19 replies to this topic

[Vellron2005]

Well I have to say, this Kurita Vs Davion event has brought out and shown all of us some good things..

Here's a list:

1) A properly geared event format - By this, I mean that the event is segmented into logical "steps" that actually make it feel like a proper planetary invasion. You have certain objectives to achieve, and you only get to play THAT - no distractions, no waiting for the stars to align and give you the "proper game mode" you need for the challenges.

2) Shifting focus back to FP - This event clearly shows that people will play what they profit from. FP ques are usually empty, unless there's an event on. And then it's fun and good gameplay, because the players are plentiful, so the mode is not filled with big stompy units exclusively. I sadly missed day one, but played day two, and suffice it to say, it was the most fun I've had in Faction play in a LONG long time.. Matches were quick to get, both in FP, and later in QP..

3) Locked game mode - So far, PGI's track record with looking for specific game modes in challenges has not been great. Many a time we were asked to get X amount of stuff in Y game mode, only to have that game mode drop every other blue moon. This time, someone at PGI put in the effort, and locked the game mode available in the specific one required by the challenges. Great job!

4) Good matches - Shockingly, when you post challenges that require objective-focused play, people actually play the objective! This has made the event very very enjoyable so far, and I was shocked that I did not get a single lopsided match - NOT ONE! Literally every match I dropped in was a close call, with the final push determining the winner. Exciting, fun and fresh!

5) IS vs IS play - refreshing and fun.. no need to cry over balance, and a completely different set of strategies.. IS vs IS and Clan Vs Clan is always fun, so I hope there will be a Clan Vs Clan event soon. I recommend the War of refusal classic - Wolf Vs Jade Falcon.

There is however a small downside to the event - It reminded all of us just how meaningless the factions really are right now. It took most of us literally 2-3 clicks to change factions, with absolutely no repercussions, and no extra profit for playing either side.

Conclusion:

I would really like to see more of events like this one, with Clan vs IS, IS, vs IS, and Clan Vs Clan fighting, but would also like for PGI to buff up the fluff and immersion side of it. Give the warring sides some special bonuses and penalties, make the factions involved distinctive, and make the end result of conquering the planet mean something.

So far, the Kurita Vs Davion event is a step in the right direction to reviving Faction Play as a game mode. Keep it up PGI!

Also, the free MC is really really sweet.

Edited by Vellron2005, 06 August 2018 - 12:20 AM.

[Appogee]

I agree it's a great event.

In my opinion PGI's Matt has been hitting consistent home runs on the events ever since he came onboard.

Sure, there have been some 'learning experiences' along the way ... But to his credit he has put in the effort, listened to our feedback, and he's getting good results for both PGI and for us as players.

#PromoteMatt

Edited by Appogee, 06 August 2018 - 12:28 AM.

[El Bandito]

Vellron2005, on 06 August 2018 - 12:17 AM, said:

5) IS vs IS play - refreshing and fun.. no need to cry over balance,

HGR OP!

[Abaddun]

Honestly there are just too many factions to have any sort of meaningful RP, especially with the small pop count. I would love it if that wan't the reality we find ourselves in, really, but we need to face the fact FP isn't self sustaining without events. Maybe if there were monthly campaigns between two factions and their allies, the results of each tallied on the MWO website and the star map influenced by this. Meaningful ingame impact would be almost impossible to implement in a competitive game like this, as one campaign loss would put one side at a disadvantage, reducing future chances of winning a campaign, setting off a snowball effect that will see players jumping ship to the side most likely to win.

You could counter balance this with match earning multipliers. For example, a campaign loss could result in the loser getting a 10% ammo reduction modifier for participants fighting in the next campaign, to compensate for the disadvantage they would earn an extra 25% bonus to c-bills and exp. That's only one example, but I reckon you can think up other types of penalties.

We could really do with a dedicated team whos job is to craft campaigns for FP.

Edited by Abaddun, 06 August 2018 - 04:05 AM.

