19 replies to this topic

[MustrumRidcully]

I really like the idea of role warfare and the idea of advancing my pilot with XP, and I like the role of the spotter for LRM fire and sharing targets with your allies.

But I wouldn't have made the whole spotting thing a "free" affair.

If I had made this game, I would have changed things like this:
1) By default, everyone shares RADAR information. This doesn't allow targeting an enemy, but it tells you what else is running around. I may have upgraded the RADAR information a bit so you can at least see on the map and RADAR what class of mech (light to assault) you're detecting.

2) To spot targets for others is a module slot. In addition, C3 and C3i (once they arrive), grant this ability as a free module to members of the respective C3 network.

3) Tag also allows spotting a target for someone else. If you have C3(i) or a module for target sharing, this raises the speed of gaining locks. Tag also directs missiles towards the targeted hit location, if any.

4) NARC allows spotting a target for someone else. Narc also directs missiles towards the target hit location, if any. The Narc has 60 hit points, losing one each second and for every point of damage the hit location takes. (SO it lasts up to 60 seconds.)

5) Homing Missiles require a re-lock after every shot, but are fire & forget afterwards. If no spotter is available for the original target, the missiles head for the last path. Spotters can see which mechs are currently targeted by missiles, so another spotter can try to pitch in.

6) As a missile user, you can also acquire modules that increase your lock time, with additional increases if allies of you are also targeting your target.


By "forcing" these abilities into module slots, player advancement can serve to lead people into a dedicated role, and also create a more definite relevance to modules and roles on the battle field. LRM users will love the one guy that bothered to max out his Scout Modules and can simply relay targeting information for anything he detects.

Of course, for other roles, there would need to be equivalent powerful and interesting modules.

In my list of imagined modules, I probably wouldn't find a single Capture Accelerator however, so it may not be to everyone's liking.


----

What would you have done differently? WHat did you expect to have done differently, if you think about all the blogs you read before the game arrived, on your own experiences with previous Mechwarrior tiles or the Battletech table top game or the Mechwarrior roleplaying games? Or just for any other reason?

Edited by MustrumRidcully, 11 January 2013 - 09:43 AM.

[rgreat]

MustrumRidcully, on 11 January 2013 - 09:42 AM, said:

1) By default, everyone shares RADAR information. This doesn't allow targeting an enemy, but it tells you what else is running around. I may have upgraded the RADAR information a bit so you can at least see on the map and RADAR what class of mech (light to assault) you're detecting.

No, thats C3 Computer net is for. Wait for it to be implemented.

Quote

2) To spot targets for others is a module slot. In addition, C3 and C3i (once they arrive), grant this ability as a free module to members of the respective C3 network.

See above.

Quote

3) Tag also allows spotting a target for someone else. If you have C3(i) or a module for target sharing, this raises the speed of gaining locks. Tag also directs missiles towards the targeted hit location, if any.

Tag is just IR laser.
Thats will be unrealistic. Current implementation of TAG seems ok.

Quote

4) NARC allows spotting a target for someone else. Narc also directs missiles towards the target hit location, if any. The Narc has 60 hit points, losing one each second and for every point of damage the hit location takes. (SO it lasts up to 60 seconds.)

Agree.

Quote

5) Homing Missiles require a re-lock after every shot, but are fire & forget afterwards. If no spotter is available for the original target, the missiles head for the last path. Spotters can see which mechs are currently targeted by missiles, so another spotter can try to pitch in.

No. Thats just add more no-brainer style to missiles. There must be some other way to ballance them.
Some kind of sattleite view aiming mode with missiles will be good though.
To provide arial missile barrages.

Quote

6) As a missile user, you can also acquire modules that increase your lock time, with additional increases if allies of you are also targeting your target.

You mean 'decrease' ? why not.
But i'm against 'multiple locks' bonus. We have various ECM/TAG/NARC/e.t.c modules for that.

Edited by rgreat, 11 January 2013 - 10:00 AM.

[Inertiaman]

There are so many specifics that I could drill into - some represented above but more generally speaking I would have sat down and played every last match-based F2P out there. Features and user experience that some games have offered in their stride seem to represent monumental challenges to PGI. Why reinvent the wheel - get out there and see how it's being done elsewhere.

In my mind this applies above all to the lobby/matchmaker/region thing. Christ you'd think we were asking for blood from a stone yet there are tiny little companies out there (S2 games being a great example) who have offered 100 times the functionality from scratch than we're seeing here.

rgreat, on 11 January 2013 - 09:54 AM, said:

No, thats C3 Computer net is for. Wait for it to be implemented.

C3 is implemented. Only everyone has it.

