23 replies to this topic

[The Amazing Atomic Spaniel]

Hi All,

I thought I’d share my thoughts as one of the many new players.

Overall, I’m having a blast and really enjoying it. I used to play a lot of MW4 so I sort of hit the ground running. Not so sure how someone would fare without that prior experience.

I actually started playing the closed beta the day before it went open, so my total experience of MWO is now a grand total of two evenings. I’ve bought about £30 of MC, but so far have only bought a standard Hunchback in-game (AC20 version). See below for why I’m holding off spending more for the moment

Anyway, here’s my thoughts on the good and bad.

GOOD
1. Graphics, effects and 3D models are superb. I really like the detailed realisation of the mechs. Excellent job, devs.

2. Maps are very pretty indeed.

3. The feeling of driving a large walking talk is much better communicated that in MW4. The city map in particular is great for this. The mechs feel ponderous enough to convey a feeling of mass but not so lethargic as to be frustrating.

4. Gameplay is fun. I like the cycle of short matches. Most games I’ve played last about 15 minutes which is just right.

5. There’s some real thought gone into fixing defects in previous MW games. The FFP perspective prevents the dismal pop-tart snipe matches that dominated MW4. The ability of lasers to do damage after a nominal max range is a good update on MW’s original dumbo physics and I love the way lasers spread their damage over a few seconds rather than MW4's "instant hit". Similarly, the arm and torso reticles are a very neat idea.

6. The “information warfare” thing is great. Radar in MW4 was OK but nothing special. Here, the ability to spot targets etc is clever and adds a lot of value to light/medium mechs and really promotes teamwork. Nice!

7. The tester mechs are OK. I had some useful results with the 2LL + 2LRM15 Awesome. Sure, it’s no Atlas, but it’s not an embarrassment either. The game needs to make money to pay for development so I don't mind that only basic stuff is available as a taster. If all the good stuff was free, nobody would buy and the game would fold.

8. There looks to be a lot of customisation possible.

9. Getting steamrollered every now and then by a team of pre-made Atlases turns out to be no more than a mild annoyance. Sometimes you are unlucky, but the matches are short so it’s over quickly and you’re on to the next match.

BAD
1. The mechlab is baffling. In MW4 I spent hours putting together different variants. A lot of the fun of the game was in the customisation. In MWO, I appear to have to spend real money (MC) or grind points to be able to do this? If the config doesn’t work out (i.e., I can’t fit all the bits on the chassis after all), then have I lost money/grind in the attempt? Or can I configure and only buy at the end? I’m reluctant to experiment much because it might cost me £5 to make a mistake. Worse, there are no stats in the lab (that I can find) for weapons performance. I had to hunt around on the forum to find damage tables. MW4’s lab was much, much better.

2. Lag – I have a horrible feeling that the reason lights can evade my fire is because they are not where they appear to be. Say it ain’t so!

3. There’s no offline testing mode to practice or experiment and no single player. If I make a new config, I appear to have to test it out in a real match.

4. The mechs are beautiful. Let’s have an external camera mode so we can see how cool we look. Just not like MW4’s wretched pop-tart promoting see-over-hills camera-on-a-stick.

I’m sure the old hands will have a very different set of opinions because they will be annoyed by things I’ve not even notice yet and will have found strengths in the game I haven’t found, but to me MWO looks very promising.

See you on the battlefields. Just please shoot at the other guy first!

[Itka]

Well the mechlab is a bit confusing but yes, you you try to fit things you don't need to pay untill you are ready. However switching from FF/Standard armour or EndoSteel/standard internals costs money instantly. This will get fixed though.

[Adridos]

RocketDog, on 30 October 2012 - 03:55 AM, said:

5. There’s some real thought gone into fixing defects in previous MW games. The FFP perspective prevents the dismal pop-tart snipe matches that dominated MW4.

BAD
1. The mechlab is baffling. In MW4 I spent hours putting together different variants. A lot of the fun of the game was in the customisation. In MWO, I appear to have to spend real money (MC) or grind points to be able to do this? If the config doesn’t work out (i.e., I can’t fit all the bits on the chassis after all), then have I lost money/grind in the attempt? Or can I configure and only buy at the end? I’m reluctant to experiment much because it might cost me £5 to make a mistake. Worse, there are no stats in the lab (that I can find) for weapons performance. I had to hunt around on the forum to find damage tables. MW4’s lab was much, much better.

