91 replies to this topic

[Astaroth]

As anyone who comes here looking for information about MWO knows, it can sometimes be difficult to find the information you are looking for relating to the game. It's not that the information isn't available, it's just that it's hard to find. Kaemon's New Players Start Here thread is a pretty good effort, but that's an awful lot of links to sort through.

So after seeing several requests for one single source of information with everything in one place, I decided to do a little something about the problem. This solution is not quite ideal, but I think it goes a long ways toward solving the problem. What I have done here is to collect all of the information we have available about MWO to date and put it into a single document, then organize it by topic and try to put it together in a way that makes sense.

I'm looking for some feedback on this document. Is it useful? Does it help address the problem? What additional information would you like to see included in here? Admittedly, I left out a few details here and there that I did not think were very significant. But something I don't think is significant may be very significant to someone else.

I also left out some other potentially important items like system requirements, Founders and beta info, and probably a couple other things. Should some of those be included?

If the community is willing to provide feedback, I'm willing to update and maintain the document in perpetuity.

Help me out here, guys.

You can download a PDF version of the Primer here.
I have also put a wiki version of the primer up on the MWO Wiki, in the Beginner's Guide.


7/15 edit: Added wiki link

Edited by Astaroth, 28 September 2012 - 09:24 AM.

[Idzuna]

Ill have a good look through and let you know. Using GoogleDocs would be a good idea too, so people can click the same link and always get the latest version

GoogleDoc Link (PDF only. this wont magically change when OP edits the original):
https://docs.google....bmZobEtUQWRET1E
Astaroth has included a more up-to-date GoogleDoc link

Edit: Ok finished. I had to look up some abbreviations to clarify what you meant. I would like to see more on Startup/Shutdown and what is available while Shutdown.

But all in all. It's an amazing piece of work, sooooooo much concise information about MWO.

Edited by Idzuna, 04 July 2012 - 01:01 PM.

[Greyrook]

An impressive undertaking, but there are existing wiki sites that could be well served by someone with your dedication

The unofficial MWO wiki site: http://www.mwowiki.o...title=Main_Page
The MWO section of the Mechwarrior wiki: http://www.mechwarri...hWarrior_Online

[Idzuna]

Greyrook, on 03 July 2012 - 09:01 PM, said:

An impressive undertaking, but there are existing wiki sites that could be well served by someone with your dedication

The unofficial MWO wiki site: http://www.mwowiki.o...title=Main_Page
The MWO section of the Mechwarrior wiki: http://www.mechwarri...hWarrior_Online

I think there's a subtle difference here. A primer is more of a "Here's what you need to know" while a wiki is more "What do I want to know?"

A wiki relies on the player figuring out what is important to them and researching it. The other is what the player should know if they don't know where to start.

[00seven]

I'm a new player and familiar enough to know what I don't know so I'll take a look at the doc as well. I've put some hard search and review time in the last couple of days to bring my self to a level which really should have only taken an hour or so at best. Not that the journey hasn't been fun.

Two good points are made related to document consolidation and efficeincy vs. info overload and the need for a primer.

One possibile solution is, you are both right. It's the "you got your chocolate in my peanut butter" situation and maybe it can be a primer section ON the wiki. One place, built to direct people to existing data in the order and timing most beneficial to new players.

This could prove to be exponentially benefitial when MWO goes live, and the hootin and hollerin really starts to draw more attention.

[Greyrook]

Idzuna, on 03 July 2012 - 09:09 PM, said:

I think there's a subtle difference here. A primer is more of a "Here's what you need to know" while a wiki is more "What do I want to know?"

A wiki relies on the player figuring out what is important to them and researching it. The other is what the player should know if they don't know where to start.

I would tend to agree, but a wiki with a "primer page" would allow for more community assistance and simpler modification process on your end. It would also limit the danger of having mistaken or NDA infringing information being your responsibility alone. However, if you want to maintain this document, I can only applaud your tenacity.

00seven, on 03 July 2012 - 09:22 PM, said:

I'm a new player and familiar enough to know what I don't know so I'll take a look at the doc as well. I've put some hard search and review time in the last couple of days to bring my self to a level which really should have only taken an hour or so at best. Not that the journey hasn't been fun.

Two good points are made related to document consolidation and efficeincy vs. info overload and the need for a primer.

One possibile solution is, you are both right. It's the "you got your chocolate in my peanut butter" situation and maybe it can be a primer section ON the wiki. One place, built to direct people to existing data in the order and timing most beneficial to new players.

This could prove to be exponentially benefitial when MWO goes live, and the hootin and hollerin really starts to draw more attention.

Ha, beat me to it

[Seth]

I'm all for working with people who want to better keep the community informed. I can't read the file right now because all the free download slots are beng take up, but if the OP feels this would work well in as part of the MWO wiki, I would be more than happy to help set that up.

[Gamgee]

Awesome, too bad I'm apparently using all my free download slots or some BS. So no looking for me.

[ElcomeSoft]

Google Docs would be an absolutely perfect place for this information (though I cannot read it at this moment in time, same reason as some above me)

Any effort to help people new to what MWO is expected to offer, new to Battletech or just want a source of up to date information about the game should be applauded and is something I support.

[Idzuna]

Added a GoogleDoc link to my first post

[Argent Tnega]

Awesome read! Thanks for putting that together. Answered a bunch of my questions.

[Astaroth]

Sorry about the poor choice of file hosts in my first post. I'll edit with a link to the Google doc version Idzuna posted. (Thanks for that, BTW.)

I considered just adding this content to the MWO wiki, but decided against it, pretty much for the reasons Idzuna gave. Wikis work like an encyclopedia, a source of reference you can use when you are looking for something specific. This primer is intended to give people a walkthrough of the important information related to MWO without getting bogged down in details. Also, for people who have no idea where to start, this is their starting point.

