208 replies to this topic

[Xenon Codex]

Thanks Paul! Can't wait to see how this all plays out. Was very surprised to read my own question in there from weeks ago, got halfway through the answer before I realized I'd written the question!

[Davers]

aniviron, on 08 October 2014 - 07:23 PM, said:

It needs to be in though, or you open up a significant edge case that I'm sure the devs have discovered- if a mech without any CT weapons is left as a CT with legs, a smart enemy will tell all of their players not to shoot, and the zombie is left with no weapons and no way to influence the battle as well as no way to die. Suddenly the game is 11v12, which sucks.

I did say I saw merits to both sides of the argument. But if they re-introduced Knockdowns (or some other damage based collisions like charging or something) then they could not simply ignore a disarmed enemy. I would find this a more satisfying solution, even though I realize that Knockdowns are still just a glimmer in PGI's cow skull eye hole.

[themoob]

Tonnage dropships AND actual dropships dropping mechs on the battlefield? Thankyou PGI!

Just please get rid of the required 4 mech dropship. If someone wants to take two or even one mech and gimp themselves, then let them!

Also I hope that there will be more than one access point into bases... one vantage point to destroy a lone gate is just dull.

[Vandamsel]

Yay for ejecting! Nice update Paul!

[A Man In A Can]

Who are you? And what did you (or Russ) do with the old Paul Inouye?

Whatever happened, it was The Right Move^TM.


Seriously though, the more I look at this CW plan the more I love it.

[White Bear 84]

If we are stuck with whatever faction we have now by the time CW start - will we be able to get any loyalty points transferred or at least refunded in some way when we change to the allegiance we specifically want? Or will it be fixed by this point?

For example, our unit is currently CGB - but we wish to be Merc only & this currently cannot be changed. Currently doing poll for a particular faction allegiance.

[Timuroslav]

Incentives for defending a planet need to be better.
Also worried about base entry. There needs to be certain pathways that damage or hinder mechs not going through the first gate. Because that cliff drop off is a sexy monstrosity that looks like favoring only Jump jet mechs.

Things I like:
token system. It benefits from defending a planet and having the Defenders at least a half an hour's time to respond to an attack. Peak hours for Community warfare is really going to make or break this. Along with Token limits on a planet.

Also more the future incentives for defending a planet look sick, but we're going have to wait for those to come out.

Dropship mode is basically back. Come on that's a Huge bonus.

Defending a Base looks like it could actually be Really Fun, as long as the defenders are holed up in a rate hole.

Dropship animation sounds incredibly cool, along with the Tonnage limit. Please Please enforce the 4 mechs with <240tonnes I don't want to see two Direwolves and a ECM kit fox. Dire Wolves are supposed to be Rare and expensive Not a cheap Standard of which all things are measured.

[N0MAD]

Just a simple question..
ATM is there only the one map to be used in CW?
Well a couple more.....
Will the gate control (building) be able to be Narced (Narc) or targetable?
Will the building take damage from Arty or airstrikes?

Edited by N0MAD, 08 October 2014 - 08:56 PM.

[Deathlike]

Cimarb, on 08 October 2014 - 06:23 PM, said:

I get what you mean, but if no one wants to defend the planet - which I think will be unlikely to say the least - then why not actually give the attackers the planet even quicker? If no one had opposed Germany in WWII, do you think they would have slowed down just to give us time to get around to showing up?

The concern is more about the # of participants in each faction. There's a chance that certain factions... probably FRR or Kurita or Liao (although goons might not let this happen) would lose territory due to not having enough. You don't want one faction having no chance and jumping ship to another because of it.

[L Y N X]

• The player must HOLD this key down for [10] seconds in order to eject. The amount of time will be determined based on "denying the enemy a kill" mentality which would be rather poor to have happen all the time.

Have you considered that the opposing player last to shoot the ejecting pilot's mech the moment before he ejects is ACTUALLY the FINAL BLOW? Therefore if the coding handled it correctly there could be no "denying the enemy a kill mentality" since they would not be doing so. This allows you to make the ejection simulation more like ejecting from a fighter jet, in the 0.25 to 2.0 second range. Please consider this implementation, if you have not, I think it would feel more natural.


And to prevent griefers from intentionally ejecting at match start, PGI could make it so that Ejection systems do not arm until a mech takes initial damage from the enemy. I think I can almost hear bitchin betty now... "Ejection system... armed!"

Edited by 7ynx, 08 October 2014 - 09:26 PM.

[slide]

Cimarb, on 08 October 2014 - 06:25 PM, said:

That is supposed to be a part of logistics, which is Phase 3+. IMO, this will be when CW is fully realized, so I cannot wait!

I understand that, but you cannot expect units to pay some sort of fee to drop and then get nothing back. Can you you imagine the outrage when a unit leader turns around and asks all it members to donate again so they can go and do it all again. Even rich players and units will get sick of that real quick. You have to at least have the potential of coming out even or in front of where you as a player or as a unit were before you started, otherwise no one will play.

[Domoneky]

EJECTING!

[Kyle Wright]

Zyllos, on 08 October 2014 - 06:13 PM, said:

One thing I would like to suggestion:

Move away from *must* take 4 mechs.

If the tonnage limit is low enough (say 140t), let players take a Mad Cat and Mad Dog (losing 5 tons). I will take a Centurion, Blackjack, Commando, and Locust.

This allows for a nice variation between number of re spawns, incentive to take multiple Medium/Lights to get more re spawns, and to be unique in their drop decks.

