What this game needs is actual maps that stop beeing Arena maps.
They need to increase the size drastically to make this game for once use actual tactics and movement.
What good is a scout Mech if you only have to walk
200m to have scouted the entire enemy team allready. "Rivercity, Forrest Colony" i'm looking at you at the moment.
"Alpine and Terra Therma" were
moves in the right direction but to be honest they are to small still and are
too focused on the middle of the map.
Maps 2-3 Times the Size of "Alpine" would be maps i would call
worthy of a mechwarrior experience. Not only would it increase the posibilities of movement it would also increase
time to kill because most teams would have to fan out to actually be able to cover given ground effectively.
Asymetric game modes would be very nice too for instance one team attacks one team defends. For this to be interesting there should be multiple goals at the same time though. Simply having one team storm onto one capturepoint and one team defending that one capturepoint results in nothing but
a big brainless brawl, like every match i've been playing ever since beta first started.
This game need
depth to battles and while i do like the idea of Community Warfare around the corner which tries to achieve
context to battles the
actual battles still feel brainless and half-arsed.
What i want when i play a match of MWO is i want to take my lance into a big map i want to enter a valley without knowing theres gonna be
a team sitting behind the next turn because the map
ends after that turn and its the
last place the enemy is able to hide. Looking at you "Canyon Network". I want to be actually able ambush a lance or even a company
using terrain to my advantage. The old Mechwarrior games had plenty of good scenarios and map layouts that made this type of gameplay possible. MWO as of now has not.
Don't get me wrong MWO's maps are nicely done and really nice to look at. But the question we have to ask ourselfes is do we really
want to keep playing a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) or do we want to start playing something that resembles
warfare in the Battletech Universe. I know why we don't get Solaris Arena Mode. Its because we allready have it and noone dares to say it out loud. There i did it.
What i really think this game needs to become worthy of its name is these features i'm trying to portait to you now.
1.
Bigger maps! 2-3 times the size of Alpine as a standart mapsize. Maps don't need to be clutterd with objects every 5 meters to be good maps. If Itemcount is of any concern during map production.
2.
Asymetric Gamemodes as
2.1 "
Secure Bridgehead" One team lands using Dropships or a Dropship (preferably
Union Class or similar) @ a
random location on the map. The other team starts in lances scatterd across the map @
random locations.
Team one (landing party) has to kill all opposition and secure the Landingsite for the ongoing Invasion. Team two (local garrison) has to take out the Dropship and destroy 1/2 of the landing party.The local garrison has a weight advantage as the Invading Party send a reconnicance expedition first to scout the actual landingsite. (Though processbehind that is that a Union Class Dropship is far from defenceless and the weight advantage should make up for that factor, secondly the Dropship is a key component to making this mode asymetrical as it is a fearsome foe and if ignored to long will become very dangerous)
2.2 "
Attack on key asset" This can be anything from an HPG to a local Garrison maybe even a Palace or a Starport. The Invasion is underway and waring factions begin to engage in landlocked combat around Key Locations. The attacker has the advantage of tonnage over the defender but the defender has
stationary defences and terrain advantages ( Minefields, Entrenched infantry, Defensive structures like walls with guarded gates etc.) The Attacking team has to secure between
2-3 Sub targets might that be a munitions depot or a mechbay for later repair & rearming (context is allways nice) or some other form of valuable target that gives context to why the factions are fighting over this specific piece of land.
2.3 "
Convoy" Team one is guarding a convoy through contestet territory. (Politicians, Royal family, mobile M.A.S.H. unit, you name it) The convoy needs to reach a certain exit location or team one needs to eliminate all hostiles in the area for a win. The Convoy takes a
random predefined path across the map. Team 2 is scattered across the map @
random locations in groups of two. They got intel somthing is comming their way but they needed to fan out thin to be able to make sure they do not miss it. Team two's objective eliminate all hostiles in the area or liberate the convoy from its defenders.
These are Gamemodes that resemble Warfare in the Battletech Universe and i'm sure if you think about this for a while you will come up with even better examples.
Fact is MWO as is at the moment is stale and i think that this will be the downfall of it rather sooner then later. And the fact that PGI needs to make up tournaments for "free stuff" shows that playercounts have been dropping. Now with the addition of CW on the Horizon these or similar Gamemodes could be implemented to make battles on planets or over planets last longer be more engaging and give the game a whole lot more depth to it.
And even if you use modes like these uncoupled from CW you can make both teams switch sides after the first round. The team that does best overall after 2 rounds wins.
What i'm trying to achieve with modes like these is to
stretch out battles rather then having them all center around
one location on the
same spot every time you play a certain map.
The key to achieving that is
random placement. It forces the player and subsequential the team as a whole to adapt to a new situation each game rather then running "attack pattern Bravo" - (circle caldera counterclockwise till everyone is dead)
3. Bring back the
classic Radar mechanic so players can lure enemies using
active radar or try to infiltrate enemy territory using
passive radar. It would also benefit the BAP and ECM mechanics as they behave completly different in these enviroments. ECM decreases the detectionrange of enemy Radar whilst not giving away its own location at the same time. Where as BAP increases Radar ranges and makes passiv Radar users detectable earlier and also detects Powered down mechs.
Discuss!
Finding any typos or grammatical errors? Keep em.
Cheers,
Jack Corban
Edited by Jack Corban, 23 November 2014 - 05:43 AM.
3
Escef, on 23 November 2014 - 02:38 AM, said:
