188 replies to this topic

[sycocys]

It might be good to also consider that 6+ months after the last CW update and the only new thing for CW3 is 4v4 matches.

Pretty damn disappointing for all the units and players that want some variation in the 12v12 mode that was stale after the first month of CW1. When your choices for 12v12 are Invasion or Invasion with no turrets.... play the map in the same direction because that makes a lot of sense for a "counter-attack". PGI's biggest drawback is that they decide to move on from half finished projects constantly and never actually finish anything.

[Ruinarion]

One thing I have noticed the last couple of nights is that there are a ton of people in drops teams for scouting but the other team isn't scouting. 2 of the worlds I can play had 5 or 6 groups waiting to drop in scouting and the rest had at least 2 waiting to drop in scouting. Only one of the worlds actually had the other team playing scouting. Since there are no ghost drops in scouting this means there were a lot of people tied up waiting for a drop that would never happen.

At least for me I have been able to get into scouting drops almost instantly the whole time just by paying attention to the queue info. However getting into one of the invasion drops is significantly harder.

[Malleus011]

CW games have long wait times, low rewards, and are rarely fun.

Non CW games have low wait times, mediocre rewards, and are occasionally fun.

Until CW games are at least as occasionally fun and rewarding as non CW games, why bother with it?

[Crockdaddy]

Volts, on 25 April 2016 - 08:54 AM, said:

Elite Founder Peasant.

Cast your eyes low when I stomp past in my AS7-D(F).

My AS7-D(F) is just a tanky as yours bro!

[Nightbird]

The various drop deck bugs kind of ruin the atmosphere too, there is the bug that
1) your drop deck resets to trials
2) you get a ceasefire message and exiting lobby message that forces you to reset your client, resets your drop deck, and it is not ceasefire so you get dropped in all trials
3) you cancel out of a lobby, you get the circling message that forces you to reset your client, you get dropped anyways (in all trials of course)

Edited by ironnightbird, 25 April 2016 - 10:59 AM.

[Volts]

Crockdaddy, on 25 April 2016 - 10:58 AM, said:

My AS7-D(F) is just a tanky as yours bro!

Mine has more LRM's.

You won't get close.

[Crockdaddy]

Volts, on 25 April 2016 - 11:00 AM, said:

Mine has more LRM's.

You won't get close.

On my AS7-D(F)
Quad Dustin Allard SPLs for close in defense
Twin Magruder LBX-10 for harsh medium range brawls
Triple Falcon II Streak 2's to fend of lights
More Ammo than you can count all fortified by an XL345 for this speed demon.

I don't need to get close brah as I wreck your team.

[Elendil]

Well...
I stopped playing a month or so after launch because they only had a handful of mechs, none of the faction content they promised, and pretty boring, samey death matches.
I just came back a few days ago, and the game is about in the state I wanted it in then.

I just finished my probation (I almost went Rasalhague, but I wanted Clan mechs), I've only done scouting matches, and haven't joined a unit yet. So my feedback should be taken with many grains of salt:

I like it.
I think it needs a LOT of tweaks, and pretty significant additions still, but It's pretty good. And I think I ccould convince a couple other people to come back.

I like the fact that scouting exists and is so overpowered, because if it weren't everyone would ignore it (a lot of people still seem to ignore it). I don't think the artillery should be free though, I think artillery and air strikes should be blocked in faction matches, but you can unlock them with scouting (and activate them with consumables, like normal).
I like the quirks, but I think they should balance the IS with the Clans the way they did in canon: give the IS melee attacks and weapons.
I think that inactive players should be removed from population calculations after a certain period.
I don't know for certain, but I think a lot of players joined merc groups to start with, to get the first few unlocks, but will switch to factions later on. So I suspect that's where a lot of faction players are.
And it really needs a metagame where unit officers can spectate matches and give orders, with a big tactical map and live feeds from lance leaders. And they would the ones who could deploy UAVs, and TARGETED satellite scans, and air strikes/Long-Toms.

But mostly it needs more game modes, especially for faction games. Not more iterations of the 12 vs. 12 huddle-in-a-group-and-pick-people-off-one-by-one mode, but more inventive things.
Specifically, the game needs bots:

• Tanks and aircraft would be a cool annoyance to add to matches, and give small lasers and machine guns something useful to do.
  
• You could have defense modes where the defenders get AI mech allies who only defend a certain point, like a military base, but the attackers get more actual players and need to destroy it. You could even have a huge raid-type defense mission as a final battle before ceasefires, where both sides get respawns (with alternate mechs, or even alternate players) to draw the battle out.
  
• You could have have escort missions, much like scouting matches, and if the convoy gets through your side gets supplies that strengthen AI forces in defense missions.
  
• You could fill in gaps with AI mechs sometimes, so there wouldn't be totally unopposed scouting matches and such (or 15 minute wait times). And unit/lance commanders could give them basic orders.
  
• You could even have different difficulties of AI with various levels or coordination based on the composition of the opposing unit, or elite AI groups from canon that would show up randomly (but rarely) on really one-sided matches, like Comm-star or whoever, and if you defeat them you get some really nice reward.

