71 replies to this topic

[Jehofi]

Coolant, on 20 February 2017 - 09:34 AM, said:

not possible to know unless you work at PGI and have access to the numbers. Saying all your friends no longer play or your unit is disappearing is not proof that the community is in decline.

Actually the leaderboards are a quite reasonable source. I see no gain for PGI to tamper with them.

[PAYWALL]

i must admit, that i only play after significant patch releases (new content, quirks) if my premium time isn't running. And if it's running, i only play during events. If you own most of the mechs you have literally nothing to achieve in this game. And match quality sucks most of the times...Playing 20 matches and only 1- 3 GGs, rest stomps or steamrolls. I only can hope for some real new content, like other weapons and new maps.

[Tordin]

Again?? C'mon....

[Appogee]

[Tordin]

Hehe, nothing can be perfect, being perfect is a flaw in itself.
PGI, they sure can do wrong! They have proven that again and again when they fail to listen to the community. But zelous players which are biased and want them to fail even when they try to improve are just as bad.
What? Im not grey knighting to much now am I?

[Jettrik Ryflix]

Dandred, on 20 February 2017 - 07:49 AM, said:

Well I feel something is going on in QP. The overall quality of teams seems to be diminishing.

Now does that mean good players are leaving, or is there a huge influx of new players?

It has to do with the way PSR works. It has a positive bias, so players that play often will eventually progress to higher tiers, whether or not they are actually good.

So when PSR was introduced, the higher tiers were quite elite, and in the time since then, have become softer and softer.

[Bishop Steiner]

cazidin, on 20 February 2017 - 07:42 AM, said:

Greetings MechWarriors. Today I have a simple question. Is MechWarrior Online actually losing players and if so, at what rate? Many anti-PGI ForumWarriors would loudly claim that we're hemorrhaging players but what system can we use to objectively calculate how many active accounts we've had in the game's history up to now?

We have heard that saw, time and again, since Open Beta. The last time it was really close to an issue was 2013, IIRC, when PGI was fornicating the canine at every opportunity, while maintaining total silence, for most of the year.. But I would say that largely stopped somewhere between the idiocy of the Transverse Money Grab attempt, and the launch of ht eClan Invasion..

Since then, yeah, some have left, new have come, and left and come back again. Seems like we have stayed relatively stable. Problem is we also don't appear to be growing, which should be a concern. Good part is? Even though, like any forum, you got your toxic trolls, butthurts idiots, etc....? COmapred to the old days, this place is positively pleasant. Was a time the from page of GenDis was nothing but Anti PGI rants. Well.... there was also a time the Mods got the bright idea that removing General Discussion entirely would quell the discord..... (might have been something to do with a little feature called 3pV at the time...which in fairness... really is essentially a non issue, as added here, though that was not even really the point)

Biggest issue with the community is still pretty much the same with every game community. But 3 community members on a thread together...and you'll get 4 differnet opinions on how things should be done. Got the CompTards who want to dumb it down even more to enhance their "skill", the LoreTards who could give a crab about balance... as long as the game resembles the sweaty, ratty copy of whatever battletech novel is their personal bible.... and I'm sure you have some other Tards in between. Might even be some TardisTards around.

*shrugs*

I think ol' Samuel Clemens said it best, as regards the state of MWO, it's community, etc: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

[Appogee]

Bishop Steiner, on 20 February 2017 - 10:31 AM, said:

But I would say that largely stopped somewhere between the idiocy of the Transverse Money Grab attempt, and the launch of ht eClan Invasion.

Yes we are all much happier with the MW5 Money Grab

[cazidin]

Bishop Steiner, on 20 February 2017 - 10:31 AM, said:

We have heard that saw, time and again, since Open Beta. The last time it was really close to an issue was 2013, IIRC, when PGI was fornicating the canine at every opportunity, while maintaining total silence, for most of the year.. But I would say that largely stopped somewhere between the idiocy of the Transverse Money Grab attempt, and the launch of ht eClan Invasion..