[razenWing]

Abaddun, on 06 August 2018 - 04:01 AM, said:

Honestly there are just too many factions to have any sort of meaningful RP, especially with the small pop count. I would love it if that wan't the reality we find ourselves in, really, but we need to face the fact FP isn't self sustaining without events. Maybe if there were monthly campaigns between two factions and their allies, the results of each tallied on the MWO website and the star map influenced by this. Meaningful ingame impact would be almost impossible to implement in a competitive game like this, as one campaign loss would put one side at a disadvantage, reducing future chances of winning a campaign, setting off a snowball effect that will see players jumping ship to the side most likely to win.

You could counter balance this with match earning multipliers. For example, a campaign loss could result in the loser getting a 10% ammo reduction modifier for participants fighting in the next campaign, to compensate for the disadvantage they would earn an extra 25% bonus to c-bills and exp. That's only one example, but I reckon you can think up other types of penalties.

We could really do with a dedicated team whos job is to craft campaigns for FP.

Just think of how MW4 did it. A lot of these things are rocket science.

If you play Davion, because of wealth advantage, you get +5% Cbill bonus
If you play Steiner, you get +5% ammo
So on and so forth...

[Abaddun]

razenWing, on 06 August 2018 - 04:31 AM, said:

Just think of how MW4 did it. A lot of these things are rocket science.

If you play Davion, because of wealth advantage, you get +5% Cbill bonus
If you play Steiner, you get +5% ammo
So on and so forth...

I don't think we need to distinguish factions with hard stats( that will just be another balancing nightmare) besides, the power of nerd politics is enough for most people to fit them into a faction. I mean meaningful consequences hinged upon on the outcome of a campaign.

I just want to throw this out there..........Maybe.........just maybe...........we could get timed discounts on faction favourite mechs for a campaign win. Now that may seem inconsequential, but it would be thematic and carry weight behind it. Say a one time 50% discount on any Zeus variant on a Steiner win for example.

Edited by Abaddun, 06 August 2018 - 06:07 AM.

[Racerxintegra2k]

IS vs IS is and has always been way more fun than IS vs Clan. Also it was interesting to actually play conquest vs just kill everyone. Felt like Battlefield, where holding a point was vital to overall win.

[Marquis De Lafayette]

Best FW event I have seen....by far. Even the tiny bit of story somehow makes it more interesting to play. The prizes are very generous as well. Matches have been fun...

Edited by Marquis De Lafayette, 06 August 2018 - 07:26 AM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Abaddun, on 06 August 2018 - 06:04 AM, said:

I just want to throw this out there..........Maybe.........just maybe...........we could get timed discounts on faction favourite mechs for a campaign win. Now that may seem inconsequential, but it would be thematic and carry weight behind it. Say a one time 50% discount on any Zeus variant on a Steiner win for example.

That was tossed around in the old closed beta days of adding flavor. Another idea thrown around back then was having different manufacturers of the weapons with slightly different specs and everything cost more or less depending on faction. But none of that ever left the brainstorming phase. It sounds like it will be implemented to some degree in MW5 though which is probably a better place for it. If there were a way to have the single player and multiplayer aspects merged into one unifying game, that would be fantastic.

[Lances107]

Every mech in this game has a history except that made up one. So say you win the event for your faction and you were a loyalist to that faction for a full month before the event. The win gives you access to your specific factions mechs, but at a greatly reduced price of say no more then one million cbills. Not counting the hero,champion, or special variants. Just the normal ones. Only ones that your faction predominantly used, made, or had access too. Only the winning said gets this. Example, though the wolfs can dream and it will never happen, if clan wolf defeated Jade falcon in such an event. The ones that were loyal for a full month before the event, could pick up TBRS at just one million cbills. Now obviously to keep this from becoming a joke, they would have to continually switch up the factions. Just a consequence reward idea.

[Abaddun]

Lances107, on 06 August 2018 - 08:05 AM, said:

Every mech in this game has a history except that made up one. So say you win the event for your faction and you were a loyalist to that faction for a full month before the event. The win gives you access to your specific factions mechs, but at a greatly reduced price of say no more then one million cbills. Not counting the hero,champion, or special variants. Just the normal ones. Only ones that your faction predominantly used, made, or had access too. Only the winning said gets this. Example, though the wolfs can dream and it will never happen, if clan wolf defeated Jade falcon in such an event. The ones that were loyal for a full month before the event, could pick up TBRS at just one million cbills. Now obviously to keep this from becoming a joke, they would have to continually switch up the factions. Just a consequence reward idea.

