130 replies to this topic

[Gyrok]

KHETTI, on 27 August 2016 - 07:34 PM, said:

I just don't think the interest is there in such a niche product, otherwise the original reboot pitch would have gotten a bite as it was across multiple platforms and had greater potential for making money.

Cross platform for this game would have been a nightmare. I play some cross platform games, and stuff that is on PC *and* consoles requires an absurdly competent developer. I think the reason it failed was because publishers took one look at PGI and said "LOL! yeah...not going to happen". However, had someone like...oh...Bungie, Bioware, Bethesda, Gearbox, etc. come along and said "Look at this really cool idea!". Things would have gone drastically different.

[Mechwarrior Buddah]

Oh and PLEASE someone use the angle of "well looking at their track record..."

Because that would be hilarious

Gyrok, on 27 August 2016 - 07:39 PM, said:

an absurdly competent developer

Something we sadl;y lack

[KHETTI]

Mechwarrior Buddah, on 27 August 2016 - 07:38 PM, said:

Dont they already have access to the art at least? I thought they were making the art in the btech game like the art here?

It seems that way, but are they sharing assets/coding ect or is HBS paying a fee to PGI for anything they use?
We can only speculate, but i imagine a mutual agreement to share between the two companies would cut development times and costs.

[Mcgral18]

On the bright side, if MWO does ever die, Sean Tracy is interested in making a Battletech game...and they may have the foundation for so much more.


Though, that one's likely over a decade away

[KHETTI]

Gyrok, on 27 August 2016 - 07:39 PM, said:

Cross platform for this game would have been a nightmare. I play some cross platform games, and stuff that is on PC *and* consoles requires an absurdly competent developer. I think the reason it failed was because publishers took one look at PGI and said "LOL! yeah...not going to happen". However, had someone like...oh...Bungie, Bioware, Bethesda, Gearbox, etc. come along and said "Look at this really cool idea!". Things would have gone drastically different.

The original reboot pitch was not MWO, it was planned as a single player game, and i imagine due to Microsoft owning the IP they were locked into an xbox/PC exclusive kinda thing.
No publishers went for the pitch and MWO came off the back of it.

Edit: I do wonder if technical limitations is what put publishers off.

Edited by KHETTI, 27 August 2016 - 07:52 PM.

[Gyrok]

KHETTI, on 27 August 2016 - 07:50 PM, said:

The original reboot pitch was not MWO, it was planned as a single player game, and i imagine due to Microsoft owning the IP they were locked into an xbox/PC exclusive kinda thing.
No publishers went for the pitch and MWO came off the back of it.

Yes, but it still would have required updates, maintenance, multiplayer adjustments...

[Mechwarrior Buddah]

KHETTI, on 27 August 2016 - 07:44 PM, said:

is HBS paying a fee to PGI for anything they use?

That would be really dumb of them to agree to anything like that

[JediPanther]

The Joker King, on 27 August 2016 - 07:34 PM, said:

So you couldn't care less about the effort you've expended in developing and grinding your stable?
Hours or money, it comes down to the same thing in the end.



Have you got any links to do this kind of thing, or is google my friend?

Three ways to find the info. Youtube,google or check mwo's fan creation sub forum. It's pretty complex process from the last time I checked. It might have been made easier since then but I still had to use several programs for file conversions and re-conversions. Not having 3ds max or maya stinks.

[Novakaine]

Luckily for you guys Nova is clairvoyant
Don't tell.
But MWO goes down in history as one of the longest running games.
Once it moves out of it's niche mode it becomes highly popular.
And Novakaine never uses his power for cheating.
That said it will be here for quite some time.
I know it's a disappointment for some of you well wishers.

[Davers]

Mechwarrior Buddah, on 27 August 2016 - 07:57 PM, said:

That would be really dumb of them to agree to anything like that

I am sure PGI didn't share their art assets out of pure goodwill.

[Mechwarrior Buddah]

Davers, on 27 August 2016 - 08:15 PM, said:

I am sure PGI didn't share their art assets out of pure goodwill.

Maybe milking whales isnt the only way they keep the lights on?

[Mystere]

Mechwarrior Buddah, on 27 August 2016 - 07:57 PM, said:

That would be really dumb of them to agree to anything like that

A company is letting it's art assets be used by another company for free?

<chuckles>

Edited by Mystere, 27 August 2016 - 09:40 PM.

[PyckenZot]

It'll last longer than 2 years. But when the time comes, there will be other games to play.

[Random Carnage]

I had high hopes for BT. Apparently I wasn't high enough...

Inside of half a dozen posts on their forum, one of the numpty Mods deletes a post I made and reads me the CoC.

One off line PM to said Cmdr later, and I'm back here. Ah well. I wish BT well, but the Mod's are like 12 or something. Will avoid the forum until the game is released.

Smed v2.0

[ice trey]

Guys... What if...

...What if the rights got given to HBS. I mean, they've already gone so far as to licence them for the Battletech game...

I could finally get my single player Battletech sim, even if it takes 20 years of waiting.

