193 replies to this topic

[PCHunter]

Just read your post Tenchu. That was my experience with MWO at first - 7 years ago. I popped in and out of it until I just gave up. I was clearly not getting it and wasn't about to spend lots of dollars for mech paks, etc. on a game that left me KIA in almost EVERY match. Because a new player can only afford a light at first (at least I could), and it takes skill to be successful with them, it was depressing having only that choice of mech and being everyone's *****. Maybe I'm different, but eventually I returned to find a revamped game that had set aside a virtual treasure trove of CB's, MC and XP to entice me to reactivate my account. It worked. So that is the key, bribing noobs with enough resources to get up to speed and competitive ASAP. Once a new player starts to become more effective in a match, they will be hooked. And then the player can be turned into a customer. This was my personal experience.

[Tenchuu]

One more thing that just popped up this weekend. I go on the the Mechwarrior website thinking I can find info about any Black Friday sales. Nothing. I dig, even though this info should be front an center. It's not until I enter the game that I can see it, and that takes me back to the web page in an area I wouldn't think to look. I'm also reminded that the Community page hasn't been updated in a full YEAR and some of the links to outside pages are dead or badly out of date. First impressions, straight off the bat. Having a web page that impresses and is current shouldn't be anything of an issue, it should be the most basic of basic first steps that takes someone a couple of hours to at least tidy up.

[Frabby]

Alreech, on 29 November 2020 - 09:40 AM, said:

That's strange, because the LFG doesn't force a player to join a rooster or keep a time schedule for playing together.
It's a tool for players without organised group (a clan or unit or guild) to team up for one evening without any further obligations.

Hm. I'll look into LFG again then. Maybe I misunderstood. Thanks for pointing this out.

[Voice of Kerensky]

For newbies. About trial mechs.
I would suggest removing from the trial mechs IS mechs with XL-engines.
The next thing I propose is to give a brief description of weapon systems that have important nuances if these weapon systems are used on trial mechs. These nuances should be spelled out in BIG LETTERS.
In case the trial mech is equipped with:
- gauss rifle, it is necessary to describe the mechanics of cooldown and charging this weapon.
I remember my first gaming experience - I just hated a gauss rifle because it just doesn't shoot, when i click button!
- IS-LRM, IS-PPC, IS-light PPC, IS-heavy PPC, IS-rocket launchers, Clan-ATM it is necessary to indicate that these weapon systems have a minimum firing range.
How sorry I am for a new player when I see that he is trying to shoot from the specified types of weapons, being face to face with the enemy.

[War Steiner]

I may be missing the point here, but I am not saying the new player experience isn't important. However, PGI should focus its attention on bringing players back, rather than getting new people to the franchise. I was looking at a past team roster where we had a full regiment of members (108 players). Today we list only a battalion, but a full company have not played in the last year. Rather than looking for new players, especially those that have no interest in the franchise, PGI must ask why three-quarters of its player-base has left and try and entice them to come back.

Having said that, the news of an MWO renewal has brought many back. Question is, "Are they going to stay?"

War Steiner.

[Deathshade]

War Steiner, on 01 December 2020 - 05:50 AM, said:

I may be missing the point here, but I am not saying the new player experience isn't important. However, PGI should focus its attention on bringing players back, rather than getting new people to the franchise. I was looking at a past team roster where we had a full regiment of members (108 players). Today we list only a battalion, but a full company have not played in the last year. Rather than looking for new players, especially those that have no interest in the franchise, PGI must ask why three-quarters of its player-base has left and try and entice them to come back.

Having said that, the news of an MWO renewal has brought many back. Question is, "Are they going to stay?"

War Steiner.

Yeah. That is what they have been trying to do for years. If you don't try to create and maintain a good player base, none of the other stuff will matter because there won't be any players to enjoy it.
The old players will come back because there is a player base again. PGI has been falling for this for years and it continues a cycle that has been killing the game for years. Player saying, "if you just fix this, many players will come back"

It just gave them more to complain about and upping PGI's hope the next change will fix the problem.

