22 replies to this topic

[Reza Malin]

I have played MWO, since it launched. I have dropped some substantial money on it over the years, while only playing on and off. I kept the faith for most of that time, patiently waiting for new updates and changes. The game has changed a lot over that time. As flawed as it was, the first drop of clans was immense. As was some real CW play after waiting so long for it.

However, there is still a lot to they need to do, in order to make this game more attractive. My concern is that MWO will take a sideline and get some pants token updates while the main focus goes into MW5. I mean lets be honest, all we have seen in the past 6 months is mech pack after mech pack. They add absolutely nothing into the game, except maybe the KDK pack which adds controversy.

The real issue for me now is that they have a couple of years to warrant the spending i made on MWO or they can literally ******* as far as MW5 or anything else is concerned.

[Bulletsponge0]

Hopefully they port it to the Unreal engine....

[C E Dwyer]

It will keep running with slow development until there are not enough people to pay for the severs and production costs

[Rift Hawk]

Cathy, on 04 December 2016 - 03:25 PM, said:

It will keep running with slow development until there are not enough people to pay for the severs and production costs

That is possible...

I would think that a more likely path would be to eventually port MWO to the Unreal engine in the next 6-12 months. That would give people the graphical update they have been wanting. It will also help with speeding up further development of the game. As Unreal is a powerful engine that is much easier to work with than Cryengine. If there are plans to port to unreal, no further balance attempts should even be made until it happens.
The new skill system will provide a more in depth experience to mastering your mechs and could possibly bring back a lot of lost players who felt the game didn't have enough depth.
The road map shows an update to faction play as well as future updates to it. With any luck one of those will bring us closer to what was expected. If that happens, it is literally game on.
The future of any and ALL Mechwarrior games is predestined. Many will try the game and leave. Either after a week or month or year. The hardcore fans will still be playing the game 5-10 years after launch unless a new one arrives prior to that. From a monetary standpoint, PGI just has to keep things fresh enough where the average FPS community player is still interested. We don't need those people to play everyday. Just once or twice a week. You have people from that community paying hundreds of dollars for CS:GO junk. It is extremely within the realm of possibility that PGI could profit from that group to fund this game for many years to come. So long as PGI provides them with something in return. Like an esports league.

[Count Zero 74]

I heard they will finally port it to a IS Light-Engine

[XxXAbsolutZeroXxX]

Fade Akira, on 04 December 2016 - 03:17 PM, said:

I mean lets be honest, all we have seen in the past 6 months is mech pack after mech pack. They add absolutely nothing into the game, except maybe the KDK pack which adds controversy.

Scout mode, Escort mode, the new 1 vs 1 map "steiner coliseum", stock mode for private matches, the new assault mode is in development & coming soon, the new skill tree has been in development over the last x number of months, and faction warfare phase 4 is due to be rolled out soon.

Add to that everything I forgot to mention and you have a decent amount of on going development for this game.

Edited by I Zeratul I, 04 December 2016 - 04:12 PM.

[JaxRiot]

I suspect the MWO population will take a big hit

I think a lot of people tire of constant Team Death Match, and would probably play a different game/mode if MWO wasnt the only Battletech game available.

Now HBS will be launching their Battletech game by mid 2017 (I think I read Early 2017), and then PGI with their stand alone PvE game some time in 2018.

People will have options and the already small population of MWO will probably just get much smaller.

I kind of doubt PGI will funnel too much effort into MWO in the future. There just wont be enough people playing and paying I dont think.

Edited by JaxRiot, 04 December 2016 - 04:23 PM.

[Snazzy Dragon]

At MechCon, Russ said that MWO will continue to be developed and polished, as "it is essential for the health of the company." Now, I'd take what he says normally with a grain of salt, but I think a couple of years of stagnation, leaking buckets, and angry players have finally made that man see some sense. The new game modes for MWO look pretty fun and PGI has taken on some new staff that have proven to be quite capable thus far. MechWarrior 5's Pre-Alpha demo looked great.

As far as I can tell, the impression is that MechWarrior 5 is planned to never have PvP aspects to it, and that MWO will represent the PvP part of MechWarrior that PGI wishes to have. MechWarrior 5 was also said to be a one-purchase one-game deal, so once development on it is done, I'm assuming that if MWO is still doing well by then and updates after the next few keep the players happy, that MWO will have continued production.

But for the immediate future? I think the game will be fine, and that if the upcoming changes go over well then there is nothing to worry about.

[XxXAbsolutZeroXxX]

JaxRiot, on 04 December 2016 - 04:21 PM, said:

I suspect the MWO population will take a big hit

I've seen people actively recruiting for units in game, which is something I haven't seen in a long time.

It is possible the opposite is happening and people are returning in droves.

