100 replies to this topic

[SilentWolff]

I have been playing since closed beta, as has most of my unit. This post is not meant as a bash PGI thread, but rather an insight on why most people I know no longer play this game. This is an condensed list of the complaints that were expressed when I asked people why they no longer played.

So without further ado......


#1 Piss poor map design
The maps are too small. Information warfare/ scouting is not needed and plays no real part in the game. CW maps are bigger, but all the room is wasted, as almost all fighting takes place in one corner of the map.
This causes other issues as well. It makes most range weapons obsolete (not including dual gauss). Your higher ELO's become nothing more than a Nascar deathball under ECM causing boring/stale game play.

#2 Matchmaker punishes higher ELO players. There is no incentive to take creative, fun, silly builds because you will end up getting beat like a drum. This means 90% of the mechs in your mechbay go unused. Go meta or go home.

#3 No real lobby system. Having to have premium to do private lobbies is insulting and a naked cash grab.

#4 Poor geometry, getting stuck on a pebble, invisible walls blocking shots.

#5 Jump jets are horrible. Useless on assault mechs ( see Highlander) Knee jerk reaction to poptarting

#6 Progress in the game moves at a snails pace. Lack of content (this has got better since IGP was booted, but its still too slow)

#7 Economy is too punishing. takes way too long to earn C-Bills

#8 No destructible terrain, which both MW3 and MW4 had. Inexcusable that we have actually went backwards since MW4 and that was over 10 years ago.

#9 Too many game breaking bugs. (Hit Reg, getting stuck in terrain, frame rate issues and game crashing to desktop)

Feel free to add to this list in this thread. Dont kill the messenger. This thread is meant to be productive and to let PGI know where the perceived shortcomings are and what they need to address to bring long time fans back to the game.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

Edited by SilentWolff, 05 March 2015 - 05:37 PM.

[KraftySOT]

True statement.

I have almost 100 people in my friends list, and ive only added them since last September. (so about 6 months worth of friends) and only 3 or 4 of them are ever on.

The entire Laio unit I used to roll with never logs on anymore.

[Rebas Kradd]

SilentWolff, on 05 March 2015 - 10:19 AM, said:

I have been playing since closed beta, as has most of my unit. This post is not meant as a bash PGI thread, but rather an insight on why most people I know no longer play this game. This is an condensed list of the complaints that were expressed when I asked people why they no longer played.

So without further ado......


#1 Piss poor map design
The maps are too small. Information warfare/ scouting is not needed and plays no real part in the game. CW maps are bigger, but all the room is wasted, as almost all fighting takes place in one corner of the map.
This causes other issues as well. It makes most range weapons obsolete (not including dual gauss). You higher ELO's become nothing more than a Nascar deathball under ECM causing boring/stale game play.

Very much agree with this. I suspect PGI is using a "funnel players straight to the action" approach with their maps in order to please the casuals, instead of allowing wide-open tactical gameplay that lasts a lot longer a la MWLL. It's disappointing, but I can see the reasoning.

SilentWolff, on 05 March 2015 - 10:19 AM, said:

#3 No real lobby system. Having to have premium to do private lobbies is insulting and a naked cash grab.

This game is free, not retail. The vast majority of players aren't contributing a dime to the game's running, so the server money's got to come from somewhere. It's just the reality of F2P.

Same reason I'm not impressed when people go "$50 for a Clan mech? I can get a whole game with that!" Well, sure you can - when everyone is paying the same. Not the case here.

SilentWolff, on 05 March 2015 - 10:19 AM, said:

#8 No destructible terrain, which both MW3 and MW4 had. Inexcusable that we have actually went backwards since MW4 and that was over 10 years ago.

It's a vocal but small minority that are actually going to quit the game over this. I personally couldn't care less. It's vastly down the list of the devs' priorities, most likely. This is an item that indicates that your friends are probably like-minded with you, but not representative of the game's overall population.

Another thing that I'd very much like to see a dev response on, though (and thus probably never will - Tina?)

SilentWolff, on 05 March 2015 - 10:19 AM, said:

#9 Too many game breaking bugs.

I saw a lot more gamebreaking bugs in MWLL than I do in the current MW. They've come a long ways in this regard. To what bugs are you referring?

Edited by Rebas Kradd, 05 March 2015 - 10:41 AM.

[Torgun]

Hitreg is most certainly a huge issue. There's just so many times I can unload tons of damage on almost stationary targets and get the equivalent of 1 medium laser damage registering before I log out and stop playing for a week or two. Whatever obsolete server they're running on is not capable at all at running this game well.

Edited by Torgun, 05 March 2015 - 10:44 AM.

[SilentWolff]

Rebas Kradd, on 05 March 2015 - 10:39 AM, said:

I saw a lot more gamebreaking bugs in MWLL than I do in the current MW. They've come a long ways in this regard. To what bugs are you referring?

Specific examples listed were Hit Reg, getting stuck in terrain, frame rate issues and game crashing to desktop.

Edited by SilentWolff, 05 March 2015 - 10:58 AM.

