141 replies to this topic

[tworivers]

I was there and it was awesome and very well put together. Great to meet so many pilots in person as well as the devs. I came away energized and with a sense of pride for being a Mech Warrior. Talked with as many people and clans as I could with no negative comments from anyone I met and would like to thank everyone who organized the convention and highly recommend for anyone who has not gone to go next year as I will be there again. See everyone ou on the field and hope to see you all next year at the convention.

[Mercarryn]

BWS2K, on 11 December 2017 - 12:28 AM, said:

[...]
3) More Mitch and Jordan. That was the absolute highlight for me and I know I'm not alone. More things like that - old school BT folks with nothing to prove showing off their product or gaming 'acumen'. Look at the crowd when they're up there - folks were engaged! It's gold and I would love to see more of it next year!
[...]

Indeed. The match between those two was pure gold. I laughed hard with all the comments by Mitch.

And as already others have said. Used maps in final rounds should be locked for more diversity for the fights.

[JonDoeIowa]

From a stream only viewer......

1. You need more than 1 camera & stream. You have two stages, with the second being Q&A and interviews, I would have wanted to see this stage all day long over the Tournament of breaks and repeat maps. You could easily pack this stage all day long with "Meet this Dev" "Q&A" play tests from Mitch and Jordan. There are endless possibilities of presenters you could run there all day long to keep fans entertained, but we got to see nothing of this stage all day.

2. As BWS2K stated above for stage 1, why wasn't there more down time footage? Staring at a stage while they attempt to fill time with random wandering people just felt barren. Please plan more filler material.

3. The tournament..... Ok this needs a total overhaul. It needs to be more like the game we play. Every match should be random map and mode, don't let them know in advance, they should have to be just as good on any map or mode. Allowing them to pick the map they played over and over and locked a strat down for is boring. Let's see the game we all buy mechpacks to support. Required random mode, and map to see how well they actually adapt. This is the game I have to deal with every time I click quick play, but they aren't playing it, they are playing some pre made farce. That or every team plays every other team on every map and every mode..... prepare for the 5 year tournament.

4. Russ..... tried, but get an actual PR person up front and center to speak and make these announcements, or some bigger more epic trailers. And sorry to say Tina is not a PR person, I mean someone with a voice that carries and doesn't sound scared to speak. Tina is a nice person, but not an in front of the Mic person.

5. You have so many streamers showing up, give each one a 15-20 minute spot and let them do some commentary on the games, etc. Use your assets available.

6. Solaris City. Looks interesting but not even close to what was meant by city map. Urban, with dense buildings, tight fighting, not wide open super highway spaces. We have River City for that and Crimson Straight.

7. We all sat back expecting some more information considering the last month of radio silence, we haven't had town halls, no road maps, not even a check out what's coming tweet. But when we finally get to mech con we get no Roadmap, no town hall (stage 2 space available) and all we get is some vague ideas for Solaris, and Map. What is the future of FW, we have been waiting, and watching it die it's slow death as those of us who love it struggle to get matches and give up completely during QP events. Please let us see a Roadmap this week. And maybe patch notes before end of day today?

Ok rant over.

Thank you for putting on the show, I know it isn't easy, and I know criticism isn't what you want, so please take the above as suggestions. We just want to see this get bigger, better, and get more people to come out and enjoy these games and setting we love.

Thank you.

[Haazheel IIC]

BWS2K, on 11 December 2017 - 12:28 AM, said:

Hey Matt!

I realize my opinions are only my own but these are my immediate takeaways from Mech_Con as someone who watched nearly all twelve hours on Twitch:

1) You really need to do more for the stream in the 'downtime'. Championship player highlights and interviews, reviewing the year's new features, literal commercials for BT product, segments where we get to know the PGI/HBS staff, fan content - can you imagine running a contest in the months leading up to Mech_Con where the winner(s) are revealed on the stream?! Everyone I say these things to says "It takes too much time!" but you had a room full of folks that generate MWO content for *free* every week. You introduced the freecam this year as well, making crazy good screenshots and videos possible. Pay them or not but I'm sure fans would love to take part in this. The alternative is just open static shots of the crowds milling about, empty chairs, etc. Tina's interview things were great - do that, plus these other things, times a million, and use them as filler. Even popping over to BB "The Snek Maiden" Wolfe at the 1v1's or giving us a live shot of the BT tables would be better, or advertising upcoming events. It's one thing to say "We're almost ready, just a few minutes!" to a crowd of people that are live and making the most of their time already. To over two *thousand* viewers who are joking about how long a five-minute break takes PGI? You want those folks to stick around and have something to do other than mock the 'con.

