31 replies to this topic

[Escef]

sycocys, on 31 October 2015 - 10:36 PM, said:

You saw how people freaked out over having a simple requirement of carrying yourself for this event.

sycocys, on 01 November 2015 - 12:25 AM, said:

The average casual player is also the same set of people that can't be bothered to learn to play the game on a level that is any deeper than CoD - shoot and fire. That is why they freak out at the notion of having to actually earn anything.

Previous grab bag events, before the change in the match scoring system, only required a match score of 30. Which was pretty easy to get. The bar was set so low that the intent was pretty obviously to just be a giveaway, not a tournament or achievement. Many games resulted in over 15 of the 24 participants in a match getting a pull from the reward system.

Setting the bar at 250 with the current match score system means you frequently will have no more than 5 people getting pulls from a match. At which point the grab bag results aren't that special for the effort given unless you get a really good pull (like the 100k+ c-bills). Dropping it to 150 was the right move to put the reward to effort ratio back where it had been.

Edited by Escef, 01 November 2015 - 06:25 PM.

[sycocys]

250 for 20 of 24 players isn't that hard to get to if people actually play as a team. Even the non-Cheetah lights can get it if they aren't trying to rambo through the enemy lines in the first 15 seconds of the match.

The problem is no one ever sees this because if they can't get their points by charging in on their own and disregarding any notion of team play the first thing they do is come throw a fit on the forums or on Russ's twitter about how its too hard.

[Speedy Plysitkos]

agree with OP. good ideas, but as you can see, poeple here on forum are salty to anything new.

[oldradagast]

Titannium, on 02 November 2015 - 03:15 AM, said:

agree with OP. good ideas, but as you can see, poeple here on forum are salty to anything new.

More precisely, a good chunk of them are salty towards anything new that might allow somebody else some fun.

The level of "your life should suck because mine does!" malice in these forums is rather astounding. The sheer number of angry people who want the game to be a miserable, grinding, pointless experience for everyone but themselves is depressing. It boggles the mind how they just don't get it. This is only a game - it's not "real life" or "real war" - and they don't seem to have wit enough to realize that if MWO is not fun, people will simply leave, the servers will be shut down, and then nobody will care how great they are at a dead game. But maybe they want that to happen because it'll give them something else to complain about.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Its a F2P game do those daily quests are a bit tricky. PGI technically relies on those items for at least some income. They can't give items away here and there everyday.

This pretty much leaves C-Bills and XP.

Right now, there is a small log in bonus in the form of 2x XP for a Mech's first win of the day. It isn't quite a quest, but it does encourage people to log in and play a bit to try and elite new chassis. Maybe they could expand the 2x XP a bit and add daily reset C-Bill bonuses as well.

Maybe 2x XP first win per chassis and 2x or 1.5 if 2 sounds too high) C-Bills for first match score over "x" amount (score varies per chassis class). Like 2x XP, once you hit it for the day, it's done. Set the match score just high enough so that a player can't too easily farm C-Bills this way, but set it low enough to not be an exercise in hair pulling frustration.

[Escef]

sycocys, on 02 November 2015 - 02:41 AM, said:

250 for 20 of 24 players isn't that hard to get to if people actually play as a team. Even the non-Cheetah lights can get it if they aren't trying to rambo through the enemy lines in the first 15 seconds of the match.

The problem is no one ever sees this because if they can't get their points by charging in on their own and disregarding any notion of team play the first thing they do is come throw a fit on the forums or on Russ's twitter about how its too hard.

... Have you been in the solo queue lately? Or ever?

EDIT: For that matter, do you even LOOK at the match results screen? Hell, I had a match a little while ago where no one on the winning team did outright horrible (some disappoint performances, sure, but not outright horrible), and only 4 people broke a match score of 250.

Edited by Escef, 02 November 2015 - 06:36 AM.

[sycocys]

Escef, on 02 November 2015 - 06:05 AM, said:

... Have you been in the solo queue lately? Or ever?

Yes, and when you actually pull those matches where 2 teams understand the concepts of teamwork you end up with 9/10/11-12 matches where nearly everyone clears 250 points.

Not to mention everyone in the match has a much better time because no one is getting rolled.

That's why I don't want to see more catering to the lcd for things like this and events - the only thing it does is promote worse game play for everyone instead of bringing the quality of play up.

[Escef]

sycocys, on 02 November 2015 - 06:35 AM, said:

Yes, and when you actually pull those matches where 2 teams understand the concepts of teamwork you end up with 9/10/11-12 matches where nearly everyone clears 250 points.

Not to mention everyone in the match has a much better time because no one is getting rolled.

That's why I don't want to see more catering to the lcd for things like this and events - the only thing it does is promote worse game play for everyone instead of bringing the quality of play up.

If you seriously think it is a reasonable expectation that 20 people in a 12v12 match in the solo queue will break a match score of 250 than you need to lay off the sauce.

[sycocys]

It's absolutely reasonable and doesn't even required ridiculous amounts of coordination.

[Escef]

sycocys, on 02 November 2015 - 06:44 AM, said:

It's absolutely reasonable and doesn't even required ridiculous amounts of coordination.

I'm going to straight up say that you don't know WTF you're talking about on this one. I reviewed footage from the stream I did this morning and the most people I've seen break 250 match score in a match is 11. 3 matches had 9 people at 250+. But most were in the 4 to 6 range.

If you honestly think 20 out of 24 people in a solo queue match breaking a match score of 250 is a reasonable expectation than you are utterly divorced from reality.

[TLBFestus]

They already give a 2x bonus on your first match of the day with each mech you run.

That takes the pitiful amount of rewards you get per match and makes it slightly less pitiful.

[Anudiz]

sycocys, on 02 November 2015 - 06:44 AM, said:

It's absolutely reasonable and doesn't even required ridiculous amounts of coordination.

Escef is right on this one, you know. The point is, that its about your average player getting motivated and staying motivated. As you noticed yourself your average player seems to be unable to polish their skills and teamwork to pro levels (thats what makes him average after all) and consistently achieve high scores.

If you go ahead and force him to change, when he cant or doesnt want to, you are basically saying:
"Get the **** out, you are not good enough for this game. We do not want you."

The problem is: Your average Joe does make up the foundation of the playerbase. You tell him to leave and he will. Some may be stubborn to give up, but eventually you are alone. With a small hardcore base, that is not enough to populate the servers and finance the game in the long run.
That said I do not say we shouldnt go ahead and credit good play and teamwork. I just say that denying a rewarding experience for the majority of your customers, on the assumption that "they will adapt if we just make it hard enough for them", is the wrong way to do so.

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Back to Topic:

Interesting and varying daily challanges: Absolutely!
Additional weekly or monthly events with rewards (see WoT for a good example of this): Yes please!
Cater to everyone, especially new payers: You bet!