Jump to content

Trial Mechs Earn Xp


8 replies to this topic

#1 CheeseThief

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Liquid Metal
  • Liquid Metal
  • 580 posts
  • LocationBeyond the Black Stump

Posted 11 November 2012 - 09:49 PM

Ok, so the newbie experience with this game sucks, everyone knows that and it's been said multiple times. However ye olde World of Tanks was nice enough to come out with a new nation recently and I got to experience it's opening grind once more, and with this relived experience I have come to the conclusion that MWO could stand to steal all it's good ideas.

When new players start up WoT they get given the tier 1 nublet tanks and a GO button that dumps them into a game. Like all new players they are going to either spend 5 minutes screwing around with the controls or just drive off somewhere and die, but either way at the end of the match they get given a small amount of experience and money regardless of how well they did. At tier 1 this bonus is enough to net the player an engine upgrade so the players experience, no matter how badly they got stomped, they came out of it better off.

In contrast MWO gives a new player 4 trial mechs and a go button, chances are they are going to spend 5 minutes learning the controls and the rest of the game running into walls, overheating and dying. Chances are they are going to lose horribly, earn some c-bills that they can't spend and wonder why everyone else on the team got XP and they didn't.


Lets break this down, assuming that a player grabs a trial mech/starting tank, jumps in game, dies horribly and their team loses;

In WoT the player;
  • Earns money
  • Earns XP
  • Gets to upgrade their tank
  • Has a new tank within 1-5 games
  • Is having fun
In MWO the player;
  • Earns some C-bills they can't use
  • Doesn't get XP
  • Is left wondering why they didn't get XP
  • Has to play 10-15 games to be able to afford a Commando which they probably don't want
  • Isn't having that much fun.


PGI can easily fix this by allowing trial mechs to earn XP, with some restrictions of course, like say not getting any GXP or being able to convert this 'trial XP' into GXP.

Suddenly the new player isn't counting the games off until they can get their custom mech and start having fun, they are slowly earning their way to a custom mech the same as they are now, but they are also upgrading their trial mechs as they go and 'building' their account by unlocking proficiencies. Since the new players have something immediate to look forward too then they are probably more likely to buy some MC and get premium so it goes a little bit faster. By the time a trial player has unlocked the basic proficiencies on all the four trial mechs then they should probably have enough money to buy their own mech and customise it a bit. Progression!

So now we have trials earning XP it means players will have to pay and play less to max the proficiency trees, but after the trial player finishes maxing a proficiency on a mech and unlocks the module slot, and 'trial XP' doesn't give GXP, then the players will be incentivised to grind some XP on their customs, pay the MC and convert some, which should make the accountants happy because they obviously designed the current one, and everyone knows accountants are boring and unfun.


TLDR version;

Letting Trial mechs earn XP and unlock proficiencies would drastically improve the new player experience, make trials less of a joke because they have the same easy access to stat boosts as custom mechs. Because they can progress people suicide in trial mechs less and maybe even look forward to the new trial mechs when they change because they could unlock something new.

#2 Zirand

    Member

  • PipPip
  • 38 posts

Posted 12 November 2012 - 05:59 AM

I'm a newer player. I personally didn't really have issue with not earning XP. I did wonder why I wasn't getting it for a game or two and didn't know what it was anyway. That being said, I agree with you, not so much as viewing it as a reward, but giving it so you can learn what it's used for.

Honestly my main deterrent right now is that now that I have purchased and customized my own mech I don't feel like I'm progressing in my own mech. I feel like I have to play a trial mech to earn any c-bills consistently.

Edited by Zirand, 12 November 2012 - 06:01 AM.


#3 PerryRaptor

    Member

  • PipPipPip
  • 80 posts
  • LocationNew Mexico

Posted 12 November 2012 - 06:11 AM

Makes you stop and wonder if all of the accountants have Founders Packs.

A simple solution is to increase the amount of C-Bills earned driving a Trial 'Mech to reduce the time needed to purchase a custom configured 'Mech.

#4 cmopatrick

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,026 posts
  • Locationa 45 tonner on patrol...

Posted 12 November 2012 - 06:16 AM

i would suggest the pilot in a trial earns 10% of what would be normal xp in that chassis. or perhaps even a "trial xp" that they can apply to their first owned mech as if it had been regular mech xp for that new chassis. yes, i would limit it to the first owned mech, but something along those lines would be fine. and yes, i am a founder, but i also run another persona that isn't, so i know how much of a PITA the grind is.

#5 sycocys

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Moderate Giver
  • Moderate Giver
  • 7,697 posts

Posted 12 November 2012 - 06:48 AM

It really is quite beneficial for your first purchased mech to be one of the lights such as the commando, you will learn a lot more in the way of survival how to attack as a team and defend when your in the light classes than if you jumped straight into a heavy. Plus even after costs your going to make more piloting a light than you would a trial and likely have more fun at it since you won't be constantly overheated.

