232 replies to this topic

[wanderer]

Russ clearly hasn't realized who's on the island.

Again.

Or that generally, it takes people who play, understand the game, are are willing to polish the flaws to actually develop it properly.

Paul does not qualify.

The reason criticism is constant is because the source of that criticism is unchanging. Put Paul in a ceremonial vice-president-of-design position and find someone competent who understands and enjoys the source material in his place. I don't know how much he actually does in terms of coding, but as far as I can tell, someone else does that anyway.

[WarHippy]

Prosperity Park, on 02 May 2016 - 10:34 AM, said:

Wrong, Microsoft could easily sell expansion packs on Xbox live for residual income.

Microsoft shelved PGI's first pitch for a Mechwarrior campaign game because 1.) It was pitched during a recession, and 2.) Microsoft was too greedy to allow a PS3 port and decided that an xbox-only title in a recession would not sell enough... Kind of a self-fulfilling prophesy, though.

Microsoft just didn't want to spend any money to support it, marketing-wise.

Adding DLC content or expansions(what is this the 90s? ) is one thing, but what I was talking about was them having a harder time creating an endless cycle of Mechwarrior games on a yearly basis. Call of MechAssault 1, 2, 3, etc. with random additions such as Call of MechAssault Jihad Warfare. MechAssault was actually pretty popular for awhile when all was shiny and new, but it was a terrible treatment of the franchise that didn't gain much lasting traction. Of course the economy plays a role as it does in all things, but what you are saying and what I was saying actually go hand in hand pretty well regardless of you thinking I am wrong.

[Tordin]

Mech Assault 2 were pretty popular on Xbox, but then... Then came Halo 2 and totally overshadowed it. I kinda regret not buying MA 2. Yes its arcadish and stuff, not at all an simulator. But I took it for what it was worth at least the first one which I got. Wrong direction, kinda to go for a Battletech game if you think simulation. But it was fun. And I sure learned alot from the semi-canon stuff about Word of Blake. That Ragnarok mech, that thing was scary as F.

[Idealsuspect]

Alaric Hasek, on 29 April 2016 - 10:20 PM, said:

Russ finally said it: the player base needs to stop thinking that it knows better than PGI how to develop this game.

He is right ...
Trials mechs were better for news players when trials werent designed by communauty plz russ buff trials mech like before

[STEF_]

Idealsuspect, on 02 May 2016 - 12:02 PM, said:

He is right ...
Trials mechs were better for news players when trials werent designed by communauty plz russ buff trials mech like before

XL Stalker
# neverforget
(bacause I was in clan side at that time....)

[Barkem Squirrel]

So what type of cockpit item is this worth. We already have the island one.

[C E Dwyer]

Stefka Kerensky, on 02 May 2016 - 12:08 PM, said:

XL Stalker
# neverforget
(bacause I was in clan side at that time....)

Wasn't just the clans that had fun with them

[Afuldan McKronik]

Barkem Squirrel, on 02 May 2016 - 12:13 PM, said:

So what type of cockpit item is this worth. We already have the island one.

A cow paddie with the word OPINION half buried in it.

[C E Dwyer]

WarHippy, on 02 May 2016 - 10:21 AM, said:

If the Mechwarrior games didn't sell well we never would have had as many as we did. Microsoft deciding it wasn't worth it because of sales has more to do with their decision to change from the old formula and create the MechAssault games, and making them only for the XBox. The reason Microsoft gave up on the IP is because they didn't have a good way of making the Mechwarrior IP into something they could endlessly exploit on an annual basis for the XBox like they do with a lot of their other IPs.

Prosperity Park, on 02 May 2016 - 10:34 AM, said:

Wrong, Microsoft could easily sell expansion packs on Xbox live for residual income.

Microsoft shelved PGI's first pitch for a Mechwarrior campaign game because 1.) It was pitched during a recession, and 2.) Microsoft was too greedy to allow a PS3 port and decided that an xbox-only title in a recession would not sell enough... Kind of a self-fulfilling prophesy, though.

Microsoft just didn't want to spend any money to support it, marketing-wise.

Who in the hell bothers with Xbox ?

[STEF_]

Cathy, on 02 May 2016 - 12:15 PM, said:

Wasn't just the clans that had fun with them

Yea , that's true, but in that period I was dropping in CW only.
Must be for that reason I wrote the above

[jaxjace]

Except we do know how to fix the game, we ******* play it, PGI clearly does not. Who is more inclined to know whats wrong with a game? the player in the ******* game? or the dev who made it.

[AztecD]

it seems to be like eat your crap and like it

[Appogee]

Barkem Squirrel, on 02 May 2016 - 12:13 PM, said:

So what type of cockpit item is this worth. We already have the island one.

I'd spend MC on a Masturbating Troll cockpit item.

[Jun Watarase]

Probably the easiest way to understand how PGI makes design decisions that its a bunch of guys (Russ, Paul, etc) getting together and pitching in some cash for an investment. Its like a bunch of bros getting together and funding a burger joint or something. They dont really care if the burgers are the best, its just a source of revenue for them. They have other people handling the cooking, serving the customers, etc, while they "manage" stuff behind the scene like decide on the next menu design or the color of the tablecloths. They are investors, not business owners looking to make the best or largest burger joint in the country, so the most improtant thing is the return on investment figure, rather than things like market share or customer retention. If they can spend $2 to sell a $5 burger that rates 3/5, instead of spending $4 to make a $6 burger that rates 5/5, they will pick the former.

