311 replies to this topic

[Taryys]

Exactly!!

Dagger6T6, on 15 November 2012 - 12:12 PM, said:

Well now i've gotten used to seeing that nice cbill bonus and so now i keep thinking how much i'm going to miss it... and that it is only a button click away.

[Arisaema]

Allowing for people to play in the mechlab, customize mech builds and save those configurations would be awesome. You then would be able to either purchase the mech as configured, or if you already have the chassis automatically configure it to the build, purchasing components if you do not have them and stripping out automatically what is not necessary.

[Imagine Dragons]

I advocated/posted a lot for new players to be given a free stock FLEE.

Cause, its in the lighest weight class, and... well... its the FLEE...

[Taryys]

I am quite against giving people light mechs top start.
Light mechs are really difficult to pilot and are mobile death boxes that quickly get you into danger and dead.

XenomorphZZ, on 15 November 2012 - 01:33 PM, said:

I advocated/posted a lot for new players to be given a free stock FLEE.

Cause, its in the lighest weight class, and... well... its the FLEE...

I really like this idea. Oh, and Yoink!!

Arisaema, on 15 November 2012 - 01:14 PM, said:

Allowing for people to play in the mechlab, customize mech builds and save those configurations would be awesome. You then would be able to either purchase the mech as configured, or if you already have the chassis automatically configure it to the build, purchasing components if you do not have them and stripping out automatically what is not necessary.

Edited by Taryys, 15 November 2012 - 01:51 PM.

[Solis Obscuri]

What grind?

[Taryys]

I know the "grind" here is less than other games, but there is a slightly annoying grind process with the trial mechs which cannot be configured and with very few carrots to motivate people with; and not guidance on how to not suck and not die because any mech looks at your strange... That sort of stuff.

[Shively]

Taryys, on 14 November 2012 - 12:35 PM, said:

... 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.

A thousand times, this. I mentioned this in a post I made last night. C3 already attempts to form a room for players in a premade together. Could it not just throw players on each team into a room with each other in the background as they load into a match or something? The lack of truly integrated voicechat in a game that places so much emphasis on teamwork and coordination is apalling - the C3 software isn't perfect, for sure, but it's better than text chat, for certain. The Commander role hasn't really helped PUGs at all, as it was supposed to (well, it's likely it's just in place for actual factional warfare later on), as frankly, it's seldom (if ever) used. Could it simply be that no one knows it's there? Even then, the Commander's orders don't do a new player much good - they're not going to know what the living hell the icons on what appears to be the minimap are supposed to mean - perhaps, if they have a voice in their ear helping them along, it might yield some results.

[Phelan Ward-Kell]

I like the ideas and thought that you have put in to this.
I'll be honest, I don't agree that all of these things are a priority right now, but I think at least a few of those things could be prioritised in the short term.

Regarding the modification of trial mechs, I would go so far as to say they should only permit modifying the weapons.
Engine, structure, armor (both switching type and changing the values), heat sinks, etc would be locked down.
This gives them just enough freedom to boost their build, without over-complicating it or giving too much freedom to trial mechs.

[Stormur Herra]

Here's what I'd do with trial mechs:

-Rotate every week.
-Allow players to earn chasis and general exp with them.
-Discount that mech -25% in MC while it's the trial mech. (Hey, want to keep that exp next week and keep playing this thing you just decided was the best trial mech so far? Pay us now.)


Almost everyone would find a mech they like that they can't afford the C-Bill cost for yet. Some of those people would just buy it at that point.

[Taryys]

Agreed for the most part.

lvl 1 weapons, heat sinks, and armor and that is pretty much it.
I want the engine locked down and no lvl 2 stuff, XL's PL, ES, FF etc)

The Phigment, on 15 November 2012 - 02:26 PM, said:

I like the ideas and thought that you have put in to this.
I'll be honest, I don't agree that all of these things are a priority right now, but I think at least a few of those things could be prioritised in the short term.

Regarding the modification of trial mechs, I would go so far as to say they should only permit modifying the weapons.
Engine, structure, armor (both switching type and changing the values), heat sinks, etc would be locked down.
This gives them just enough freedom to boost their build, without over-complicating it or giving too much freedom to trial mechs.

