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Suggestions From A New Players Perspective


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#1 Fitch Buckingston

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 04:37 AM

Hello everybody,

this thread is meant to discuss some issues new players (like me) might have with this game, so this is not a rant thread, just my attempt on constructive criticism. I am sure that some of it has already been adressed in other topics, so if you have more informations or if there's already a fix on the way, let me know and I will edit.

I played the game back in beta, and since about two months I started to play again.
So don't expect things like complainments about a steep learning curve, since I simply forgot if i had troubles learning the game in beta :D
I would consider myself as a solid player in mwo, and generally an experienced gamer. I very much enjoy the game, even bought two bundles and some MC-stuff.

So, let's start, I'll try to sort it a little bit:




Group Menu:

Wow, this is one of the most complicated and unintuitive group-menus i had to deal with, and here's why:

- Why doesn't the game create a group automatically when you invite people to a group? (read also next point)

- There should be a switch to select whether the group is for CW or pugs, noone likes to disband a group just to get it together again with the same players.

- Why can't I set "group launch" to automatically start when everybody is ready?

- Why can't I automatically set "ready" when my mech is out of the current match. (I like to browse while waiting for a match, and the game flashes in the taskbar when the map is loaded, so i expect no afk issues here)

- There should be a possibility to invite whole groups, or join up with other groups instead of disbanding your current group and then joining the other CW group.

- Pressing "not ready" to ready up is kinda counter-intuitive, is it?

- Make the "leave group" button smaller, red, and move it to another position. I can't tell you how often people have to re-invite me, just because my brain thinks the "big blue button stands for ready" :D

- Why can't I promote people to be group leader? Because inviting "xXDárkWârrìör98Xx" who is not on my friends list might be a little pain in the ass. Yeah, i know about LFG, but promoting people is a common thing in groups since forever.












Mechlab and inventory:

- We need a possibility to search for equipment mounted on mechs. I don't want to check every single mech just to find that damn XL295 engine or that Seismic Sensor

- You should have a window that shows the model of the mech and the exact hardpoint locations (high torso hardpoints, low arm mounts etc.)

- Why are there two hardpoint numbers just above each other, in the same bodypart-box?

- You should change the hardpoint counting to "0 out of 2" or "1 / 2" instead just counting down the occupied hardpoints.

- Why, and this is a big WTF, why is the engine list not sorted? Yeah, i can sort by tons, but come on, just throw all the engines in like this? This is a mess :D

- Moving Eequipment / weapons from one hardpoint to another doesn't work, instead it throws the stuff back to the inventory.

- You should be able to sort all cockpit items by "available", "owned", etc












Before a match / mech selection:

- Mech selection settings (e.g. no trial, only owned etc.) should be saved, and as far as I heard this will be the case in an upcoming patch.

- I'd really like to see a "random mech" button, which randomly picks a mech respecting the choices I made in the selection screen, so if I select "trial" and "clan", it picks from this pool.

- Why can't I chat / do other stuff while waiting / searching for a game?












Map selection / random map issues:

- This is a big one, I know. This game might have a small playerbase, and letting people select maps would make people wait forever. But at least let us downvote 2 maps we absolutely dislike, this would make the game far more enjoyable and give the devs raw feedback about maps that need to be redesigned!

- Merge percentages for maps with different times / seasons. If I don't like River City, it doesn't matter if it's 0400, 1000, 1600 or 2200, it's still the same map. So right now there are 12 different locations, so each one should have 8,3% chance to be chosen in the first roll, the season / time selection should follow after the location has been chosen.












During the match:

- why can't I turn on the score board while walking by pressing "w"? The only possibility for this is to press "0", but when trying to chat while walking the "0"-solution keeps failing from time to time. This is no keyboard limitation! Pressing more than 3 buttons would be, 2 work everywhere!

- Is the playerbase really that small that we have to team up with people using exotic input methods like steering wheels, joysticks or only keyboards? No pun intended, but you perform far worse with these. Yeah, I might have had a very low elo back then :)

- ECM-distribution: this one might be a personal conceit, but either you have 3+ ecm on your team or none, in the last case with the enemy team having 3+ ecms. This issue has of course changed since the arctic cheetah invasion. Maybe the devs have some numbers that prove me wrong.