Maybe offer a special variant with LP boost instead of a C-bill boost, just so you don't get people buying mechs at a discount then selling them on at a profit.

[HammerMaster]

Abaddun, on 06 August 2018 - 08:33 AM, said:

Maybe offer a special variant with LP boost instead of a C-bill boost, just so you don't get people buying mechs at a discount then selling them on at a profit.

Heard of (P) variants that do diddly for LP now?

[Abaddun]

HammerMaster, on 06 August 2018 - 08:42 AM, said:

Heard of (P) variants that do diddly for LP now?

Phoenix variants give 30% c-bills and a 5% LP bonus. The LP isn't exactly the main focus. We haven't seen anything with a 30% LP bonus.

[Jackal Noble]

The Bad - screws over every other loyalist faction that plays faction.

[HammerMaster]

Abaddun, on 06 August 2018 - 10:57 AM, said:

Phoenix variants give 30% c-bills and a 5% LP bonus. The LP isn't exactly the main focus. We haven't seen anything with a 30% LP bonus.

Yes and anything else getting an LP bonus is a 2ND middle finger to those who bought Phoenix package and banked on their LP bonus during CWs introduction and FPs continuing growing pains.

[Abaddun]

HammerMaster, on 06 August 2018 - 01:18 PM, said:

Yes and anything else getting an LP bonus is a 2ND middle finger to those who bought Phoenix package and banked on their LP bonus during CWs introduction and FPs continuing growing pains.

The bonus promised and offered is insignificant for all intents and purposes. People bought into the phoenix packages for their raw value and the chance to play with reseen mechs, not the immaterial promise of a boost to faction play earnings.

You could use the same logic to criticise the offering of free special mechs during loyalty events as a middle finger to founders who banked on the C-bill bonus from their founder mechs.

[TWIAFU]

Marquis De Lafayette, on 06 August 2018 - 07:20 AM, said:

Best FW event I have seen....by far. Even the tiny bit of story somehow makes it more interesting to play. The prizes are very generous as well. Matches have been fun...

Nice finally have a "Civil War" after the Civil War update....

So much FUN!

You can see who is normally playing Clan mechs and switched for event rewards. They are playing IS Mechs like they were Clan and failing spectacularly.

Jackal Noble, on 06 August 2018 - 01:17 PM, said:

The Bad - screws over every other loyalist faction that plays faction.

And we are sure you were up in arms how IS were screwed over last time there was a Clan v Clan event.

You were, right? And every event that was not centered on you, right?

[HammerMaster]

Abaddun, on 07 August 2018 - 01:22 AM, said:

The bonus promised and offered is insignificant for all intents and purposes. People bought into the phoenix packages for their raw value and the chance to play with reseen mechs, not the immaterial promise of a boost to faction play earnings.

You could use the same logic to criticise the offering of free special mechs during loyalty events as a middle finger to founders who banked on the C-bill bonus from their founder mechs.

As a matter of fact it would be.

[kuma8877]

PGI should hire a writer to work with Matt to pre-plan ongoing campaign events and run the campaigns as seasons over the course of the year. This writer should be versed in branching story arcs to account for the IRL actions/consequences to drive the arcs of each of the factions (I suggest a writer to keep things organized). On the back end of each campaign, this writer should be tasked with writing a "historical" summation of what actually occurred and maybe call attention to pilots and units that served their houses in an exemplary fashion on the battlefield. Let MWO have it's own lore based on the players who play it. Could be kinda cool...

[Jackal Noble]

TWIAFU, on 07 August 2018 - 03:52 AM, said:

And we are sure you were up in arms how IS were screwed over last time there was a Clan v Clan event.

You were, right? And every event that was not centered on you, right?

Before you attack, please try to comprehend what I wrote fully, it will help to make you seem less foolish next time. My post did not refer to Clan factions only - it was about all non Davion and non Kurita factions in the game. That means other IS factions too.
Try to understand I like to stick by my unit, which is a loyalist unit, not bend like a reed in the wind.
Unfortunately FP has been more catering to merc units than anything else in this game mode; that’s great that the option is there, but loyalist units more often get the shaft.