53 replies to this topic

[Elizander]

TheCharlatan, on 17 July 2015 - 10:25 AM, said:

E-sports is just a word for: PGI getting $$$ by having tourneys (their own or made by others).
Look at the other e-sports: they exist because lots of people watch it, which means that sponsors are intrested in putting $$$ in it, and PGI can take a share of that.

To do that you don't need balance, you don't need hitreg, you need friggin' people watching the matches like they were in trance.
Look at Hearthstone: it's a F2P game, and when it was in open beta it worked like s***, and was incredibly unbalanced but a lot of people watched it.
Why?
Well, because it's a Blizzard game, they have lots of people following their games just because of that, but also thanks to the streamers: lots of them rose up during the early stages of the game, each with their personality and playstyle, and people chose a favorite, and now watch them religiously.

PGI wants to make MWO into an e-sport?
What they need to do is help the MWO streamers. They are the ones that can create this audience.
Make people care about big giant mechs shooting each other, or e-sports dosen't mean a thing.

I agree with getting more Youtube/Twitch people out there, but to be honest, it's not that entertaining for me or my friends to watch. It's great to play if you know what you're doing, but there is hardly enough info on the screen to figure out what's going on. When spectator mode zooms out you can hardly see anything and people have no clue what loadouts are on the mechs.

Too many "???" will cause an audience to lose interest quickly.

[Johnny Z]

Pay to whine player "Can I take my Timber Wolf to the Urbie Derby event?"

Announcer replies "For the last time, No!"

Announcer "Welcome contestants, spectators, to the 1st annual Urbie Derby Free for all event on Solaris!"

Announcer "Let the Match begin!" *Las gun shot streaks accross the arena*

Announcer "And there're off, most of the Urbies are moving towards the center of the arena near the sideline. WAIT A MINUTE! How did that Timber Wolf get on the field!! Look at all those Urbies scramble!!"

Edited by Johnny Z, 18 July 2015 - 10:07 AM.

[MechaBattler]

It's not like they're bending over backwards to make it more "e-sport". The sky is not falling.

[Mystere]

MechaBattler, on 18 July 2015 - 11:12 AM, said:

It's not like they're bending over backwards to make it more "e-sport". The sky is not falling.

And therein lies the rub. They're changing focus, again.

[Sjorpha]

It's just information that they are improving the spectator tools, what kind of thing is that to get all riled up about?

[Adiuvo]

What does 'esports focus' exactly mean to you guys? Jesus.

What makes a game a good esport is, funnily enough, what also makes it a good game. The only place where this doesn't apply is a hardcore sim, which MWO was never supposed to be to begin with.

[Mystere]

Adiuvo, on 18 July 2015 - 12:38 PM, said:

What does 'esports focus' exactly mean to you guys? Jesus.

eSports means:

• Clan Mechs = IS Mechs
  
• Clan Weapons and equipment = IS Weapons aand equipment
  
• Lights = Mediums = Heavies = Assaults

Adiuvo, on 18 July 2015 - 12:38 PM, said:

What makes a game a good esport is, funnily enough, what also makes it a good game. The only place where this doesn't apply is a hardcore sim, which MWO was never supposed to be to begin with.

I don't know about you, but I expected CW to be just that, from the "warfare" perspective anyway.

Edited by Mystere, 18 July 2015 - 12:41 PM.

[Adiuvo]

Mystere, on 18 July 2015 - 12:40 PM, said:

I don't know about you, but I expected CW to be just that, from the "warfare" perspective anyway.

In terms of logistics, I could see that. That section definitely should be.

My post meant with regards to gameplay though. Stuff like power management, deep customization, non-automated sequences, etc., is all missing from MWO and has been from closed beta. Imagine that if instead of pressing P, if you had to free look and click all the switches and buttons yourself!

[jss78]

Odinvolk, on 17 July 2015 - 10:17 PM, said:

The first players to jump on this and to spend huge $$$ were life-long BT/MW fans, many of us with tabletop experience.
And we will be the last to leave.

Odinvolk, on 17 July 2015 - 10:17 PM, said:

IMHO, e-sport fans were never, and will never, be primary audience for Mechwarrior. If any other cool game comes out they will leave.

There's probably some overlap between these two groups. E-sports minded people who are also MW/BT fans, as evidenced by the existing competitive crowd in MWO. I think it makes perfect sense to provide this crowd with the the facilities they need, insofar as it can be done with a reasonable development time and without compromising what the casual majority expects from the game.

[Davegt27]

Being new to online gaming I have absolutely no concept of E-sports

Competitive on line gaming is something I been wanting to ask about since I first heard about it

I would be called a troll of course if I did ask

I did find this video

[MechaBattler]

Mystere, on 18 July 2015 - 12:30 PM, said:

And therein lies the rub. They're changing focus, again.

Their change in focus is basically to introduce a better spectator mode. Something that tournament people have been asking for a very long time. I recall the town hall, probably one of the first few, where Russ said they wouldn't be working on it.

If the extent of their "E-sport" focus is to introduce a better spectator mode months after it was asked for. I'm inclined to let em have it. We have Forest colony coming along. As well as that mech select change everyone has been asking for. And on top of that we'll eventually get a big rebalance of mechs.

[James Warren]

I don't expect MWO to take off as a popular 'e-sport' any time soon, although...

Having a proper spectator mode will make it so much easier for people to record gameplay, which could lead to machinima, more interesting streaming, better footage for YouTube commentary - all these things will increase the amount of exposure the game receives and hopefully bring in some new players.

Its a positive addition to the game, even if not for the reasons stated officially.

[Kristov Kerensky]

E-sports and MWO aren't new, it was mentioned in the original spiel for MWO back in 2011, guess you guys all forgot that? It's been something PGI has mentioned time and again over the past few years, guess you guys all missed that too?

MWO has the potential to be an e-sport, IF all the things PGI promised us in 2011 come about. As it stands right now..not so much.

And Mystere, making all things equal would be a bad move, you and I feel the same on that subject, but if you look around the forums, we seem to be a fairly small minority anymore.

[Sarlic]

Potential is the problem.

PGI and potential doenst go well together.