27 replies to this topic

[Richard Hazen]

I saw in an advert for the game that it's aim is to alter the future, however I'm not entirely sure whether this is true or not. Is the games aim to alter battletech lore or is it following the path already set down?

Edited by Deimos Alpha, 04 June 2015 - 06:04 AM.

[Raggedyman]

Deimos Alpha, on 04 June 2015 - 03:39 AM, said:

I saw in a advert for the game that it's aim is to alter the future, however I'm not entirely sure whether this is true or not. Is the games aim to alter battletech lore or is it following the path already set down?

• Never believe advertising
  
• No plot survives first contact with the players
  
• By having player driven content (CW) the history is going to get rewritten all over the place just by "the wrong people" winning
  
• The key lore is "walking tanks go PEWPEWPEW!", that is still intact

[SnagaDance]

Well, in Community Warfare you can re-write how the Clan Invasion goes. But that won't change official BattleTech lore one bit. Much like how any Star Wars games do not change the Star Wars Canon.

[Rhaythe]

Don't believe the advertising. I mean, the ad showed people piloting Awesomes too. You can't believe everything you see online.

[Nightmare1]

What Lore?

[Soy]

Strictly apocryphal.

[Dolph Hoskins]

Wouldn't avoiding battletech lore be a better way to put it?

There is so very little BT info or references in MWO. The most we have is names of factions, weapons, some mechs, and a star map. There is no meat, just labels.

I always wish there was a decent service history tab for each mech that went into details on each chassis like manufacturing details, combat roles, and other worthy points of mention. Kind of like in MC2 but more expanded.

And more info and references in game about the houses and clans...and a lot of stuff...

[storm0545]

if they could just add in a built in codex that takes everything from sarna so i can browse at my lesiure id be a happy mechwarrior.

[LordBraxton]

Yeah they rewrote everything. Now the entire clan invasion was a series of mad rushes down corridors to blow up Ion cannons ripped from star wars or some ****. No more logical objectives, or pitched field battles, or combined arms. Pretty hefty rewrite.

Edited by LordBraxton, 04 June 2015 - 05:08 AM.

[TWIAFU]

The Ripper13, on 04 June 2015 - 04:52 AM, said:

Wouldn't avoiding battletech lore be a better way to put it?

There is so very little BT info or references in MWO. The most we have is names of factions, weapons, some mechs, and a star map. There is no meat, just labels.

I always wish there was a decent service history tab for each mech that went into details on each chassis like manufacturing details, combat roles, and other worthy points of mention. Kind of like in MC2 but more expanded.

And more info and references in game about the houses and clans...and a lot of stuff...

I have hopes, still, that CW will have some of that.

Click a planet, see what factories are there and what they produce, mechs, weapon systems, fighters, etc. Planet history to garrison info. All that info is there, all in official BT TT books.

Click a Faction home planet/capital and can get info on that faction.

Your right, there is a lot of lore that can be and should be added to enhance the BT experience.

[ArchAngelWC]

I shall reply to this as a PGI employee would, "What's Battletech?"

[Mawai]

MWO is not canon for Battletech/Mechwarrior ... none of the video games have been considered as reliable sources for universe or plot line development.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Canon

MWO is a fun game set in the same (or a parallel universe ) ... events in MWO have no effect on the "lore" of the game. However, CW and other features that are tied to the lore do allow for outcomes that are not part of the lore ... as a result they clearly are not canon ... especially since the results will be different with every reset.

[STEF_]

MWO is an e-sport.

Sadly, Russ wants epeensport with robbotz.

[FrontGuard]

Stefka Kerensky, on 04 June 2015 - 05:31 AM, said:

MWO is an e-sport.

If they add Solaris 7... 1 v 1, 2 v 2, 3 v 3 and so on, then yes that would be an e-sport.
What we have now is still "Supposed" to be Battletech Mechwarrior.

[Mechteric]

There is no lore in MWO. There's really nothing driving any kind of plot or even those neat little fluff pieces they used to write up (remember those ComStar news stubs).

[Joseph Mallan]

Only way to rewrite BattleTech lore is to become the game developers of BattleTech. MW:O is it's own FanFic.

[Wildstreak]

The Truth about MWO & Canon.

[STEF_]

FrontGuard, on 04 June 2015 - 05:44 AM, said:

If they add Solaris 7... 1 v 1, 2 v 2, 3 v 3 and so on, then yes that would be an e-sport.
What we have now is still "Supposed" to be Battletech Mechwarrior.

http://mwomercs.com/...71#entry4473871

Sadly: "....we hope unlocks a start to a lot more tournaments and e-sports mentality for MWO".


