190 replies to this topic

[Elizander]

Silent, on 18 July 2012 - 12:10 PM, said:

He has a point on the technobabble.

90% of what the announcer was saying in that video about variants and the various weapon loadouts is moon language to anyone that doesn't follow the franchise.

It's fine though because the game is primarily directed at Mechwarrior / Battletech fans since these people will provide the core player group for it. Attempting to dumb it down can potentially turn off existing fans who have heard of it for the first time. I think it's okay that they keep their pace until the game launches. Once we see what we have after open beta then they can think about ways to get the non-BT/MW people onboard.

[Sirth]

Maybe doing a full introduction video would be a good idea. Just show gameplay and highlight elements of how the mechs work, giving out some terms and information on systems and weapons. Think of the IGN video where the guy thought the heavy Catapult was the biggest mech on the field, and Russ corrected him.

[Kobold]

Viper69, on 19 July 2012 - 05:24 AM, said:

No, but part of the way people have discussions is being taken to task on their opinions. If you do not agree with someones opinion on the street do you quietly nod your head or do you tell them you think they are wrong and tell them why? When someone waffles on their opinion it shows their character and they really dont believe what they are saying.

Opinions generally can't be "wrong."

[Dozer]

Bodha, on 18 July 2012 - 11:27 PM, said:

And a good post you made too. I just find it sad that this guy was able to write such a terrible article with basically no research on the game. Add in his twitter post and followup deletion and I think we have good grounds to put this guy on our collective permanent ignore list. Should he wish to continue a career in journalism perhaps he will go back to school and learn the basics, like how to do background research, how to be fair and a balanced, and how to ground any opinion with some facts.

Well in truth the vast majority of media outlets have thrown the journalistic basics out the window in order to increase their ratings. Sensationalism rather than journalism now keeps most of them afloat, including all the major news outlets who now-a-days rip something off social media sites, stick a 'we can't verify this footage' on it and then talk about it like it's the gods own truth for the next thirty minutes.

In the past we got facts, now we get sound-bites. This 'journalist' is very likely to have a long career despite having his foot so far down his throat he could kick his own ***.

Edited by Dozer, 19 July 2012 - 06:09 AM.

[Freakiie]

Sirth, on 19 July 2012 - 05:51 AM, said:

Maybe doing a full introduction video would be a good idea. Just show gameplay and highlight elements of how the mechs work, giving out some terms and information on systems and weapons. Think of the IGN video where the guy thought the heavy Catapult was the biggest mech on the field, and Russ corrected him.

Well the IGN videos are exactly that

The Centurion video was an introduction off a mech for the people that already know MW:O, not the general public. Basing a review off a game on a 2 min video that wasn't meant to be an introduction to the game is just incredibly stupid.

[Ewan McCorkindale]

I suppose it's all a question of what's being looked for in the review - are they pandering to the current trend of games? Likely, as BattleTech is somewhat of a niche game genre and has been since the days of cardboard standup tokens and hex maps.

[Barbeardian]

As long as PG gets the feel right and all that. There should be no problem keeping the game up and running. I have played almost every MechWarrior game and I would have to say I put in 1000s of hours into them. So lets just see how it goes before looking to much into what someone that might or might not have played MechWarrior before.

[Hawks]

It could have been worse...he could have asked where the Mad Cat was.

[Saga Koto]

I hope to see Taylor Cooke in game. . .and by in game, I mean in a match. . .and by in a match, I mean in my crosshairs.


EDIT: Is 'crosshairs' too technical a word?

Edited by Saga Koto, 19 July 2012 - 06:18 AM.

[Scar]

ouch

Edited by Scar, 19 July 2012 - 06:26 AM.

[Skinflowers]

Try not to get embroiled in all this folks. He has his opinion, there will be folks who agree and folks who disagree.

Don't slip into the typical mistakes of "fanboiism" as it just hands over a stick with which to beat the community. These spats just take up pixels I have to download and i'd rather not. I suspect there are a lot of others who feel the same way.

Just my 2. c-bills.

