484 replies to this topic

[Daeron Katz]

In this thread, lets discuss ideas for adding new features to MechWarrior Online, such as:

• Special Event Queue (Possible Faction Play/Solaris and 8v8/12v12 Solution)
  
• Advance the Timeline

[eddieb]

So even without advancing the timeline, from what I'd suggest and others have requested, it's more about introducing new weapons systems, armor types and equipment. Seems like this could be accommodated even within the existing timeline.

For new weapons, to save effort, it's more important to have bullets/beams/etc look different and have unique sounds. But less important to have the mech's mounted weapons appear visually different, as we know that would be much more expensive and time consuming to implement.

[Kojin]

Event queues might be good.

I think Solaris needs a last man standing mode added. The 8 mech arena in MW4:M was one of my most played modes for ages.

Faction play needs adding as an option for the Quick Play people. I think it would help balance the general players and add an option for those that want to fill in gaps in Faction Play. I'd be happy to set up an IS Deck and a Clan Deck that becomes my defaults for if I tick "Allow FP" in my PLAY button options and be dropped into a random FP game where needed.

[Magic Pain Glove]

Remove the soup (groups) from solo queue , and you no longer have the tonnage disbalance issue, broken spawns and group / solo matchmaking balance problems . This has objectively degraded the experience of most of the people ( increased the stomps by PGI's own statistic ) and caused a lot of other problems to come up .

Initial 8v8 group queue feedback was extremely positive , and with smaller numbers plus only allowing certain group sizes to queue up you would eliminate the problems which previous group queue had when it came to finding matches for teams with 3 5, 7 and 9 people.

I think a separate event queue might be detrimental since its gonna take away people from regular matchmaking , and forcing everyone to participate in the main queue would also be detrimental since some people would just like to run "regular" stuff . But you can add a special mech (with a locked loadout , special quirks ) which would be temporarily unlocked to all players in order for them to play in the regular queue for the event rewards . Everyone could chose to play or not to play this mech , so it would be completely optional , wouldn't separate the queues and could achieve a similar effect. With a couple of downsides , but I think they are smaller than the alternatives .

In Solaris you need to be able to queue up for all 7 divisions at the same time . Solaris can be a timed event but I would definitely avoid doing the same with Faction Play . For faction play proposals I would just link Yondude's post .

EDIT:

Also, so many other games do this ... Why cant we select to play multiple game modes ( at least as a solo player ) as long as you have your builds / decks ready ? This is a "feature" which exists in most of the multiplayer games I had .Even more highly populated EA games had problems with some of their game modes being underpopulated and this was the solution . So players who enjoy certain game modes which are not popular can search for more popular game mode while still being able to occasionally drop in that less popular game mode they have selected. Instead of being doomed to wait 40 minutes in a game mode you have a low chance to play at that time of day. Staring at spinning wheel , instead of being able to interact with the mechlab ,store and other stuff is making it even more tedious and boring than it has to be .

Edited by Magic Pain Glove, 16 November 2020 - 07:38 PM.

[Daidachi]

Remove the AP server, and in its place (if there must be an AP option) put a West Coast NA server.

Ping to West Coast NA is fairly uniform across most of the AP countries, and workable for NA pilots. IP pathing being what it is, West Coast Aus (and even East Coast Aus/Singapore) is unworkable for most EU pilots, and has led to numerous anecdotal reports of hit registration issues for other pilots.

Given I live in WA I have no issues with it, but the cost of server space in Aus vs West Coast NA (or indeed ditching an AP server choice altogether) has to be a factor to consider.

[Sawk]

i always enjoyed doing scouting missions, 2 X 2 not sure why they were removed, but that may help with less folks playing, it would help the new folks getting mech bays rank ect.

Sawk

[John Bronco]

I want to make clear I am against any limitations on when Faction Play is available, if that is what you mean by "Special Event Queue". The game mode is active every day, at least in prime times, and many of the regulars have no interest in being forced into quick play. Thanks.

[Rosarius]

Daidachi, on 16 November 2020 - 06:37 PM, said:

Remove the AP server, and in its place (if there must be an AP option) put a West Coast NA server.

