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AnimeFreak40K, on 27 April 2016 - 02:20 PM, said:
Folks have already explained that reason (or, rather, multiple reasons):
1 - FW is not for Casuals. It never was intended for that audience. Before it was really easy for a casual to wander into FW, accept a contract for 1-3 weeks with any given faction and jump in when the CtA came out. This caused several things that brought us to where we are now:
- PUGs/Solos getting farmed by units (Units found incentive to attack rather than defend, so most CtAs were for defending a planet from a 12-man group's attack)...who were quickly soured on the mode as a whole
- Units getting PUGs/Solos (as above, but units want an actual challenge)
- FW3 ended this by making it harder for the causal to pick a faction (either make a unit and go Merc or pick a faction and stick with them permanently)
2 - FW has always had a lower population even from day 1. Folks saw it for what it was, which was a place for units to throw down against each other without having to deal with matchmakers. It was also designed for people who wanted a (more or less) immersive experience in the game as a whole and similar stuff... unfortunately, the majority of the playerbase of MWO don't care for such things.
3 - Time investment is always a huge issue. You can expect to spend 30+ minutes in an FW match (most matches go about 10-20 minutes, but there is always the waiting game to get a match in the first place). The fact of the matter is that in the time it takes to play 1 FW match, one can play 2-5 QP matches....and in theory get better rewards (or at least not roflstomped). Casuals don't have that time.
Dovetailing on this is the effort required to be part of a unit; you need some some software or ap to coordinate with your team (Skype, Discord, Ventrillo, Teamspeak, whatever...) and equipment (headset, mic, etc.) in addition to the time... at least if you want to be reasonably coherent as a unit. Either way, this is a time/effort investment that many casuals are unable or unwilling to make...especially if they see no return.
4 - No incentive for the casual. Given the above mentioned reasons, why should a casual player even think about stepping into FW at all? On the surface, there is very little to gain, so why bother? Keep in mind that the sort of folks that I'm referring to at this point would, most likely, stick with PvE entirely and never touch any PvP part of the game if the option existed.
I know there's more to it, and there are likely more nuanced and specific views, thoughts and reasons than what I listed, but from what I've gathered, most (if not all) reasons pretty much fall into at least 1 of these broad categories.
1 - FW is not for Casuals. It never was intended for that audience. Before it was really easy for a casual to wander into FW, accept a contract for 1-3 weeks with any given faction and jump in when the CtA came out. This caused several things that brought us to where we are now:
- PUGs/Solos getting farmed by units (Units found incentive to attack rather than defend, so most CtAs were for defending a planet from a 12-man group's attack)...who were quickly soured on the mode as a whole
- Units getting PUGs/Solos (as above, but units want an actual challenge)
- FW3 ended this by making it harder for the causal to pick a faction (either make a unit and go Merc or pick a faction and stick with them permanently)
2 - FW has always had a lower population even from day 1. Folks saw it for what it was, which was a place for units to throw down against each other without having to deal with matchmakers. It was also designed for people who wanted a (more or less) immersive experience in the game as a whole and similar stuff... unfortunately, the majority of the playerbase of MWO don't care for such things.
3 - Time investment is always a huge issue. You can expect to spend 30+ minutes in an FW match (most matches go about 10-20 minutes, but there is always the waiting game to get a match in the first place). The fact of the matter is that in the time it takes to play 1 FW match, one can play 2-5 QP matches....and in theory get better rewards (or at least not roflstomped). Casuals don't have that time.
Dovetailing on this is the effort required to be part of a unit; you need some some software or ap to coordinate with your team (Skype, Discord, Ventrillo, Teamspeak, whatever...) and equipment (headset, mic, etc.) in addition to the time... at least if you want to be reasonably coherent as a unit. Either way, this is a time/effort investment that many casuals are unable or unwilling to make...especially if they see no return.
4 - No incentive for the casual. Given the above mentioned reasons, why should a casual player even think about stepping into FW at all? On the surface, there is very little to gain, so why bother? Keep in mind that the sort of folks that I'm referring to at this point would, most likely, stick with PvE entirely and never touch any PvP part of the game if the option existed.
I know there's more to it, and there are likely more nuanced and specific views, thoughts and reasons than what I listed, but from what I've gathered, most (if not all) reasons pretty much fall into at least 1 of these broad categories.
Do you realize those point of views hurts the game and wont attract new players to fill up that almost empty space that is FP, that elitist way of thinking doesn't generate money for the game and not being able to explore all the facets of MWO which are already so few limits any potential for growth.
1- not intended for the casuals, well as it is none of the game is to start with, if i go by the paragraph you wrote, why not lock quick play for those in FP to prevent elitists from farming the average joe. To divide the population even more seem like your solution.
2- Lower population in FP, the game mode or play ground for the big bad units was never complete. Immersion, every player wants it, all who tried the game wanted a Mechwarrior experience or just something new for those who don't know the franchise. Immersion is that feeling that makes players come back and stick around. So everyone do care about immersion.
3-Time investment, that is true for every activity that uses up the free time of anyone. Some have lots,some have less free time to spare, having 30mins matches was never an issue, never heard or did I read that it was a problem, getting a match is an issue and lack of population create that issue.
3.1- Team play, while its written every where even in quick tips that team play is the winner and even is Over Powered ( communications and coordination is the best weapons in the game ) Im all for it, I have no issues with that part of the game and even enjoy it. New players or Casuals like many players for any other game just wants to sit down and jump right in the action. Doing so creates the stomps, farming and whining. To fix that the tutorial has to be mandatory and clearly explain how to play the game in detail. If I remember correctly the tutorial is not mandatory and just do the basics to move and shoot.
4- No incentive for the casual, what is the problem with making rewards fair for everyone participating ? Every player wants CBills and MCs. Thats a other point of view that chases the casuals as well as the new players away.
