544 replies to this topic

[AnAnachronismAlive]

Reno Blade, on 01 November 2020 - 07:20 AM, said:

Faction Warfare:
Goal = Feel your fame increasing and being part of the faction

• Morph the Game to a „constant warzone“ where players are constantly dropping as reinfocements and the games just continue for 1h straight, but you get your final battle-outcome later on (as battle report) in addition to what you get after your 4 mechs are out.

Dunno why and gotta think it through first, but this idea kinda hooks me up! Questionable though if maps with enough / important objectives can be implemented to sustain somewhat of a "campaign feeling" where (example) taking out an enemy airfield / ammo depot etc. feels like an accomplishment and has a direct impact on the game somehow.

(My) Sweet dreams are made of this ...

[NAMEUNKOWN]

Khalcruth, on 05 October 2020 - 06:59 PM, said:

"determine a development path for MWO". ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? What the heck have you people been doing the last YEAR???????? Seriously, you are just now discovering that maybe you need a plan of some kind?

"What do players want to see in future" Again, ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? How do you not know this already?

what he said

[Tiamat of the Sea]

Mr D One, on 01 November 2020 - 04:41 AM, said:

I don't know who you are or where you have been, and I really do not care. If you played Squadrons, it is proof that EA can get it right and release a complete game. You should do yourself a favour and give it a go.

Sure, they can. And when they do, they do (Titanfall 2 is still good). But a lot of the time they don't, and instead make one attempt to pull money out of it, and if that doesn't pay off quickly, kill it.

Mr D One, on 01 November 2020 - 04:41 AM, said:

As for Epic being a bit iffy, well I would cite the IGP Gold Skin mechs as the first ever overpriced cosmetic item only, for a free to play model game. AceKilljoy and Darkmenace have ridiculed the idea of taunts and dancing emotes on mechs, but I would have all of you look at the useless cosmetic items you put on your battlemech console.

It's the same type of thing.

I was talking more in terms of company integrity and overall practices, really. I don't actually care about cosmetics for the most part.

Mr D One, on 01 November 2020 - 04:41 AM, said:

Sell the MWO property to Square Enix, or Microsoft or whomever you like, it simply can not be in a worse place then it is currently, can it?

Sure it could. It could be

• Blatantly pay to win.
  
• Marketed as a 'social platform' as much or moreso than a game.
  
• Misrepresented completely by its owners as an utterly different type of gameplay than it actually is.
  
• An overpriced subscription service.
  
• Suffering from constant, massive, or both constant and massive power creep.
  
• Gone.

Edited by Tiamat Cordia, 02 November 2020 - 06:47 AM.

[Alreech]

If Microsoft would be interested in making a Mechwarrior Game they wouldn't have prolonged the license to PGI.
And if Microsoft wants to make Mech stuff again it would be probably a new Mech Assault for the new X-Box or a Mechcommander RTS for PC, not an over complex MechSim like Mechwarrior 2 / 3 / 4.

From a pure commercial point of view: PGI & Hardbraid Science are maintaining the franchise while paying royalties to Microsoft... produce own games would cost money.
Even if Microsoft wants to produce a MechSim: buying PGI would be the simplest way to get a studio with experience in "Mech Stuff".

[GARION26]

I think one thing players should think about as they read and post in this thread - is how widely divergent the player base suggestions are.

It's a 28 page thread but we've seen all sorts of things - in some cases I suspect a suggestion by one player would drive off another player in this thread.

Just be conscious that the changes they make aren't going to be loved by everyone.

I happened to look up a wikipedia on what minimally viable product is - while it's used as a term of derision here it's really a pretty standard approach to iterative sequential product development based on user feedback.

https://en.wikipedia..._viable_product

That's how MWO got to where it is listening to what it appeared to the developers players wanted. That's not the same thing as correctly anticipating what ALL the players wanted nor is it necessarily what will help make the game most succesfull in the long run. I'd suggest both of those things are much harder to correctly guess by both developers and players a like.

It's an 8 year old game - how many video games do any of us play regularly for more then 1 year. Most of mine are 3-4 months and then I move on. Some are 3-4 weeks.

[Daeron Katz]

Check out the Monday MechWarrior Update here:
https://mwomercs.com...te-with-daeron/

[DAEDALOS513]

Please add KMD's and Damage Taken to the main score screen at end of match.

