111 replies to this topic

[Nightbird]

LordNothing, on 14 October 2020 - 06:56 PM, said:

setting that up is nontrivial. hell i have a hard enough time finding partners for 2v2 solaris every season. so much so i quit doing it.

Well, don't suicide all your mechs and perma die very FP match on second wave and you'll find people warming up to you...

[LordNothing]

Nightbird, on 14 October 2020 - 07:47 PM, said:

Well, don't suicide all your mechs and perma die very FP match on second wave and you'll find people warming up to you...

that was just one match. late. after playing the same exact match 6 times in a row. and i was off my meds.

[Johnathan Tanner]

Link to podcast.

[Yondu Udonta]

Seven Strikes, on 14 October 2020 - 11:42 AM, said:

As much as I would LOVE to see Planetary Conquest and I would love to fight for a planet and get my juicy MC I don't think that MWO currently has the player base to make this a realistic option, and i assume that's why it was removed?

Literally once this game mode is back in it will turn into JGx's free MC farming, (Which lets me honest, most of them don't even need it.) (Looking at you Temporary Axis. hahaha)

I'm not sure how it could be reinstated w/o everyone not in the mega-units being upset that now there is a "new" reward available but they'll never be able to get it.

Alternatively if you have your "Average" unit dropping 12 man into Q at weird hours just to farm the puggies for their planet I don't know if the puggies will keep wanting to drop anymore?

It's a crappy situation to figure out.

Additionally: Spice up the faction play rewards both for single matches, leveling up faction reputations, etc and that could drag more players into Faction Play.

I can't count how many times I've heard "I only play Faction for Mech Bays" if there were more rewards that might also drive more participation.

Thoughts?

I personally feel that the MC that you get from planets would not be that big of an issue. Considering that this system came up at a time where MC rewards from events were scarce, in 2020 it would be considered no more than a bonus that comes along with claiming a planet.
Regarding 12-mans farming pugs for the planet, let's just say that this game mode was built around group/communal play and that bad decisions along with poor communication systems for interaction between players resulted in the current state that Faction Play is in.
Incentivizing with unique rewards unattainable in QP and QP events will definitely draw people in. The learning curve however, can be a big barrier for people who want to play Faction Play and having community resources available, such as my Faction Play guide, would go a long way in making this game mode easier to learn.

[ccrider]

'll of these proposals are fine, in that the slightly improve what we currently have, but the real issue that drove off the player base is that nothing means anything anymore. Factions, units, etc.; all meaningless. I'd like them to experiment with a 4 faction system; 2 clan, 2 IS. 6 month seasons with the winning faction gaining a title, a la Comp champion titles. End each season with a Tuk event with the winning faction getting a slight boost towards the win, for example 3% extra per win or something. Make people care about the mode rather than this individual leaderboards stat harvesting we have now. Hell, give titles to the top 5-10 units per season as well. Let factions conquer the galaxy and rewrite history like we used to and see if that brings back people.

[Nathan White]

ccrider, on 14 October 2020 - 11:20 PM, said:

End each season with a Tuk event with the winning faction getting a slight boost towards the win, for example 3% extra per win or something. Make people care about the mode rather than this individual leaderboards stat harvesting we have now. Hell, give titles to the top 5-10 units per season as well. Let factions conquer the galaxy and rewrite history like we used to and see if that brings back people.

Yep, we need new Tukayyid and new ******* i n g FP events. The last one was a year ago

[Yondu Udonta]

ccrider, on 14 October 2020 - 11:20 PM, said:

'll of these proposals are fine, in that the slightly improve what we currently have, but the real issue that drove off the player base is that nothing means anything anymore. Factions, units, etc.; all meaningless. I'd like them to experiment with a 4 faction system; 2 clan, 2 IS. 6 month seasons with the winning faction gaining a title, a la Comp champion titles. End each season with a Tuk event with the winning faction getting a slight boost towards the win, for example 3% extra per win or something. Make people care about the mode rather than this individual leaderboards stat harvesting we have now. Hell, give titles to the top 5-10 units per season as well. Let factions conquer the galaxy and rewrite history like we used to and see if that brings back people.

