69 replies to this topic

[TiguriusX]

Red Shrike, on 30 April 2016 - 02:37 PM, said:

MWO wouldn't be the first game to implement QP as a temp solution only to find it too lucrative to abandon further down the line. They should've gone with CW right off the bat and implement a lesser QP offschoot of that later, rather than the other way around.


So Faction Warfare without factions? That would make it a glorified QP, which will only drive even more people away. Not to mention it would remove the little fluff we have.

There are factions. The faction unit votes decide how and where the military focus is (focus attacking the clan front or defending the IS borders etc.).

The generic masses don't get to decide (remove the decision to queue up on specific planets). They choose to go to war in the FW interface.

The diplomacy and intrigue and community involvement takes place outside the combat mechanics which we currently know as FW

And to clarify...this is a short term suggestion to bring life back to the FW queue. Immediate steps need to be taken to stop the death spiral of population and participation

Edited by TiguriusX, 30 April 2016 - 07:53 PM.

[Talorien]

Livewyr, on 30 April 2016 - 06:04 PM, said:

A queue system. Really?
Just, another glorified *not* quick play.

(Don't worry, PGI didn't and doesn't get it either... community warfare is supposed to involve communities doing diplomacy and intrigue...not voting on the map/mode like quickplay.)

I agree that 3 mega-factions (allowing for some diplomacy/attack options) would be more ideal. It should be viable in terms of not splitting the queues too much (max 6 battleground planets).

How about Warden, Crusader and IS, as mentioned earlier?

Edited by Talorien, 30 April 2016 - 11:32 PM.

[AdrenaHawk]

I don't know, splitting the Clans when they already have a lower dedicated player base against a united Inner Sphere seems kinda janky. Maybe you should do 4 factions, like Warden (Wolf/Bear), Crusader (Falcon/Jaguar), New Star League (Steiner/Rasalhague/Kurita), and Independents (Marik/Liao/Davion)?

Although it would be weird to have Davion and Liao team up, and even though they helped each other against the clans, a Steiner/Kurita team-up is tenuous at best. So how about 5 factions: Warden (Wolf/Bear), Crusader (Falcon/Jaguar), Federated Commonwealth (Steiner/Davion), Northern Guard (Rasalhague/Kurita), and Opportunists (Marik/Liao).

Hmm, but Kurita and Rasalhague don't really like each other, and Liao doesn't really like anyone. And can we really deny the Steiner and Davion loyalists the FedCom Civil War we all know they want? So 8 factions: Warden (Wolf/Bear), Crusader (Falcon/Jaguar), Steiner, Rasalhague, Kurita, Marik, Liao, Davion.

You know, even though some clans have similar philosophies regarding Kerensky's intentions, that doesn't stop them from attacking their allies. So 10 factions: Wolf, Bear, Falcon, Jaguar, Steiner, Rasalhague, Kurita, Marik, Liao, Davion. There, everything works out!

Edited by AdrenaHawk, 01 May 2016 - 01:23 AM.

[Livewyr]

Talorien, on 30 April 2016 - 11:31 PM, said:

I agree that 3 mega-factions (allowing for some diplomacy/attack options) would be more ideal. It should be viable in terms of not splitting the queues too much (max 6 battleground planets).

How about Warden, Crusader and IS, as mentioned earlier?

It doesn't resolve the problem of player community interaction being limited to what the queues let them.

[WANTED]

I like. Game needs to be simplified since not enough players for quick drop and FW. Putting quick drop effectively as part of FW is a must. But keep the gameplay same. No 4 mechs in the 12 v 12 games but outcomes still affect overall FW.

[Tarl Cabot]

What would it look like if only mercs fought just mercs and loyalists fought loyalists, at least on the invasion maps while keeping the scouting missions as one? Originally that is the vision for CW/FW, mercs would setup dates/times for battles.

What would the numbers look like? Is PGI willing to provide percentages of players for each side as well as the percentage of drops for each side. Basically, say Loyalist has more players dropping but overall fewer combat drops per player. That could be done both as an overall percentage then also percentages between each ceasefire.

Would mercs have to change to loyalist status cause most want to launch attacks but very few want to defend?

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 01 May 2016 - 08:40 AM.

[Talorien]

Livewyr, on 01 May 2016 - 04:14 AM, said:

It doesn't resolve the problem of player community interaction being limited to what the queues let them.

Having 3 factions would increase the number of queues by 50% (bad) but give the option of attacking one enemy rather then the other (good).

3 factions worked very well in Dark Age of Camelot, because if one faction got too strong the other two would basically team up for a while.

[Stikyard]

I agree to an extent. IF we really want FW to be the main focus of this game.

Russ seems to believe that the new upcoming Assualt mode is going to be where people want to play.

Solaris means more division and buckets.

Its obvious that FW needs to be IS vs. Clan. Keep the seperate factions for flavor but overall, a drastic improvement to que times and balance by auto routing players into battles that need to be filled.

I would assume that you could even keep Quick matches around just so it isnt ALWAYS IS vs. Clan.

[Helene de Montfort]

Intergalactic war will never be really interesting because :

There's no supply

There's no supply lines

There's no morale

There's no permanent casualties

All of this prevent the game from being a real strategy game. Which is normal, if you consider that Battletech TT is a tactical game. Even Battleforce isn't a grand strategy game, it only cover one planet invasion. There was never a galactic strategy game in the Battletech universe. Galactic strategy was done through novels and lore books.

