869 replies to this topic

[Stormbringer13]

dario03, on 26 July 2016 - 06:18 AM, said:

-Let players choose a faction. But make the mode mostly Clan vs IS.

-Have only one planet contested at a time per vs mode. So if there is only Clan vs IS at that time there will be just one planet where everyone plays on. Or have multiple planets contested but the player does not decide where they drop.

kinda contradictory. why bother joining a faction if you aren't fighting for it? I joined the NY Yankees, but am playing for the Red Sox and Twins. But we're playing our games in Barcelona.

[MacCaileanMor]

It would be nice if FW encouraged the use of non-meta mechs because of logistical or economic factors. Maybe each unit would be required to buy the mechs it uses in FW and/or buy repair parts and/or buy ammunition. So spamming expensive meta-mechs would become cost prohibitive. Alternatively (or in addition to), your faction might need to own a certain planet before a certain type of mech were available.

Similarly, there should be an incentive to keep your mech alive and withdraw to a rear area when you are seriously damaged. Perhaps your team or faction would not get penalized for the loss of that mech if you back-load the damaged mech onto a drop ship or return it to a repair depot before you take out your next mech.

Economic or logistical factors would really add some depth to the meta game.

[Kael Posavatz]

Bombadil, on 25 July 2016 - 11:56 AM, said:

But again, this first Roundtable will be primarily focused on large-scale issues, like player population, buckets and queue times, solo and group play, factions, and the overall format of Faction Play (ie. 24/7 vs. scheduled times or other options). If successful, this Roundtable will lead to more meetings, which can then focus on additional topics, such as game modes, rewards and incentives, lobbies and chat, maps, the role of mercenaries, barriers to entry (ie. new players), PvE, lore, and on and on. But again, this isn't about me. If the players involved in this discussion want to make something a higher priority than I have suggested here, excellent!

I think population needs to be the highest priority, but at this point the only way to get a higher population is to address that other stuff.

One point, Russ has, in his townhalls, repeatedly mentioned how much he likes World of Tanks/World of Warships. Having recently tried them I can see a lot of similarities between them and MWO. However, one thing that stood out is that they tell me how many people are online (5725 at 1206pm US Central, wait, just went up, now it's 5727). PGI has flatly refused to do this. It created a great deal of anxiety back when it was just quick play. Not having it now means a lot of us don't know how many people are actually playing FW because we can only see what our faction is doing, and what a few allied factions are doing defensively.

Not having this data hinders out ability to have a realistic conversation, or make realistic suggestions. I mean, I could suggest that House Davion and Steiner should be merged for lore reasons, but I don't know if that will make things better or worse from a over-all or faction-specific populations.

My general sense is that people have stopped playing FW. It isn't even so much a case of burn-out as it is "we've seen all that FW has to offer us, why are we still here?" A lot of those I know who are still playing FW are playing under inertia, not because there is anything driving them.

[HumpingBunny]

MacCaileanMor, on 26 July 2016 - 09:09 AM, said:

It would be nice if FW encouraged the use of non-meta mechs because of logistical or economic factors. Maybe each unit would be required to buy the mechs it uses in FW and/or buy repair parts and/or buy ammunition. So spamming expensive meta-mechs would become cost prohibitive. Alternatively (or in addition to), your faction might need to own a certain planet before a certain type of mech were available.

Similarly, there should be an incentive to keep your mech alive and withdraw to a rear area when you are seriously damaged. Perhaps your team or faction would not get penalized for the loss of that mech if you back-load the damaged mech onto a drop ship or return it to a repair depot before you take out your next mech.

Economic or logistical factors would really add some depth to the meta game.

I salute you, sir! Also, I agree. Economic and logistic factors would be a great addition to faction play. Would also be nice if the non-meta were encouraged, no matter the method.

[Rebas Kradd]

People are upset that FW turned out to be nothing but a new gamemode and six new maps.

We had envisioned a lot more than that. That's all. Every planet is the same, which makes the IS map largely meaningless. Factions are exactly the same - no personality, no drawbacks or advantages for being in one or the other.