ALSO - MWLL did so much right as regards transposing this from TT to FPS. HUD aspects especially. Things like ecm radius, zoom, tag/narc/lock warnings. They all feel so integrated and make the floating ECM Eye icon in MWO look horrible tacked on.

[rgreat]

Inertiaman, on 11 January 2013 - 10:27 AM, said:

C3 is implemented. Only everyone has it.

Not really.
C3 will share all target information. You will not need to press 'R' to share target.
That current system is a some kind of partial C3.

[hammerreborn]

I would have deleted these forums a long time ago to preserve my sanity.

Also:
Homing Missiles require a re-lock after every shot, but are fire & forget afterwards. If no spotter is available for the original target, the missiles head for the last path. Spotters can see which mechs are currently targeted by missiles, so another spotter can try to pitch in.
Isn't that basically how they work already, other than notifying you which mechs are currently targeted by missles (other than seeing the skies become glowy), and needing the re-lock. The missiles currently head to last known position if the target is lost.

[Penance]

I would've listened to my mom and became a doctor or lawyer.

[CDLord HHGD]

I would have done a large scale constantly interactive map like planetside2. There's a lot of mechanics to work out, but I don't have a team of genius game developers around me. But that would be my end goal. Large interactive map with queue "scenarios" that are 12v12 that goups/clans/units/guilds can queue up for. Add in a little of the RvR mechanic from WAR..... The outcomes of the scenarios in conjunction with the status of the large interactive map would decide the fate of the planet.

[IceSerpent]

MustrumRidcully, on 11 January 2013 - 09:42 AM, said:

What would you have done differently? WHat did you expect to have done differently, if you think about all the blogs you read before the game arrived, on your own experiences with previous Mechwarrior tiles or the Battletech table top game or the Mechwarrior roleplaying games? Or just for any other reason?

Hmm...where should I start...let's see:

1. When increasing RoF I'd make sure to decrease damage per shot and heat per shot by the same percentage.
2. I wouldn't have increased the armor. If I absolutely had to increase armor, I'd remember to increase all ammo counts by the same percentage.
3. I would never, ever come up with a concept of weapon convergence system that doesn't provide any feedback about where my guns are pointing to at any given moment.
4. I wouldn't have coupled heat dissipation with total heat capacity. I would, on the other hand, couple total heat capacity with the actual mech variant just in case I need to tweak it later on mech-by-mech basis.
5. I would have left DHS at 2.0
6. I would have provided an ability to limit hardpoints in size, made default value to be "unlimited" and tweaked it on case-by-case basis.
7. I would have provided an ability for units to drop against a designated opponent from the beginning.
8. I would have allowed teams of 5-8 players in the "premade" queue and matched them against a team of the same size.
9. I would have made CW a very high priority item from the start and later based matchmaker on what CW requires in that regard.
10. I would have created some sort of a lobby with a general chat.
11. I would have included some sort of BV in the matchmaker from the start - probably would have started with TT BV values and tweaked them as needed.
12. I would have kept in-game economy functional and folks who think that it's "too grindy" can go pound sand in the corner as far as I am concerned.
13. I would have kept collisions in game and later replaced the broken version with fixed version when it's ready.
14. I would have designed mechlab along the lines of a shopping cart from the beginning - i.e. you play with your build as much as you want and you only get charged when you click on "submit order" button.

There are probably about a dozen more things that just escape me at the moment.

[Team Leader]

Asked out Amy instead of Brianna

[Kotrin]

I wouldn't have alienated the community by pushing changes down their throat (1.4 DHS, ECM to name a few) but instead have kept stats, polls and open discussions regarding incoming features, not being afraid of releasing some equipment temporarily just for feedback.

I would have understood that, better than TT compliance or what dictates the marketing service or my own personal conception of what a Mechwarrior-based MMO should be, a F2P game has a primordial asset - the willingness of the community to sustain it and wanting it to succeed.

If some features were unsure of or unfinished, I would have kept them in test mode while putting efforts where the game is really lacking for everyone and in every situation (netcode, new maps),

But I'm sure PGI will know better for their next game.

[Tasorin]

I would have changed the business model for the cash store to more of a "High Yield" rather then "Premium Price". I personally believe that PGI/IGP would be seeing more total revenue if the cost of MC per unit was lower and the cost of paid customization was both persistent and a lower cost per unit.

Not being able to keep a camo pattern to re-apply even if it was a "limited use" item, like say when you purchased a Camo pattern you received "5 Applications" before you had to repurchase would have spurned a higher yield in units sold and when compounded by a less costly MC model PGI/IGP would have seen a larger revenue stream in both the long and short term.

Cockpit items are so overpriced I won't even comment on them.

