76 replies to this topic

[Xetelian]

Granted, they were horrible, but they were holding PGI back from doing faction war and Solaris, two game modes people begged for and now hardly play. It seems like wasted money for those of us that didn't want those modes and don't play them.


Just opened 1v1 and checked a few divisions and I was the only one searching. I can't imagine there are any people in 2v2.

It is a week day, it is prime time NA, maybe there are players on the weekends? Last time I tried to play was a few Saturdays ago and I saw 3 people in 1v1 div 2 and nothing in the lower divisions, and I had to fight the same guy that was way above my level a few times before I gave up.


This is where having a publisher might have helped steer the company away from modes that don't compliment the current low population by breaking people up into different buckets.


1v1 has 7 buckets
2v2 had 7 buckets
4v4 is one bucket
12v12 solo queue is one bucket
12v12 group queue is another bucket
12v12 faction play is the last bucket, which used to be many buckets with planets being fought over.

If you don't count the 7 divisions you still have 6 buckets on a low population MMO.


Last I heard, the reason we didn't get Faction play and the reason we didn't get Solaris was because IGP didn't want to spend money on it. Now the money has been spent and what have we got to show for it?


Does PGI need a hand in guiding this game away from making investments into modes that we don't need and no matter how many people said they want it, don't play?


I bought into the hype, I bought Wave 2 up to the HBR to have 3 clan mechs to fight in Faction war with, sign up clan wolf and played it till it got boring, which took a few months. I was fortunate enough to hook up with a unit on Teamspeak even though I didn't end up joining them in game.


Then Solaris 7 released, I knew from the start that it was going to be a few weeks of people trying it then everyone going back to solo queue. I still used cBills to buy a few of the popular mechs in a couple of the divisions I was interested in playing in. A friend of mine even jumped back into MWO for one day to test it out, then left again.


What is next on the agenda? What other feature have we been begging for since beta that we wont play?


Does the leadership at PGI need to stop listening to the bittervets about what modes should be available since the constant whining about no Solaris 7 and no Faction Play seemed to motivate PGI into making them?


This is one of those things that also could have been implemented better, just like with faction play. When I do play faction play, my least favorite thing to do is play siege, mainly because the maps seem so unbalanced. Defense on Boreal? I'll drop my ERPPC/ERLL deck and so will everyone else that I'm playing with and we'll go 48 kills to <10.

In Solaris 7 I've seen 4 maps, not once have I dropped on the cold map. Probably because I either ban it or it gets banned before I can when I'm not taking a particularly hot build. The few times I have played in the caves have been painful so I ban that one too.




EDIT:

I'm not defending IGP and I am not serious about missing them, I'm just using them as an example of someone who knew better than to waste time on FP and S7.

Its more of a joke than anything to 'miss' IGP.

Goddamn some of you are really missing the point.

Edited by Xetelian, 20 June 2018 - 09:29 AM.

[Khobai]

we need more buckets

please add coop vs zombie dinosaurs mode

[Elizander]

I definitely don't miss IGP. Having a publisher is like turning a game into a two-headed monster. I do agree that PGI needs to stop adding buckets and figure out a simple way to consolidate all of it.

Allowing people to queue for QP while waiting for FP/Solaris would be a great first step. You do QP, once FP is full you do that and then back to QP and so on.

[Alex Morgaine]

They introduced clans. And gold Mechs.

[LordNothing]

this game has kind of become a one trick pony. pgi is great at selling mechpacks, but not really that great at making a game. but its ok they produced a lot of good mech models (that they fully expect you to buy a couple more times) and funded the game they wanted to make. if that bombs out then pgi will always be remembered by the phrase 'never again' or like that one clan you arent supposed to talk about.

Edited by LordNothing, 19 June 2018 - 08:46 PM.

[Black Fish]

Maybe you're right...
Seems to me FP was a mistake because of low population, since you really need big groups to play it effectively
And with Solaris, again, you need large amounts of people to play it in order to get the balance of skill matches it needs to be a good competitive scene.
All in all I think PGI wanted to create Solaris both to freshen up the game and also as a good option to have for a game with relatively low population... as for me, I've learned too much competitiveness doesnt do good for me (looking at you ranked LoL)
I would have really liked to see AI (turrets, tanks etc.), improvements to game modes (which could be done more effectively with AI) and overall assymetric balance between factions.
All of the above will contribute to the game experience, and consiquentialy improve other branches of the game like FP.
EDIT: Also forgot to mention forming a clearer meta of how a match should look like - things like info warfare, distinctive roles like scouts, brawlers etc.