If you want people to enjoy FW, start by making it more than a gamemode and new maps. Bring distinctions for each planet, reasons to capture it. Impart logistics - discrete units, travel times, drop costs, advantages to holding specific maps. Inject some personality into the thing.

Then there's the Invasion gamemode. It's punishing and repetitive. We need something more open-ended, something with multiple ways to complete an objective, something without chokepoints that funnel everything into a withering kill zone. Go with a different map philosophy - open instead of pathing.

Edited by Rebas Kradd, 26 July 2016 - 09:19 AM.

[S C A R]

http://imgur.com/a/QVGmU this is why FP needs to change. No fun for anyone(((

[Big Tin Man]

Quote

But again, this first Roundtable will be primarily focused on large-scale issues, like player population, buckets and queue times, solo and group play, factions, and the overall format of Faction Play (ie. 24/7 vs. scheduled times or other options).

It may be worthwhile then to look into what has worked in the past to drive up player populations, as half of the issues here are directly related to player population

1. Tuk event. Put everyone into one bucket and watch it overflow. It worked to boost player population because
a) drops were fast and no ghost drops at all
b.) It had lore and a 'reason' to fight
c) EXCELLENT event specific rewards

2. Various weekend events
a) drops increased, lots of action on a couple fronts but some remain quiet
b.) Improved event specific rewards, grab bags, whatever
c) fast scouting drops
d) Long Tom shut invasion queues down, but there was usually somewhere else to go

3. Comstar Intercepts
a) drops increased for the factions affected
b.) caught the communities attention because of LORE (well, kinda. It was a start)
c) good bang for your buck with the rewards with respect to the effort put in

The common thread between all of these events is... REWARDS. Rewards motivate players to play. More players means fuller buckets. Fuller buckets means a higher chance of players discussing things with each other and organizing/recruiting into units.

I have banged the rewards drum for a long time. Pugs go where cbills flow. There has been lots of talk of other ways to increase rewards that aren't just a handout (planets offering discounts on stuff, comstar intercept campaigns, loyalists paying mercs a bonus to push to a certain planet, make objectives pay like o-gens, turrets, and intel. etc etc etc).

I would challenge Russ to tell Paul to stick it and FLAT OUT DOUBLE FW rewards for 1 month, just to see what happens. No other changes, just make it rain. See how many problems disappear with a significant bump in population. This would give some breathing room to start identifying other issues that come from an active population and start making moves to fix the system with the expectation that it will be active, engaging and rewarding without the artificial bump in pay.

And yes, I would play nothing but FW if rewards were doubled. A bad invasion match for me nets ~400k, a great match upwards of 1.4 million (yes, with heroes, PT and tourney supporter bonuses). Doubling that? I'm in, for every match. Of my 140ish mechs, I probably only have enough modules to fully outfit a dozen or so at any one moment.

Edited by Big Tin Man, 26 July 2016 - 09:54 AM.

[Cox Devalis]

We also need something to fight for.
Status, rare or exceptional things, money (MORE MONEY).

[StumbleBee]

As noted earlier, there may be no one left reading this deep into a forum thread, but I wanted to make one point.

I'm a solo merc who just wants to pick up the game a few times a week to blow some things up, and I haven't tried to get a faction play match since the weekend event that came with the 3.0 changes. For me to wait through the lengthy invasion queue only to take a seal clubbing, whether from a 12-man unit or from a long tom, and the accompanying abuse from grumpy teammates, I need better rewards. The "faction tour" that used to allow me to earn mech bays was pretty OK, but now there's just not enough. I'd much rather mess around with quick play.


Thanks to PGI for having an open conversation about this.

Edited by StumbleBee, 26 July 2016 - 02:09 PM.

[Jables McBarty]

NightStalker97, on 25 July 2016 - 03:01 PM, said:

Read my 3 main posts on
Page 1: http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__5306783
Page 8: http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__5307760
and Page 17: http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__5309423

I care just as much as anyone about the success of this game and I want most of the things that you want too and more. I understand we need better game play. In fact I hope that after sometime we can reopen all of the queues again.