[Mercules]

Kotrin, on 11 January 2013 - 02:09 PM, said:

I would have understood that, better than TT compliance or what dictates the marketing service or my own personal conception of what a Mechwarrior-based MMO should be, a F2P game has a primordial asset - the willingness of the community to sustain it and wanting it to succeed.

Where as I would have understood the Mechwarrior/Battletech universe has a strong following and diluting it with stuff to appease the masses will simply lose the core audience for the game and turn it into the Game of the Month that the normal gaming community picks up, plays for a few months, and then drops for the next "Game of the Month".

[80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie]

For the most part (besides general weapon balance and equipment functionality)

I would have done Missiles in general completely different.

******* hate how missile work in this game.

[Team Leader]

Kotrin, Tasorin, I couldnt agree more!

[MustrumRidcully]

Sometimes it would be nice to have more than one test server, for example to test different weapon stats or hard point layouts or missile flight characteristics.

Quote

Isn't that basically how they work already, other than notifying you which mechs are currently targeted by missiles (other than seeing the skies become glowy), and needing the re-lock. The missiles currently head to last known position if the target is lost.

Not quite. Currently, you must maintain a lock the entire time. Lock in this case doesn't mean just hving pressed "R", but having that red missile lock circle. The current system allows firing missiles sequentially without requiring a full relock operation. THis has its advantages, but also a drawback - if you have a good view (or good spotter), you don't need to worry about lock times. I believe that is overall bad, because it is something that would keep Streaks under control, for example.

[SiorAlpin Wolf]

i wouldnt of wasted my money buying a founders pack, i would have spent it on another f2p game that actually has progression.

[MustrumRidcully]

One other thing crossed my mind...

Most online games allow you to have multiple characters per account. I think this could be beneficial to MW:O as well.

This would allow having people create multiple characters with different skill sets, allowing the skill tree to be an actual tree and force mutually exclusive decisions and interesting character design.

[King Arthur IV]

i want a team engagement indicator. so if they like fire (even into thin air) i want their triangle to blink or something.

[8RoundsRapid]

I would've made a 100% true to tabletop conversion!!!

I kid, I kid...

I would've spent much, much more time trying to simulate the effects of heat and movement on weapon accuracy. More weapon shake the faster you move, bumpier terrain that threw off your aim, mechs slow down when moving thru rough terrain or uphill, high heat levels make your mech sluggish and interfere with your targeting hud, etc.

I would've not doubled the armor, and if I did, adjusted the heat and ammo for weapons by the same %.

No pinpoint accuracy for groups of weapons.

I would've designed a set of 10-15 maps for each of a variety of planetary environments (desert, forest, city, moonscape, lava planet, etc). Or perhaps made a map system that produced random maps for those environments instead.

Never released the game w/ lagshield in it. Completely unacceptable. This would've been my #1 priority before releasing anything for the public.

No mech customization. Lots of variants.

Set it in 3068 or 3075 era. Jihad era tech and mechs. They are so wonderful at that time frame. So many incredible IS and clan mechs its not even funny.

Use a system similar to Mekwars for planetary battles, control, and resources. IE, mech factories that produce certain chassis on certain planets.

Much more powerful jumpjets. Much more powerful. BUT almost impossible to hit anything with any gun while jumping.

No more lock on for LRM/SSRM. Missiles are faster and go to whereever your crosshairs are aiming, adjusting flight path in flight to attempt to hit target location. TAG would allow a lock on for anybody w/ LRMs.

No F2P bullsh.it. 60$ upfront w/ a cash shop for cosmetics and boosters.

More mechs! I would've had Flying Debris redo the unseen again and included them.

Finally, I would've made a much better effort to make these mechs look more like Flying Debris art. His mech art is amazing and some of these chassis do not do it justice whatsoever (I'm looking at you awesome and stalker.)

Edited by 8RoundsRapid, 13 January 2013 - 10:41 AM.

[Xigunder Blue]

Most everything was covered, pro and con, in the previous posts. Thought I would add -

1) Reduce Critical Hits to a very small % so you do not interrupt mech actions or roles quite so much. Have had "CRITICAL HIT" show up after a single hit far too often. Just reduce the % to at least half what it is at present. Need it in, just not quite so omni-present.

2) ECM is usable only for the mech carrying it. Area ECM is OP in personal opinion.

3) Do not be afraid to discuss openly what is coming in the next patch. Right now it seems PGI is like congress, "surprise!!!". If you do not want to release more maps untill 'Launch" then just say so.

4) Speculate on CW planning and get our feedback. If you can't afford it then just tell the truth and lets go on. Play up the CW since the majority of us are 'most' interested in that. Months of just 'learning' play is getting tiresome.

5) Do not spoil the game by making 'everything' equal. (fix the darn lag shield please!).

There is more but thats enough from me.