I like, not sure about the limited factions due to diehard loyalists, but let's see if PGI plays ball with these initial small changes.

Edited by Yondu Udonta, 15 October 2020 - 05:30 AM.

[Ralf Steiner]

While I support most of the proposal, i disagree on earning MCs on a planet.
To me the bragging of "owning" a planet should be enough.

[ccrider]

Yondu Udonta, on 15 October 2020 - 05:18 AM, said:

I like, not sure about the limited factions due to diehard loyalists, but let's see if PGI plays ball with these initial small changes.

I'd handle diehard loyalists like this; the 4 factions are davion, Steiner, fer, then marik, liao, kurita, for clans wolf, ghost bear, Nova Cat and finally falcon, jaguar, shark and snake. This allows for IS v IS, clan v IS and clan v clan. Each time a planet is conquered the percentage of players decides what actual flag goes on a planet. If the davion group of 3 takes a planet but most of the players were Steiner, Steiner gets the cap. Easy. I'd also lock people to their faction for the duration of each season. No hopping over to get a champion Crown from the best faction at the last minute. I am not super happy with locking myself to one tech base but it's only per season. I can deal with being IS for 6 months since the next season I can just go clan.

[Yondu Udonta]

ccrider, on 15 October 2020 - 06:57 PM, said:

I'd handle diehard loyalists like this; the 4 factions are davion, Steiner, fer, then marik, liao, kurita, for clans wolf, ghost bear, Nova Cat and finally falcon, jaguar, shark and snake. This allows for IS v IS, clan v IS and clan v clan. Each time a planet is conquered the percentage of players decides what actual flag goes on a planet. If the davion group of 3 takes a planet but most of the players were Steiner, Steiner gets the cap. Easy. I'd also lock people to their faction for the duration of each season. No hopping over to get a champion Crown from the best faction at the last minute. I am not super happy with locking myself to one tech base but it's only per season. I can deal with being IS for 6 months since the next season I can just go clan.

Considering player numbers, locking for 6 months is out of the question. I'm not sure about numbers for NA prime, but it would be a bad idea considering the numbers in EU prime.

[ccrider]

Yondu Udonta, on 16 October 2020 - 04:56 AM, said:

Considering player numbers, locking for 6 months is out of the question. I'm not sure about numbers for NA prime, but it would be a bad idea considering the numbers in EU prime.

that's probably true even in NA prime. I dunno though; faction hopping when there's a title on the line just feels cheap. If for example unit A is the best unit that season but another faction is better, they could hop over there and just get an easy first place finish. But that's an issue for another time. I'd just like to get back to close to what we had and see if some of the old units come back. What we have now is just a shell of a mode that was already in an unfinished state.

[Nightbird]

Then I guess we can't have titles, because pop isn't a choice.

[M E M E M A C H I N E]

Plus one million to get scout mode back.

Just bring scout mode back the way it was with it's own queue. Do nothing to change the current siege map system, but have the scouting intel metagame going on in the background with it's own queue.

[LordNothing]

M E M E M A C H I N E, on 16 October 2020 - 12:24 PM, said:

Plus one million to get scout mode back.

Just bring scout mode back the way it was with it's own queue. Do nothing to change the current siege map system, but have the scouting intel metagame going on in the background with it's own queue.

i think id rather have 4v4 solaris. if solaris were to go to a 5 division system (one for each weight class and an unlimited class), then the light and medium brackets would play a lot like scouting. minus the smoke diving and trying to hobble on one leg and part of an engine to the dustof location in time. scouting was best when it was medium skirmish. even to the detriment to light pilots who got relegated to 20 ton smokedivers. id love to see dedicated squirrel fights. the heavy and assault divisions would also be awesome all brawl no bs slugfests, which this game sorely lacks. throw on a basic match maker to funnel pugs and small groups into the grinder.

