544 replies to this topic

[metallio]

Been playing since right after launch. Gameplay has always been good, it's why I'm still here even if I'm bored. More maps would be good but whatever. More community involvement would be great but I'm not expecting it.

The only thing we *NEED* is persistent chat windows.

The social side of MWO is utter and complete cr*p and that's what drives the lack of development of the player base. The half-a** hidden global chat in the mechlab is barely able to function, the LFG window doesn't carry basic information nor support chatting, and all of the chat is segregated so once you start a game or do absolutely anything in game you lose the chat you were talking in.

This is such an utter social gaming failure it still boggles my mind.

You want anything in this game to take off you need persistent chat. You need to be able to whisper to people and to dedicate a new window to a given conversation. You need to easily be able to switch chat windows. You need to be able to carry on separate chats with your unit, your friend, and the people you're dropping with ...and you need to be able to do this without losing the window when youu move between the mechlab, lobbies, and playing actual games.

That's it. Persistent chat a la what World Of Warcraft has been doing for a decade. Get that and you'll get more growth than you had before. I'm not a developer, at best a shade-tree coder, but I know that full function chat plugins have been copy and paste for twenty years and I'm having a hard time believing you couldn't just dump something like that into MWO even if it operated as a separate executable outside of the game with overlays that kept their priority so the MWO window was underneath them. Or something like that.

The game just won't die so maybe there's a chance some day someone will frikkin' figure it out but I got tired of pushing it years and years ago...no idea why I bothered to type it today.

No technical advancement in the game will expand your player base without persistent chat. No neat function or event will take off without a social presence that requires persistent chat.

This, a game that REQUIRES coordination to shine, is the one flippin' game on the market that doesn't have it.

Oh, you have in-game voip? If you don't understand the difference and why it matters I'm not the guy to convince you that it won't help but that's not going to do it. At all.

Oh, you can type to your lance or team or all? ...if you come back with THAT after I say "persistent chat" you don't even understand the concept and should feel bad about it.

Whatever. Go shoot some mechs, it's the only thing that keeps this game alive anyway.

[Surn]

0IOIHIOI0, on 11 October 2020 - 04:29 AM, said:

We live in a great time of popularity of RGB, LGBT, RNE and so on. It is difficult to argue with this and I do not approve of it. Therefore, I suggest adding a special animated paint to the in-game store. Here's something like this.

[color=#FFFFFF][/color]

I have already actually developed this...

https://www.twitch.t...r=all&sort=time


https://www.twitch.t...r=all&sort=time




and predator Thermal View:

Version 1:

Version 2:

Edited by Surn, 11 October 2020 - 09:58 AM.

[Damocles Commando]

Cadets need to start in Tier 5. Follow me on this: If this is a team based game, that requires a bit of understanding, knowledge, and skill to play, then why are we dumping brand new players, many of whom don't even know what MechWarrior is, much less how to build a mech; manage heat; manage range; maneuver in cover; etc, straight into the middle ground of skill where most players are assumed to be decent, and have at least some base knowledge of the game? The first thing that happens to most players who are new to the game, this excludes alt accounts, is that they fall. Hard. They fall straight to the bottom of Tier 5. And since the Tier bar is displayed by default, they get to see that they are falling compared to everyone else. If you start them in Tier 5, the only place they have to go is up. It also means that they won't be forced to play out of their skill level as soon as they join the game.

[Wootin87]

I've been playing mwo since 2013. I've been through the highs and lows. Here's a list of suggestions I'd like to see:

1: Give the new players an oppertunity to have a free mech starting out. 50 ton mech of their choice for example. The mech of their choosing can have a few availble variants (excluding hero's and ecm) to choose from or possbily just have it as a champion so they can quickly exp up.

2: I heard of someone mentioning a pilot profile. This would be neat idea. This could open more possibilites to the game. Maybe the pilot can have certian abilites for the mech or battlefield. Maybe theres ways to rank up your pilot. I'm sure other have put more in depth though into it but i like the idea.

3: Add new weapons, componets, equip, mechs. Maybe change the timeline to a more adavnced age. I'd like to see RAC 10/20's, Arrow IV, MML's, Thunderbolt 5/10/20, possibly the longtom, x pulse lasers, Light Autocannons, IS omni mechs, XXL engines, computer systems, TTS systems etc...

4: Add more factions and extend the outer reaches of the Innersphere for faction play such as the Periphery. Faction play should go back to the big maps its had in the early days imo. Add more new maps and creative objectives to them. Could add more AI defense such as Tanks and Heli's around the base for Faction warfare. Just a thought.. Im sure others have more in depth ideas though.

