58 replies to this topic

[Mudhutwarrior]

My only experience was MW4 so I was pretty clueless about lore in the game. Still am mostly. With all the fan based stuff around though it should be pretty easy for PGI and its community manager to start a side project with members on how and what to do to include it in the forums or new player training. Just an overview with links to detail would really help.

[MechWarrior5152251]

I think we have enough problems with the current batch of idiots spewing "Lore". This is a game, it has to be balanced. This is not a novel.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

MechWarrior5152251, on 11 March 2015 - 05:02 AM, said:

I think we have enough problems with the current batch of idiots spewing "Lore". This is a game, it has to be balanced. This is not a novel.

Of course it's not a novel!

It's... !

[Almond Brown]

Johnny Z, on 10 March 2015 - 08:15 AM, said:

https://www.youtube....e&v=X0UNaFuZFNg

I see what you did there Johnny Z. Sadly neither of those 2 wicked (and 1 not so wicked - Vengence one) videos tells a NEW player to MWO SFA about BT nor the LORE behind MWO. You know, the POINT of the OP's thread...

Edited by Almond Brown, 11 March 2015 - 07:31 AM.

[Kristov Kerensky]

h0UNd, did I hurt your feelings there? Aw...

Maybe, since we're in a thread talking about adding the BTech story to the game so new players can find out what the whole thing is all about, you might want to consider that instead of being so glib, especially as you seem to actually know that lore.

Defamation...CoC...really...and how exactly is it MY fault that YOUR words cast any dispersion on your character? I quoted you, didn't edit your statement at all, so I'm failing to see why you'd toss out such an accusation, and the implied threat that goes with it. I would suggest, strongly, that you look up defamation before you go and cast dispersion on your own character again. Twice should be enough in a single thread I would think.

[DaZur]

+1000 likes.

A game, particularly one as based on lore and cannon, that lacks context is a soulless beast...

New player who have little to no background on BT and Mechwarrior will simply see a big stompy shooting game where forgoing logic is "bigger is better" and as such they have little appreciation for the nuanced play in the subversive classes let alone the weapons and the fluff.

It's a fairly beige and myopic game of stompy robot on robot carnage... Anf PGI wonders why retention might flounder?

In order for anyone not verses in BT, MW to really appreciate MW:O they need context as to what they are piloting, why they are piloting them and what each little bit does and why. Sadly, PGI has invested near nothing and relied on Google and the rabid fan base to play proxy to their lack of insight and effort...

[D000M]

DaZur, on 11 March 2015 - 09:30 AM, said:

+1000 likes.

A game, particularly one as based on lore and cannon, that lacks context is a soulless beast...

New player who have little to no background on BT and Mechwarrior will simply see a big stompy shooting game where forgoing logic is "bigger is better" and as such they have little appreciation for the nuanced play in the subversive classes let alone the weapons and the fluff.

It's a fairly beige and myopic game of stompy robot on robot carnage... Anf PGI wonders why retention might flounder?

In order for anyone not verses in BT, MW to really appreciate MW:O they need context as to what they are piloting, why they are piloting them and what each little bit does and why. Sadly, PGI has invested near nothing and relied on Google and the rabid fan base to play proxy to their lack of insight and effort...

Well said.

[Coolant]

Agree with OP...give more lore info throughout the game. Put a Lore Icon everywhere, even in the mechlab...

[LordKnightFandragon]

Dr Octagon, on 10 March 2015 - 12:40 AM, said:

I've been playing a while, and I have noticed that this game just automatically assumes that everyone that gets involved just knows 'the lore'. Well, let me assure you, they DO NOT! The main issue with this game and the reason it does not have more appeal, is directly linked to its inherent desire to alienate new players by giving them absolutely no backstory, and expecting them to search other websites and read outdated books from a decade ago in order to catch up. This is a serious marketing flaw as you are alienating an entire market from ever understanding or appreciating your games. Most games would not allow this sort of hierarchy of decades of age over market. Hey, what do you other players think?

