39 replies to this topic

[D A T A]

I think it's time to help new players in this game.......the amount of grind you have to go through to level a mech is simply stupid.


We should cut in half the cost of each node in the skill tree (both XP and cbills)

Edited by D A T A, 18 April 2021 - 03:31 PM.

[EnochsBook]

I completely agree.

Imagine a brand new player buys a Mech for X million C-bills. Of course the stock loadout is terrible, so count another half a million to a million just for the weapons. 2-3 millions more are needed for the very basic upgrades (DHS, Endo, LFF), which are basically required for any even remotely good build. On top of that, the engine, which can often cost almost as much as the chassis itself. And then, on top of all that, you have to spend and extra 4 million C-Bills for a complete skill tree. And that's assuming of course you have enough GXP stored and don't need to actually grind for the XP, which last time I checked, is 1-2 skill points awarded per good game.

It's good that PGI improved the cadet rewards, but I still think the grind is too much for brand new and existing players. There's just so much added cost on everything you do in the Mechlab.

Edited by EnochsBook, 17 April 2021 - 12:59 PM.

[The6thMessenger]

While we're at it, I want the mechs to be only able to buy 91 skills that you allot whenever you feel like it. I don't want to keep grinding the mech just to buy different skill nodes.

[Alexander of Macedon]

Yep. A much better system, and one which would be more friendly to new players, is to have the same exp cost, zero c-bill cost, and for the unlocking to simply be unlocking mech-specific skill points which can be freely distributed without having to buy individual nodes.

Let's face it, the cost presents no barrier to veteran players who've accumulated five or six years worth of free event rewards. For most of us, buying and skilling up a mech is pretty trivial. For a new player just getting one mech up and running is going to eat all of their cadet c-bills. Frankly, the main reason the extremely limited number of starter mechbays isn't an issue is because most new players will start getting more from events before they can afford to have four mechs equipped and skilled.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

This is a great idea! We really should look into ways to help bolster New Player retention, and ideas like this directly impact the New Player Experience in a positive way.

Right now, I would haphazard a guess that MWO’s population is on an upward trend considering the community driven patch is looming on the horizon. Hopefully we can continue to maintain momentum all the way into 2022 and beyond!

[Saved By The Bell]

No. Play and train in real combat with weak unskilled mech. Use brains.

Edited by Saved By The Bell, 18 April 2021 - 01:08 AM.

[PocketYoda]

D A T A, on 17 April 2021 - 11:52 AM, said:

I think it's time to help new players in this game.......the amount of grind you have to go through to level a mech is simply stupid.


We should cut in half the cost of each node in hte skill tree in both XP and cbills

I don't usually agree with you but you are dead on with what you said.

[Brauer]

D A T A, on 17 April 2021 - 11:52 AM, said:

I think it's time to help new players in this game.......the amount of grind you have to go through to level a mech is simply stupid.


We should cut in half the cost of each node in hte skill tree in both XP and cbills

Yep, cut the cost in half and imo also make it take half as much time to skill a mech. If a player averages around 800 xp per match (fairly realistic for a new or average player) it can take 91 matches to skill a mech, which is a ton. This discourages players from getting more mechs.

[Saved By The Bell]

"it can take 91 matches to skill a mech"

No.

[CFC Conky]

Saved By The Bell, on 18 April 2021 - 01:07 AM, said:

No. Play and train in real combat with weak unskilled mech. Use brains.

If you bring a knife to a gunfight, I doubt you’ll live long enough to learn much about gun fighting.
If it applies to all players then it’s not a crutch. A new player will still have to play for a while in sub-optimal mechs, but hopefully not so long as to be discouraged by the grind.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

[Heavy Money]

Reduce the mandatory grind to skill a mech up.
But give some reward to people who play the same variant a lot. Maybe something for unlocking every node? Unlocking every node on every non-MC variant of a chassis?

