71 replies to this topic

[Bloody Moon]

By the way so far in the gameplay footages when targeting a mech the pilot names were seen, either it should be removed (for the sake of the "immersion") or i can safely assume automaticly calling down the general rating and affliction from mercnet or whatever it was called in MW4 shouldn't be hard at all if off world comms are not blocked since we somehow know who is sitting inside the enemy mech.

In my opinion the best place for player ratings aside from the website ofc would be on the "scorescreen" if we'll have one while in a battle binded to the usual tab or something. This way it's not cluttering up on the screen of those who dislike it but still can be checked and quickly summarized by those who want it.

Maybe a bit of spice could be added under the wings of the information warfare, so unless someone in your team scouted an enemy mech and relayed the info back to the team or you personally targeted an enemy mech or the commander used an UAV you can only see the stats and unit composition of your team and nothing from the enemy. This way an Atlas can really surprise you like in the Reboot Trailer.

[Seabear]

I would like to havwe information available in a form similar to what a house/merc company intelligence service might provide. This would mostly be general info rather than in depth stats.

[Gabriyel]

_Torment_, on 18 March 2012 - 05:23 PM, said:

I don't think you should get any information unless you're in the same outfit with people. Stats or callsigns in drops for the enemy? Only if they tell you in the drop. Helps with immersion. Helps with the idea that you actually can win every battle instead of some scrub telling his team to give up and die so everyone can get into another match. Less is more in some regards.

I personally don't like the metagaming aspect to stat tracking. As a pilot you're in it for your affiliation be it a House, Merc outfit, or Clan. Now tracking for an affiliation and plugging it into an HPGnet transmission when you log in everyday sounds cool, but personal stats? Track'em yourself, causes too much grief in the long run.

Word of mouth notoriety trumps any stat tracking hands down.

Frankly, stats are just a big ******* contest for the most part and I'd rather not have it in the game. I've been in leagues and even been one of the top players back in SL (MW3) when I was in college and could play all the time. I had teammates that were so worried dropping with me that they would break my 'win' streak rather than just playing and having fun.

What I've seen in other games too is players playing for kill/death ratios instead of playing to win. If they have mechanics that actually hurt you with real consequences such as in EvE, I could see not wanting to die/losing your mech which is why I want a separate League system/server badly.

But when you have a player that runs the other direction because his teammate died and keeps running around the map hoping time runs out or something stupid while we all have to sit and watch them. Or camps shut down somewhere... because he/she doesn't want to hurt his precious stats... well, that's when systems like this really suck.

If they do keep stats they shouldn't be made public in any way and just give you an idea for how effective you are as a player, or internal to your unit so that the leaders can make more accurate decisions based on who to take and who not to take on a drop and who could use some more training with a particular weapon system for example.

Having some dumb HUD popup with skull and crossbones or something stupid because some kid got 1000 kills over the summer is about the dumbest thing that could possibly be added to the game. it also takes away from the submersion, if you want a FPS go play Halo/CoD/BF or something. This is supposed to be a sim.

Also the ranking/unlock systems of those other games ruined them imho... if you don't start with everyone else you forever end up fighting against better weapons instead of like the original BF1942 until you reach the top rank/unlock and then things equal out. Bad game design.

[Togg Bott]

WHAT IF, and bear me out,Data on a particular Pilot/Unit. is that which is UPLOADED by people after a match. ie, you got your *** handed to you by xyz company and they used abc tactics. this would require input of said company by real people and not by game stats.

i mean come on, this IS supposed to be the 31st century, i'm pretty sure computers are a LITTLE more advanced than what we have now and i can pretty much find out info on most people now if i know alittle about them.

[Zhanna Kerensky]

Bloody Moon, on 21 March 2012 - 04:05 PM, said:

... i can safely assume automatically calling down the general rating and affliction from mercnet or whatever it was called in MW4 shouldn't be hard at all if off world comms are not blocked since we somehow know who is sitting inside the enemy mech.

Togg Bott, on 22 March 2012 - 06:13 PM, said:

i mean come on, this IS supposed to be the 31st century, i'm pretty sure computers are a LITTLE more advanced than what we have now and i can pretty much find out info on most people now if i know alittle about them.

... with ComStar and intelligence agencies working for all major Houses and merc units around, I reckon that realistically all general info for military personnel (not just unit paint schemes, unit crests, character names and callsigns, pilot's current mech type of choice, etc.) such as mechwarriors will be available including stats, thus it would actually add to the atmosphere/realism of MWO ... naturally, the depth of details available on the battlefield could be variable and there could also be mech gadgets to make reliable identifying more difficult for enemy mechs ... but in line with the above comments, I think it could add to the game if implemented as an option ... this way the developers may also spread false/unreliable/blurry intel in MWO mission/campaign descriptions that could potentially be updated with more reliable intel via live feeds afterwards ...

