761 replies to this topic

[Marius Romanis]

Lily from animove, on 04 May 2017 - 10:36 PM, said:

ALos, one question about the unit challange
what actually IS the prize? the personal and solo challange don't show any individual prizes, only the complete one shows prizes. But if there only exist prizes for both in combination thereis no way someone cna "not participate" as he will have to at least furfill the personal goal.
So I guess someone forgot to split the GXP and Cbill rewards of the total to their individual 2 tasks.

The united or Solitary event is basically a lot of words to say

"get 45k xp or your own OR you and other people in your unit get a total of 100k xp to get A SINGULAR reward of 30k gxp and 2 mil cbills for every person in your unit whether they play during event or not"

Blue Splint, on 04 May 2017 - 10:41 PM, said:

Does the map reset also mean a contract reset?

no

[I cant want to]

seems to me like you will want to get a lot of games in early in the event, as the IS (merc) population will dwindle due to more and more units switching to clan as their current contacts expire, which will only serve to blow out the wait times for games

if the IS can put up enough of a fight in the opening days of the event, maybe some of the mercs will stay?

[PFC Carsten]

Matt Newman, on 04 May 2017 - 02:21 PM, said:

No plans to reset contracts.

You announced a faction play event and urged units to lock in their contracts. Additionally, Mercs should learn to take up responsibility for their contracts. If they hire out to Stefan Amaris, that's their decision, but they should live with the consequences.

So, please be steadfast and do not give in to the merc-whine.

[Lily from animove]

Thrudvangar, on 04 May 2017 - 10:49 PM, said:

Yeah maybe but its not only about this event. Its in genererally...

But for this event, i can understand ppl asking for a contract reset. Everybody wants to be prepared and should have given enough time before such an even to get and be prepared for it. Switching factions or getting new mechs ready, doesn't matters for me.

Since years PGI's communication before bigger events is just nuts. A day or even hours before something starts they tell us about it.. thats not really professional in my oppinion. And this makes ppl angry, flooding the forums.

And by the way... reddit, twitter and facebook...wtf?!!! The official game forum should be the FIRST place where things has to be announced and communicated...thats just by the way.

And I disagree. People hop around for grapping prizes and don't play the faction they like. Now they cry that their greed was greater than their loyality and they cannot play the event under the flag they actually want to.

Seems fair that some true loyalists don't have this issue.

But the salt is just as usual with those having made the wrong decision they suddenly regret.

[Bishop Six]

Start of the event is 10:00 PM UTC - That is midnight in Europe and i am not very happy with that because it means we just can start Saturday...most of us don't play in the morning, so it will be Saturday evening.

But i'm looking forward to this event, thank you for that!

[Danjo San]

Peiper, on 04 May 2017 - 09:34 PM, said:

Thanks for all the hate, guys. We appreciate it. It encourages us to play more, and to reach out to be part of the greater community. Knowing that there are so many cool people out there, ya know, makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

As far as your statements that suggest PGI is incapable of changing our contracts, however, I would beg to differ. It is indeed possible. They've done it before, and they can do it again. Don't sell them short.

As far as your statements that harken back to some fine print a couple weeks ago, I guess I didn't get that memo. Even then, the statement said simply 'faction fight.' Now, we don't know what that faction fight is, so we can't really pick a faction beforehand, can we? We are Wolfs Dragoons, but we work for LOKI, which sends us on clandestine operations.

If it were the FedCom Civil War, we might want to pick the Arc Royal Defense Cordon, joining the Kell Hounds and Clan Wolf-in-Exile. If it were the Battle of Luthien, we'd pick Wolf's Dragoons (meaning, I suppose, we'd be Kurita or Davion that week, depending on how the event was set up). Otherwise, the Dragoons didn't fight in the Clan Wars. If it were the 4th Succession War, we'd have to pick Davion, because Wolf's Dragoons were in their employ, and we have a bone to pick with Kurita. If it were the Battle of Tukayyid, we'd pick Wolf because 1. Comstar is our enemy and 2. We are wardens. So, tell me, oh great condemners of the MWO forums, HOW in the world are we supposed to pick a faction if we don't know what TIME in history the event takes place?

There is also our loyalty and comradery we created with the players in the MWO community that factors into things. We're a casual group of players, but we do enjoy a challenge once in awhile, and we want to play for the team we want to play for. If we fight for LIAO, by default, we are Comstar, and that goes against what my unit stands for.