4. The mechs are beautiful. Let’s have an external camera mode so we can see how cool we look. Just not like MW4’s wretched pop-tart promoting see-over-hills camera-on-a-stick.

Point 5 an 4 directly contradict each other.

As for mechlab, you can do anthing you want with the mech. Money is spent once you click Save and accept the changes.
At least as far as I am aware.

[Stormwolf]

The mechlab from MW4 was horribly dumbed down, you didn't even have XL engines, double heatsinks or any type of internal structure.

The current mechlab is much more similar to the MW2/MW3 mechlab which follows the TT construction rules.

Also check out the following for tech levels:
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Level_1
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Level_2

[Enigmos]

RocketDog, on 30 October 2012 - 03:55 AM, said:

...
1. The mechlab is baffling. In MW4 I spent hours putting together different variants. A lot of the fun of the game was in the customisation. In MWO, I appear to have to spend real money (MC) or grind points to be able to do this? If the config doesn’t work out (i.e., I can’t fit all the bits on the chassis after all), then have I lost money/grind in the attempt? Or can I configure and only buy at the end? I’m reluctant to experiment much because it might cost me £5 to make a mistake. Worse, there are no stats in the lab (that I can find) for weapons performance. I had to hunt around on the forum to find damage tables. MW4’s lab was much, much better.

You don't really have to spend MC to get ahead. MC make it faster mostly because you could buy a mech just to sell it, giving you some creds to work with, but you can actually grind out the same amount in not all that much time if you can tolrate using trial mechs to do it. This latter is actully better for brand new players IMO because you really don't want to be spending most of your new income on repair/rearm overhead. Other hand a significant part of the fun of MWO is in customizing your ride. Trial mechs are notorious for running hot and having little ammunition for missiles and ballistic weapons. Bascially, Trial mechs are best against other trial mechs because everyone is running up against the same handicaps.

RocketDog, on 30 October 2012 - 03:55 AM, said:

2. Lag – I have a horrible feeling that the reason lights can evade my fire is because they are not where they appear to be. Say it ain’t so!

That is why they are still calling this 'beta': the devs are fully aware that their netcode is sub-optimal and are trying to find some good experts to fix this issue. You will find that streak missile weapons are accurate even when the target is warping.

RocketDog, on 30 October 2012 - 03:55 AM, said:

3. There’s no offline testing mode to practice or experiment and no single player. If I make a new config, I appear to have to test it out in a real match.

Good suggestion: I know it has already been suggested but that doesn't diminish your point's merit.

RocketDog, on 30 October 2012 - 03:55 AM, said:

4. The mechs are beautiful. Let’s have an external camera mode so we can see how cool we look. Just not like MW4’s wretched pop-tart promoting see-over-hills camera-on-a-stick.

I’m sure the old hands will have a very different set of opinions because they will be annoyed by things I’ve not even notice yet and will have found strengths in the game I haven’t found, but to me MWO looks very promising.

See you on the battlefields. Just please shoot at the other guy first!

Welcome!

[Belorion]

Welcome aboard. House Jurai needs some more recruits on your side of the pond if you are interested in hooking up with a merc corp. A lot of the things you mentioned as bad are being worked on. Hopefully implememted sonner rather than later.

[FerretGR]

Welcome. Good positive topic. You'll find folks who agree with your criticisms to be sure. Enjoy!

[BIix]

Welcome to the game. Glad you are enjoying it.

Lights currently require a distance of about a full mech length when running perpendicular to your reticle. Speed and other conditions may vary this amount though. But this is only for Lasers, Ballistics seem to hit true but require leading due to their bullet travel time.

The key is to look for your Crosshairs going Red, which means they registered a 'hit' on the enemy mech.

Edited by BIix, 30 October 2012 - 06:56 AM.

[Raalic]

This is pretty spot-on, by and large.

[The Amazing Atomic Spaniel]

Adridos, on 30 October 2012 - 04:06 AM, said:

Point 5 an 4 directly contradict each other.

I was wondering if we could have a camera option that had a low point of view (person height?) and no HUD, so it would be great for screenshots but no use for hill humping.

Adridos, on 30 October 2012 - 04:06 AM, said:

As for mechlab, you can do anthing you want with the mech. Money is spent once you click Save and accept the changes.
At least as far as I am aware.

Thanks, I'l give it a go tonight.

Cheers,

RD

[Apoc1138]

Welcome aboard!