UI 2.0, nerfs aplenty and Solaris didn't bring players back. Was ghost heat created to stop one-shots? the list goes on and on
I got my own. Bring back knock downs, make JJs meaningful, remove GH and increase weapon cycle, allow mix tech mechs. Thing is those will kill other players wants that are now in the fore.

Focus on the players or just admit you failed and let someone else fix it.

Edited by Deathshade, 01 December 2020 - 06:21 AM.

[Binkyuk]

3.5 month old player here.

I'm pretty sure starting in lower tier would have been a huge benefit to me. I actually remember when I dropped from T3 to T4 the difference it made, when I started facing people more my skill level. Implement this ASAP.

Something I've not seen anyone else say but I think is a thing - hide the CADET title from enemies. It's like painting a massive target over someone's head saying "Shoot Me, I've Not Learned To Torso Twist Yet". I remember finding it odd at the time that sometimes when I entered busy brawls I'd suddenly get focused for seemingly no reason, but now I understand why. It also attracts lights because they know you probably don't have the aim to hit them. It's nice to see who's a Cadet on your own team, but I can't think of any good reason for enemies to know you're a Cadet, and this seems like it should be an easy change.

Edited by Binkyuk, 01 December 2020 - 11:26 AM.

[Forgeling]

If starting players at a lower skill tier is abused then perhaps the solution might be to simply go ahead and start them at tier 4 or so and make their first 100 matches adjust their tier much more than matches do.

[Elizander]

I'm a bit too tired to fix this right now. PGI, fix your damn forum code.

Voice of Kerensky, on 01 December 2020 - 12:32 AM, said:

For newbies. About trial mechs. I would suggest removing from the trial mechs IS mechs with XL-engines. The next thing I propose is to give a brief description of weapon systems that have important nuances if these weapon systems are used on trial mechs. These nuances should be spelled out in BIG LETTERS. In case the trial mech is equipped with: - gauss rifle, it is necessary to describe the mechanics of cooldown and charging this weapon. I remember my first gaming experience - I just hated a gauss rifle because it just doesn't shoot, when i click button! - IS-LRM, IS-PPC, IS-light PPC, IS-heavy PPC, IS-rocket launchers, Clan-ATM it is necessary to indicate that these weapon systems have a minimum firing range. How sorry I am for a new player when I see that he is trying to shoot from the specified types of weapons, being face to face with the enemy.

I was honestly expecting the tutorial to teach players about all the weapons, including Gauss Rifles, but it didn't. Mouse-overs where text explain the weapon mechanics would be great in addition to revising the tutorial/mech academy to teach players about Gauss charge.
That said, if trial mechs are purely for players to have an easier time, then it's good to make sure that the rotations for trial mechs always include newbie-friendly mechs with only one weapon system such as Lasers, SRMs or ACs. Better yet, mechs with single weapon systems stated previously should be a fixed part of the trial mech rotation. What I mean is that 1 or mechs of each weight class should never change because it's meant to be the slot for the most simple to operate mech.

So what we'd need at least one of these in each weight category to never change in the trial mech rotation so that newbies will always have a go-to single-weapon system mech to use. This will also help content creators make guides/tutorials/videos on how to use these non-rotating trial mechs for newbies instead of worrying about the guide they made for trial mech (x) being non-relevant because it was rotated out.

• Laservomit, MG or SRM Light Mech - Anything with 6 lasers, 8 MGs or 4 SRM6s
  
• Laservomit or SRM Medium Mech - Anything with 8 lasers or 4 SRM6s
  
• AC, MRM or Laservomit Heavy Mech - Anything with 3 ACs/UACs, MRM60-MRM70, 8 lasers(clan), 9 lasers(IS)
  
• AC Assault Mech - 4 ACs/UACs or dual AC20/UAC20.

Edited by Elizander, 02 December 2020 - 05:39 AM.

[Voice of Kerensky]

Binkyuk, on 01 December 2020 - 11:25 AM, said:

3.5 month old player here.

I'm pretty sure starting in lower tier would have been a huge benefit to me. I actually remember when I dropped from T3 to T4 the difference it made, when I started facing people more my skill level. Implement this ASAP.