Maintaining the doc in its current form is a piece of cake. I put together the original in about 8-10 hours, and that includes the time I spent reading and collating information from dev blogs, Q & As, etc. That's not to say maintaining it in a different form wouldn't be just as easy, I just don't want anyone thinking that I'm making this harder on myself than I need to. I'm not.

That being said, having some chocolate in the peanut butter here probably isn't a bad idea. What I would really like, more than anything, is for this content to be available and readily accessible to anyone who needs it, whether they are looking for it here on the MWO forums, on the MWO wiki, or even somewhere else. I suspect there is a way that, with a minimum of effort, we can make that happen.

Idzuna, on 03 July 2012 - 08:57 PM, said:

Edit: Ok finished. I had to look up some abbreviations to clarify what you meant. I would like to see more on Startup/Shutdown and what is available while Shutdown.

I wondered if may have used too many acronyms. They are all common acronyms for BT/MW players, but maybe I should include an acronym glossary at the end?

[Coolant]

Good work Skimmed through it and seems to cover the bases. I tried

Astaroth, on 03 July 2012 - 08:45 PM, said:

As anyone who comes here looking for information about MWO knows, it can sometimes be difficult to find the information you are looking for relating to the game. It's not that the information isn't available, it's just that it's hard to find. Kaemon's New Players Start Here thread is a pretty good effort, but that's an awful lot of links to sort through.

So after seeing several requests for one single source of information with everything in one place, I decided to do a little something about the problem. This solution is not quite ideal, but I think it goes a long ways toward solving the problem. What I have done here is to collect all of the information we have available about MWO to date and put it into a single document, then organize it by topic and try to put it together in a way that makes sense.

I'm looking for some feedback on this document. Is it useful? Does it help address the problem? What additional information would you like to see included in here? Admittedly, I left out a few details here and there that I did not think were very significant. But something I don't think is significant may be very significant to someone else.

I also left out some other potentially important items like system requirements, Founders and beta info, and probably a couple other things. Should some of those be included?

If the community is willing to provide feedback, I'm willing to update and maintain the document in perpetuity.

Help me out here, guys.

You can download the MWO Primer here.

awesome, but I tried 8 times and kept getting the "all free download slots in use"

Idzuna, on 03 July 2012 - 08:57 PM, said:

Ill have a good look through and let you know. Using GoogleDocs would be a good idea too, so people can click the same link and always get the latest version

GoogleDoc Link (PDF only. this wont magically change when OP edits the original):
https://docs.google....bmZobEtUQWRET1E

Edit: Ok finished. I had to look up some abbreviations to clarify what you meant. I would like to see more on Startup/Shutdown and what is available while Shutdown.

But all in all. It's an amazing piece of work, sooooooo much concise information about MWO.

Great work Astaroth Seems to cover all the bases but only skimmed through it so far. Will read more later. Thx Idzuna for putting it on GoogleDocs. Pulled right up. Please keep it updated!

[Atgeir]

Very helpful, thanks for putting it together!

[Bobfrombobtown]

Both a Dragon and a Commando can be seen in the Frozen City video. The dragon makes an appearance between the 20 and 30 second mark and the Commando at around the 50 second to 1 minute mark (off to the right of a Catapult), and again at around 1:15 getting blasted.

I think these are pretty good indicators that they too will be in at launch.

EDIT: I hope this topic gets stickied/pinned. We really need this.

Edited by Bobfrombobtown, 04 July 2012 - 06:41 AM.

[deadeye mcduck]

Well put together, needs to be required reading for all new players.

[Astaroth]

Bobfrombobtown, on 04 July 2012 - 06:37 AM, said:

Both a Dragon and a Commando can be seen in the Frozen City video. The dragon makes an appearance between the 20 and 30 second mark and the Commando at around the 50 second to 1 minute mark (off to the right of a Catapult), and again at around 1:15 getting blasted.

I think these are pretty good indicators that they too will be in at launch.

I agree, but until their presence is confirmed by the devs it would be presumptive for me to list them that way.

[Bobfrombobtown]

Astaroth, on 04 July 2012 - 06:45 AM, said:

I agree, but until their presence is confirmed by the devs it would be presumptive for me to list them that way.

Understandable.

Something you might want to consider in the MechLab area is an explanation about "slots", known to most BT/MW players (except maybe MW4 people) as criticals/critical slots. Or, more precisely, the number of available slots by default. (so far, for the 'Mechs available at launch they all seem to use standard armor and standard engines so no need to worry about XL engines, ferro-fibrous armor, or endo-steel.) So something like the following

Available crit slots: Head 1, Center Torso 2, Right Torso 12, Left Torso 12, Right Arm 8, Left Arm 8, Right Leg 2, Left Leg 2
(I'm not sure if they will be removing hand actuators and lower arm actuators for 'Mechs that don't have them so we can't yet say if arms will have 8-10 crit slots or not).

Edited by Bobfrombobtown, 04 July 2012 - 07:23 AM.

[Astaroth]

Updated the primer to v1.0.1. Includes the new mech, a short paragraph on shutdown, and an acronym glossary at the end. Links to the file in the very first post have been updated.

Google Docs here.

Next revision will include an explanation of crit slots. Any other requests?

Edited by Astaroth, 05 July 2012 - 07:43 AM.

[Idzuna]

Astaroth, on 04 July 2012 - 06:17 AM, said:

I wondered if may have used too many acronyms. They are all common acronyms for BT/MW players, but maybe I should include an acronym glossary at the end?

I remembered most of them, but I hadn't played for a while. I'm embarrassed to say that I even forgot what DFA stood for ._.


Thanks for updating the back with the glossary