#6 Peranor

    Member

  • Pip
  • 15 posts
  • LocationSweden

Posted 12 November 2012 - 09:38 AM

I have to agree. The newbie experience in this game is horrible. The worst I've experienced in any game so far.
Though I realize it's only beta, so I try not to complain too much. And I imagine that we can expect improvements when the game is released.
But if things isn't fixed upon release... Well, good luck keeping new players.

#7 Ghogiel

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • CS 2021 Gold Champ
  • CS 2021 Gold Champ
  • 6,852 posts

Posted 12 November 2012 - 10:02 AM

View PostPerryRaptor, on 12 November 2012 - 06:11 AM, said:

Makes you stop and wonder if all of the accountants have Founders Packs.

A simple solution is to increase the amount of C-Bills earned driving a Trial 'Mech to reduce the time needed to purchase a custom configured 'Mech.

That would decrease the frustration and thus decrease the length of the stick the carrot is on.

whether doing it like they are actually increases the likelihood of a new player forking out to skip the grind I cannot say. But I guess some bean counters out there think it does

#8 Stickjock

    Member

  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Bad Company
  • Bad Company
  • 2,687 posts
  • LocationPetal, MS

Posted 12 November 2012 - 10:07 AM

Well... one thing I remember reading about Trial Mechs was they were introduced as a means to get C-Bills... no matter what... running Mechs that you own CAN cost you dearly... even negative if you've got some of the more expensive advance tech installed...

I do understand the frustration of new players only being allowed to run Trial Mechs tho'... still would like the Devs to fall back on what they had originally intended which was allowing ALL players the choice of 1 Mech (light, medium, heavy or assault) to begin with... give everyone 1 Mech that they own from the start... AND give everyone access to Trial Mechs...

Figure that way, everyone can jump right in and do customizing like they want, still have Trial Mechs to test out other Mechs/Variants and generate C-Bills without the worry of Rearm/Repair bills on their owned Mech(s).

EDIT - Also... there's this quote concerning Trial Mechs from Bryan Ekman in the Command Chair section...

Quote

Posted 30 October 2012 - 08:16 PM

Posting a Coming Soon Thread.

Lots of cool stuff to talk about.

Rule changes for Trial Mechs, Achievements, smoother, more fun, first user experience. All coming to an MWO near you.


(Yes I'm sorry for teasing you... well, not really.. :) )


Edited by Stickjock, 12 November 2012 - 10:15 AM.


#9 DefenderX1

    Member

  • Pip
  • 11 posts

Posted 12 November 2012 - 10:31 PM

View PostCheeseThief, on 11 November 2012 - 09:49 PM, said:

In contrast MWO gives a new player 4 trial mechs and a go button, chances are they are going to spend 5 minutes learning the controls and the rest of the game running into walls, overheating and dying. Chances are they are going to lose horribly, earn some c-bills that they can't spend and wonder why everyone else on the team got XP and they didn't.


You know, I'd swear you were sitting behind me my first week in this game because that's exactly what I'd done. (Well, not the running into walls thing, I learned to pilot a mech back in MW3, but I digress.)
To the seasoned TT fan this is all great, but to your average player it's daunting, time consuming & flat out frustrating with the lack of direction & reward you get. Hell, even doing really well in a trial mech sucks. You get ~10k-15k more cbills in a custom mech than the trials, you don't see salvage bonuses or xp in the trials either. You can't look at their loadouts, you can't do anything but join & shoot & die.

I've been straight pissed at my first 2 mech purchases. I don't remember anything in MW3 that had such limitations on where you could put weapons. I see the hunchback HBK-4G & I think "ooh, 3 ballistic, 3 energy & an AMS? Great!". Only to find out ALL the ballistics are on 1 hardpoint with very few slots. You can't really have multiple ballistic weapons here except AC2 or machine guns. IF I can save the weight 3 AC2 may be good but nothing else really works there. It's a waste.The arm hardpoints should allow direct fire ballistic or energy weapons. Oh and the 3rd energy? In the head where you have 1 slot so you're options are ilmited.

MW3 had me enthralled with the great amount of customization you could do but it's so much more limited here. My favorite little trick was taking an AC20 with a puma. minimal ammo/options to make it fit but man, what a rush to zip up to the big guys & pop that string of death in their faces. No one ever saw it coming and the kick it gave your mech. A gamble that paid off highly if successful. Not really something you can do in this game, the light mechs are just too damn light to allow such a thing between slots, tonnage & ammo weight.

All in all, I hope PGI makes some positive changes, I'd hate to see this game end up like MW4....





1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users