Basically it would open up a whole bunch of pretty awesome possibilities, and finally elevate the game above the ordinary, lazy MOBA that It's been for 3 years.

[slide]

Ruinarion, on 25 April 2016 - 10:08 AM, said:

One thing I have noticed the last couple of nights is that there are a ton of people in drops teams for scouting but the other team isn't scouting. 2 of the worlds I can play had 5 or 6 groups waiting to drop in scouting and the rest had at least 2 waiting to drop in scouting. Only one of the worlds actually had the other team playing scouting. Since there are no ghost drops in scouting this means there were a lot of people tied up waiting for a drop that would never happen.

At least for me I have been able to get into scouting drops almost instantly the whole time just by paying attention to the queue info. However getting into one of the invasion drops is significantly harder.

There are ghost drops in scouting, I have played several.

The real question you should be asking is why people would queue up 3-4 deep to wait 10 mins (minimum) for a match that lasts 5 minutes usually. If you are stacked 4 deep with no opposition the 4th team could be waiting up to 45 mins for a ghost drop that pays less than 100k (depending on merc bonus/PT etc).

The last 3 teams need to get on their faction TS/chat, group up and at least ghost drop a 12 man in <15mins for >300k rewards. Stacking more than 1 (at absolute most 2) deep than there is opposition in scout mode is just a complete waste of time and potential CBills. With the 10 minute wait timer 1 team can ghost scout missions just as fast as 2 or 10 teams can.

[GRiPSViGiL]

Short answer = Because it is still garbage.


Long Answer = Because it is still garbage.

[Ruinarion]

slide, on 25 April 2016 - 04:06 PM, said:

There are ghost drops in scouting, I have played several.

The real question you should be asking is why people would queue up 3-4 deep to wait 10 mins (minimum) for a match that lasts 5 minutes usually. If you are stacked 4 deep with no opposition the 4th team could be waiting up to 45 mins for a ghost drop that pays less than 100k (depending on merc bonus/PT etc).

The last 3 teams need to get on their faction TS/chat, group up and at least ghost drop a 12 man in <15mins for >300k rewards. Stacking more than 1 (at absolute most 2) deep than there is opposition in scout mode is just a complete waste of time and potential CBills. With the 10 minute wait timer 1 team can ghost scout missions just as fast as 2 or 10 teams can.

I didn't realize there were ghost drops. But I always wonder if these were some of the people complaining they could never get a drop. The way I view it is 3 drops queued up is a full 12 man drop that could have happened in less time.

[Gabriel Phoenix]

They finally fix the quirk but it doesn't matter because it doesn't promote small unit or recruiting for new players. It was a bad idea to separate the solo and unit members. I mean if they want the game to gain more people they need to fix the whole atk one planet because we lose the planet gain to bigger unit. Than we got the problem that Clan is still having problem facing IS mech even with our quirk. The IS has us beat for armor value.

[Tarogato]

shr84, on 20 April 2016 - 09:36 AM, said:

with the arrival of FW phase 3 i expected a huge gain of players.
But looking at the players per planet it is like it was before, 12-40 players on each side max.
I think they added a good amount of content and reworked the whole thing, making
it more exciting to partissipate.
So why you not taking part with the action?
Woud love to know that.

For me? Trial dropdeck bug. It's gamebreaking, imo.

[Bud Crue]

shr84, on 20 April 2016 - 09:36 AM, said:

with the arrival of FW phase 3 i expected a huge gain of players.
But looking at the players per planet it is like it was before, 12-40 players on each side max.
I think they added a good amount of content and reworked the whole thing, making
it more exciting to partissipate.
So why you not taking part with the action?
Woud love to know that.

I admit this is kind of petty, still true however: I can't save drop decks. That is why I don't have a lot of enthusiasm to play CW/FW/FP or whatever the hell now.

I like variety. I have (I should say had I suppose) different decks for each map and each mode. I rarely get to play them because trying to filter through 120 mechs to get a deck set in roughly 45 seconds is just not doable on a regular basis for me (you theoretically have a minute, but it really is less, since often if you don't save by ~15 seconds, the deck won't save). I know people who have hundreds of mechs and they are of the same view. I have no desire to play a mode that is inherently designed to prohibit me from playing the wide variety of mechs that the game is actually based upon (on a related note: I have stopped buying mechs as well...why keep selling new mechs if I can't play them in the "end game content"?) That is just ridiculous. Thus, I prefer QP with my unit mates. The maps may be the unknown here, but at least I can play what I want.

[Tyler Valentine]

Used to play FW every day as a solo. Now if I want 12v12 I have to join a larger group. Played maybe an hour in the last week and don't anticipate playing anytime soon.

[xe N on]

Removing the solo queue was a step into the wrong direction.

What is better? solo players playing FW but in a separate queue. Or solo player don't play FW at all?

By removing seal clubbing for large units, there would have been the chance to create interest in FW at players, who avoided FW up to now. Solo queue was a chance to increase the FW population. Solo mode could have made solo player interested in joining units after they started to like playing FW.

