93 replies to this topic

[General Solo]

From my previous stuff
Match making is King
Spend money on that

Editts the hardest thing to do
But imo has the most return more than any content at this stage
Cause what content you have is good, just not the match maker

Back in the day dat happened wid population omp but today needs to happen as it always should of happened with, a good match maker

Make it a priority

Better than Solairs, polish what you got till that thing is shiney

You learn the engine the ins and outs

You have 5 years a head

Rather than spitting out monetization you instead do more investigating, R&D , star citizen in aspiration (Lumberyard has a cryengine base) with PGI's best implementation.

Edited by OZHomerOZ, 13 October 2020 - 03:39 AM.

[C337Skymaster]

Galahad2030, on 12 October 2020 - 12:06 PM, said:

I never listen to podcasts, but I listened to most of this one.

Feedback for Russ, PGI, and company.

1. Monetization isn't everything. A game must be interesting and have content/gameplay updates to keep the game alive.

2. Monetization ideas. This really is PGI's job, not ours. I will list some things that I would be willing to pay for or will generate PGI some income however.

• Referral Program with rewards for the recruiting player AND the recruited players. This will increase your playerbase and potential customers. Regardless of Russ's viewpoint that this is a niche game, a game without new players will ultimately fail.
  
• Roadmaps and community communication. Especially for smaller game communities that want to grow, it must be clearly visible that the game is active and dynamically moving forward.
  
• Subscription service. Not everyone is smart enough to figure out how to do a subscription with your transaction model. Offer a month/semi-annual subscription service for a flat fee that includes some perks like premium time, MC, free mechs, free exclusive cosmetics, whatever you guys can come up with. Advertise it.
  
• Market and advertise the game. No media outlet is covering your game. Get updates out and get them reviewed by PCGamer, PC World, IGN, you name it.
  
• New mechs and/or game mechanics. Do I need to tell you why? See point #1 Monetization isn't everything.
  
• Set population increase goals and achieve them. Calling your product niche is an easy out instead of recognizing you've failed a large part of the community by not making your product as huge as the original Mechwarrior series. Maybe you don't remember but MW2 was one of the hugest PCs games of it's time.

I hope to see at least the referral program and the subscription service go live soon. Those I would participate in.



My two cents.

Galahad2030

Honestly, I'd be willing to pay a small subscription ($5/mo or something) if PGI were to add missing variants every month. Not new chassis, just new loadouts. MAD-7D, for example (3R with ECM, basically). Even the KFX-A, B, E (all totally buildable in-game, but can be added as unique 'mechs with specific quirks), etc. I prefer variants that we can't currently build (DWF C with CT ECM, or DWF-X with all kinds of missile hardpoints, Victor-10L with stealth armor), but I'll take the ones we can, too. This really shouldn't take a single programmer more than a couple of hours to configure, so one per month really shouldn't be too much to ask for. I used to make a point of being eligible for the Loyalty 'mechs every year, because this is exactly the kind of thing they used to do, but we all got burned with that idea, last year, so I'm okay with it being a small subscription benefit that comes out every month, instead of every year. No CBill boost or special camo needed (though if it came with Woodland Camo unlocked for the chassis, I wouldn't mind ).

[crazytimes]

C337Skymaster, on 13 October 2020 - 06:06 PM, said:

Honestly, I'd be willing to pay a small subscription ($5/mo or something) if PGI were to add missing variants every month.

I'd be willing to play any other F2P game if they try and make this subscription based.

I have wasted the majority of my gaming time tonight watching a spinning "searching" icon. There are literally not enough people in tier 1 to form two matches at the same time, I have to wait for a match to finish if I'm not in. No way am I putting money into a subscription for a "searching" simulator.

[Galahad2030]

crazytimes, on 14 October 2020 - 01:19 AM, said:

I'd be willing to play any other F2P game if they try and make this subscription based.

I have wasted the majority of my gaming time tonight watching a spinning "searching" icon. There are literally not enough people in tier 1 to form two matches at the same time, I have to wait for a match to finish if I'm not in. No way am I putting money into a subscription for a "searching" simulator.

The idea is not to replace transactions (MC), but offer those of us with the desire to just pay monthly automatically, or semi-annually automatically, an option to do so. Asking players to manually 'resub' every month or couple of months by making MC buys is tedious and not something I want to do.

I also feel posting lore on the front page of the mwomercs.com website and showcasing different mechs with associated lore weekly if not daily would really revive the image of the company as being active and producing content.

