4 replies to this topic

[sycocys]

Considering coming back as some friends have been hassling me still about leaving, but I have some question that would probably be faster and easier answered by some members of the forums than attempting to rummage through months of patch notes and forum posts.

1. What is the current relationship with the devs and the playerbase?

This is the reason I left, some of the top devs were actively trolling the playerbase very publicly and not being quite (more on the lines of - not very) honest with the community on a number of things. Has this course been corrected in the year I've been away?

2. Knock-downs/collision - Has this been re-implemented yet?

3. Have they stopped driving ditch to ditch with weapon balancing?

4. What state is ECM in? Of lesser importance but it was still quite game breaking at the point I left.

5. Has hit detection/boxes been fixed up so when you shoot something it actually takes damage?

6. Are there more "free" (I just recall seeing something about paid Invasion and forced 12v12 at some point in checking up) modes available? Along the same lines - has there been any new actual game modes implemented other than assault or assault with bases?

Other than that, any new general or specific updates I may have missed in the last year away would be great to hear so I can get a general state of the game as a whole while I consider whether to return or not.

[Wintersdark]

sycocys, on 11 February 2015 - 07:36 PM, said:

Considering coming back as some friends have been hassling me still about leaving, but I have some question that would probably be faster and easier answered by some members of the forums than attempting to rummage through months of patch notes and forum posts.

1. What is the current relationship with the devs and the playerbase?

This is the reason I left, some of the top devs were actively trolling the playerbase very publicly and not being quite (more on the lines of - not very) honest with the community on a number of things. Has this course been corrected in the year I've been away?

Pretty damn good. Since the IGP/PGI split, Russ has been out front and center communicating extremely well. We get lots of advance notice for changes, and continuous updates on their plans, regular town hall meetings discussing development and roadmaps. It's awesome.

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2. Knock-downs/collision - Has this been re-implemented yet?

No, and won't be for some time. Reasons are available, but I won't go into it here.

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3. Have they stopped driving ditch to ditch with weapon balancing?

Yeah.

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4. What state is ECM in? Of lesser importance but it was still quite game breaking at the point I left.

Similar - not game breaking, but still important. It's high on the list to be redesigned, however.

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5. Has hit detection/boxes been fixed up so when you shoot something it actually takes damage?

Varies. Some people have issues, some don't. I personally rarely have any problems, but it's still not perfect.

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6. Are there more "free" (I just recall seeing something about paid Invasion and forced 12v12 at some point in checking up) modes available? Along the same lines - has there been any new actual game modes implemented other than assault or assault with bases?

Community Warfare has it's own game modes, and they're pretty awesome. There's more on the way soon, too. "Soon" not being like "Soon" used to be. They stick to deadlines, now, and actually get things done.

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Other than that, any new general or specific updates I may have missed in the last year away would be great to hear so I can get a general state of the game as a whole while I consider whether to return or not.

I'd recommend giving the NGNG Townhall meetings with Russ a listen, they're on Youtube. Also, I'd highly recommend joining a unit and giving CW a go - it's certainly imperfect, but it's a lot of fun and brings a lot to the game.

[sycocys]

Is that community warfare the subscribe/pay mode that they had planned a while back or did they ditch that plan?

And I'm glad to hear from at least one person that the dev relationship is in a much better place, it really did ruin the game for me previously so maybe I'll throw this on to download tomorrow while I'm at work.

[Brody319]

sycocys, on 11 February 2015 - 07:58 PM, said:

Is that community warfare the subscribe/pay mode that they had planned a while back or did they ditch that plan?

And I'm glad to hear from at least one person that the dev relationship is in a much better place, it really did ruin the game for me previously so maybe I'll throw this on to download tomorrow while I'm at work.

totally free. can even use trial mechs.

Also yes the Devs are much better now that they ditched IGP.

[Bloodweaver]

sycocys, on 11 February 2015 - 07:36 PM, said:

1. What is the current relationship with the devs and the playerbase? This is the reason I left, some of the top devs were actively trolling the playerbase very publicly and not being quite (more on the lines of - not very) honest with the community on a number of things. Has this course been corrected in the year I've been away?

One thing about MWO's recent development that is an out-and-out, beyond-a-doubt, absolute with a capital-I IMPROVEMENT, is interaction with the community. Full marks on that front, across the board. And it has improved game experience a lot, at least for me... I was probably not going to spend any more money on the game, but the recent changes in how the developers interact with the community have driven me to do so. By far, this is easily the BEST and most significant improvement in MWO over its entire history.

sycocys, on 11 February 2015 - 07:36 PM, said:

2. Knock-downs/collision - Has this been re-implemented yet?

No. Unfortunately. The art team would like to put it back in, but there are client-side vs. server-side issues. Sad. It's meant to be put back in eventually (along with better 'mech animations and movement overall - both that and collisions are part of the same problem) but it's not a top priority.

sycocys, on 11 February 2015 - 07:36 PM, said:

3. Have they stopped driving ditch to ditch with weapon balancing?

No. The most recent balancing was the quirk pass, where 'mechs got various unique boosts to weapons and armor. Some 'mechs got meager quirks, most got reasonable quirks, and a select few (TDR-9S, DRG-1N) got UNGODLY imbalanced quirk benefits. That being said, weapon systems are pretty well balanced overall at the moment.

sycocys, on 11 February 2015 - 07:36 PM, said:

4. What state is ECM in? Of lesser importance but it was still quite game breaking at the point I left.

ECM is in a good spot. Although I'd still prefer an implementation that was more accurate to the TT mechanic, the way it is now is actually OK and not overpowered at all.

sycocys, on 11 February 2015 - 07:36 PM, said:

5. Has hit detection/boxes been fixed up so when you shoot something it actually takes damage?

Depends on who you ask, and your own ping. End of the day, though, it's a lot better than it used to be.

sycocys, on 11 February 2015 - 07:36 PM, said:

6. Are there more "free" (I just recall seeing something about paid Invasion and forced 12v12 at some point in checking up) modes available? Along the same lines - has there been any new actual game modes implemented other than assault or assault with bases?

Conquest is no longer "assault with bases," PGI finally did the obvious thing and made Conquest caps a lot faster. It's a pretty damn fun gamemode now.

That aside - there's Skirmish, which is "assault without any base," and the CW modes. With more CW modes planned, too.