200 replies to this topic

[Stone Wall]

The community is definitely divided over it, kinda like a Presidential race. So far Energy Draw has lead in the first PTU poll by 54% to 45%. The first question on the second PTU poll has it ahead 51% to 41%. This shows both a 10% favorability to ED.

The second question of the new poll has the community divided down the middle on what direction build diversity will take.

People seem to be believe ED is easier to understand than Ghost Heat.

Only 35% polled say they will decrease their playing time if ED is introduced. That means 5-10% of the people who voted against ED will continue to play.

But when asked if ED is abandoned, 71% said they will still play. About 30% said they would decrease or stop play. Weird change there. So either way, PGI could lose 30% of their community with or without a change.

Interesting results.

[kapusta11]

If you want to see Ice Ferret nerfed while Banshees, Battlemasters, Kodiaks, Maulers an BWs remain to be top mechs that's fine with me, you're entitled to your opinion. But I won't cope with that kind of BS. It's not like not playing MWO will take a lot of effort.

[Champion of Khorne Lord of Blood]

I really don't feel energy draw will change anything for the better, and it won't help deal with a lot of the problems people want it to, and a lot of mechs will be hurt badly as collateral damage. Good players will still just adapt and win if they still play and bads will stay bad and some bads who did good under GH might not do good under ED and vice versa.

Where was this poll at anyway? I really don't hold any weight in polls in the first place since the vast majority of the population never takes them anyway.

That said every decision PGI makes people are split on and they may lose or gain more players for each. I mean there are people out there who think MGs are OP.

[Stone Wall]

Both polls are in the Energy Draw forum.

[iLLcapitan]

While I would have like any change to promote mixed builds (lore-stock), ED doesn't accomplish that.
It's probably more intuitive. It probably increases TTK. It probably leads to less variety than we have now.

All in all, I think you can't switch fundamental game mechanics every now and then and expect people to bear with you (while probably non-archiving the set goals). We will loose at least some more vets just by this.

Next question is: why?
Seriously, we are in dire need of content, esp. looking at FW. The core gameplay is pretty good, otherwise we wouldn't be here still. So why risk it? Why not dedicating the scarce ressources they got towards more content? Why reinvent the wheel again and again?

The history of MWO seems (at least partly) like a 'dumb-it-down and nerf it fest' due to crybaby complaints.
ED won't make people's aim better, nor will it close any kind of skill gap. So we can wait for the next fundamental change after how many complaints?

I honestly believe MWO is on pretty thin ice at the moment and completely revamping the energy/heat system could damage the playerbase beyond recovering. Could. Keep in mind that nobody will ever be happy however PGI decides.

I said it earlier, if TTK is too low: why not increase armor values again? Why not play with the numbers we have in a working system we got? Stop using axes and dartboards for balancing, try scalpels and hard data first.

[Otto Cannon]

I'd be surprised if even a single person who claims they'd stop playing actually follows through with it.

Including that option in a poll is like asking 'answer yes here if you want your opinion to be taken more seriously'.

[Mechteric]

I'm only glad it at least has a visual representation in the HUD, the current Ghost Heat has no such thing and makes it at least slightly inferior to ED

[Champion of Khorne Lord of Blood]

CapperDeluxe, on 30 August 2016 - 04:24 AM, said:

I'm only glad it at least has a visual representation in the HUD, the current Ghost Heat has no such thing and makes it at least slightly inferior to ED

Ghost heat just tells you in the mechlab what you will have to worry about when you build it and if your build doesn't break ghost heat you don't have to worry about it at all in a match. With ED it only needs that visual representation in the HUD because of not being as simple as GH in that "if you shoot all this at once you heat up" type of thing and instead having energy constantly increasing or decreasing based on what you fire and now with different increases or decreases depending on weapon type.

[Elizander]

The issue with ED #1 and ED #2 is that ED #1 is different and ED #2 just brings back the old limits to weapons that ghost heat already has (PPCs, etc) along with a Gauss restriction in the mechlab that will potentially take out certain mechs that have more than 2.

[Kirkland Langue]

The biggest problem with MWO is that the game is stale and PGI isn't really doing anything to change that. What many of us have stated is that PGI needs to pick a destination for MWO and just start heading in that direction. I don't particularly think the heat system is going to change MWO much - but at least PGI is doing something and maybe they think of it as a Step 1 in the direction they've decided to go.

Worst thing is for the community to just tell PGI to keep MWO as it is, so hell or high water - full steam ahead.

[KodiakGW]

So, we'll lose about 30% of about 20 thousand active players (people with more than 50 games played since season 2 started).

Stay the course, thousand points of light.

Can't wait to see how many we lose when that Battletech game goes live.

