141 replies to this topic

[Robert Bruce]

Suspect, on 11 December 2017 - 01:16 PM, said:

I didn't see an issue with Russ. Polished and professional is often fake and bogus. He was keeping it real. This looked like a really good time. I wish I could have been there.

you got that right! Casual is OK...especially a few beers and plates of food in

I was there and didnt see a problem with Russ.Shook his hand after the awards and he seemed pretty down to earth and having fun like the rest of us!

[SHIN BRODAMA]

Suspect, on 11 December 2017 - 01:16 PM, said:

I didn't see an issue with Russ. Polished and professional is often fake and bogus. He was keeping it real. This looked like a really good time. I wish I could have been there.

Fake and bogus... kind of like the promised CW that never came to fruition

Just going to add my voice to the chorus calling for an actual presenter next time. I'm sure Ross is a great person but he is a horrible orator. If I had any pennies invested in MW5 I would be screaming internally for a public face to present things in future.

PGI: You can put a Christmas ham up on stage reciting talking points and you'll still get hardcore battletech/mechwarrior fans lining up to buy your product. If you want to attract NEW customers, you might just want to polish your presentation style a bit more.

[Robert Bruce]

My best friend and I played Battletech when we were teenagers( in the mid '80s),our mechwarriors were our imaginary descendants and we looked forward to the game(s) of the future. We got older and table top and role play gaming got to be something we didnt have time for,sadly. When Mechwarrior online came out I got in there as soon as I had a computer that would run it well enough to play...
Well....I have to say I sucked pretty badly...between the steep learning curve and low fps its been a labour of love that I dont regret!

I only ran into a few players that I knew (have dropped with): Needapickle and Lamental jester come to mind.I am wondering if next time we could set up a designated area for the players to meet and greet? or bigger name tags with peoples call signs on them ,or something.

the need for a larger venue(we were tripping over each other at times)and what I just mentioned are my only real complaints.

I was fortunate enough to find some of my old BT stuff the day before the con, [color="#000000"]Jordan and Mitch autographed my Merc Handbook.. SO MUCH FUN! [/color]

Edited by Robert Bruce, 16 December 2017 - 08:43 PM.

[AzureRathalos]

A handful of comments/suggestions from a Mech_Con attendee:

0. The DJ was nice, but it completely sabotaged the stream replay. As soon as Twitch detects copyrighted music, the mute hits.
1. Have smaller tables (Or just get rid of the tables) and a lot more chairs.
2. The Solaris 1v1 setup was really fun! If possible, it would be great to have more stations next year.
3. The blue light on one side and the red on the other to distinguish teams was a neat idea and it works well enough in person, but on camera the blue light messed up everything under it. Maybe just have colored light on the background and regular light on the stage next year?
4. For the tournament, it would be nice to have a score up on the overlay to see how many battles a team has won in a round.
5. The food was really great!
6. Is there any kind of way regular players can get access to that spectator mode for the real game? Maybe with a 30-60 second delay to deter spies? It's an amazing way to watch matches.
7. Have a dedicated section off to the side to perform interviews at without any interfering background noise (or copyrighted music), pre-record interviews of streamers and staff, then replay it during downtime moments as filler.
8. For the map selection, I would agree with removing repeats and increasing the selection pool. Start with the same five, but once a map is picked, it gets replaced by a set map that's not on the list (Maybe Grim Plexus for a cold map and Rubilette Oasis for a hot one?)
9. I disagree with the suggestion of having the map selection being random. Random elements should be removed out of a tournament scenario as much as possible. You want people winning on skill and strategy, not on the roll of the dice.

Also, a big shoutout to Haven_Kendrick. He's the one who convinced me to go when I was on the fence about it. After going, I don't understand why I was on the fence in the first place. I had an amazing time.

Edited by AzureRathalos, 11 December 2017 - 04:54 PM.

[Firewired]

Thanks for the Mech Con again this year, PGI.

I watched via the Twitch stream from home as I was unable to make the trip to Vancouver.

Some of my feedback is similar to what has already been posted, so I will be brief:

1. Time fillers for the Twitch stream. There were at times over 2000 people there, and maybe have a schedule pre-planned for the stream for those downtime's in the Con's other events to keep the stream viewers engaged.

2. Maybe have a few VIP stream stations set up for the VIP's to rotate through some game drops so they can do their thing a little bit and keep the stream audience engaged. Does not have to be lengthy, just enough to fill the time.

3. A VIP stage introduction and brief interviews with them would be nice. I know a little bit of this was done and I am thankful for it, but I think those folks keep the community alive and deserve a little more limelight than what they were provided. Obviously if some are not comfortable doing it they should never be forced to do so.

