

what is wrong with some people, you come on here blasting nonsense and negativity like your proud of it.

half-ass analysis, is what i dislike the most.

Edited by BLOOD WOLF, 15 March 2014 - 11:16 PM.

[Deathlike]

BLOOD WOLF, on 15 March 2014 - 11:07 PM, said:

what is wrong with some people, you come on here blasting nonsense and negativity like your proud of it.

I wish I was proud of reality... in the world we live in.

Are you in a unit? If so, are people are playing as often as they would like, or is something else taking up their time (and I don't mean personal/family issues, I mean, are they doing something else instead of MWO)?

In passing, it is easier to make fun in PGI/MWO in many ways... but it's a sadder reality that so many things could have been better... from the start. If you genuinely think this game will survive on "more mechs and more cockput items", then feel free to enjoy that. Other people would like more depth in this game... and unless you can see PGI's grand vision, that we mere mortals cannot see, then we're going to expect a very low standard going forward. Feel free to tell me that I'm wrong, but there's nothing comforting about bad ideas and a bad direction, displayed in their own words.

[Roadbeer]

Deathlike, on 15 March 2014 - 11:03 PM, said:

The thing about it is... I've been having a blast tonight. Talking with the unit I'm in. Too bad it'll be few and far in between in the future while I keep trying to keep the jokes light about PGI and "progress" while trying to "soften the blow" of UI 2.0 and trying to "edumacate" people about it. I'm pretty sure these moments won't happen as much in the foreseeable future.

During this time, I saw a bunch of premades while dropping AND while this all occurring while the release of a new game (Titanfall), which is eating up other members time. While part of this will come to pass, other games will step up their game (far ahead of PGI in that) and take them away from MWO on a more permanent basis. It is unlikely by Fall of 2014 that CW will "bring them back". Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Hey, I still have fun when I drop with my group, but as soon as that 5th person comes on, it becomes a.. I don't want to say burden, but it becomes a pain in the ass to try and sync, and when that fails, one group is waiting around for another to get out of their match... well, I don't need to explain it to you, you've been around. The other night, we had 8 in channel, and while waiting between drops, the conversation about other games coming out was quite prolific.

I'm just amazed that they've wasted development cycles on the private match system, when it completely goes against what they'll need for CW, but "nobody (16-25% according to him)" wants them to devote time to the group queue because it'll take away development cycles from CW.

Wheels on the bus go round and round....

[BLOOD WOLF]

Deathlike, on 15 March 2014 - 11:19 PM, said:

I wish I was proud of reality... in the world we live in.

Are you in a unit? If so, are people are playing as often as they would like, or is something else taking up their time (and I don't mean personal/family issues, I mean, are they doing something else instead of MWO)?

In passing, it is easier to make fun in PGI/MWO in many ways... but it's a sadder reality that so many things could have been better... from the start. If you genuinely think this game will survive on "more mechs and more cockput items", then feel free to enjoy that. Other people would like more depth in this game... and unless you can see PGI's grand vision, that we mere mortals cannot see, then we're going to expect a very low standard going forward. Feel free to tell me that I'm wrong, but there's nothing comforting about bad ideas and a bad direction, displayed in their own words.

gonna stop you there bud because i'm not the one to accept nonsense. I never said anything about mechs or items. That is just bonuses and they are developing content need for the core aspects of the game. The depth comes with CW which is one the way so feel free to stop posting garbage and come back when its out.
ill add the depth doesn't come with CW, the depth(if you know what that means) is more mechs that were present in battle tech, and maps and game play related aspects, those things are gonna make the the game become greater.

Edited by BLOOD WOLF, 15 March 2014 - 11:26 PM.

[Deathlike]

Roadbeer, on 15 March 2014 - 11:20 PM, said:

Hey, I still have fun when I drop with my group, but as soon as that 5th person comes on, it becomes a.. I don't want to say burden, but it becomes a pain in the ass to try and sync, and when that fails, one group is waiting around for another to get out of their match... well, I don't need to explain it to you, you've been around. The other night, we had 8 in channel, and while waiting between drops, the conversation about other games coming out was quite prolific.

I'm sadly more than willing to shell out real money for another mech-like game (like Titanfall, although I'm told it would probably run much better than MWO). It doesn't bother me at all. Maybe I'll look into Hawken. It's not gonna hurt me, I'm only here to have fun and not worry about the sorry state of this game. People will migrate wherever they can play together. Too bad people are extraordinarily unlikely to migrate to MWO.

