18 replies to this topic

[Papaspud]

I saw this article today, and it makes me a little nervous about my favorite game for years. I know Russ said MWO is in the black, barely, but will that be enough to keep the servers on?

EG7 shuts down Toadman Interactive, lays off 38 employees at Piranha Games as part of “business optimization” | Game World Observer

[80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie]

Hate to be that guy, but potentially PGI losing the license would be the best thing long term for the Mechwarrior/Battletech IP.

The game (MWO) is now nearly 15 years old, and has failed in player vs player depth of gameplay on a decrepit game engine, run by a dev team that is spread too thin to do anything about it (no talent able to support the custom cryegnine game under the hood) and no current support for modders to keep the gaming running if PGI goes in the red.


The only way to fix all the complaints made by the hundreds of thousands of players who will never return is for a new game made by a new team entirely.

You shouldn't be WORRIED that there is potential change in the future, you should be excited there is potential for new in the future for the IP.

Edited by 80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie, 17 January 2025 - 12:55 PM.

[Papaspud]

Or, most likely- they lose the license, and it goes back to purgatory- I'm 69 years old, the waiting game doesn't work in my favor anymore. With all its warts, I still mostly enjoy the game after all these years. We shall see.

[80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie]

That's fair.

I'd wager PGI will hold on to the license for a while, as they are still making some money simply off keeping the game alive.

[LordNothing]

im not worried as there are other games i could be playing. ive played this one to death, and if it was taken down tomorrow i dont think id even care. it had a good run. id be a little angry that hundreds of bucks in content would just be deleted, but would f off to clans or the mw5 pvp mod, or mwll if its still active when i wanted a mw fix.

80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie, on 17 January 2025 - 02:10 PM, said:

That's fair.

I'd wager PGI will hold on to the license for a while, as they are still making some money simply off keeping the game alive.

i think they have to renew with ms every 5 years or so. and if the franchise proves to be unprofitable they wont do that. especially if there is another franchise they can milk for all its worth.

[sycocys]

What's to be worried about?

It's an old game that's probably 10 years past what should have been its shelf life. The only reason this game currently is exists is players buying overpriced character packs with the (at least early on) intention of the brunt of that money getting put into developing the game.

[Hawk819]

There's World of Tanks. However, I'd love a Living Legends style type PvP, but not like it. Like say earn enough tickets to unlock the Mech, vehicle, etc. As oppose to what we play now in the current ip setup. It'd make for better game as far as I'm concerned.

[Firewolf6]

I am at a loss. I love this game. I love to be a Mechwarrior. I want it to be better. I asked myself, how can I help the Comp teams? I am not pro and probably never will be. I then stumbled across the TSP Mechs and saw that half the money would go to the winning teams. I was ecstatic that I could actually do something, and I purchased the full TSP pack. I then thought to myself, If all active players, could bring just one person into the game, would that help? In the last month, I have brought 2 people to MWO. What's my point here? I don't know. Just rambling. Carry on.

Edited by Firewolf6, 17 January 2025 - 07:43 PM.

[Novakaine]

[kalashnikity]

Papaspud, on 17 January 2025 - 01:57 PM, said:

Or, most likely- they lose the license, and it goes back to purgatory- I'm 69 years old, the waiting game doesn't work in my favor anymore. With all its warts, I still mostly enjoy the game after all these years. We shall see.

From a legal perspective I think a private server could be made, but it would have to rely on donations.

I know that is how there are World of Warcraft private servers.

There is probably enough knowledge in the fan base to make something like that happen.

LordNothing, on 17 January 2025 - 02:25 PM, said:

im not worried as there are other games i could be playing. ive played this one to death, and if it was taken down tomorrow i dont think id even care. it had a good run. id be a little angry that hundreds of bucks in content would just be deleted, but would f off to clans or the mw5 pvp mod, or mwll if its still active when i wanted a mw fix.



i think they have to renew with ms every 5 years or so. and if the franchise proves to be unprofitable they wont do that. especially if there is another franchise they can milk for all its worth.

I would care, there is nothing like PVP. Playing against an AI is really not that rewarding anymore, as you know you aren't "outsmarting it" as much as you are simply at it's mercy if it wants to roll a 100/100 and cockpit kill you.

[kalashnikity]

Hawk819, on 17 January 2025 - 06:54 PM, said:

There's World of Tanks. However, I'd love a Living Legends style type PvP, but not like it. Like say earn enough tickets to unlock the Mech, vehicle, etc. As oppose to what we play now in the current ip setup. It'd make for better game as far as I'm concerned.

I hate to go on and on about world of warcraft, but it has some things in it that could much improve gameplay in MWO.

In MWO once you level the mech up, that's it, and it only takes a few hours.

But in WoW it can take a year to level up a character's gear. And going PVP, no matter how skillful you are, you still need the gear to be competitive. So it rewards dedicated play. I'm not sure how that would translate to MWO, but it's an interesting concept.

I've written out long essays here on other things that could be added to the game to make it more interesting, adding elementals that players would need to pilot, to get to a mech, or needing to start in FPS surivial mode, just to get to an aerospace fighter, much less get to a mech. MWLL style. With adding aerospace/vtol and tanks, and making it more of an open world type combat. It's a massive undertaking, but MWO2 needs to be mroe expansive than MWO in order to be competitive with other modern games.

