52 replies to this topic

[A banana in the tailpipe]

This guy is a friend from steam I've known about 6 months whom I regularly play FPS games with. I didn't peg him as a MWO guy at first, but when the L4D matches were getting thick with tryhards last night I casually suggested he look into MWO while I made a beer run, and 15 minutes later by the time I was back he was almost done downloading it.

His biggest objection at first was he doesn't like F2P games, especially the high pressure ones (sales wise). PGI passed that test with flying colors and he was really impressed that there was unlimited access to trial mechs, maps, game modes, and the game was fairly quick to download. He did think the game looked "like poo" in Dx9 on high settings tho, and he had left before remembering to get his impression of how it looked in Dx11 on very high after he switched to it. Now being a L4D guy he's VERY experienced with two key things MWO provides, teamwork and brutally lop-sided matches. The later, he was actually looking forward to taking a break from, which is why we migrated over from L4D to MWO for a few hours to "relax." I warned him about group queue, and he stayed fairly optimistic.

We both jumped on Strana Mechty so I could explain while we played, talking him through controls, his cadet bonus (which he was being robbed badly of playing with me as a group, but he insisted he only likes multiplayer games so /shrug), he commented on how cool it was they had a little youtube tutorial while the game downloaded, and thought overall it was fairly painless to get up and into a match. I started him off with the BJ-1(C) and he didn't mind it, but thought it was a tad slow. Warning him of the dangers of XL engines, he didn't really understand how fragile they were until he experienced first hand getting "one shotted" in the BJ and we moved up to quickdraws after that so he could try out PPCs. He didn't mind the quickdraws but expected a heavy mech to actually feel "heavy" and complained about how weak they felt in the durability category. He also complained the jets on the Quickdraw "hardly did anything" so I had to explain how you use them to pivot more than get around because the jets use to be fun but were nerfed a while back and strictly for certain builds now.

His exact words for the third match was "I wanna try one of those Assaults so I can be big and tough, duke it out like giant robots." So.... I point him straight towards the Highlander, and he says "what about the Victor?". I was like NONONONONONONONONOOOO those UAC/5s look badass and the Victor may be more nimble but you seriously want something more beefy dude. He took the Victor anyways and like a cartoon character with my fingers stuck in my ears waiting for the dynamite to go off, he was popped in just a few shots and that really turned him off to the game. That was a match where [CGBI] Rickrolled over a bunch of random groupers with a 10+ and nobody had a chance (or lasted more than a few seconds). That also really put him off and I had to explain to him about how balance is really off and organized teams suck the fun out of the game for smaller casual groups but I think PGI is working on that. (keeping fingers crossed)

So he tells me he's got one more match before bed and wants to try something fast. We hop in a pair of spiders and get canyon. Despite several warnings about saving fuel which he told me he was doing, he still managed to lose a leg due to fall damage and he thought that was "pretty stupid" because he claimed it was from "just running around". That's when he thanked me for showing him around and thought he would have been more disappointed due to experiences with how horrible other F2P games are, but it was the lopsided balance between full teams and small groups that was the worst aspect of the evening for him. It's VERY difficult to get average gamers to like MWO and this guy seemed like there was more potential than usual, then when just about every ugly aspect of MWO sans the desyncing happens to us along the way I felt like I was the Atlas in that picture pushing the boulder up the hill with the "carry harder" motto beneath.

PGI if you're listening this game REALLY sucks for a new player experience even when someone is sitting right there mentoring the PUG. The ease of use is your best aspect. The brutal environment and speedy death rate for the "big robots" this game uses to attract new faces cripples your repeat customers when they realize it is a fallacy and everything dies too quickly. Battles need to last longer and, Mechs need to be more durable. Period. MWO is extremely misleading as a brand and is due for a makeover. I suggest you start with actually making the mechs feel like mechs instead of mario karts spitting red shells at each other. (yes that was a subtle jab at LRMs. I was AMAZED he didn't have a single complaint about them as a new player)

Edited by lockwoodx, 15 September 2014 - 06:10 AM.

[Lily from animove]

well, team challange which was mostly 4 4 4 vs 4 4 4 was grat, but 8 +X vs other small groups is not good, its crap.