Edited by Black Fish, 19 June 2018 - 11:13 PM.

[Sjorpha]

I'm not convinced igp was much of a real company. Their website looked almost fake, certainly not like the website of a legitimate business and more like some shady pop-up. You can hardly find anything about it when searching.

I don't know what the deal was, but I'm convinced igp was pretty much a sock puppet company of some kind, maybe for tax reasons idk. Anyways I'm quite sceptical to the idea that igp was this dominant publisher bossing pgi around.

[El Bandito]

To hell with IGP. Publishers care for only one thing, and thats short term quarterly gains. I prefer the current flawed PGI over IGP anyday.

[Vellron2005]

The problem is not that we have a gazillion buckets.

The problem is that the game is missing substance beyond buy mech / grind mech / buy another mech / grind another mech.

FP ques are empty because the planetary conquest makes no sense, planets mean nothing, factions mean nothing, and the mode caters to large pro units, and the little casual guys are fodder.

Solaris is empty because the patrons mean nothing, the sponsors mean nothing, and the causal players are fodder.

If the devs put more time and effort into these modes, made them meaningful and immersive.. all the buckets would be full.

The only time FP ques are full is when PGI throws free stuff at the players in the shape of event rewards. Solaris didn't get that yet, but probably will.

Can't fill FP and Solaris ques if you keep giving away free stuff in QP.

it has nothing to do with IGP.

It has everything to do with PGI.

Edited by Vellron2005, 20 June 2018 - 12:03 AM.

[El Bandito]

Vellron2005, on 19 June 2018 - 11:58 PM, said:

The problem is not that we have a gazillion buckets.

The problem is that the game is missing substance beyond buy mech / grind mech / buy another mech / grind another mech.

FP ques are empty because the planetary conquest makes no sense, planets mean nothing, factions mean nothing, and the mode caters to large pro units, and the little casual guys are fodder.

Solaris is empty because the patrons mean nothing, the sponsors mean nothing, and the causal players are fodder.

If the devs put more time and effort into these modes, made them meaningful and immersive.. all the buckets would be full.

The only time FP ques are full is when PGI throws free stuff at the players in the shape of event rewards. Solaris didn't get that yet, but probably will.

Can't fill FP and Solaris ques if you keep giving away ffyfree stuff in QP.

it has nothing to do with IGP.

It has everything to do with PGI.

You are lying about empty FP queue. Even during weekdays I get live drops for several hours both during NA and EU prime time. In fact I reached Nova Cat rank 6 in record time just now, even though there is no FP event going on.

[Johnathan Tanner]

Vellron2005, on 19 June 2018 - 11:58 PM, said:

The problem is not that we have a gazillion buckets.

The problem is that the game is missing substance beyond buy mech / grind mech / buy another mech / grind another mech.

FP ques are empty because the planetary conquest makes no sense, planets mean nothing, factions mean nothing, and the mode caters to large pro units, and the little casual guys are fodder.

Solaris is empty because the patrons mean nothing, the sponsors mean nothing, and the causal players are fodder.

If the devs put more time and effort into these modes, made them meaningful and immersive.. all the buckets would be full.

The only time FP ques are full is when PGI throws free stuff at the players in the shape of event rewards. Solaris didn't get that yet, but probably will.

Can't fill FP and Solaris ques if you keep giving away free stuff in QP.

it has nothing to do with IGP.

It has everything to do with PGI.

1.The FP queues are far from empty. Skill is what is missing because of lack of point to mode.

2. Solaris is dead because its not what people wanted-Which was MWO pubg

3. Casual players are fodder in every game ever made by man.

[Vellron2005]

El Bandito, on 20 June 2018 - 12:21 AM, said:

You are lying about empty FP queue. Even during weekdays I get live drops for several hours both during NA and EU prime time. In fact I reached Nova Cat rank 6 in record time just now, even though there is no FP event going on.

Good for you :-)

TBH, I haven't played FP in a while, so things may have improved.. last time I played FP was maybe a month or two ago, and had to wait 20-30 minutes, only to get stomped repeatedly by large units vs. my PUG team..

P.S.

I'm not lying. I never lie.

I might be misinformed. But I don't lie.

Edited by Vellron2005, 20 June 2018 - 12:36 AM.

[Thrudvangar]

^ agreed and confirmed @ El Bandito

Edited by Thrudvangar, 20 June 2018 - 12:38 AM.

