9 replies to this topic

[50 50]

Just a bit of perspective on the events at the moment.

Now maybe it could be communicated a bit better and the there could be a couple of tweaks to the UI to make it more intuitive or flow better, but take a step back and look at it a bit differently for a moment.

If Faction Play was to be a bit more of an ongoing system where we continually fight back and forth and do our own thing...wage war across the universe... then what I am seeing here is a bit of a test to see how it would work out to suspend regular game play and break it up with a few faction specific events.

It is literally just a break from the regular gaming where we split up into two specific sides and duke it out for a couple of days and earn some faction rewards for those factions.
It seems like a pretty good way to let the player base create their own history and stories in Faction Play and then chuck in some regular lore related faction events we can enjoy.

Ie.
Keep the faction conflict as ongoing.
Have an end of year Tukayyid.
Have a mid year Operation Bulldog.
Have a Battle of Luthien.
Etc etc.
But just run these as 'Events' that do not have an impact on what is happening and is driven by the action of players for their individual Factions in the regular system.

[justcallme A S H]

I've cracked it today...

- Another rule change to event
- Event was again poorly thought out
- This latest patch is just... I can't say or I'll get a mandated holiday...
- Loyalists yet again, get screwed.
- No testing if the event / UI isn't just not fluent/easy

This is on top of a bunch of other stuff...

I think I have a pretty solid grasp of Faction Play and issues most have.

So I'm gonna do what the Jarl did with overall balance. Put together a document that hits all the issues and how to fix them and take a bunch of feedback from people in the 'know'. Nothing pie-in-the-sky, just smart and intelligent stuff.

Unlikely I'll actually make a video with a silly hat, I'm just not that good with video editing, I won't discount that just yet however.


Watch this space.

[50 50]

No video from you will be accepted without a silly hat, preferably one with corks hanging from it.

[Iron Buccaneer]

What if each "Season" each faction had border raids going on between other factions that were 4v4 drops but the main 1 bucket conflict remained in place.

Personally I'd rather see a return to phase 2 with enhancements but PGI done killed the mode so gud I don't think that will happen.

[Johnathan Tanner]

Iron Buccaneer, on 27 March 2018 - 05:48 PM, said:

Personally I'd rather see a return to phase 2 with enhancements but PGI done killed the mode so gud I don't think that will happen.

As the mad Jarl has shown us. If we unite we can accomplish positive change, Or at least hold are our heads up and say we told you so. Also lots and lots of twitter blasting.

Also phase 2 is considered by the community as the ONLY successful-ish phase of the mode. Bring it back. Build from there.

[Spare Parts Bin]

I started playing FP again after a 2-3 year hiatus. Then an IS vs IS event. Why not IS vs IS plus Clan vs Clan? It is bad enough I have to play 10 games with no bonuses. I need the GXP and C-Bills to skill and optimize the Clan Heroes I will buy to have an all Hero Drop Deck.

[50 50]

Sure.

I was just looking at what is going on at the moment with the Davion vs Steiner and Nova Cat vs Steel Vipers and thinking that with a couple of tweaks to the UI to make it more intuitive and being a bit clearer on what's going on that it's not a bad way to do things for FP events and a break from the regular play.

Everyone, pick a side and duke it out.
Winning side gets a little trophy thingy and there are the rewards along side it.

You know what, maybe it would work better as a 'Quick Play Faction Event' assigning players to a side, random teams and even a limited faction mech drop deck or something. That would be a little different.

[Eisenhorne]

I like the idea of having faction-specific events. BUT, if they wanna do this, they need to put in a way for us to declare temporary allegiance to one of the houses or clans in the event. I'm in HHoD, we're always going to be Davion loyalists. So, if PGI puts in a way for us to declare ourselves allied to another faction and drop on their behalf (not THAT unthinkable, Victor did it when he helped extract Hohiro from behind the Smoke Jag's lines) for the duration of the conflict while staying loyalist, that would be best.

I really did enjoy the Davion vs Steiner part, it threw a wrench in the meta play we've been seeing and made for some truly interesting games. Plus I got to run with some guys I don't normally get a chance to play with. It could really help if they did some kind of monthly "FP Event" with rewards like this to drive more players to it. Yes, we had a lot of potatoes dropping (one guy had a catapult with 2 LRM 20's and literally no armor on his mech), but if FP has consistent rewards and events, maybe the average skill level of players will go up.

[50 50]

Maybe that's something that could be added to the event system.
If that conflict doesn't have any impact on regular Faction Play (the map and so on), then it allows for a bit more freedom with what could be done and it might be worth having the event system function as a bit of a separate mode so that any unique rules or structure that would be fun to apply to it does not affect the regular quick or faction play modes.
This also always allows players the choice to participate or not.

So, as a bit of a conversation point, what if it was structured like this:

When an event is running, be it a quick play event or a faction play event, to participate you need to go into the Event Mode which might just be a way to launch from the event list itself straight into a game and we could have it show up on the announcements when you log in, have the little button flash etc to try and make players aware that there is something going on.

By separating it from the regular modes it can use different rules without causing problems.

ie. In regards to the Faction specific conflicts, it could by pass any issues relating to contracts and loyalties and simply auto sort players into a team for each match.
This could be taken a bit further and specific drop decks are provided for the match containing a light, medium, heavy and assault specific to the faction they happen to have ended up on the team for.

This would make it a very even starting point for each match as essentially it would mean it is solo dropping with a preset deck of mechs with a default loadout to fit in with the theme of the event.

Edit: Oh, and no skills either because of how that works now.
.....

Look at something like the Easter event now and the Urbanmech challenge, or even when there is a new mech release.
It could be done via the event mode and a rule put in place that says you can only use a particular chassis for that event. If you don't happen to own it, then a trial variant could be available.
What if we wanted an 'Assaults only' event and everyone had to use a 100 tonner?

....

There are always ways and possibilities to do things.

Edited by 50 50, 29 March 2018 - 03:33 PM.

[Spare Parts Bin]

50 50 I wish I could fit one Direwolf in my Drop Deck. An event where 65 tons is the minimum tonnage Would be great.