4 replies to this topic

[DivideByZer0]

Old video, but I find this Extra Credits video relevant to this game right now, specifically the quirkening. Just something to think about.. discuss!

Edited by DivideByZer0, 30 March 2015 - 07:52 PM.

[Wintersdark]

LRM's = Noob Tube MWO version.

[ThirtyOughtSix]

Good video. Think PGI either A: hit the nail on the head or B: Totally missed the boat.

Think about it we're constantly being driven toward lasers for their ez/OP nature. Is this PGIs bad balance or is it PGI hiding an underlying "strategy" that is better but requires more skill IE: PPC, Gauss? The answer I doz not know. I have a feeling it's more aligned with B - and balance just sucks so we're just doing the same sheet over and over again. Which according to your video will eventually lead to the death of MWO. Say it ain't so!

Side note: Add Solaris please! My forehead hurts from doing the same thing over and over again every time I log in (12v12).

[Wintersdark]

Hyper99, on 30 March 2015 - 07:57 PM, said:

Good video. Think PGI either A: hit the nail on the head or B: Totally missed the boat.

Think about it we're constantly being driven toward lasers for their ez/OP nature. Is this PGIs bad balance or is it PGI hiding an underlying "strategy" that is better but requires more skill IE: PPC, Gauss? The answer I doz not know. I have a feeling it's more aligned with B - and balance just sucks so we're just doing the same sheet over and over again. Which according to your video will eventually lead to the death of MWO. Say it ain't so!

Side note: Add Solaris please! My forehead hurts from doing the same thing over and over again every time I log in (12v12).

No. In fact, lasers have been a fairly sup-par weapon for many years, and it's only through recent changes and in particular the PPC nerf that they've come into fashion. Well, than and of course non-laser medium to long range clan weapons being really kind of terrible.


MWO's low skill high power weapon is the LRM. It's extremely effective early on as we've Elo matchmaking, so unlike CoD new players tend to fight against more average opponents than really strong ones. As players improve, however, the myriad of defenses against LRM's become ever more noticable, and eventually LRM use really tapers off into higher levels of play. They're just nowhere near an optimal strategy, because they're too easy for a skilled player to mitigate/stop entirely.

However, in new player land, LRM's allow a player to be effective before he's learned how to pilot his mech well, how to employ defensive piloting, how to brawl effectively, where to target when sniping, etc: Just sit back behind cover and herf LURMS!

In fact, MWO does a surprisingly good job of easing players out of that. Unlike how the video discusses the problem of the strategy being too effective for too long, then players hitting a wall where it's no longer effective but other options are too hard, the system we have results in a gradual tapering of LRM effectiveness (so long as you're actually improving in skill and winning more). If you're NOT improving, they remain effective for you. Either way, things work out well for the player.

I don't think this is intentional, but it's how the game works

[SweetJackal]

Or, you can properly track player performance to measure skill so that you don't have skilled players stomping on new players. The design choices mentioned in the video are better used in systems without a matchmaking dependency.

Since CoD4, CoD never properly measured skill or attempted to do so. It also tailored itself to the "popcorn arcade" end of the shooter pool, something fun but never reaching for a level of seriousness in it's design, though it may have marketed itself as "the everyman's serious military simulator."

You do need to take player skill into account when designing a game, but only to keep higher skilled players from completely stomping out lower skilled players. There are many ways to achieve this goal and introducing elements that are designed to allow a lower skilled player a greater chance of getting the odd kill against a higher skilled player, elements of gameplay that increase the variance to extremes are only one means and often they introduce more problems into the game than they solve, being that they are just as easily abused by the skilled as they are the skill-less.