It's just, I see no point to trying to make the game better until people can actually play it.
And right now, it's meant for a player group that is much Much larger.

Once people can play it, then we can make it incredible.

EDIT: Looks like I failed to address your post in my original. Lots of ideas in those links, but lots of them are overworld based. I keep getting back to gameplay gameplay gameplay. Stick to what PGI does best--arena shooters--and add variety to that element. Though again, I won't disagree with you about the barriers to gameplay that keep an already low population even lower.

Cato Zilks, on 25 July 2016 - 04:16 PM, said:

1st) Listening to the puggie masses is what led PGI to invest a lot of effort into the split que that NOBODY used. I don't want to waste PGI's time. (The FW community thought split ques were dumb and . . . the FW community was absolutely correct.)

2nd) Players that don't spend time in FW, are not in a position to see whats wrong with FW. They will certainly have reasons why they are not here, but that does not mean they have good reasons. I want people talking to russ who. . . know MWO very well, know and have talked many players of MWO, have had discussions with people about Faction Warfare, actually play FW, and lastly have had some success and fun in community warfare.

I am not looking to waste Russ' time with low-tier QP LRMer's crying about how FW is not fun for them. I want people with well founded opinions.

3rd) Maybe you don't have good unit leaders. If not come join Marik and talk to Stingr4y. I can promise you that he has talked with most every major Marik unit leaders about FW participation. He actively tries to grow our FP, QP, and general community base. If there is anybody that should speak for us on a TS connection with Russ, it is Stingr4y. I can promise you he, and good unit commanders like him, will give PGI better info about why puggie players aren't showing up. Having 10+ minute conversations with players is always better than a survey, and he can normally suss out the deeper causes for disgruntlement that surveys inevitably miss.

4th) The round table will have a select few on a TS channel with Russ. Players that can talk directly with him. They are not going to put all the pugs on that TS. So given that there will be representatives, we need to make sure they actually represent the community well.

1. Others have already mentioned the botched implementation of split queue, so I'll just write that off as well.

2-4. I know nothing about this guy, he sounds great, and I hope he does in fact have radical (root-oriented) ideas about how to improve FP. But if you want to increase the FP player base, you do need to listen to the non-FPers. No, not the "underhive" that is complaining about one-sided stomps, but people who have played, who can post good numbers, but who have no interest anyway.

Some people who get it:

Jack Booted Thug, on 25 July 2016 - 04:47 PM, said:

[The meat of the issue.]

Jack Booted Thug, on 25 July 2016 - 08:15 PM, said:

[the gravy of the issue]

Bud Crue, on 26 July 2016 - 03:10 AM, said:

[The potatoes of the issue]

TLDR: We are not going to get virtually any of the immersive/interactive things that folks have put forth for the last 25 pages if they would require any substantive changes in the current game play. And I think it behooves PGI to be upfront about that, and the community to be realistic in its expectations. If they don't level with us about this, I foresee see this round table being just another opportunity for the community to howl with rage over more "false promises" from PGI down the road.

Skaav, on 26 July 2016 - 04:42 AM, said:

[the mixed vegetables of the issue]

Bud Crue, on 26 July 2016 - 06:38 AM, said:

I agree that the modes play differently but I still see the loop as being nearly the same.

Nevertheless I appreciate your points and I agree with your comments about FP vs CW balance and Scouting mode.

But I disagree with your view on immersion. I think the last 25 pages of comments make clear that a large number of the community want exactly what you dismiss as **** on the ****pile. They are not looking for QP matches in a different environment, rather they are looking for matches that affect the IS map and play out over the long term at best like a story and at worst like a military campaign with the flavor of mechwarrior and/or battletech. To achieve that I think PGI does indeed need to make the maps and objectives better, as you and many of us suggest, but it also needs to consider adding some of that **** for the mode to feel like it is indeed "faction" play with a hint of flavor of the MW and BT universe. To each his own.