5: Idk if this is a good idea or not; have a mwo mobile app where you can be stratigic commander live in Faction play battles, it would be a over view of the map where you can do strategic commands for the team and earn C-bills on your success. Its would be a good way to play on the go and help the team stay organized and in formation.

Hope this helps and with you Dev's the best of luck!

Edited by Wootin87, 11 October 2020 - 11:25 AM.

[0IOIHIOI0]

Surn, on 11 October 2020 - 09:54 AM, said:

I have already actually developed this...

https://www.twitch.t...r=all&sort=time


https://www.twitch.t...r=all&sort=time




and predator Thermal View:

Version 1:

Version 2:

Impressive. After watching the video, I realized that if the game is visually more similar to Fortnite, it will benefit her.

[hauptmann24]

Can we fix the Bravo rotate issue on HPG? Bravo often is the lace left behind by their team and the first reached by the enemy team.

Also add the hauptmann. I would buy every paid mech if it gets added.

Edited by hauptmann24, 11 October 2020 - 01:30 PM.

[C337Skymaster]

Dionnsai, on 10 October 2020 - 07:12 AM, said:

Speaking of things that aren't fun:

Lazy Missile rain.

Remove indirect locks entirely unless TAG or NARC is present. Also remove the "lock retention" mechanic where a player can continue to hit a target which is not visible to anyone.

Target Retention can be reduced as long as Radar Deprivation is also eliminated. The purpose of target retention is to account for terrain glitches such as invisible walls or small trees that could interrupt a target lock, and which would cause missiles to miss their target due to the subsequent re-lock-on duration.

I don't use Radar Dep out of principle after something I saw before Skill Tree, back when Radar Dep was a module. I watched an enemy 'mech walking along a ridgeline, and due to invisible walls along the ridge, the target lock kept flickering in and out of existence, even though the 'mech remained consistently visible, making it impossible to acquire a missile lock. Just a half-second of target retention would have smoothed out the target lockon and eliminated the glitching behavior.

Something else that I could support would be doubling or tripling missile spread, but giving LRM boats the ability to "attack ground": directing their missiles to attack an area of the battlegrid. (Getting any hits, at all, using that method would actually require a dramatically increased spread of missiles). This would more realistically simulate the purpose and function of an indirect rocket/missile system.

Actually, per Sean Lang's description of Strikes being the direct result of a sniper nest on Forest Colony "Classic", the ability of LRM boats to "attack ground" might even have foregone their addition to the game in the first place.

Oh, and as for the elimination of indirect lockon without TAG/NARC support, I had another interesting idea, based on a misinterpretation of the purpose of C3 systems: I think it might go a long way towards satisfying the Clan Fanboys if C3 was added as an actual system to MWO with the following incorrect implementation: target sharing ONLY goes through C3 (requiring someone in the lance to have a C3 master computer, and suffering all the downsides, etc, etc). Due to the fact that Clans do not get C3 equipment, they don't get the shared targeting that it provides, although they would still have VOIP, and TAG/NARC. As a balance to this, Clans get their LRM minimum range eliminated (so they do 100% damage up to 0m, like they're supposed to), and also can attack ground, as mentioned above. This would indirectly reintroduce the idea of Clan "Zellbrigen" vs IS teamwork. From there, we can roll back the nerfs to clan weaponry and the corresponding buffs to IS weaponry. IS would go back to being underpowered coordinated teams, and the Clans would be overpowered lone wolves, able to win any 1v1 fight, but handicapped in winning against multiple enemies.

hauptmann24, on 11 October 2020 - 01:21 PM, said:

Can we fix the Bravo rotate issue on HPG? Bravo often is the lace left behind by their team and the first reached by the enemy team.

Also add the hauptmann. I would buy every paid mech if it gets added.

Amen to the HPG issue.

As for the Hauptmann, that's one of many Inner Sphere Omnimechs that are hindered expressly by being IS Omnis. Others include the Avatar and Sunder. We'll need to devise a new mechanic that would make Omnimechs valuable for their omni abilities to offset any inherent weaknesses that IS Omnis will suffer (such as permanently fixed IS XL Engines, which a quick Sarna search tells me the Hauptmann does not have. It would be permanently equipped with a Standard 285 engine).

Edited by C337Skymaster, 11 October 2020 - 02:40 PM.

[Aeromaxout]

PVE please! Even if the E has teamed up with P!