Something I've not seen anyone else say but I think is a thing - hide the CADET title from enemies. It's like painting a massive target over someone's head saying "Shoot Me, I've Not Learned To Torso Twist Yet". I remember finding it odd at the time that sometimes when I entered busy brawls I'd suddenly get focused for seemingly no reason, but now I understand why. It also attracts lights because they know you probably don't have the aim to hit them. It's nice to see who's a Cadet on your own team, but I can't think of any good reason for enemies to know you're a Cadet, and this seems like it should be an easy change.

Do you really think experienced players are looking for a cadet in a opponent team? Do they remember the nickname of the cadet, and then in battle they look for a player with this nickname or look out for the title "Cadet", ignoring the rest of the opponents? I hasten to disappoint you. This is not true. Experienced players will realize that they have much bigger problems on the battlefield than searching any cadet.
It is easier to track a cadet using a trial mech (for example, a Catapult CPLT-A1(C) or Kodiak KDK-3 (C)). Well, in behavior: cadet either flies into the enemy crowd on a light mech, or walks somewhere alone.
No one specifically looks for a cadet on the battlefield. If a cadet dies early, it is only due to his inexperience.

[Binkyuk]

Voice of Kerensky, on 01 December 2020 - 04:51 PM, said:

Do you really think experienced players are looking for a cadet in a opponent team?

I do, so maybe not "experienced", but some players definitely yes.

When choosing an assault to shoot at, I can mentally halve the health of a Cadet because I can bet they won't torso twist, which will often make them the one I shoot at. When cruising for targets in a Light I'll make a bee line for Cadets because they have a higher chance of making a positioning mistake and I can take advantage of it, and even if they don't chances are they can't hit a fast target. Especially if they're in a heavy or assault it's a good strategy for removing tonnage quickly.
(And yeah I feel a bit bad about it in case anyone's wondering, but if the game is beaming me information on who the easy kills are, it's hard *not* to act on it...)

Before you tell me it's a bad strategy for whatever reason, that's actually irrelevant. I do it and I'm almost certainly not alone, which means it's a problem regardless of whether it works, and probably an easily fixed one.

Edited by Binkyuk, 03 December 2020 - 05:45 AM.

[Zordicron]

New players:
Start in T5.

Other items related:
8v8. This makes matchmaker wait times go down, less team mates to find. This means the clamps don't open as fast, or as far, meaning no lopsided teams(in theory).
It reduces firepower on the field. This means less punishment for a positioning error.

Make the "Go to testing grounds" button maybe a tad bigger in mechlab, or anywhere else. And by a tad, I mean 15x the size of the current one. Players should be able to go test, well, anything, without going into quickplay or buying it to find out..... and by be able, I mean actually see the button that lets them do it. It should be twice the size of the SAVE button, IMO. Make it red, leave it on the side by the drop menus(right side)

Don't remove groups from the pug queue, but make all premades run in Tier 1 exclusively. Let tier 1 pugs fill in the gaps, at least we know they have an idea how the game works then. if wait times get extraordinary, open clamps to tier 2, at the most. After that, too bad, the group will have to downsize or otherwise if the population won't support them at that particular time.

Get rid of gauss charge, balance the weapon some other more intuitive way. otherwise you have to make the charge mechanic VERY VERY noticable and easy to discover and understand. Reading comments from players that got mad because the weapon wouldn't fire when they clicked turns my stomach, that mechanic was so hamfisted and thrown into the game it turned an iconic "lostech" weapon into a clunky thing many players just ignore. Change the sounds, change the visuals, do something with the charge or remove it.

More events. Just more, even if they are just little things, events make it like the devs are active in the game and can get the community excited. This falls under the first impressions catagory more, but if a new player comes and nothing is really going on outside of holidays it makes the game just feel old.



Some of these fall under other catagorys of your announcement, but they intertwine and are all important to player retention.

[AnAnachronismAlive]

Working on some sort of summary of this topic again. While it is work in progress, please review and correct where feasible since the announced townhall meeting seems to come closer ... thank you!