4. Rule changes for the Tournament itself need to be updated. Since maps are static (meaning no random terrain), no team should be able to pick 1 map more than once per-match. I know some have talked about random map/mode, and while I think that might be taking things a bit too far it would still be far better than what is in place now, which is way too predictable.

5. Multiple cameras and angles, perhaps even panning of them, would be nice. Setting up a stream cam for the demo play stations and any other special events like the Q&A's would be nice for those in the Twitch stream to see.

Finally, I am not pleased to hear people disrespecting others - neither here in the forums nor in the Twitch stream. Yes you are entitled to your opinion but that does not give you permission to disrespect others.

[Robert Bruce]

Just a note(a mini rant really) to the never happy haters out there. I am just feeling a bit over protective of a local company I am proud of.

you do know PGI isnt an enormous company with thousands of employees waiting around to please every nit picking half wit who have delusions of how they could/would do it better?I mean...

Of all the dense complaints I hear?..how Russ is with public speaking has to be the dumbest ..ever...moaned about by people who have likely never done it themselves or simply dont realize that it just isnt something everyone is good at....give it a rest

A small company has to manage its work hours and resources more carefully than some of the companies you overly judgmental wal mart greeters have worked for!

Give them a break for crying out loud!
Would you prefer Microsoft butchering it again?

~Rant over

Thanks PGI! we <3 you! The Con was a blast! cant wait for the next one ,which I know will be even better!

PS:If this struck a nerve with any of the moaners? good! dont expect me to argue with any of you about your ****** necklace syndrome either.

Edited by Robert Bruce, 11 December 2017 - 03:45 PM.

[SHIN BRODAMA]

Robert Bruce, on 11 December 2017 - 03:42 PM, said:

Just a note(a mini rant really) to the never happy haters out there. I am just feeling a bit over protective of a local company I am proud of.

you do know PGI isnt an enormous company with thousands of employees waiting around to please every nit picking half wit who have delusions of how they could/would do it better?I mean...

Of all the dense complaints I hear?..how Russ is with public speaking has to be the dumbest ..ever...moaned about by people who have likely never done it themselves or simply dont realize that it just isnt something everyone is good at....give it a rest

A small company has to manage its work hours and resources more carefully than some of the companies you overly judgmental wal mart greeters have worked for!

Give them a break for crying out loud!
Would you prefer Microsoft butchering it again?

~Rant over

Thanks PGI! we <3 you! The Con was a blast! cant wait for the next one ,which I know will be even better!

PS:If this struck a nerve with any of the moaners? good! dont expect me to argue with any of you about your ****** necklace syndrome either.

To be honest I couldn't give a **** about your thoughts on this matter. I do public speaking, deal with media and PR people all the time, and wanted to share my thoughts on how they can improve. Dismissing criticism with "haters" is juvenile and non-constructive and adds absolutely zero value to the discussion. Take a breath and step away from the keyboard my man.

[Jonathan8883]

A comment on everything related to facilities, chairs, room at the site:
Chairs, food, etc. are all provided by the venue (a hotel, likely). If they provided lunch and supper for everyone (drinks on a cash basis), PGI is probably out $20 per attendee. Factor in facilities rental, lighting, sound, camera rental & paying the cameramen, and paying the hotel for internet access, cabling, etc., and at $50 per ticket, I expect PGI lost money on MechCon. For comparison, our corporate annual meeting runs $250-$275 per ticket for 1 reception, 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 1 fancy supper, a few meeting rooms, and nearly nothing in the way of complicated IT and lighting equipment or extra parking for 200 cars.

There are a limited number of suitable venues in any city, especially for a relatively small-time event that's more than 100 people but fewer than 500 people, requires a giant data pipeline, and has the right size rooms. If they upsize to a substantially larger venue, expect next year's tickets to be $125-$200.

PGI cannot exist if they are not making money. Adding extra stations, cameras, etc., costs them more money - even if NVidia donates the hardware, they still have to pay for cameras, data, yada yada, not to mention thousands or tens of thousands of employee paycheck dollars spent planning, sourcing, scoping, prepping, and executing the event. 200 attendees x $0 leftover each after expenses does not come close to covering it. If I were Russ (or whoever runs the business), I'd be a bit peeved at whoever decided that $50 was the right price point for the ticket. If people are going to fly in, stay at a $100/night hotel (minimum likely for a convention), etc., then an extra $50/ticket is peanuts.

I think I've just talked myself into buying an a la carte hero. Medusa's not available so I'll have to poke around. Suggestions for a good medium?