Quote

I'm just amazed that they've wasted development cycles on the private match system, when it completely goes against what they'll need for CW, but "nobody (16-25% according to him)" wants them to devote time to the group queue because it'll take away development cycles from CW.

Wheels on the bus go round and round....

There's this "train wreck TV show" called "Russ Knows Best". I know every detractor of PGI will watch this show with me (they lurk in the forums as it is) and noone (as far as we know, or whatever he claims is true) is actually forcing Russ to do the things that he does. So... he can do whatever he thinks is best for us, and there will be a final episode. Maybe I'll invest in a Hulu Plus or Netflix account to see the results. It might just be worth my time.

[BLOOD WOLF]

People have been wanted private matches for a long time> how is that PGI's fault?

Edited by BLOOD WOLF, 15 March 2014 - 11:32 PM.

[Deathlike]

BLOOD WOLF, on 15 March 2014 - 11:23 PM, said:

gonna stop you there bud because i'm not the one to accept nonsense. I never said anything about mechs or items. That is just bonuses and they are developing content need for the core aspects of the game. The depth comes with CW which is one the way so feel free to stop posting garbage and come back when its out.
ill add the depth doesn't come with CW, the depth(if you know what that means) is more mechs that were present in battle tech, and maps and game play related aspects, those things are gonna make the the game become greater.

Um, so... what is CW actually going to come with? Should I rely on the Powerpoint slideshow that came out on "launch day"? Are the Phoenix Pack supporters finally going to collect those loyalty points that their mechs are supposedly collecting? (This is almost 6 months since the PP release in October.) What new modes are we going to actually get (the Attack and Defend dropship mutator thing is still "in the works" - Skirmish is still Assault minus turrets+bases)? Why is the main front page calling HPG Outreach a new map (it was released in December IIRC, 3 months ago - hardly new)? Clan tech is mostly the same weapons with different numbers. (What new Clan weapon is magically different than what we currently have?)

When you can actually answer the questions with a straight face, then sure, maybe I could hold on a little longer. But, the answers are clear as day. It might not even be the answer you want to use, but seriously, please counter my points point by point. Even if we get it, it needs to be "refined further", like terrain movement ("pebbles of steel"), cockpit glass ("doesn't seem to be entirely real nor useful"), or even UI 2.0 (lots of bugs in all subsystems, very few corrected as of yet). Are you sure time will solve all these problems soon™? Good luck with that.

[Roadbeer]

BLOOD WOLF, on 15 March 2014 - 11:31 PM, said:

People have been wanted private matches for a long time> how is that PGI's fault?

People have been wanting groups >4 since they "temporarily" took it away over 480 days ago, they've wanted a group queue and a solo queue. So why are the <1% catered to, but not the <85%?
They, the <1%, get 3 different types of queues, 12 man, free and premium private matches, but the rest of us who aren't solo get to either:
A. Derp in the PUG queue, watching as half of our team runs single file into the PUGZAPPER to die alone
B. Sit around waiting for an equal # of players to show up, and KNOW them so we can 'Invite' them to fight against us.

Yeah, this is all great fun

[Deathlike]

BLOOD WOLF, on 15 March 2014 - 11:31 PM, said:

People have been wanted private matches for a long time> how is that PGI's fault?

Parts of the idea/implementation are so backwards, from the days of MW4. I fully understand wanting to make money. It's been done before in other games. The difference is really about how you go about it. People here have very likely played a lot of the older MW games in the series... have fond memories... the matches, the battles, the discussion. All of this has been tied to promises made long before I've shown up here. You don't just promise things a year ago and then start on said promises a year later. It doesn't function like this, and it makes no sense when the game is not in beta. Everything now hinges on deployment and execution, whether the latter suffers more than the former (it kinda used to be the other way around sometimes). There's no really "going back and fixing things"... it's do or die. If all the time being spent was to "put the best foot forward and do everything with due diligence", people would not be so angry, mad, or disappointed. Now, if you're not disappointed, congrats. Some of us that have "given them all the time in the world", well... now, that good will isn't quite there. There's no in between. It's succeed or don't bother... because people don't take lightly to being strung along, until there's nothing to be played.

