40 replies to this topic

[cazidin]

Greetings Mechwarriors. Today I have a simple question. What will happen when PGI is out of mechpacks and decides to stop supporting this game? Will all of our mechs, premium time, etc be gone forever or will we still have a few servers left thanks to Steam?

[Bombast]

If PGI shuts down the servers, that's it. Your stuff is on their servers, so it goes down with it.

The only way you'll get to play this game at that point is if they release the server side of the game to the public so people can start up their own private servers, at which point you can make a new account and, likely, would have access to everything at that point.

[invernomuto]

cazidin, on 06 October 2016 - 07:03 AM, said:

Greetings Mechwarriors. Today I have a simple question. What will happen when PGI is out of mechpacks and decides to stop supporting this game? Will all of our mechs, premium time, etc be gone forever or will we still have a few servers left thanks to Steam?

In that event I hope that PGI will at least release a sort of editor / advanced tool for server management to let the community runs their own MWO server(s), as in other games like Red Orchestra 2.
I think our stuff will be gone in any case...

EDIT:
Here is what happens when an online game goes offline... On August Ubisoft decided to shut down the card game Duels of Champions. These are the risk of of online gaming and buying "virtual things"
https://www.duelofch...ant-information

Quote

Once the game is closed on 31st of October, all remaining resources, items and currencies in the game will be gone.
In line with our terms of sale, we hereby inform you that there will be no refund of any virtual currency you have spent in the game or for any resources you still may own on shutdown date, nor any conversion of any remaining virtual currency to another game.

Once 31st of October is upon us, we will continue with our final steps. This includes closing the game, but also its website, its forum and its social media channels. They will not be accessible to you any longer. That said, you will still be able to reach here our customer support and community management teams, even after the game has closed.

Edited by invernomuto, 06 October 2016 - 07:32 AM.

[Almond Brown]

Bombast, on 06 October 2016 - 07:08 AM, said:

If PGI shuts down the servers, that's it. Your stuff is on their servers, so it goes down with it.

The only way you'll get to play this game at that point is if they "Microsoft" releases the server side of the game to the public so people can start up their own private servers, at which point you can make a new account and, likely, would have access to everything at that point.

When PGI goes dark, MS gets everything. Maybe another "MekTek" type crew will be granted special dispensation as was done previously. I would not hold my breath on that one though.

[Kirkland Langue]

invernomuto, on 06 October 2016 - 07:23 AM, said:

Here is what happens when an online game goes offline... On August Ubisoft decided to shut down the card game Duels of Champions. These are the risk of of online gaming and buying "virtual things"
https://www.duelofch...ant-information

It's really too bad because Duals of Champions is a very enjoyable game. Of course, I haven't played it in 9 months or something - but I keep thinking about reinstalling and giving it a few more whirls. Guess it's now or never.

I don't know if they are still accepting new players - but I'd recommend everyone create an account and give it a whirl while the server is still up for the next few weeks.

[Bombast]

Almond Brown, on 06 October 2016 - 08:00 AM, said:

When PGI goes dark, MS gets everything. Maybe another "MekTek" type crew will be granted special dispensation as was done previously. I would not hold my breath on that one though.

...That's actually a nice thing to hear. Microsoft has given pretty much every single Mechwarrior thing they own away for free (On PC anyway, obviously 'Those Games' on 'Those Consoles' that totally don't exist have some financial barriers that are hard for even Microsoft to get over).

It may still be a long shot, of course, but there is a historical precedence for hope.

[Mystere]

Almond Brown, on 06 October 2016 - 08:00 AM, said:

When PGI goes dark, MS gets everything.

No they do not unless the licensing terms specifically called for such a thing. It's highly unlikely though.

[627]

You will never get any server software for this game, even if PGI goes dark.

Look what happened to mechwarrior tactics and you know exactly what will happen. Servers will be offline, your client will not even load but throw an error and these forums will be gone. All we will have is some reddit tinfoil hats who knew it since 2013, some chatter what will happen now and then... nothing.

And maybe in 10 years we'll get a new mechwarrior game then.

The only interesting thing would be what will happen to the BattleTech game as it shares the art and mech models.

[Mechteric]

Welcome to the world of "world of online gaming"! Planetside 1 just went dark recently, it's gone. I'm ok with that merely because I stopped playing it long ago, but who knows if I'll still be playing MWO in 10 years.

[DaisuSaikoro Nagasawa]

Why is this question even being discussed? 1st, Its a troll question. 2nd, Only PGI knows. 3rd, Its total troll question. 4th. please refer to 1st and 3rd.

Please don't feed trolls.

[Carby]

Daisu Saikoro, on 06 October 2016 - 09:49 AM, said:

Why is this question even being discussed? 1st, Its a troll question. 2nd, Only PGI knows. 3rd, Its total troll question. 4th. please refer to 1st and 3rd.

Please don't feed trolls.

