5 replies to this topic

[Blackice001]

Veterans go ahead and roll your eyes at this suggestion, but please keep an open mind. This game is great, but it is also very skill intensive. New players need to learn so many basic skills and put a lot of matches under their belt before they reach a level where they start to benefit their team. I was personally overwhelmed at first and thought I sucked for quite awhile. I often hear new players apologize before a game even begins because they know they are bringing the whole team down. Lets just take a quick look at some skills new players needs to learn. I'll just l list a few off the top of my head.

Learning maps,
learning to manage heat
Aiming skills
protecting legs, arms, engines
torso twisting to mitigate damage
navigation of the mech
independent torso and legs movements
aiming arms independent of torso weapons
using cover, or finding it
managing Intel via battle map
managing Intel via target data
finding targets for focus fireing
remembering to hit the " R " button
learning common tactics used by friend and foe for each map
learning the game lingo and etiquette
learning weight class roles or even finding one they like
learning weapon max ranges, weapon limitations, min ranges OMG....blah blah blah the list continues

I simply state, By eliminating or reducing the skills needed to be learned by new players all at once they are less likely to become overwhelmed by the steep learning curve. New players can focuses on learning fewer skills at once like navigation, movement, and aiming. Simplify the learning and they can benefit the team sooner even with a smaller skill set. Then lets step it up into a trial mech and begin with the more advanced skills.

Lets list some benefits to having vehicles in the game for new players

Benefits to using a hover craft:
low profile, easier to find cover
No torso simplifies navigation
No independent arms, simplifies aiming
High mounted weapons for firing over cover
no twisting skills for damage mitigation - attack with front armor, navigate with side armor.....
Vehicles have Dedicated heat sinks ( no weapon heat management )
No legs, no mobility kills- IE focus on learning other aspects of combat..

Benefits to using a tank Vehicle
low profile, easier to find cover
high mounted weapons for firing over cover
Vehicles have Dedicated heat sinks ( no weapon heat management )
Turret, but no independent arms, simplified aiming ( still easier than a mech)
A tracked vehicle has no legs, mobility kills can happen, but less focus on it. IE (simplified).


How does implementing vehicles benefit the rest of us? Well its not a disadvantage to be sure. Vehicles are/were the staple of all military and mercenary forces in game lore. In the battle tech universe it was almost always vehicles vs mechs. The Mechs were actually quite rare, So rare in fact that when a mech vs mech battle happened it was written into history. Vehicles were less technologically advanced and easier to support and maintain. It wasn't that they were less powerful, because that's not true. Some of the vehicles were a force to be reckoned with. 100 ton tanks, 80 ton hovercrafts with very little internal structure and simplified engines they were all armor, armor armor armor and then lots of guns...

Adding vehicles to the game would be true to the lore, Helpful to new players, A learning tool for new players, and just a hella boatload of fun for the rest of vets who are just in the mood for something a little different.

[Tibbnak]

I think having tanks and hovercraft, while beyond pgi's current means, would benefit the game.. I'm not sure how they'd fit into the balance. You'd need to have them accompany matches or something, like a 8vs8 mech match but with extra tanks running around being short jerks with their ppcs and their ac/20s or whatever.

[MarsThunder]

IMHO, the Academy should help to learn everything you have mentioned above, not the special vehicles.

[Seddrik]

Adding new and DIFFERENT vehicles... adds to the complication. The only way to learn is to play the mechs... an as the previous poster noted, use the tutorial.

[Kalimaster]

It would be nice to see some vehicles, and it would add some flavor to the game, even if they are played in a limited quantity.

[Vellron2005]

Here's what would happen with most people (and happens even now) if such vehicles were implemented and worked perfectly.

New player: Oh,this game has giant robots that shoot eachother! Let's try! Its a shooter, and I've played shooter before, how hard can it be! I get to play a hovercraft? What? Noooo.. I want a giant robot!

Game: Player walks into a wall and gets cored from 1100 meters, killed in 2 minutes.

New player: Ok,so how does this game work, this is harder than I thought!

Game: Offers Academy training

New player: OMG you have to use a mouse, half the keyboard and headphones with a mike to play this game effectively? F this, I'm just gonna play something else..

Game: :-(( Call me.. :-((

Most new players don't even know there's an academy and tutorial, and even if they do, they choose to just jump right in, perhaps buy an expensive top-notch mech pack for real money, and play right away. Then they get disillusioned, and quit the game.

If they got to play a hovercraft or tank, to learn, they would just skip that an jump into a mech, or not have enough willpower to play through that "tutorial", the same way they skip the tutorial now..

Edited by Vellron2005, 29 September 2016 - 04:52 AM.