[Galahad2030]

GARION26, on 02 November 2020 - 01:26 PM, said:

I think one thing players should think about as they read and post in this thread - is how widely divergent the player base suggestions are.

It's a 28 page thread but we've seen all sorts of things - in some cases I suspect a suggestion by one player would drive off another player in this thread.

Just be conscious that the changes they make aren't going to be loved by everyone.

I happened to look up a wikipedia on what minimally viable product is - while it's used as a term of derision here it's really a pretty standard approach to iterative sequential product development based on user feedback.

https://en.wikipedia..._viable_product

That's how MWO got to where it is listening to what it appeared to the developers players wanted. That's not the same thing as correctly anticipating what ALL the players wanted nor is it necessarily what will help make the game most succesfull in the long run. I'd suggest both of those things are much harder to correctly guess by both developers and players a like.

It's an 8 year old game - how many video games do any of us play regularly for more then 1 year. Most of mine are 3-4 months and then I move on. Some are 3-4 weeks.

MWO is well past the minimum viable product phase. It's time to detail out the game, add Quality of Life features, refine and redesign interfaces, add content and enrich the product.

[Lieutenant Hedgehog]

Hi Daeron! Congratulations on the new role.

I am a lifetime fan of Battletech who is only now discovering MWO.
I had the Tech Readouts and the pewter miniatures as a kid and played classic Mechwarrior Mercenaries & Mechcommander.

FWIW, here's what I've found could be improved, as a new player. Most of these have been covered already. I'm trying to keep in mind what will sustain player engagement and drive revenue.


* Better Event Integration. The Trick-Or-Treat event got me playing non-stop --- but many people on the Facebook MWO Group didn't even know it was happening. Yes there's a pop up in the news feed, but visiting the website to redeem your rewards isn't an obvious step. It feels like something which could and should happen in-game. Again these high reward events make it very fun to play, and motivated me to spend money on more colors for the new mechs I unlocked. So optimizing this experience could get players hooked.

* FP and Solaris queues are broken, so I just end up playing Quick Play most of the time. You can wait in queue for 30+ minutes for Faction Play, and I've never once managed to play a Solaris game because there are so few people there. Yet with Quick Play, there's always 24 people signed up and ready.

* As a result, I'm missing out on major portions of the game. Quick Play has limited maps and I'm often dead within the first 5 minutes and left spectating --- which is fun, but I would love the opportunity to play the sustained battles and varied Maps found in Faction Play. But it's just not fun waiting an indeterminate & lengthy amount of time for a match. So a massive portion of your game is just plain unappealing to play. So I'd find ways to make the alternate games modes work as well as Quick Play. You can't attract a new audience if certain game modes are significantly less enjoyable.

* To that point, Faction Play is also populated by diehard elites, and my match scores there are significantly lower than in Quick Play. I'm not truly interested in playing Meta builds just to survive. Nor do I want to wait 30 minutes just to get completely erased in a battle. So some balance in matchmaking would be great here, or some way to facilitate casual vs competitive play.

* This seems less likely/difficult to implement, but it also seems as if there is only ever one Faction Play match happening at a time. Having multiple conflicts could also solve the above problems.

* Navid A1 had a GREAT idea about a starter pack, containing a few mechs, colors, skill points, and parts/cbills. It is not easy getting started as a new player, and you need to try a few mechs/weapon layouts to see what works for your play style, but I don't find the 'Trial Mech' system works very well. I've never seen my Trial Mech selection rotated (I've played for about a month now).

* I feel like the Camo Spec/Customization monetization could be improved. As a new player, you want to have some degree of customization available without paying for it, or unlockable just by playing the game. Picking your 'avatar' is always an appealing part of a game. Having nearly ALL customization monetized is frustrating (the limited, dull 'Basic' colors are nothing to get excited about). Having more customization unlockable using c-bills might make a more appealing option to casual or new players.

* Alternately, I'd like to be able to pay for customization that gets you more than one color, or one pattern for one mech --- better value. Like having color/pattern packs purchasable which unlock multiple colors/patterns. Think of like, 'Woodland Pack', now all of your Mechs have the Woodland Camo with a group of 3-4 select colors. Or 'Jade Falcon' pack, you get the Jade Falcon Camo Pattern (for multiple mechs) and colors specific to that Clan. Fortnite does bundles like this, where you get multiple skins and accessories.