And I don't know why, but nearly any game these days bein only Multiplayer especially pvp has a crappy "new player experience". Hardly any vital Tutorials and stuff. And the first thing yiu do is studying some wikis. But people when the game isn't new and hyped are rarely willng to take that initial hurdle.

and yes somehow the overall "heavy mech" feeling lacks a bit. Everything is kinda fast and hard hitting. So whats all that armor for when people die like that? sometimes it feels like a wayste of many money for any faction to field a mech. They should better stick to tanks and airplanes bombing the battlefield. How many airplanes and airstrikes can I buy for a single mech?

[El Bandito]

lockwoodx, on 15 September 2014 - 06:05 AM, said:

I suggest you start with actually making the mechs feel like mechs instead of mario karts spitting red shells at each other. (yes that was a subtle jab at LRMs. I was AMAZED he didn't have a single complaint about them as a new player)

Or one can say that the whole LRM issue is way overblown and he didn't see it as an issue.

[Dracol]

Appreciate you sharing a new user experience. I am sure some of us old timers forget what it was like to first get into the game.

One question though. You friend wanted mechs to feel more massive and more substantial, and yet at the same time they were not nimble enough while jump jetting?

[A banana in the tailpipe]

Dracol, on 15 September 2014 - 06:14 AM, said:

Appreciate you sharing a new user experience. I am sure some of us old timers forget what it was like to first get into the game.

One question though. You friend wanted mechs to feel more massive and more substantial, and yet at the same time they were not nimble enough while jump jetting?

Yep... I was very explicit faster = less durable but he equated faster to fewer weapons and expected that because he was in a robot he should be fairly durable regardless.

He's use to faster games like armored core, and even quoted "HAWK3N" which made me cringe. Luckily we both agreed that game was garbage. I'm sure I'll be able to drag him back on a few more times before he's totally done, and I'll pair him with another bud who was also turned off his first few times playing (pre clan pack) and wants to see how MWO is now that there's been a few big patches.

El Bandito, on 15 September 2014 - 06:14 AM, said:

Or one can say that the whole LRM issue is way overblown and he didn't see it as an issue.

We actually didn't run into many LRMs because it was the group queue duh. (That's a huge reason why I didn't insist he PUG because I didn't want LRM spam to drive him off.... instead it was the Stomps that did. Damned if you do damned if you don't!)

Edited by lockwoodx, 15 September 2014 - 06:26 AM.

[A banana in the tailpipe]

Actually come to think of it, I'll take him to the Stock match tonight. It's always full of friendly chill people and they should be able to help.

[Mcgral18]

lockwoodx, on 15 September 2014 - 06:21 AM, said:

We actually didn't run into many LRMs because it was the group queue duh. (That's a huge reason why I didn't insist he PUG because I didn't want LRM spam to drive him off.... instead it was the Stomps that did. Damned if you do damned if you don't!)

You should have dropped in a larger group then, I'm sure most would be accommodating. Just drop down into one of their channels.

You would also have a larger pool of experienced players to give him advice.

lockwoodx, on 15 September 2014 - 06:28 AM, said:

Actually come to think of it, I'll take him to the Stock match tonight. It's always full of friendly chill people and they should be able to help.

That is a pretty good idea.

Perhaps a Hunch? 4SP is pretty good for heat, doesn't have Ghost heat and also has a symmetrical loadout. 19 SHS make it a cooler running stock mech as well, so it should be new player friendly.

[Blakkstar]

Let's see...Valve hires psychologists to help them teach players their games through level design and tutorials, and get instructed and invested from the ground up. (Look at the Portal developer diary to see how extensively they do this).

PGI treats you like Cave Johnson, handing you a rifle as you walk in the door and sending you off to fight an army of mantis men.

[Kiiyor]

Blakkstar, on 15 September 2014 - 06:41 AM, said:

Let's see...Valve hires psychologists to help them teach players their games through level design and tutorials, and get instructed and invested from the ground up. (Look at the Portal developer diary to see how extensively they do this).

PGI treats you like Cave Johnson, handing you a rifle as you walk in the door and sending you off to fight an army of mantis men.

LOL, why is it that option B actually appeals to me more?