2) Russ is a terrible spokesperson. I don't know him personally but he needs to dress up, shave, stay sober, enunciate, remember names if he's going to start listing them, smile, stop speaking like features may or may not be something we'll enjoy... GET. US. EXCITED. It's not hard - we're already paying attention and playing your game. He needs to act like he cares for the twenty minutes he's on stage. Again - this is not a personal criticism. A lot of people are different on-stage in front of an audience. He's just a really bad 'face' for PGI in this way ("Bring your wives"?). I know we can't all be Paul in a suit... but Russ really needs to try a little harder.

3) More Mitch and Jordan. That was the absolute highlight for me and I know I'm not alone. More things like that - old school BT folks with nothing to prove showing off their product or gaming 'acumen'. Look at the crowd when they're up there - folks were engaged! It's gold and I would love to see more of it next year!

4) Rotate out Tourmaline and Canyon in a way that prohibits the monotony. I know these guys train hard all year - which means they have the time to practice on more than two maps. Artillery/Air Strikes, while coming across as kind of cheap sometimes, are part of the game and tactics and that's fine. It's not entertaining in the least to see the same teams competing on the same maps and using the same tactics all day though. Commentators can only say the same things so many times. I feel like Polar was only chosen twice because someone spoke to them about the lack of interest from the audience and I know I'm not alone on that one either.

5) All that said, it was lovely to watch folks doing what they love. I, personally, declared my public and undying affection for Edmeister and Nova when I saw them in the Mist Lynxes and had a great time chatting with some folks in the stream and on some other (hosting) streams. The community is the number one reason I stayed with MWO and I'm not sorry - there are some amazing and talented BT fans out there. It's cool to see what happens when they get to make the games too.

6) With all that is in me, I intend to cosplay as a Mist Lynx next year. Mark my words!

-BW aka mistlynx4life
#mistlynx4life #mistlynx4mechcon2018

Edit: Never the one to not be a part of the solution, please contact me if you want my help with anything I've mentioned. Thanks again!

100% agree with point 2!

[C E Dwyer]

Appogee, on 11 December 2017 - 03:30 AM, said:

Thanks Matt for taking the initiative on this.

My advice for the next Mech Con:

1. Fill in all that downtime. Competitions, trivia quizzes, giveaways, interviews with players, personalities, staff, ads for products, player created videos. Take us on a tour around the various vendor displays.

2. Remove maps from rotation once used. Real WC Mechwarriors should be able to win on any map.

3. Give the commentators a raise. They did a great job.

4. Faction Play. Not mentioned once. Needs work - but please don't abandon it.

5. Add a Cosplay contest open to attendees.

1. This should be listened to and acted on quoting Appo for emphasis.

2. As hopefully quashing a rumour or a misrepresentation. The talk through suggested that bolt on customisation would only be available for Solaris 7 arena fighting.

Can you please confirm this is the case, and will NOT (capitals for emphasis and clarity only) be a feature in standard quick play games.

Thanks Matt

[BanditB17]

Appogee, on 11 December 2017 - 03:30 AM, said:

3. Give the commentators a raise. They did a great job.

Edited by BanditB17, 11 December 2017 - 07:31 AM.

[Seranov]

This question is desperately important: How do I convince you guys to sell me one of the Ghost Bear pins they were selling during MechCon. I need one.

[JC Daxion]

Hey Matt,

I don't really have questions, but i do have some comments having watched the stream and perhaps some suggestions for next year



1, There was a lot of downtime in the stream, with breaks and such. It would of been great to see some of the table top game play or the other games gameplay, maybe some HBS player verse player, or single player action from mech 5.