You already on average make more in a trial mech then you do with a custom, assuming you have a 50% win/loss. You are not paying repairs. Ontop of that if you give them free premium for a few days or a week, then we have accomplished your 25% discount in a different way, buy accelerating their CBill gain rate. =)

Stormur Herra, on 15 November 2012 - 02:29 PM, said:

Here's what I'd do with trial mechs:

-Rotate every week.
-Allow players to earn chasis and general exp with them.
-Discount that mech -25% in MC while it's the trial mech. (Hey, want to keep that exp next week and keep playing this thing you just decided was the best trial mech so far? Pay us now.)


Almost everyone would find a mech they like that they can't afford the C-Bill cost for yet. Some of those people would just buy it at that point.

[Ryft]

There's some great ideas floating around in this thread. Wish someone would take notice.

I'm sort of one of those players that's on the fence about whether to stick with this game or not. Grinding out a mech that I can customize is very tedious, especially when I find myself losing a lot. My survivability has gone down a ton since I lost the mech I ground out before open beta started.

Major bugs that have been unfixed since closed beta makes me think that Pirahna really doesn't have their act together. I seriously feel like open beta got rushed out.
On top of that... I'm even a fan of the mechwarrior franchise. To be so excited at the prospect of this game coming out, only to find that I'm frustrated/bored by it? That says a lot, I think.

I dunno if I should stick with it, or... check back when beta ends, or... just give up altogether. I was enjoying DDO for a long while, and even spent money on the game a few times. While I understand that DDO going F2P was after several years of being a subscription only game, also realize that they didn't make you play a preconfigured character, either. Right now this game has zero customization of mechs without grinding out a chassis to start with, and mech customization is half of what made the old mechwarrior games fun.

[Taryys]

It is important to remember that we are still in Beta, regaurdless of what some people want to believe, and things are really rough. There are many broken things that still need to be fixed, and a crap load of functionality that still needs to be added.

Things are going slowly because PGI is a small shop. Progress is slow but sure.

Jumping on TS or joining a group will help you afford a mech sooner, win more, and enjoy the game more.



[Guide] Playing with Friends, Groups, and Teams


Jumping into open beta was not PGI's call. This was the call of IGP, investors, and other external influences that they have no control over. In order to maintain funding and even have a game made they had to meet certain benchmarks. We all agree that things would be better to wait to go OB, but because PGI is not backed by a large company like Bioware or Sony they have had to make concession - like going OB before it is really read - in order to even have a game at all.


Stick with it or take a break for a few months and come back after the beginning of the year. Things will have changed considerably by then.

Ryft, on 15 November 2012 - 05:39 PM, said:

There's some great ideas floating around in this thread. Wish someone would take notice.

I'm sort of one of those players that's on the fence about whether to stick with this game or not. Grinding out a mech that I can customize is very tedious, especially when I find myself losing a lot. My survivability has gone down a ton since I lost the mech I ground out before open beta started.

Major bugs that have been unfixed since closed beta makes me think that Pirahna really doesn't have their act together. I seriously feel like open beta got rushed out.
On top of that... I'm even a fan of the mechwarrior franchise. To be so excited at the prospect of this game coming out, only to find that I'm frustrated/bored by it? That says a lot, I think.

I dunno if I should stick with it, or... check back when beta ends, or... just give up altogether. I was enjoying DDO for a long while, and even spent money on the game a few times. While I understand that DDO going F2P was after several years of being a subscription only game, also realize that they didn't make you play a preconfigured character, either. Right now this game has zero customization of mechs without grinding out a chassis to start with, and mech customization is half of what made the old mechwarrior games fun.

[Tempered]

You forgot one very important item on your list.

Improve the HUD to display which way you are twisted at a glance. Current implementation is not easy to see or understand for a new player.

[Sandpit]

The only thing I didn't jump up and down and say "YEA!" to was the mech lab suggestion.
I think if it was maybe a simulator where you could see what you could do without actually being allowed to make changes to a mech maybe? I dunno I just think mech lab is the precipice of achievement at this point. That's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Other than that, you are a true ninja sir!

[Droz]

I will add to this what I posted in my other thread:


So, we have Trial makes and Paid for Mechs. I was thinking that perhaps the Trial Mech idea could be expanded on. Allow me to explain.

Trial mechs are there for the simple purpose of giving someone who hasn't bought anything and doesn't want to put money into the game, like the casual gamer, something to play with. I do like this idea. It's a solid idea. But why stop there with it? Let's expand on that.

