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...That, and this might be an indication of narcissism.
So here it is, reposted and edited to discuss in detail with people who are possibly more interested in updating the game. Apologies to those who have already read it. I'd be interested in feedback and thoughts.
Academy is really useful to get started, and gives some okay rewards to get started.
HOWEVER - it's very limited for what it is.
That said, it could be a testing ground for the AI, should PGI ever get to it.
That said, Academy does have its limits, and worse, there's no real incentive to the newb who wants to go blow up robots right now.
There are some really great basic tools there. The shooting gallery is awesome to teach you some basics and get practice in about leading the targets and understanding the basics of weapon ranges. The mission to avoid being cored is cool too. But as far as I can tell, there's no reward other than your basic self-pat-on-the-back for completing them or scoring well on them.
To that I say:
Give the reward of a basic mech. It doesn't even have to be a very good one. Yes, newbs get to play with the trial mechs, and at the end of their first 25 games, they do indeed have enough to get a mech or two (I was able to get two Cataphracts - yes, I know they "suck". I stand by my decision)... and upgrade them. This frees up the newbs to make a mech choice with far less stress, gives them something to tinker with, without spending too much in the way of c-bills, and all gives them a much more pleasant experience.
There should absolutely be a minimum bar to reach to get that free mech. Score silver(?) or higher in all the shooting gallery tests, coring run tests, and a few (all?) others. Successfully kill each of the turret mechs once in the city across the river. Maybe kill them all in one session without dying (X number of rearms and repairs allowed).
I think one other training mode might be a good idea - the idea of capturing objectives. It's important because especially with newbs, I feel there are a lot of misconceptions about how they work, and getting used to the ideas that the way to win is not always blowing up the enemy. The problem is figuring out how to make it a challenge that would count towards earning the mech. Here's a scratchpad idea:
Dominate: Put an enemy mech in the circle, forcing it to count down.
Challenge: Navigate to circle, find and destroy the enemy mech (possibly as a turret mech), sit in timer zone for it to run down.
Challenge levels based on time, possibly having an enemy turret outside the circle forcing the player to find a hiding place for the counter to run down, or have different size enemy mechs to kill. (no repair/rearm available)
Bonus round: enemy mechs spawn in different locations each time the mission is started.
Conquest: Put down two resource nodes, both flagged for the enemy, resource counter at zero but counting up to 750 (or some other value)
Challenge: Player must successfully navigate to flagged bases, capture them both in time to prevent the resource counter timing out.
Challenge levels based on time or enemy resources gathered.
Assault: Put down both bases and 2+ enemy turret mechs, scattered around the map. Set mission timer at 5-10(?) minutes.
Challenge: Player must successfully navigate to enemy base or destroy all turret mechs within mission timer.
Challenge levels based on time, number of enemy turret mechs, possibly placing one inside enemy base to defend it.
OR you might just load that whole mission setting with the above parameters.
Here's the thing. Yes, it may cause longer load times for the system to set up the challenge, because you're basically launching the mission from the PvP construct over into the academy PvE construct - but the mission logic is already there. As far as that goes, you don't need to add a whole lot other than assets that have already been built. As far as I can think of, PGI has most of what it needs:
Missions, dumb-turret mechs.
Something to to add: PGI would have to add a script for Adams to follow.
Something to consider: I don't know what kind of strain it would cause on their servers.
Some testing would have to be done to make sure balance is correct, and if you go with the Mech Reward route to encourage newbs to utilize it, PGI would have to figure out what base mech to give away.
Re: The free mech:
This should be relatively easy - Pick a mech variant that was available when the game launched. The old hands either should already have it, or not want it, and the newbs will be thrilled to get a free mech.
Expert mode: When awarded, have Adams say something like "Well done, Recruit. There will be your very own mech waiting for you in the mech bay. Make sure you practice on it and get a couple of variants so you can master the chassis" Thus, introducing the new player to the idea of skills and such.
Advantages:
- Introduces players to account injections (my first time was like OMG WHUT DID I BRAEK??)
- Introduces players to mission objectives other than murder, death, kill.
- Gets players to have played a few hours before jumping into a PUG and enraging players there.
- It increases customer loyalty (OMG I GOT A FREE MECH? YAASSS). (Also see Reciprocity, but of course, you marketing gurus already know that).
- You could, if you want, reduce the overall c-bill rewards for the cadet bonus - thus allowing the community at large say "what do you mean you're having problems with enough funds to get started? Haven't you gotten your free mech yet?" (also known as funneling, but again, I'm sure you knew that.)
- Newbs will be more likely to have a fairly decent skill set when they start in the main games, and are less likely to whine about how hard the game is and/or ragequit - especially if you include Adams saying something like,
sorry, I had to do it.
- It's unlikely to greatly affect the meta, since you're not actually changing the stats of anything in-game.
There are probably more I haven't thought of.
Disadvantages:
- To be sure, some vets will go back and complete the trials to get the free mech - then complain about how terrible the mech is and how lame the reward is, or how stupid the training is and how it's going to ruin their meta. But honestly, haters gonna hate. The vocal minority who complain about it are going to find something to complain about.
That said, they too have the choice - go back and complete the challenges themselves to get the reward mech, or not.
- There are probably more I haven't thought of.
Edited by ScottAleric, 13 October 2016 - 01:44 PM.