[D U N E]

Can we get another store front for players that don't want to use the mechlab. Initially have premade competitive mechs with easy to digest tags. "Fast Brawler" "Mid Range Trader" - as well as give players 1-2 free unsellable mechs when they start the game. Players need to get competent equipment when they start playing, not 25 matches in, by then they've left the game and are uninstalling it from steam.

[Horseman]

D U N E, on 11 October 2020 - 04:01 PM, said:

Can we get another store front for players that don't want to use the mechlab. Initially have premade competitive mechs with easy to digest tags. "Fast Brawler" "Mid Range Trader" - as well as give players 1-2 free unsellable mechs when they start the game.
Players need to get competent equipment when they start playing, not 25 matches in, by then they've left the game and are uninstalling it from steam.

I mean, that's SORT OF what the trial mechs were supposed to fill - except for the fact most of their builds are no longer relevant after years of quirk, weapon and core mechanic changes.
What we really need there is to RETIRE most of the trial mech pool and create new set of trial mechs that are at viable in the current meta. Since replacing the loadouts on the (C)'s is a no go, if the same chassis gets reused, indicate this new series of Champions as (C+) or (CC).

[Freeman 52]

I used to play MWO pretty intensely a few years back, since then I keep re-installing and uninstalling every few months. I would love to see something that made me really want to come back and commit (and spend c-bills) again, instead of defaulting to MW5 or even going back to MW4 or MW2.

So here's a thought: lore-focused seasons. Not seasons in terms of player scoreboards, but in terms of world-building or overarching theme. MWO has three roots in BattleTech lore: mechs, factions, and eras (implicit in the first two). I would like to see MWO seasons that focused on particular faction-era configurations, in a rotational manner.

Let me illustrate:

• November-December will be War of 3039 season
  
• Everyone picks a side, Davion or Kurita, and has to stick to it for the entire season (the less populated faction can get proportional rewards or maybe even buffs once everyone has picked a side)
  
• Typical Davion and Kurita mechs will be cheaper to purchase, and will give extra XP and c-bills
  
• For this season, you can only take components that would be present in 3039; to compensate for that, trial mechs will be season-compliant (Enforcers, Jagermechs, Dragons, Catapults...) and season-compliant gear will be cheaper

Someone may see this and complain that it does not make sense to disallow certain mechs, even if it is just for a couple of months. But in fact that's what happens in other competitive games with a large pool of units. It doesn't mean that your cards/minis/units are useless, they are just saved for a later season. This adds variety to the meta, and encourages purchases. As opposed to now, where rotation very much depends on weapon tweaks, stock mechs are simple C-bill traps due to the need for upgrading, and we all have plenty of mechs collecting dust because they are simply not viable.

Every two months you could rotate between three basic eras: 3025/39 (Succession Wars), 3052 (Clan Invasion), 3062/67 (Civil War). Each time you hit an era you can focus on a different factional conflict:

• 3025: Hesperus II (Marik vs Steiner), Mallory's World (Davion vs Kurita), Misery (Kurita vs Dragoons), Gotterdamerung (Steiner vs Kurita), Ronin War (Kurita vs Kurita)...
  
• 3052: Luthien, Coventry, Twycross, Guerrero...
  
• 3062/67: Combine-Ghost Bear, Jade vs Wolf, Fed-Com civil war...

This would be a way to keep the game fresh, as every couple of months players would be rewarded for acquiring new mechs, and mastering different playstyles. Imagine how refreshing it would be to have an MWO of Enforcers vs Dragons, then an MWO of Timber Wolves vs Summoners, then an MWO of Bushwackers vs Shadow Cats...

It would also, frankly, make it a BattleTech/MechWarrior game, and not just a game with BattleMechs.

[DrastiK]

I don't agree with all the asking for new content.
If you looked through fresh eyes that had never seen a MechWarrior game, there is already a tremendous number of mechs, overwhelming.

Instead, I really believe you should merge all the "game modes" into 1. Make it about the interplanetary map, new players must choose their alignment when they start (you can still change loyalty for a penalty, etc). That map has a "cool factor" that is going to waste. Playing MW2 in Mplayer lobby in the 90s, the site we used as a planetary map was the best part - feeling like your battles mattered. Quick Play as it is doesn't matter. Also, as a solo player, I can never get in a Faction war map, I sit and watch the timer, with the very obscure UI indicating (I think) the player # / # on each side, only to see it get close to 12, then restart when a big group gets priority over a solo. Just make "QuickPlay" into a mode that either: joins a battle in your faction, starts an attack on territory, or merc-joins you to battles elsewhere, or make the whole thing a facade and the map is just a representation of W/L ratios of players in those factions (planetary control grows/shrinks accordingly). Either way, stop with all the segregated queues, break it down into a single main game line (Faction Quick Play - solo or group), with the only addition of the Arena (because that could/should be so much "cooler", more rewarding, and more enticing to play than it is), so you just queue for one or the other.

