57 replies to this topic

[Daeron Katz]

In this thread, lets discuss ideas for updating or adding to our current social features in MechWarrior Online, such as:

• Unit Recruitment Social Chat Tab
  
• Remove CBill Recruitment Cost for Units
  
• Refer-a-Friend Program
  
• Increased API Functionality

[Galahad2030]

Referral Program Details:

I feel it should be applicable to inviting old players. anyone who hasn't played in the last 90 days should be eligible to be an invitee.

The reward structure should be based on following: c-bill bonus for starting play after being invited. then: 1) active participation. completing cadet training gives a free mech from a starter selection pool. old players that return that complete 25 matches would receive the same reward. 2) buying MC or mech packs. this awards the inviter and invitee both some benefits. maybe free mc or mechs.

The more invitees that successfully complete referral program will rank up the inviter. those ranks grant special mechs, camo patterns, or MC.

Recruiter and recruitee can gain an exclusive title and badge.

Edited by Galahad2030, 16 November 2020 - 04:53 PM.

[Big-G]

Galahad2030, on 16 November 2020 - 04:52 PM, said:

The more invitees that successfully complete referral program will rank up the inviter. those ranks grant special mechs, camo patterns, or MC.

Recruiter and recruitee can gain an exclusive title and badge.

I like, but there should be some sort of short term incentive, either C-bills, GSP or MC for each successful referral, with a sort of jackpot for every 10th.

[50 50]

C-Bill costs for units:
I recall part of the reason for introducing this was to try and limit unit size in an effort to get players to spread out more, particularly in regards to faction play where there might have been 300 players on one faction all for a single unit vs a few handfuls of players from other units.
While this is not strictly about how it can impact Faction Play, it has some relevance in quick play.

Given the small population compared to other games and the reduction in player numbers we have seen in the last few years, is this a good time to put a limit on unit sizes if the costs are being removed?
I would be a little surprised if there were any units still in the game with active rosters of more than 30 or 40 players.

Unit Structure
This is more of a UI change that I personally would like to see when considering changes to units so I'll just throw it out there.
With the lance and company structure we have in the matches with the command options and the different levels of access and titles we can give members in the units, I'd like to see more of a tree structure that matches the lances and companies represented in the unit screen where players and unit leaders can organise their members and have a nice view of it.. ie. similar to what is typically shown for military units and not just the player list we currently have.
Ties in a little with limiting the unit sizes and there is a bit of a social aspect to this recalling that numerous units (particularly clan loyalists) did things like trials to advance rank and so on.

[Vampyreq]

Yes remove cbill requirement to recruit into unit.
Or if there really is a need to, make the cbills usable. Like we can donate a portion of it to someone in the unit who needs it.

Referrals, MC reward will be nice. The referred player will need to play say 100 hours for the reward to be injected. Or it could be tiered. 10 hours of play, cbill reward. 30 hours of play, more cbills

[Domenoth]

• Increased API Functionality
  
  • Please provide a way to browse units (even just by tag and name).
    
  • It's impossible to see a tag in-game and find out what the name of the unit is unless they're willing to tell you. And if they lie, you'll have no way of knowing.
    
  • I'm pretty sure the community has some pretty creative unit names. I'd like to be able to get to know some of them
    
  • We also need a reliable way to report inappropriate unit tags and check back later to confirm they were dealt with. I have no idea if support ever censored these tags after I reported them multiple times:
    
    Spoiler

    [8==D] and [3==8]

[XX Sulla XX]

Here is a thought that just came to me. Rank units like Jarls list and have a way for players to browse them in game. Also have a place where the units can include a brief description. Then players can look for units in game that fit their skill level and type of play etc etc.

[Horseman]

Daeron Katz, on 16 November 2020 - 12:58 PM, said:

Unit Recruitment Social Chat Tab

Yes, please. Altough TBH unit recruitment should have a bit of a more persistent and expansive form than a transient chat - I imagine it as:

• A tag system for the unit that allows each unit to describe itself in terms of:
  
  • their activities (QP, Competitive, Faction Play, Solaris)
    
  • primary active times (just a general bucket, so checkboxes for US, Europe, Asia/Pacific)
    
  • expectations towards players (Beginners Welcome, Experienced Players, Veteran Mechwarriors, Competitive Players Only)
    
  • general goals (Casual Pew Pew, Lore-Based, Fight For Fun And Profit, Git Gud Or Die Trying)
    
  • attitude to Faction Play (Mercenary As They Come, IS Loyalist, Clan Loyalist, Specific Faction Loyalist)
    
  • primary language (English/Non-English at least)
    
  • perhaps with room for a website / Discord / Teamspeak address
• A sort of "noticeboard" where units can post a recruitment ad for a limited amount of time (that displays pertinent information about the unit size and tags, perhaps recent queue activity)
  
• Ability for players to browse the noticeboard by tags before applying

Quote

Remove CBill Recruitment Cost for Units

Helpful for promoting bigger units and for casual units that struggle to put together the C-Bills, but what are you then going to do with the unit coffers and the C-Bills therein? Are you going to refund them to most recent donors, add a new and different C-bill sink or just remove the coffers and their contents altogether?