[MaddMaxx]

With 3rd Party Comms why not just make a Lance 5 Players. 4 who fight, and a Statistician who will relay Stats, real time, as you put a reticule on an enemy Mech.

"Ok, its "JimBob the Bad" what are his stats?"

#5 "hang on sec. in the background you hear. taptaptap taptap taptaptap taptaptaptaptaptaptap"

#5 "Ok! It true. JimBob really is Bad. They should call him JimBob the terrible! LOL He is 2-36 in the last 38, with 3 kills and 78 deaths. Don't sweat him, save him for later. Move on o the next possible target. I will look him up to!"

Please no.

Edited by MaddMaxx, 26 March 2012 - 07:21 AM.

[HeIIequin]

MaddMaxx, on 26 March 2012 - 07:21 AM, said:

"Ok, its "JimBob the Bad" what are his stats?"

#5 "hang on sec. in the background you hear. taptaptap taptap taptaptap taptaptaptaptaptaptap"
Please no.

Hahahaha.

Togg Bott, on 22 March 2012 - 06:13 PM, said:

WHAT IF, and bear me out,Data on a particular Pilot/Unit. is that which is UPLOADED by people after a match. ie, you got your *** handed to you by xyz company and they used abc tactics. this would require input of said company by real people and not by game stats.

i mean come on, this IS supposed to be the 31st century, i'm pretty sure computers are a LITTLE more advanced than what we have now and i can pretty much find out info on most people now if i know alittle about them.

I think in the end, all 'realism' will have to take a back seat (the old gameplay>realism thing) and the devs will just have to choose how deep they want stats based on how they think it will improve the game. Realism..heck, I'm no BT techy, but you'd think that in the 31st century they'd have mech radar that could go farther than 1km... and besides, how do you upload info on your enemy, and study their tactics if you lost and are 'dead'?

Regardless of that particular argument, it seems almost a win-win if they can have stats somehow tied into Information Warfare, since they're only trying to tout the whole 'multi-role' thing. I'd be surprised if they passed up an opportunity to test out how it would work that way.

So it goes back to; Do detailed stats improve or detract from the game?

I still think detailed public stats are bad (elitism abounds!).
Basic public stats are good because they'll at least give a basic understanding of people (and at least allow a little bit of epeen that some people love).
Lastly, detailed personal stats are good because only you get to see them, so you can see how you fare with things without EVERYONE knowing you as well as you do yourself. Might help improve your game too.

Edited by HeIIequin, 26 March 2012 - 02:08 PM.

[Cik]

to be honest, statistics are not needed. the MWLL community is more insular than this one, but the names of fearsome opponents spread quickly. all the veterans know the names of the more deadly opponents on the field. there is no reason this would not happen in this game as well.

[Gozer]

The Cheese, on 18 March 2012 - 05:15 PM, said:

There is no reason to show player stats mid-battle. A player name and team ID is enough.

Outside battle, a set of player stats would be cool to see, and useful when sifting through applicants for Merc Units.

This pretty much sums up my opinion. It doesn't make much sense in battle (except maybe friendlies as it kind of makes sense for commanders to have data on their lance mates) to know how the enemy does, but outside of battle the more info the better!

[Drazek Red Beard]

That was a fun poll, ty.

[Trevnor]

The way I look at it, I'd like to have detailed personal stats, that only I could see. For when I'm about to drop into combat, maybe a quick summary on the Unit I'm about to go up against, such as the obvious name, reputation(What their main playstyle is for example), and possible 'mech distribution, as in Lance of heavies, reinforced by a couple of assaults, etc.

When you are in the middle of combat, communication with your lance is the most important thing. Really, when you are fighting a unit, you might know the insignia, at most, and maybe the reputation associated, for example, if I was suddenly fighting the Wolf's Dragoons, I'd get fairly terrified. It's the same in game. People and units will get a word of mouth reputation, and that's all you really need.

Maybe, for an idea, if the commanders pay attention, the could write up dossiers on enemy pilots, over time, they would have more information available to those under that unit. Sometimes, the info may be wrong, or completely correct, sorta like real life "Military Intelligence".

[Vodkavaiator]

I have no great desire nor need for stats.

I play for fun and the challenge, I would expect that given time one would know who were fun/good opponents.

Its part of the unpredicateability of warfare, that guy in the Atlas trying to destroy you may be a terrible pilot or he may be a truly terrifying ace... The fun is trying to figure out which as you struggle to survive.