[A banana in the tailpipe]

Mcgral18, on 15 September 2014 - 06:32 AM, said:

You should have dropped in a larger group then, I'm sure most would be accommodating. Just drop down into one of their channels.

You would also have a larger pool of experienced players to give him advice.

I wouldn't want to impose on a larger pool who might feel agitated by a completely new (inept) player so for his first experience in a larger group I'm sticking with the Stock Monday's plan but thanks!

Here's the message I left him:

"Hey man make sure you're availabe around 9:30pm tonight. There's a special event in MWO called "Stock Mech Mondays" where you'll get to drop with a bunch of chill people and we won't get stomped so badly. Just make sure you drop in the solo queue using trial mechs until you've used up your cadet bonus (first 25 matches). You should have roughly 12-20 million cbills. Then when the stock event starts you can ask for advice and get feedback for what to spend it on from the regulars who run the community event. I'll leave steam up until I hear if you can make it or not, and they use the same teamspeak server we used last night. If you didn't add it to bookmarks on your teamspeak client already it's 184.82.141.207 and the password is Strana Mechty"

[Dolph Hoskins]

Kiiyor, on 15 September 2014 - 06:46 AM, said:

LOL, why is it that option B actually appeals to me more?

Haha, yeah B really does sound like the better option there.

[A banana in the tailpipe]

Kiiyor, on 15 September 2014 - 06:46 AM, said:

LOL, why is it that option B actually appeals to me more?

I loved his Cave Johnson reference too. Got a good laugh out of me.

[Mcgral18]

lockwoodx, on 15 September 2014 - 06:50 AM, said:

I wouldn't want to impose on a larger pool who might feel agitated by a completely new (inept) player so for his first experience in a larger group I'm sticking with the Stock Monday's plan but thanks!

Here's the message I left him:

"Hey man make sure you're availabe around 9:30pm tonight. There's a special event in MWO called "Stock Mech Mondays" where you'll get to drop with a bunch of chill people and we won't get stomped so badly. Just make sure you drop in the solo queue using trial mechs until you've used up your cadet bonus (first 25 matches). You should have roughly 12-20 million cbills. Then when the stock event starts you can ask for advice and get feedback for what to spend it on from the regulars who run the community event. I'll leave steam up until I hear if you can make it or not, and they use the same teamspeak server we used last night. If you didn't add it to bookmarks on your teamspeak client already it's 184.82.141.207 and the password is Strana Mechty"

One correction on the Password, it's one word "StranaMechty" case sensitive. We had that issue the other night.


I'm sad I can't get on tonight, Stuck at the University for nearly 14 hours due to a terrible schedule...First class of the day, last class of the day, and one right in the middle.

[Hoax415]

This really doesn't sound too bad. You should explain to him that once he grouped with you he was taken out of the solo queue and obviously almost all fresh newbs are playing in the solo queue.

So thanks to there being no opponents in the group queue at his skill level and him grouping with someone at a higher skill level its asking a lot of the matchmaker to find appropriate opponents.

The fact that he was greatly outskilled seems like the biggest contributing factor to his disappointment here. If he was playing against those guys who are in 3PV or haven't even unlocked their arms yet, he would probably have had more fun because he would have lived longer and been able to get some kills.

Edited by Hoax415, 15 September 2014 - 06:59 AM.

[Logan Hawke]

As a bit of a contrary example, I recently got my boyfriend to start playing and he's been enjoying it. He has extensive experience with f2p games, with lots of time spent in WoT and WT, so that was nothing new though he was confused about everything being available right away. Then, he played through his 25 matches while soloing and had lots of fun and apparently doing quite well with little to no coaching from me other than a little help with the tutorial and some of the base mechanics. After his 25 matches he just sorta kept playing. Didn't want to group up, just kept dropping solo and running around having fun xD

[Elizander]

Blakkstar, on 15 September 2014 - 06:41 AM, said:

Let's see...Valve hires psychologists to help them teach players their games through level design and tutorials, and get instructed and invested from the ground up. (Look at the Portal developer diary to see how extensively they do this).

PGI treats you like Cave Johnson, handing you a rifle as you walk in the door and sending you off to fight an army of mantis men.