Since then, yeah, some have left, new have come, and left and come back again. Seems like we have stayed relatively stable. Problem is we also don't appear to be growing, which should be a concern. Good part is? Even though, like any forum, you got your toxic trolls, butthurts idiots, etc....? COmapred to the old days, this place is positively pleasant. Was a time the from page of GenDis was nothing but Anti PGI rants. Well.... there was also a time the Mods got the bright idea that removing General Discussion entirely would quell the discord..... (might have been something to do with a little feature called 3pV at the time...which in fairness... really is essentially a non issue, as added here, though that was not even really the point)

Biggest issue with the community is still pretty much the same with every game community. But 3 community members on a thread together...and you'll get 4 differnet opinions on how things should be done. Got the CompTards who want to dumb it down even more to enhance their "skill", the LoreTards who could give a crab about balance... as long as the game resembles the sweaty, ratty copy of whatever battletech novel is their personal bible.... and I'm sure you have some other Tards in between. Might even be some TardisTards around.

*shrugs*

I think ol' Samuel Clemens said it best, as regards the state of MWO, it's community, etc: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

It's interesting that I haven't tried to suggest that the game is dying, just asked if there's a metric for player activity of late.

[MechaBattler]

Steam is not representative of the whole community. But it claims we've averaged 1063, with maximum peak of 1855 in the last 30 days. Makes me want to start up through Steam to shore up the numbers. But even I started booting the client directly to avoid usage from Steam application.

I think we were in decline in so much as we got a boost from Steam. But it has greatly leveled off since. I don't think leaving FP without a barrier of entry and no tutorial helped new player retention. Oh hey this sounds cool! I'll just fill my deck with trial mechs! What do you mean I shouldn't use an LRM boat?

[Dr Hobo]

Bishop Steiner, on 20 February 2017 - 10:31 AM, said:

We have heard that saw, time and again, since Open Beta. The last time it was really close to an issue was 2013, IIRC, when PGI was fornicating the canine at every opportunity, while maintaining total silence, for most of the year.. But I would say that largely stopped somewhere between the idiocy of the Transverse Money Grab attempt, and the launch of ht eClan Invasion..

Since then, yeah, some have left, new have come, and left and come back again. Seems like we have stayed relatively stable. Problem is we also don't appear to be growing, which should be a concern. Good part is? Even though, like any forum, you got your toxic trolls, butthurts idiots, etc....? COmapred to the old days, this place is positively pleasant. Was a time the from page of GenDis was nothing but Anti PGI rants. Well.... there was also a time the Mods got the bright idea that removing General Discussion entirely would quell the discord..... (might have been something to do with a little feature called 3pV at the time...which in fairness... really is essentially a non issue, as added here, though that was not even really the point)

Biggest issue with the community is still pretty much the same with every game community. But 3 community members on a thread together...and you'll get 4 differnet opinions on how things should be done. Got the CompTards who want to dumb it down even more to enhance their "skill", the LoreTards who could give a crab about balance... as long as the game resembles the sweaty, ratty copy of whatever battletech novel is their personal bible.... and I'm sure you have some other Tards in between. Might even be some TardisTards around.

*shrugs*

I think ol' Samuel Clemens said it best, as regards the state of MWO, it's community, etc: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

I dunno,I keep taking really long breaks and I play less and less with every break. I've sunk too much money into my love of Battletech and MWO. But it's like I feel like the funs just not there anymore. I still come around for the events and stuff,but I have 118 mechs,and most of them are mastered and have ended up stripped for my favorites(I.e the Vindicator and Hunchbacks)

Even the last few mechpacks have been a massive disappointment to me. The Phoenix Hawk I couldn't find a build that was fun,the Viper I couldn't get into(it felt like a gimped Cheeto). The 2C mechs are alright. I still can't get a feel for the currently massive 'Wacker. It feels bigger than my Hunchback for some reason.

With the upcoming skill tree changes..the mechs I already have mastered,the modules I already own,will now be worthless. And that there makes me not want to come back. I'd have to regrind all those mechs. And I'm not gonna do that. I might just grind a few favorites and sell all my non premium mechs because what's the point in keeping the chassis around?

I have all the mechs I want. What else is there to do? The same thing over and over again. Even the friends I made in the game,I rarely see anymore.