Before I continue, I'm a legendary founder, and I have my four mechs, and have never used a trial mech. I like to customize my mechs. Let's continue.

Why don't we expand the Trial mechs into an XP tree. Have the 4 lowest tonnage mechs in each weight class as Trial mechs at all times. In this case, I believe it would be the Commando for Lights, Cicada for Medium, Dragon for Heavy, and the Awesome for Assault. Each of these chassis start out with what would be the lowest rated chassis for each class. Now, we have these separated into 'Trees':

Light Tree

Medium Tree

Heavy Tree

Assault Tree

From there we have XP accumulate per match, and that XP goes into that specific 'TREE' for that mech. Yes, this is a little like World of Tanks, but I'm honestly not trying to model it after that, it's just more logical. Mechs are then researched via the TREE XP into the next logical mech in the Tree: I.E. The COM-1B then researched into the COM-1D, then 2D, then 3A. Once the 3A is unlocked, you may then begin research on the next tonnage up, which in the case would be either the Jenner or the Raven. This would then be the same for each tree.

What this allows is people to 'level up' in a mech tree to use different mechs other than just the 4 trial mechs. There are still restrictions to using these mechs, however. These mechs would only generate the standard 25% of normal Cbill rate, and no chassis or pilot tree XP is generated. As well, these mechs are not customizable and are only 'stock' mechs.

If a player wanted to be able to customize a mech, he would save up the Cbills for the appropriate mech and purchase that mech. The way standard mechs work would remain the same, but they don't generate TREE XP, only Chassis XP and Pilot Tree XP, and standard mechs can be purchased with Cbills the way they are now without regard to if they are unlocked under the Trial Mech TREE XP.

I think you guys see what I'm trying to get at. It gives incentive to pilot the Trial Mechs, but gives incentive still to purchase mechs.

The Trial Mech idea is sound, but if expanded upon, would be a huge boon for the game, giving access to different variants for the very basic casual gamers, and may sell itself out for those who want to spend MC's to purchase a Mech right away should they really like the variant options.

Food for thought, feel free to flame, I'll put on my anti-flame suit now.

[Ryft]

Taryys, on 15 November 2012 - 05:57 PM, said:

It is important to remember that we are still in Beta, regaurdless of what some people want to believe, and things are really rough. There are many broken things that still need to be fixed, and a crap load of functionality that still needs to be added.

With the level of progress that exists, I'd still expect it to be in closed beta, not open beta. Open beta testing should be for refinement and tweaking, and less about major bug fixing, or the launch of basic but major game functions. That said, I was in the closed beta as well, so the distinction is pretty unimportant to me, personally... I can continue thinking about the game as being at the closed beta level of development, but I wince to think what any newer players coming into the game for the first time must think of what they're seeing.

Quote

Things are going slowly because PGI is a small shop. Progress is slow but sure.

Jumping into open beta was not PGI's call. This was the call of IGP, investors, and other external influences that they have no control over. In order to maintain funding and even have a game made they had to meet certain benchmarks. We all agree that things would be better to wait to go OB, but because PGI is not backed by a large company like Bioware or Sony they have had to make concession - like going OB before it is really read - in order to even have a game at all.

You can defend PGI or whatever, but regardless of who is at fault for the poor management, it remains poor management (and a poor open beta launch). This could end up hurting them in the long run more than it helps in the short term, though I sincerely hope that isn't the case.

Quote

take a break for a few months and come back after the beginning of the year. Things will have changed considerably by then.

Hopefully they will have. I think I'll probably end up doing exactly that, which is frustrating since having tasted a bit of the wider game experience I'm actually wanting more, now. I hope any new players who are similarly frustrated will consider checking the game out again in a few months as well.

[MavRCK]

I will abuse the heck out of a 3rd person perspective if it's integrated into the game -- seeing around corners, hills etc.

[Impossible Wasabi]

The Space Pope and the Space Vatican supports many of the ideas presented in the original post.

[The 4th Amigo]

Solis Obscuri, on 15 November 2012 - 01:52 PM, said:

What grind?

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not, but how about the grind of having to play at least 50 or 100 games just to get the "opportunity" to buy a mech. Considering the trial mechs overheat if you fire their weapons more than 4 times within 20 seconds (non-alpha strike), and you are competing against Founder mechs that have a heat/weapons loadout advantage (due to player customizations) it takes a while.

[Marklee]

/signed