Well, a person I talked to at my work orientation today said he tried MWO awhile ago and didnt like it cuz it was walk out, and die.....he apparently didnt find that very fun lol.

Problem with this game isnt the lore, its the New player experience, the grind, the mass lolpha meta and slow ass progression unless your a player who is able to carry and kill 10 mechs, assist in 12 kills, blow off 21 modules, cap, defend cap, and milk every ounce of Cbills and xp out of the match that you can. Then, if a player does stay and want to play wiht a friend, they are thrown into a Q where its 6-12 man premades against their 2 man and puggies, and its stomp, after stomp, after stomp, and the player doesnt even get to play the game at all....its ready, walk up to look for a target, get melted and die.....make 10k cbills and repeat. No one finds that kind of stuff fun.

MWO is the kind of game where you have to be a 1337mlgpro player or else you get no where. If this game had a truly indepth, dedicated PVE coop campaign and PVE aspect, it would have alot of appeal.

[Kyzar Kon]

Their website is WAY out of date not to mention the lack of general lore......

[D000M]

LordKnightFandragon, on 11 March 2015 - 05:34 PM, said:

Well, a person I talked to at my work orientation today said he tried MWO awhile ago and didnt like it cuz it was walk out, and die.....he apparently didnt find that very fun lol.

Problem with this game isnt the lore, its the New player experience, the grind, the mass lolpha meta and slow ass progression unless your a player who is able to carry and kill 10 mechs, assist in 12 kills, blow off 21 modules, cap, defend cap, and milk every ounce of Cbills and xp out of the match that you can. Then, if a player does stay and want to play wiht a friend, they are thrown into a Q where its 6-12 man premades against their 2 man and puggies, and its stomp, after stomp, after stomp, and the player doesnt even get to play the game at all....its ready, walk up to look for a target, get melted and die.....make 10k cbills and repeat. No one finds that kind of stuff fun.

MWO is the kind of game where you have to be a 1337mlgpro player or else you get no where. If this game had a truly indepth, dedicated PVE coop campaign and PVE aspect, it would have alot of appeal.

Thanks LordKnight, I think that's where I was trying to go with this, and I may have overstated the importance of the storyline alone. It's no so much that I think having some text in the mechlab would improve the NEW PLAYER experience, it's more so that I think having Campaign missions bolstered by the rich back story that seems to have been ignored, or at least, tossed aside, might give a NEW PLAYER more to hang onto rather than the walk out and die experience that many Newbies simply won't stick it out through. Not to mention appease the players that obviously exist here that know the story, and feel the game is lacking from the exclusion of it.

As mentioned by other posts a much more thorough tutorial (which would essencially be little mini campaign missions vs CPU) that perhaps could show common tactics might help some, but I think the co-op campaign is the way to go... Just by building the comprehensive tutorial they would have done half the work.

think Diablo...

Many 'online' games include a Campaign for this very reason... So a NEW PLAYER can get familiar with the game, its tactics, the units, interface, and if it has one (which this game certainly has) the story behind the whole concept.

I think if the developers were to start chipping away at this idea (and perhaps the addition of lore would be an easy start) they could begin to build a game that is not so exclusive and reclusive.

The whole point of this thread is to flesh out some ideas and see if we can come up with a proper solution to MAKE THIS GAME MORE POPULAR - which would in turn, we hope, bring in MORE MONEY, which would in turn, we hope, make the game better, and a true force to be reckoned with that can stand the test of time and continue to grow unendingly.

I was mearly trying to point out that in order for a game to have that level of success, it seems that STORY is what separates the wheat from the chaff... and this game just so happens to have tons of story, something most every other game, with a few exceptions lacks, and why most are only one-hit-wonders.

Edited by Dr Octagon, 11 March 2015 - 07:25 PM.

[D000M]

Looking through the Forum under 'Feature Suggestions' I found this - http://mwomercs.com/...ut-mega-thread/

A thread from December 2014 that appears to try to begin to outline what a possible campaign scenerio layout would look like.

