45 replies to this topic

[CtrlAltWheee]

I'm okay with OP's suggestion. The biggest negative for me in FP is the wait times. I've waited for like 20 minutes and longer.

Some guys are really good at FP and know what to do. I just want to get into a game and basically be a star trek red shirt. It's okay to be fodder and be out there learning, but the waiting times are not okay.

[mailin]

Dragonporn, on 30 June 2018 - 11:41 AM, said:

Sorry to derail a bit, but can you guys explain why it may be useful to have more than 1 account?... Why would anyone have IS and Clan accounts separately, since there are no restriction on which and how many mechs you can have? If it is for grinding events for MC across 3 accounts, isn't it a masochistic MMO level of grinding, while extremely futile since events give very small amount of MC, while goals are simple but take time to achieve? All that considering MC is relatively dirty cheap, there are tons of sales (including mech bay ones) so there shouldn't really be problem with space? Plus mech packs one may buy are available on single account you bought it for, right?

I've seen folks mention multiple accounts several times already, just curious.

The reason for multiple accounts is typically tied to Faction Play. Once someone accepts a contract you can only do Faction Play with either IS mechs or Clan mechs. So, some create an IS account for IS contracts and a Clan account for Clan contracts.

[Asym]

Jay Leon Hart, on 30 June 2018 - 09:19 AM, said:

Aye, I'm also pretty much just playing events again. I hoped the Fafnir & Blood Asp releases would rekindle my interest with the game. They did. Then PGI nerfed the Blood Asp and I'm back to not really wanting to play again.

That was my experience last year with the Night Gyr.... A first rate heavy and then, the Skill Tree and it simply wasn't the same....

I heven't bought a mech since. PGI has this notion that they can sell a first rate mech, nerf it and then expect us to buy another and repeat that cycle over and over again....

Not me..... See you out there !

[Vellron2005]

Drop-in/drop-out gameplay sounds fun, and could be a good way of doing FP..

But, alas, I don't think the current engine as done by PGI could take it.. I mean, we get disconnects with 24 players.. if we had more, low-end rigs would just give up..

On the flipside, if we keep only 24 players, the whole point of massive battle gameplay is.. well.. not that massive.

However, if PGI found a way to give us drop-in/drop-out continuous battlefields, it could be immensely fun.

[Soulless86]

KoalaBrownie, on 29 June 2018 - 07:26 AM, said:

Pretty sure that Unreal engine can't support the game you're proposing. Your idea would require the game to rebuilt on an entirely different engine.

Both pubg and fortnite run on the unreal engine - MWO is Cryengine.

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LordNothing, on 29 June 2018 - 03:40 PM, said:

wait times are the biggest buzzkill in this game. even just getting into quick play, with a light mech even, seems like its taking way too long.

i remember the good old days of yore when you could join a server, stay as long as you want, respawn when you die, and if you dont like it switch to a different server. the only interruptions were periodic map changes.

unfortunately i think pgi made their bed with match based gameplay. its so ingrained into every aspect of the game that changing it would break every mode there is, or add buckets that we dont need. id like to see a long play format for things like fp or even qp, hour long matches with ingame repair bays, 8 mech drop decks, and no less than a one hour game clock. or just play living legends.

I think this is the most accurate point to make.
That and the thing about the kittens.

So I completely understand the OP about having some sort of mode that you can just drop into, fight for as long as you are able and then drop out again.
But as quoted above, the 'match' structure is the backbone of MWO.

I was hoping that there might be some sort of free for all drop in drop out mode for Solaris, but alas. No. 14 buckets instead.

For Faction Play, I'm not sure there is any hope left.
I'd like to think so, but it would take some fairly extensive changes and time.
There is perhaps two or three options.

• Make the mode more of a drop in drop out, on going battle. This would probably mean moving to more of a 'supply point' system for respawns similar to the Battlefield games or something like Planetside. Major overhaul of the system and a big step away from the 'match' to an actual 'war'.
  
• Keep the 'match' system but change the way we use drop decks so they need to be managed over multiple drops creating more of a campaign feel where our success in each match means something afterwards. This also requires a fair bit of work but it is outside of the match framework and involves building depth before and after.
  
• Stay as is with the 4 drops per match and do something like combine modes so there are multiple objectives, extend the game duration and work on a few other features within the matches. Still a fair bit of work.

None of that really addresses wait times though.
It's more about trying to do something to encourage more people to play a mode that can then reduce wait times.
SO directly regarding wait times, the match maker needs flexibility to allow different team sizes so it can simply cater for when there are fluctuations in active player numbers.