Again I'm a long time Battletech fan, so I enjoy this stuff. And I have paid for colors & patterns, because I get into that aspect, so it does work to an extent. Don't know how much demand there is for an idea like this but it's one thing that's occurred to me.

* Oh and one more small quality of life improvement: Integrate selling parts into the MechBay. It's a bit frustrating trying out a new layout, and having to navigate back to the home screen to sell parts you're not using. Not going to drive revenue but would be nice



OK! I think that's a good summary. And, unless I cast the wrong impression, I'm LOVING this game. I think it's an excellent entry in the Mechwarrior franchise. I love that the gameplay requires teamwork to succeed. I love the feel of the battles and the massive Mech selection. I think the fact that it's still running 7-8 years into it's life is phenomenal for any game and a testament to its quality. I want to see it improved and sustained and I'm optimistic for where this initiative leads.

Edited by Lieutenant Hedgehog, 05 November 2020 - 09:31 AM.

[DAEDALOS513]

QOL improvement.. fix this.. when it happens, it happens to the whole group. Clicking 'wait' brings back the client but it takes a minute or so..

[GARION26]

Lieutenant Hedgehog, on 05 November 2020 - 09:19 AM, said:

Hi Daeron! Congratulations on the new role.

I am a lifetime fan of Battletech who is only now discovering MWO.
I had the Tech Readouts and the pewter miniatures as a kid and played classic Mechwarrior Mercenaries & Mechcommander.

FWIW, here's what I've found could be improved, as a new player. Most of these have been covered already. I'm trying to keep in mind what will sustain player engagement and drive revenue.


* Better Event Integration. The Trick-Or-Treat event got me playing non-stop --- but many people on the Facebook MWO Group didn't even know it was happening. Yes there's a pop up in the news feed, but visiting the website to redeem your rewards isn't an obvious step. It feels like something which could and should happen in-game. Again these high reward events make it very fun to play, and motivated me to spend money on more colors for the new mechs I unlocked. So optimizing this experience could get players hooked.

* FP and Solaris queues are broken, so I just end up playing Quick Play most of the time. You can wait in queue for 30+ minutes for Faction Play, and I've never once managed to play a Solaris game because there are so few people there. Yet with Quick Play, there's always 24 people signed up and ready.

* As a result, I'm missing out on major portions of the game. Quick Play has limited maps and I'm often dead within the first 5 minutes and left spectating --- which is fun, but I would love the opportunity to play the sustained battles and varied Maps found in Faction Play. But it's just not fun waiting an indeterminate & lengthy amount of time for a match. So a massive portion of your game is just plain unappealing to play. So I'd find ways to make the alternate games modes work as well as Quick Play. You can't attract a new audience if certain game modes are significantly less enjoyable.

* To that point, Faction Play is also populated by diehard elites, and my match scores there are significantly lower than in Quick Play. I'm not truly interested in playing Meta builds just to survive. Nor do I want to wait 30 minutes just to get completely erased in a battle. So some balance in matchmaking would be great here, or some way to facilitate casual vs competitive play.

* This seems less likely/difficult to implement, but it also seems as if there is only ever one Faction Play match happening at a time. Having multiple conflicts could also solve the above problems.

* Navid A1 had a GREAT idea about a starter pack, containing a few mechs, colors, skill points, and parts/cbills. It is not easy getting started as a new player, and you need to try a few mechs/weapon layouts to see what works for your play style, but I don't find the 'Trial Mech' system works very well. I've never seen my Trial Mech selection rotated (I've played for about a month now).

* I feel like the Camo Spec/Customization monetization could be improved. As a new player, you want to have some degree of customization available without paying for it, or unlockable just by playing the game. Picking your 'avatar' is always an appealing part of a game. Having nearly ALL customization monetized is frustrating (the limited, dull 'Basic' colors are nothing to get excited about). Having more customization unlockable using c-bills might make a more appealing option to casual or new players.

* Alternately, I'd like to be able to pay for customization that gets you more than one color, or one pattern for one mech --- better value. Like having color/pattern packs purchasable which unlock multiple colors/patterns. Think of like, 'Woodland Pack', now all of your Mechs have the Woodland Camo with a group of 3-4 select colors. Or 'Jade Falcon' pack, you get the Jade Falcon Camo Pattern (for multiple mechs) and colors specific to that Clan. Fortnite does bundles like this, where you get multiple skins and accessories.