The problem is that if they divert resources to the New Player Experience now it will delay CW and there's no point acquiring new players when the existing players ***** and moan at everyone and tell people how PGI breaks their promises to the core audience.

With how much manwhining the current community does they'd just be wasting time and effort (in development) and money (user acquisition) if they focus on getting new users right now.

[A banana in the tailpipe]

Hoax415, on 15 September 2014 - 06:58 AM, said:

This really doesn't sound too bad. You should explain to him that once he grouped with you he was taken out of the solo queue and obviously almost all fresh newbs are playing in the solo queue.

So thanks to there being no opponents in the group queue at his skill level and him grouping with someone at a higher skill level its asking a lot of the matchmaker to find appropriate opponents.

The fact that he was greatly outskilled seems like the biggest contributing factor to his disappointment here. If he was playing against those guys who are in 3PV or haven't even unlocked their arms yet, he would probably have had more fun because he would have lived longer and been able to get some kills.

Oh man now that you mention 3PV, I forgot to mention he kept using it and I had to keep swatting his ass with a rolled up newspaper saying "NO BAD BOY REAL PILOTS USE THEIR COCKPITS" and his reply was "but I like being able to see around me".

OY!!!!!!

[KingCobra]

Lockwoodx said (he was popped in just a few shots and that really turned him off to the game.)

For the last 3 years I have been trying to tell PGI the mechs in MWO are ice cream on a hot summers day they just melt in a few shots from multiple opponents.It is to bad you did not have acopy of MechWarrio4 Mercenaries take your pal over to http://www.gameranger.com/ and play a few fun games of real MechWarrior im sure you two would have had a blast.

Most don't know or don't remember how tough overall MW4 mechs were you could fight until you had 1 weapon left because of there internal and armor designs you would not lose all your weapons-armor-internals in 1-2 shot.The damage was spread out over the entire mech chassis so you lost weapons and components in small portions.

P.S plus you and your pal could have even played 1v1 against each other or a co-op mode mission so he could learn the ropes in MechWarrior4 Mercenaries.

Edited by KingCobra, 15 September 2014 - 07:24 AM.

[A banana in the tailpipe]

Mcgral18, on 15 September 2014 - 06:57 AM, said:

One correction on the Password, it's one word "StranaMechty" case sensitive. We had that issue the other night.


I'm sad I can't get on tonight, Stuck at the University for nearly 14 hours due to a terrible schedule...First class of the day, last class of the day, and one right in the middle.

I just told him Strana Mechty and he got on fine. Either figured it out for himself or the space didn't matter. At least I hope it doesn't because I just got done spamming about 70+ people on my steam list with this:

"If you've ever thought about giving MWO (mechwarrior online) a shot there's a community event called "Stock Mech Mondays" that is a pretty fun experience for new players. Just make sure you run some solo matches (your first 25) for the cadet bonus in order to save up c-bills for your first few mechs. Then join us at 9:30 pm est on teamspeak at 184.82.141.207 and the password is Strana Mechty.
For a F2P game surprisingly there's zero marketing bullshit. Unlimited access to the trial mechs while earning in-game currency, not too much grind, all maps and game modes except for private matches are free and available, and the game looks/sounds great. Takes about 15 minutes to download (8 gigs). Hope to see you there!"

.....and those were just the ones I thought had a chance of making it due to time zone.

Edited by lockwoodx, 15 September 2014 - 07:30 AM.

[Kain Demos]

You seem to have the same "group queue" experience I had this weekend. I have only ever used "solo queue" until this weekend.

So, I only have 1 friend that plays this game and we tried out group queue this weekend. He's just starting out and is an IS guy and committed to never paying anything for the game so our mech lineups are quite different.

Anyway, I fare pretty terribly in the group queue compared to PUGing it. It seems we're often on a side full of random 2-4 man groups going up against a 10-12 man and the results are obvious. I think at one point we lost 6 in a row before we finally won a match and that was because we got attached to a 10 man going up against another 12 man on Caustic (this was a fun match by the way--everyone stuck together and moved fast and I was able to get 4 kills without even getting shot at much) and the guys we were with were clearly good players.

Going forward we're probably not going to play together anymore just because we can get better rewards in the solo queue.

Edited by Kain Thul, 15 September 2014 - 07:41 AM.