Perhaps having characters that one could level up over time, I understand the drawback is that new players will start at a distinct disadvantage, and in games like WoW there are areas of the game to "level up, and get better gear" long before getting to end game combat. But this is not necessarily a detriment, as working to obtain a goal is part of the fun, and once you make it there you appreciate it much more. In original WoW it can take months just to reach max level, and then more months to get those incrementally better gear sets.

Translated to this game, that would mean there is a big gap between newbies and veterans, which is not necessarily a bad things. People who start new accounts will need to spend months leveling up that account to be competitive in "Tier 1", but if the game is more of an open world with global objectives... that could be balanced. WIth the curent "arena combat" style of play that would not be viable. But as we can all see, the arena combat in this game is not retaining players, except for the hard core fans of the platform.

[kalashnikity]

If it takes me donating to a private server to keep playing this game, I will.

However, I feel the more likely scenario is PGI moves to a pay to pay, subscription based business model.

It's going to need a major rebuild to keep a new player base happy, this antique engine is not oging to cut it.

And IDK why gameplay feels so awkward in MW5, they really need to have MWO mechanics.

I mean, targeting gyros are 1940's tech.

[TheCaptainJZ]

I would expect MWO to stay in maintenance mode for the next year, maybe longer, as it has been for the last few years. At least the Cauldron can continue to make balance changes, which is more than we got in the slump before 2021. If no one buys any more Legends or mech packs though, that will be the end quite quickly. Even if PGI didn't get the MW license renewed, they've already said that doesn't mean they can't run MWO, they just can't develop new games from the IP. But since MW5:Clans didn't break out of the niche, I sadly am not sure there will ever be another Mechwarrior game for a long time, maybe ever, beyond DLC for Clans. If the masses don't buy it, no one will try to develop it. In my view, it has nothing to do with the developer--it's just not where consumers are. I'm fairly certain there will never be a MWO2. There just isn't the demand for it. I expect PGI will pivot to doing other work now outside the BT universe if they want to continue existing as a company.

[LordNothing]

kalashnikity, on 18 January 2025 - 08:29 AM, said:

I would care, there is nothing like PVP. Playing against an AI is really not that rewarding anymore, as you know you aren't "outsmarting it" as much as you are simply at it's mercy if it wants to roll a 100/100 and cockpit kill you.

clans dlc does pvp and there is a pvp mod for mw5 mercs. there are other mw pvp experiences out there. i suspect even mwll's population would flare up with the deletion of mwo.

Edited by LordNothing, Yesterday, 11:28 AM.

[LordNothing]

kalashnikity, on 18 January 2025 - 08:41 AM, said:

I hate to go on and on about world of warcraft, but it has some things in it that could much improve gameplay in MWO.

In MWO once you level the mech up, that's it, and it only takes a few hours.

But in WoW it can take a year to level up a character's gear. And going PVP, no matter how skillful you are, you still need the gear to be competitive. So it rewards dedicated play. I'm not sure how that would translate to MWO, but it's an interesting concept.

I've written out long essays here on other things that could be added to the game to make it more interesting, adding elementals that players would need to pilot, to get to a mech, or needing to start in FPS surivial mode, just to get to an aerospace fighter, much less get to a mech. MWLL style. With adding aerospace/vtol and tanks, and making it more of an open world type combat. It's a massive undertaking, but MWO2 needs to be mroe expansive than MWO in order to be competitive with other modern games.

Perhaps having characters that one could level up over time, I understand the drawback is that new players will start at a distinct disadvantage, and in games like WoW there are areas of the game to "level up, and get better gear" long before getting to end game combat. But this is not necessarily a detriment, as working to obtain a goal is part of the fun, and once you make it there you appreciate it much more. In original WoW it can take months just to reach max level, and then more months to get those incrementally better gear sets.

Translated to this game, that would mean there is a big gap between newbies and veterans, which is not necessarily a bad things. People who start new accounts will need to spend months leveling up that account to be competitive in "Tier 1", but if the game is more of an open world with global objectives... that could be balanced. WIth the curent "arena combat" style of play that would not be viable. But as we can all see, the arena combat in this game is not retaining players, except for the hard core fans of the platform.

yea i hate games that feel like work. if i cant make significant progress in four hours of play, im out. this is why i dont play elite dangerous. most of these players have day jobs, they dont need a second one.

Edited by LordNothing, Yesterday, 11:38 AM.

[ReginaldVanjaster]

if pgi wants to survive they need to hire me as lead consultant.

as is, im elated they may be put out of business by their own foolishness.

[Void Angel]

People like you have been saying stupid things like that for the entire run of this game. Sit down.

Or at least man up and post on your main, you feckless troll.

[LordNothing]

help wanted link at bottom of page. i dont think they are hiring anyone right now given recent events.

[Void Angel]

Yeah, the website hasn't been updated in a while. They should probably clean out or archive old announce posts, revamp the layout, and fix the old bug where it logs you out once a day, regardless of your activity (it's not supposed to; I asked, back in the day.) But, that'd require a webmaster, and they're laying people off, so...

To be fair, it is still possible to be hiring for a position that's unfilled while deciding that other filled positions are costing too much money, so maybe they're hiring after all?