-Giant stompy robots
-Slow paced, "A thinking man's shooter" and is closer to simulation that it is to arcade
-Massive depth on customizations
-Role warfare
-Faction battles in a galactic scale
-Tech differences that offer different playstyles
-Role play elements
What do you see?
What I see is a great potential and a LOT of opportunity
"But Shiroi, MWO ISN'T a BT game, PGI killed all BT elements and turned into a complete monstrosity"
No
IMHO, making the game into a BT game and following the lore is more of a restriction rather than a potential in the grand scheme of things. While following the lore, you don't really have to worry a lot about creating new things as the stuff you already need are already there; the weapons, damage values, mech designs, their loadout, factions etc. That's like half the game right there.
By lore, the Clans have the better equipment, hands down. The way PGI balanced this is by making IS more "tanky" (inb4 XL balance hurr durr) and the Clans better at DPS.
Instead of having a bajillion factions and ~2 base techs, what if we only had ~5 factions but each faction plays a lot differently from the other?
For example;
Faction A relies on ballistic based weapons. Cannons, shells, stuff like that. While they have to aim a little higher above their target to compensate for bullet drop over long distances, they can also use this to their advantage by firing them like mortars, being able to shoot behind cover and damage enemies without LOS. Their support weapons will include artillery strikes that can do a lot of AoE but may have little effect on targets hiding behind a hill
Faction B emphasizes a lot on energy based weapons, stuff like lasers and plasma rifles. Gameplay wise, they do a lot of LOS.
Support wise, they can have an orbital laser platform that can shoot targets hiding behind a hill, but will have no effect against those that have cover above their heads.
Just by these 2 different examples, I can already see a diverse gameplay that can rival the IS/Clans that we have right now. Now add 3 other factions each with their own unique play style, gameplay depth and variety increases a lot. Of course, they will have to introduce new mechanics and new weapons as well to add more to what we already have.
One of the problems with MWO's current state is that it's a modern game with modern players with ~80's gimmicks. The lore balance doesn't also translate well to game balance. I guess part of this is because table top that heavily relies on RNG won't necessarily be the same for players with reflexes and quick thinking. Without quirks, an IS Gauss is pretty much superior to an IS AC/20. Less slots, practically has no heat, and most importantly, SUPERIOR RANGE. This is especially important since MWO/BT has quite a few weapons that literally do no damage at certain ranges. That sort of restriction is not really common in a lot of modern games of the same genre.
Like most other games, there has to be a story or a background setting. Like the gameplay, this also opens up a LOT of potential and opportunities to create a great universe. While they may not be able to create one that is as deep as BT in a short period of time, they can add to it as time goes on. They can even introduce new factions with new tech, making the game more deeper. By following the lore, MWO is RESTRICTED to what BT has laid out a few decades ago.This means certain factions will be **** on simply because lore said so lole.
The FRR was fighting 6 other factions at once and we were down to two planets at some point in Phase 1. Factions like Liao on the other hand only have 2 Factions to go up against at the start (though I think they manage to fight Steiner too, can't remember) This might be interesting on the political and narrative side of things, but in the end, MWO is a game, not politics.
While I understand that PGI is a small team, I do believe that with proper investments, decision making, marketing and funding, they could have developed an even better game and a new IP.
TL;DR: More freedom and variety, less BT restrictions
Edited by Shiroi Tsuki, 18 February 2017 - 11:51 AM.