Here's my perspective on it:

The "extra sh*t" (lore, dropships, unit interactions, etc.) would be nice, but the "core sh*t" (repetitive gameplay with little variation) will always keep population low.

I posit this: That the jaded units that want more "extra sh*t" are jaded because the core sh*t is fundamentally uninteresting. If the core gameplay was interesting and varied, there's a reason to play.

Don't get me wrong, I really really really want to see all the extra sh*t. Economy, dropships, logistics, you name it. But it's really just icing on a very, very bland cake.

Rebas Kradd, on 26 July 2016 - 09:14 AM, said:

People are upset that FW turned out to be nothing but a new gamemode and six new maps.

We had envisioned a lot more than that. That's all. Every planet is the same, which makes the IS map largely meaningless. Factions are exactly the same - no personality, no drawbacks or advantages for being in one or the other.

If you want people to enjoy FW, start by making it more than a gamemode and new maps. Bring distinctions for each planet, reasons to capture it. Impart logistics - discrete units, travel times, drop costs, advantages to holding specific maps. Inject some personality into the thing.

Then there's the Invasion gamemode. It's punishing and repetitive. We need something more open-ended, something with multiple ways to complete an objective, something without chokepoints that funnel everything into a withering kill zone. Go with a different map philosophy - open instead of pathing.

I don't have the population numbers, but at this point a rather significant portion of the MWO playerbase has likely joined post-FW release. So they aren't expecting what founders or early adopters were expecting.

Take what we have--a different game mode with some interactions between matches--and make that more interesting (additional game modes, or more variation among maps), and you'll get higher populations. Eventually if it draws a large enough population it might be worthwhile to add in the logistics and economics.

And as a coda I do think there are lots of logistical barriers to gameplay (clunky dropdecks, confusing interface, long queue times, etc.), but that these would be ignored if the game mode was *that good*.

Ibrandul Mike, on 25 July 2016 - 09:57 PM, said:

[lots of truncations for brevity]
MERCs:
Big Units - UI and structure overhaul
Don't break big Units up into smaller ones or hamper them too severely. Give them other structural possibilities or at least check if there are enough active FP players so that they imbalance the whole system.

ComGuards Training Unit - Bringing FP to players
"Academy" like Achievements for FP and possible ways to make it a more enjoyable experience than solo dropping.

MERCs and the Great Hopping
Soft and hard caps for Factions.

Broadly agree with these points, though I'd advocate not touching unit organization at all. Too much negative impact for tenuous outcomes (saying this as the head of a 5-man unit of personal friends that will play together regardless, so pretty disinterested).

But first, better gameplay to engage a wider audience. Then these might be good things to tack on.

Edited by Jables McBarty, 26 July 2016 - 10:07 AM.

[Zolaz]

Pat Kell, on 24 July 2016 - 07:50 PM, said:

Way to be part of the solution...

The first part to fixing a problem is to identify that there is a problem. Dealing with PGI is like dealing with a lying cheating stealing ex wife. You have to talk to them because there is an issue to resolve and that is the only option that doesnt put you in prison. Im just waiting for that ex wife to get out of rehab so that we can have an uncoloured conversation.

So far all I see is ... lets fix this so that I can get back on the habit.

[Ninjah]

Well just kill units. Force everyone to pug. That will solve the skill difference and even allow for a matchmaker. You can still choose a faction, factions can have leaders with rankings. Rankings will allow taking command, players can rank commanders at the end of the match (5 stars!). Give top rated Clan and IS players hierarchy titles and bonuses as rewards. Give more info about the player talking so others can verify if his commands are legit. Shrink CW maps and put them in quickplay and build an awesome new set of FP maps. Make Long Tom drop once per wave. Base hacking, turret disabling abilities via infotech (ecm disables turrets in range). Build a framework that will allow for more creative events. Make Comstar active again, let it place bounties or blackmail factions. Mix in some politics via news. Add random events on the FP map (lostec discovered on planet X three worlds from the current attack line, take it and win some cool mechs for the ones that contributed the most). Match maps with planet descriptions ffs.  Make respawn take 10 sec *max*. Consider making a speciffic Orbital Platform (Manifold like) map for scouting before the drop. Replace current scouting with capture the flag system (capture the intel and bring it back alive). I enjoyed it in Unreal 3 I think, let that be the reference. Thank you for your attention, now you can hire me ^^

Edited by Mirage Jenius, 26 July 2016 - 10:14 AM.