Edited by LordNothing, 17 October 2020 - 03:42 PM.

[Charles Sennet]

Good post Yondu. 100% correct about balance and tonnage. I like Nightbird's suggestion on brining this down a bit. Other vets have covered pretty much the big items except perhaps minor changes to careers... No one should be forced to leave their desired faction just to get matches. Example: I had earned Hero of Diamond Shark III but lost that title when I had to switch factions just so my unit could get matches. I simply do not understand why, given today's population, we cannot stay in our desired faction and still play for any side we want.

Another point I hear a lot from unit-mates and other FP players is that people want their desired faction to mean something. Perhaps its an EXP/CB bonus for mechs played in that faction. Or, potentially even more interesting, is that certain totem mechs are only playable by members of that faction (i.e. have to be Clan Diamond Shark to bring the Deathstrike). Small things to give a little more flavor to factions shouldn't be difficult to implement.

[Yondu Udonta]

Charles Sennet, on 17 October 2020 - 06:25 PM, said:

Another point I hear a lot from unit-mates and other FP players is that people want their desired faction to mean something. Perhaps its an EXP/CB bonus for mechs played in that faction. Or, potentially even more interesting, is that certain totem mechs are only playable by members of that faction (i.e. have to be Clan Diamond Shark to bring the Deathstrike). Small things to give a little more flavor to factions shouldn't be difficult to implement.

That sounds interesting, definitely gives more meaning to being in a particular faction if the mechs provide such bonuses, probably won't agree on the totem mechs restriction however, considering that some totem mechs from other less fortunate factions, such as Ghost Bear and the Spirit Bear, will receive the short end of the stick from having such restrictions.

[Charles Sennet]

Yondu Udonta, on 18 October 2020 - 04:15 AM, said:

That sounds interesting, definitely gives more meaning to being in a particular faction if the mechs provide such bonuses, probably won't agree on the totem mechs restriction however, considering that some totem mechs from other less fortunate factions, such as Ghost Bear and the Spirit Bear, will receive the short end of the stick from having such restrictions.

Right. Would need some thought, and could prove not be feasible for balance reasons, but might also reduce the number of certain OP mechs you see at the same time in a match.

[MechWarrior5782621]

Right now it takes too many clicks to choose a faction, pledge your loyalty, and then switch your dropdeck from clan to IS, or vice-versa. That's 3 click-throughs, all on different screens before you can launch a FP match.

This could be done with a single click, for instance using the exploding cat or the purple chicken icons in the top right corner of the screen:



Clicking one of the 2 icons would choose your faction, pledge your loyalty, and automatically switch your dropdeck to the relevant faction (assuming you already have at least 1 dropdeck of that faction set up).

[Firearrow]

Yondu Udonta, on 14 October 2020 - 12:41 AM, said:

Most importantly, give Scouting its own separate queue. The majority of players do not like it when Scouting is the only mode available as other modes are preferred over it. The only reason why people who prefer non-Scouting modes over Scouting would play this game mode is when there is not enough people for 12v12 Faction Play. Vice versa, people who prefer Scouting would not engage in 12v12 Faction Play regardless of player numbers.

I agree scouting should be back in its own queue, but if its not a quick thing to do, they could at least have it set to low population times. Its Currently 14:45 UTC and there are 6 people in the queue that have just been sitting there. At least during this time if scouting was enabled those players could to do something.

[Yondu Udonta]

Firearrow, on 19 October 2020 - 06:46 AM, said:

I agree scouting should be back in its own queue, but if its not a quick thing to do, they could at least have it set to low population times. Its Currently 14:45 UTC and there are 6 people in the queue that have just been sitting there. At least during this time if scouting was enabled those players could to do something.

Exactly, scouting happens during the first phase of the conflict, obviously so that it flows with the story that no one gives a hoot about, which is currently at the start of EU prime. Put it this way, people who want to play invasion do not want to play scouting and vice versa, so give them the choice to play either.