28 replies to this topic

[FrDrake]

Not sure if someone else has posted this, but I am a pug player, and when it comes to CW, I played it for a few weeks but at this stage of CW I care little about the planets because as a solo I don't feel a "stake" in any planet or faction yet. Right now all you get is some cbills which I can get faster by playing solo queue.

What I will return to CW for is when they implement a rank system that actually has perks, and make planets have different bonuses and be worth something. If they make it so each planet has a cbill income and depending on your rank you get a % of the overall cut, then I would be much more inclined to queue up as a solo pug defender/attacker.

I also feel the map will be reset soon, which makes my interest in controlling planets that give me no benefits even less. I don't get a ton of time to play each week, which is why I'm staying pug for the time being, to spend my time on CW right now just doesn't have a return on investment for me.

[Bigbacon]

rewards aren't going to fix the imbalance in just about every aspect of CW. they need as many people playing and having fun first and it seems that both solo and groups alike aren't having a whole lot of fun.

[C E Dwyer]

Well I think there are several threads on this topic so no real need for another but interesting maps which allow more than two tactics would make it worth dropping as part of for more than once every few days..

Today between 1-3 pm GMT there were no more than four people looking for CW games ( on the steiner front)and there were enough online as arena fights were taking no more than 20second to drop even in a heavy mech.

Simple fact is this at the end of the day.

If you make a part of the game that is unfriendly to 85% of your player base and also dull, tactic wise, then only around 25% will use it on a regular basis.

I want CW to be the best part of MWO but its clearly failing and needs a rebuild and no amount of bitching and saying suck it up by the big organised clans/regiments is going to make it work, its going to make it even less populated.

You also need a big carrot (socking filler) and at the moment there is no carrot, and the leet 12mans are just using a vocal stick which is just going to make things worse

Edited by Cathy, 07 January 2015 - 08:19 AM.

[MoonUnitBeta]

Yeah it's ganna take a whole lot more than rewards to bring people back unfortunately. Rewards will only bring an initial burst to the popluation, but even with higher rewards, eventually numbers will begin to dwindle as the more pressing issue remain unsolved.

They're going to have to put in 4v4 and 8v8 queues for smaller lances/units. They need that global chat, and better queueing system. They'll need to solve ghost winning in some way; they might bandaid it, but i feel like it's going to need a rework.
Command wheel and other organization tools (voip, better rewards for following orders) will help as well, along with general game balance (maps, mechs/quirks, game modes).
What people aren't doing is taking CW for face value. They see what it can/should be, and think that's how it has to be right now. CW is so ridiculously young it's not even fair. I'm glad they have that beta tag on it.

It's very much a beta, and it's going to take a lot of work to keep CW engaging and meaningful...

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 07 January 2015 - 08:31 AM.

[JackkyChan]

When PGI took on MWO #1 is they did not listen to the OLD GUARD players from MechWarrior2-MechWarrior4 on how to build a new MechWarrior/BattleTech game which resulted in what we have now=MWO which is a fair game overall but lacks so many features the older PC MechWarrior/Battletech games had.

MechWarrior/BattleTech was always a niche game in the PC/Xbox market so many at Microsoft and FASA looked at what was fun about the games from players and first and foremost was the social atmosphere of players playing solo or on teams on in-game servers.So they built the MSN Gamming Zone which became a HIT with players of all ages.

MWO has no! true social environment for a community to grow and be part of the game to be immersive in role-play in the BattleTech/MechWarrior game world. Plus the fact players really have no control over drops maps or even to form 3rd party league like the older PC MechWarrior games offered.

If I was PGI I would start talking to players like me and many others that played PC MechWarrior/BattleTech games for 20+ years on how to fix MWO not ban us from the forums and games because they are unwilling to listen to reason before MWO goes belly up.



KingCobra

Edited by JackkyChan, 07 January 2015 - 08:34 AM.

[Ripper X]

Need to find out a way to incorporate old maps and modes into CW. Does not have to be completely the same but just similar enough to draw in more people into CW from the public server queues.

Edited by Ripper X, 07 January 2015 - 08:38 AM.

[ice trey]

I think that the game mode of attack/defend is just fine. I actually find it a LOT more fun than the "three flavours of sisyphus' rock" game modes for general drops. Sure, there are more maps, but it's always the same thing - pugs more concerned about their own match score than working as a team, ignoring objectives in order to get the biggest C-bill payoff from killing everything. CW matches change that dramatically, and those that don't change sabotage their entire team.