[BLOOD WOLF]

Deathlike, on 15 March 2014 - 11:36 PM, said:

Um, so... what is CW actually going to come with? Should I rely on the Powerpoint slideshow that came out on "launch day"? Are the Phoenix Pack supporters finally going to collect those loyalty points that their mechs are supposedly collecting? (This is almost 6 months since the PP release in October.) What new modes are we going to actually get (the Attack and Defend dropship mutator thing is still "in the works" - Skirmish is still Assault minus turrets+bases)? Why is the main front page calling HPG Outreach a new map (it was released in December IIRC, 3 months ago - hardly new)? Clan tech is mostly the same weapons with different numbers. (What new Clan weapon is magically different than what we currently have?)

When you can actually answer the questions with a straight face, then sure, maybe I could hold on a little longer. But, the answers are clear as day. It might not even be the answer you want to use, but seriously, please counter my points point by point. Even if we get it, it needs to be "refined further", like terrain movement ("pebbles of steel"), cockpit glass ("doesn't seem to be entirely real nor useful"), or even UI 2.0 (lots of bugs in all subsystems, very few corrected as of yet). Are you sure time will solve all these problems soon™? Good luck with that.

okay, ill answer those in order and with clarity but in return i expect the same.

1. Clan weapons are better versions of the IS counterparts a CLarge Laser still looks like a ISLarger laser, i dont know what you mean by the same weapons, need better informations becuase it sounds like your expecting the weapons to look differtly.
2.what came out on the power point is the basis of what CW is supposed to be. Think of a game like Empire total war on the overhead map. Theirs territory, units and those units need to move to the terrirtory you need to conquer. The concept itself is not complicate(its the design and implementation is the hard part) more or less its just gonna be fighting over territory for your faction.
3. im sure the phoenix pack members will eventually get what they deserve and i shall not say otherwise. the loyalty points i dont have a clue what they are supposed to do but when the time comes you will know. I dont think and based on your reasoning that that is of the up most importance anyways as it wont add any greater value to the overall game.
4. I dont think the game will need anymore new modes or their might be a few that will be needed. As i see it the modes we currently have and i say this especially about the skirmish are more than adequate. what new modes did you have in mind? capture the flag? on the other had things like objective modes could be a good idea, new modes shouldn't be a big concern and im sure their gonna be able to work towards those after CW
5. Comon dude, HGP is the newest map, the word new can have many implementations and i'm not going to say anymore.

[John MatriX82]

Deathlike, on 15 March 2014 - 10:47 PM, said:

I think the only word that can properly describe what I'm hearing is pretty simple:

INCOMPETENCE

First: Thanks to Peiper, as usual, for the transcript. I don't like to waste time listening to podcasts.

And then why I quote you (and a further thanks to Peiper for this): because I can't really Stand Russ. If PGI had another president, probably this game would be better imho.

[BLOOD WOLF]

Deathlike, on 15 March 2014 - 11:45 PM, said:

Parts of the idea/implementation are so backwards, from the days of MW4. I fully understand wanting to make money. It's been done before in other games. The difference is really about how you go about it. People here have very likely played a lot of the older MW games in the series... have fond memories... the matches, the battles, the discussion. All of this has been tied to promises made long before I've shown up here. You don't just promise things a year ago and then start on said promises a year later. It doesn't function like this, and it makes no sense when the game is not in beta. Everything now hinges on deployment and execution, whether the latter suffers more than the former (it kinda used to be the other way around sometimes). There's no really "going back and fixing things"... it's do or die. If all the time being spent was to "put the best foot forward and do everything with due diligence", people would not be so angry, mad, or disappointed. Now, if you're not disappointed, congrats. Some of us that have "given them all the time in the world", well... now, that good will isn't quite there. There's no in between. It's succeed or don't bother... because people don't take lightly to being strung along, until there's nothing to be played.

wow, succeed or dont bother? i guess that is why you will never understand, you lack determination. you lack the need to make things better even if you fail the first time. just because you get something wrong the first time doesn't mean it cant be fixed, i cant believe you said that. that's evolution, adapt to the changes(there's more to that but we will keep it basic). Pgi doesn't lay down and die, and they keep at it. Not giving up, is the key. Not quitting when there is much to be gained.

[BLOOD WOLF]

John MatriX82, on 16 March 2014 - 12:00 AM, said:

First: Thanks to Peiper, as usual, for the transcript. I don't like to waste time listening to podcasts.

