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TL;DR: New user experience is rough and here are a crap load of things that can be done to fix it.
edit - Disclaimer: most of this is of my own work, but some of it is yoinked from other great ideas from other people or inspired by them. I have not noted who or where here, unfortunately, but I have usually mentioned so in the threads that brought the idea up that I liked via a "yoink" post.
Note: I do realize that some of this is already slated to be released or is on the dev's to do list, but I list them here again to show my support for their ideas, but also use the ideas to tie them together as a larger whole to solve some of the game's issues.
Note: Please take many these suggestions within the full context of this post. Some of the suggestions isolated may not make as much sense unless they are combined with everything else I have suggested here.
Note: This thread is also here to help prevent the thousand other threads from coming into being since I have stated many of the changes that people request over and over. Please feel free to direct people to this thread if they recommend things I have to save them a duplicate thread which says something I already do.
First I would like to state some base assumptions and what this post is going to concentrate on.
I am Prosing Fixes for:
* AFK/Suicide/Botting
* painful F2P grinding experience
* painful new player experience
* improving PUG experience
* thoughts about 3rd person view due to independent torso/leg movement concerns
What not to do?
Do not ...
... give free CBIlls: Giving new players CBills right out of the gate isn't going to really help the trial grind problem or make the game better or more enjoyable for them, and will only create more problems. They will end up wasting their money, since they will have no idea what they are doing and then rage/qq because of it. There is a significant learning curve to the game not only in controls, but in what all of the weapons and equipment do, etc. Plus, a core part of the F2P games is the grind, therefore giving money directly breaks the F2P business model.
.... give people a free mech: We have the trial mechs and they work OK. When combined with my ideas below, trial mechs will be just fine. Giving people a free mech right out of the gate avoids the free 2 play grind which is needed in a free to play game. If people pick a mech that they have not piloted yet, because they think looks great for them and then find out it does not, then que QQ'ing and thread rage.
DO NOT give people a free light mech either, light mechs are the hardest to pilot and the quickest to get themselves into trouble. Fast moving little deathcans that gets newbs killed quicker than anything. Que QQ'ing and thread rage. It can take a decent pilot to not die in a light mech.
... put trial mechs in their own queue: putting trial mechs in a trial queue will create another set of problems, simply because vet players can also use or may need to use trial mechs. Vet players who are trying to game the system may try to jump into a trial mech to try to frag some newbs to make some easy money and destroy the game for others. We also cannot get rid of access to Trial Mechs for veteran players since they also may use them if they spend all of their cash on a new mech, or expensive upgrades, and then take significant losses while not being able to cover their Repair and Rearm costs. Plus the Trial Mechs are a way for people to test drive new mechs that they do not currently have access to.
…. add 3rd person view: A 3rd Person will create more long term problems than what they may potentially fix.
* Crutch: Training wheels/crutch such as 3rd person view will have the players used to playing the game in 3rd person and then whine because they cannot play with it in the rest of the game. Their minds will have been trained to see the game in the 3rd person view and shifting to the 1st person view will be disconcerting and create a dissonance even though the controls are the same. In some ways they have to relearn how to pilot the mech since they do not have the same visual indicators about where their legs/torso are. This will start new player QQ threads…
Please stick to your original vision of awesome first- person tactical mech sim. Adding a 3rd person view will bring about the following problems and more:
* Breaks Immersion: MWO is a first person tactical mech sim. By switching to 3rd person your are negating a 3rd of the allure of you game - first person sim and also bypass all of the work that you put into make the cockpit experience as great as possible. Instead of being engaged in piloting a mech, it now becomes a puppet game of directing your robot to shoot down the other robots. You will have greatly lessened the Mechwarrior experience and created a different game.
* Less Money: It will also significantly reduce how muc h people may be willing to purchase cockpit items, therefore you will lose money.