I think the real issue is that players don't want to have to wait 20 minutes at a time in order to drop. No more, no less.

I think an easy way to do so is to double-up the number of planets that can be attacked in a given phase, but have one of those planets act like a "General drop" planet, where if there are enough players in the general drop cue for two conflicting factions, they could potentially be dropped into a match against each other that means something to CW. Whether it would be Skirmish, Assault, Conquest, or Community Warfare mission, the player would be able to drop within a couple short minutes of clicking the "Launch" button.

Edited by ice trey, 07 January 2015 - 08:44 AM.

[C E Dwyer]

This is allready developing into a my ways best, oh they should have listend to us, well listening to the 'inner circle' is whats caused this mess, games have changed from 20 years ago, and so must attitudes, people on average don't have time in big blocks anymore, its why EQ type games which take hours and hours to play are no longer popular, and shallow games like world of warcraft online are

[Zoid]

Make it so that attacking doesn't suck. Either you run past the enemy and (possibly) win but do nothing but shoot at generators or you fight an entrenched enemy and lose slowly. I'm not running CW because I got 5 counter-attacks in a row and got tired of it.

[TamCoan]

I agree; it just feels hollow right now. When I jump on and check the queue, there are at most 2 planets with population. Knowing that winning or losing the match means nothing in the grand scheme of things really puts me off. While I had fun initially with the new game mode, it has grown stale pretty fast. Currently there are only two things to do:

1) shoot as many mechs as possible while defending.
2) mob rush the objective and blow it up.

There's no real "fight" in this game mode. I have won and lost on both sides of the fence and find I really get no sense of accomplishment or that my contributions mattered to winning the planet. The only thing I think when I see the galaxy map is, “oh look that pixel is now a different color than it was yesterday." It is just a shallow game mode with nothing to do other than the two points above.

Personally I was hoping for something where both sides fight to control points across the map. Kind of a stepped capture-point where the defender owns points up to the gate. The attackers have to destroy/capture the gate and multiple points to the final objective. The defenders win by ultimately protecting the end objective, the attackers win by taking/destroying the points to the objective. The result is both sides actually have to fight over the objectives.

I’d also like to see more game modes. Something like “destroy supply line”, “capture drop ship”, etc… Something that leads to greater objectives/affects.

While it’s a good start and I understand it is currently in beta, I’m really trying to find a reason I would want to play this game mode more.

Edited by TamCoan, 07 January 2015 - 09:01 AM.

[Vassago Rain]

The mode not being terrible would bring people back.
Not having 90% of the playerbase realize they can't actually afford to compete in CW would also help. This is shorthand for 'why didn't you abolish Paulconomoy and rewards 2.1 early, oh my god, you guys are so stupid.'
Not being paid peanuts would help.
Knowing how many people are actually on each planet, so you don't waste your time because of mysterious 30/26 numbers.
Playing on actual maps, not MOBA stages, might also attract some players.

Things like that.

[JackkyChan]

Cathy whoever said=(This is allready developing into a my ways best, oh they should have listend to us, well listening to the 'inner circle' is whats caused this mess, games have changed from 20 years ago, and so must attitudes, people on average don't have time in big blocks anymore, its why EQ type games which take hours and hours to play are no longer popular, and shallow games like world of warcraft online are )
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I guess for some the truth is hard to swallow? and they deny the inevitable to justify there mistakes? This is a recurring theme with the PGI Devs playing the blame game on someone IGP-PlayBase_ETC. What I have posted is a time tested winning combination for past MechWarrior/BattleTech games what worked then would still apply and work for MWO today.

Edited by JackkyChan, 07 January 2015 - 09:12 AM.

[ztac]

You think PGI even read the forums? They said ages ago that they only really do facebook and twitter! So why use social media sites when you have a forum? Too much criticism of what they have done in the past no doubt!

But don't expect anything from the forums to be addressed any time soon , PGI will just do what they want to do, just like always! (make up some reason or other why they are doing things a certain way).

[JackkyChan]

ztac said (You think PGI even read the forums? They said ages ago that they only really do facebook and twitter! So why use social media sites when you have a forum? Too much criticism of what they have done in the past no doubt!