[Alreech]

Frabby, on 30 November 2020 - 12:27 PM, said:

Hm. I'll look into LFG again then. Maybe I misunderstood. Thanks for pointing this out.

Maybe PGI should rename the LFG into something diffrent, like Team Lobby ?

[Volume]

il1il, on 17 November 2020 - 12:30 AM, said:

snip

faction scouting queue has been nearly (effectively*) removed from the game; it is only available for a very short period of time (1 hour a day, I think?) before the 8 hour windows for invasion / siege / etc. previously both queues would be open at the same time, so if you wanted to do 4v4 (or didn't have enough people to do 12v12) you could still get matches. now it's set up where faction play is only 12v12 for 8 hours, 12v12 for another 8 hours, 12v12 for another 8 hours, then 4v4 scouting mode for 1 hour, repeat. wish i was kidding.
that said, you can get free mech bays in fp by winning/losing 4-6 games, generally, then switching factions.
rank 2 with each faction is 10 "free" mech bays; again at ranks 6, 10, 14, and 18, but those take much (much) longer to get.
some events do give them
some events do reduce cost as you know
but yeah, do a few rounds of CW, get mech bays. but the experience will not be very good. lots of camping and waiting compared to quick match. not really a new player kind of mode. so i dont know why they attached it to that mode.
i made a couple posts about mechbays a long time ago about this topic; a lot of the player retention issues and pricing issues are still relevant. i am glad f2p players have an avenue to get mech bays now, and that mech purchases come with bays.
tl;dr on mechbays in general:
Give paying customers the power to enrich their gaming experience instead of being forced to unlock it. Make it fun to spend money. A happy customer spends more. 'Mech bays, as they stand now, are a cash-locked limiter, not a cash-enabled expander. A player should be able to use money to expand the game, not as a key to locked, limited content.

anyways, MC costs have been kind of questionable throughout the game's history, and many players found other f2p games to have better value. However, this game was definitely kinder with the grind and RMT than, say, world of tanks and other similar games in this vein.

Edited by Volume, 03 December 2020 - 08:57 AM.

[Horseman]

Alreech, on 03 December 2020 - 08:29 AM, said:

Maybe PGI should rename the LFG into something diffrent, like Team Lobby ?

TBH, anyone who dealt with the LFG feature on any other MMO would understand its' intent as forming quick ad-hoc groups with other players and/or grouping with people you don't have on your friends list.

[MW Waldorf Statler]

which PvP Game has a good Matchmaker ? and let us copy his Mechanism

[Tenchuu]

Zordicron, on 02 December 2020 - 08:32 PM, said:

Get rid of gauss charge, balance the weapon some other more intuitive way. otherwise you have to make the charge mechanic VERY VERY noticable and easy to discover and understand. Reading comments from players that got mad because the weapon wouldn't fire when they clicked turns my stomach, that mechanic was so hamfisted and thrown into the game it turned an iconic "lostech" weapon into a clunky thing many players just ignore. Change the sounds, change the visuals, do something with the charge or remove it.

More events. Just more, even if they are just little things, events make it like the devs are active in the game and can get the community excited. This falls under the first impressions catagory more, but if a new player comes and nothing is really going on outside of holidays it makes the game just feel old.



Some of these fall under other catagorys of your announcement, but they intertwine and are all important to player retention.

This. I still don't use gauss weapons. The mechanic is awful and not intuitive. And events make a huge part of the draw for a game. Again, see WoT or WoWS.

[Horseman]

Zordicron, on 02 December 2020 - 08:32 PM, said:

Don't remove groups from the pug queue, but make all premades run in Tier 1 exclusively. Let tier 1 pugs fill in the gaps, at least we know they have an idea how the game works then. if wait times get extraordinary, open clamps to tier 2, at the most. After that, too bad, the group will have to downsize or otherwise if the population won't support them at that particular time.

I already said it, but I will say it again:
So you have three pilots who are Tier 5 only because the scale doesn't get any lower.
And because they're grouped up you're tossing them into T1?
That makes no sense whatsoever.