[Silent]

Dozer, on 19 July 2012 - 06:06 AM, said:

Well in truth the vast majority of media outlets have thrown the journalistic basics out the window in order to increase their ratings. Sensationalism rather than journalism now keeps most of them afloat, including all the major news outlets who now-a-days rip something off social media sites, stick a 'we can't verify this footage' on it and then talk about it like it's the gods own truth for the next thirty minutes.

In the past we got facts, now we get sound-bites. This 'journalist' is very likely to have a long career despite having his foot so far down his throat he could kick his own ***.

Why are we discussing proper journalism in a thread about video games? The two have never met.

Edited by Silent, 19 July 2012 - 06:26 AM.

[Hawks]

Saga Koto, on 19 July 2012 - 06:17 AM, said:

I hope to see Taylor Cooke in game. . .and by in game, I mean in a match. . .and by in a match, I mean in my crosshairs.


EDIT: Is 'crosshairs' too technical a word?

Saga Koto, on 19 July 2012 - 06:17 AM, said:

I hope to see Taylor Cooke in game. . .and by in game, I mean in a match. . .and by in a match, I mean in my crosshairs.


EDIT: Is 'crosshairs' too technical a word?

What is a 'match'? I do not understand this technobabble...

[GI Journalist]

Silent, on 18 July 2012 - 12:10 PM, said:

He has a point on the technobabble.

90% of what the announcer was saying in that video about variants and the various weapon loadouts is moon language to anyone that doesn't follow the franchise.

A basic rule of military public affairs is to avoid speaking in acronyms and jargon. In future marketing videos, the script should use terms such as "heavy autocannon" or "super-heavy autocannon" when describing the AC/10 and AC/20. This is how BattleTech authors would refer to the weapons in the novels. AC/10 is a tabletop game term that indicates that the autocannon does 10 points of damage, so the term only makes sense if you play the tabletop game. Likewise long range misssles and short range missiles should not be described as LRMs or SRMs, at least not until the player is more familiar with the game.

It's important to know your audience. Most existing BattleTech and MechWarrior players already understand what a Centurion is. Therefore the intended audience is new players who need to be introduced to the weapon systems, as well as the play style. Hopefully the next video will take this into account and use language that is more easily understood by gamers who are unfamiliar with the franchise.

[KombatWombat]

mechwarrior is not intended to be a twitch shooter. Is intended to be more about strategy then who has the fastest reflexes. Moba type games don't allow for the flexibility that's mechwarrior online presents. For example in dota 2, you know what to expect from most of the heroes. Invoker is the only Hero that has the ability to play in a wide range of play styles. in mechwarrior online various mEch can do various things

[Tipps]

I'm new to mechwarrior as of 2 weeks ago, before then I had never heard most of those words before. In most cases I was able to work out for myself what they meant. (8.5 Tons of armour is tough one ) In the case of a few terms I couldn't work out, It actually made me curious about the game instead of drive me away from it. Utilizing google and the forums I like to think I have learned quite a bit these past couple weeks and am quite excited for this game, enough to pay 60 for it

[Gallowglas]

Screw 'em. Good publicity is multi-faceted. It is up to us, in part, to help evangelize this game. I've managed to convince a decent number of folks to give it a try. Word of mouth is a powerful thing. If PGI stays the course, there will be a lot of other critics who realize how cool this game is.

[SilentWolff]

That has to be one of the worst articles I've read in awhile. What a doushebag. MWO pwnns your ******* face now go F yourself game spy. The excuse this guy has no MW experience is just that, a poor excuse for writing a poor article.
Oh and Dan Stapleton, you left PC Gamer to go to Gamespy? You should be ashamed of yourself, very ashamed.

[Deathz Jester]

BenEEeees VAT GROWN BACON, on 18 July 2012 - 04:11 PM, said:

Wow, my first post in gamespy ever

I've never used their site prior to reading this thread but have used their programme to play MechCommander 1 when I was much younger. Signed up for a Disqus account just to make that post

Whats this about jizzy jazz?

[Butane9000]

The problem with that article is that it was originally written by someone with zero experience with the franchise. Thus he's comparing it to things entirely unrelated (apples vs oranges).

The article would have been better if it was written by someone with some experience with the Battletech franchise, even if that person didn't like it.