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This caught some traction in another thread, so I felt I would pitch this on the suggestions forum
I am no developer. They will do a much better job than me. This is just how I would like to see things done/organized.
This is a lenghty read.
For starters, there have been dozens of mech simulators that are simply deathmatchs. In fact the concept of a deathmatch has been around since the inception of Doom by Id Software in the 90's. This is not a new concept by any means, and while it is used in almost every game, it is hard to sustain for long term viability. You need more involvement for the players.
The advent of social networking (see Facebook and Twitter) shows how addicting new content can be for users. Facebook succeeds because the users create the new content for the developers, while the developers simply provide the tools. Multiplayer needs to allow for player creation of new content.
Players can mold the world how they wish, so long as it falls within the bounds set by the devs and doesn't become hostile to new players.
So let's begin with three players: Player X who is a House player. Player Y who is a Mercenary commander in charge of a company (3 lances), and Player Z, a lone wolf player.
There are 4 Multiplayer Tiers that players can compete in that reside in the same universe.
1) Periphery Tier
2) Mercenary Tier
3) House Tier
4) Solaris VII Tier
The first Tier, or Periphery Tier, is a structured free for all. Lone wolves, Mercs, and House units can all fight here for their factions. Battles are waged over small caches of supplies or for Cbills. It uses a standard matchmaking system where players are paired together with other players based on desired match size (4v4,8v8,12v12, or 6 lance free for all). Rewards are low, but bonuses can be accrued and the occasional Star League tech can be found (lets say one out of every x# of matches that depends on traffic). Players vote on the objective they will fight over before every round (this can range from destroying a comm array, capturing a convoy, etc. Your standard campaign missions from earlier mechwarrior games). Faction points are only earned if you play with members of your faction in a party. This satisfies your Call of Duty/Halo crowd.
Tier 4, or the Solaris VII Tier, is exactly what it sounds like. Free-for-all for all players in multiple Arenas. Use an ELO system or whatever you please to rank players. Players earn Cbills for victories and where they place. This is pretty self-explanatory. This is where you provide your standard deathmatch that we see in modern FPS games.
Tier 2 and 3, or the Mercenary and House Tiers, vary only in accord with where they recieve their missions. Mercenary units pick up contracts for any house,while House units can choose assignments from what their House commanders provide. House units are allowed to work with other House units, Merc units on good terms with thier house, and lone wolf units in good standing with the House. Merc units can pick up any contracts, however they will receive smaller payouts for contracts with houses who they are not in favor with.
Multiplayer World
In the Multiplayer world, a player has a persistent personality that exists on a planet at any given time. After all you cannot have an omnipresent existence in the Inner Sphere. You move planets via Jumpships. This is not a complicated process, as you will just have an option to select to move planets. This is needed for factos soon to be mentioned. Each planet in the IS will have its own set economy/prices and defense level that determines possession. These include weapons costs, repair costs, shipping costs, new mech prices, etc. Players can trade via weapons and ammo and parts, but for now no mech chassis and no actual cbills. They can sell stuff back to the planets and the games inventory as well to earn cbills.
Missions/contracts depend on the number of units involved. There are three assault levels based upon the contract/mission. These levels depend on the number of units involved.
[Level 1]: You invade with less than or equal to one lance. These missions will be simple raids on planets for weapons, ammo, cbills, salvage, or to hit small level targets (conoys, comm arrays, etc. Same stuff fought over in the Periphery). These will have an impact on a planets overall statistics, albeit
small.
[Level 2]: You invade with 1 to 3 lances. These missions inflict greater harm on the planets repair costs, weapons prices, shipping costs, etc. Missions will be against larger installations (mech factory, dropship, starport) and carry larger rewards.
[Level 3]: Level three is when you invade with at least four battalions (144 mechwarriors). This minimum ensures planets don't change hands every day while requiring organization for an invasion and allows players to have control over the universe. Invasions are staged on of two ways: (A) high command for a House votes on an invasion request (
the unit files a formal invasion request with all 144 warriors logged on at the same time. Option A benefits by finding warriors easily, but the contract also shows up for defending units to answer the call. Option B gives the invading force the element of surprise, but is more difficult to achieve because it requires extreme teamwork/communication (try effectively organizing 144 people online). Invasions may only consist of a House vs. House + supporting Mercenary units or House vs. Mercenary unit. Invasions last 3 days. If option A is excersized, then the playlists on that planet are open to players of all houses involved and all merc/lone wolf units. If option B is excersized, then for the first day the playlists are restricted to only players whose in-game presence is on the planet and the invading units.
Players on the planet at the time of the invasion are not required to defend unless they are House units. Invaders must win at least 70% of their engagements over the 3 day period, otherwise the planet remains in possession of its original owner.