[CFC Conky]

An alternative could be to allow players to drop more quickly into the next match. Unlocking the mech, not instantly but after a short period like 1- 2 minutes or the end of the match, whichever comes first. The grind would still cost the same but hopefully progress faster.

Granted, this could mess up match quality, i.e. excessive Yolo behaviour.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

[D A T A]

Heavy Money, on 18 April 2021 - 09:16 AM, said:

Reduce the mandatory grind to skill a mech up.
But give some reward to people who play the same variant a lot. Maybe something for unlocking every node? Unlocking every node on every non-MC variant of a chassis?

Big N O

that way you shift the meta to fully skilled 270 nodes mechs, and new players with fresh mechs will be in comparison even weaker.
The reward could be more GXP, but that's another topic.
Skill tree WILL be redesigned in a more user friendly way, but not now

[Brauer]

Saved By The Bell, on 18 April 2021 - 08:53 AM, said:

"it can take 91 matches to skill a mech"

No.

It can tho. Not for me, but for others.

[Meep Meep]

The6thMessenger, on 17 April 2021 - 03:24 PM, said:

While we're at it, I want the mechs to be only able to buy 91 skills that you allot whenever you feel like it. I don't want to keep grinding the mech just to buy different skill nodes.

This is a very good idea along with some sort of skill tree revamp since the core system works well but some of the trees are rarely used such as the jumpjet tree. I'd like to see a slightly more specialized tree too at least for each class so that each get some skills that specifically are useful to them. Removing some generic quirks from mechs and moving them to the skill tree would be nice too and would liven up some underused variants.

[Brauer]

D A T A, on 18 April 2021 - 09:33 AM, said:

Big N O

that way you shift the meta to fully skilled 270 nodes mechs, and new players with fresh mechs will be in comparison even weaker.
The reward could be more GXP, but that's another topic.
Skill tree WILL be redesigned in a more user friendly way, but not now

Agreed. Some kind of cosmetic reward would be fine though. Say you skill one of every variant of a mech, or unlock all the nodes for a mech you get a camo permanently unlocked for the chassis. Something like that would be fine.

[CFC Conky]

Brauer, on 18 April 2021 - 09:40 AM, said:

Agreed. Some kind of cosmetic reward would be fine though. Say you skill one of every variant of a mech, or unlock all the nodes for a mech you get a camo permanently unlocked for the chassis. Something like that would be fine.

Or maybe a warhorn that says 'I skilled up bigly!'

[Vamboozle]

The6thMessenger, on 17 April 2021 - 03:24 PM, said:

While we're at it, I want the mechs to be only able to buy 91 skills that you allot whenever you feel like it. I don't want to keep grinding the mech just to buy different skill nodes.

This ^^^^

We all either pick the wrong skill on occasion or want to tweak skills after a couple of matches. For experienced players it’s mildly irritating at most, for a new player it could be off putting to the point of stopping playing - particularly as a newbie might not fully understand all the implications of a set of skills.

It also discourages new players from playing about with load outs between different weapon types - if you’ve skilled your mech for energy it discourages is trying missile or ballistic.

[Heavy Money]

D A T A, on 18 April 2021 - 09:33 AM, said:

Big N O

that way you shift the meta to fully skilled 270 nodes mechs, and new players with fresh mechs will be in comparison even weaker.
The reward could be more GXP, but that's another topic.
Skill tree WILL be redesigned in a more user friendly way, but not now

I'm not talking about a buff for doing it. I mean like cosmetic stuff, titles, skins, etc. Something distinctive but not game impacting.

[Omniseed]

Heavy Money, on 18 April 2021 - 09:16 AM, said:

Reduce the mandatory grind to skill a mech up.
But give some reward to people who play the same variant a lot. Maybe something for unlocking every node? Unlocking every node on every non-MC variant of a chassis?

Maybe a 10% xp boost to mechs prior to gaining enough XP to max, which then converts to 10% cbill boost

or 5%, I don't care, it just sounds like a solid mechanic to help keep new players here