At least I prefer to not play FW at all before queue against premade groups.

Edited by xe N on, 25 April 2016 - 08:25 PM.

[Jun Watarase]

I dont think they fixed the fact that invasion mode = spending several minutes walking to the enemy base. Huge waste of time. Who wants to spend nearly half the match just walking to the enemy base and waiting for the team to group up?

[LordNothing]

i kind of think the only solution is to integrate the fp map into all game modes.

front line worlds play invasion and counter attack, take planets, and get your name out there. its pretty much the same old cw as you know it.

second line worlds play scouting, conquest and domination and directly affect the front line by unlocking intel, satelites and radar. resources won in skirmish go to fueling dropships and allow bigger decks on front line drops. domination would unlock npc support like tanks, helis, and aerotech support units when those become available.

third line plays skirmish and assault, and victories there affect the second line games. for example winning assaults affects the dropship weapons in scouting or winning skirmishes will determine the number of cap points you own at the start of a conquest, and the value of side objectives in domination.

and then finally you have specific planets that offer other game modes. say going to solaris lets you enter the tournaments and play the various modes it supports. i also imagine clan homeworlds would allow you to play various trials when such modes are available. i imagine a large number of faction specific game modes. these would all be one off planets where everyone can participate.

planets in lines 2 and 3 (and maybe even 1 when the populations are high) have tiers that correspond to various player teirs. the +/- 2 rule applies so if you are teir 3 you may only drop in tier 1-5 planets. there are extra rewards for fighting a higher tier and penalties for fighting a lower one. the matchmaker as we know it goes away. all 3 lines allow map voting, and lines 2 and 3 allow mode voting.

and finally there would be a planet finder for solo players. it would try to place them on planets that both match their skill level (+/-2) and where there is a lot of solo player activity avoiding ones with heavy unit and group activity. any player may drop on any planet they want or let the game place them. groups and units always have to choose their drop location.

how to deal with low populations? allow certain game modes to support 8v8 play in times of low population.

Edited by LordNothing, 26 April 2016 - 12:09 AM.

[Black Ivan]

CW still is bad in design. Instead of making it a play ground of few priviliged, the could have made it the area of play for all to the extend that Quickplay could have been just for fast fun matches, but PGI failed.

What happened back after Steam release drove many players away from FW as well.

[Elendil]

LordNothing, on 25 April 2016 - 11:44 PM, said:

i kind of think the only solution is to integrate the fp map into all game modes.

...

I cut most of your post out, but the whole thing is interesting.
I think there are some rough edges to hammer out, but I like the basic idea.

Personally I think scouting should take place in worlds that haven't been invaded yet, as a prelude to invasion. One jump ahead of the actual front.
You could scout several worlds for invasion, then if resistance seems weak on one you select that as the invasion point.
Once the invasion starts you can't do scouting anymore (the existing ratio gets locked in place). But scouting wouldn't give you artillery, just satellite scans and such. But it should also give a chance of identifying enemy mechs in the lobby before the match starts (it's a percentage chance that's rolled individually for each mech, so you might only know a handful of what they're bringing. But not actual player names). The higher the scouting ratio, the better your chances.
And scouting would stay 4-vs-4, and only allow light and mediums.

Then the invasion phase as normal, with 12-vs-12.
However, the defenders would start out with artillery support of some sort (a more nerfed version than normal), but the attackers can weaken, nullify, and eventually take it over using the Skirmish mode.

The Skirmish mode would be 8-vs-8, wouldn't allow assaults, and would take place alongside the invasion. It would be focused on tactical strikes against infrastructure, in theory, and should incorporate defense missions where the attackers need to actually destroy military assets or something.

FW should also allow several planetary invasions at once, based on the population of a faction. But each invasion would need to be against a different enemy.
And all members of a faction should get a weekly reward based on their faction's performance that week, but diluted based on the population of the faction. So bigger population factions earn less prestige for the same actions.
Then it awards prestige for basically everything in varying amounts, and each week it tosses out rewards (which would make the 7-day desertion thing make more sense too).
That way more people would go loyalist, and give a crap about their faction, and maybe Jaguar would have actual players...

And lastly, Quick Matches should be integrated into FW, even if it's only at a cosmetic level. Just show a random border planet, remove all player unit and faction tags so everyone looks like mercs (so you can't tell what "side" you're on), and turn everyone loose in any of the existing Quick Match modes, but also invasion, skirmish, and scouting modes (based on the current number of people in queue and weights of mech).
It wouldn't actually contribute anything to prestige or FW in any way, so people at war have no motivation to TK, but it would make you feel less like you're playing in a vacuum.

Oh, and this isn't related, but I think each planet should have a 'theme'. So, when invading/scouting/skirmishing most matches on that planet would be desert, or volcanic, or snow, or swamp, or asteroid or whatever depending on the planet. Obviously with a little crossover, like that swamp planets would have some deserts and polar regions, but they'd be less common. OR whatever. Makes it feel more real and gives more flavor to the game.