22 replies to this topic

[Cybrid]

This raises a few questions, a few fears and a few hopes.

So let's get to the questions first, shall we?
Being a world of tanks player, I know that F2P doesn't automatically mean it's bad.. More along the lines of "Hard to get right", but hopefully this team can handle it. So what I'm wondering:

What will the premium include? Will it be necessary to start your own Lance/Star?
Are there any plans at all for "premium" mechs? (If so, take it from me: Bad idea with this IP.)
Will there be any XP-based grinding? For example, a WoT-style tech tree where you grind out a mech to access a heavier one?

And a few non-critical questions:
Can we get a general idea of how the gameplay will handle? Earlier MechWarrior game type controls?
Solaris Arena? (It was awesome in MW4Mercs. If yes, get the same voice actor who did the announcer voice. Epic on that scale is hard to find.)
Custom camo/paintjobs/emblems for your Lance/Star/Merc Unit/Clan? Or at least a few different ones to pick from?
Will there be Unseen mechs?

Alright, that's it for the questions. On to the fears.
Mechwarrior has always been a pretty solid niche market. I missed out on the original Battletech board game,
but was an avid MW player (Heck, got both MW2 and the MW2 3DFX edition.)
And from what I've learned, pleasing a community like that is like walking a tightrope.
The F2P model, while an excellent way to get a lot of people to at least try out the game, at times doesn't
quite inspire a lot of confidence in the people who hear the words. For the real hardcases, they might see it as an invitation for "non-serious" people to flood the game and generally ruin any immersion they might get.
For the slightly less hardcore, yet still not casual, crowd, fears of the gameplay being too watered down or missing vital components (MechLab, things like that) is always a legit worry. And as for the casuals...
Well, who cares? They never beat the Solaris Arena, or led Jade Falcon to victory, so who cares what they think? They will most likely drop the game after a week or so anyway, and good riddance to bad rubbish.

As for hopes. Well, what needs to be said? Finally a serious attempt at a new MW game, which is AGES overdue. Of course hopes will be high. Initial reactions to the F2P and "Online" in the title were... mixed, at least from where I checked, but seems to waver towards "Whelp, got my hopes up for nothing". I'm not going to pretend I'm some kind of naive optimist, having been a gamer for many years has made me an incurable cynic, but from what I've read about the dev team, and the people who've had a hand in this, I'm feeling a sort of cautious optimism. I see before me big battles, lots of mechs stomping around and shooting eachother and generally exploding in lovely gigantic fireballs. I see a few sleepless nights tinkering around in the mechlab, trying to fit in that last heatsink for that last iota of badly-needed firepower.

I see before me a Dire Wolf stepping on an Uller and crushing it, before stomping onwards with guns (and lasers, of course) blazing.

Sorry for the immense wall of text, but hopefully it wasn't too pathetic. Any answers to the questions would be greatly appreciated. And with that, best of luck in creating this. And save me a spot on the alpha/beta.

Edited by cybrid, 31 October 2011 - 12:55 PM.

[Cybrid]

So, no one has any opinions, comments, assurances, counter-questions, flames...at all?
Way to make a guy feel like he wasted a bit of effort.

[ppk]

cybrid, on 31 October 2011 - 12:54 PM, said:

Being a world of tanks player, I know that F2P doesn't automatically mean it's bad..

Me too WOT player.

And I want to ask only one question: does developers checked this game? There are can be found very many good ideas for MWO.

[DirtyMongorian]

I'm a WoT player as well. I just hope it doesn't get to lopsided when it comes to premie vs normal accounts. Some perks but nothing that would make a mega death star mech destroyer with one shot from my spitball gun.... <---get the idea?

[Scurvy]

We have no idea how they'll gain revenue. But since they used League of Legends as an example in the recent article it's safe to say that their revenue will be gained by producing custom skins for people to buy at an line store of sorts. That's just one example.

Who knows though, we have no real information on this so anything is just speculation at this point.

[Cybrid]

aegis kleais™, on 01 November 2011 - 12:59 PM, said:

you're asking FORUMGOERS for finite input on features of a game when there are none.

I was mainly hoping for some dev input, hoping as I am that they take a few minutes to check the forum now and again.
English isn't my native language, so sometimes I have a bit of trouble making sure my meaning gets across. Sorry for that.

[SpyRage]

I'm Anxious to see how well the Devs will communicate with the fan/player base on the forums and if they actually take in account of our feedback and suggestions.

Edited by SpyRage, 01 November 2011 - 01:07 PM.

[Cybrid]

@SpyRage

I'm fairly certain any successful game in the last 10 years included listening to the player base. : D Just keep an eye on the new X-COM game; if it becomes a total failure, you see what happens when you don't listen to the players.