Let's not forget the $500 gold mech debacle. Monetization isn't everything. There must never be another incident like that again, and the company has to demonstrate they are not greedy. PGI has to change it's perceived image in the general public by explosively offering content like lore/mech overviews/events/battle pass and sales + frequent free or earned rewards. Only then will it start to achieve positive motion forward.

[Alreech]

crazytimes, on 14 October 2020 - 01:19 AM, said:

I have wasted the majority of my gaming time tonight watching a spinning "searching" icon. There are literally not enough people in tier 1 to form two matches at the same time, I have to wait for a match to finish if I'm not in.

Works as wished by the loudest critics of the old matchmaking / tier calculation system.
Remember? All problems in Quickplay (Stomps, NASCAR, lack of teamwork, ect...) are caused by bad players in high tiers.
In 12 vs 12 Solo Quickplay the matchmaker has to balance:

Player Tier
Mech Class / tonnage
Matchmaking time

So if Tier 1 Players have to wait for a 12 vs 12 = that's the way it should be to protect them from bad teammates.

Obvious solutions like:
smaller teams (8 vs 8, 4 vs 4)
using dropdecks to remove Class & Tonnage from matchmaking
are a no go.

As an other user said: Solo Quickplay is the most succesfull mode in MWO...

Edited by Alreech, 14 October 2020 - 08:29 AM.

[Punkarelli]

To summarize: "We basically abandoned the game for two years, but don't worry we plan on coming up with a plan... maybe eventually... does anyone have any ideas? please buy a mechpack..."

[C337Skymaster]

crazytimes, on 14 October 2020 - 01:19 AM, said:

I'd be willing to play any other F2P game if they try and make this subscription based.

I have wasted the majority of my gaming time tonight watching a spinning "searching" icon. There are literally not enough people in tier 1 to form two matches at the same time, I have to wait for a match to finish if I'm not in. No way am I putting money into a subscription for a "searching" simulator.

BuckleUp, on 14 October 2020 - 06:51 AM, said:

It sounds to me like the suggestion is for an OPTIONAL subscription service, not a mandatory one. Folks who opt for the subscription get some perks (NOT the kind that would give them advantages in a match, but things like premium time, MC, etc.). In return for the steady income, PGI would offer some sort of regular updates for everybody (not just subscribers), be they new variants or whatnot. It could be a real win-win: easy to implement, generates revenue straight away and gets the ball rolling on new content development.

Galahad2030, on 14 October 2020 - 06:53 AM, said:

The idea is not to replace transactions (MC), but offer those of us with the desire to just pay monthly automatically, or semi-annually automatically, an option to do so. Asking players to manually 'resub' every month or couple of months by making MC buys is tedious and not something I want to do.

I also feel posting lore on the front page of the mwomercs.com website and showcasing different mechs with associated lore weekly if not daily would really revive the image of the company as being active and producing content.

Let's not forget the $500 gold mech debacle. Monetization isn't everything. There must never be another incident like that again, and the company has to demonstrate they are not greedy. PGI has to change it's perceived image in the general public by explosively offering content like lore/mech overviews/events/battle pass and sales + frequent free or earned rewards. Only then will it start to achieve positive motion forward.

I suppose I should have been more clear: yes, I want an OPTIONAL subscription, something not-too-expensive (I didn't shell out $100/mo before, I'm not going to start, now. $5/mo is something I could swing, though), and I've already got enough premium time, MC, etc, just from what I've already purchased. What personally interests me, though, is poke-meching. "Gotta catch 'em all". Trying to complete collections of a particular chassis by purchasing or building every variant that shows up in the record sheets. There are still a few that can't be built on any existing chassis, and I'd even be willing to settle for PGI adding the ones for which that CAN be done, if just for bragging rights (what else do we have in this game, apart from bragging rights?)

Punkarelli, on 14 October 2020 - 11:11 AM, said:

To summarize: "We basically abandoned the game for two years, but don't worry we plan on coming up with a plan... maybe eventually... does anyone have any ideas? please buy a mechpack..."

Exactly. Spot on summary of a 2 hour rant.

So you know what got me excited about this game? Enough so that I made a point of saving up for a gaming computer specifically so I could play it? I'd heard a rumor that this game was going to follow the in-game timeline, day-to-day, so September 2nd, 3049 was supposed to be September 2nd, 2011, or 2012, or whenever they got it up and running. And September 3rd, 3049, was going to be September 3rd, etc. They were going to follow the technology timeline to the day, so the day the first Bushwacker walked off the assembly line is the first day it would show up in-game (and presumably this would have included the requisite scarcity, so the first day, only one person in the entire MWO community had one, but on day 2, a couple more people would get it, and it would go on that way, as though it was coming off a real assembly line).

