10 replies to this topic

[razenWing]

If anyone remember from my morality thread, I raised the concept of "Pilot Death Count."

I like to extrapolate that concept and put it into current context. Meaning, no change in programming or modification needed. The only thing different is that everytime you die, there's a chance that a big red text will flash across your screen:

YOUR PILOT HAS DIED!

(And of course, chance will differ depending on methods of death, for example... much higher if you got headshot, and lower if you got legged.)

That and there will be an arbitrary counter in your profile for "Pilot Death Count"
(and by extension, maybe... pilot death per match or some other statistical categories based on the total counter)

Do you think people will play differently as a result? This will be an interesting social experiment because as people, we tend to seek and implement importance, especially on numbers. In this case, arbitrarily, you might "die," when nothing else is changed.

No gameplay change.
No action change.
No rule change.
No graphic change (well, except the flashing text, but no exploding human or anything like that)

How will an implementation of record tracking fundamentally change human behavior?

Now, think hard on this. Before you answer, nothing, we know... that's not going to be true. If people can find values in not wanting a speedy end to a 1v8, and rather protect "KDR," I definitely think this will have profound impact. (Not making a judgement call of good or bad, just saying.) It will be an interesting psyche experiment for sure.

Edited by razenWing, 25 February 2017 - 02:19 PM.

[Ted Wayz]

Pilots do not die in Battletech. They eject.

[FupDup]

Ted Wayz, on 25 February 2017 - 02:19 PM, said:

Pilots do not die in Battletech. They eject.

Unless they don't eject in time, or get shot in the cockpit, or get captured and executed.

I don't really see any need for a player's death counter in MWO though.

[Zergling]

Ted Wayz, on 25 February 2017 - 02:19 PM, said:

Pilots do not die in Battletech. They eject.

Sure, they just have the 'DEAD' bit on record sheets for no reason at all.

[razenWing]

Ted Wayz, on 25 February 2017 - 02:19 PM, said:

Pilots do not die in Battletech. They eject.

Well, that would be something interesting as well. In FP play, after you lose all yours weapons and/or heavily damaged. Would you still march bravely out of the base to scout for your team/do damage with your heavily damaged mech if there's a chance that your pilot might die? I am not saying everyone will choose to eject instead. I don't think most will change their behavior either. But, I just know that if people can find importance in rando statistics, there will be a group of die hards that would rather eject on the spot and/or stay in base to hide.

(Just as on offense, rather than a quick death for a quick regroup, maybe 2-3 guys lag behind refusing to die, holding up the re-attack timer)

Again, all of these are conjectures. That's why it's an experiment worth doing. Record keeping affects behavior in very profound ways beyond the context of Mechwarrior (in this case, my propose Pilot Death Counter) Mobile games have designed around these concepts to make millions. I am just interested in scope of this game, how profound would something like this will change game behavior.

PGI, if you are reading this... do some statistics collection now, and then implement the change (which can be coded in like 10 minutes). Collect some more data... publish. The academic prestige that will follow... (and free publicity)

[Tarogato]

Promessa, on 25 February 2017 - 03:35 PM, said:

Not every mech actually has an ejection system. Spider pilots have to climb out

Have fun with that.

[SuomiWarder]

It might be interesting socially, but I suspect that with no real penalty for "dying" that it would be a short time before it had no effect at all. Lets face it, in most cases the game only ends letting you move on with the Mech you are using after all of one side gets destroyed. Unless you added an eject/surrender option to save your "life" there would be no effect on game play.

[EgoSlayer]

razenWing, on 25 February 2017 - 02:17 PM, said:

If anyone remember from my morality thread, I raised the concept of "Pilot Death Count."

I like to extrapolate that concept and put it into current context. Meaning, no change in programming or modification needed. The only thing different is that everytime you die, there's a chance that a big red text will flash across your screen:

YOUR PILOT HAS DIED!

(And of course, chance will differ depending on methods of death, for example... much higher if you got headshot, and lower if you got legged.)

That and there will be an arbitrary counter in your profile for "Pilot Death Count"
(and by extension, maybe... pilot death per match or some other statistical categories based on the total counter)

Do you think people will play differently as a result? This will be an interesting social experiment because as people, we tend to seek and implement importance, especially on numbers. In this case, arbitrarily, you might "die," when nothing else is changed.

No gameplay change.
No action change.
No rule change.
No graphic change (well, except the flashing text, but no exploding human or anything like that)

How will an implementation of record tracking fundamentally change human behavior?

Now, think hard on this. Before you answer, nothing, we know... that's not going to be true. If people can find values in not wanting a speedy end to a 1v8, and rather protect "KDR," I definitely think this will have profound impact. (Not making a judgement call of good or bad, just saying.) It will be an interesting psyche experiment for sure.

With no game changes it would have zero effect on people's play. It would have even less significance than the current "Death" statistic and would be a smaller number than than because it wouldn't happen every time, just some RNG. Not sure why you think there would be some psychological affect from it, it would be a meaningless statistic, one generated via RNG and with less usefulness than "Death".

Edited by EgoSlayer, 25 February 2017 - 07:37 PM.

[J0anna]

Ted Wayz, on 25 February 2017 - 02:19 PM, said:

Pilots do not die in Battletech. They eject.

Tell that to Natasha Kerensky......or Ulric Kerensky...or Aiden Pryde...the list goes on quite a ways....

[Khobai]

I think they should have pilot death. And when your pilot dies you should lose everything. all cbills, xp, mechs, etc... and have to start over.