188 replies to this topic

[Steve Pryde]

Wait, pug queue and group queue are thrown together?

[Red Shrike]

The Driver, on 29 April 2016 - 12:35 PM, said:

FW is basically; whoever brings the most LPL and MPL to the match and can vomit them on-target en-masse

boring as *redacted*

Yup.

[TheLuc]

I just did a game to see the changes with the hot fix and to see if the event was worth it, WTH was that ?? 120k at the end of the match ? I do better CBills in quick play and way faster. Even including the Mechs as grand prize, If i sell them I still do better CBills in quick play.

after that some players wonders why its empty.

Seriously the state of FP is worse than I thought

[Livewyr]

TheLuc, on 29 April 2016 - 01:07 PM, said:

I just did a game to see the changes with the hot fix and to see if the event was worth it, WTH was that ?? 120k at the end of the match ? I do better CBills in quick play and way faster. Even including the Mechs as grand prize, If i sell them I still do better CBills in quick play.

after that some players wonders why its empty.

Seriously the state of FP is worse than I thought

Bolded for emphasis: That basic income is such a huge concern with community warfare, is a large part of why CW/FW is ****ed.

A community warfare worth its salt would be worth more than Cbill gain.

[Diamondwing]

My opinion here?

FW was dead before the split. The split gave slight hope, but it was already too late. The community itself is kind of what killed the FW because lets be honest. No one wants to be a baby seal, and without baby seals, Unit players have nothing to do and it's a waist of time. It's a failed system and this is the product. PGI failed to uphold their promise to the players, and in turn the players drove themselves into the ground. Now the game is lack-luster because the interest has come and gone. There isn't pulling out of it. It's time to restructure and reboot. Kill the **** load of clans, maybe develope a campaign of some sort. integrate units into maybe two to three sides. Profit.

[Randy Poffo]

Livewyr, on 29 April 2016 - 04:26 PM, said:

Bolded for emphasis: That basic income is such a huge concern with community warfare, is a large part of why CW/FW is ****ed.

A community warfare worth its salt would be worth more than Cbill gain.

After disagreeing with you on a lot of things I have to say I agree completely on this. I did not understand why people were endlessly quibbling about the C-bills. CW should effectively be your end-game payoff, the stuff you do because it's actually fun rather than a part of the grind. The fun doesn't even need to be *coded* into the game - players will make their own fun if you give them a relatively balanced platform from which to do it.

I would also be fine with elimination of solo players in CW if there was a basic balance to the game such that you could expect that endgame to be fun. If solo players could expect that then they'd happily grind along, just waiting for that day that they'd be ready to put on their big-boy pants and join a unit. Seal clubbing wouldn't be a thing. The population would actually go up. There would be matches, and they would be competitive.

If I had any confidence of seeing that I would be looking for a unit to join *tonight*. I would be spending money I don't have on the Cyclops pack so that I could be "that guy" in the unit that insists on running the ECM variant Cyclops because he swears he's theorycrafted it and it's great... But it's not there, and by now it's pretty clear that it's not going to be there, and I have to say this is a pretty hard crash from being so hopeful to the low I reached after this town hall.

It's pretty clear that it comes from top down and bottom up. Top down, because there's clearly no real vision as to what this game can be other than a raw desire to mollify their "core" players at the expense of anyone else and any future the game might have. And bottom up because there are enough people in that "core" group that seem to actually want it to be this way, and for whom grinding is an end unto itself. People who *want* the mode to be based on seal-clubbing because just being in a game and getting those rewards is more important than the game they play actually being rewarding in and of itself.

I think this town hall finally just broke me. Can't do this.

[SCHLIMMER BESTIMMER XXX]

Bud Crue, on 25 April 2016 - 06:43 PM, said:

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.

What do you mean with maps may be unknown?
Keyword maps: The biggest issue in FW for me after the insane waiting times for a match are the maps....
They all dont look appealing and way too simplistic and beeing just unimmersive/unimpressive.
I have the feeling when i look at them that they was made on the fly with no real effort.
I mean sure, the maps have to support a specific kind of gameplay, but that shoud be achievable also with maps that
have an actual character.They just not stand up to MWO franchise and making FW matches somehow very repetitive for me...

[SCHLIMMER BESTIMMER XXX]

Cizjut, on 28 April 2016 - 08:39 AM, said:

FW Invasion mode right now is just not that fun.