[smokefield]

lets count how many mechpacks are still left to be released. count 1 every month and you will see ho wmuch mwo has minimum. maybe someone with more knowledge than me can do a count

[Appogee]

PGI licenced the Mech models to HBS. Ie. HBS paid PGI for them.

Regarding the future...

1. PGI are almost certainly working at the moment on their next game. That is why we now have monthly patches for MWO, 3-monthly roadmaps, Russ talking about FP as if it's done, and not a whole lot of core game content beyond Mech Packs.

2. PGI will make a decision about whether to continue with MWO at the time where their IP licence with Microsoft requires renewal. (IIRC that is 2019 or 2020?) At that time they'll be faced with a purely economic decision about whether the cost of renewing the IP licence and maintaining the servers would be more than offset by continued sales of Mech Packs and MC into the future. Their sales numbers will basically make the decision for them.

None of us have any idea how much the IP licence and the servers cost, nor how much revenue they are pulling in from sales. So we can have no way of knowing whether MWO is hugely profitable, minimally commercially viable, or somewhere in between. And no way of knowing how the economics will stack up on licence renewal day.

3. It's possible that, if sales fall below server maintenance costs before the IP licence is up for renewal, they could pull the pin on MWO early.

4. The day HBS's project goes into Beta we'll also see a pronounced fall-off in MWO's playerbase, in terms of frequency of play. People playing MWO less, and getting their BT fix from HBS, will probably also spend less money on MWO from that point. So that too will be a key date in MWO's future. It could trigger an early demise IF MWO's balance sheet is already closer to "minimally commercially viable" than "wildly profitable".

Edited by Appogee, 27 August 2016 - 11:48 PM.

[Spleenslitta]

GH got a lot of complaints when it was launched and i predict the same will happen with ED when it hits the live servers.
There is the very real possibility of a massive amount of players that pack up and leave MWO in the dust.
Maybe half a year or a whole year after that happens MWO might get shut down.

When that happens i might have heard a word from Wardog Studios getting back on track again.
Those dev's have real ambitions regarding Force of Arms the mech MMO.
It was something like a mech version of EVE Online but you could go where you wanted without being on rails.
And the ability to customise your mech in FoA is so ambitious. It makes MWO's mechlab look like a shape shorter toy.

They are gathering funds by making a mainstream fantasy MMO so they can do more work on FoA and hire more staff.

The relations Wardog Studios have with their community is really something.
We're a bunch of rabid fanatics cheering them on regardless of no progress since 2011.
We have faith that they will come back. Because unlike PGI they are actually loved by their community.

Edited by Spleenslitta, 27 August 2016 - 11:45 PM.

[LordNothing]

the right way to do this is to release the server side software so that players would be able to set up their own dedicated servers. release of source code would also help. however there may be licensing restrictions on doing so. you obviously cant release the engine source because of this. thats a binary blob that pgi rents out for its game. there may also be agreements with hbs, since they are inheriting a lot of this game's assets. if there is a stand alone version of the game, you might see some assets removed to meet those agreements.

what pgi is probibly going to do is turn mwo into lostech and your virtual assets annihilated. at that point all mechwarriors will need to go back to old games (mw3 runs great, 4 still works on win7, and 2 can be played in a vm). mwll will still be around and will be the most modern mechwarrior title available. perhaps even the hbs team will allow its development to continue since its not a direct competitor. i do not consider the hbs product to be mechwarrior, but its there for all who are into that kind of thing (i for one am NOT interested in a turn based game). who knows someone else might get the ip and do a mechwarrior game and do so with respect for the franchise.

Edited by LordNothing, 28 August 2016 - 12:07 AM.

[Lightfoot]

I am re-posting this here because this post subject is almost identical to the one sitting right above it. Normally I don't just copy/paste, but it would just be a re-wording of the same thing.




PGI needs to set up basically a ladder league within MWO where units are ranked and rewarded with some type of RP benefit. Right now there is little motivation to participate in Faction Warfare.

I continue to prepare for the day when Faction Warfare gets implemented with unit renown and RP rewards. This is my Clan identitiy and I have been preparing an Inner Sphere identity to join a Merc Unit. Again, right now the fame and RP rewards for units just are not interesting enough.

Where are the Units ranked? What benefit did they earn? Roleplay.

Secondly, 'defend the cannon' just by itself will not work. MWO FW needs a new game type where units battle for the same thing. Will just call it "Take the Spaceport or Mech Factory, etc., where the map is neutral and the match plays the same as a PUG, but with objectives. Like you could capture Turret Implacements (which can be destroyed) to create a support chain from your dropship to the objective to prevent/deter spawn camping. Lights would move out to capture these and scout. Then the two teams battle to control the Mech Factory or other.

The problem with the Defend the Cannon gametype they have now is that the map is too involved in the outcome which makes it very hard for a PUG team to win since most will not know how to manipulate the map, something the 12 man teams learn very well.

Okay, that's all that needs to be done. Rank the Units, give them a meaningful RP reward. Planetary Control means something. Any player unit can do it. Mercs and freelancers are rated and also earn RP reward and can be hired by teams or the game system.

And, oh yes, this is where MWO is headed. It's really almost here.