The main focus of effort should be on marketing and if the devs need something to do - well, get to merging the game modes, and improve confusing UI in some areas; simplify the user journey.

Most of all: Reduce to 2 queues, stop all the player segregating and infinite queue lines!

[Van mw]

C337Skymaster, on 11 October 2020 - 02:28 PM, said:

... I had another interesting idea, based on a misinterpretation of the purpose of C3 systems: I think it might go a long way towards satisfying the Clan Fanboys if C3 was added as an actual system to MWO with the following incorrect implementation: target sharing ONLY goes through C3 (requiring someone in the lance to have a C3 master computer, and suffering all the downsides, etc, etc). Due to the fact that Clans do not get C3 equipment, they don't get the shared targeting that it provides, although they would still have VOIP, and TAG/NARC. As a balance to this, Clans get their LRM minimum range eliminated (so they do 100% damage up to 0m, like they're supposed to), and also can attack ground, as mentioned above. This would indirectly reintroduce the idea of Clan "Zellbrigen" vs IS teamwork. From there, we can roll back the nerfs to clan weaponry and the corresponding buffs to IS weaponry. IS would go back to being underpowered coordinated teams, and the Clans would be overpowered lone wolves, able to win any 1v1 fight, but handicapped in winning against multiple enemies.

Quite interesting. Weapons balance changes are only for the lock-on weapons or to all across the board?
If all, how this might affect the quick play? Seems like IS mechs pretty much would be a cannon folder there.
Another mechanic that increase complexity so somehow should be explained to the new players.
Unlikely to be implemented, however I like what it adds to the FW.
That brings up the dilemma - old players (I suppose) want complexity but that increase the difficulty to the rookies. If we are going to ease a new player experience that puts a significant constraint on what can be implemented. Because expansion of the academy (the only available in-game tutorial) is a no go as I remember.

[D U N E]

Horseman, on 11 October 2020 - 10:23 PM, said:

I mean, that's SORT OF what the trial mechs were supposed to fill - except for the fact most of their builds are no longer relevant after years of quirk, weapon and core mechanic changes.
What we really need there is to RETIRE most of the trial mech pool and create new set of trial mechs that are at viable in the current meta. Since replacing the loadouts on the (C)'s is a no go, if the same chassis gets reused, indicate this new series of Champions as (C+) or (CC).

Yea I'd personally love to see that happen too, though I more mean players could enjoy the entire MWO experience without ever opening the mechlab, some people find is as an irritating extra step - I know if they start rebalancing it could be 'fun', though I'd be nice to see a way for players to just buy a fully kitted mech meta mech that does what it says on the tin. Why buy a mech, find the loadout, import the build code and play, if you can just buy the mech pre-packaged with the optimal/really good loadout. Also not every mech would get this treatment, only the more engaging ones. So you could expect the Hellbringers to be in it, Annhilators and Battlemasters - just generally what works. Maybe assign a difficulty rating to players can know what to expect when they launch. General QoL for new players.

[Telthas]

I want silly event. Give me 200 kph ubries with unlimited rocket pods/MRMs and triple jumpjet power!!!

O and for new player experience. Just give everyone the trail mechs, make them fully customable and with a full skill tree of 91 points.

P vs AI matches would be nice to get players some experience before jumping into full P v P

[C337Skymaster]

DrastiK, on 12 October 2020 - 01:50 AM, said:

I don't agree with all the asking for new content.
If you looked through fresh eyes that had never seen a MechWarrior game, there is already a tremendous number of mechs, overwhelming.

Instead, I really believe you should merge all the "game modes" into 1. Make it about the interplanetary map, new players must choose their alignment when they start (you can still change loyalty for a penalty, etc). That map has a "cool factor" that is going to waste. Playing MW2 in Mplayer lobby in the 90s, the site we used as a planetary map was the best part - feeling like your battles mattered. Quick Play as it is doesn't matter. Also, as a solo player, I can never get in a Faction war map, I sit and watch the timer, with the very obscure UI indicating (I think) the player # / # on each side, only to see it get close to 12, then restart when a big group gets priority over a solo. Just make "QuickPlay" into a mode that either: joins a battle in your faction, starts an attack on territory, or merc-joins you to battles elsewhere, or make the whole thing a facade and the map is just a representation of W/L ratios of players in those factions (planetary control grows/shrinks accordingly). Either way, stop with all the segregated queues, break it down into a single main game line (Faction Quick Play - solo or group), with the only addition of the Arena (because that could/should be so much "cooler", more rewarding, and more enticing to play than it is), so you just queue for one or the other.

