4 replies to this topic

[Bludhammer]

Played the game since Launch, ( with a break of a few years ) its still a LOT of fun, however two things would help improve the immersion for all players and the learning curve for new players who are to some extent the life blood of the games future, these players need a chance to learn and that's hard when an average game can last 8 mins and they can be dead in 4, left to wait and watch other players fight on, before having to que all over again, on average the game time is 1/4 of the time spent in game and that's not ideal, ok so we have identified a weakness so how could we address it ?


2 new game modes:

1) Campaign, simply link 3 Maps (base, centre, base,) the idea being the game starts in the Centre first clash battle, at the point one of the enemy teams are dead, it then loads the second map ( everyone respawns ) the loosing team gets a chance to push back the enemy advance, the previous winning team gets a chance to drive home to victory.

This ebb and flow is more immersive and feel more like a real battle, its been used in a number of other games ( battlefield/battlefront etc ) to great effect. It gives the more action for experienced players, adds some longevity and can lead to epic back and forth clashes ( each map played would award its on MC and XP rewards as the battle progresses so the time spent pro rata down time in ques is better as well.

Lastly it should require little or no dev time and cost to create the mode as all we are doing is linking 3 existing instances, personally I would link 3 very different ones to provide a variety of external conditions to allow all play styles, all mechs, their own stronger and weaker maps

2) Frag Fest, a simple assault type scenario , but with a 60 sec respawn ( reinforcements if you like) this would give new players a chance to throw themselves into the game with the worry of spending 80% of their in game time queuing or dead watching others play, or half hiding because they are sick of the above.

again the only dev requirement would be 'respawn' and a threshold ( 20 frags win etc )

So what do you think ?

[Duke Falcon]

Thumbs up for the first. Most FP ends way to fast compared with the waiting times in the queue (not to mention if you left out a game after 30-40 minutes of waiting). Three linked maps sounds nice. But some maps may be fitting well. I miss maps of plains or deserts, all maps are cities or canyons. Plain maps could be the best for intense clashes what would be the aim of your second point, right?

[LordNothing]

sounds like an fp where it isnt being dominated by a few elite gate keepers and is full of pugs who will do anything, take any kind of abuse for a free mech bay. that was a very unfortunate dynamic for what is effectively the best gameplay mwo has to offer. reduxing fp into a multi mission campaign that lasts say 30-60 minutes but with group limits and a functional match maker (i dont think any mode currently has one of those).

i always did think the game needed a respawn mode for that mw4/mwll feel. all for that old skoll deathmatch that predates the cod crap. brownie points if its ffa. more if it has a drop deck where you can respawn in a small set of select mechs, they can all be re-used, but the slots will go into cool down when you die so you dont constantly drop in the same 100 tonner.

another idea is a long format game with multiple map objectives that can run for hours with players cycling in and out while the match is in progress. each time a team is down a lance, a new one from the queue is dropped. objectives take players all over the map. there is a sequence in which you must complete one objective to go to the next (think unreal tournament assault) if a side wins they move forward in the sequence, if they lose they move backwards. other team has the inverse objectives in a reversed sequence. who ever gets to and completes the final objective in their sequence wins. the sequence need not be linear. multiple outcomes of an objective can lead to multiple forks in the sequence.

Edited by LordNothing, 03 March 2021 - 12:15 AM.

[Bludhammer]

great feedback guys Cheers, as always I'm sure some some compromise or blend of the ideas would be the best end result but its a cheap, easy fix, to an obvious issue. It could also transform the game if Folks love the longer battles and the back and forth nature of the battle.

Edited by Bludhammer, 03 March 2021 - 12:53 PM.

[Sasuga]

I'm down with longer battle types, and mini-campaign modes.

I'm not sure the first recommendation would help new players the way I'm reading it though, since their mech would be locked for even longer in a match? Instead of the match ending in 8 minutes and them finding another game after that, now the match lasts (what?) half an hour and their mech is tied up in it?

New players can leave an play a different mech (either another they own, or another trial mech).

I am totally down with more mission-types, as an old dog who's been here since Beta as well, I would like to play more mission types on more maps. But, I don't think the suggestion would help new players.

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As far as frag-fest, or a metal grinder, I think it would be neat in some objective based games (maybe all of them) that players continually respawn until the objective is met.

The only problem with this, is it sort of screws up one of the reasons people buy new mechs. (E.g. Play a different mech while your other is locked into combat).

Also, I suspect good players would be able to farm a lot of stats from the single match, at the expense of the newer and not as good players.

Spawn camping already happens in Faction Warfare, and it's a real problem in other games as well.

Now, if you could choose where you drop, or if a commander could choose where people drop, or something, and the dropships could come down anywhere on the map... Humm....

With a lance able to land together in any one location via the drop pod landing them anywhere on the map, things could get really interesting.

There's also the way they deploy battlemechs in drop pods, then mechs could deploy anywhere on the battlefield a bit like Battlefield 2142, Section 8, and probably other FPS games.

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Drop_Pod

If the game and players' PCs could handle it, we could have even larger maps, with players able to spawn in anywhere via a drop-pod ("from orbit").

Drop pods could be handy for respawning in, in certain types of Faction Play.

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However, if allowing players to choose & change drop locations in some game modes was allowed, I feel this is more suited to faction play and would again not help new players as much.

I'm really turned on by this drop-pod idea. They could be ways for players to choose locations that are restrictive (such as having points on the map teams have to capture like they do/did for Battlefield 2142) and players can only spawn in at those points (with some variation since they could control their fall, and I loved landing on building tops in that game). Or, they could do it like I think I remember Section 8 doing it, where you can spawn in anywhere (I didn't get to play that game much).

The drop ships and drop pods would be noticeable to everyone, so it wouldn't be like you could (easily) land behind the enemy lines and sneak around, as you'd look like a comet coming in to everyone on the battlefield who was paying attention with a drop-pod, or they'd see the drop ship come in and land and leave with a drop-ship.

Edited by Sasuga, 04 March 2021 - 06:27 PM.