Again I'm a long time Battletech fan, so I enjoy this stuff. And I have paid for colors & patterns, because I get into that aspect, so it does work to an extent. Don't know how much demand there is for an idea like this but it's one thing that's occurred to me.

* Oh and one more small quality of life improvement: Integrate selling parts into the MechBay. It's a bit frustrating trying out a new layout, and having to navigate back to the home screen to sell parts you're not using. Not going to drive revenue but would be nice



OK! I think that's a good summary. And, unless I cast the wrong impression, I'm LOVING this game. I think it's an excellent entry in the Mechwarrior franchise. I love that the gameplay requires teamwork to succeed. I love the feel of the battles and the massive Mech selection. I think the fact that it's still running 7-8 years into it's life is phenomenal for any game and a testament to its quality. I want to see it improved and sustained and I'm optimistic for where this initiative leads.

This is a great first post! Spot on.

[GARION26]

Galahad2030, on 05 November 2020 - 06:31 AM, said:

MWO is well past the minimum viable product phase. It's time to detail out the game, add Quality of Life features, refine and redesign interfaces, add content and enrich the product.

Agreed - but I'm just pointing out MVP is tossed around like a term of derision but it's a common approach and I think for this product was exactly the way to approach and IP where the fan base wants widely divergent things (some folks in this thread want a multiplayer long term campaign/RPG game, others want an optimized first person shooter.)

They've added and tweaked a lot iteratively from the launch status of MWO. Some of those things made some people happy, some things made some people mad, some seemed to work as intended and some apparently failed for one reason or another.

Totally agree they should continue to add things -and I think this new initiative is their request for 'can the players agree on what they really want, or at least give us some ideas if players can't agree.'

[DAEDALOS513]

Make it so that a mechs' 'built-in' quirks can be viewed in the mechlab instead of having them blended in with the tree nodes.. it's very unintuitive to have to go to the store or some outside source to find out the native quirks..

Edited by DAEDALOS513, 08 November 2020 - 07:37 AM.

[Horseman]

DAEDALOS513, on 07 November 2020 - 04:31 PM, said:

Make it so that a mechs' quirks can be viewed in the mechlab instead of having to go to the store or some outside source.

Expand the Mech Stats box and scroll down.

[RRAMIREZ]

I think what Daedlos513 meant was that it's not "blended" with skilltree stats so that you can't isolate quirks and that you have to go to the unskilled mech (store) to see the quirks.
especially general cooldown and general heatgen.
And I agree with Daelos513, it would be a nice to have.

[C337Skymaster]

dr3dnought, on 31 October 2020 - 08:59 PM, said:

Not-So-Low-Hanging Fruit: Rework streaks. I know I am biased as a light-main, but objectively, there is no other weapon that is a no-aim one-shot against an entire class, negating the only advantages of said class (namely speed and small size), while being more-or-less useless against every other class.

So as someone who favors streaks (especially on 'mechs with no lower arm actuators), I feel as though you should try to use them for a match or two. While it's true that, once fired, streaks are nearly a guaranteed hit (barring range or sudden cover), obtaining a lockon is exceedingly difficult, and the damage is somewhat uniformly spread over all the different components. It's sometimes easier to get a PPC hit than to get streaks to lock on, and it's extremely rare to get more than one shot against a light 'mech, so that shot needs to count for something. Far from being "no aim", they require very careful aim throughout the entire lockon process. If your aim waivers for so much as a fraction of a second, the lockon backs off and needs to be reacquired. Once locked, they will retain that lock for a period of time, although not through the entire reload cycle unless we're discussing IS Streak 2's.

[C337Skymaster]

GARION26, on 02 November 2020 - 01:26 PM, said:

I happened to look up a wikipedia on what minimally viable product is - while it's used as a term of derision here it's really a pretty standard approach to iterative sequential product development based on user feedback. https://en.wikipedia..._viable_product

So the issue everyone has, and the reason for the derision, is that of the suggestions over the years, and of the various hopes and dreams of the community, only the "minimum" ones have ever been implemented. PGI promised, and the Community hoped and dreamed, of a super in-depth, quality MMO gaming experience, and all we've ever gotten was whatever was "easy", rarely anything truly "quality".

