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MWO “Infinite” Game Mode
(This may be edited over time.)
This is my battle plan to add a spawn mode. It’s been thought out for a bit, however I am no math major. Thoughts, opinions, feedback are welcome. Please keep it constructive. “It sucks because it sucks.” Or, “It sucks because I don’t like it.” doesn’t help anything really.
At the end of the day, I love the game and it’s universe. I want to see this game grow, and stick around for a while. Though, if we are to grow it, it will require us to be open minded. To go where we have never been, we must do what we have never done.
Edit: Added poll.
Purpose:
To bring more time in combat to players, including solo-queue, vs time spent waiting. Furthermore, to encourage different play styles that break up the monotony of the “murderball” or the endless wait behind cover.
Pros:
- Reduce “non-combat” time : combat time ratio
- Increase Variety of gameplay
- Offer relevance to different types of builds without a massive buff/nerf cycle
- Potentially reduce queue times
- In the current list of maps, 16 players that can consistently respawn is a good starting point, I think. 24 players may be a bit too hectic. Suggestion: Offer two game modes of this, both being the same with a different name: [8v8 Name] & [12v12 Name]
- You pick 1 mech for the game, with infinite respawns. New mech requires going back to mech-lab and re-selecting. Simple as that.
- If this game mode is going to be infinite, the game flow cannot be disrupted when people leave. So those waiting in queue can be dropped into already existing matches. Those leaving receive no penalty for doing so. They will receive rewards proportionate to their performance/participation similar to how they are distributed in the current game.
- Capture-able zones that provide Ammo Replenishment at 1% per second. (This is just a base idea, the actual best rate may be different.) Without this, using any build that consumes ammo would need to sacrifice themselves to respawn and replenish, which disrupts the battle-flow. Creating capture-able points that give ammo gives incentive to move the map dynamic, preventing stagnation on the field. A guass or LRM user who would otherwise stay safely in their desired range, has incentive to venture into the hotter spots in the map for more ammo. The 1%/sec ammo is the incentive. Health points was a thought, but in most scenarios it seems to create the kind of game mode we don’t want. Camping points to be “tanky” when the idea is that dying is okay here…
- This provides a means (other than suicide) to replenish ammo, and prevents laser-focused builds from being “overpowered” in winning by attrition.
- This is also an incentive to continue playing well, as even if you are using ammo you will ultimately not lose to attrition against energy builds.
- This is a key part of this. Respawns must be distributed around the map to break up monotony, while also to spawning people near the action. We want the maps to feel active, and keep the anticipation of never knowing what's around the corner. So respawns will be spaced out well enough in the maps that someone doesn’t drop in and die before they can move, but also have it that they aren’t walking the entirety of the map to rejoin the fight.
- Spawns must be erratic. If a team is always spawning together, this supports the “murderball” and encourages the possibility of snowballing to one team or another. We don’t want this in an endless match. We want spontaneity to keep things fluid in the chaos. To keep the fight moving over the long term. Ideally, we want it to feel like we never run out of people to engage. The map never feels empty, balancing this that it also doesn’t feel too crowded.
- Spawn Timer: approximately ~10 seconds. (If spawn & die is too much an issue, maybe give a 1-2 second window of invulnerability so a pilot has time to adjust.)
- Earnings will be based on performance during your time in the match, however long or short you choose to stay. Of course, longer durations would equate to more rewards just as playing more matches gives… well, more.
- Rewards will be somewhere between a loss and a win’s (based on current modes) amount. We don’t want it to be a winning amount as it then becomes the single fastest way to get EXP/C-bills which makes players feel forced to grind. We don’t want it to be a loss amount because then players by contrast feel punished for playing a mode they may enjoy.
- Idle Factors:
- Searching for match: 30 - 90sec
- Voting: 23 sec
- Loading Map/waiting for players to ready up (This is “time till play”): 31 - 84sec
- Ingame: Walking to engagement area/waiting time to engage: 82-115sec
- Total: 166 - 312 seconds, or 2.8 - 5.2 minutes outside engagement per match.
- Searching for match: 30 - 90sec
- Gameplay Duration:
- 300-720 seconds or 5-12 minutes (4500-10800)
- Result:
- Using averages, In 15 matches (75 - 180 minutes gametime) players spend:
- Players spend approximately 2490 - 4680 seconds, or 42 - 78 minutes idle. 43-55% idle
- Players spend approximately 2010- 6120seconds, or 33 - 102 minutes in PvP combat. 44-56% pvp
- Players spend approximately 2490 - 4680 seconds, or 42 - 78 minutes idle. 43-55% idle
- Imagine telling someone who really wants to play this game that they will spend literally half (or more) of their time waiting to actually play the game. Consider that if we follow these patterns, you could spend 4 hours on MWO, and only about 2 playing. For those of us with busy lifestyles and few hours to play, this is a hard pill to swallow. As the “idle” time feels kind of wasted.
- Many enjoy the hardcore approach of 1 life games, so we keep those game modes and make this one a voteable one just like any other, so everyone can win.
- Using averages, In 15 matches (75 - 180 minutes gametime) players spend:
Edited by Syffer, 21 August 2021 - 09:50 AM.