But don't expect anything from the forums to be addressed any time soon , PGI will just do what they want to do, just like always! (make up some reason or other why they are doing things a certain way).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know I tried to talk to the devs long ago before MWO was built then again in closed beta and up until a year ago about MWO.
But anyone they perceive as a threat they just ignore on this forums-facebook-or twitter. So its pointless to even try to reason with them about any aspect of MWO they only listen to there own staff and a few PAL cronies they seam bent on pleasing.

[Mirkk Defwode]

Cathy, on 07 January 2015 - 08:47 AM, said:

This is allready developing into a my ways best, oh they should have listend to us, well listening to the 'inner circle' is whats caused this mess, games have changed from 20 years ago, and so must attitudes, people on average don't have time in big blocks anymore, its why EQ type games which take hours and hours to play are no longer popular, and shallow games like world of warcraft online are

I think there is a market for both, the issue is building a unified design that works well for both user groups. The casual players want something thats quick and rewarding, effectively popcorn. But the mechanics need to have depth and complexity in their options to allow people to become immersed in the title enough to lose time in it.

A very simple example of this is a game like FTL or Don't Starve. Both new(er) indie titles with a very simple surface, challenging gameplay, and rigorous depth of mechanics and complexity through randomization. Now randomization isn't always the way to go for getting that but it certainly does add a bit of flair.

While I've made a lot of comparisons to between MWO and MMOs in the past, I think part of the issue behind CW and it's lack of allure is beyond the first 20 or so games there isn't lot of complexity or variety to the gameplay, compared to if you look back and Mechwarrior 4 and the NBT league rules for planetary assaults there is a change of gameplay pace and variety from stage to stage making it so each encounter while following the same rules felt more unique. Though the sheer number of maps for that also warranted variety unto itself for much of the gameplay. Even then the battle types for the league varied for the number of pilots and weight limits as to what could be used for each further adding variety to that environment. Being a player run and operated league did account for much of that in the sense they could drive it anywhere they wanted to.

None the less, my hope for CW was to get something along those lines built into a new virtual space with the pretty new map for CW but ended up with a basic skeleton that overtime might reach that magnitude. I just don't think variety for the battle types was in the books for PGI. Because I could see taking a planet for CW consisting of different battle types with the ultimate final "Defense" of the planet being what we have now. While the filler in between could be a whole lot more.

[Apnu]

To answer the OP: A more complete game.

CW is, as far as I'm concerned, 20% done at best.

Players have fled it because there's just one game mode, two maps, and of those two maps, one has a significant advantage to the defenders if they bring long range weapons. Also the time to find a match is pretty bad. Even with tricks and re-queuing every 5 minutes to get a game, its awful.

Also, having a public queue full of random mix-tech and CW splits the community. IMO, both should be rolled up into one thing. All matches played on Skirmish, Assault and Conquest should count towards CW in some way. This means no mixed tech until the time line advances.

And the people who insist on mixing tech in their group? Give them a Solaris server to do that stuff on. Charge them a c-bill fee to enter a match on Solaris and give them some kind of pay out depending on how they do and be done with it. Furthermore, limit groups on Solaris to <= 4 and solo players to make MM easier.

[Thorqemada]

Shorter waiting times and casual CW.

[STEF_]

going to write down again: I will never play CW again unless dat looooooooooooong time to drop would be fixed.

Max 5 minutes (and I'm quite patient, right?)

[wanderer]

Nothing, as it stands.

The majority of the playerbase soils itself at the idea of organized play, and would rather go into the solo queue where they can play bad builds and be special snowflakes.

You -could- build smaller CW maps off the current non-CW ones, and reduce numbers accordingly and CW shifts/rewards as well. Fewer targets, smaller targets. 15 minute time limits.

Call them "raiding" contracts vs. the current world-conquering/defending ones. 4-man (same drop deck) groups, maximum "group size" of two, meaning it'd be almost exclusively PUGsville, but you could team up with -one- friend. 5% of the world-effect of a full contract for conquest purposes,15% of the full contract/loyalty rewards, and you don't get a unit tag on the world (raids don't count, only a full contract would).

[focuspark]

wanderer, on 07 January 2015 - 10:36 AM, said:

The majority of the playerbase soils itself at the idea of organized play, and would rather go into the solo queue where they can play bad builds and be special snowflakes.

Are you saying this is bad? Should people not be allowed to play games the way they want to play games? Are you suggesting that people should be shoehorned into a specific mold or go home?