2 replies to this topic

[Budoman]

I've been playing for not quite a year now and for the most part I like the game but the one aspect of the game that I really think should be top priority is improving the lobby in Faction Warfare. I'm somewhat surprised that this is not a top topic here.

There is nothing less fun than waiting in a queue. Frankly I would rather PUG drop against a organized team and get slaughtered than wait for 10-20 min in a lobby. I care about this more than I care about new maps, new mechs or new play modes as I seem to now spend as much time in this boring lobby screen as I do in just about any other part of the game. I don't sign on to the game to play a DMV simulator.

One of the worst parts of this experience is just the lack of information on the screen. Just being able to see if people are stacking up as opposition would be a simple and awesome addition. And this information is available right before you enter the lobby - why isn't it in lobby screen? In PUG drops I found myself often dropping out of the lobby to check on this to make sure I wasn't just wasting my time in a lobby that no opposition was queuing for.

But in most any other MMO I know of - if you queue for a an instance of some kind, they let you do something other than just stare at a lobby screen.

So here are some of my suggestions of things you could allow us to do while in the lobby.

Let us spectate other matches.
Let us browse the store.
Let us play in mechlab even if it is partly disabled so it can not save.
Let us drop a mech into training grounds and shoot things
Let us watch mechwarrior videos on a video/youtube plugin.
Let us listen to MWO related pocasts.
Have a mini browser to check out the MWO forums.
Let us duel/battle our other friends in queue.
Let us use/browse just about any other screen available from the home or faction play menu.
Have some minigame.
Have a lot of battletech lore that we can read or browse.

For things that would take us away from the lobby screen (like spectating). Just have it pull us back to the lobby at the 1 minute to drop when the match is joined. Frankly I don't care if I don't have that full minute because it took a bit to load me back into the lobby. Certainly that time could be changed to say 1min and 20 seconds to account for people being brought back.

I realize some of these items are more difficult than others to implement, but anything added would greatly improve this experience.

[Jiyu Mononoke]

a handful of us have been on and on about it I one form or another. Chat lobbies/rooms, character development, other layers to the game etc.
- I will note though, since I been playing when we only had like 4 mechs and a couple maps, and the game as a whole has really grown. I am not displeased or thinking it's going to crash, but there are indeed some things they could vastly improve upon that would have a great-positive impact on the game and it's players desire to stay logged on longer.

[Redchameleon]

One thing that would help is having a “players currently in game” feature (see image below). It would give you an idea of how many players of your faction are currently browsing faction warfare. I feel that if people could see that there are quite a few players browsing it would encourage more people to que for the FW missions. Or at least give them an idea of whether to wait around or just go play a few quick matches and come back in 30 minutes.

http://imgur.com/a/uHdaq