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I feel like many of us have focused too hard on balance, balance, and more balance. While it's true bad balance can make a great game bad, as much as I hate to say it, MWO was never a great game, just a good game.
There is nothing wrong with a good game, especially if the company is riding on profits, but for players, well good games are a dime a dozen these days, once we move beyond the glitz and glam of a new toy we quickly move on from good game to good game and occasionally find what we consider a great game.
It's not to say a company didn't do good work, MWO is great for an intense quick fix, but if you are looking for more than that it's just rinse and repeat.
I feel that Gameplay / Game Modes were the initial priority a few of the other issues would be a little easier to solve while adding some replayability to the game.
While I played MWLL, I seemed to have more fun once you managed to actually establish a decent match.
This didn't come easy though, MWLL had a lot of shortcomings from public development, access to the Cryengine source, lower graphic fidelity, buggy servers, latency issues, player population, and just general accessibility. You felt like you accomplished some great feat if you managed to ever get the mod working and stay in a game long enough for it to end.
MWLL was introduced with deathmatch also, well with a respawn. Not everyone cared for the respawn, but it also didn't feel like you were being cheated when you died immediately to something you didn't see coming. Nonetheless I still grew bored of it, respawn or not, it wasn't the issue. It would play roughly the same way as MWO with the typical engagement points, people trying to play it safe to get the next mech upgrade.
MWLL eventually released a base capture option, and I really feel that is where everything changed. People were all over the map, there were multiple engagements, there wasn't the one line that was always fought over every single time, it always felt exciting. I didn't feel like the goal was to get the most kills or highest damage, but to secure a win for the team. Eventually I left MWLL because the populations were not around when I was available to play, around the same time MWO development was announced.
While I am not stating that MWO needs exactly the same gameplay elements or style, gameplay options are missing and the game feels stagnant since beta.
If we had something more along the lines of MWLL it would open things up that people are complaining about, keep in mind I am not saying it has to be MWLL.
1.Weapon balance: More short range brawling would be possible when hold a base behind walls or engaging other short range units hold a base you needed to cap. Currently everything is peakaboo, high alpha. Clan mechs have terrible heat, if people could push on them they would fall apart, right now there just isn't a reason, heck people even build non sustainable IS mechs. ACs would have a bigger role for sustained fire and suppression. LRMs could be useful on more open maps especially with greater sight lines.
2.Purpose for lights: Hit and run on important map points, caps, sensors for enemy units, general map mobility. Lights could also be rewarded
3.Purpose for assaults: camping bases or assaulting camped bases, mobility wouldn't always mean survival.
4.Firing lines: Would be open, with all the flocking we have now assaults can't shine, they get stuck behind other units without being able to open up with their high alphas. They can push forward and pray they get assistance, but in pug play its suicide.
5.Boredom: or less of it.
6.Damage: Wouldn't be king, lights could actually do something else to earn points instead of running around in the quickest heaviest laden short range alpha strike boats. Assaults could get credit for defense or attack even if they only were able to take down a mech
Honestly I am not even sure how some of this would work without being able to swap chassis mid battle or some limited respawn, I just wish this game would have more to it than new chassis. I play this title less and less, I only return because it's part of a genre I really enjoyed on the PC. MWO may never be a great game, if not only for the genre alone, but it certainly could be better. Hopefully CW can be straightened out to help.
Edited by Zypher, 19 September 2015 - 02:09 PM.