As for social networking, Level 2 and Level 3 assaults will be announced via Twitter, and Level 3 invasions can be announced on Facebook as well. Allow for a certain time delay to represent the time sink in real Inner Sphere communications.
So let's present a few example scenarios now for Tier 2 and 3 engagements:
SCENARIO A: Player Y, the Mercenary commander, is stationed on Outreach. This player is chatting with other players and sees a contract pop up.
The contract reads:
Mission: Raid
Planet: Prospernia
Faction: Federated Commonwealth
Shipping Limit: 1 lance
Objective: Capture or destroy LRM stockpile
Salary: 150,000 c-bills for capture, 100,000 for destruction
Bonus: 10 tons LRM ammo (if captured) + salvage
Expected resistance: Medium Draconis Lance
Player Y is in good standing with the FedCom, thus no salary reduction, and accepts. However he only has two players in his company available at this moment. So upon accepting the contract he checks an option that he
needs supplementary Lone Wolf units.
Server sends signal to Prospernia playlist and other close systems. Player Z, the Lone Wolf, sees the need for a 4th lancemate and accepts. Player X, the House unit, is stationed on a nearby planet. Player X checks the playlists and sees this:
Defense contract
Faction: Draconis Combine
Intel report: 1 Medium FedCom lance
Objective: Defend weapons depot.
Salary: 200,000 c-bills
Bonus: Salvage + extra Faction points for Draconis Combine
Player X accepts and the engagement proceeds.
Three outcomes
1) Player Y and Z capture weapons depot. Earn full contract bonus + 10 ton LRM ammo
2) Player Y and Z destroy weapons depot. Earn partial reward
3) Player X successfully defends, earn supplies from opponents inventory.
In case (1) and (2), LRM costs go up on Prospernia and defenders have to pay repairs. Supplies on planet drop and decrease defensive ability versus a larger attack force. In case (3) attacking force has to pay for repairs and extra dropship fees for having to retreat off planet under fire. Defenders earn extra weapons and salvage due to hasty retreat of invaders, plus above-normal faction points for
successful completion.
This works too so that there is extra incentive for raid contracts, while defense contracts pay more ensuring there will be no shortage of people looking for defense contracts. If everyone looks for defense contracts and can't find any, they must attack, so therefore the game naturally encourages players to attack, while also encouraging defense with a higher salary
SCENARIO B: Player X gets a notification that there is a new level 2 assault contract (**contracts appear as they do in SCENARIO A) available for his faction. Player X gathers together his friends on his faction and accepts. However they are short one player, so their is a need for lone wolves posted. Player Z sees this and accepts. However Player Z is in poor standing for the faction of player X, therefore recieves a 10% decrease in salary for the operation, however is still available to earn rep points and salvage. Thus Player X and Z are now working together in a level 2 assault (lets say 3 lances total).
Server sends out data and sets up a defense contract.
Let's introduce Player W. Player W is the defender on the planet that Player X and Z are attacking. Defense contract pulls up and he accepts. Player W also messages his friend Player Y, the mercenary. Player W knows player Y is in a nearby system and wants his expertise in the match. So Player W
adds in a lance worth of Player Y's merc company. Rosters are filled and players proceed.
SCENARIO C
Player Y wants to earn some major faction points and score some major cbills. Thus Player Y begins to plan an invasion.
Player Y contacts all the members of his mercenary unit and his friend, Player Z. They coordinate a time that all 144 players required for the minimum are available and file an invasion report. Game accepts the request and at the scheduled time of the invasion all conditions are met. Server for
Plant X is locked for the next 24 hours. Only players involved in the invasion are allowed to compete for the next 24 hours in engagements with any players whose profile is stationed on the planet at the moment. Suppose Player X is on planet-he may now fight to defend. Players from other systems may accept
defense contracts to defend against the invading units, for instance if Player W was nearby and recieved notification of the invasion. After 24 hours the server is opened and all players in the universe may now compete for either side in the invasion to determine the outcome.
SCENARIO D
Player X and higher ranking players in Faction X decide on a target planet to invade. They put out a call to all warriors of the faction and any Merc units in good standing to answer the call at this time. At the same time, Faction W puts out a defense call to all member warriors and allied Merc units. Lone wolves are free to pick either side. For the next 3 days this planet is contested. At the end of the third day, Faction X is successful and the planet changes hands.
Obviously key planets are not open for invasion unless PGI okays it. Also losing an invasion increases all expenses for the losing faction for a short period, so there is a penalty for losing an invasion.
Pretty sure I covered all my bases. Feel free to point out any errors/logic flaws.
Edited by Hawkeye 72, 10 April 2012 - 01:23 PM.
