Edited to be less hurtful. 5/2/16 Derv
PGI appears to mostly care about (1 bringing in enough money to pay their bills and 2) maintaining control of the Mechwarrior license so they can continue to squeeze the blood from the turnip as long as it stays profitable. Listening to and asking for help from the community appears as a distant third.
They're a business. Staying fiscally solvent should be their primary goal. However right now the way they're going about it is like when you're playing an RTS and are clearly going to lose but you keep pumping out cheap
PGI could solve a lot of their gaming and financial problems by bringing in volunteers from the community who would do stuff for free. Yes the initial hassle of integrating the community seems like a big hurdle. Still it would be worth it if things such as map design, community interaction/management (Tina is clearly overwhelmed or doesn't care), playtesting, etc. could all easily be done by the talented members of this community that have been doing this stuff for years. It could potentially free up PGI to work on more core features while providing a sense of belonging to the rest of us.
Yet right now they clearly have concerns about control and don't appear to understand or appreciate how this community got by with a game from 2001 (for over a decade) with little to no help from the original developer. This is a small but closely bound group with many people going back to the original games for old people computers. This is the same group that created 3 different mods for Mechwarrior 4 Mercs simply because Microsoft left the IP blowing in the wind. And now it appears we're approaching this moment again. Different song, same tune.
Still... I can't blame PGI members for avoiding this community sometimes, this forum especially. SOME OF YOU (myself included) who dwell here act like, by and large, awful human beings. 50% of you make your points by throwing out insults (great way to persuade someone to your side btw) and the other half suffer from OCD and type... way too much. Hmm (note to self: type less). Hence why we have filter systems for the community like NGNG.
Nonetheless if PGI wishes to continue this game they should feel they have an obligation to interact with us mech fanatics. That they're appearing to choose not to be part of the community (how they're being perceived is what matters most) is saying more about their intentions than words ever could to a lot of former diehards.
Extend a hand PGI. You might be surprised that it won't be bitten. It likely will increase your profits, improve your infrastructure, and help your standing in the video game industry. Include us. Because in the end this community will survive. At the rate you are going; you may not.
Edited by dervishx5, 02 May 2016 - 06:33 AM.