[Erik Ouzbel]

Returning from playing so long ago I might as well be new player here. Didn't even realize that I had to click on the copy as plain text to not post the text as large bullet points level of newb. Good job PGI having me come back after I swore never to again after the Mechwarrior 5 fiasco. Enough people I talked to said that it was changing for the better. Hopefully crouching and falling down from losing a leg will be put back in from the early days, and melee combat eventually, even if it's very basic. I want my Hatchetmen and No-Dachis, along with a reason why I shouldn't be hugging enemy assaults as a light if they can't aim down.

Here's my experience. Start up the game, it makes mentions of Solaris. I vaguely remember something about a steam sale, and it being a 4v4 arena mode. Sure, I'll try it. Turns out it's a 1v1, and I only have a limited selection of mechs despite owning a handful? Something about needing to select a patreon first for bonuses. Guaranteed score bonus to reduce the grind, sure, let's do that one. Try a few matches, get stomped, then the queue goes deader than faction play. Only figure out later about the nonsensical division numbering system.

Faction play alerts. I ignore these since waiting 30 minutes isn't the best use of my time.

Quick play. Go in, select mech, and dead. Slowly remember controls and die sometimes, survive others, but rarely, and wonder what the differences between standard and classic maps are. Fall into a canyon in one map during king of the hill, and spend the next few minutes trying to get out since my mech doesn't have jump jets. Find my way out just in time to be one of the last three mechs alive and get yelled at by an old man about how I didn't push soon enough and being the reason why my team lost since I'm also in a light mech. Yep. The game's starting to come back to me and the reason why I stop playing each time.
Another match drops me into an Oceanic server with over 500 ping. Spend the next several minutes after the match searching why I can't select servers, and figure out that it's a bug where you have to restart the game completely.

*Edit*
I don't really use a microphone, so ts / discord / isn't a viable communication for me. The non-voice options need updating. Too many times I've seen people get cored because they don't realize there's a mech behind them chipping away, and there's not selection for teammate.x.flankers. Same thing if I want to point out to a group of enemies in a quadrant that I spot but are unable to target due to ecm or range. Stopping to type out the message kills the gameplay and can often times leave me dead.

I try modifying a few mechs and notice that the weapon grouping select screen stays until I enter quick play again. At least I notice the flashing message from someone broadcasting a lfg chat 30 minutes ago.

Remember there's something about rewards from random events and spend the next few minutes navigating in and out of game finding info. Really, why isn't this in game and the need to switch between a browser each time? UI needs better scaling at 2k and 4k. There's games out there with older engines that have patched this in.

Change Starting Tier (to 4.5)
Yes. I'm tier 3 with a kda of 0.38 after about 1000 matches of which I've lost over 600. RNGesus is entirely dependent if I win, and the direction of my match score. I play primarily lights, and even dealing more damage than what I take can move me down or equal at best. Is there a way to reset my tier, or do I need to violate the ToS and create a second account? Or have a bot mode where players can learn the maps along with a shooting range to learn where to aim at spots on each mech.

Update Trial 'Mechs (regularly with appropriate consultation)
Sure, why not. I have no feelings on this either why. I notice mechs have quirks now. Give the trial mechs those with the appropriate loadouts.

Increase Cadet Bonus
Sure. It takes forever to grind, and more selection for new players is always good.

Update In-game Tutorial
Yes. If it hasn't been updated since launch, it needs it. I know there's new weapons. Hopefully it'll explain why the ghost heat warning in loadout appears when I mix heavy and regular clan medium lasers.

Establish New Player Video Tutorials (official and community)
I'm guessing this would be separate from the in-game tutorial. No. It should be all viewable from within the game itself. If I want to watch something else, I'll search it out on the tubes.

MWO Discord Channel (update MW5 Discord to MWO/MW5)
Might be good or a horrible train wreck depending on how it's handled. Splitgate has its top players regularly advertising their official one in games, and it's used as a forum / lfg / news site / faq / active feedback / etc with too many channels. Forums at least are searchable for information.

Update Wiki / Add Wiki Contributors
There's a wiki?

Edited by Erik Ouzbel, 04 December 2020 - 08:06 AM.