A new C-Bill sink for units could be one of these:

• Unit size cap - this would be persistent, so eg if your cap is 28 and one player leaves you have one open slot for recruits. This does give a reason for coffers and investing into them still, but also makes the results a lasting improvement.
  
• Posting the recruitment ad on the noticeboard, possibly with a duration depending on the size of the payment
  
• Distributing "care packages" of C-Bills to new players (GOTCHA: to prevent abuse, cap max size of transfer based on unit coffers and only allow a player to receive such a package once)

Quote

Increased API Functionality

Which API are we talking about? Match API, items API, mechs API (which has been out of date for years , perhaps worth looking into) or something new? I think the community would appreciate an API that reports queue status for Faction Play and Solaris - right now these modes are kind of dead, but players are able to organize drops when there's more ppl in queue.

Edited by Horseman, 17 November 2020 - 09:36 AM.

[Bistrorider]

One question about Monday MWO Update #2. People throw there many cool ideas. Should they copy-paste they ideas as posts in in the Command Chair section or those ideas will be considered anyway?

[AnAnachronismAlive]

I'd throw the good ideas / most ideas in here again (refine them a little in case pro's and con's have been discussed in the former thread).

Edited by AnAnachronismAlive, 17 November 2020 - 07:15 AM.

[Alreech]

XX Sulla XX, on 17 November 2020 - 12:29 AM, said:

Here is a thought that just came to me. Rank units like Jarls list and have a way for players to browse them in game. Also have a place where the units can include a brief description. Then players can look for units in game that fit their skill level and type of play etc etc.

These brief descriptions should have the informations that Horseman suggested and each player in a Unit should have a link to that description under his MWO Forum Avatar.

Additional suggestions:
Unit Leaders can define 6 colors and 2 cameo patterns as Unit Colors. Those should be also shown in the unit description.
This should promote the spending of MCs for colors & patterns

Brief "unit lore" description: fictional date of founding in the battletech universe, brief description of fictional unit history

[Deathshade]

Daeron Katz, on 16 November 2020 - 12:58 PM, said:

• Increased API Functionality

A great way to increase the API use is to allow Private matches to post there also. They may not be getting rewards from Private matches but they can increase their use by having reason to play there. Any League would more likely use that as by allowing for their custom match types.
Whatever mode you would update, it would be helpful for a league to be able to pull the entire match stats.

Now before PGI squashes the Private match report idea, let them know that they should stop finding ways to stop players from playing. Private match results from the API would increase the players that would group up. More players mean more crossover to other modes. sheesh

[DevilCrayon]

Is this the place to also bring up the Group UI bug where sometimes when people leave and join a group the names get mixed up or lost so you don't know anymore who's actually in your group?

[Deathshade]

DevilCrayon, on 17 November 2020 - 09:35 AM, said:

Is this the place to also bring up the Group UI bug where sometimes when people leave and join a group the names get mixed up or lost so you don't know anymore who's actually in your group?

I would post to technical from this page:
https://mwomercs.com/support

It may already be a known bug as I have seen this. Anyways, support responded to my last bug report so worth a try.

[Reno Blade]

Important to have UI and mechlab/game independent from each other.
Being able to chat while building your mechs or waiting in a lobby would be a big help.

[Taifune]

Daeron Katz, on 16 November 2020 - 12:58 PM, said:

• Refer-a-Friend Program

Very good! - In general MWO needs to be made more visible. For instance, I've never seen ads... - Or have a 24/7 MWO Youtube/Twitch/Steam live channel (guess there would be enough players willing to share their stream there) - give in-game rewards for watching the streams of registered MWO streamers (see World of Warships how they do it)...
The player base needs to be significantly increased. All the game modes and tiers make no sense, when there are not enough players to populate them.

[XDevilsChariotX]

We 100% need a Global chat, this would also help the new player experience for people looking for help or just looking to group up or even finding a unit.

[Marx Headroom]

Taifune, on 17 November 2020 - 12:19 PM, said:

The player base needs to be significantly increased. All the game modes and tiers make no sense, when there are not enough players to populate them.

Yeah I'm not even sure how to improve this but I don't think I would've heard about MWO if I wasn't already a fan of the Battletech franchise doing regular tabletop games where I heard people talking about MWO. Ads, recruitment drives, referral programs, streaming partnerships, promoting alongside other Battletech media (the tabletop Kickstarter blew up and the HBS game has been chugging along great), more publicity around events, I don't know. I'm not a marketer.

I've been playing for about a month and the queues aren't, yknow, dead or anything but I'm starting to notice the same names over and over. I've been involved in some other games with a steep learning curve fostering a small group of dedicated players that just clown on new people and unintentionally push them away, then bemoan the lack of people to play with, and you really need to bring in a lot more people to avoid that.

[Knight Captain Morgan]

The ability to use any and all LFG social features while waiting in queue for a match.

[Aivazovsky]

what about unit coffer? the ability to replenish С-bills and MC to reward unit members for internal events?