[El Bandito]

Vellron2005, on 20 June 2018 - 12:35 AM, said:

Good for you :-)

TBH, I haven't played FP in a while, so things may have improved.. last time I played FP was maybe a month or two ago, and had to wait 20-30 minutes, only to get stomped repeatedly by large units vs. my PUG team..

P.S.

I'm not lying. I never lie.

I might be misinformed. But I don't lie.

You are spreading false info in any case. Flawed as FP is, empty it is certainly not.

[TechChris]

Whilst I agree that FP and Solaris where 85%+ a waste of time and money (Gotta give that 15% to people who actually did enjoy them for a bit.).......... But having IGP around again.........well, um, let's just go with ****** **** *** ***** *** NO!!!!!

[Marius Evander]

Not sure if troll thread.

In case not, try actually entering a queue instead of looking for other people already queued 90% of the problem with solaris is there too many of you looking for others already queuing and not enough willing to be in a queue like me, ive watched multiple streamers do it aswell, "solaris is dead no ones in the queue, leave" . Me, i jump in the queue, get a game every 2 - 4 mins

[jss78]

You can talk about FW, Solaris, etc., but in all free-to-play online shooters the Random Queue (or equivalent) tends to constitute an overwhelming majority of all play.

And that's one part of MWO that's really a good game IMO. I play the competition a fair bit, and MWO is different in its own ways but a compelling and engaging game. They could've and should've done a bit more of lore immersion, because that's the thing BT/MWO has that much of the competition doesn't. There's a massive story backdrop.

So while it's unfortunate that FW failed, it's not very consequential for the longevity of the game. All those other buckets may suffer, but the One Bucket to Rule Them All is doing fine.

Also, the obligatory meme:

Spoiler

Edited by jss78, 20 June 2018 - 02:04 AM.

[justcallme A S H]

Black Fish, on 19 June 2018 - 11:10 PM, said:

Maybe you're right...
Seems to me FP was a mistake because of low population, since you really need big groups to play it effectively

You mean now it is? Fact of the matter remains Faction Play in/around FP2.0 was the glory days.

There were 12mans EVERYWHERE. There we units that had 200-500 active members... Read that, A.C.T.I.V.E. There were literally matches at all times of the day, even in Oceanic which now struggles most days of the week.


However the FP3.0 Patch with single Attack Lanes / Long Tom / Total slap to Loyalists (among other gaping issues)... All touted as amazing features by Russ, killed the game mode and many many big / sizeable units. It took Russ over 6 months to back down and when he did, it was about 1/10th of the fix that needed to happen. It was too late.

The on-flow affect from this is that 18 months later the skill floor is the lowest it has ever been because all these big (and even smaller units) that all disappeared, were the people that were training and taking on new players.

Hell my own unit, 54MR, has gone from 120 active players to about 6. This was in part from FP3.0 and the final straw for those left was Skill Maze.

Vellron2005, on 20 June 2018 - 12:35 AM, said:

I might be misinformed.

Well that would explain about 90% of your posts.

[Bud Crue]

justcallme A S H, on 20 June 2018 - 02:19 AM, said:

You mean now it is? Fact of the matter remains Faction Play in/around FP2.0 was the glory days.

There were 12mans EVERYWHERE. There we units that had 200-500 active members... Read that, A.C.T.I.V.E. There were literally matches at all times of the day, even in Oceanic which now struggles most days of the week.


However the FP3.0 Patch with single Attack Lanes / Long Tom / Total slap to Loyalists (among other gaping issues)... All touted as amazing features by Russ, killed the game mode and many many big / sizeable units. It took Russ over 6 months to back down and when he did, it was about 1/10th of the fix that needed to happen. It was too late.

The on-flow affect from this is that 18 months later the skill floor is the lowest it has ever been because all these big (and even smaller units) that all disappeared, were the people that were training and taking on new players.

Hell my own unit, 54MR, has gone from 120 active players to about 6. This was in part from FP3.0 and the final straw for those left was Skill Maze.

No, no I'm fine.
Just something in my eye.

-pours one out for all that we have lost-
-raises one in memory-
-then throws the glass at the wall in disgust for why it was allowed to be lost in the first place-
-muttering- Longtom...the underlying mechanics are fine...one bucket solution...unit tax...sigh.

[Marius Evander]

- not splitting the FP queues between grouped and solo queue while we had the numbers to do it.