The main focus of effort should be on marketing and if the devs need something to do - well, get to merging the game modes, and improve confusing UI in some areas; simplify the user journey.

Most of all: Reduce to 2 queues, stop all the player segregating and infinite queue lines!

This fits with something I've started pushing since the last "trial 'mech" event: Rather than custom-built trial 'mechs that get woefully outdated as they get left behind by the meta and chassis quirks, I want to open up the trial 'mech pool to ALL 'mechs, with the specific exception that, as a new player, you have to declare for one faction or another, or join a mercenary unit (we can say Wolf's Dragoons, since a lot of the in-game 'mechs were unique to them), then your 'mech options are restricted to what that faction would have had available to its regular army (ie: "you just enlisted" sort of a scenario). 'Mechs that were common to all factions (Atlas-D, Stalker-3F, Archer-2R, etc.), are available across all the different factions. 'Mechs that were unique to a specific faction (Atlas-K = Kurita, Stalker-5M = Marik, Archer-5S = Steiner), are only available from that faction. We could (and should) extend this to the store: you can only buy from your current faction, but get to keep what you own when you desert (maintaining the possibility to own everything, eventually). This should tie into Faction Loyalty and those rewards, and tie the whole game together with a story, plot, and the underlying lore, without which, nothing makes much sense (particularly the tech divide between the Clans and IS).

Yes, this puts new players in-game with stock 'mechs, but how is that worse than some of the trial 'mechs we're currently forcing them to use? There are plenty of 'mechs that come with double heat sinks, these days, and the stock builds are the ones that fit with the quirks, most of the time. It lets new players familiarize themselves with ALL of the different chassis, feel how they move, and start to think about what they would want to do with the 'mech to make it better. Then they can buy a 'mech that will work for them (and not buy the 'mech they were told to buy, which doesn't match their preferred play style), already have a few matches in it so it's not a complete unknown, and have some idea of how to update it to make it better for them.

Edited by C337Skymaster, 12 October 2020 - 06:51 AM.

[Horseman]

C337Skymaster, on 12 October 2020 - 06:46 AM, said:

Yes, this puts new players in-game with stock 'mechs, but how is that worse than some of the trial 'mechs we're currently forcing them to use?

Undergunned. Undercooled. Underarmored. Bracket builds.

[Brauer]

Horseman, on 12 October 2020 - 11:41 AM, said:

Undergunned. Undercooled. Underarmored. Bracket builds.

Yep, stock mechs are generally far worse than the trial mechs (potentially with an exception or two).

I also think if you open up a huge number of mechs to new players they will have too many options and struggle to choose between them or identify the few okay-ish stock mechs. It'd be better to update trial mech list, but I don't see that happening.

[C E Dwyer]

This is all very well and good.

It's nice seeing a guy popular with the hard core community, getting a new job.
It's nice for P.G.I. They found someone to pay to be a target, for community ire, if this new appointment comes to nothing.

Can listen to the community, be the voice of the 'people'.

Without a budget and new content, this is just a PR exercise.

[C337Skymaster]

Horseman, on 12 October 2020 - 11:41 AM, said:

Undergunned. Undercooled. Underarmored. Bracket builds.

Okay, I see the term a lot, but what exactly do you mean by "bracket builds"? If you're talking about not focusing literally everything on a single range, then I'll say that I find myself screwed over by that more often than I find it useful, and I find having different range options useful more often than it's a handicap. As for "undergunned", I'd debate that one, too, since I run stock weapons as a matter of preference, and do quite well with about 90% of the available loadouts. (I don't own Assassins. They have no business in a stock-weapons account). There's only a small handful of 'mechs that are actually undergunned.

As for armor and cooling, I fully agree. There are a handful of 'mechs that are upgraded to DHS, or have enough singles to make it workable (my Awesomes are still SHS because they have so many, and my WHM-6R never got upgraded because it seemed to work well enough as-is). But that's the point of buying the 'mech: so you can make those changes. Meanwhile, you have the ability to try them all without committing to any one in particular, only to find out that it sucks.

And tell me the stock Highlander is "undergunned" compared to the trial 'mech. I dare you...

Edited by C337Skymaster, 12 October 2020 - 03:27 PM.