Here is my constructive feedback- I hope it is read.
Now, the reason put forward for third person in the podcast was that new players struggled to understand the concept of torso twisting. If you see posts on the forum that are pro-3rd person, not one of them state that it's because they have trouble with the orientation of their mech; most of them want it just because they like it. I feel this alone invalidates the idea based on the fact that it doesn't remedy the problem put forward, but I'd like to look at 3rd person outside of this as well.
I feel that MWO has been built as a simulator, and that a lot of effort has been put into the cockpit view. The immersion is undeniable, and it seems ok to think that someone can forgo that if they so desire, however I forsee multiple problems with this:
- 3rd person will most likely be an advantage. Many have stated that it will let people see over hills and around corners, and possibly negate cockpit shake from certain weapons. Even if these are controlled, I feel they cannot be totally avoided. This leads on to point 2:
- If it's an advantage to use 3rd person, it will force everyone out of their cockpits. Including those who want to stay in the immersive environment that PGI has built. This is undesirable, and leads to point 3:
- It will devalue certain cosmetic items. Bobbleheads, the "hanging" items talked about, etc, are all in the cockpit, and will be useless if we all use 3rd person view. This not only removes a nice feature that many of us are looking forward to or already enjoying, but will impact on PGIs revenue. Now, I realise that it will, however, vastly improve the camo feature, because people will actually be able to see their mechs, but I feel this can be done in a better manner.
Now, like I said, people just want to see their mechs. I want to stay in my cockpit, but it would be nice to see my mech in the round every now and then! I propose the following:
- A full 3D turnaround function within the mechlab. I feel this will be the easiest to produce and have a decent effect.
- A photo mode, similar to Gran Turismo 5, and perhaps a feature where a group can pose and photograph their mechs together (Way more difficult, I know)
- Some way to export a wallpaper of your mech.
- 3rd person spectating. Again, not too much work for huge gain, even though it won't be of your own mech.
- A replay function of some kind, where 3rd person is unlocked.
- Perhaps a 3rd person replay upon player death, and on the last kill of the match, both from the mech dealing the killing blow, and the last enemy mech's perspective respectively.
These sort of ideas will sate peoples thirst to see their mech, but I say again, the original issue put forward is that new players can't grasp torso twisting. I feel this problem will be easily sorted out with a proper training mission of some kind. A training mission with a friendly mech radioing in and demonstrating and talking you through maneuvers will do the job perfectly.I think the way Mechwarrior 4 did it would work well. Most people won't watch the Youtube videos, so those will only go so far.
So, I've outlined my views on how 3rd person will impact the game, how it relates to the presented problem, and alternative ways to solve said problem. I hope it helps!