Edited by Jonathan8883, 11 December 2017 - 04:19 PM.

[ENOVA]

Hello. Am I right that a new map Solaris City was originaly proposed by some mwo fans in this very forum?
Thank you. Also [MW-F] unit is awating for the roadmap.

[tworivers]

Sho sa ShinYodama, on 11 December 2017 - 03:58 PM, said:

To be honest I couldn't give a **** about your thoughts on this matter. I do public speaking, deal with media and PR people all the time, and wanted to share my thoughts on how they can improve. Dismissing criticism with "haters" is juvenile and non-constructive and adds absolutely zero value to the discussion. Take a breath and step away from the keyboard my man.

Well good for you "hero" and I agree with what he said and you are way out of line.

[Robert Bruce]

Sho sa ShinYodama, on 11 December 2017 - 03:58 PM, said:

To be honest I couldn't give a **** about your thoughts on this matter. I do public speaking, deal with media and PR people all the time, and wanted to share my thoughts on how they can improve. Dismissing criticism with "haters" is juvenile and non-constructive and adds absolutely zero value to the discussion. Take a breath and step away from the keyboard my man.

Thats nice bro,cool story.

not everyone is a public speaker.

perhaps you need to speak less and listen more.

now take your own advice and step away from the computer.
good night!

Edited by Robert Bruce, 11 December 2017 - 04:38 PM.

[Cypherdrene]

Nice stuff, but.. are we ever getting mech selection after map vote?... no? just me?... ok.

[BWS2K]

Since I was the first in the thread to mention it, I don't mind pointing out for a third and final time: The criticism that Russ is not good on stage is not the same as saying Russ is a terrible leader, fan, or human being. Some folks like 'casual' and that's fine. When you have two thousand people watching the stream who aren't benefiting from any of the live chit chat, behind-the-scenes, or swag n'gaming - and for whom this might be the first exposure to MWO - you need to consider how things will appear to them as well (or just don't bother streaming). This is not difficult to do.

"Russ, next year at least act more excited, use notecards, and don't leave the stage more than once. See in this re-cap how you aren't smiling? Hear the confusion in the crowd and mediocre applause? See how you pace back and forth awkwardly and don't know where to put your arms? Remember how you encouraged people to bring your wives - do you see how that could come across as creepy and kinda sexist? Let's work on that! So here's some footage of Mitch and Jordan to study..." - that was free and anybody can say it. I'll tweet it to Russ right now. I love the game or I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have sat in front of my computer for eleven and a half hours. I'm happy to help in any way I can but this'll be my last post here about this. *shrugs*

Happy Gaming!
#stillgonnacosplaynexttime

[AzureRathalos]

Imperius, on 11 December 2017 - 02:20 PM, said:

I settled for Rum and coke. She poured Pepsi and didn’t even ask if that was because they didn’t have coke

Venues usually have a deal with one major drink company or another and get discounts for loyalty. Unless a deal breaks down, a Pepsi venue will never have Coke and a Coke venue will never have Pepsi. Business things.

[Imperius]

AzureRathalos, on 11 December 2017 - 04:50 PM, said:

Venues usually have a deal with one major drink company or another and get discounts for loyalty. Unless a deal breaks down, a Pepsi venue will never have Coke and a Coke venue will never have Pepsi. Business things.

Yes I’m aware... the issue was she said Rum and Coke poured Pepsi like there was no difference.

I was at both MechCons the last bar could make practically any drink.

Obviously this was out of PGI’s hands but could also be a factor in them choosing a different venue.

I’m just giving the feedback. Like I always have. People can take it or leave it.

Edited by Imperius, 11 December 2017 - 05:06 PM.

[White Bear 84]

I haven't posted here in a long long time, so let's just say I am quite hyped for the addition of Solaris 7 to the mix.

[Imperius]

Cypherdrene, on 11 December 2017 - 04:38 PM, said:

Nice stuff, but.. are we ever getting mech selection after map vote?... no? just me?... ok.

No but I gave up asking for things involving MWO.

[Marius Evander]

What did Russ say in the 5 minutes after the mw5 announcement thats muted on the twitch vod.

[PropWash]

I had a fantastic time.

It was really cool catching up with some old friends and meeting many new ones.

Also, the presenters were FANTASTIC.

Well done.

All of you.

Here's to The Year Of BattleTech in 2018!

See you at MechCon 2018.

[MortallyTransparentCupcake]

Robert Bruce, on 11 December 2017 - 02:44 PM, said:

and a hater or 2...
but which one are you?

I am a Tryhard
do you not even know your terms?
Git gud, scrub