Everyone plays this game for different reasons. I know I'm not in the majority when it comes to lore, but my unit enjoys lore and wishes to feel part of the greater universe, with some sort of purpose. In the daily CW grind, there really is no purpose. There's nothing to show for our efforts, and little variety of stuff to do in FW. We also can't play our clan mechs when running in IS, and vice versa. Is it our fault that we like variety? Should we be punished because we're trying to enjoy what we can from the game? Some of you think so.

What I don't understand is that while I've made our case very clear, you condemn us. We're appealing to PGI to let us play with our friends, and you're putting us down for trying. Why? What does it get you? Does it make you feel good to put us down? To tell us that we're a bunch of dirtbags for not being loyalists when rarely, if ever, does lore actually play a role in this game? It does now, and so now we care. How is that YOUR problem?

So, I will ask again. I beseech PGI to let us play with our friends. We're just trying to have a good time. I know there are other good units out there to pair up with, but we have already created friendly relationships with other units that we want to enjoy - and now we have a real reason to dust off our mechs once again. Perhaps the folks in PGI don't know what it's like to run a unit, and to gather up a group of people and keep them together and hold them together through long periods of stagnancy in the game's development. What it's like to try to recruit new blood when the old blood is all on standby or dabbling in other games while waiting for PGI to start flushing out faction warfare into what we founders have been waiting for for many years. We haven't given up hope.

I guess that's where the real rub is regarding you guys on the forums who are putting us down for trying to play with our friends in this event. You are breaking down our resolve, making us feel hopeless, telling us PGI doesn't care about us, and that the other players out there would rather condemn than play with us. It's really discouraging.

But I won't give up hope while there's still time. The event hasn't started it. But once the event starts, if we're not wolves, then IDK. I guess you guys win. There will be fewer players to fill up the queues and enjoy the event, but you'll feel good that at least us lore junkies are not part of the LORE DRIVEN EVENT?

Thank you once again for your support. Our dropship is on it's way to rendezvous with the Dire Wolf to participate in the batchall for Tukayyid. Whether the Devil Dogs will be included in the bid is up to PGI. All we can do is ask and ready ourselves should PGI allow us to join our friends and play.

How about you look up some of the Liao Loyalists and drop with them? I heard they might be really fun to drop with *wink
TCAF, OZ-EU Time, language mostly russian
SHZ, EU Time, german/english
4TCR, NA Prime
shocker... you might find new friends.

[Marius Romanis]

chaothulhu, on 04 May 2017 - 11:15 PM, said:

seems to me like you will want to get a lot of games in early in the event, as the IS (merc) population will dwindle due to more and more units switching to clan as their current contacts expire, which will only serve to blow out the wait times for games

if the IS can put up enough of a fight in the opening days of the event, maybe some of the mercs will stay?

If you like insta drops as Clan more than winning you probably want to be clan at the start before you have to wait 2 hours for 1 drop in the last several days, but the chance of winning will be higher in the later days.

If you like winning as IS but not fussed about queue times your best chance of winning will be in the early days. If you like insta drops as IS and dont care so much about the win the later days will be best.

[Peiper]

Simulacrum, on 04 May 2017 - 10:42 PM, said:

So what the mercenaries are going to say is:
"hey PGI, we build up the story of an IS mercenary unit with Clan tech because we want to play with that far better tech/Mechs and we want to win side by side with our Clan friends, even if Clan society hates mercenaries and would never ever use one of their units to fight with them"?

Sorry I do understand the tempting story for a mercenary unit to play as a similar unit as the "Wolf's Dragoons" just to be free and play with Clan tech but in fact the Wolf's Dragoons where a massive exception (with their sub-unit the Irregulars) and first of all a unit on a spy mission, before they eventually sided with the IS. They only had Clan tech because Jaime Wolf knew about Star League caches.
It is ridiculous (I've no right word for this in english which is less offensive, so pls fill in the right word and correct me) to play as that one special mercenary unit. Clan Wolf-in exile where founded after Tukayid (you maybe can play such a unit in the next time line)