[Big Tin Man]

Worth remembering the handful of these that were done, nearly 1 year ago...

http://mwomercs.com/...ssion-09042015/

------------- INCOMING TRANSMISSION ---------------
ID: 1885923-UG4227
TX: DAVION001
Sender: First Prince Hanse Davion
To: All Commanders of House Davion
Subject: Reclaim Pleione
------------------------------------------------------------------


To all Commanders of House Davion,

There is no sense in talking around it. The Wolves have taken the core of the Inner Sphere, and Terra itself is surrounded on all sides. The barbaric Clan invaders reach further toward the core of Davion space with every passing day, and though many planets still await to meet their push, the forces of Jade Falcon appear to have their sights on New Avalon itself.

While we have successfully defended Poznan from their attacks, the line cannot simply be held here. We must push them back and restore the supply line to Zion. To that end, Pleione is your first target.

To help bolster this initiative, DropShip division Commanders from all Inner Sphere factions will facilitate a temporary 20-ton increase in the total DropDeck tonnage allotment for the duration of this initiative.

Before you begin your preparations there is one issue that I must address. During the coming battles on Pleione you may find yourselves fighting alongside House Liao against our common enemy.
For those of you who may be troubled by the recent loss of Sarna to Liao, do not allow yourselves or your troops to become distracted from the mission at hand. We can deal with Liao's opportunistic posturing after the Falcon's wings have been sufficiently clipped.

All attacking forces are hereby ordered to focus their strength toward reclaiming Pleione from Clan Jade Falcon.

During the next three attack phases or until the planet is claimed (whichever comes first), the Falcon-controlled planet of Pleione will be the only available point of attack open for House Davion forces. Our defenses will remain active for any planets currently under threat, but all attack forces will be focused entirely against Pleione.

Assuming House Davion successfully controls Pleione at any point during this initiative, any Davion warrior who participated in a victorious fight on Pleione over the course of this initiative will receive a one-time reward of 4,000,000 C-Bills upon the successful capture of Pleione.

Quote
Core Initiative Components:
STARTS
September 4th at 3:00 PM PDT / 10:00 PM UTC
ENDS
September 5th at at 2:59 PM PDT / 9:59 PM UTC
GOAL
Take Pleione. Place it under Davion control by the above deadline.
MODIFIER
DropDeck tonnage limit for all Inner Sphere Factions is increased to 260 tonnes during this initiative.
REWARD REQUIREMENT
If Pleione is under Davion control at any point before the above deadline, and you participated in at least one victory on Pleione while aligned with Davion during this initiative, you will receive a one-time reward of 4,000,000 C-Bills.

Any discussions concerning this initiative should be held in your respective Community Warfare Faction sub-forum.

[Jables McBarty]

Big Tin Man, on 26 July 2016 - 09:53 AM, said:

...
I would challenge Russ to tell Paul to stick it and FLAT OUT DOUBLE FW rewards for 1 month, just to see what happens. No other changes, just make it rain. See how many problems disappear with a significant bump in population. This would give some breathing room to start identifying other issues that come from an active population and start making moves to fix the system with the expectation that it will be active, engaging and rewarding without the artificial bump in pay.
...

Good idea, provided that it is to troubleshoot.

Already if I have a good FP match, I can get nearly a million Cbills for a 20-minute gametime investment PLUS the merc reward payout. No QP could match that. Yet I play QP.

IOW, it takes a lot of sugar to make that medicine go down.

(Might just be paraphrasing you, if so sorry)

[Volkodav]

Low population in FW? - make:

1. All CL vs all IS (like Tukayyid).
2. More maps, and variety of tactics styles on the maps (not narrow passage only).
3. Lore Events.
4. More rewards for playing CW.

