4 replies to this topic

[DAEDALOS513]

Not sure if this game mode is still popular or not but I need to give my 2 cents here. I've stopped playing it simply because I didn't enjoy adjusting my builds to suit Solaris, thus rendering them unplayable for other game modes.. whether due to low ammo, lack of range, no consumables, etc etc.

Please make it so that the player can save loadouts specific to Solaris.. I enjoyed the novelty at the beginning but now, I don't think I'll be stepping foot in the arena again until my suggestion is implemented.

Edited by DAEDALOS513, 20 June 2018 - 11:12 AM.

[Eisenhorne]

The layout switching ability is designed to help this. Or you could just buy specific mechs for Solaris.

[DAEDALOS513]

Eisenhorne, on 20 June 2018 - 12:14 PM, said:

The layout switching ability is designed to help this. Or you could just buy specific mechs for Solaris.

Like I said layout saving isn't good enough as it stands because it doesn't save camo/decals.. it's just not enough to make me wanna play Solaris. It's gotta be a complete save.

PGI would sure love it if we all started buying duplicate mechs.. duplicating mechs means buying more mech bays. I truly hope that's not PGI's reasoning behind not implementing a complete save. That reaks of desperation. TBH I am guilty of buying some duplicates because some mechs have multiple fun builds that work great. But I get bored fast with meta or even running the same mech over and over. If I were to implement this 'work-around' of purchasing duplicate mechs (and that sounds so silly as a suggestion rather than actually fixing the problem) I would have to buy 15+ mechs for solaris. Thanks for the suggestions but no thanks..

Edited by DAEDALOS513, 20 June 2018 - 12:38 PM.

[Generic Internetter]

Talking about camo's but the real two things that kills Solaris are:

Reason 1:
Disregarding matching/queueing time, the horrendous amount of time it takes to get into a match, versus the short time a match lasts. It's practically a 1:1 ratio, whereas for QP it's more like 1:4 and FP around 1:3.

Solaris match: Select mech and enter queue, wait 60 seconds, load up fancy map voting screen, map vote, load map, elevator animation, camera fly-bys, traffic light, then finally you can fight.

If you factor in matching/queueing time then it's even worse due to low player population. In a small game like this with so few players, most people just gravitate to whatever is quickest, ie: Quick Play.

Reason 2:
Skill trees! You can't use consumables for Solaris, and the skill build (and loadout) for Solaris is very different than for other game modes. This forces players to re-build and re-skill specifically for Solaris. This takes XP and C-Bills, and basically locks the mech out of other game modes since it's spec'd for Solaris. Ideally to play solaris you need dedicated mechs, and nobody is going to dedicate time and effort into something that takes so damn long to enter and lasts so briefly.

That, PGI, is why Solaris failed.

Suggestions for Solaris mode:

Boil down all the pre-match nonsense to an absolute minimum. Maybe show the mechlab image of both mechs on the same screen as the map vote, and make that shorter. Cut out the fly-bys, the elevator, and traffic lights.
I'd also advise simplifying the maps a little to reduce loading times, especially the jungle and warehouse.
Try to get players into matches as quickly as possible and to increase the playtime ratio as much as possible. Have you considered doubling armour and structure values to make matches last longer? That would help the ratio too.

Allow players to save a completely separate skill node setup for Solaris, totally unrelated to the skill tree in the other "normal" game modes. This prevents players from having to "sacrifice" mechs for Solaris.

(Bonus option) In conjunction with the above separate skill node setup, you could allow players to change their Solaris skill tree totally free of charge, allowing them to reset and use the full 91 nodes freely. This will remove the tedium and risk of players gradually spending skill nodes incorrectly for Solaris, and considering how unpopular the game mode is right now this would actually attract a huge crowd since everybody would love to use their mechs fully skilled out and play around with new skill builds.

Solaris can still be saved.

Edited by Generic Internetter, 01 July 2018 - 02:27 PM.

[DAEDALOS513]

Generic Internetter, on 01 July 2018 - 02:26 PM, said:

Talking about camo's but the real two things that kills Solaris are:

Reason 1:
Disregarding matching/queueing time, the horrendous amount of time it takes to get into a match, versus the short time a match lasts. It's practically a 1:1 ratio, whereas for QP it's more like 1:4 and FP around 1:3.

Solaris match: Select mech and enter queue, wait 60 seconds, load up fancy map voting screen, map vote, load map, elevator animation, camera fly-bys, traffic light, then finally you can fight.

If you factor in matching/queueing time then it's even worse due to low player population. In a small game like this with so few players, most people just gravitate to whatever is quickest, ie: Quick Play.

Reason 2:
Skill trees! You can't use consumables for Solaris, and the skill build (and loadout) for Solaris is very different than for other game modes. This forces players to re-build and re-skill specifically for Solaris. This takes XP and C-Bills, and basically locks the mech out of other game modes since it's spec'd for Solaris. Ideally to play solaris you need dedicated mechs, and nobody is going to dedicate time and effort into something that takes so damn long to enter and lasts so briefly.

That, PGI, is why Solaris failed.

Suggestions for Solaris mode:

Boil down all the pre-match nonsense to an absolute minimum. Maybe show the mechlab image of both mechs on the same screen as the map vote, and make that shorter. Cut out the fly-bys, the elevator, and traffic lights.
I'd also advise simplifying the maps a little to reduce loading times, especially the jungle and warehouse.
Try to get players into matches as quickly as possible and to increase the playtime ratio as much as possible. Have you considered doubling armour and structure values to make matches last longer? That would help the ratio too.

Allow players to save a completely separate skill node setup for Solaris, totally unrelated to the skill tree in the other "normal" game modes. This prevents players from having to "sacrifice" mechs for Solaris.

(Bonus option) In conjunction with the above separate skill node setup, you could allow players to change their Solaris skill tree totally free of charge, allowing them to reset and use the full 91 nodes freely. This will remove the tedium and risk of players gradually spending skill nodes incorrectly for Solaris, and considering how unpopular the game mode is right now this would actually attract a huge crowd since everybody would love to use their mechs fully skilled out and play around with new skill builds.

Solaris can still be saved.

Amazing points Internetter.. I truly hope PGI is reading this.. especially your second point which is echoing mine in the opening post.. (we weren't just talking about camo's, lol). I absolutely hate having to spec mechs for solaris because it makes them less than optimal for any other game mode.. doesn't make sense...

About your first point.. time wasted.. to help this I had suggested in another post that they set up a call to arms for solaris so you go straight to the division that has active players..

But ya all your points are spot on and is a great starting point to making Solaris great!!