2, Fan interviews. Would of been nice if someone interviews some folks to help us get to know some of our player base. Even if it was just a couple, it could of been an interesting thing to fill some time.

3, Q&A, Id of really liked to have seen the Q&A, which we actually did get to see some last year, but sadly this year we did not.



I realize this would increase and complicate your production, but i think the value would be worth it. I hope you guys keep some of this in mind for next years. Over all though i have to say thanks, It was a rather enjoyable con and i look forward to another great year!


PS, it would of been very sweet if you could of gave away some mech con t-shirts to stream watchers. Enter your name, and a couple lucky winners got a t-shirt. the mechpacks and MC was nice, but a t-shirt would of been epic. (sadly i did not win either ) But still, something to think about right?


Till next year, Cheers!

Edited by JC Daxion, 11 December 2017 - 07:42 AM.

[zzoxx]

I really enjoyed the stream and in the first place the awesome announcements for the MWO / MW5 / BT. MW5 coop, mods, Solaris mode (Duncan Fisher please?), maps and new customization options. A mechbay where you can look at your mechs from the floor level? I always was wishing for this. New Solaris City map looks gorgeous (with Tina saying hello from the display, Blade runner style). I think they got the scale right. I even missed a mech jump jetting beforesome structure because it was so huge in the preview you could hardly see the mech. The xmas extra is killing it with all that stuff plus 2 heroes, thanks a lot. I'm definitely hyped about each and every part of the outlook on 2018.

About the critisicm. Well, being there must have been perfectly fine. For the stream audience, there where some lenghts. Like mentioned before there could have been more interviews with the crowd, devs, streamers, players. Some matches from the 1 v 1 stations, Catalyst TT section, Q & A's and so on. Everybody really liked the Jordan / Mitch part of it i think. With the Interviews and features that actually happened, i had a feeling the participants were kind of in a hurry although there was plenty of time. Maybe next time set up a nice little lounge at the outskirts of the venue where people feel more comfortable and where it is a little more quiet?

About Russ and his presentation i can only say. I still like his style (or the lack of it?) better than a dodgy sharp dressed Electronic Arts shark in an Armani suit, celebrating himself in front of people. What it needed imho is just a little more framework, at least like a lectern, some solid lighting, and presentation quality. But i guess if you where there it was ok anyway.

Grats and o7 to the championship participants (especially at the end EON looked so tired and exhausted and still pulled off some amazing matches). Thanks to Ben and Mike, great shoutcasting, as always. And i agree to the idea of the random maps. With last year canyon only and this year the limited votes it would be a reasonable evolution in my book. Maybe another idea for the next con, put some nameplates in front of the players. So that we can learn about the faces to the names and vice versa of these guys eating our faces in public matches on a daily basis :-)

After all, very well done, i'd love to be there 2018, though i'm not a VIP, obviously.

Edited by zzoxx, 11 December 2017 - 08:11 AM.

[BWS2K]

1b) Additional filler material could be a highlight reel from the year's Community Drops and Artist Streams, btw. Beep Boops and the Power of Art should not be underestimated!

The December 27th announcement is amazing to the point of being suspicious but ya'll have been generous all month and I know we really appreciate it. Thanks!

-BWS2K aka mistlynx4life

Edited by BWS2K, 11 December 2017 - 08:10 AM.

[Cy Mitchell]

I thought the stream was vastly improved from last year and there is still room for improvement to make it even better. Many of the comments above are spot on so I will not repeat them. In particular, I thought Bandit, mdm, Daeron and Phil did outstanding jobs. Tina was good too once she got over her nervousness a bit. I would have liked to see a little more "common man" interviews from among the crowd asking who they were and where they had come in from.

If I am living, I intend to attend next year for the MW5 launch party. I hope that the event will be expanded to 2 days or at least 1 1/2 day to make the long trip more worthwhile.

[mdmzero0]

It's time someone asked the hard questions. Who was your favorite caster this year?