[ThirtyOughtSix]

The problem is the genre of the game...F2P

Players will come and go because there is really no investment. Coupled with that is the grind. New players need to push real hard to even come up with a 1/2 way decent drop deck. Also, to take the blame off of the little guy there is really no end game..nothing big to have to accomplished. I mean you get to a certain point and say...ok I've got a light, med, heavy and assault. The gameplay really hasn't changed...what now.

You could stop playing come back in a year and the game will be darned closed to a mirror image..

[lsp]

Agree with it all.

[Mavqie]

the invisible walls blocking shots is my main problem, especially in the base defences in cw when you unload an alpha at an enemy attacker to find it hits an invisible wall 2 metres away from the actual object Boreal vault being one of the worst

[Rebas Kradd]

SilentWolff, on 05 March 2015 - 10:55 AM, said:

Specific examples listed were Hit Reg, getting stuck in terrain, frame rate issues and game crashing to desktop.

Yeah, hitreg is an issue. But FPS and crashing are areas that have vastly improved, especially in the last month according to community feedback. Some players are still having issues, but it's not as widespread as it used to be and no longer really a statement on the developer.

As far as invisible terrain boxes, PGI has actually been quite open to fixing them. The problem is they don't have a list of specific areas to fix, and given their workload, the enormous amount of research required probably stops them from starting.

Edited by Rebas Kradd, 05 March 2015 - 11:12 AM.

[Lostdragon]

The new player experience is still absolutely terrible.

[lshtaria]

Because Paul.

[mike29tw]

SilentWolff, on 05 March 2015 - 10:19 AM, said:

#2 Matchmaker punishes higher ELO players. There is no incentive to take creative, fun, silly builds because you will end up getting beat like a drum. This means 90% of the mechs in your mechbay go unused. Go meta or go home.

This problem can be viewed in many ways and it's not necessarily the matchmaker's fault. First, if 90% of the mechs in your mechbay are not good enough for competitive play, there's probably something wrong with gameplay balance. Second, mech labs that allow full customization, while giving players the fun and freedom to tinker their own build, will more often than not open the gate to horrendous mech builds. Certain builds, while fun to play, are really bad at fighting giant robot war. It's just a by-product of customization with little to no restrictions.

SilentWolff, on 05 March 2015 - 10:19 AM, said:

#8 No destructible terrain, which both MW3 and MW4 had. Inexcusable that we have actually went backwards since MW4 and that was over 10 years ago.

This is really the mind-boggling one. I spent more time chopping down trees than killing Koreans in the original Crysis, I can't understand why not even a single tree falls down when I walk over them in this game.

[Remarius]

I currently have 47 people online in my friends list so apparently my friends/unit better than yours.... nyah nyah!

[Gunny Kintaro 4444]

I HAVE 100 PLUS ON MY LIST AND ITS PRETTY FULL ... add me if your looking for someone to run with sorry for caps lol

[XXXBunnyXXX]

they dont tell you how to play this game....this is bad for the game cuz new players just leave



and the **** economy

[Heffay]

When someone removes you as a friend, you won't see their online status anymore.

Just saying... that can explain a lot of stuff too...

[ThisMachineKillsFascists]

Heffay, on 05 March 2015 - 11:26 AM, said:

When someone removes you as a friend, you won't see their online status anymore.

Just saying... that can explain a lot of stuff too...

Shady statement

[PappySmurf]

Well OP its sad I have to come on here and say yes your right mostly but who do we blame =(THE DEVS?)-(THE PGI STAFF)-(THE COMMUNITY) or because we all financed MWO from the start of Closed beta and continue to finance this game when the DEVS just don't listen to common sense gamming ideas from there main contributors?

My list is almost empty after 3 years 300 players I have known from MechWarrior2 said hey MWO IS NOT MECHWARRIOR 2-4 and we cant play matches and leagues like we did and just plain left the game.New players last a few days and go WOW WHY CANT I FIND A FUN MATCH? in solo or CW I die so fast and the rewards are terrible screw this game goodbye.

I could go on but why what's the point? the devas only listen to there devoted twittard and facecrack friends.

Edited by PappySmurf, 05 March 2015 - 11:37 AM.

[SilentWolff]

Heffay, on 05 March 2015 - 11:26 AM, said:

When someone removes you as a friend, you won't see their online status anymore.

Just saying... that can explain a lot of stuff too...

Considering I'm the leader of the unit and I talk to these guys on com's on a regular basis, your theory holds no water. This isn't an issue with me or about me . It's about the state of the game and it's obvious shortcomings.

[Rebas Kradd]

SilentWolff, on 05 March 2015 - 11:59 AM, said:

Considering I'm the leader of the unit and I talk to these guys on com's on a regular basis, your theory holds no water. This isn't an issue with me or about me . It's about the state of the game and it's obvious shortcomings.

You WANT it to be that, so that you'll feel like you can hold things over PGI's head.

The reality is, nothing you say is going to magically double their manpower. They're working on things as hard as they can, and their development pace has accelerated quite a bit. It's not like they've been doing nothing for the last 14 months.