- Does AMS actually grant you any points / xp / c-bills? Why not, and why should I use it if the others dont bother bringing radar depriviation? (not my opinion, I like carrying ams)










General issues:

- Why isn't my last active chat tab saved and I land back in unit-chat after leaving a game?

- There should be a master volume setting

- You should be able to open the menu and leave the game by pressing the escape-button

- The friends list could update more often

- "connecting" takes forever

- Please remove "Arm Reflex" from the skills and replace it with "Torso Jaw"













Oh my, this was a big one, and no tl;dr here. Just like I said in the beginning, don't see that as
a rant. The entire post is meant to be constructive criticism, and most of the issues, especially the group menu, could be fixed very quickly.

Please correct me if I am wrong on anything, I will keep this thread up to date during european times :)

Edited by Fitchi, 16 August 2015 - 12:37 PM.


#2 formtief0815

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 05:41 AM

Especially the UI stuff has a big /sign from my side.

#3 El Bandito

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 05:44 AM

View PostFitchi, on 16 August 2015 - 04:37 AM, said:

During the match:

- why can't I turn on the score board while walking by pressing "w"? The only possibility for this is to press "0", but when trying to chat while walking the "0"-solution keeps failing from time to time.





Uncheck Throttle Decay from options menu.

#4 Scandinavian Jawbreaker

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 05:50 AM

View PostEl Bandito, on 16 August 2015 - 05:44 AM, said:



Uncheck Throttle Decay from options menu.

No. Throttle Decay is far better for movement in MWO for me also and that bug(?) annoys the hell out of me also. I have to tap the scoreboard or not look at it all. PGI plz fix

#5 Fitch Buckingston

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 06:07 AM

View PostEl Bandito, on 16 August 2015 - 05:44 AM, said:



Uncheck Throttle Decay from options menu.


Na, I can't play without decay :D

#6 Kodyn

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 06:17 AM

A lot of very good points, most of which have been covered in other threads, and a good number of which the devs are in fact supposed to be working on currently for upcoming patches.

Gotta agree on the throttle decay thing though, that's just rough. I played like that for a bit in the beginning, then realized my error, switched, and wow, huge difference. Being able to shoot, type, tab for score, check the map, etc while walking and not holding the button down is huge. Can't stress this enough. Almost no one plays with throttle decay for good reason.

Takes a bit of getting used to, but I can't even fathom doing it with decay anymore, it's just making life way more difficult than it has to be.

#7 Scandinavian Jawbreaker

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 08:12 AM

View PostKodyn, on 16 August 2015 - 06:17 AM, said:

Can't stress this enough. Almost no one plays with throttle decay for good reason.

It's about personal preference, many top players play with throttle decay. Amazing how you defend a BUG with a statement like that.

#8 Kodyn

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 08:24 AM

View Postugrakarma, on 16 August 2015 - 08:12 AM, said:

It's about personal preference, many top players play with throttle decay. Amazing how you defend a BUG with a statement like that.



Excuse me? What bug?

And what am I defending? I was giving advice...I personally think the game is easier, and a lot better with the decay off...just like many other people.

I didn't call him a noob or say he's an idiot for using those settings, or anything of the sort...so uh...what?

#9 Spr1ggan

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 08:31 AM

View PostKodyn, on 16 August 2015 - 08:24 AM, said:



Excuse me? What bug?

And what am I defending? I was giving advice...I personally think the game is easier, and a lot better with the decay off...just like many other people.

I didn't call him a noob or say he's an idiot for using those settings, or anything of the sort...so uh...what?


Actually decay is the better option and like Ugra said, a lot of the better players in the game use it.

#10 MechaBattler

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 08:37 AM

View PostKodyn, on 16 August 2015 - 06:17 AM, said:

Almost no one plays with throttle decay for good reason.


You base that on what?

#11 Koniving

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 08:41 AM

View PostKodyn, on 16 August 2015 - 08:24 AM, said:

Excuse me? What bug?


An elited Locust using throttle decay can go from 176 to a full stop in 0.3 seconds. An elited Locust not using throttle decay will take 0.65 seconds to stop when using the full stop (X) command. This is just counting the time of the actual change from full speed to full stop at 92 frames per second. There's additional lost time from the movement of fingers as well but such isn't counted here.