Then I started playing in 2015 (it took me awhile to get that computer), and everything I'd ever heard about the game was out the window. Nobody was even talking about it, anymore, except the salty Founders who were still pissed that they paid for something they never got. Honestly, I don't blame them.

Now I'm left to play Poke-Mech, because there's literally no other reason for me to play this game. I have no objectives, no purpose, no drive. Just walk, shoot, die, walk, shoot, die.... I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one (hence why the playerbase is withering like a dead plant).

Edited by C337Skymaster, 16 October 2020 - 02:21 PM.

[C337Skymaster]

Sudden impression: the beggar on the street corner that "just needs a couple bucks for a room tonight. I've got an interview tomorrow, and I'm going to get back on my feet". A week later, you see him: "So how did the interview go?" "Interview? What interview? Oh, right 'interview'. Can you spare a couple bucks?"

[Calebos]

Honestly if I spend a cent(or more of course) in the future of this game is just porting it to any reasonable engine with propper features(at least ik to get correct and more "dynamic" hit reg. And I have to mention: no, I do not care how you do it. I know well it is the challenge but fairly in the game with 24 clients at once connected to just one instance and you are still not able to do this??? WTF PGI???) so it is able to be developed further. This state is pure trash. Cry Engine is absolute waste of time to keep it on. Even PGI would not change anything else then porting to(just an example Unreal Engine 4) something with future I will give them money and I will do it gladly but at this moment it is waste of money and time aswell.

[Kooroush Azartash]

I've noticed that for some game modes that have less straight forward objectives, it can be confusing to new players. If there were either tutorials for these modes in the Academy, or if the loading screen did a "briefing" of objectives and indicate what certain objectives look like, I believe it would would go a long way in helping these new players.

[Akillius]

C337Skymaster, on 16 October 2020 - 02:23 PM, said:

Sudden impression: the beggar on the street corner that "just needs a couple bucks for a room tonight. I've got an interview tomorrow, and I'm going to get back on my feet". A week later, you see him: "So how did the interview go?" "Interview? What interview? Oh, right 'interview'. Can you spare a couple bucks?"

No man you got it all wrong!
Oh ah I hope you don't mind me asking but...
Hey, mister, can you stake a fellow American to a meal?
Hey, mister, can you stake a fellow American to a meal?
Hey, mister, can you stake a fellow American to a meal?
etc...


Seriously though times are tough around the world during COVID-19 in this the year 2020. :/
But this topic and the lack of Communications by the new (but old...) "community manager" is also interesting . . . . .
Just hope PGI starts taking things seriously for once because what I'm seeing playing today is interesting . . . . .

All I'll say is this does not bode well for building Customer confidence.

[Noppers]

Yeah, I'm one of those players who wants this game to succeed but have been consistently disappointed since purchasing the Legendary pack.

I have not followed any of the politics / community conversation with PGI or Russ Bullock or anything really. I don't care whether the lore works, or if it follows tabletop or not. I've also played everything at length from WoT to EvE to HLL to........well, name it and I've probably played it for 200-1000 hours (depending on how good it was).

So much about MWO is just poorly executed. Just the simple quickplay is a bit rinse and repeat......maps are too small, each side pretty much goes to the same spot for every battle (i.e. deathball to GR XY, shoot enemy). The skill tree is such a convoluted mess. FP is a crappy setup. I could go into absolute specifics, but TBH I'm sure it's been done. I do like the mech lab....I liked the old one too.....it's not perfect, but it works.

MW5 is a pile of rubbish too.......extreme disappointment (repetitive battles, repetitive AI, repetitive voice, average-looking cockpit UI, really poor interface in the hangar, and jumping between systems is woefully inadequate for the year it's been released in.......should I go on?).

I watched and listened to this entire podcast, with no pre-conceived ideas about any of the folks in the video, but with 'on and off' years of gameplay in MWO. I own a lot of mechs, paid real $ for them, and wish I could get a refund for most of them. The game concept has incredible potential, but the execution is a shambles.

I'm a player who is looking for a game of this type, to spend my disposable income on, and I'm comfortable in saying that I'd strongly advise others not to touch this game until something radical changes. It saddens me that I have this opinion.

[Noppers]

Also, highly recommend PGI get some data analysts who understand that analysing the player base purchase / usage from the last 2 years is NOT going to give a good understanding of what people want.