GARION26, on 02 November 2020 - 01:26 PM, said:

It's an 8 year old game - how many video games do any of us play regularly for more *than* 1 year. Most of mine are 3-4 months and then I move on. Some are 3-4 weeks.

Battletech/Mechwarrior... I didn't get my own computer until January, 2007 (college). At that time, I got my hands on MW2, MW3, and MW4 and their expansions, as well as all of the MechCommander games, and I played them non-stop until I got a computer capable of running MWLL/MWO in August, 2015. After playing through each campaign in publication order one time, I rearranged the games to be in chronological order (MW2: Mercs, MW2, MW2: GBL, MCG, MW3, MC2, MW4: Vengeance, Black Knight, Mercs). I played that as basically one extended campaign, which would take me two or three months to play all the way through, then I'd go back to the beginning and play the whole thing again.

Before that, I played Age of Empires II for 13 years.

There are guys, here (such as Daeron) who've been playing this game since they picked up their first rulebook in the 80's. Dedication isn't the issue. Dedication is why this game didn't die 4 years ago.

Edited by C337Skymaster, 11 November 2020 - 04:13 AM.

[Florida Man 666]

Would love to see PVE elements added via gametypes. Like a several allied and enimacal tanks tracking to a waypoint where a team would get points for each armor track painted as salvage; but the tanks would be armored and hard to assail, bristling with weapons. Thus, only a concerted effort would succeed against said convoy. Moreover players could use allied armor units to bolster their strength if a split force assualted them, turning the tide even if they've sustained several losses.

[RowanE83]

C337Skymaster, on 11 November 2020 - 04:12 AM, said:

So the issue everyone has, and the reason for the derision, is that of the suggestions over the years, and of the various hopes and dreams of the community, only the "minimum" ones have ever been implemented. PGI promised, and the Community hoped and dreamed, of a super in-depth, quality MMO gaming experience, and all we've ever gotten was whatever was "easy", rarely anything truly "quality".

They did tons of work, just spent the time (perhaps) unwisely.

Think of a fat guy spending hours on a treadmill each day, but stopping every half hour to eat a chocolate cake.

The constant effort to balance and rebalance weapon systems until weapon is a medium laser, was hampered by the regular release of new chassis or a newly adjusted system. Because the new content created these mini metas that were then reacted to and patch after patch chased its tail for years. Kinda funny. And I didn't really mind since the mini metas were fun.

Some big changes like clans and the UI rebuild they did do. Its just that the UI was still just as slow as the last one and the clans was just more chassis - and a nice big heap of new weapon systems all at once.

[C337Skymaster]

RowanE83, on 15 November 2020 - 01:01 AM, said:

They did tons of work, just spent the time (perhaps) unwisely.

Think of a fat guy spending hours on a treadmill each day, but stopping every half hour to eat a chocolate cake.

The constant effort to balance and rebalance weapon systems until weapon is a medium laser, was hampered by the regular release of new chassis or a newly adjusted system. Because the new content created these mini metas that were then reacted to and patch after patch chased its tail for years. Kinda funny. And I didn't really mind since the mini metas were fun.

Some big changes like clans and the UI rebuild they did do. Its just that the UI was still just as slow as the last one and the clans was just more chassis - and a nice big heap of new weapon systems all at once.

Yeah, but regardless of the feeling on the development end, the feeling on the consumer end is that they only ever did the easy work. New 'mech pack every month? Just a bit of artwork. Most of the animations are there, you just have to cherry-pick and tune the ones you want, then put a skin on it. They probably spent as much time on the Collector and Hero paint schemes as anything else each month.

We appreciated new 'mechs, because we understood that's how they made money, and we wanted to help. It was also an opportunity to flesh-out the universe, and for us to get a chance to play our favorite 'mechs from TT or from past MW games.

We were still hoping, however, for that in-depth MMO experience I mentioned. We've been waiting for that for 8 years. Honestly, we've been waiting for that for 11 years, since the original MW5 trailer first came out, and before HG stuck its big fat nose in the gears again. I STILL want to play whatever that original campaign was supposed to be. I'm hoping that story was written and filed away somewhere, because I'm still interested.

I strongly suspect that, if PGI had released a 'mech every quarter, instead of every month, and had added to the depth of the universe and the MMO experience on the other 8 patches per year, we'd have been just as interested, then, and much happier, now.

Edited by C337Skymaster, 17 November 2020 - 05:55 AM.