slide, on 09 October 2017 - 07:38 PM, said:
Russ may very well be trying to build the game fans want, he might also be trying to do justice to the universe it is set in.
I see several problems with this though.
1. Russ has seriously burnt many of the people who this type of game would (and should) be aimed at. It is debatable how many of these he can get back. This seriously hurts MW5's viability which may very well force a change in the target audience (again).
2. Can he actually deliver on what he is saying. History would say no.
3. MW5 will likely gut the number of players in MWO. Could this be when they shut down the servers or go into maintenance mode. Some would argue we are already there.
It is my hope that Russ has done a reciprocal deal with HBS where they supply the sim game in exchange for PGI's models. It wouldn't be difficult to tailor HBS part to suit what MW5 needs with a few minor changes here and there (ie take out the ARGO). If I remember correctly even the number of available worlds is similar at around 300, so the possibility exists. Along with the limited customization, functioning economies ,story driven and random missions, there are a lot of similarities. The sim part of it, "Mech Tycoon" if you will, only requires input from missions, ie win/lose, salvage, mechs lost, pilots injured etc to function. Missions can be real time, FP or turn based it doesn't really matter as long as there are results. I also feel it is redundant for 2 companies to basically develop the same model for 2 games. Anyway might be my wishful thinking.
I really hope he can deliver what he describes, because I will play it. But I am going to have to see it before I spend any money on it.
I see several problem with your post
1)If MW5 is good then most if not all MW fans will eventually try it out. There are no alternative MW games or heck, Mech sim games really available. If it's bad then yea, plenty of people won't try it out.
2)While there are certain things that they have not been able to fully deliver on, for various reasons, there is also a lot of things that they have delivered on. The world isn't just black and white.
3) MW5 is a Single player only, limited customization, economy / sandbox game, how will that gut players from a pure PVP online Arena Mech shooter with almost complete customization?
4) HBS is actually using MWO mech models. We already know this, this is confirmed and is one of the best things they could have done since it helps establish cohesive art between games in the same universe. This will be incredibly important for cross pollination between Battletech and MW5 and MWO and MWOs eventual successor.
5) Both Battletech and MW5 has an extremely similar setup (merc company, open ended, limited customization, starts pre clan, etc.) and I'm 100% sure this is not by accident. Cohesion in a franchise across multiple products is an incredibly powerful marketing and branding tool.