You know, we always EXPECTED to be an IS unit from the start, and looked forward to being able to raid, grind, and otherwise accumulate enough salvaged and bargained-for clan tech to be able to field it. We were okay with starting with IS crap tech if it meant we could work for something more. But PGI didn't give us the opportunity. I promised my guys (in 2012) that we would do our best to gather clan tech. We had a system to determine who would get the salvage so that our best players had a chance to field it. This was back before San Francisco, before 'community warfare' was announced. We just figured that this was going to happen. It's why we became founders. When CW was announced, we were faced with a choice. Either we get our clan tech, or we don't. We were FedCom, at least until the FedCom Civil War. So, that's when I had to decide what to do with the unit, half of which were clanners and half FedCom loyalists. We initially divided the Devil Dogs into three groups. IS loyalists [ISDD], mercs who would hop factions [DOGS], and those who refused to play with IS tech went to Clan Wolf [CWI]. It sucked, the unit was ripped apart. It wasn't working. We had to ditch our dreams, and I could not keep the promises to the unit. We ended up ditching the ISDD idea, and lost several members to other units. The Devil Dogs were gutted. We became mercs, because we had no choice. Only way I could keep the promise that we would be able to play with at least some clan tech was to hop the fence every week or so. PGI did that to us. We lived, we adapted, we survived. We warped and bent our lore as necessary to keep the continuity, but in any case, really, that's simply our story and so what? Right?

Whether Jamie brought clan tech with him or not is irrelevant. Whether they were building omnimechs on Outreach is irrelevant (he was). Whether he had a bunch of clan tech hidden away in the Bristol Cache is irrelevant. In lore, there is no real answer to whether Natasha's Black Widow had clan ERPPC's or IS ERPPC's, because it's just a story.

The whole point in telling our story is to illustrate that we DO CARE about our imagined history and participation in this game, even when PGI's model blows farts all over our precious lore. It's part of our tribal narrative, if you like. And we enjoy it. It gives us some meaning and an identity. It is my duty as leader to protect our dignity and our story. In years to come, it will be all we have left.

As far as judging the friendships we've made with other players and units, you are not part of those units, so how do you pass judgment on that? You're using lore to tell me who I can play with? That's as bad as PGI forcing us to play another faction than one we would naturally play during this event.

Look, in the end, this comes down to a simple appeal to PGI to ask them if we can join our friends for the duration of the event. That's it. That's all we want.

Danjo San, on 04 May 2017 - 11:36 PM, said:

How about you look up some of the Liao Loyalists and drop with them? I heard they might be really fun to drop with *wink
TCAF, OZ-EU Time, language mostly russian
SHZ, EU Time, german/english
4TCR, NA Prime
shocker... you might find new friends.

The council is voting. If we do not boycott the event, we'll consider your invitation. In the end the council will decide, as we do govern our unit in the traditions of Kerensky. Until then, it is my job to advocate for what is fair and right for our unit.
_________________________

To the rest of you, keep condemning us. It doesn't make you right. We have a legitimate request and if that request is not granted, we have a legitimate gripe. Please don't disparage us for advocating for our cause.

[Golden Viper]

No cookies??? A you serious PGI?? Im dont need this Factions **** in my cockpit.
MC cash only plz, maybe mech or mechbay.
No cookies ? => no players!!!! Remember this PLZ!!!

Edited by DIRECT0R, 05 May 2017 - 12:03 AM.

[Simulacrum]

Peiper, on 04 May 2017 - 11:49 PM, said:

You know, we always EXPECTED to be an IS unit from the start, and looked forward to being able to raid, grind, and otherwise accumulate enough salvaged and bargained-for clan tech to be able to field it. We were okay with starting with IS crap tech if it meant we could work for something more. But PGI didn't give us the opportunity. I promised my guys (in 2012)..

I see. Your argument seems valid and I understand the history of your unit. I'm with you as I backed this great game too, with all its promises at the start. As DAU and MAU numbers are decreasing I hope that PGI will listen carefully about what their core gamers want and what not.
But! You did know all that problems and now you ask PGI to join Clan forces for the event. For (nearly) all other pilots this looks a bit fishy and I think you understand that point of view.

If PGI would follow your plea they would be forced to give every unit the possibility to do so. I dont think this will happen. Maybe they consider your case for future events and/or for their new (?) CW feature.

[Alexandros]

...to be a loyalist

[The Unstoppable Puggernaut]

I approve of this event. All those freebies !!