It isn't so much a bug as it is an exploit in how quickly the mechs will transition from 'max speed to stop'.

(I do agree the game is easier to control and play with it off. The feature shouldn't even exist let alone have such immediate response times.)

Players using lights or cover-based strategies will tend to play with Decay on, for the exploit of rapid stopping ability. Even Atlases stop in almost half the time.

Since I prefer DPS-oriented builds and strategies, Decay has no real use for me.

#12 Kodyn

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 08:41 AM

I based it off the fact that when I was first starting the game, anytime anyone, in my unit or otherwise figured out I still had it on, they basically freaked out and advised me to change it immediately, which I resisted for a while, til I decided to give it a chance.

That and I read some forum posts about it at the time that also pretty much indicated that most people use it.

Was not trying to start a war here....was just giving the guy friendly advice. You guys want to play with decay, play with decay, no skin off my back...jesus.

EDIT: Wow Kon, I had no idea. I don't think that's the bug they mean though, because they were talking about it being a bad thing for the guys who use decay, whereas what you mention is an advantage. I think they were complaining about not being able to hit TAB while holding W, which is I think a keyboard limitation, more than a bug.

Edited by Kodyn, 16 August 2015 - 08:44 AM.


#13 Fitch Buckingston

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 12:42 PM

View PostKodyn, on 16 August 2015 - 08:41 AM, said:

EDIT: Wow Kon, I had no idea. I don't think that's the bug they mean though, because they were talking about it being a bad thing for the guys who use decay, whereas what you mention is an advantage. I think they were complaining about not being able to hit TAB while holding W, which is I think a keyboard limitation, more than a bug.


You can always press three buttons at once, no matter what keyboard you have. Therefore it is a bug.
And for me, as a fps player since Q3A, autorun (or throttle decay turned off) is an absolute nightmare of lost control :D
So yeah, it's a matter of taste, please no more debating this... I think I came up with more than one interesting topic!

#14 TLBFestus

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 12:46 PM

Thank you for your input, it was well thought out, rational, and could contribute to the betterment of this game.


Unfortunately I doubt that anyone at PGI will address, point by point, your suggestions, let alone read it.


Go ahead PGI... I DARE YA. (one point for proof of reading, 1000 points for addressing).

#15 Fitch Buckingston

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Posted 17 August 2015 - 07:24 AM

View PostTLBFestus, on 16 August 2015 - 12:46 PM, said:


Unfortunately I doubt that anyone at PGI will address, point by point, your suggestions, let alone read it.



After beeing on the forums for just a month or so, I believe this to be true :(

#16 Lily from animove

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Posted 17 August 2015 - 07:50 AM

yes the group menu and everything is very basic and needs a lot rework. I hope this comes next when the mechlab is done.

The fact that one to be invited needs to be in the friendlist alone is very annoying.

a simple

/groupinvite 'Han Solo'

' ' due to blanks being allowed in names.
or a button "invite player" opening a textfield to put in a players name.

Edited by Lily from animove, 17 August 2015 - 07:53 AM.


#17 TheArisen

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Posted 17 August 2015 - 10:48 AM

You can join whole groups. The group you want to join jumps in the lfg and you click on them & then click join. I haven't used lfg in awhile so I could be wrong.

#18 Odium

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Posted 17 August 2015 - 12:36 PM

Some great points. As a newish player myself I have noticed many of the points on your list although some were a shock.

I get that they have to make money with mechs but there are so many sloppy problems in this game that just really turn me off. I feel the same way when I go buy a burger. You can have an amazing burger but if the trash is overflowing, tables and floors are dirty, and they staff doesn't even seem to care I will not come back. They need to clean up all the mess before you try to sell me more stuff.

I play with decay on. It is the way I have played fps type games for 20 years. The fact I can't press W and TAB at the same time is just stupid.

#19 RoboPatton

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Posted 17 August 2015 - 02:29 PM

This is the kinda thread a PGI official should comment on.

At least welcome the new player...


SOUND THE CONCH of the Community Manager!
Posted Image

(Tina that's your cue.)

#20 TheArisen

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Posted 17 August 2015 - 02:29 PM

This thread is about a reference or guide to MWO, check it out.
http://mwomercs.com/...ds-a-reference/





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