Edited by Vodkavaiator, 26 March 2012 - 03:48 PM.

[guardian wolf]

What I would like to see is an out of game statistic showing battle awards, best battles, and preferred roles, along with weight classes. In game, I want to see callsigns, and MAYBE, maybe unit affiliations. That would give it the feel of, "Wait, we're going against the Sword of Light? Well, we're in for one hell of a fight," along with them "Wait a sec, the HELLJUMPERS COMPANY?!?! We have to fight THEM?! Alright then, get ready people,"

[Anvil Dragon]

The callsigns of the group I am in matters, the opponents not so much, but I would like any intel on configuation I could get, and if it has a noble from another house (that could draw a good ranson)... that would be good to know too.

[TopDawg]

I am a fan of stats. Although I am a fan of stats, I think there should be some limitations involved. I like the idea of an accuracy stat per weapon (although this somewhat loses meaning if the environment is destructible), total kills, kills per game, 'Mechs scouted/identified, 'Mechs scouted/identified per game, total damage dealt, damage dealt per game, objectives completed, objectives completed per game (on applicable maps anyway), things of that nature, at least available to the player in game. I would like a win/loss stat/ratio, but only for league or ranked games. Keeping track of public stats for wins and losses seems somewhat silly given the random and arbitrary nature of your teammates, or your opponents teammates, in standard pick-up games.

I personally don't want it so people can look up your name if they see you in game (I'd kind of prefer people not being able to see a stats sheet until the end of a battle - thus preventing people from knowing exactly all of their opponents before the match even begins) and then know your favorite 'Mech, favorite weapon, preferred role, what 'Mechs you own, what they have equipped, etc.

In game (and some of this will depend on in game experience and potential balancing), I think there is nothing wrong with displaying an enemy pilot's name and 'Mech type. With the right kind of sensors/equipment, I think you should be able to see what weapons they have as well. It could be tried that you need certain sensors/equipment to display pilot names, but I'd honestly have to see it in game to form an educated opinion on it. It also depends how identifiable players will be, either with colors, paint scheme, and/or insignia(s), etc. Hopefully 'Mech appearance customization will be awesome and play a role in the identification and recognition of players/units/groups.

[Omigir]

No,
K.I.S.S. method.

You should be able to look at pilot stats outside of the battlefield, not inside it. Like Bungie.net accept you can access it from the lobby in game.

[Verithrax]

I like to pilot lights and that being said I know I Die alot more than being in a hvyr mech. So the stats would be off. So no Stats.
Besides shouldnt you do a 1 vs 1 match with the applicant to test there skills????

Edited by Verithrax, 30 March 2012 - 03:29 AM.

[TopDawg]

Verithrax, on 30 March 2012 - 03:28 AM, said:

I like to pilot lights and that being said I know I Die alot more than being in a hvyr mech. So the stats would be off. So no Stats.
Besides shouldnt you do a 1 vs 1 match with the applicant to test there skills????

People are free to recruit off of whatever they want; personally I think recruiting off of stats would be in error, but stats should still be in the game.

That's why I offered stats that didn't rely solely on the killing perspective, or only one specific role on the battlefield. The devs are continually pushing role warfare, and it's one of the main selling points to me (having come mostly from MechCommander). There's nothing inherently wrong with stats, it's just entirely on how people interpret them and how it then governs their behavior (if it does at all).

You'll notice I didn't involve a death stat. You'll notice I included an objectives stat, to encourage objective based, teamplay. At the end of the day, or year, or years, of having played this game, stats are a very nice way to monitor and reflect on your time spent in game, and I wholeheartedly think it would be a mistake to not have stats available out of game (within the certain limitations I pointed out in my previous post).

[Requital]

look, any PVP game I have been in that uses titles that can be recognized without going to a website has been negative. It causes people to play stupidly. It will end in players doing dumb stuff to either keep a title, or to attack someone with a title(or in this case a kill score).

I think it is great to have tracking of kill to death ratios and total kills and maybe even listing the tonnage of mech normally piloted, but beyond that you are asking for problems.

think about it...if you were in a mech, you would only know of an enemy by name either by their nobility or infamy. The books I have read, I never heard about a HUD that was connected to a universal rap sheet. I think that not only would a HUD score list for that persons entire history be a bad idea from a gameplay aspect, it would lower teamwork, and also be very unrealistic.

[TopDawg]

Not sure if that's in response to my post or not, but I outlined how much and how little should/could be displayed in game, and mostly advocated for out of game stats that would be viewable by others, with limitations placed on those. I think all stats should be viewable by the player they belong to in game, though.