Is a somewhat older thread, and it doesn't seem to have gotten much traffic...
Perhaps we should think about reviving this topic and bring this discussion to the forefront. If the developers see that the demand is high enough, you never know, they might bring it up next time they have a little board meeting.

That is assuming that we can agree that campaign missions are a valid solution to not only developing a much richer story, but also a model that could bring in NEW PLAYERS, which would lead to MORE MONEY...

[h0UNd]

Kristov Kerensky, on 11 March 2015 - 09:19 AM, said:

h0UNd, did I hurt your feelings there? Aw...

Maybe, since we're in a thread talking about adding the BTech story to the game so new players can find out what the whole thing is all about, you might want to consider that instead of being so glib, especially as you seem to actually know that lore.

Defamation...CoC...really...and how exactly is it MY fault that YOUR words cast any dispersion on your character? I quoted you, didn't edit your statement at all, so I'm failing to see why you'd toss out such an accusation, and the implied threat that goes with it. I would suggest, strongly, that you look up defamation before you go and cast dispersion on your own character again. Twice should be enough in a single thread I would think.

It's aspersions.

You said people should not take what I had said seriously, thereby insinuating I lacked the credentials to have an opinion - ergo defamatory.

I edited my post as I was at work.

My 'feelings' are fine thank you for your concern.

Back on topic : at least we share desire to see more lore in the game :-)

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

PGI has a licence to produce a digital online game designed around the BattleTech Franchise owned by Microsoft.
Microsoft has control of all electronic and digital representations of BattleTech.

- The production of this product is from a very small group of personnel, not anything that you would see from one of the major game producers.
- That being said, the creation of storyline, backstory, reference material, and presentation requires considerable resources and manpower. Assembling all the documentation, vetting it, checking all references for factual, legal, and 'Lore' correct content is not something that takes a few people a 'couple of weeks to months' to throw together. It's still akin to producing a technical manual for a product, with everything from creation, research, layout, scripting, language issues, legal, and if any images were to be included, copy write issues.

As many have stated, there are great amounts of documentation available. What is or can be used by PGI with this licence is another matter. Even using material previously owned by 'some other Company or entity' may be 'problematic' and require considerable 'time with Lawyers' and Corporations. (it's not a simple matter to just copy and paste in the 'Professional' realm.)
- Most of the current products in Manuals, Tech books, reference, and fictional books are or were about the storyline of BattleTech and the board game. Only some of this can be referenced or used here for MWO, as the 'real-time' game plays different from a turn based game. And anyone who has played the board game will know PGI has radically changed quite a few elements for the online game.
- The 'Known' history of what BattleTech is about, where, why and how events happened has taken 30 plus years of 'filling out'. Condensing this to a few pages for new players would still be rather daunting, and how many will actually 'read the instructions'? In some of the past video games there were 'cut scenes' and intro movies that explained just what was happening for the Player, why they were playing, and what the 'end goal' was. We don't see that in this game, there's no explained reason for having, owning or using these machines or why they even exist. And with Community Warfare, nothing (besides a paragraph about each Faction, nothing on Clans) presented on what's happening and why there is a war or Invasion present.

With the introduction of CW it would have been a great time for PGI to produce short Faction Intros for all players. Some storyline detailing who and what the Pilot was about to 'get into to'. Sadly, time or resources were not on PGI's schedule to allow for this. Perhaps as we progress deeper into the production of the game? With PGI working towards 'Resources and Owned Material' in future game updates, we'll see some backstory included. (It's a time, personnel, and money issue. As most things are.)

Now PGI does have 'Jordan Weisman' onboard, (original creator of BattleTech) but what he's allowed to produce, or be involved with in the BattleTech area is another matter.
- Many entities are involved where 'documentation and creation' are involved for BattleTech, who owns what or are allowed to present, may be of great concern. (you can't just list off the Sarna or wiki or book info and call it 'part of your product.)