The faster devs accept it, the better. An infernal wait to queue in too many factions with too many planets and too few people to fill them, only to be dropped in big *** and frankly ugly canyon maps with enforced chokepoints kills any creativity you could have with surrounding. Every match is attack rush and defending camp with high alphas, preferably lots of lasers pointing at a single entrance. lots of walking and few actual action. No variety in gameplay.

Quick match maps and modes are pretty fun. If they were 4drop they would be pretty cool and hectic. Also faster.

I mean when you think about it, FW wants to feel like a military campaign with positioning and execution, that's why the maps are big, but still nothing warrants trying new things since the best build for a team are pinpoint damage mechs and few chassis perform well in this matter.

4vs4 scouting mode IS pretty fun, but only because it's a 4vs4, not because the objective is interesting. There's a meta game to evolve in high level play in scouting mode, but it's just not that well designed to warrant the audience's attention to it, more so in the bigger maps.

The weapons, logistic options and features of the game are still barebones to advanced gameplay and only work in Quickmatch because they're basically an arena style of shooting. When you try to implement more advanced objectives it becomes obvious they're not enough.

No repair trucks or bays/refueling systems in FW for example, make some mechs completely unusable after their payload is used. This obviously never will happen with energy based mechs, who can fight and camp all day every day. People obviously will pick the Black Knight to the end of the world. No clever outposts to capture and monitor advances of the enemy. No real usefulness for lights in FW maps. No alternative ways of winning a match but to rush through the trenches in waves. NO NEW WEAPONS. No alternative of defending /attacking with NPC tanks or defense points or aircraft that could cost CBills making the War Economy WORTH SOMETHING FOR WAR.

Simply put, the game has never been ready for the Faction Warfare mode at its core. It's a good arena shooter, and it was designed at the beginning to be that with the promise of something more but it's not going to get there.

I loved the game and came late to the party actually, but now i understand the mountains of salt around here. Most of these are simple things and concepts and seems it's never going to get implemented.

agreed on the maps totally.
But instead of even more features that cost $ in working/programming time they should focus on making the FW playable
on its very basics.

-Time to find match at least nearly the same ammount as quick match.

-Revamp/Replacement of current FW maps.

these two points are the BIG TOMBSTONES for FW imo.

Edited by shr84, 30 April 2016 - 11:14 AM.

[SCHLIMMER BESTIMMER XXX]

Count Zero 74, on 27 April 2016 - 02:09 PM, said:

Why so few play FW ?

Not sure where that whole idea FW is underpopulated comes from, when do a few become many, is there a certain number ?

Population in FW has been pretty steady from day 1 and if you know how to read the queues u can get quick matches most of the time, with the exception of the Oceanic Attack phase which has always been a little quiet.

So if you don't like the current state of CW, well no one is forcing you to play, do they ? there's enough players that like it and we seem to manage quite well with the current population.

Tbh I wouldn't mind if a lot of players that are playing FW would stop ( or at least go and play for Clans, believe me Clans have way cooler Mechs and are way OP )

So, are too few people playing FW ? Too few people that know what they are doing for sure but otherwise no.

12-48 players active on a planet per faction/clan on each side side (attackers/defenders) at any given time of the day
are obvious few players.Dont want to be sarcastic, but maybie you live in a village and these numbers are a big population for you?I have to say, i see more people when i take the tramp for 1 station then in FW

[Bud Crue]

shr84, on 30 April 2016 - 11:00 AM, said:

What do you mean with maps may be unknown?
Keyword maps: The biggest issue in FW for me after the insane waiting times for a match are the maps....
They all dont look appealing and way too simplistic and beeing just unimmersive/unimpressive.
I have the feeling when i look at them that they was made on the fly with no real effort.
I mean sure, the maps have to support a specific kind of gameplay, but that shoud be achievable also with maps that
have an actual character.They just not stand up to MWO franchise and making FW matches somehow very repetitive for me...

I was referring to the voting mechanism and the limited number of maps in QP. In QP I can certainly take whatever build I like, but if I take, say a short range brawler, I have no idea if I will end up on a map appropriate for that particular mech (the four maps to vote on may all be inappropriate or not, but you don't know until after the vote what you will get).

