masohiro, on 18 November 2012 - 01:39 PM, said:
Really, as much as I despise third person, like it or not there are players who would like to play the game with a 3rd person option. I can understand why PGI would want to attract them: the amount of players is the lifeblood of the whole game after all. What makes absolutely no sense is betraying the majority of the current playerbase who do love it for sticking to being "sim-only" or whatever.
Let's create a metaphor. You want to open a radio station. You pick a format for your station. Say, classic rock. So you go out and tell everybody in town about your radio station, and all the people who love classic rock are now listening to your radio station. But then you look out and see there are a bunch of other people that listen to different types of music. Hey, let's try to attract some of those listeners too! So you decide in order to try and attract more listeners, you're going to play hip hop as well as classic rock. Seems so logical, doesn't it? All you need to do to expand your audience is throw in another genre. So, how long do you think this hypothetical station playing two different genres of music will survive?
Trying to attract one type of player will alienate another. This game was designed from the ground up to be a first person battle simulation. That is its genre. That mechanism is deeply incorporated into the gameplay. Or as one of the developers put it, a "pillar of the game." I would go so far as to say it is part of the spirit of this game.
The first player simulation mechanism is the selling point of this game, not a liability, and PGI should strive to build a game which markets that selling point. Provide guidance to new players with tutorials. Build a upon the character of the simulation gameplay to create a strong identity that is unique to MWO.
Do not introduce a game mechanic which subvert one of the core things that gives this game its sense of character.
Edited by Johnny Human, 18 November 2012 - 05:32 PM.