[The Lobsters]

Good things will happen. This should hopefully deal with the schism in MWO between 'rolepaying and adventure in an established sci-fi universe' and 'multiplayer online, social competitive PVP in an established sci-fi universe'.

With the announcement of MW5 I now have two half full glasses.

[Grrzoot]

i saw absolutely nothing but good in that stream. development has been pinpointed and streamlined and forward looking. It would be nice if people looked forward always instead of always assuming backward, i mean sure, pgi can screw it up, but from what i see, they have totally committed and i like that.

[Johnny Z]

Cathy, on 04 December 2016 - 03:25 PM, said:

It will keep running with slow development until there are not enough people to pay for the severs and production costs

So if your wrong you will apologize and take it all back?

[Novakaine]

Not quite the Aerotech game I was hoping for.
But I knew they had something up their development sleeve.
I can only see a win win for almost everyone.

[Gas Guzzler]

The Lobsters, on 04 December 2016 - 05:49 PM, said:

Good things will happen. This should hopefully deal with the schism in MWO between 'rolepaying and adventure in an established sci-fi universe' and 'multiplayer online, social competitive PVP in an established sci-fi universe'.

With the announcement of MW5 I now have two half full glasses.

This is how I feel as well. I see myself playing both games.

[s0da72]

I can't wait to try out the new assault mode with the walls. That looked interesting, still not sure about this VIP escort thing. Looks like it will be 'bum rushed' with no way for the team to defend it.

I found this video that covers the teaser trailer and announcements from mechcon helpful.

[The Lobsters]

Novakaine, on 04 December 2016 - 06:08 PM, said:

Not quite the Aerotech game I was hoping for.
But I knew they had something up their development sleeve.
I can only see a win win for almost everyone.

I hear ya'.

I'm a 'Battleforce/Aerotech' dude. I never actually played Battletech. I wish the in-game maps were 100km across, the planes that drop the airstrikes were player driven, and if your mech stands still for too long, some guy with a jetpack will stick a limpet mine up your @ss.

I've thought about mentioning it on the forums before, but the current discussion is already a total charlie foxtrot.

Edited by The Lobsters, 04 December 2016 - 06:34 PM.

[PhoenixFire55]

Hm, nothing? ... Its not like that actually did anything on MWO for the past 3 years apart from MechPacks^TM anyway.

[Ace Selin]

Bulletsponge0, on 04 December 2016 - 03:24 PM, said:

Hopefully they port it to the Unreal engine....

Lawl, ill bet you my accounts worth of mechs that doesn't happen.

[Bradigus]

Bulletsponge0, on 04 December 2016 - 03:24 PM, said:

Hopefully they port it to the Unreal engine....

The chances of improbability are stacked so highly against that notion that you might as well have asked for PGI to make MWO:2. With MW5: Mercs unveiling THAT is more likely to happen.

As for the original posters topic question; What will happen now to MWO?

The game will chug along, with a game mode or two added each year, 12 mechs released a year, until the game itself stops being profitable and they decide to cut losses and shut it all down or shift to developing another online mechwarrior title. Mechwarrior Online may very well still have 2, 3 or even 4 years of life ahead of it, but the playerbase is constantly shrinking, as there are considerably more people trying it and leaving than there are people staying for the long haul. Despite PGI's seeming monopoly stranglehold on the genre.

Lack of single player to ease people into the concept of arcade giant robot combat and then multiplayer, and lack of an easy-access tutorial (the current tutorial is horrendously paced, and it's own subject entirely in terms of required improvements) means people are being dropped head first into the meat grinder. This is a sure fire way to scare off people from even giving it the 15 minutes to get their attention.

Lack of graphical upgrades also mean that year after year with more and more visually impressive games coming out, older games are having an ever tougher time even attracting potential consumers in this era of ADD entertainment. Sure, I will admit that this means cheaper and older computers will have an easier time picking it up as the years roll by, but so far the optimization work still leaves expensive high end rig owners wondering why they're getting poor performance.

Lack of variables cause players to get bored quicker. By this I mean that with the current range of weapons and equipment, sooner or later people will start getting bored of the "same old, same old" as mechs end up nothing more than skins of the same gun platform. New weapons with different mechanics than the current ones, and new equipment that provide different variables would provide players a curiosity to sate for a longer time.

TL;DR Games gonna keep going until mech packs lodge in the throat of the playerbase and choke it to death or PGI stops getting their moneys worth out of the work put in.

[Bulletsponge0]

Ace Selin, on 05 December 2016 - 03:20 AM, said:

Lawl, ill bet you my accounts worth of mechs that doesn't happen.

and thats why I said "hopefully".... I don't really expect it to happen, but I could make a good pitch as to why it SHOULD happen...