[BLOOD WOLF]

Well, I am more concerned about the objective Impact ED while have on the game. Not whether someone decides on principle not to play because they don't like it.

I don't really know if the people polled actually mean what they say, unless there is a follow up after and if ED is implemented.

Also considering that some people have their own made up notions of ED and use hypothetical's as justification, then that could account for the ones who would stop playing if ED is implemented. The opposite can also be true.

Edited by BLOOD WOLF, 30 August 2016 - 05:18 AM.

[Ace Selin]

Had no idea there was a poll, no link to front page for it and cant be bothered to find it.

Edited by Ace Selin, 30 August 2016 - 05:26 AM.

[BLOOD WOLF]

http://mwomercs.com/...y-draw-round-2/

I'll try to find the first one.

[Almond Brown]

CapperDeluxe, on 30 August 2016 - 04:24 AM, said:

I'm only glad it at least has a visual representation in the HUD, the current Ghost Heat has no such thing and makes it at least slightly inferior to ED

And by the time it is all said and done, if you cancel the Hate with the Love of the new ED system, we will be left with "a visual representation of GH, now re-envisioned as ED, in the HUD" which is a good thing over-all. Well done PGI.

Edited by Almond Brown, 30 August 2016 - 05:36 AM.

[Bud Crue]

Tin foil hat time (bear with me):

My view is that the only folks still playing consistently fall into three groups:
- The comp level folks who may or may not care about BT and MW, but they know video games and they are really good at this one;
- The old BT/TT nerds, who may or may not be good at the game, but they don't play it for "the game" they play it because it is a MW game (and theoretically a BT game); and finally
- The new white knights, those folks who have come in or returned to the game and who appear to think this game and/or PGI is the greatest thing ever.

Now some of you above are wondering why PGI is mucking with things like ED when we all know that after 4 years what the game needs is either all the depth and immersive game play PGI once promised or we need new substantive content. ED is neither. So why spend resources dicking around with ED rather than give us new modes or a real FP mode?

Because it is something they can easily manipulate within the confines of the current game and which will in effect result in the feeling of a "new" game or at least require the players to relearn the mechanisms of the game and establish new norms, all the while PGI can use it as an excuse for delaying any substantive changes buy justifying delays for Solaris, PvE, new graphics engine, etc. by asserting "we need to see how the new energy draw system plays out before we make further changes to the game." In short it allows them to make what appears to be a big change to allow them to not have to expend significant resources to make an actual big change. They can do this sort of thing forever.

How do the player categories above factor in?

Comp folks will kvetch about having to spend time relearning the loopholes to establish a new meta, but though they will kvetch they will keep playing. Too much ego invested to walk away.
BT/MW nerds will keep playing because many have no choice to get their nostalgia fix until HBS BT drops and even then, many have too much $ invested to walk away.
The new white knights are convinced that this is the greatest game evah, and it only gets better every time PGI mucks with it, so they aren't walking away.

In short, PGI knows it audience and knows that ED is a way to add an element of "novelty" into the game without substantively risking its players leaving (despite all the bitching) and without having to exert any real effort or resources in making additions to the game. Its a win, win for them. ED is coming no matter what you think of it. And in a year or so, some other "core" mechanism will likely be changed until PGI knows it is worth re-upping their licenses. Then and only then will they add substantive content.

Edit: Why is bitching a permitted word but b!tch is censored (I changed it to kvetch)?

Edited by Bud Crue, 30 August 2016 - 05:44 AM.

[Stone Wall]

I fit into the nerd category. I play because I have fun with this current MechWarrior game. I did the same with MechWarrior 4. I feel no Mech game has come close to touching MechWarrior 3, but I play whatever the current game is to stay in the BT universe.

Edited by Stone Wall, 30 August 2016 - 05:57 AM.

[AnTi90d]

Ace Selin, on 30 August 2016 - 05:25 AM, said:

Had no idea there was a poll, no link to front page for it and cant be bothered to find it.

1.) The reddit poll.
http://www.strawpoll.me/11037470

2.) The first ED poll, here
http://mwomercs.com/...35126-gh-or-ed/

3.) The second ED poll, here
http://mwomercs.com/...y-draw-round-2/

4.) The third ED poll, here
http://mwomercs.com/...ference-survey/

[Lostdragon]

Tinfoil hat time: The more time goes by the more I am convinced ED is a red herring and PGI is working on something else that is not related to MWO.

[nehebkau]

I've been testing it. I like it. Wish they would lower the power pool to <30. Anything to stop the alpha mentality and make driving as important as how well you can alpha-strike.

Edited by nehebkau, 30 August 2016 - 06:47 AM.