265 replies to this topic

[Kauhava]

Garth Erlam, on 26 October 2012 - 03:57 PM, said:

• Oh no it can’t be Open Beta because the game still does not have X Feature or Y piece of content, I can’t believe MWO will not said feature or content – I think all of us get caught up in the retail product mentality. Just because MWO is going Open Beta in no way means we are finished making the game or that we will even slowdown in the slightest. We already have nine months of work lined up in front of us and frankly there is no end to the work in sight. We could easily delay Open Beta endlessly to just wait for one more feature or one more piece of content which could easily become a black hole.

Are you ******* kidding me.

The current game is a disaster. This isn't just a matter of lacking features, this is a matter of half the **** in there being bugged to hell and back.

Edited by Kauhava, 26 October 2012 - 04:38 PM.

[Metalice99]

Thanks Russ/Garth for this post. It addresses some of the key issues felt by the community as a whole. However, there are some issues with the game as-is that need addressing quickly:

• DHS - Yes, I know this has been the subject of much frustration in many threads in the discussion forum. And for good reason, they are broke as hell. They need to be hotfixed, and a lot sooner than in 2 weeks time.
  
• The new Mech Bay - Again, another massive source of frustration for all beta-testers. Just tinkering and trying to squeeze in extra heatsinks/weapons, then changing your mind and swapping internals etc around should not feel clunky, and should definitely not cost literally millions. I fear that when open beta hits, and new players have just finished the grind to their first commando, only to have the money they set aside for customisation evaporate because they wanted to test the benefits of endosteel.
  
• Hit detection - Again, after forum trawling and through my own experience, it appears to have got worse with this patch. Especially with light mechs, and sometimes medium-assault mechs, i find i have to lead about 3 metres in front of them, even with lasers. Again, this is frustrating and might cause open beta players just to leave.

Just to clarify, this isn't intended to be a rant, just voicing my opinion as one of your Beta-testing minions. Otherwise, thanks for the opportunity to help towards the development of what appears to be an extremely promising (and frankly, freaking awesome) MechWarrior game. <3

[Solis Obscuri]

Garth Erlam, on 26 October 2012 - 03:57 PM, said:

• We just can’t ask more of our closed beta testers - The closed beta testers have done an amazing job, but many of you - including many founders - are just plain fatigued at having their data wiped. In fact according to our data we even have 10’s of thousands of Founders that are just waiting for Open Beta to play again so that their play time is not wasted. It is time for us to get into Open Beta and stop the data wipes.

Edited by Solis Obscuri, 26 October 2012 - 04:48 PM.

[EchoMike]

I have no problem with Open Beta beginning. There is one key feature missing that will help reatain new gamers - a fullscreen login and mechlab!

[GoodGuy]

More people for my awesome awesome to remind me that I'm awesome

[Sigvald Skullsplitter]

I'm all for going to open beta.
My only qualification is that the game be stable at its present configuration.
Then the open beta will be a stress test of the enlargement of the playing group instead of
"is this issue the last patch, or the additional stress on the server?"

That way, fixes will be faster and easier (I hope).
I've been pleased with the progress so far.
Please keep up the good work, and I deeply appreciate posts like this letting us know what is going on and why.
Thanks

[MoonUnitBeta]

Refreshing!
Thanks for the two weeks .
Can't wait to see this game start it's engines Oct 29h then lift off in 9 months

I hope the UI gets an overhaul and polished up so I can drag things . Needless to say, it's slowly getting better.

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 26 October 2012 - 04:56 PM.

[Butane9000]

My only problem is that in your last paragraph you ask us to keep our emotions out of our opinions. That's nearly impossible because your opinion is motivated by your emotions, wants and needs.

What you need to strive to keep emotion out of is your feedback to keep it constructive and on topic.

[Blowfeld]

Garth Erlam, on 26 October 2012 - 03:57 PM, said:

If you see a new player needing help, take the time to inform them on the nuances of MechWarrior and how they can get better at the game.

Or you implement a proper documentation of stats into the game before open beta, so we spend less time chatting and more time firing next week. Also it sucks if you explain something when dead and the guy in your camera dies and suddenly you stop to wr

[KBob]

Provided that there will be no major f-up the game could be called beta and not alpha .. but I foresee QQ to the top of the sky

[G SE7EN7]

Looking forward to open beta, yes there are still issues, im sure there will always be issues, but the good thing is the dev team work towards fixing the issues.

