Kyle Wright, on 17 November 2014 - 08:21 PM, said:
...more money for PGI and that mean a bigger development team. And most importantly bigger prize giveaways for these weekend events in general. Possible sale on promotional items from sponsors... Just saying. Just because it goes e-sport doesnt mean you have to too.
While I see where Kyle is coming from, unless the eSport crowd is separate from the casual crowd then any movement toward competitive is further from what - I'd venture to say -
most really want...to play, as MWO labels itself, a Battletech Game. IMO, it's all mixed in...like college basketball players building a minor reputation by smashing pick up games at the local park...
We're sorta talking about this on
OutreachHPG.
There I similarly commented, that currently balance favors competitiveness. For example, Griffin are a better brawler than a Kintaro due to hiboxes and thus they got SRM quirks. That makes perfect sense for competition but when the SRM brawler is supposed to be the Kintaro schtick and the Griffin's focus is LRMs...it makes no sense for Battletech. YES, Griffin's the better brawler, I understand that.
I know that "don't sacrifice lore for gameplay" is heresy...and I mostly agree. But only in the current environment.
But then, why make MWO a Battletech game? Just create an original IP - grant yourself absolute freedom....freedom from things like needing 10 engine HS therefore making all your Light Mechs/Hercs/Frames/Whatev 100% competitive. Freedom from canonical hardpoints. Freedom from making certain weapons, certain weights, etc.
What you sacrifice in "brand" you can make up for in building an eSport and making bank on PvP, sponsors, etc.
luxebo, on 17 November 2014 - 09:13 PM, said:
Solaris aka Deathmatch is basically e-sports. Would be just like MWLL/Heavy Gear/etc.
That or basically no. Will not settle for E-sports Warfare over Community Warfare.
I think THIS would be the best way to ensure the eSport aspect has a future. Create a space for ultracompetitiveness. The "Solaris" world is the perfect concept! Break the BT canon rules in this area, keep the lower TTK (in relation to most shooters) and gameplay staples, etc...but make the Solaris world some sort of opt-in experience full of ladders, regular high reward tournaments, etc.
My unit labels itself competitive too and I love the current competitive scene for what it is and have a lot of fun with it and the friends and peers I've met there. But sometimes I wish I could just play an FPS of Battletech. Change the mechanics, make **** inefficient, keep the nonsensical stuff from lore that translates, drop the nonsense that doesn't...RNG weapons, cones of fire, keep the Elo separations. Put all the nerdy ******* roleplay junk in the "Classic" queue. Build "Community Warfare" there where it belongs and build a true eSport in Solaris where it belongs.
That's my tl;dr diatribe...for what it's worth.