5 replies to this topic

[General Kaos]

The Chameleon:

A lot of attention is being brought to bear regarding the grind in trial mech's. I have to agree that it sucks. There have been some pretty good ideas on how to solve the problem, but I do not believe that I have seen my solution yet. Okay, so you take a new player through a simulator type (single player) scenario to sort of break them in, and get them familiar with the controls (maybe even stop action to show them what keys to press and when). At the end of the scenario, the player is given a CLN-7V Chameleon (I know that this mech does not exist in MW:O yet).

Here is the beauty of it though. This is a TRAINER mech in every sense of the word, so when the player is done with it, he/she has to sell it (to make room in the mech bay) only he/she will get NO money (C-Bills) for selling it. An added bonus then would be that the matchmaker system would have a VERY easy time placing all of the new players together (as they would all be in Chameleons).

Everybody wants to tinker with their mechs and personalize them. The Chameleon is PERFECT for this. It is a 50 ton mech (so it is able to fill the light or Medium role) and it has missile, energy, and ballistic hardpoints. Then the money that the new player earns in matches can go towards outfitting this mech. When the player is done with it though, again, they get no money for the sale of the mech.

I might even suggest in addition to all of this, that while in the Chameleon the player only earns 1/2 the amount of rewards. Add to this that the player can earn some xp, but without any variants, there is no incentive to keep this mech beyond the start.

I would love to get some feedback on the idea...what do you think? Is is viable?

[Celesteel]

Great idea, but the rate that PGI has released mech's would suggest that this "fix" would not be available until sometime around 2015

[Enigmus]

I would agree. This sounds like a great middle ground between just giving a mech and making newbies grind through the trail mechs.

[weaponx26]

this mech is old.. i'm sure there's a more recent model that could do the same job. over the next few months you will see the cataphract, jagermech,spider, stalker and trebuchet come along and the clans invade next year so you have there mech's as well :-)

[Thirdrail]

I have to say, I think the current system is pretty reasonable. The point of free to play is not that you're supposed to play for free, it's that you can play for free. There's nothing wrong with a system where people who want instant gratification help support the game.

For $15 anyone can buy themselves a mech and skip the whole trial grind. That's like 4 cups of coffee. It costs $30 to buy a Final Fantasy game for your iPhone.

If the bar has no cover charge, that doesn't mean they should also have free drinks. Just the opposite, in fact. (Assuming you want the bar to stay in business.)

[Khell3770]

I understand that they have to make money, but when I play for several hours at the start and don't have half or even a 1/4 of the price of a new light mech, then I'm getting less interested in the game when I see the Atlas at 12mil or even a decent large or med mech at around 4mil.

As to a bar analogy. there may be no cover charge, but if the drinks are $25 and it takes an hour to get one, then I'm going somewhere else with my money.

Every skill/experience driven mmo or rpgmmo I have ever played at least allowed you to earn experience points from the beginning and most all of them allow you to select were your points go as you earn them, not chaining them to a very specific weapon, and none that I can think of to a weapon variant. Don't get me wrong, I like MWO allot, but if a game doesn't draw a person in and get them wanting more, then they aren't going to pay to keep playing.

Having a grind is fine, but it should never be at the very beginning when you are trying to draw someone in so they will continue to play and hopefully spend some money.

Edited by Khell3770, 03 November 2012 - 01:06 PM.