That's why MWO has a lot of design's issues: because is PGI/Russ vision, this is NOT a BT game, neither a combat simulation.

That phrase also means"We are not able to do other than an e-sport, pew pew whatever robotto skirmish arena"

[Mawai]

There are a lot of folks slamming Russ' vision ... whatever that may be. I'm not sure it is justified since MWO is and always will be constrained by its basic design.

I suspect the comment about esports is simply reflecting a desire to attract more players and esports is about the only niche that MWO can fill.

If you think about it ... MWO has NO other reason for existence in the longer term EXCEPT as an e-sport. This is because there are really no other reasons to play the game long term. Esports might attract more players and keep them playing (and paying) longer which is what this is all about in the long run. (Cynical eh? ).

The solo or group queues are all about repetitive ~10 minute battles. People play because the battles are fun or they like grinding mechs ... but has been pointed out since closed beta ... there are NO reasons beyond that to keep playing.

Community warfare is one meta game element recently introduced to encourage folks to play for reasons beyond the next drop. However, it applies only to specific game modes on specialty maps, that split the player base and require a much larger time commitment to play. I suspect most don't play CW much for several reasons.

So ... since CW only appeals to a fraction of the population ... what next? Leagues, tournaments and competitive play seems to be the next target based on the esport comments and some of the improvements to the private match spectator and streaming support. Unfortunately, this also only appeals to a fraction of the game's population ... probably those who drop mostly in the group queue.

Another suggested features to encourage player retention is a skills/XP system that allows selection of unlocks for each chassis .. supporting role warfare and making it much more interesting to level up mechs ... if leveling is less of a grind because it is more interesting then more folks will do it. The longer they play, the more likely they are to spend some money to reduce the grind.

The other pillar is PVE content both solo and cooperative group. Many players started with the single player Mechwarrior video games where each has a decent story line and relatively interesting missions. It would be a great new player experience if players could experience a relatively short single player campaign and earn their first mech (choose it) at the end of the set of missions. The players would be much more prepared for multiplayer since they would at least have learned the controls ... and by having tutorial missions they would have an opportunity to try out each mech class ... earn some cbills and buy their first mech at the end of the campaign.


P.S. MWO is designed as an N vs N team first person shooter in mechs with multiple weapon systems. People can buy any mechs and can drop in non-CW matches in whatever mechs they prefer.

THIS is why MWO and lore do not mix. The lore is not fair. The lore does not involve any sort of even fight between clans and IS. Trying to balance matches with any mix of clan and IS mechs is challenging unless they are somewhat comparable. Also, if clan mechs were as OP as they are in lore ... only role playing reasons would keep folks in IS mechs since it is generally less fun to be cannon fodder.

In addition, all weapons in MWO go where they are aimed. They do not do this in Battletech. Hit location is randomly assigned in TT. MWO is real time. Each weapon does different amounts of damage with different delays and different quantization of that damage ... whereas TT was a 10 second turn and all the damage from any weapon was assigned in groups. An AC10 would do 10 damage if it hit. The lore and role play elements may indicate whether this might be one big round, several small ones or something else ... but no matter what "manufacturer" ... and AC10 would do the same total damage.

There are so many basic design elements in the fundamental nature of MWO as a team first person real time aimed shooter that it HAS to be different from the lore no matter what choices are made by the designers. On the other hand, the defunct MW Tactics was essentially a web browser port of the board game.

Edited by Mawai, 04 June 2015 - 07:51 AM.

[LordBraxton]

Mawai, since when does a game need a purpose other than being fun? MW4 wasnt even
my
favorite mechwarrior game, but its mission play mode made it last. It featured huge maps and large bases containing multiple objectives. Defenders needed to protect at least 2 of these. Due to the large map size, passive and active sensors were important to establish the enemy avenue of attack. Sometimes 5-10 minutes would pass before contact. This mode kept the game fresh for years, because each match felt like an operation, with planning, recon, adjustment, and execution of attack. Matches could last as much as an hour if both teams were good. If MWO had this instead of our ****** Moba CW, it would be twice(re: many times) as good. The issue (or one of many) with Russ’s vision, is that he shares the common view that espots means overly simplified, straight to the point shallow gameplay, that is easily understandable, and catering to the lowest common denominator.

Edited by LordBraxton, 04 June 2015 - 07:49 AM.