[Talorien]

AdrenaHawk, on 01 May 2016 - 01:22 AM, said:

You know, even though some clans have similar philosophies regarding Kerensky's intentions, that doesn't stop them from attacking their allies. So 10 factions: Wolf, Bear, Falcon, Jaguar, Steiner, Rasalhague, Kurita, Marik, Liao, Davion. There, everything works out!

Lol. It does show that there's no real 4+ faction split. 2 (Clan/IS) and 3 (IS/Warden/Crusader) seem the most lore-friendly options.

While 3 factions retains some diplomacy benefits (can make alliances, etc), I don't think this benefit is really enough to jusitfy further splitting the queue. Better to have 2 factions and multiple game modes for variety.

[Czarr]

I like the idea of quick play being incorporated into FP

I think if they have a mode for mediums and lights they should also have a mode for heavies and assaults. For example have a "Battlefield mode" where there is 24v24 heavy\assault mechs. Each player picks one mech, they fight in a circular like map similar to polar highlands. The only objective kill or be kill. Winning a certain number of battlefield modes will allow the attacking faction to unlock the "counter attack" phase of invasion where they guard Omega from an attack

Edited by Czarr, 08 May 2016 - 12:55 AM.

[Valar13]

Ghogiel, on 22 April 2016 - 08:33 AM, said:

They could however reduce it to 4 factions. Crusader + warden for clans, and then what ever else they can group the IS into that makes sense lore wise.

That would more than double the value of the current player base and solve a lot of issues. Reducing it to 2 factions clan vs IS doesn't sound all that great.

Not that I'm for this idea, but they could go FedCom and Concord of Kapteyn, even though the latter was ripe with infighting.

[T B1zzle]

+1

[Tarl Cabot]

Quote

There's no supply lines

This. It has to start somewhere but cut a star lane supply line, the planet(s) cut off can only defend. This would help in picking which planet to attack, such as CJF capturing a CW planet to cut their supply lines, or DCMS of Kurita slicing CSJ in half.

This could have the added effect of forcing units to actually defend more often instead of attacking, simply to prevent their headway from being cut off.

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 09 May 2016 - 04:06 PM.

[Mechwarrior5973032]

4 factions not 2.

[AWOL 01]

Implement QP-style queues into FP in the following way:

1) Players queue up under the FP tab in either 4v4 (scouting), 8v8 (skirmish between heavies/assaults), and 12v12 (current FP invasion mode)
2) Matchmaker arranges players similar to in QP
3) Instead of voting for a map and gamemode, players vote for the planet currently being attacked, or for the planets that need to be defended
4) Loyalists have 3x multiplier, Mercs have 2x, Freelancers have 1x
5) After 24 hours, faction with most wins owns the planet

Players can still vote for which planet to attack during the attack phase. Just a rough idea but what do you guys think?

[Stikyard]

AWOL 01, on 10 May 2016 - 07:53 AM, said:

Implement QP-style queues into FP in the following way:

1) Players queue up under the FP tab in either 4v4 (scouting), 8v8 (skirmish between heavies/assaults), and 12v12 (current FP invasion mode)
2) Matchmaker arranges players similar to in QP
3) Instead of voting for a map and gamemode, players vote for the planet currently being attacked, or for the planets that need to be defended
4) Loyalists have 3x multiplier, Mercs have 2x, Freelancers have 1x
5) After 24 hours, faction with most wins owns the planet

Players can still vote for which planet to attack during the attack phase. Just a rough idea but what do you guys think?

These ideas and many others are all very good. I think its safe to say that FW needs to change. Their are just too many factions and separate planets being attacked and defended. Solo's and Units need to be split or, just keep it like it is and a small percentage of the players will continue to play it this way.

[Breidr]

Would love seeing even a small amount of this implemented. If I could get my FW kick by doing QP matches, I'd kiss Invasion goodbye. Scouting is a fun mode, but gets stale. I wouldn't mind an 4v4 occasionally. I'd also like to see a possible return of 8v8 instead of 12v12, maybe.

Edited by Breidr Breidsson, 12 May 2016 - 12:28 AM.

[shakes]

I like all the OPs suggestions, but 4 factions. IS partnerships could be dynamic over time with shifting diplomacies somehow – perhaps that’s where player voting could come in.

I also think planetary overtake could be changed to percentage based, with the current invasion mode taking between 5 and 15% of the planet, depending on how many ‘bases’ are installed. Invasion would also be the only way to start planet capture - meaning those more involved and knowledgeable would direct the flow of the strategic map.

The upcoming assault mode could account for 1-2%, and replace quick play, or at least be the mode that newer players can get straight into CW with.

Only groups of 2 or more or single pilots with a minimum rating of some description (PSR 4+ or 1+ mech mastered) could partake in invasion matches. Groups of 4 or more would have to play invasion and not assault. This would have the following effects:

·Allow newer players to be involved in CW through scouting and assault matches – and learn the ropes without having too great an effect on things (in all weight class of mechs)
·Allow organised groups and more experienced players to have a larger influence on planet capture and thus the direction of the campaign, and ‘come to the rescue’ when a planet is being overtaken.
·Keep invasion to what it probably should be – larger groups and players with at least some experience
·Keep larger groups out of assault matches
·Allow smaller groups to have a quick assault drop when they can’t find an invasion

Edited by shakes, 12 May 2016 - 09:29 PM.

[LordKnightFandragon]

Or you turn Faction war into Planetside 2 style, where instead of waiting in the Matchmaker you log into the game, hop on a dropship and drop on a planet and have endless battlemech combat fighting for the galaxy from different maps, each representing a different planet. Have PGI make like 10 different 6000x6000m maps to represent the hundreds of planets, then we select a planet and go there for combat.