1 reply to this topic

[Ebins]

I understand what I am going to write here will be extremely unpopular with a large portion of this game's community. I also understand that this could put my account at risk. I attempted to contact you directly through your contact link on the website, but was informed they could not answer any of my questions nor assist me in this manner. So be it. I will at least speak up for the small part of the community here that has some legitimate concerns as far as the direction of Mechwarrior Online. I will mostly copy and paste from the email I sent.

First of all, please allow me to give some background information. I have been playing Battletech for a very long time. I have played tabletop and have been active in all of the video game releases. I have been playing multiplayer since the ability to do so arose (Mechwarrior 2 Netmech). I own all the books, and have been deeply immersed in the lore. Seeing MWO diverge so greatly from it causes me great concern. I fear that this particular variant of the series has gone so far off track, that the only thing that makes it "mechwarrior" is the copyrighted name and the names of the mechs/factions. To put it simply:

I request a detailed response to each of these questions:

1 - Why are you allowing Clans to "hire" mercenaries, when according to lore, the Clans abhore them?
2 - According to lore, the Inner Sphere descended into the dark ages, and almost destroyed themselves. In the meantime, the Clans continued on with their technology to make superior weapon systems and mechs. So, why in MWO are clan mechs so much more fragile (XL engines for example ruining heat sink capabilities)? Why are clan weapon systems over all less effective (examples: high jam rates for ultra auto cannons, beam duration longer, missiles firing in a long stream instead of most IS burst effects - again there are many more examples)? Please give me one modern day example of an advanced nation state who would willingly and knowingly send inferior technology into battle.
3 - Why do you continue to buff up Inner Sphere mechs while at the same time nerfing Clan?
4 - While making the changes addressed above, why in facton play, have you imbalanced weight allowances on the opposing sides? Nerfed Clans now have to take a lighter drop deck against a buffed IS mech force. I would not mind the weight imbalance at all if you had kept Clan technology at their original levels. I would have even pushed for a greater one. That would be keeping with lore.
5 - Is it your intention to make the game simply meta based? Meaning, are you appealing to the base of players whose only goal is to find the "perfect" mech and weapon balance, and forgo everything else? What I'm getting to is this: it has now become obvious that the "elite" that you seem to get your mysterious "data" from are those who twist, use and abuse the game while not caring the least for the lore of the game itself. The greatest abusers of this are the mercenary units who have no problem switching loyalty between Clan and IS according to your patch releases. They would rather meta the game to death then to actually chose a side and stick with it. And as I stated above, mercenaries should not be able to be clan at all. In my opinion, this harms the game more than helps it. If you care nothing about lore, then this is what happens.
6 - Why are you allowing the match maker to match up players and teams of obvious different skill levels? Has the Tier system become useless? Why are you allowing teams to face pick up groups in faction warfare? How is that fair to those of us who stick to what the game used to be, or who are trying to break into faction warfare? Is it fair that pick up groups should face well organized teams and become discouraged from it because of the matchmaker?
7 - Do you even care about the lore of the game? Are you ever going to focus more on the lore of the game, or are you simply trying to make a generic shooter with the "Mechwarrior" name attached?

Battletech is great not just because of it's mechanics, but because of the back story. There's a reason that the Inner Sphere fights amongst itself. Each faction had different "skill trees" (for lack of a better description). Marik - merchants, Davion, military, etc. You know what I'm getting to. The Clans had their infighting as well - wardens vs. crusaders, different focuses on how each clan was run, etc.

There have been many 'Mech clones throughout the years, and even through today. Yet those franchises are either very small or long gone. Why? Because they do not have the history and rich lore to back them up. Why are you trying to become one of them?

If I wanted to play games like Hawken or Titanfall, I would. I do not. I want to play Battletech.

Myself and others who share these concerns should get a detailed response to these questions, and others I have yet to raise. It's only fair as we have been supporters for a very long time, and the mechwarrior franchise wouldn't even be around if it weren't for people like us. What should I take away from the current state of Mechwarrior Online? Has it turned into a simple giant robot shooter with nothing really incommon with the history and lore of the franchise? I want to hope that changes are coming, but from what I've seen, I am no longer expecting it.

I'm sad to state that I simply cannot give another hard earned cent to PGI as things now stand. This hurts to say because I want to continue to support the franchise itself. Battletech has been around for a very long time, and I long to see it remain. However, I no longer recognize this game as being part of that franchise other than through cosmetic conventions.

I hope to get an honest response from those who are in charge of the decision making. I know I will receive a lot of hate from the community who simply does not care about this history of Battletech. I'm willing to become the "villain" in their eyes in the hopes of getting some answers.

[Fake News]

lol lore.