[Cybrid]

aegis kleais™, on 01 November 2011 - 01:11 PM, said:

I hear you though, I'm as eager as the next pilot to learn as much as I can about the game I love so much.

Amen to that, Ovkhan.

[TheRulesLawyer]

cybrid, on 31 October 2011 - 12:54 PM, said:

Being a world of tanks player, I know that F2P doesn't automatically mean it's bad..

WoT isn't bad, but it is P2W. Bad choice.

[Cybrid]

TheRulesLawyer, on 01 November 2011 - 01:31 PM, said:

WoT isn't bad, but it is P2W. Bad choice.

Can't say I've noticed any P2W in WoT, unless you mean gold ammo which is only used in clan fights/tourneys.

[Sebastien Kane]

If you want to see a great F2P game that is good for casual and for hard core... that also have a lot of content that is available to all (except the mail system) check out Global agenda... everything in terms of weapons is available to all... it just takes longer to level up and get all the gear if you don't pay... but since the diffetent between gear "rarity" is minimal... a good free player will always beat a bad paying player... that's what I hope to see here...

[Cybrid]

I managed to buy GA before it went F2P
But I did manage to find a Helot Minigun eventually, so no harm done. (Cause the Helot Mini looks totally awesome. No other reason.)

[TheCaptainJZ]

Cybrid, on 31 October 2011 - 12:54 PM, said:

This raises a few questions, a few fears and a few hopes.

So let's get to the questions first, shall we?
Being a world of tanks player, I know that F2P doesn't automatically mean it's bad.. More along the lines of "Hard to get right", but hopefully this team can handle it. So what I'm wondering:

What will the premium include? Will it be necessary to start your own Lance/Star?
Are there any plans at all for "premium" mechs? (If so, take it from me: Bad idea with this IP.)
Will there be any XP-based grinding? For example, a WoT-style tech tree where you grind out a mech to access a heavier one?

And a few non-critical questions:
Can we get a general idea of how the gameplay will handle? Earlier MechWarrior game type controls?
Solaris Arena? (It was awesome in MW4Mercs. If yes, get the same voice actor who did the announcer voice. Epic on that scale is hard to find.)
Custom camo/paintjobs/emblems for your Lance/Star/Merc Unit/Clan? Or at least a few different ones to pick from?
Will there be Unseen mechs?

Alright, that's it for the questions. On to the fears.
Mechwarrior has always been a pretty solid niche market. I missed out on the original Battletech board game,
but was an avid MW player (Heck, got both MW2 and the MW2 3DFX edition.)
And from what I've learned, pleasing a community like that is like walking a tightrope.
The F2P model, while an excellent way to get a lot of people to at least try out the game, at times doesn't
quite inspire a lot of confidence in the people who hear the words. For the real hardcases, they might see it as an invitation for "non-serious" people to flood the game and generally ruin any immersion they might get.
For the slightly less hardcore, yet still not casual, crowd, fears of the gameplay being too watered down or missing vital components (MechLab, things like that) is always a legit worry. And as for the casuals...
Well, who cares? They never beat the Solaris Arena, or led Jade Falcon to victory, so who cares what they think? They will most likely drop the game after a week or so anyway, and good riddance to bad rubbish.

As for hopes. Well, what needs to be said? Finally a serious attempt at a new MW game, which is AGES overdue. Of course hopes will be high. Initial reactions to the F2P and "Online" in the title were... mixed, at least from where I checked, but seems to waver towards "Whelp, got my hopes up for nothing". I'm not going to pretend I'm some kind of naive optimist, having been a gamer for many years has made me an incurable cynic, but from what I've read about the dev team, and the people who've had a hand in this, I'm feeling a sort of cautious optimism. I see before me big battles, lots of mechs stomping around and shooting eachother and generally exploding in lovely gigantic fireballs. I see a few sleepless nights tinkering around in the mechlab, trying to fit in that last heatsink for that last iota of badly-needed firepower.

I see before me a Dire Wolf stepping on an Uller and crushing it, before stomping onwards with guns (and lasers, of course) blazing.

Sorry for the immense wall of text, but hopefully it wasn't too pathetic. Any answers to the questions would be greatly appreciated. And with that, best of luck in creating this. And save me a spot on the alpha/beta.

Not sure what you all mean by "premium."
There are Founders who paid into a pilot program. They get a mech that earns cbills and xp faster, but not too fast. The mech itself is a standard variant that anyone can purchase, without the perks.
You can buy things with MC. So far, this is only one hero mech. It is a custom variant of some famous battletech person in battletech lore. It's balanced with other mechs. It comes with a cbill bonus too.
Basically, the devs have stated that they don't want this to be a pay to win game at all. The stuff that you buy does not really gain you any tactical advantage whatsoever. This is stuff like skins or decorations for your cockpit. In the cases where MC buys mechs, they are balanced with other mechs. The cbill and xp boost really only saves a paying customer some time. They can generate money faster, but all tech is available to everyone.

