171 replies to this topic

[BLOOD WOLF]

WarHippy, on 21 October 2016 - 02:47 PM, said:

They were talking about Steam numbers and they are posted further up in the thread.

I know that. At the same time he is using steam as a justification for total MWO population.

So when he ask, "what does that say about the game". Steam doesn't give me the data i need to make a conclusion about the future of the game. I would venture to say, if the steam population went to 0 it wouldn't affect the overall population significantly.

As a matter of fact using steam to justify total MWO population is dishonest, if you are just using that becuase it's convenient to your point.

Edited by BLOOD WOLF, 21 October 2016 - 02:54 PM.

[Red Shrike]

Mcgral18, on 20 October 2016 - 09:17 PM, said:

Within the Decade


Sean Tracy (of Cloud Imperium Games) has expressed interest in a BattleTech game using the Star Engine
But, as above, probably a decade away before work would even start

I trust him a hell of a lot more than Russ or anyone else at PGI.

[BLOOD WOLF]

Red Shrike, on 21 October 2016 - 03:03 PM, said:

I trust him a hell of a lot more than Russ or anyone else at PGI.

I doubt he could have done a better job.

[Mcgral18]

BLOOD WOLF, on 21 October 2016 - 03:26 PM, said:

I doubt he could have done a better job.

lol

[MischiefSC]

Not as long as you'd think but it's a bit more complex than that.

It's likely that PGI can't just "relinquish" it. They bought a license and it likely involves them being obligated to remuneration to MS until 2020.

What you really east is to buy the IP from MS. That would give you the ability to do whatever you want (honestly it needs a modern age reboot to rebalance it for a FPS and MMO environment).

That would be expensive but give you the control you'd need to really exploit the IPs potential in a game franchise. It wouldn't give you control of the tabletop slice of the IP, just the pc/console game, however you could run with that all you want.

You could also work on development from now to 2020, you just couldn't sell or advertise it. No competition, but at that point you would own the IP PGI is licensing.

This would cost less than some games have raised on Kickstarter and would give you the whole IP to play with.

[Green Mamba]

MischiefSC, on 21 October 2016 - 03:59 PM, said:

Not as long as you'd think but it's a bit more complex than that.

It's likely that PGI can't just "relinquish" it. They bought a license and it likely involves them being obligated to remuneration to MS until 2020.

What you really east is to buy the IP from MS. That would give you the ability to do whatever you want (honestly it needs a modern age reboot to rebalance it for a FPS and MMO environment).

That would be expensive but give you the control you'd need to really exploit the IPs potential in a game franchise. It wouldn't give you control of the tabletop slice of the IP, just the pc/console game, however you could run with that all you want.

You could also work on development from now to 2020, you just couldn't sell or advertise it. No competition, but at that point you would own the IP PGI is licensing.

This would cost less than some games have raised on Kickstarter and would give you the whole IP to play with.

This could work..I have hope

[Ghogiel]

MischiefSC, on 21 October 2016 - 03:59 PM, said:

Not as long as you'd think but it's a bit more complex than that.

It's likely that PGI can't just "relinquish" it. They bought a license and it likely involves them being obligated to remuneration to MS until 2020.

What you really east is to buy the IP from MS. That would give you the ability to do whatever you want (honestly it needs a modern age reboot to rebalance it for a FPS and MMO environment).

That would be expensive but give you the control you'd need to really exploit the IPs potential in a game franchise. It wouldn't give you control of the tabletop slice of the IP, just the pc/console game, however you could run with that all you want.

You could also work on development from now to 2020, you just couldn't sell or advertise it. No competition, but at that point you would own the IP PGI is licensing.

This would cost less than some games have raised on Kickstarter and would give you the whole IP to play with.

I don't know what parts of the IP PGI can't play with that they could get from MS.

[Milocinia]

If PGI would relinquish the rights to MechWarrior...

I would be a very happy man, full of hope that this IP would finally be out of the hands of a car crash dev/team and into the hands of someone who could mould this s**tstorm into something it should have been from day 1.

[Davers]

Ghogiel, on 21 October 2016 - 01:51 PM, said:

Sure MWO player base is only 30% less than STOs, but the point is STO is apparently a games that's "on it's last legs". So if STO is dieing what's that say about MWO?

BLOOD WOLF, on 21 October 2016 - 01:44 PM, said:

MWO isn't to far behind on the steam charts

Much like MWO, STO has a stand alone client as well, so Steam numbers don't really matter to either of them.

[MischiefSC]

Green Mamba, on 21 October 2016 - 04:05 PM, said:

This could work..I have hope

Ghogiel, on 21 October 2016 - 04:13 PM, said:

I don't know what parts of the IP PGI can't play with that they could get from MS.

It absolutely could work. You could buy the IP and start development tomorrow on a game you'd release in 4+years.

If you are only licensing the IP you'll have guidelines on what you can and can't do, plus much of what you create in the IP will revert to the license holder when your deal is over.

Think Fallout New Vegas. Bethesda could use any of that created intellectual content (depending on the agreement they can probably use the actual art assets too) for a new product while Obsidian can not use any of it for anything, if they even kept any rights to any of it.

Do you really think PGI can use *any* MWO content after 2020?