Ping to West Coast NA is fairly uniform across most of the AP countries, and workable for NA pilots. IP pathing being what it is, West Coast Aus (and even East Coast Aus/Singapore) is unworkable for most EU pilots, and has led to numerous anecdotal reports of hit registration issues for other pilots.

Given I live in WA I have no issues with it, but the cost of server space in Aus vs West Coast NA (or indeed ditching an AP server choice altogether) has to be a factor to consider.

100% agree with this. I live in QLD, I enjoy the sub 100 ping games... but rarely drop on it because it's never populated enough. West Coast NA would be a good compromise.

Magic Pain Glove, on 16 November 2020 - 06:28 PM, said:

In Solaris you need to be able to queue up for all 7 divisions at the same time . Solaris can be a timed event but I would definitely avoid doing the same with Faction Play . For faction play proposals I would just link Yondude's post .

Also agree 100% with MPG here. Have a simple checkbox system like region selection for quickplay would be fantastic!

Further to Solaris, perhaps have an event that encourages players to do their 25 placement matches per division to qualify for end of season rewards. A lot of players aren't driven to do their placement matches as they have no idea that end of season rewards exist as the rewards list is buried within patch notes which, let's be honest, is not an intuitive place to look for a rewards structure!

[XX Sulla XX]

Yes please advance the timeline and add new weapons and equipment so the game is less stale. And it would be great if could be spread out instead of one big update far far off in the future.

Edited by XX Sulla XX, 17 November 2020 - 12:24 AM.

[Ragedog4]

Event button like matt brought up I really like

Events that have a direct goal or silly goal (like who ever blows up the most components on their team or as a team wins, or Stock IS mechs Faction drop etc)

DO NOT advance the time line, there is SO MUCH stuff to add from the current time line like mechs, weapons, equipment, etc. Like limit strikes to 1 or none on quick play but have a new consumable "smoke strike" that gives a smoke screen.

[Galahad2030]

XX Sulla XX, on 16 November 2020 - 07:18 PM, said:

Yes please advance the timeline and add new weapons and equipment so the game is less stale. And instead it would be great if it could be spread out instead of one big update far far off in the future.

Yes.this gives you (PGI) a chance to rollback or fix balance and weapon/bug issues with each patch. A modular approach rather than grand HUGE updates like Solaris that was received with empty queues.

[Yondu Udonta]

NO to Special Event Queue limiting Faction Play availability. Make balance changes with the community's consultation, especially those who are regulars in Faction Play, to increase the population of the mode, not the easy way out of just basically killing the mode. It used to have hundreds of people playing at any moment, what caused Faction Play's downfall was bad updates that PGI thought was a good idea to have when they don't even play the game mode.

[Big-G]

eddieb, on 16 November 2020 - 05:16 PM, said:

So even without advancing the timeline, from what I'd suggest and others have requested, it's more about introducing new weapons systems, armor types and equipment. Seems like this could be accommodated even within the existing timeline.

For new weapons, to save effort, it's more important to have bullets/beams/etc look different and have unique sounds. But less important to have the mech's mounted weapons appear visually different, as we know that would be much more expensive and time consuming to implement.

Agreed, hell even MW5 is getting some nice weaponry that could be ported over to MWO I believe.

Event Queues:
- Solaris: Might be better to auto "match" similar PSR rated players or scale outwards every 20 seconds it's waiting to find a match
- The rest I'm kinda happy with already I guess

codynyc, on 16 November 2020 - 06:35 PM, said:

inner sphere omni mechs. avatar ....sunder...

more maps... or maybe a map pack ... how about community tools so we can make our own maps.

I want ALL the mechs... but I guess that'll never happen...

[LordNothing]

add some more game options to the vote screen, such as time of day or stock mode. would increase game diversity.

more weapons and equipment. legacy tech, expirimental tech, new tech (jihad era). weapon variants.

more consumables. pet tanks and vtols, mines, etc.

[Scout Derek]

I'll focus on one since it makes it easier to pick through opinions or suggestions. I see some of my more well said friends or mwoers have made already similar opinions so far on The events question, so I'll pick the one that hasn't had a large opinion as of yet.

Daeron Katz, on 16 November 2020 - 12:54 PM, said:

• Advance the Timeline

I don't think you need to advance it very far, if at all; there's still alot of various things you can add to the game without having to do that in order to add variety (aside from requirking mechs to be more interesting).