It also allows for unique strategies dependent on the attack/defend and unit.

See I like this suggestion. It comes down to tactics and how well you can pilot. Sure you maybe good in 2 assaults, but what happens when you get beat to hell by an enemy force that out numbers. Look at it this way Paul, be difference of a militia vs a planned planetary assault force. You either have to be damn good in those 2 fatties or damn good in those 4 mediums. It will even the field amongst players. Ace pilots are more incline to take two Timbers, but you only have so much ammo and at some point maybe not as strong of a unit can strike down a mighty foe by sure numbers.

[Ace of Spades]

Quote

The Leopard Dropship is now VTAL
The Leopard Drop Ship is now a VTAL (Vertial Take-off And Landing) ship.

Isn't that supposed to be VTOL?

[Savage Wolf]

Quote

Is the design goal of planetary conquest to give a match based more on objectives than taking out the enemy forces? To give an exampe, Conquest mode as it exists currently is still primarily focused on taking out the entire enemy team as opposed to winning on capping. Capping is the secondary objective and is the least likely victory condition.

MWO is an online multiplayer game that is always going to be focussed on the PVP aspect of a battle. PVE campaigns have been talked about and will be investigated in the new year.

Wow, what? That answer totally missed the point of the question. I was talking about PVP, not PVE at all. Currently all PVP game modes are centered primarily about deathmatch, where destroying all enemy team mech is the most likely way to win, will there ever be a PVP game mode that will be designed with the goal that you are more likely to win in a different manner, like capping for example.
I hope this isn't an indication of PGI not knowing how to do anything but deathmatch.

Edited by Savage Wolf, 08 October 2014 - 10:00 PM.

[TigerOne]

Quote

[color=#a8e558]What about a few sweet animations/short vids before/after a planetary fight? You know, stuff like turrets aiming in the sky, shooting at dropships or hangars where pilots climb in their mechs. Just to add more style and eye candy. [/color]

This is something we'd love to do but they're expensive to create and very time consuming on the dev team. Yes we could reuse in-game assets but some of those assets would have to be re-modelled (the pilot for example) because they're very low poly or missing big chunks of geometry. While we explore PVE content in 2015, this may return as something we could do to really sell the feeling of a planetary battle about to kick off.

This is something where I think the community can help. It has no impact on game mechanics, there are tools out there to do it without special knowledge of the code, and it lets us feel like we're contributing to the development of the game. I suggest a competition for the best intro/victory/defeat video(s). Perhaps PGI could be convinced to include it, even if they don't sponsor or administer a contest directly.

[Kageru Ikazuchi]

Paul Inouye, on 08 October 2014 - 06:06 PM, said:

Fine.. I'll make it W.

O was used as an example. We'll map it to a non-bound key which players can rebind later.

No, no, no ... "W" key is WIN key!

My vote is for "S" ... anyone that holds "S" for ten seconds deserves to have their head blown off.

As an alternate, there could be a reverse mechanic for the "R" key ... anyone who doesn't use "R" key within ten seconds of contact with enemy 'mechs gets ejected ...

(It is good to have a sense of humor about the game again ...)

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

1. On the 'eject' key time and requirements.

If it was coded to require a 'shift key' and a key press there would never be any 'accidental' removal of the Pilot from the Mech.
- That way the time could be reduced to 5 seconds to hold.
- You won't be using other controls during this action, it's 'get out now!'
(alternate key suggestion => 'Alt and L' keys together, they are right above each other and easy to access.)

2. And yes, it is VTOL.

3. The requirement for more than one or two Mech's is critical, there's no spawning back into the original (now destroyed) Mech you brought. (unless you own 4 of the same Mech and it's within the weight limit.)
- You bring one, you only get one loop around the track. = No Respawn. (and your team won't put up with that for very long!)

What may be critical is the order of weight the Mechs are respawn in,
- is the initial wave all lights against assaults?
- Are the assaults attacking in the 2nd cycle against now lower weight defenders?
It could be a deciding factor for some battles.
- Will there be limits on each wave and how much weight can be spawned in?

Question: Is PGI looking at any additional new resources for consumables for this DropShip mode?
- Possibly in the sensor or advanced forward deploying UAV?
- And, this would be a really good time to look into the Arrow missile system. (just saying!)

Thanks for the info,
9erRed

[Alistair Winter]

A lot of good stuff here. For the most part, I think this is good news!

Can I just make a little request? I'm sure many of us are already quivering with joy at the thought of MW2-esque dropship scenes. But... can we please get Betty to announce some information about local conditions before each mission in CW?
"Ambient temperature.... three four point six five degrees. Local time is sixteen twenty-one fourty-three GMT."

I don't know if everyone remembers how the community reacted the first time we got the current Betty read-up at the start of every mission. It was basically christmas and thanksgiving at the same time.


A couple of misunderstood questions though, or perhaps you deliberately avoided answering them. In addition to the one that has already been pointed out, there's also this:

Quote

Is dropship mode the only mode available for CW? Will there be any way for people who do not want to play respawn mode to not play respawn mode, and still take part in CW?

As stated last time, Drop Ship mode is slated for CW use only.

He's asking if he can play Skirmish, Assault and Conquest as part of CW. You're saying that he can't play Drop Ship mode outside of CW. So... didn't really answer his question.

[huskinater]

Just two quick questions, any chance that you will be implementing a "spectator mode" for CW and will you be allowing Trial 'mechs to be taken on the dropships?