How is it a troll question? You have seen the lifecycle of almost every game ever right? Some are more popular than others, some are still being actively developed by companies with large pockets but MWO is pretty clearly neither of those.

So, having invested money, what will happen to your product?
Some people have invested quite a lot of money and wish to have some idea.

[Alistair Winter]

This question needs to be asked. Often. The players need to think ahead. We don't own anything. This game won't be online forever.

You can fire up Mechwarrior 4 or Mechwarrior 3 or Mech Commander 2 any time you feel like it. If you bought it, you own a copy of the game.

At some point, PGI will make some PVE content. Players need to think ahead and ask for offline content that doesn't require PGI servers to run. If everyone is fine with only having online content, then we're only renting the right to play this game. And if the franchise goes dark again, then we won't have any post 2000 Mechwarrior games to play until someone makes the next one.

[DrxAbstract]

Alistair Winter, on 06 October 2016 - 10:11 AM, said:

This question needs to be asked. Often. The players need to think ahead. We don't own anything. This game won't be online forever.

You can fire up Mechwarrior 4 or Mechwarrior 3 or Mech Commander 2 any time you feel like it. If you bought it, you own a copy of the game.

At some point, PGI will make some PVE content. Players need to think ahead and ask for offline content that doesn't require PGI servers to run. If everyone is fine with only having online content, then we're only renting the right to play this game. And if the franchise goes dark again, then we won't have any post 2000 Mechwarrior games to play until someone makes the next one.

Making some nostalgic runs through MechCommander Gold at the moment... #poundofflesh

[Bombast]

Alistair Winter, on 06 October 2016 - 10:11 AM, said:

You can fire up Mechwarrior 4 or Mechwarrior 3 or Mech Commander 2 any time you feel like it. If you bought it, you own a copy of the game.

Of note - Mechwarrior 4, MechCommander, and MechCommander 2 are all free. Microsoft gave it all away during various tech demonstrations and such. They can be problematic to get running, though (And the MechCommanders have UIs and controls that are really showing their age).

[Thunder Child]

When MWO goes Dark Age, maybe the MW:LL crowd will finally get people playing over there (I tried, but no-one was ever on in my Timezone).

[FupDup]

Content in F2P games that shut down works like this:




This is one of the reasons why I don't trust digital games that much, especially F2P ones. Your money spent can potentially disappear. Physical game discs and other physical goods are permanent as long as you don't break them.

Edited by FupDup, 06 October 2016 - 11:26 AM.

[Mole]

I don't know about you guys but I have bought nothing from PGI that I expected to be able to keep forever. I was always aware that if MWO goes down, so does everything on my account. I happen to be of the opinion, however, that if it brought me hours of joy then it was worth the purchase. So far everything I've purchased from PGI has done that.

Edited by Mole, 06 October 2016 - 11:30 AM.

[Peter2k]

627, on 06 October 2016 - 09:08 AM, said:

You will never get any server software for this game, even if PGI goes dark.

Look what happened to mechwarrior tactics and you know exactly what will happen. Servers will be offline, your client will not even load but throw an error and these forums will be gone. All we will have is some reddit tinfoil hats who knew it since 2013, some chatter what will happen now and then... nothing.

And maybe in 10 years we'll get a new mechwarrior game then.

The only interesting thing would be what will happen to the BattleTech game as it shares the art and mech models.

I would think that the Mech models would be property of MS in the end
the new models have to look similar enough compared to the old ones after all

but I'm also sure that everything else would go belly up
like anything server side, game client, UI, Maps and any other art that is not BT

in the end
BattleTech the game would be fine
its a single player game foremost

what would happen if Hairbrained would've wanted to do some additional add ons/timeline jumps though



------------------------

I would also like to think that I got my money's worth in the end
sure beats the hell out of going to the movies/buying movies
don't think I'll watch a movie like 2 hours a day for 3 or 4 years or so

[Bombast]

Peter2k, on 06 October 2016 - 11:38 AM, said:

what would happen if Hairbrained would've wanted to do some additional add ons/timeline jumps though

HBS is under no obligation to use PGI's models, and they are free to replace, modify, or create new ones. Their choice to use MWOs models, as they've said multiple times, is purely a financial one.

So if PGI goes under, it may cause some financial problems for HBS, but it wont necessarily stop them.

Personally, I'm hoping HBS does make their own models for Battletech 2/Battletech expansions regardless of PGI's status, if they make those, if only because I want a Champion, but am horrified by what one would look like after being put through PGI's 'Unified Artistry' design process.

Edited by Bombast, 06 October 2016 - 11:49 AM.

[Nemesis Duck]

Daisu Saikoro, on 06 October 2016 - 09:49 AM, said:

Why is this question even being discussed? 1st, Its a troll question. 2nd, Only PGI knows. 3rd, Its total troll question. 4th. please refer to 1st and 3rd.

Please don't feed trolls.

It might be a kid asking who doesn't know the answer or hasn't the experience to make a judgement for themselves. We should be helping them grow instead of assuming their intentions.