[Bishop Steiner]

cazidin, on 20 February 2017 - 10:34 AM, said:

It's interesting that I haven't tried to suggest that the game is dying, just asked if there's a metric for player activity of late.

based it more off the content of the op than the title. Usually the losing players thing gets tied into "MWO is dying", because it's "bleeding players".

I mean, usually the phrase "Many anti-PGI ForumWarriors would loudly claim that we're hemorrhaging players" is tied directly to "MWO/PGI is dying..or getting ready to take our money and shut down the servers.

Also, in truth, if they don't seriously rethink the New Skill Tree, we might get a legit player exodus, but the one presented previously? Was about as brutal as humanly possible for the NPE. I mean, we're talk a Game of Thrones Wedding typ eNew Player Experience (on top of the ire and frustration of those folks with some 200+ mastered mechs finding out that after all the refunds, etc... they might be able to re-master a dozen of their robots. GGclose, PGI!)

[Appogee]

The beta of BattleTech by HBS is only 6 to 8 weeks away.

That will prove interesting.

[Bishop Steiner]

MechaBattler, on 20 February 2017 - 10:39 AM, said:

Steam is not representative of the whole community. But it claims we've averaged 1063, with maximum peak of 1855 in the last 30 days. Makes me want to start up through Steam to shore up the numbers. But even I started booting the client directly to avoid usage from Steam application.

I think we were in decline in so much as we got a boost from Steam. But it has greatly leveled off since. I don't think leaving FP without a barrier of entry and no tutorial helped new player retention. Oh hey this sounds cool! I'll just fill my deck with trial mechs! What do you mean I shouldn't use an LRM boat?

Always felt basing anything off Steam numbers is hard to get accurate info, unless your playerbase is exclusively on Steam. I still use the stand alone client, TBH, and I know a lot of other players who do likewise. For the same reason you list.. why have Steam running in the background if I don't need to. Plus, TBH, while I am sure we have retained some of the Steam Players who came to sample MWO... I always got the impression that many of them were also just sampling the F2P market... and once something newer and shinier came a long... buh bye. I mean, it's not like one has to make any sort of commitment to a F2P game. (and heck, I can think of a number of Pay to Play titles I haven't bothered loading in ages.... Heavy Gear being one.... )

Appogee, on 20 February 2017 - 10:44 AM, said:

The beta of BattleTech by HBS is only 6 to 8 weeks away.

That will prove interesting.

Should be less than 4, actually. March 15th.

[Gas Guzzler]

I wonder if a boatload of new tech this summer will bring an some more players or at least bring BACK some old players.

[Dr Hobo]

Bishop Steiner, on 20 February 2017 - 10:41 AM, said:

based it more off the content of the op than the title. Usually the losing players thing gets tied into "MWO is dying", because it's "bleeding players".

I mean, usually the phrase "Many anti-PGI ForumWarriors would loudly claim that we're hemorrhaging players" is tied directly to "MWO/PGI is dying..or getting ready to take our money and shut down the servers.

Also, in truth, if they don't seriously rethink the New Skill Tree, we might get a legit player exodus, but the one presented previously? Was about as brutal as humanly possible for the NPE. I mean, we're talk a Game of Thrones Wedding typ eNew Player Experience (on top of the ire and frustration of those folks with some 200+ mastered mechs finding out that after all the refunds, etc... they might be able to re-master a dozen of their robots. GGclose, PGI!)

I think one of the biggest problems is there's nothing to do.

CW was a flop,we haven't had any new tech(I barely count Clan Tech as new tech,it's just reskinned gear and slightly differing mechanics) we don't have the Solaris Arena(FFA,1v1 torney style with weight brackets etc)

All it is is an endless grind to max out one chassis you might like in a mech.

[Deathlike]

Dr Hobo, on 20 February 2017 - 10:46 AM, said:

I think one of the biggest problems is there's nothing to do.

CW was a flop,we haven't had any new tech(I barely count Clan Tech as new tech,it's just reskinned gear and slightly differing mechanics) we don't have the Solaris Arena(FFA,1v1 torney style with weight brackets etc)

All it is is an endless grind to max out one chassis you might like in a mech.

Been saying forever that having no end game is the problem.

FP has never really been that solution.