[Zao Luuban]

All I can say is great job guys! Its coming along at its own pace, and thats just how it should be. If now is the time for open beta then so be it. Im sure you will find that all your greatest supporters( as well as me! )will back the push for open beta, if nothing else for the good of the game. I for one can't wait to start fresh monday with the last(fingers crossed)wipe so I can finaly start my collection of, well...pretty much everything and not see it wiped away. May MWO have a long and healthy run, may it drain many a wallet and give many an hour of joy to the wallet-less alike...LONG LIVE MWO!!!!

[TheMagician]

Hopefully they fix the major (and embarrassing) bugs before Monday.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

I love this game. When I first got into the Closed Beta there were only a handful of mechs available, the economy was barely even on the horizon, and there were no efficiencies or anything. The game has grown immensely since then, and all you guys at PGI have been great. We've more than doubled the number of mechs available, we've gotten to have a lot of fun with new in-game tech, the efficiencies and modules and such have all been fun to unlock (though admittedly the initial iteration was a bit... painful, but I love the new progression so far), and the fundamental economy and rewards have been established and just need a little more tweaking.

I'm super excited for Open Beta. I've got friends and family who would love to play but wanted to wait for OB, and now they're finally gonna get the chance. The Cataphract is on the horizon, and all kinds of other great things are coming.

I do have a few things that I'd prefer be implemented before the Open Beta launch. I know that it's unlikely for anything not already planned to make it in, but certain things are super important for a successful introduction of the game to the broader market.

1 - Client chat. The grouping interface, the chat features in the game client, and even the in-match communication all are in desperate need of work. Groups should be able to launch with one button, without having to navigate the clunky group interface. Also, one of the best ways that someone can learn in a game like this is by being able to chat with his opponents after a match is over. I can't count the times that I've wished I could answer a new player's questions, only to have the game end and go to the scoreboard, cutting off all communications. It would be wonderful if there were some kind of post-game lobby, allowing the people who linger to chat with each other after a game, to see detailed performance rundowns, ask questions of each other, etc. If it were separate from the actual battle, then it wouldn't even have to lock the mechs of the people who don't choose to stick around in combat.

2 - Game modes. The current assault game mode is fine for testing a lot of aspects of the game, but I'm not so sure it's strong enough in its current iteration to sustain an Open Beta. Even a simple Team Deathmatch (or Annihilation mode or whatever) would be a good alternative, something even simpler, more straight-forward, and centered on the most engaging aspect of the game - team versus team combat. Base captures promote more tactical thinking in some ways, but the last thing you want is for a bunch of new players, thinking they're going to be in a big mech battle, to walk for five minutes and then have Defeat pop up as an experienced enemy player (or team) ninjas the base.

3 - Heat. Heat as it currently stands is prohibitive. Even if heat sinks weren't broken in this last patch, it'd still be punishing. Whole classes of weapons are essentially unusable currently (large energy weapons, especially of the extended range variety), and the brutal math of heat management promotes the Gauss Rifle and the smallest of energy weapons over most other options. Fixing whatever is wrong with heat sinks currently will be a huge step in the right direction, but even then the stock mech configurations, the foundation of the Trial Mech system, will remain wildly hot builds. I don't know if shortening the heat sink timescale would be the fix, or reducing heat generation of certain weapons, or what, but something should be done before the general public gets their hands on MWO. The last thing any of us wants is for a sizable portion of the prospective player base to drop in to a game, overheat, die, and uninstall in frustration.

Aside from those, everything else can pretty well wait. The game has been great fun for as long as I've been playing (longer, I'm sure; it was very robust when I got in), and I plan to keep playing MWO for years to come. Everyone at PGI has done a most incredible job, and I am thankful that the mechwarrior franchise is the such loving and capable hands.

[Polarice]

It's good to see it going open. The trip to full product will have ups and downs but I'm confident it's going tone a great ride!

[Townsaver80]

They should just hang out the worlds biggest "Welcome to the MWO BETA!" sign out on the internet they possibly can.

Closed Beta, Open Beta, wipe, no wipe. None of that matters at the moment. What does matter now are bug fixes, stress testing and increased player base diversity. By the hundreds....