* Splits Player Base: This will also split the player base so that 3rd person people who chose to lose much of the FP Mech Sim feel will not be able to play with the FP people which could lead to queuing problems and fragmenting the community. Nothing is really gained by adding 3rd person that my below solutions such as a robust tutorial cannot solve. You will also have to segregate game modes and players which will be an incredible amount of coding and server work, when you can just teach them right the first time and avoid the whole thing.
What to do?
Do the following:
... add a Robust Tutorial: The real answer and the most important thing that this game needs for newbies is a robust client side tutorial. Here they can learn how to pilot through the tutorial process and then take trial mechs out for a spin to get used to it. They can learn general piloting skills, the different mech roles and classes, and some of the mechwarrior universe and flavor. You will want to throw carrots and achievements in this process too. You could even throw the 3rd person here in the tutorial so that people can use it to get acclimated to mechs.
Teach a pilot to fish and all of that...
My new thread covering this topic is here:
Ideas For A Robust Tutorial
... give 1 week of Premium Time: Give them 1 free week of premium time following completion of the tutorial as an unlockable achievement. This way they will get used to the extra money as well as give them a monetary boost allowing them to get into a mech of their own sooner. This will also get them hooked on Premium time like a drug = more money for you!
... add a Client Side Practice Arena: Another great answer for newbies and vet players alike is a robust client side practice area. Here they should be able to take any mech out for a test drive and modify to figure out if they like it, to modify it so they know how it handles, as well as what its heat is like. This will help get rid of buyers remorse and potentially get people to purchase the mech with MC sooner, since they can play with it in the practice arena. Cars are much easier to see once people are able to drive it. You would not even have to create new maps. Just give us the ability to load and existing map to run around in and perhaps drop in a blank mech or 3 that just stand there.
... integrate C3 for PUGs: What will really help new players in addition to this is C3 integration for PUGs. Communication is key in a team based game like this. Once PUGs and new playes have access to voice comms MWO becomes a totally different game.
... add a Robust Text Chat Option: a robust text chat option is great for those who wish to not use or cannot use voice comms. This also gives us a more persistent form or communication that people can use. Voice is fleeting and text chat is always there and available on screen to relay tactical info. The current chat test disappears too quickly to make it useful.
... add Stat Based and Battlevalue (BV) Based Matched Making: Adding stat based match making so new players will be matched with new players. Note, I did not say trials to trials, since vets can pilot trials too. This will keep them from getting ROFLstomped by vet players, and give them a chance to learn and suck together and learn together.
With Battlevalue balancing match making via battle value will also help so people with more tricked out rides will drop against each other. This may be more effective in balancing out teams then straight tonnage or weight class, although that should be taken into account at least a little bit.
Stat based matchmaking should take a priority over BV factors. BV should modify, but not be the controlling factor since this is a skill based game. A new player that has bought was a brand new stock mech then they do not have any advantage more than any other person in a stock trial mech. BV should probably be taken into account after stats have. That way new players with their shiny new rides who have made some changes can be put together when after their stats have been compared
... add a pre-game/post-game lobby: A pre-game/post-game lobby will allow people to talk, chat, socialize, plan and share tactics, figure out what mechs to play, and so on, so that a group can better work together as a team, allow people to see what mech everyone is playing, as well as form teams of people who want to play together.
... option to Lock Torso to Legs: A stop gap idea to help new pilots adjust would be to add a button to lock torso to legs until they are able to put on their big mech pants on and join the big leagues by learning to fully utilize torso twisting, and the independent movement of arms and legs. This was one of the most difficult things for me to adjust to.
... option to Auto-rotate Legs to Torso: another stop gap option to help new pilots adjust would be to add a button to auto-rotate legs to torso, which could rotate at the normal torso twist speed.
