56 replies to this topic

[Scout Derek]

Instead of just having the usual cadet bonus that newbies may never known about until later, why not give them a starter pack?

For example, the starter pack gives you a Jenner, Centurion, Cataphract and Highlander to work with, with 4 mechbays included.(not champion, regular like for example, Cataphract 1X)

However, the mechs are locked in their bays until you Elite at least 3 different versions of it's Chassis.

If they implement this I feel we'd get more players and some that actually stick around, plus PGI would generate more revenue from the newer players wanting to spend money on this game.

If you wanna support this, go here:

http://mwomercs.com/...64#entry4545064

[FupDup]

I think they should be started with trial mechs that don't suck.

[stjobe]

I think they should get Urbies

[Alistair Winter]

I think they should only play stock mechs. And they should savour the bitter purity of Battletech. Bathe in the salty nostalgia of old Mechwarrior games, where you started with a crappy Commando. And when they ultimately emerge from cadet period, having finally mastered their first, crappy mech in ugly stock colours, they should gasp as they gaze up at Dire Wolves and King Crabs, each carrying as much firepower as their whole teams did in cadet period. And they should weep. Weep, as they realize they are nothing but morsels to be devoured by the overlords of the underhive, raining down bolts of lightning in their poptart Highlander IICs, like greek gods.

[ScarecrowES]

I honestly think that new players should be given at a minimum, one free mech from a selection of mechs when first starting the game. They should also be required to sign up for faction affiliation immediately upon account creation. The available mech selection may then depend on the faction selected (a starter chassis more common to the selected faction, perhaps). As an alternative, the new mechwarrior could be given a pre-set amount of c-bills upon their first faction affiliation, letting them purchase a mech or mechs of their choice.

Also, I believe that all XP gained in the trial (cadet) period should go directly to the GXP pool instead of to the mech that earned it. That way, new players are always gaining XP that can be used to upgrade their first mechs.

A lot of new players leave because the initial learning and leveling curve is so slow that it's next to impossible to get anywhere until you have a handful of owned and elited mechs. Putting new players on the fast track to their first elited chassis is the best thing you can do to get new players to stick with the game.

[Deathlike]

stjobe, on 06 July 2015 - 03:46 PM, said:

I think they should get Urbies

Yes. Start game. Get Urbie. Save the IS... or something like that.


Good luck Urbie. You'll need it.

[Scout Derek]

Alistair Winter, on 06 July 2015 - 03:54 PM, said:

I think they should only play stock mechs. And they should savour the bitter purity of Battletech. Bathe in the salty nostalgia of old Mechwarrior games, where you started with a crappy Commando. And when they ultimately emerge from cadet period, having finally mastered their first, crappy mech in ugly stock colours, they should gasp as they gaze up at Dire Wolves and King Crabs, each carrying as much firepower as their whole teams did in cadet period. And they should weep. Weep, as they realize they are nothing but morsels to be devoured by the overlords of the underhive, raining down bolts of lightning in their poptart Highlander IICs, like greek gods.

So you're saying you don't want faster queing times and more people for CW possibly?

[XxXAbsolutZeroXxX]

FupDup, on 06 July 2015 - 03:42 PM, said:

I think they should be started with trial mechs that don't suck.

I made a new account last week and grinded through the 25 cadet bonuses to see what it was like.

The trial maddog has something like 10 unused armor on each side torso and 20 unused armor on the front center torso.

It has has two LRM20 launchers with something like 400 LRM ammo, about enough for 10 alphas.

Other trial mechs are equipped with PPC's and weapons that only experienced pilots are likely to use effectively.

The old spider, highlander and dragon trial mechs were better imo.

Edited by I Zeratul I, 06 July 2015 - 04:05 PM.

[Mcgral18]

Alistair Winter, on 06 July 2015 - 03:54 PM, said:

I think they should only play stock mechs. And they should savour the bitter purity of Battletech. Bathe in the salty nostalgia of old Mechwarrior games, where you started with a crappy Commando. And when they ultimately emerge from cadet period, having finally mastered their first, crappy mech in ugly stock colours, they should gasp as they gaze up at Dire Wolves and King Crabs, each carrying as much firepower as their whole teams did in cadet period. And they should weep. Weep, as they realize they are nothing but morsels to be devoured by the overlords of the underhive, raining down bolts of lightning in their poptart Highlander IICs, like greek gods.