A variety of this includes the Reactive Armor, Laser Reflective Armor, of the pair which were introduced in Mechwarrior 4 series to use in your mech building;

Others Include HAGs, Clan based tech, Plasma Cannons, also Clan based tech, Machine Gun Arrays, both IS and Clan tech. Here's a list of other tech you could add without changing the timeline any if at all;

Superchargers
RACs for Clan (Clan Experimental)
X-Pulse
Chemical Lasers.
XXL Engine
MML (Multi-Missile Launcher)
AP Gauss Rifle
Silver Bullet Gauss Rifle
Streak LRM
Arrow IV
Long Tom Cannon

Are quite a few to add without having to do too much modeling if at all, mostly sound based and just a few coding to add into the game to make it more interesting. Hell, there's still a ton of mechs you could add too, if not these weapons right now, but, again, sometimes introducing more tech is better than introducing more mechs if you want to save time and effort. (Not all tech has to be standard, some is experimental, which is fine, MWO doesn't have to follow EXACT timeline for some stuff if it's already got a pre-existing date for creation you know?)

And if you have issues figuring out how to translate it well into mwo? Well, we have a already set group that's happy to help balance these weapons and make it less of a headache to implement while also increasing the population/interest.

Edited by Scout Derek, 16 November 2020 - 08:02 PM.

[Rosarius]

XX Sulla XX, on 16 November 2020 - 07:18 PM, said:

Yes please advance the timeline and add new weapons and equipment so the game is less stale. And instead it would be great if it could be spread out instead of one big update far far off in the future.

Respectfully disagree. What we have should be balanced first, before adding anything else in. EG, dual AC20 ghost heat vs dual heavy gauss vs mechs with UAC20 HSL

[Galahad2030]

Rosarius, on 16 November 2020 - 08:06 PM, said:

Respectfully disagree. What we have should be balanced first, before adding anything else in. EG, dual AC20 ghost heat vs dual heavy gauss vs mechs with UAC20 HSL

Perfection is not the answer. An active dynamic balancing of new elements is key to innovation.

[Shaky Snake]

To be blunt here, why look at splitting the queue? If MWO had the population to sustain multiple queues, we wouldn't have seen the merger of solo and group. All that will happen by splitting them is an increase in wait times, and salt. We really don't need that.

Edited by Shaky Snake, 16 November 2020 - 08:08 PM.

[Brauer]

Magic Pain Glove, on 16 November 2020 - 06:28 PM, said:

Remove the soup (groups) from solo queue , and you no longer have the tonnage disbalance issue, broken spawns and group / solo matchmaking balance problems . This has objectively degraded the experience of most of the people ( increased the stomps by PGI's own statistic ) and caused a lot of other problems to come up .

Initial 8v8 group queue feedback was extremely positive , and with smaller numbers plus only allowing certain group sizes to queue up you would eliminate the problems which previous group queue had when it came to finding matches for teams with 3 5, 7 and 9 people.

I think a separate event queue might be detrimental since its gonna take away people from regular matchmaking , and forcing everyone to participate in the main queue would also be detrimental since some people would just like to run "regular" stuff . But you can add a special mech (with a locked loadout , special quirks ) which would be temporarily unlocked to all players in order for them to play in the regular queue for the event rewards . Everyone could chose to play or not to play this mech , so it would be completely optional , wouldn't separate the queues and could achieve a similar effect. With a couple of downsides , but I think they are smaller than the alternatives .

In Solaris you need to be able to queue up for all 7 divisions at the same time . Solaris can be a timed event but I would definitely avoid doing the same with Faction Play . For faction play proposals I would just link Yondude's post .

I agree with all of this.

Adding groups to QP made the solo experience far worse and most players in any QP match are still playing solo.

8v8 groupq needs to be given a better chance.

I don't really play Solaris anymore, but letting someone choose which divs to queue up for (and by extension queue up for all of them) is one way to give that mode a better chance.

Edited by Brauer, 16 November 2020 - 09:20 PM.

[Galahad2030]

Solaris interface is like an RTS. You end up clicking on each division mech (7 of them) looking for one that has competitors in it.

I tried Solaris in between QP matches, and it was a very busy clicking experience, and after awhile tiring to experience.

I agree with the idea of a join first available queue button in Solaris.