..... and supply keys !

I mass sold mine off unfortunately but I'll be giving em a spin on whatever I have. MC's are always welcome for mech customisations too.

p.s. Please let us sell cockpit items for reduced MC's back

[NocturnalBeast]

Simulacrum, on 05 May 2017 - 12:08 AM, said:

I see. Your argument seems valid and I understand the history of your unit. I'm with you as I backed this great game too, with all its promises at the start. As DAU and MAU numbers are decreasing I hope that PGI will listen carefully about what their core gamers want and what not.
But! You did know all that problems and now you ask PGI to join Clan forces for the event. For (nearly) all other pilots this looks a bit fishy and I think you understand that point of view.

If PGI would follow your plea they would be forced to give every unit the possibility to do so. I dont think this will happen. Maybe they consider your case for future events and/or for their new (?) CW feature.

Yes, I remember when the reward for getting the highest loyalty reward with each faction was supposed to be the ability to play as one of the Wolf's Dragoons. I am sure that that is what Peiper was looking forward to. But this was back when the sky was the limit and before things got watered down.

[Vellron2005]

To all the people who are against contract resets:

OK, so I guess it's ok they don't reset the people who's greed got the better of them.. It will weaken the clans on some occasions, but ok.. we will adapt..

But tell me this?

What if you did not choose the wrong faction willingly? What if you chose it because of a WRONG CLICK? What if you are a new player, choosing a faction contract as a mercenary for the FIRST TIME, and you had NO IDEA you could not break said contract?

Or that you can't play any mech with any faction?

Wouldn't it be ok if your contract was reset then?

Well.. exactly this happened to a new player I care very deeply about, and now she's stuck in Marik, and only has clan mechs..

Naturally, support services flatly said that "they don't reset contracts, and that merc contracts can only be borken by disbanding the unit"..

She disbanded her unit, and now can't get into a new one unitl her Marik contract is released, which is after the FULL CONTRACT DURATION..

How fair is that?

Note that the ticket was sent maybe half an hour after the wrong click.. and now she can't participate in Tukayyid until maybe the last day or two..

I ask you.. HOW FAIR IS THAT?!

No wonder this game can't pick up new players.. :-(

Edited by Vellron2005, 05 May 2017 - 12:27 AM.

[NocturnalBeast]

Vellron2005, on 05 May 2017 - 12:25 AM, said:

To all the people who are against contract resets:

OK, so I guess it's ok they don't reset the people who's greed got the better of them.. It will weaken the clans on some occasions, but ok.. we will adapt..

But tell me this?

What if you did not choose the wrong faction willingly? What if you chose it because of a WRONG CLICK? What if you are a new player, choosing a faction contract as a mercenary for the FIRST TIME, and you had NO IDEA you could not break said contract?

Or that you can't play any mech with any faction?

Wouldn't it be ok if your contract was reset then?

Well.. exactly this happened to a new player I care very deeply about, and now she's stuck in Marik, and only has clan mechs..

Naturally, support services flatly said that "they don't reset contracts, and that merc contracts can only be borken by disbanding the unit"..

She disbanded her unit, and now can't get into a new one unitl her Marik contract is released, which is after the FULL CONTRACT DURATION..

How fair is that?

Note that the ticket was sent maybe half an hour after the wrong click.. and now she can't participate in Tukayyid until maybe the last day or two..

I ask you.. HOW FAIR IS THAT?!

No wonder this game can't pick up new players.. :-(

Breaking a contract should be painful (Kerensky knows that I have done it enough). Seriously though, people need to read the rules and faction descriptions before committing.

[Peiper]

Simulacrum, on 05 May 2017 - 12:08 AM, said:

If PGI would follow your plea they would be forced to give every unit the possibility to do so. I dont think this will happen. Maybe they consider your case for future events and/or for their new (?) CW feature.

They should have given us a choice in the first place. This is nothing new for them, or us. It's either poor planning, or a deliberate snub. There IS a good chance that they did this hoping or knowing the numbers between clan and IS players are even and they want to make sure they stay that way, at least as long as they can. It's all speculation what is going on in their planning. But let's say there are fewer IS players - that should make getting a group easier. Why would I join the clans if I knew the queues would be longer? That goes both ways. I honestly think the IS has the advantages these days, and if we're going to mathhammer/meta the game, the overall odds are in favor for the IS. If I simply wanted to win, or an easier time playing, I'd consider staying with the IS for this event. Ever since the thunderwub, the IS has had the advantage on most maps, I believe. If there's a hot debate about that, it probably means performance is even, and that's even better.