... give access to MechLab: Configuring a mech is a core part of the Battletech/Mechwarrior experience is to deny new players an integral part of the allure of the game. Giving them the ability to make some basic adjustments gives them a safe place to start learning about how the mechs work, especially given how suboptimal the trial mechs are given the MWO rules. Once they are able to modify their mechs a little this may push them to purchase the mech out right instead of grinding away with the trial mechs. It is easier to get someone to buy a car once they have been able to drive it.
Allow trials access to mechlab and to make some configuration changes: whatever weapons are stock to the mech, level 1 weapons, heats sink allocation, armor allocation and ammo allocation, but not be able to change the engine, internal structure, armor type, heat sink type, etc. They can modify the mech based on what ever CBills they have earned through matches. When the trial mechs switch the players keep the stuff that they bought to outfit their next trial/purchased mech. You will also want to give them the option to restore mech to original configuration as well.
Giving them the option to purchase the mech when they have the CBills for it, is great so they can buy an already familiar mech and not have to buy a stock mech and go through the process of stripping and reconfiguring it.
The primary reason for limiting their ability to Level 1 weapons + heatsinks, etc, is so that people still want to get out of the grind so they can get access to the Level 2/3 tech, etc. This is also part of the carrot strategy. We want lessen the grindyness, but not too much. There still has to be a carrot that pulls them forward and possibly pushes them to buy mech outright with MC or premium time to make things go faster.
Partially why I did not want them to play with engines, IS, armor type, etc is because of cost and buyers remorse if they do not know what they are doing, or truly understand what they are getting themselves into. Getting the access to modify the basic weapon/heat systems is enough to start with without the added complexities of balancing pulse and streaks vs their normal counterparts. Lessens the brain drain as they are learning the piloting ropes.
Allow mech to set the role that the mech will perform in (scout, brawler, Long range support, etc) which will mostly be for the information of the team and the team commander. You should show this at the beginning of the match where you show players connection in addition to adding the players Mech Variant.
... adjust XP/CBill Rewards:
* have trial mechs alternate weekly
* remove the Win/Loss bonus, and replace with a win loss multiplier (win x 1.5; loss x 1.0 or whatever) or get rid of it altogether
* balance out the XP/CBill rewards based weight or weight class of mech. An example would be something like light mechs get 20% more XP from spotting.
* add more rewards to emphasize team work more. Some great suggestions from Hayashi are:
damage taken (tanking)(possibly benefits afk/suiciders)- damage assistance (via TAG or NARC at 50% the reward rate of personal damage)
- defending the base (standing in your own square to prevent an enemy cap)
- defending a teammate (dealing damage to a target which is firing on a teammate with < 50% health)
- et cetera.
* get the % functionality working for damage items
These changes will take care of AFK/Suicide Farmers and will give trial people access to the mechlab right away, but not give them access to everything. This will allow them to get a feel for the mechs and to have time to figure out how to pilot these mech thingys, as well as keeping them from wasting their money and raging/rage-quitting about it. This will also make the trial mechs more useful, since losses hurt more, and people may have to use the modifiable trial mechs for a while.
... pay to Trial a Variant: I think it may be great to allow people to be able to select a variant that they want to trial in addition to the random ones. If they find one they like they may be more inclined to purchase it. Perhaps have the ability to pay a small amount of MC to be able to trial that specific mech, or perhaps to be able to trial any variants for week for a cost. This can create another small revenue stream, especially each time a new mech comes out. New players will want to try out the new mech to see if they want it.
... add a Wiki: add a wiki so that we can aggregate our guide, weapon data, mech data, advice, and so on that way we can give all users new and experienced a one stop shop to find MWO info.
OK, so i realize that there is the Unofficial MWO Wiki to which I am moving my guide ([Guide] Playing with Friends, Groups, and Teams) over to, but I would really like to see a wiki which is run by PGI/IGP that the devs have easy access to update and make the appropriate changes to. This will also allow for single sign-on and integrated user accounts too, so they can track which user is making changes and so on.
Edited by Taryys, 11 December 2012 - 01:21 PM.