[Dr Hobo]

Deathlike, on 20 February 2017 - 10:49 AM, said:

Been saying forever that having no end game is the problem.

FP has never really been that solution.

That and far too many mechs that could be good can't do anything.

Want to do a build on your Raven 3L that isn't ECM ERLL sniping? Good luck.
Want to do something in your King Crab L that isn't boating UAC5s? Good luck.
Want to do something with the clans that isn't laser missile puke? Good luck.

It honestly feels like MWO has gotten too fast for it's own good.

I do admit,I still miss my slow as hell Doom Raven. The Huggin just doesn't scratch that itch.

[Bishop Steiner]

Dr Hobo, on 20 February 2017 - 10:39 AM, said:

I dunno,I keep taking really long breaks and I play less and less with every break. I've sunk too much money into my love of Battletech and MWO. But it's like I feel like the funs just not there anymore. I still come around for the events and stuff,but I have 118 mechs,and most of them are mastered and have ended up stripped for my favorites(I.e the Vindicator and Hunchbacks)

Even the last few mechpacks have been a massive disappointment to me. The Phoenix Hawk I couldn't find a build that was fun,the Viper I couldn't get into(it felt like a gimped Cheeto). The 2C mechs are alright. I still can't get a feel for the currently massive 'Wacker. It feels bigger than my Hunchback for some reason.

With the upcoming skill tree changes..the mechs I already have mastered,the modules I already own,will now be worthless. And that there makes me not want to come back. I'd have to regrind all those mechs. And I'm not gonna do that. I might just grind a few favorites and sell all my non premium mechs because what's the point in keeping the chassis around?

I have all the mechs I want. What else is there to do? The same thing over and over again. Even the friends I made in the game,I rarely see anymore.

Sure. Point is.... those same things those have been said...for almost 4 years, in these forums. And truth is.... while players do leave, we seem to keep a relatively constant level playing. Not a level to write home about, and honestly, stagnation is just slow death, but it's not like MWO has suffered a femoral laceration of players, since around early 2014, with Transverse, and even then, I think most of the bulk exodus had already occurred.

I'm by no means saying everything is great and wonderful. MWO needs to do SOMETHING to stay even semi relevant, which I suppose they hope MW5 will help with, and that the Skill Tree and New Tech expansions will tide things over... but both have every bit as much potential to blow up in their face, as to help the game.

I honestly haven't rested any hopes on MWO in over a year. My disconnect started end of 2015 when a hurricane ate my computer... and then became real in March 2016 with the lackadaisical attitude Russ and crew seemed to have ever since coming back from winter break. The last money I personally spent on this game was buying someone a PXH pack, back in April? of last year.

I got a little re-interested with the MechCOn announcements... but honestly, for me, the PTS and New Tech launches are largely make or break time... because I will have HBS's game to spend my time with if PGI does screw it up.

Gas Guzzler, on 20 February 2017 - 10:46 AM, said:

I wonder if a boatload of new tech this summer will bring an some more players or at least bring BACK some old players.

Maybe, at least long enough to decide if it's broke as heck or not.

But if it is, aside from maybe some Potato Farmers, I expect it to be a short return.

[Gas Guzzler]

Dr Hobo, on 20 February 2017 - 10:52 AM, said:

That and far too many mechs that could be good can't do anything.

Want to do a build on your Raven 3L that isn't ECM ERLL sniping? Good luck.
Want to do something in your King Crab L that isn't boating UAC5s? Good luck.
Want to do something with the clans that isn't laser missile puke? Good luck.

Aside from the fact that you can also run Dual Gauss dual PPC on the King Crab, and Clans can basically do laser-missile puke, pure missile, pure laser, laser plus gauss, ER PPC plus Gauss, ER PPC plus UACs, pure ER PPC, pure UAC, and SRM + big LB extremely well, yeah you can only do one thing well per mech...

Honestly, yes its true that the Raven's niche in general is mid-long range poke, but isn't that what folks want? "Role" warfare? Ravens, aside from the Huginn, typically assume mid-long range trading roles. That's just what their combination of hardpoints, front profile, and side profile tend to promote.

Edited by Gas Guzzler, 20 February 2017 - 10:58 AM.