Someone suggested our faction switch appeal sounded fishy. That's fair. Like when MS switched contracts that one time.... If I were the leader of a big unit, sure. But believe me, if I can get a dozen players of all different skill levels to show up and play, that's a victory in my book, no matter how good or bad we do.

As far as 'if they do it for you, they have to do it for everyone.' Well, yeah, that would be fair.

As far as queue numbers. Remember in the last two Tukayyids, we were all seperate houses and clans. That's not the case in the queues anymore. I don't think finding matches will be as big a problem as it was in the past for smaller houses/clans. But only PGI has the numbers, it's back to speculation.

Not knowing the numbers, it's back to MEANING, which is what I've always argued for in the game. Why should we do anything in CW? Because what we're doing MEANS something. That's why I keep advocating for adding raids, supply line interdictions, mech factory raids, sabotage missions, planetary assets (when you take a certain planet, your faction gets this or that perk), combined arms, all kinds of stuff to flush out community warfare. In this case, the ONLY meaning we have is the meaning we make. For us it's playing with our friends, and not against them. The friendships we make are all that we'll have left years from now. Let us fight with our friends!

[Danjo San]

Peiper, on 04 May 2017 - 11:49 PM, said:

The whole point in telling our story is to illustrate that we DO CARE about our imagined history and participation in this game, even when PGI's model blows farts all over our precious lore. It's part of our tribal narrative, if you like. And we enjoy it. It gives us some meaning and an identity. It is my duty as leader to protect our dignity and our story. In years to come, it will be all we have left.

As far as judging the friendships we've made with other players and units, you are not part of those units, so how do you pass judgment on that? You're using lore to tell me who I can play with? That's as bad as PGI forcing us to play another faction than one we would naturally play during this event.

but ... your imaginative history... you should be contracted to House Davion now... Clan Wolf would have never employed Mercenaries, yet a company that employs former Clan Wolf Pilots.
You were contracted to Liao from 3010-3014. And until the Clan Invasion under which you are employed by Davion you only fought other IS Units. Now during Clan Invasion Era you should be assisting the Draconis Combine fighting the Clans.
but hey, I get it. PGI doesn't allow Mixed Tech for a reason. and that's simply balance related. It's hard enough balancing IS and Clan as is, now imagine pooling in mixed tech drops as in quickplay...
So imaginative history vs. selective history, basically what you are saying is, who you are contracted to is not as important as whatever Tech you can play. so you hop. Dropping for Clans to play your clan tech and fighting the actual "historical" employers. TECH > LORE. If LORE was more important than Tech you could be playing your Clantech in QP.
Anyway not judging your decisions, mine are different and not understandable for others either. Here is a player who has been Liao due to Lore, ranked out max on the reward tree in phase 2 and remains to be Liao, letting all that "free content" slide just to stay true to his imaginative history. But not judging
I am also not passing judgment on how and who you are friends with... I just know for a fact that loads of mercs have been roaming through Liao and never once bothered to contact the House Units, they even screwed with our NAP with house Marik in Phase 2 causing an all out war... Anyway, I was just giving you options on who you could drop with, feel free to do whatever you please with that information.

[Danjo San]

Vellron2005, on 05 May 2017 - 12:25 AM, said:

To all the people who are against contract resets:

OK, so I guess it's ok they don't reset the people who's greed got the better of them.. It will weaken the clans on some occasions, but ok.. we will adapt..

But tell me this?

What if you did not choose the wrong faction willingly? What if you chose it because of a WRONG CLICK? What if you are a new player, choosing a faction contract as a mercenary for the FIRST TIME, and you had NO IDEA you could not break said contract?

Or that you can't play any mech with any faction?

Wouldn't it be ok if your contract was reset then?

Well.. exactly this happened to a new player I care very deeply about, and now she's stuck in Marik, and only has clan mechs..

Naturally, support services flatly said that "they don't reset contracts, and that merc contracts can only be borken by disbanding the unit"..