So, give them their own separate queue? To then be unleashed into the unforgiving stomping that is the PUG LIFE at a given point.



A grand idea.

[Alistair Winter]

Scout Derek, on 06 July 2015 - 04:01 PM, said:

So you're saying you don't want faster queing times and more people for CW possibly?

Compared to other, similar games that I have played, the queue time in MWO is flipping amazing.

True, the queue time in CW is horrendous. But that ultimately doesn't matter to me, because I normally wouldn't play CW even if I was paid to do so.

But my post above was tongue in cheek anyway. My serious answer is: Forcing new players to play trial mechs instead of giving them their own mechs is good for business. It makes new players buy mechs for real money, when they don't know the faintest thing about the game. It's why I spent $15 on a CTF-4X in 2012. I thought boating AC2s would be a winning strategy. Turns out it wasn't. So anyway, it makes sense for PGI to have a system that forces the impatient players to spend real money. And there would be less of that if you gave them mechs. Of course, you can say that more players who stick around = more players who spend money. And you may be right. But I don't think PGI will try it.

[Alistair Winter]

Mcgral18, on 06 July 2015 - 04:05 PM, said:

So, give them their own separate queue? To then be unleashed into the unforgiving stomping that is the PUG LIFE at a given point.



A grand idea.

Spoiler

My post was not intended to be taken seriously.

Edited by Alistair Winter, 06 July 2015 - 04:11 PM.

[Deathlike]

Alistair Winter, on 06 July 2015 - 04:11 PM, said:

Spoiler

My post was not intended to be taken seriously.

Neither was his post!

[Alistair Winter]

Deathlike, on 06 July 2015 - 04:14 PM, said:

Neither was his post!

It seemed more sarcastic than jokey. But it's hard to tell on the internet sometimes.

This is a cat.

[Scout Derek]

Alistair Winter, on 06 July 2015 - 04:18 PM, said:

It seemed more sarcastic than jokey. But it's hard to tell on the internet sometimes.

It wasn't.

[PurpleNinja]

Starter packs like the mastery packs in the store?

[OznerpaG]

i suggested new players should get a Chameleon nearly a year ago - it's the standard IS training mech. i wrote this same post in the feature suggestions, but nobody reads those anyways lol

http://mwomercs.com/...08#entry3631108

[Lyoto Machida]

Start them in trial mechs in CW drops only...

[bad arcade kitty]

>For example, the starter pack gives you a Jenner, Centurion, Cataphract and Highlander to work with

so you want to raise new players as freebirth inner sphere fodder?

[YokiLin]

I had an idea quite some time ago. I want to be able to share my account to a new player to let them try out gameplay with actually decent mechs, outfitted with modules.

I wanted PGI to give me a where they generate a password for my account that only works for a set period of time (a day or two) that I can hand to newbs so that they can see what is it like to play this game as a regular player with mastered mechs and modules. They would not be able to make any changes to the contents of my account, however. If they want a build I don't have, the new player should also be able to ask me to create said build for them to try out, since I do have some extra c-bills, and I should be able to suggest builds that the new player should try as to speed up their understanding of the game (and, uh... maybe help them along with deciding which out mechs to try out when looking at my hundred and fifty mechs ).

This would allow new players to learn about some of the attractive points of MWO, get an idea of what normal play is like, help along with their training, and try out builds without wasting c-bills on crap themselves to reduce unnecessary grinding which would definitely improve player retention and bring in more profit for PGI in the long run. I personally would be happy to help new players handle the learning curve better and improve the player base.

It should be a pretty simple change, too. The only programming PGI needs to do is just a simple function that renders the loaned out password useless after a day or so and lock down changes made to my account by anyone without my personal master password. I don't even mind about newbs lowering my stats, so no extra work is necessary to keep stats separaten (unless others that do care join me on this venture).

Edited by YokiLin, 06 July 2015 - 05:48 PM.

[TLBFestus]

I've been suggesting that they give the new player A SINGLE MECH after the cadet bonus for over 2 years now. I was never so bold as to suggest they get several, but I admire your panache Derek.

Perhaps another option would be to give them one of each class that they can use for a set period of time before settling on a single mech. At that point any and all c-bills, XP and GXP earned with those mechs gets pooled and added to the single chasis they decide upon.

Maybe....just maybe PGI will get it's collective heads out of the "sand" and do something significant like this before they hit STEAM, but I wouldn't hold my breath.