This is still a Beta Test. It's not perfect. It's not finished. It's not supposed to be. This is still a Beta Test. We all know what that is, right?

Personally I would like to see the Full Non-Beta version wait until after community warfare is here and the persistent universe exists and works. That's the big picture here. That's the longevity of the product. That's where the new maps and new 'Mechs will matter most.

So it's not the wrong time to go in to open Beta, because there is no right time. And no time like the present, eh? A wise man once told me "There are no good decisions, there are no bad decisions. There are just decisions and the ramifications of making them."

- Townsaver80

[Mawai]

Metalice99, on 26 October 2012 - 04:37 PM, said:

Thanks Russ/Garth for this post. It addresses some of the key issues felt by the community as a whole. However, there are some issues with the game as-is that need addressing quickly:

• DHS - Yes, I know this has been the subject of much frustration in many threads in the discussion forum. And for good reason, they are broke as hell. They need to be hotfixed, and a lot sooner than in 2 weeks time.
  
• The new Mech Bay - Again, another massive source of frustration for all beta-testers. Just tinkering and trying to squeeze in extra heatsinks/weapons, then changing your mind and swapping internals etc around should not feel clunky, and should definitely not cost literally millions. I fear that when open beta hits, and new players have just finished the grind to their first commando, only to have the money they set aside for customisation evaporate because they wanted to test the benefits of endosteel.
  
• Hit detection - Again, after forum trawling and through my own experience, it appears to have got worse with this patch. Especially with light mechs, and sometimes medium-assault mechs, i find i have to lead about 3 metres in front of them, even with lasers. Again, this is frustrating and might cause open beta players just to leave.

Just to clarify, this isn't intended to be a rant, just voicing my opinion as one of your Beta-testing minions. Otherwise, thanks for the opportunity to help towards the development of what appears to be an extremely promising (and frankly, freaking awesome) MechWarrior game. &lt;3

I would like to add one more item to this list of potentially open beta game breaking issues.
The economy: weapon and ammo costs were increased as part of the mech cost normalization but this has caused repair and rearm costs to rise while rewards have not. In other words the economy may need fixing or owned mechs may not be worth playing.

[Berserker]

Could I ask yall to confirm that a wipe and reset will occur Monday on C-Bills, Mechs, etc? I'd like to take my last closed beta perk moments this weekend to go crazy with my stock and try out builds I'd otherwise be careful with when I'm spending my real cash.

Ignore. I just read my email and you address in there. Yup, reset of all excepting friends list and refill of any purchased perks.

Edited by Berserker, 26 October 2012 - 05:49 PM.

[zer0imh]

pls fix double heatsinks before open beta

[IceSerpent]

Metalice99, on 26 October 2012 - 04:37 PM, said:

Thanks Russ/Garth for this post. It addresses some of the key issues felt by the community as a whole. However, there are some issues with the game as-is that need addressing quickly:

• DHS - Yes, I know this has been the subject of much frustration in many threads in the discussion forum. And for good reason, they are broke as hell. They need to be hotfixed, and a lot sooner than in 2 weeks time.
  
• The new Mech Bay - Again, another massive source of frustration for all beta-testers. Just tinkering and trying to squeeze in extra heatsinks/weapons, then changing your mind and swapping internals etc around should not feel clunky, and should definitely not cost literally millions. I fear that when open beta hits, and new players have just finished the grind to their first commando, only to have the money they set aside for customisation evaporate because they wanted to test the benefits of endosteel.
  
• Hit detection - Again, after forum trawling and through my own experience, it appears to have got worse with this patch. Especially with light mechs, and sometimes medium-assault mechs, i find i have to lead about 3 metres in front of them, even with lasers. Again, this is frustrating and might cause open beta players just to leave.

Just to clarify, this isn't intended to be a rant, just voicing my opinion as one of your Beta-testing minions. Otherwise, thanks for the opportunity to help towards the development of what appears to be an extremely promising (and frankly, freaking awesome) MechWarrior game. <3

Agreed 100%. I would also add a "target mech glows white like a mini sun and everything else gets real dark" bug to the list.
I understand that there might be other considerations (financial, etc.) that push you guys to go to open beta, but those 4 issues above should be top priority and IMHO need to be fixed ASAP - not by Nov 6th, but via emergency patches as soon as it's humanly possible.

Just my $0.02