[Tordin]

I dont know much to say right know, other than that I really hope you at PGI can give George Ledoux the job to make commentary for solaris, pre recorded lines ( like a whooole bunch of them) unless its some really big championship etc, then he could do commentary live. I think he would really LOVE that. He seems hopeful to contribute and be a part of S7, judging by his Twitter feed. Dont let that "ol'" man down, please

Have had many good memories and cheer ups on dark days when I was playing MW4 and hearing Duncan Fisher commenting about things, before being abruptly cut off by some crazy action.

Edited by Tordin, 11 December 2017 - 08:45 AM.

[Kokobutta]

Had a great time there, you guys really made it worth the time and money. Everything was top notch, right down to the music that was playing. Already planning on next year's mechcon, thanks PGI!

[SuperFunkTron]

I couldn't find if any information was released about it, but are there any updates on the VR aspect of MW5? It seemed like there was a lot of hype over that feature last year when MW5 was announced but I haven't found a single shred of info on it since and with it coming time to put a new computer together in the upcoming months, I wanted to know what kind of parts I should be investing in. That is of course overlooking how awesome being able to use a VR rig to simulate sitting in a giant mech would be.

[BLUPRNT]

As an attendee with my daughter we both loved the event. She barely knows Mech Warrior. We both plan to return next year.
Oh the food! Awesome, I think I gained 5 pounds but so good I couldn't stop eating.

Suggestion for next year. Separate the main stage and music in another room from all the side events and demos. Having it all in one room was like being in a bar with a live band. You couldn't hear the announcers unless you standing next to the speaker and then it would hurt your ears. Way to much background chatter noise to really enjoy the tournament matches and stage events.

The 2 front stage monitors to be mounted higher for those who are more vertically challenged as it was standing room only through most of the event.

The catering and waiter staff worked their butts off for us. I think a number of them were there for the whole event. I was able to thank only a few of them for it.

See you all next year!

Edited by BLUPRNT, 11 December 2017 - 09:55 AM.

[mgto]

SuperFunkTron, on 11 December 2017 - 09:14 AM, said:

I couldn't find if any information was released about it, but are there any updates on the VR aspect of MW5? It seemed like there was a lot of hype over that feature last year when MW5 was announced but I haven't found a single shred of info on it since and with it coming time to put a new computer together in the upcoming months, I wanted to know what kind of parts I should be investing in. That is of course overlooking how awesome being able to use a VR rig to simulate sitting in a giant mech would be.

After working on VR content for a few years I can say it's not that easy. It looks impressive and feels cool but it is really difficult to get it right with the current hardware.
E.g. it's difficult to look and aim at small things in the distance because of the current screen resolutions. It's also still a problem with motion sickness. Also a teleporting-mode would be kind of strange. Also you aren't able to see your input devices (which might or might not be a problem). And it costs quite some performance especially if you want to battle the resolution issue.

I would love to have a VR mode but it's really a huge challenge to implement it properly.

[SuperFunkTron]

mgto, on 11 December 2017 - 09:49 AM, said:

After working on VR content for a few years I can say it's not that easy. It looks impressive and feels cool but it is really difficult to get it right with the current hardware.
E.g. it's difficult to look and aim at small things in the distance because of the current screen resolutions. It's also still a problem with motion sickness. Also a teleporting-mode would be kind of strange. Also you aren't able to see your input devices (which might or might not be a problem). And it costs quite some performance especially if you want to battle the resolution issue.

I would love to have a VR mode but it's really a huge challenge to implement it properly.

After having made VR work on a Galaxy S7 and Gear v4, I know that there are a lot of things that go into make it work well, especially in terms of image quality and frame rate. Despite this, it was still a point that was publicized a lot and I'd like to know if it is still part of the scope of their work in MW5

[KrocodockleTheBooBoxLoader-GetIn]

One shot pattern sale as well please

[McGoat]

So nothing to be said about the rest of the game (this one) other than solaris being implemented at some point next year and that you've pulled the MW5 mechbay over?

Zero news about the future of MWO. No roadmap. No expressed plans for future FP/CW development. Just.. Well not very much.
Thanks for the free stuff, I guess.