And then why I quote you (and a further thanks to Peiper for this): because I can't really Stand Russ. If PGI had another president, probably this game would be better imho.

that was so stupid and insightful. People wanna talk about russ, well they better share that hostility with your comment and if not then i can already tell, their is some real biasm that plagues these forums. 10% of the players on these forums are Biased regardless of what action is taken so what does the end result matter? what happened to reason

[Deathlike]

BLOOD WOLF, on 15 March 2014 - 11:53 PM, said:

okay, ill answer those in order and with clarity but in return i expect the same.

1. Clan weapons are better versions of the IS counterparts a CLarge Laser still looks like a ISLarger laser, i dont know what you mean by the same weapons, need better informations becuase it sounds like your expecting the weapons to look differtly.

I never said about "look", I'm talking about functionality. For instance, Pulse Lasers are essentially just "regular lasers", that have a lower duration, generate more heat, and consume more tonnage. If you've read what Paul's plan for Clan Tech balance is, it's essentially more "number tweaking". In essence, they are just going to be "superior, and yet inferior in other ways". For instance, "Clan ER Mediums" are going to likely have a heat increase, damage increase, and very likely a shot duration increase. In essence, it's still a laser with different properties. There's nothing special in that.

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2.what came out on the power point is the basis of what CW is supposed to be. Think of a game like Empire total war on the overhead map. Theirs territory, units and those units need to move to the terrirtory you need to conquer. The concept itself is not complicate(its the design and implementation is the hard part) more or less its just gonna be fighting over territory for your faction.

"Supposed to be" and "what it actually becomes" are two different things. Discussions on future matches provided by the "Launch module" gave the very notable impression that we would be able to group between 5 to 11 people in the queues. This is unfortunately only happening under limited circumstances, like having it required to be in a Private Match to allow this to happen. Expectations and actual results are a sad real world issue here.

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3. im sure the phoenix pack members will eventually get what they deserve and i shall not say otherwise. the loyalty points i dont have a clue what they are supposed to do but when the time comes you will know. I dont think and based on your reasoning that that is of the up most importance anyways as it wont add any greater value to the overall game.

It's irrelevant now. I'm not even sure what is its worth in the future. I don't even think PGI knows either, which is part of the problem.

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4. I dont think the game will need anymore new modes or their might be a few that will be needed. As i see it the modes we currently have and i say this especially about the skirmish are more than adequate. what new modes did you have in mind? capture the flag? on the other had things like objective modes could be a good idea, new modes shouldn't be a big concern and im sure their gonna be able to work towards those after CW

It doesn't sound like you've played MW4... where something like Capture the Flag was a fun "change of pace" game type, despite it not being suitable for this game. More gamemodes provide more opportunities for trying different things. Giving light mechs something else to do other than just "cap a point" or "shoot Steiner lances" is not exactly what I call "variety".

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5. Comon dude, HGP is the newest map, the word new can have many implementations and i'm not going to say anymore.

So, how long would you say that calling it "the new map" is acceptable? I would like to know, so I can sell you this "new video card" called the Geforce256. It won't be able to run this game, but man, it's great for running Quake 1!

[Vox Scorpus]

Peiper, on 15 March 2014 - 10:34 PM, said:

15:45 When is the INTERACTIVE smurfy-like mechlab coming? [example: http://mwo.smurfy-ne...#i=103&amp;l=stock] Not before the launch module is completed. He predicts mid-May, and would like to have it before the Clans arrive. Russ likes the non-interactive view so far, of which there are TWO views available. One is traditional, and the other includes information like module loadouts. So, at a glance, you can see the entire build. As he sees it now, the interactive smurfy-like tool won't allow you to do everything from that view. So, changing the loadout in a section may still bring you to the right arm section of the mechlab, and pop you back to the smurfy overview when you're done. Armor points WILL be adjustable in the interactive smurfy-like tool.

Mechlab fix not until mid May !?!

Are they flipping kidding me?

There are two parts to this game that really matter: Custom building a mech and battling with it. The battle part has already been nerfed to h*** and back. Now we cannot even build like we used to? You don't need to use a Smurfy clone. I'd be happy with MechWarrior 2 or 3's mechlab. How about just being efficient? All important mech info on 1 screen, including modules currently carried, ammo counts, etc. 3 clicks to check your modules? Come on. The colors and graphics are nice but options should have been included for easier navigation through screens. Trying to get new players in? Did UI 2.0 help?

Remember devs - half the fun of Battletech and other MechWarrior games was trying different mechs with different configurations and testing them in combat. Make that a chore and it's not fun anymore.