That's why they basically do NO market research whatsoever, since its a bunch of bros with their own game, they do what they want rather than how professional companies handle things...do you see Coca Cola releasing a new drink because a VP thought it would be a good idea? No...they do a TON of market research to see if there's market demand for it and how best to market it, one guy doesn't just wake up one day and go "Yea let's totally release this melon flavoured drink because I want it". If you read up on the "New Coke" story, you can see how much market research goes into a new product (ssurveys, focus groups, blind taste testing, etc...costing millions and millions of dollars), now ask yourself...have you ever seen PGI do anything like that? Nope. They won't even bother doing surveys on their own forum, even though it costs them next to nothing because they don't need to hire a professional marketing company to do it for them. In a small company though, it's not unusual for decisions to be made because one of the top guys wants it done rather than because it would make financial sense to do so.

That's why you never see PGI asking players what they want...because they don't care, it's what PGI wants that's important. It's the old Ford saying "The customer can have any car they want, as long as its black". They will make a black car, and you will jolly well buy it because it's the ONLY option available. Oh you want a blue car? Too bad. Obviously, Ford never got away with making black cars forever, because they had this thing called "competitors" that forced them to step up their game.

But PGI doesn't have any direct competitors. Imagine if MWO was an open source game, like how linux or whatever was open source. Just like how the best linux distros (with the least bugs, the most features, etc) tend to be the most popular, the least buggy and most well developed version of MWO would be the most poular and PGI would be forced to step up their game. But MWO isnt open source, so they dont feel any pressure to improve to maintain profitability. Ford wouldnt bother making blue cars if they were the only company allowed to make cars. Sure, there may be other companies making trucks and vans, but they cant really compete in the car market with Ford, just like how nobody can compete with PGI in the mechwarrior online market because they have a monopoly.

[Mystere]

jaxjace, on 02 May 2016 - 01:13 PM, said:

Except we do know how to fix the game, we ******* play it, PGI clearly does not. Who is more inclined to know whats wrong with a game? the player in the ******* game? or the dev who made it.

In that case, please fix delayed convergence so we can have it back.

[jaxjace]

Mystere, on 02 May 2016 - 02:19 PM, said:

In that case, please fix delayed convergence so we can have it back.

No, you are on an island.

[Mechwarrior1441491]

Jun Watarase, on 02 May 2016 - 02:15 PM, said:

Probably the easiest way to understand how PGI makes design decisions that its a bunch of guys (Russ, Paul, etc) getting together and pitching in some cash for an investment. Its like a bunch of bros getting together and funding a burger joint or something. They dont really care if the burgers are the best, its just a source of revenue for them. They have other people handling the cooking, serving the customers, etc, while they "manage" stuff behind the scene like decide on the next menu design or the color of the tablecloths. They are investors, not business owners looking to make the best or largest burger joint in the country, so the most improtant thing is the return on investment figure, rather than things like market share or customer retention. If they can spend $2 to sell a $5 burger that rates 3/5, instead of spending $4 to make a $6 burger that rates 5/5, they will pick the former.

That's why they basically do NO market research whatsoever, since its a bunch of bros with their own game, they do what they want rather than how professional companies handle things...do you see Coca Cola releasing a new drink because a VP thought it would be a good idea? No...they do a TON of market research to see if there's market demand for it and how best to market it, one guy doesn't just wake up one day and go "Yea let's totally release this melon flavoured drink because I want it". If you read up on the "New Coke" story, you can see how much market research goes into a new product (ssurveys, focus groups, blind taste testing, etc...costing millions and millions of dollars), now ask yourself...have you ever seen PGI do anything like that? Nope. They won't even bother doing surveys on their own forum, even though it costs them next to nothing because they don't need to hire a professional marketing company to do it for them. In a small company though, it's not unusual for decisions to be made because one of the top guys wants it done rather than because it would make financial sense to do so.

That's why you never see PGI asking players what they want...because they don't care, it's what PGI wants that's important. It's the old Ford saying "The customer can have any car they want, as long as its black". They will make a black car, and you will jolly well buy it because it's the ONLY option available. Oh you want a blue car? Too bad. Obviously, Ford never got away with making black cars forever, because they had this thing called "competitors" that forced them to step up their game.

But PGI doesn't have any direct competitors. Imagine if MWO was an open source game, like how linux or whatever was open source. Just like how the best linux distros (with the least bugs, the most features, etc) tend to be the most popular, the least buggy and most well developed version of MWO would be the most poular and PGI would be forced to step up their game. But MWO isnt open source, so they dont feel any pressure to improve to maintain profitability. Ford wouldnt bother making blue cars if they were the only company allowed to make cars. Sure, there may be other companies making trucks and vans, but they cant really compete in the car market with Ford, just like how nobody can compete with PGI in the mechwarrior online market because they have a monopoly.

Heavy Gear Online is ready to take the stage for mech combat. It's set to steal away those in the know who like mechs.

[Afuldan McKronik]

GAGONMYlOCK, on 02 May 2016 - 02:53 PM, said:

Heavy Gear Online is ready to take the stage for mech combat. It's set to steal away those in the know who like mechs.

MAV looked interesting too.

[Mystere]

Afuldan McKronik, on 02 May 2016 - 03:08 PM, said:

MAV looked interesting too.

MAV?

[Afuldan McKronik]

http://store.steampo...com/app/280440/

I think they just went to open beta.