Just some of the Companies involved,
- BattleCorps; Fiction and game material for BattleTech (Topps owned)
- BattleTech / Catalyst games Labs; Manuals, board games, Tech books (under licence from Topps)
- HeavyMetal Software; digital and hardcopy BattleTech products offshoot (through Microsoft and Topps)

What to do;
Would it be a benefit for PGI to have some 'New Player' references about what this BattleTech Verse is? As of now, it's the current player base that fills that roll, and all the online and physical material used to understand what PGI is presenting. But, for someone brand new visiting this site, having no knowledge of the 'Verse' or the game, there's quite a bit lacking and no where to turn to.
- Yes, we have lots of content to buy and Pilot, either with real or C-bill funds, but no explained reason why. Can PGI rely on only the customers and fan base to provide information to these new players, or do they need to take an active role and build the resources to present to a brand new visitor?
(we do hear from PGI they are working on Pilot tools, better UI, Smurfy type interfaces, and more info on what we see in game. But still relying on 'other sites or links' for 'what it all means'. "Here, big stompy robots, go play!" will work for some but after a while there's always the questions of "what's the reason we do this"?)

- I will give credit were it's due, PGI did produce the game, it's real and we're playing it now. And it's one of very few 'Mech based game that's still active and moving forward, most of the others were 'flash's in the pan' and have since faded away.
- PGI is advancing in small steps towards a goal, build the whole verse for this game. Include as much content as they can following the structure and materials offered in BattleTech. Most of which requires actually creating, designing and building that digital material.
- The Website: There's been quite a few posts about lack of updates to the web site, nothing new or changed for a very long time. Content missing, info or resources about current products 'just not there'. It may be 'placed on the back burner' while PGI address's live material and gameplay, again they are not a large organization with a dedicated group or team just for the web site. (perhaps that needs to change?)

Just some ramblings,
9erRed

Edited by 9erRed, 11 March 2015 - 11:44 PM.

[Sean von Steinike]

Lord Scarlett Johan, on 10 March 2015 - 01:04 AM, said:

Instead of lore, I'd rather they explain the game mechanics.

No reason why they couldn't have both.

[Bluttrunken]

I don't know a single bit about Mechwarrior lore, never read a book, never played the TT, basically I just know it's a thing and that it is about giant robots... but I can thoroughly enjoy the game without it.

Edited by k05h3lk1n, 11 March 2015 - 11:59 PM.

[CtrlAltWheee]

If it wasn't for the mw2 booklet, campaign, and picking up my first BT novel at a used bookstore, I would not be playing this game today.

I buy the clan mechs and play CW for clan smoke jaguar because they were the clan I loved in the books.

As a business, PGI should be all over this.

[Johnny Z]

CtrlAltWheee, on 12 March 2015 - 12:11 AM, said:

If it wasn't for the mw2 booklet, campaign, and picking up my first BT novel at a used bookstore, I would not be playing this game today.

I buy the clan mechs and play CW for clan smoke jaguar because they were the clan I loved in the books.

As a business, PGI should be all over this.

At some point most likely far down the road they should offer a collectors edition with concept work and other cool stuff.

What this topic is about is building upon the Mechwarrior atmosphere in game. The story. The character. Very little atmosphere is in game but what is in game like on the field is great just not complete. There is talk of improvments all over what is in game and additions also.

The way this company building this game has gone about it so far is really awsome and I hope they continue and its successfull. Its almost like a early access game thats so common these days but its actually getting heavy content releases steadily and quickly really, which is cool.

Anyway I hope along with this huge star map project they are on, they take as much effort into building story and atmosphere and character.

[Davegt27]

Thanks Hound for taking the time to give us some Lore


Also check out this (it might not be accurate but still gives a general idea what's going on)

from episode 9




well you used to be able to go by time stamp
anyway starting at 7:10

Edited by Davegt27, 12 March 2015 - 04:01 AM.