369 replies to this topic

[C E Dwyer]

TWLT S, on 08 April 2017 - 06:23 AM, said:

I hope they dont waste further time on the skilltree. Out of all the things that are currently under development (or not anymore), the last thing I would chose is the skilltree. I cant see any reason, why we would need this.

Well P.G.I say we need it as a balancing aid.

I saw very little of this in the P.T.S, and what I saw does not convince me that it will see an end to quirks, even offensive ones.

If this is the whole point of it, then they have wasted a lot of time making something that doesn't work properly.

Having said that, we do need a new skill three, the old has never been fully implemented, was only supposed to be a place holder, this has potential, if implemented properly, to be good, if not used as a balancing tool.

Just after so long, it makes me think why now.

Edited by Cathy, 08 April 2017 - 06:40 AM.

[Felicitatem Parco]

Of course the skill tree cannot replace quirks as-is. The only way they can accomplish that goal is to give free unlocked and active skill nodes to Mechs that need quirks.

That would be an easy solution...

[KodiakGW]

Willothius, on 08 April 2017 - 06:16 AM, said:

So.. still no release date for this then??

Yep. Not even another PTS two weekends before the next patch. Looks like April patch is out. Since it looks like the main reason to pull it was the cost to whales for leveling their existing mechs, you think they would have figured something out by now. With 130 mechs in my stable, THAT was the least of my concerns.

I've got a few ideas how to handle that, but am done with arguing against those that just want to see the forums burn. They want to hand me an NDA and discuss privately, they got my email address.

[Insanity09]

Hmm.
Afaik, quirks are added to mechs that are considered underperforming. Using the skill tree to replace them is... completely backwards.
Why? You would need to take a mech that is agreed to be weak, and then level/xp the heck out of it so that eventually you could have a decent mech. So, suffer and suck for a long time before you can be decent... or just choose a decent mech to start. Gosh, which way do I go with that?
As Prosperity Park suggests, the only way that could even begin to work would be free unlocks for weaker mechs.

(the other reason mechs are quirked is to add some character to different variants, which the skill system, potentially, can still do)

[Grottenolm]

Willothius, on 08 April 2017 - 06:16 AM, said:

So.. still no release date for this then??

The Skilltree was anounced for the may-patch in the last roundtable
Minute 22: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/132586421

Edited by Grottenolm, 08 April 2017 - 09:25 AM.

[Aylward]

Peiper, on 14 March 2017 - 10:02 AM, said:

I am heartened to see the players are being listened to. Now, how about some more maps, an economy, supply lines, salvage - you know, depth and meaning. We need more than death matches. Of course, we've been saying that for years.

I'll go back to my island now and shut up...

Edited by Aylward, 08 April 2017 - 03:06 PM.

[Xorkrath]

Hello everyone. New player chiming in here.

I'm actually looking forward to the revamp. I've really enjoyed this game since I started it this past December, and I've found the discussion and perspectives in the various feedback threads (pertaining to the skill tree) to be very fascinating. I've learned a lot about this game just by what I've read in these threads.

I think a lot of the player ideas are actually quite good. I watched the youtube presentation for (copy/pasting the name here from another post) So1ahma's tree, and that seems to be the best general format put out so far. Just a reminder though (in regards to what I've seen for the developer's version of this skill tree) - if you're forcing players to obtain unneeded, unnecessary, and unwanted nodes just to get to something that is /actually/ useful for their particular variant/build, then that is immediately bad design. You're better off reducing the number of skill points and removing things that are widely regarded as useless. Otherwise you're just wasting everyone's time and C-bills, as well as developer time "balancing" something that's not being used.

This new skill tree is not just better than what is already in the game, it offers huge potential for easy and intricate balancing since under or over-performing nodes can be adjusted in the future as needed. Players here have spitballed some very interesting ideas, like giving certain hero/champion mechs more skill point potential. And I really like the idea someone had for making the basic unlocks XP-only, while more advanced unlocks needing XP and c-bills (to have more similar parallels with the current system) is very interesting. I hope it's under consideration by the devs.

I really can't wait to work with this new system as it certainly offers a lot more flexibility and customization which is a central pillar of this game's design. I'm very excited for the changes to come.

[0rionsbane]

I see a lot of good things coming out of this skill tree system.
1. I Dont need to buy 3 Mechs i can master the one i want and tune it to the role i want it to fill.
2. No offensive quirks (although ppc needs projectile speed)
3. Base modules that are necessary to be good (ex radar dep) being available as a skill.

This means I can make pretty much any mech a good mech for a specific role, however of course some mechs simply because of hard points would be better at either that role or in general.

One thing worries me though, Under the current system i have to unlock three mechs to master a mech (aka make it playable). Now in this new system that is not required (thank god). But all my previous game time is going to be degraded even punished because my exp is now locked to variants i never intended to use.

Variants that i bought to master a mech are not mechs that would be made more competitive in this new system either, usually the good variant has some design issue that makes it simply better than the other variant at its role. In other words you are punishing players for playing the game as you designed it originally, and i don't see how it would be taken any other way.

I really recommend you don't lock the historical exp to the individual sub chassi, if it was even to the actual mech ex the orion (all variants) it would be much better.

Of course most players would be much happier if it was able to go to any mech after it was refunded as this is a game design change that changes the very way you master mechs, and the previous system dose not mesh with the new one at all.

[Chound]

0rionsbane, on 17 April 2017 - 01:20 PM, said:

I see a lot of good things coming out of this skill tree system.
1. I Dont need to buy 3 Mechs i can master the one i want and tune it to the role i want it to fill.
2. No offensive quirks (although ppc needs projectile speed)
3. Base modules that are necessary to be good (ex radar dep) being available as a skill.

This means I can make pretty much any mech a good mech for a specific role, however of course some mechs simply because of hard points would be better at either that role or in general.

One thing worries me though, Under the current system i have to unlock three mechs to master a mech (aka make it playable). Now in this new system that is not required (thank god). But all my previous game time is going to be degraded even punished because my exp is now locked to variants i never intended to use.

Variants that i bought to master a mech are not mechs that would be made more competitive in this new system either, usually the good variant has some design issue that makes it simply better than the other variant at its role. In other words you are punishing players for playing the game as you designed it originally, and i don't see how it would be taken any other way.

I really recommend you don't lock the historical exp to the individual sub chassi, if it was even to the actual mech ex the orion (all variants) it would be much better.

Of course most players would be much happier if it was able to go to any mech after it was refunded as this is a game design change that changes the very way you master mechs, and the previous system dose not mesh with the new one at all.

This is where real lmoney would come in I hope they make it free to convert the historical XP to GXP so it can be used on any mech. They should give us like 30 days to convert historical and regular XP attatched to mechs into GXP which can be used to get nodes on a different mech.

[Domenoth]

Digital_Angel, on 20 May 2017 - 04:44 PM, said:

Just learned that new pilots are not getting XP out of trial mechs anymore with the new skill tree system. While I don't really care for my account, that is a major hit on new players. PGI either needs to find a way to adjust that for new players or at least add some a bunch of SP as part of the reward for Knight Errant when a new account finishes its cadet matches.

Overall, I like the skill trees, but taking away the ability for new players to have a little XP built up when they buy their first mech is something that should be fixed.

InnerSphereNews, on 15 May 2017 - 06:39 PM, said:

As part of the Skill Tree release, the Cadet Bonus 25 Achievement will now provide the player with 48,000 GXP in addition to the existing reward for that Achievement of 200,000 C-Bills. This GXP reward has also been retroactively provided to all players who have already achieved Cadet Bonus 25 at the time of this patch.