28 replies to this topic

[Elizander]

New player experience F

[Scout Derek]

Elizander, on 04 May 2015 - 10:58 AM, said:

New player experience F

can't disagree with that, thanks for reminding me I'll put that in the post real quick.

[Cion]

LordBraxton, on 04 May 2015 - 08:52 AM, said:

Cion, Im not disagreeing with you.. but I want to know what caused the massive grade increase since IGP...

CW is terrible in my eyes, so I dont really see much improvement.

@Voivode... 4v4 forest colony idea gave me an erection at work... embarrssin...

When grading (subjectively) a company I thought of productivity, which invariably leads to output. They pumped the CW we have now in about 4-6 months (after IGP was no more). With that they did quirks. Whether or not the reason for quirks is justified, the creation of quirks was positive and pretty large. I believe that with CW at a year mark it will be decent. Not complex, but functioning, with more than one game mode.

Customer support turnover has increased dramatically, billing is faster, Russ actually communicates, although imperfectly, but communicates fairly often.

Those are some reasons why my increase in grading.

[Raggedyman]

Scout Derek, on 04 May 2015 - 08:32 AM, said:

I'd say a B-, maybe a B.

So what's your grade on PGI? Please do tell.

I'm going to give it a B

On the plus side

• The game looks good and works nicely (within it's own frame-work) with few Grade A bugs or exploits so far.
  
• It has kept most of the original game content and concepts, mostly removing things that are not applicable to an FPS environment
  
• New content is added regularly (mechs are content, as per the recent NGNG I will forgive them game modes and, to a certain degree, maps due to the 'small community, limited number of buckets' issue)
  
• They do attempt to respond to player feedback (score based challenges, the Urban Mech, getting a community manager) and are trying to improve the bits they are getting wrong
  
• CW is an attempt at having a more indepth game mode for the more serious players

On the down side

• Progression is dull and hasn't been addressed in any meaningful form
  
• Balance is still a major problem, with minimal attempts at using anything other than weight class and some heavy handed quirking
  
• communications could be higher, and a lot more own-site based
  
• Role Warfare is still to be properly implemented

So "good" but still very much "could do better"

[Midax]

I give it a C.

The Good.

The mech models and animations are good.

Graphics are good.

Controls are good.

The Bad.

Weapon balance.

Heat has no impact until you shut down.

Omni mechs have no purpose with the currect heat lab.

Game is an arena shooter.

What I hope for.

New game modes. Maybe one that can run multiple matches so omnis have value.

Heat effect accuracy.

Role Warfare

Weapon balance passes separate from quirks.

Edited by Midax, 04 May 2015 - 12:33 PM.

[TLBFestus]

Im not really sure of a grade, overall maybe a C or C+ at best, but if PGI were a student it would be that home-schooled kid that never got socialized properly and just kinda weirds everyone out that they talk to.

Edited by TLBFestus, 04 May 2015 - 02:00 PM.

[Malleus011]

D+

Elements of the game are really fun. Some of the 'mechs look great (and some have been ruined by 'dynamic geometry'). As a giant robot shooter, it can be fun.

However - and this is a long however - new user experience is akin to stabbing yourself in the eye with a spoon. Mechlab is poorly designed. There aren't many game modes. CW isn't really fun to play and seems to be improving at a glacial pace. Maps tend to be badly made, too small, and to promote really dull, repetitive gameplay. Community interaction improved for a bit in the back half of 2014, but isn't great, with way too much twitter and no real interaction here. Skill progression is badly outdated and has needed a revamp since God was a boy. There's NO SOUL in the game at all - no Mechwarrior in the Mechwarrior online; no Battletech storyline AT ALL. Any Battletech in this game generally has to be looked up on sites like Sarna; there aren't even basic blurbs on the individual 'mechs or Great Houses or Clans; we're just picking colored badges and shooting each other in a random jumble. Bug fixes and new feature progress is extremely slow, with some problems being noted and then left un-addressed for years. Systems like ECM and LRMs aren't really in a good place, but they're unlikely to ever be fixed.

Granted, the company is small and has limited resources, but they're not likely to grow larger unless they deliver some impressive results on MWO, and in the the last several years, they really haven't done that. I'd like to see the title improve, but thus far, progress seems slower than the general rate of PC game technological advancement, which suggests to me that MWO will be doomed to obsolescence long before their license runs out.

Edited by Malleus011, 04 May 2015 - 02:12 PM.

[Hayek Lahiri]

DONTOR, on 04 May 2015 - 09:02 AM, said:

A+
Its still the best mech game we have, or that I have ever played. I LOVE games with no respawning, and there are so few of them these days..
More customization than any game that comes to mind is also huge for me, cant wait for decals...
Also tons of mechs we didnt get to play i previous MW titles is a big deal to me.

That's because MWO is the only mech game we have.

[pbiggz]

Your grades have been withheld due to a hold on this student account. Reason: account balance.