Everything you do in the mech lab on the "loadout" tab doesn't cost you anything until you click "save" or change tabs and it asks you if you want to commit the changes > coming soon, you will also be able to swap between the "upgrades" tab and the Loadout tab so you can install DHS or Endosteel, try out a weapons loadout and if you don't like it just hit cancel and it costs you nothing in cbills

you can also take items off your mech and they stay in the mechlab so you can put them back on later, or you can click the item and a list of how many you have will pop down, click on one of these items and you can sell it for about half the original cost, so if you want to change engine you can sell the old one to then spend money on other items

for safety's sake you are better off earning the money and buying the new item(s) before selling the old ones otherwise you can suddenly find yourself with no engine and not quite enough to buy a new one!

Edited by Apoc1138, 30 October 2012 - 07:03 AM.

[SmoothCriminal]

interesting to see that an open beta player comes up with, within a few hours, the same issues that we've been discussing for weeks. Let's hope PGI get it nailed (cant wait for them to take my money!)

[Fl3tcher]

Welcome to the game, glad your enjoying what you see, and most of all, Thankyou for not being just another Drama Queen

[MechZ1lla]

Someone has something nice to say...?

*clutches his chest*

I'm comin' Elizabeth!

[EDMW CSN]

Something positive ? That's strange.
Still good for ya.

And oh btw, the trial Cent isn't that shabby either. Up close it out damages the Awesome.

Edited by EDMW CSN, 30 October 2012 - 07:15 AM.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Winterknight, on 30 October 2012 - 07:14 AM, said:

Someone has something nice to say...?

*clutches his chest*

I'm comin' Elizabeth!

I know, I think all of the negative posts are being left by Aunt Esther.

Edited by MeiSooHaityu, 30 October 2012 - 07:18 AM.

[Ricktor Black]

Wait... did they change something? I'm at work now so I can't test this out, but last time I was in the Mechlab in order to try out a new weapon (which I did not previously own) I had to buy it before I could put in on the Mech. Are you guys saying that this is no longer the case and that the weapon is not actually purchased until I commit the changes? That's great if it's true because that really kept me from experimenting with new loadouts. I was afraid to buy an expensive engine or weapon only to find out after paying for it that it's not going to work out.

This is why I was hoping for some kind of mechlab simulation where you could play around with a virtual version of your mech and put weapons on etc without worrying about money.

[Aym]

RocketDog, on 30 October 2012 - 03:55 AM, said:

(snip)...

I’m sure the old hands will have a very different set of opinions because they will be annoyed by things I’ve not even notice yet and will have found strengths in the game I haven’t found, but to me MWO looks very promising.

See you on the battlefields. Just please shoot at the other guy first!

As an "old hand" as you put it (closed beta for over 4 months) I agree with all of your points. We can hope that PGI will offer single player in the form of DLC that you can buy with MC, at some reasonable rate, that we can enjoy.
I believe they have a test area planned, and a third-person free-cam in that test area would serve a few great purposes, showing off the rad models, allowing user-created "machinema" movies, and maybe even getting a better feel for your mech'***** box and dimensions relative to terrain.
In fact the only "different opnion" I have is that you're not in House Marik! See you on the field, look forward to sharing this wonderful game and IP with more mechwarriors like you OP!

[BatWing]

Welcome to MWO !

Thank you for a post that is a breath of fresh air. Your way to discuss pro and cons is very much appreciated.

Have fun, playing around will allow you to better use your resources. It is a very interesting new Mechwarrior environment.

See you around!

[Apoc1138]

Ricktor Black, on 30 October 2012 - 07:41 AM, said:

Wait... did they change something? I'm at work now so I can't test this out, but last time I was in the Mechlab in order to try out a new weapon (which I did not previously own) I had to buy it before I could put in on the Mech. Are you guys saying that this is no longer the case and that the weapon is not actually purchased until I commit the changes? That's great if it's true because that really kept me from experimenting with new loadouts. I was afraid to buy an expensive engine or weapon only to find out after paying for it that it's not going to work out.

This is why I was hoping for some kind of mechlab simulation where you could play around with a virtual version of your mech and put weapons on etc without worrying about money.

if you don't own an item it comes up and says "you will need to pay for this are you sure?" but you just click yes, you can play around in the loadout screen all you want and it only takes away the cbills when you click "SAVE" or if you change to another tab and it asks you if you want to save or cancel the changes

6th November patch (maybe) they will be changing it so you can also switch between the loadout tab and the upgrades tab without commiting to anything so that you can also play around with DHS and Endo etc without it costing you any cbills

Edited by Apoc1138, 30 October 2012 - 08:03 AM.