As for grinding, yes there is an initial grind. You start with 4 trial mechs that can't be customized, but are always available. After you earn enough cbills, you can start buying your own mechs that you can customize to your liking. But be warned, you also have to repair and rearm your own mechs.

Gameplay is similar to previous mechwarrior games but the multiplayer dynamic changes things a bit. It's not you against every mech in a campaign. There is a bit of an adjustment to make, but it's fun. You are 8 vs 8 and one important thing is to communicate with your team. The team aspect is what will win rounds. There is also a lot more to information warfare. You don't have all-knowing sensors, you have LoS. Each weight class can take on and possibly win against other weight classes.

There will eventally be a universe map and players will be able to fight for their house and claim territory.

Everyone's biggest concern right now is the matchmaking is a bit basic, but they are working on it.

[Kunae]

OP: I suggest you read everything in here: http://mwomercs.com/...elopers-corner/

It will answer 95% of your questions.

[Lin Shai]

TheCaptainJZ, on 30 October 2012 - 10:54 AM, said:

Not sure what you all mean by "premium."

He means exactly that. Everyone can buy "premium" time, in increments as small as one day. The founder's packs came with 1 - 3 months of it depending on the pack.

Right now it gives you a +50% bonus to C-Bills earned in a match.

[Belorion]

Yen Lo Wang is a premium mech. As presumambly all hero mechs will be. They only real advantage is the cbill boost.

[Kunae]

Belorion, on 30 October 2012 - 11:09 AM, said:

Yen Lo Wang is a premium mech. As presumambly all hero mechs will be. They only real advantage is the cbill boost.

Hold on, now.

That there fancy schmancy paint-job is pretty obviously P2W.

[Shirefolk]

Cybrid, on 31 October 2011 - 12:54 PM, said:

This raises a few questions, a few fears and a few hopes.

So let's get to the questions first, shall we?
Being a world of tanks player, I know that F2P doesn't automatically mean it's bad.. More along the lines of "Hard to get right", but hopefully this team can handle it. So what I'm wondering:

What will the premium include? Will it be necessary to start your own Lance/Star?
Are there any plans at all for "premium" mechs? (If so, take it from me: Bad idea with this IP.)
Will there be any XP-based grinding? For example, a WoT-style tech tree where you grind out a mech to access a heavier one?

And a few non-critical questions:
Can we get a general idea of how the gameplay will handle? Earlier MechWarrior game type controls?
Solaris Arena? (It was awesome in MW4Mercs. If yes, get the same voice actor who did the announcer voice. Epic on that scale is hard to find.)
Custom camo/paintjobs/emblems for your Lance/Star/Merc Unit/Clan? Or at least a few different ones to pick from?
Will there be Unseen mechs?

Alright, that's it for the questions. On to the fears.
Mechwarrior has always been a pretty solid niche market. I missed out on the original Battletech board game,
but was an avid MW player (Heck, got both MW2 and the MW2 3DFX edition.)
And from what I've learned, pleasing a community like that is like walking a tightrope.
The F2P model, while an excellent way to get a lot of people to at least try out the game, at times doesn't
quite inspire a lot of confidence in the people who hear the words. For the real hardcases, they might see it as an invitation for "non-serious" people to flood the game and generally ruin any immersion they might get.
For the slightly less hardcore, yet still not casual, crowd, fears of the gameplay being too watered down or missing vital components (MechLab, things like that) is always a legit worry. And as for the casuals...
Well, who cares? They never beat the Solaris Arena, or led Jade Falcon to victory, so who cares what they think? They will most likely drop the game after a week or so anyway, and good riddance to bad rubbish.

First off. F2P does not mean bad. WoT (imo) is just bad. League of Legends is good AND F2P.

Groups are self organized. For a while there will be a cap of 4 in a 'PuG' group. There is currently no cap and after they get real matchmaking, there will be no cap.

Premium only gets you CBill and exp boosts. Nothing that changes the in battle.

No tech trees.

Hero mechs are just special variants of Mechs. They get small tweeks, but so far nothing game breaking.

There is some mech customization, but it is too early to see much. Just one skin and one cockpit flare.

[RedHairDave]

Cybrid, on 01 November 2011 - 01:37 PM, said:

Can't say I've noticed any P2W in WoT, unless you mean gold ammo which is only used in clan fights/tourneys.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!
its all i fire. clan gold. that game is p2w to a whole new level. but i didnt pay, just won. gold is everywhere.