Edited by Volkodav, 27 July 2016 - 05:01 AM.

[Pat Kell]

Zolaz, on 26 July 2016 - 10:08 AM, said:

The first part to fixing a problem is to identify that there is a problem. Dealing with PGI is like dealing with a lying cheating stealing ex wife. You have to talk to them because there is an issue to resolve and that is the only option that doesnt put you in prison. Im just waiting for that ex wife to get out of rehab so that we can have an uncoloured conversation.

So far all I see is ... lets fix this so that I can get back on the habit.

Approaching your lying cheating ex-wife in the manner that you are approaching PGI is likely one of the reasons she is a lying cheating ex-wife and if you don't understand that, you need to take a long hard look at yourself and how you treat others. Not getting the response that you like, life kicking you in the balls...??? change something, start with your attitude and approach to things and you would be amazed how well things will start to go for you.

[Skaav]

Jables McBarty, on 26 July 2016 - 10:04 AM, said:

I posit this: That the jaded units that want more "extra sh*t" are jaded because the core sh*t is fundamentally uninteresting. If the core gameplay was interesting and varied, there's a reason to play.
...........
But first, better gameplay to engage a wider audience. Then these might be good things to tack on.

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS

Making the mode fun and rewarding solves ALL issues its currently facing, population, buckets, no possibility for a split Q, these are all not issues of immersion, or of not having what we want, its just a matter of fun/reward, and the reward is high (Cbills wise at least, could ofc always be improved) but fun is, IMHO, non existent, not after 500+ Matches. FW is like DotA with 5 Heroes, sure, there is some variance, but for the most part stuff is gonna play out the same way. And i play this game a lot, i have like 5 Vipers mastered by now, and one of them has like 150k xp extra, so the core gameplay of MWO is still very fun for me, but CW just breaks all other fun aspects away and reduces it to ONLY shooting.

I dont hate FW or anythingm, I'm like rank 15 with 3 factions, i would love for it to be better and offer something different from standard play, but as it stands, it just offers a fraction of standard play, which just makes it an inferior mode.

Edited by Skaav, 26 July 2016 - 10:45 AM.

[vettie]

A few things from a Player of the game.
I dont propose to be an FW expert.
I didnt read tis whole thread.
I am bringing forth ideas that a player of the game is interested in.
Background - leader of a mercs unit that has been together for many years (MW2, through MW4 mercs) in various leagues settings including NBT MW4 Mercs.
NBT was fun. FP? not so much. Why?
Only 2 modes = scouting or invasion. scouting is fun, but it takes way to many wins to get the ultimate prizes -eventually getting and holding LT ability on a planet.
LT - way to powerful. killing 5 to 7 mechs in 1 shot -too powerful.
Scouting should be per invasion battle on planet until the planet changes hands or remains to current owner.
Planet changing hands takes too long as well. have fought on same planet for 2 or 3 days of play, 6 to 8 hrs per day and it doesnt change hands even if we win majority of battles. so it seems nothing happens.
owners of LT want to attack / defend where LTs are, others dont want to play there because of LTs.
There does not seem to be any big push toward a goal or counter push to relieve pressure from the push. Its just (semi) organized battles.

There is no cost to attack or defend, just a battle. If you lose a battle, just fight it again, hell, you can even use the very same mechs. No cost of transport, no repair time or cost, just do it again.

Not really sure how to fix this. Invasion is a fun type of battle, but thats it, just a battle. Limited maps, same approaches and often the same tactics.

Even the rewards are geared to the individual pilot, but it is supposed to be a team environment. Many times an organized 12 man is pitted against a pug team with very few members of a single team. Out come is almost always a predetermined factor, not always, but most of the time.

Needed?
Shorter times to win scouting
Quicker planet ownership changes
Team rewards, team penalties (cost territory lost etc)
More maps
Incorporate a way to get people that are doing quick play, to do Quick FP. Make their battles count other than just pilot rewards.
Fix Long Toms - Can both teams not have them? even with lowered damage less rounds per match?