She disbanded her unit, and now can't get into a new one unitl her Marik contract is released, which is after the FULL CONTRACT DURATION..

How fair is that?

Note that the ticket was sent maybe half an hour after the wrong click.. and now she can't participate in Tukayyid until maybe the last day or two..

I ask you.. HOW FAIR IS THAT?!

No wonder this game can't pick up new players.. :-(

make sure to thank the mercs that were deliberatly gaming the system by disband and switching sides instantly.
This has been introduced as a measure to prevent quick faction hopping!
Your friend is a victim of the exploits other players did.
Fair to him/her no, but to the rest... absolutely

[Vellron2005]

Ed Steele, on 05 May 2017 - 12:28 AM, said:

Breaking a contract should be painful (Kerensky knows that I have done it enough). Seriously though, people need to read the rules and faction descriptions before committing.

I agree people should read, but new players have SO MUCH to learn already, and accidentally choosing the wrong contract.. why should that be penalized?

On such occasions, PGI support should show some leeway, and there should be an option to cancel the contract within 1 hour of activating it..

All these rules and fine print make it VERY difficult and unfriendly for new players who are still learning..

Note that not everybody who install MWO have ever before played MW games, or games of this type in general, and that not everyone has a mentor to guide them through all the game's complicated mechanics..

I don't think she should be punished for a simple rookie mistake?

Edited by Vellron2005, 05 May 2017 - 12:41 AM.

[Peiper]

Ed Steele, on 05 May 2017 - 12:28 AM, said:

Breaking a contract should be painful (Kerensky knows that I have done it enough). Seriously though, people need to read the rules and faction descriptions before committing.

Gimme a break. The contracts are a joke. If there was a real in game reason to stay loyal to a clan or house, we'd do so. But the way CW is, we can't even pick what planets we're going to attack, as if there would be a reason to pick a planet. Without supply lines, economy, black market, etc... all contracts are is a colored flag.

And I have a new guy I want to bring into this fight with us too for this event, like Vellron2005. It's going to take him at least a week to break contract to join us. With a contract reset, he can join us. We can play together.

PGI must ask itself the question. Is the pain it causes by not allowing contract resets worth it? That is, which will create a better environment for players with their event this weekend? It is true, some loyalists are happy knowing us mercs are getting screwed. I am happy they are happy, but only because they deserve some reward for sticking it out in their faction. PGI has yet to give players a reason NOT to go merc, other than a once-a-year Tukayyid event. But, think about it: should the loyalist's reward be at the cost of other player's enjoyment and friendships? Is that right?

Danjo San, on 05 May 2017 - 12:39 AM, said:

make sure to thank the mercs that were deliberatly gaming the system by disband and switching sides instantly.
This has been introduced as a measure to prevent quick faction hopping!
Your friend is a victim of the exploits other players did.
Fair to him/her no, but to the rest... absolutely

And there's the next question, right? Should the machinations of a few big units be reason to punish the rest of us? Then again, PGI created the system. They could change it/fix it. The fair thing to do is reset contracts.

Danjo San, on 05 May 2017 - 12:45 AM, said:

The last two tukkayids had a single queue. the only difference being that you couldn't invite anyone into your group who wasn't part of your faction.
for the last tukkayid they allowed units to switch allegiance and lots did and many criticized PGI for that. Maybe they learned from it.
http://mwomercs.com/...id-stats-part-2

What did they learn? Negative reinforcement is not the way to develop good will with your players. They had a podcast awhile back, months ago, and it was dubbed about 'community warfare.' For HOURS they talked about reducing buckets. It was the most asinine conversation I've ever heard. They didn't talk about what they could do to improve the game other than some balance stuff. They didn't talk about adding stuff to CW to make it more attractive and interesting to play. They talked about f***ing buckets. What they could do instead of adding things. So, you're telling me in all those months they couldn't come up with some new ideas? I have sent them essays full of ideas. I'm sure I'm one of many. THIS event, as a clone of previous events, should have SOMETHING new, some improvements, something other than simply switching up the 'buckets' to prevent people loading the deck. Come on....

But it doesn't. It's the same event, but this time they're slapping down the mercenaries, when they shouldn't be slapping ANYONE down. It's not our fault the game design is still stuck on the managing buckets phase.

Edited by Peiper, 05 May 2017 - 12:55 AM.