[SCHLIMMER BESTIMMER XXX]

Bud Crue, on 30 April 2016 - 02:11 PM, said:

I was referring to the voting mechanism and the limited number of maps in QP. In QP I can certainly take whatever build I like, but if I take, say a short range brawler, I have no idea if I will end up on a map appropriate for that particular mech (the four maps to vote on may all be inappropriate or not, but you don't know until after the vote what you will get).

then chose a proper versitile loadout
thats what i do.And if i take a knife fighter i dont blame the maps to be **** like many do

[DiceHack]

Darn... I want to switch factions.

No playing CW until my cbill penalty expires. 1 less in CW queue for a week.

As the penalty intended and wanted?

And if quickplays get boring go play other games?

Edited by DiceHack, 13 May 2016 - 01:20 PM.

[Hunter Watzas]

The event last event for FW really showed the game gets much better with just a population jump of about 3x as many. The problem is people would much rather play public que than FW que and I can think of this for a few reasons.

1: Players who are bad don't want to get better at the expense of losing. Sorry but to get good at this game it requires time and practice, builds are all online so its not that their are people doing stuff that you don't know how to do. Its that you think builds make or break your skill; which isn't true. I play FW because it makes me better cause i play against more coordinated players and teams and it forces me to learn from my mistakes.

2: The CBill payout when you get slaughter is terrible. One match i made 200k for 30 minutes which i can do in half the time in public que (i have tournament, premium and special mech bonus's). I played poorly primarily cause the team i was playing with wouldn't listen to instructions and so i basically just played defensively. However on a win that might take 30 minutes i get 1.5 million cbills; about 1 million for in game match and another 500k from contract bonus.

3: People are too short termed to think of the additional awards from loyalty/merc points. Like free mech bays and free mc and free cbills.

4: people get stuck with other bad people who don't listen or learn from experience players so you have entire solo players get into a match together that have no experience and face a coordinated team and get rolled. This is on the those players who don't realize you should only join as a solo player if you are experienced or if there are other groups involved. Almost every faction has a coordination TS that people can hop on to and learn and play with coordinated groups.

Conclusion: Low population = less fun gameplay and more waiting. High Population = more fun gameplay and less waiting. Bonus events are a good way to incentivize players to play FW. Figure out how to do that in general and more will play. As for current FW players try to actually help the bad players even if you want to strangle them cause they don't understand what comms are (hopefully that comm wheel will remove the final excuse of "muting" players).

[Desintegrator]

CW or Faction Play is dead !

Why !?

Because CW is the WAITING GAME !!

Waiting 10min for your own team to form, then leave the Planet because you cannot form a team and join the next one and wait for another 10 min. Then when your own team is ready wait forever for the enemy team !

In the same "waiting time" I would have earned 1 million C-Bills in Quick matches.

And the next problem is:
No dropdecks for Freelancers !!

When I join the Clans, I have to set up my drop deck with Clan Mechs and when I join the IS in the next match
my drop deck is deleted and filled with TRIAL mechs. And thats the same thing over and over again - also in scouting matches.

So the main problem remains since the last 4 years:
The Devs have never played MWO, so they know nothing about the bad usabilty and the worse game design.

So I will still drop in quick matches again until 2018, and maybe we will see some improvements until then and then I will drop again for a CW match.

[Kyria Clearwater]

TBH, one of the quickest fixes to the player base issues would be allow Clan/IS factions to drop into the attack options against each other. (Only IS vs Clan)

For example Jade Falcon has an attack into Steiner space, but 2 of the other clan factions have no action, so would be able to assist in the attack. Same in reverse for the IS factions.

This would allow the Southern Factions into the play, other than only on defensive options and would actually open up more attack options across the board for everyone.

Lastly this would allow more Factional Warfare than before and would encourage factions to actually co-ordinate and create a better community warfare experience.

[Breidr]

That's something I would love to see Anders. We need to consolidate into two factions, IS and Clan. Not enough players to support the current design.

[Kyria Clearwater]

Breidr Breidsson, on 16 May 2016 - 03:00 AM, said:

That's something I would love to see Anders. We need to consolidate into two factions, IS and Clan. Not enough players to support the current design.

Not consolidate the factions but allow for the all the clans to attack the IS attack options and all the IS factions to attack the clan attack options, would allow more of the player base to participate, especially in areas where the FW system map makes it pretty bad option wise for specific factions.

[meteorol]

Because CW phase 3 (predictably) fell flat on its face.

[Breidr]

Copy the MP Campaign system from Red Orchestra 2. Win that, win a planet. Move onto the next game/planet.

[Dee Eight]

That can't happen...mercstar would own the inner sphere in six months...