Finally let me say this. I prefer FP, even if I join solo, not as part of my team. But even so, I feel like nothing gets accomplished. Just different way of fighting skirmish battles. Respawn like. I say to those who can change things, Make me WANT to play and give me a reason TO play FP. I am just one guy. but there are a few thousand out there just like me. If I go, and another goes Fp, then eventually more and more will go.
Extra thought. recently there was an FP event and many played. Then there were solitary event(s) where FP did not apply. People want stuff. They will play where stuff is. You sort of fired the gun on yourself by excluding FP from events. To get more playing and enjoying FP, include stuff in FP or, in other words, make them want to play. Astound tem. Making FP something more special than it is. Give out stuff for playing.

[Malleus011]

Cross posted from Reddit:

Community Warfare as designed isn't FUN for the general population. That has to remedied or the game mode will remain dead. FUN is the most important thing. If it isn't FUN to play, all the other points are cockpit items.

Map design is terrible, removing all current maps and replacing with the non-CW maps would be a step in the right direction and might restore some missing fun.

Missions need to be fun, and fun for everyone; from the solo T5 Pug to the T1 12 man. That's not going to be easy, but you can't design the entire mode only to cater to a tiny group of players, or only a tiny group of players will play it.

Blend all drops into CW; PUG drops might fight on PUG worlds, while teams can fight over (higher value) strategic targets. This way PUGs, small teams, and big teams all have access to fun.

For Kerensky's sake, add at least a smack of lore to the missions. Artillery parks, spaceports, supply dumps, trains, castle Brians, etc. Previous titles managed this. The Inner Sphere doesn't have anti-dropship gauss cannons. Never has. Use what exists instead of making up new stuff. Why did you license Mechwarrior if you weren't going to use it?

Make CW rewards good enough to encourage play. PGI has to bribe players with event goodies to get them to suffer through the mode right now. That means rewards are too low. Rewards are part of what make gameplay fun.

You need a CW tutorial. Badly. The game is ferociously unfriendly to new players, and CW even more than the main game. Enable the player to have fun.

Being part of taking/defending a planet needs meaning. Having battles matter adds to the fun factor. Try doing that, and I don't mean just a smattering of MC. Try titles, try achievements, try a discount on certain kinds of 'mechs or gear or free Premium Time or a decal or cockpit item of that planet, but make fighting in CW fun.

Fun. Fun. In case you missed the point, make it FUN. For as many kinds of players as possible, from the worshippers of the church of skill to the longbearded lore expert to the wet-behind-the-ears newbie who can't spell PPC. CW must be fun. Got it? Deliver the fun. Stop holding the fun hostage. Release the fun! No fun, no money!

Small gripe - calling the modes 'play' breaks immersion. Are we driving a giant battle machine in an intergalactic war or are we playing Pokemon? Warfare was better.

[Biclor Moban]

I just have three suggestions.

Suggestion One.
Randomize; generator, cannon, building and drop locations on each map.
Benefit. increase variability without having to create new assets/maps.

Suggestion two.
Equip the cannon and each drop ship with 180 meter ECM, can cancel 5 ECM in counter mode and takes the same amount to counter it. Cannon ECM controlled by commander.
Benefit. Allows you to move under protection on ingress and defense. Allows removal for specific and restrictived drop points.

Suggestion three.
Simplify and add transparency the complicated and micro managed way the queue system works.
We don't need to get transferred into a queue of anonymous "pilots" only to be transferred to another that may or may not fall apart only to be transferred back to the original queue.
Benefit. Pugs can get ROLFstomped without the long wait times.

P.S.
Look, one of the things about the Battletech RPG was while the tools we used in game where standard the players could be creative about how we used them. FP is so restrictive I feel like I am on an alpine slide, fun, but without freedom.
https://en.wikipedia...ki/Alpine_slide

Edited by Biclor Moban, 26 July 2016 - 11:06 AM.