Battletech as an IP has a huge potential. From infantry to Warships it's a massive, we'll fleshed universe that translates magnificently into a digital format. The warts it does have could be fixed with a "reboot".

If you want to make a real meaty, complex and deep game IP that would powerhouse for another decade you need the IP in hand. Fortunately that's not an unreasonable goal.

[Novakaine]

1000 years so let's hope it doesn't happen.

[Ghogiel]

MischiefSC, on 21 October 2016 - 05:04 PM, said:

Do you really think PGI can use *any* MWO content after 2020?

No, but MS only owns the rights to digital games in the BT universe. even if you bought the rights that MS have you couldn't do most of the things I expect you think you can.

[MischiefSC]

Ghogiel, on 21 October 2016 - 05:19 PM, said:

No, but MS only owns the rights to digital games in the BT universe. even if you bought the rights that MS have you couldn't do most of the things I expect you think you can.

No, you absolutely could. The IP is no longer contiguous. Nobody owns the "canon", not that can be shown or proven. The only thing you couldn't do with the IP from Microsoft is release the game in another medium. You could retcon anything. As already is the case you'd be in a divergent timeline from TT but look at mechs, weapons and stats in Mechassault vs tabletop.

You could reboot before the Cameron Usurper and have Kerensky slip in the shower and breaks his neck, leaving the Star League in the hands of a madman. Go nuts.

[Ghogiel]

MischiefSC, on 21 October 2016 - 05:28 PM, said:

No, you absolutely could. The IP is no longer contiguous. Nobody owns the "canon", not that can be shown or proven. The only thing you couldn't do with the IP from Microsoft is release the game in another medium. You could retcon anything. As already is the case you'd be in a divergent timeline from TT but look at mechs, weapons and stats in Mechassault vs tabletop.

You could reboot before the Cameron Usurper and have Kerensky slip in the shower and breaks his neck, leaving the Star League in the hands of a madman. Go nuts.

what I mean is what could you do that is different to just licensing the rights. All of those examples are not excluded with a license from MS.

[Cest7]

I like how people are already looking for the next battletech title.

[WarHippy]

BLOOD WOLF, on 21 October 2016 - 02:49 PM, said:

I know that. At the same time he is using steam as a justification for total MWO population.

So when he ask, "what does that say about the game". Steam doesn't give me the data i need to make a conclusion about the future of the game. I would venture to say, if the steam population went to 0 it wouldn't affect the overall population significantly.

As a matter of fact using steam to justify total MWO population is dishonest, if you are just using that becuase it's convenient to your point.

Then complain to the person that started that line of thought.

[N0MAD]

Actually a thread just a few up from this one shows alot of players that were here before steam are indeed using the steam ap to play MWO, alot of them, and if this sample size is an indication of the player base then yes Steam is a good indication of the player number, but q times and frequency of seeing the same players in game paint a picture anyway.
Mischief,, been missing you on forums brother,, ohh and yes imagine BT universe done like star citizen..ohh my, the possibilities, need a real studio to do that tho..

[Anjian]

Bombast, on 20 October 2016 - 09:24 PM, said:

A decade, probably. Whether it's PGI's fault or not, them relinquishing or losing the rights to Mechwarrior is an advertisement that the franchise isn't worth serious consideration, or at least not a multi-million dollar investment.

I'd question whether it would make a come back at all, really. While the fanbase is fairly dedicated, it's not large, and another giant gap would only serve to dilute it further. And giant mecha games in general don't seem to be doing so hot - Front Mission has taken a beating, Armored Core is in a position where I think people wished it was dead, and Gundum, while still being pushed out at an alarming rate, isn't as impressive as it once was.

Depends, and conventional wisdom might think it is.

But something is bucking the trend in a big way.

https://in.rbth.com/...r-30-mln_635365
http://www.pocketgam...-to-30-million/

http://www.lse.co.uk...veloper_Pixonic

This company, whose main claim to fame is the War Robots (formerly Walking War Robots) on Android and iOS, got bought by Mail.ru for $30 million in early October.

The game claims 7 million iOS installs, 13 million Android installs, has a daily population of over 500,000 players, and made revenues around $10 million in the first half of 2016.



The game has some lessons. The first is that genre remains truly alive. The second is that the genre does not need Battletech or Gundam or some "famous" brand to make it succeed. The third is that you need accessibility, and nothing can be more accessible than a mobile device. Its time to look beyond PC and console to make the IP succeed.

[Mycrus]

Mcgral18, on 20 October 2016 - 09:17 PM, said:

Within the Decade


Sean Tracy (of Cloud Imperium Games) has expressed interest in a BattleTech game using the Star Engine
But, as above, probably a decade away before work would even start

We will see a new mechwarrior game before star citizen comes out...

[ice trey]

Can they relinquish the rights for just the single player game aspects?

Honest to god, all I've wanted for close to two decades has been a decent MechWarrior game, the best means to immerse myself into the Battletech universe, but I hate multiplayer and e-sports because it strips all the immersion, story, and lore away. Objectives and motivations are replaced with tier-lists and leaderboards.

It's like the chef dropped the Wagyu steak in a pile of dogshit.

Edited by ice trey, 22 October 2016 - 06:20 AM.