3Rd Person And The New Player

***WARNING*** this is fix'en to be a long post!!!

First off I want to stress this is NOT a "if 3rd person happens I'm quitting" thread. I certainly can't stop people from displaying their eye rolling, frothing at the mouth, vitriol but please keep it down to a dull roar.

So what the heck am I talking about? In case you haven't heard, over at nogutsnogalaxy.net, in the "Mechs Devs and Beer Podcast #2", Russ Bullock, owner of PGI (the makers of this game) has stated that, despite his initial objections, 3rd person view is coming.

Also, there is a poll up about this topic here: 3Rd Person :: Its Coming and if you haven't voted yet please do so. Full disclosure: I voted no.

Finally, before I get into the meat of this thing, if you haven't already, go over to nogutsnogalaxy.net, listen to the podcast yourself and support them any way you can. After all, with out that podcast you would not know this information.

Okay, here are the facts at hand:

1. Russ said 3rd person is coming.

2. Russ said that the reason for this decision is basically because the number one problem that people have coming into this game (that is new players, people who have no Mechwarrior experience of any kind) is the torso twist aspect. He says the solution to this problem is a third person camera so that the noobs can figure out where their legs are facing.

3. 3rd person view, no matter how it's done, provides an advantage over 1st person view (Phil briefly talks about several things, such as a hip cam or a shoulder cam, that are not in fact 3rd person views. Those are just 1st person views from different angles). Briefly, if you can see the back of your mech you have an advantage over someone who cannot see the back their mech. There is no need to debate this point. No matter how it's done, there is an advantage. The advantage may be minimized, but it is none-the-less an advantage.

4. Russ says that they will not be locking you into this, that is, you need not play play with people who are using this advantage. You will have the option to play only people who use 1st person if you so desire.

On to why this is terrible, terrible idea.

If MWO is to truly succeed it must appeal to those outside the half a million or so of us that have been waiting for this game what seems like all our lives. Some will say that we need not have new players at all, but we can safely ignore them. This game has the potential to be as big or bigger than the Halo franchise or any other main steam game. Want to RP? Can do! Like lore? The Battletech universe in which MWO is set has OVER 100 NOVELS/TECH SPECS/OTHER FICTION. First person shooters seem like they are popular (you think maybe?!) we got that too. And yes, Russ is 100% correct, the game needs to be accessible to everyone.

But, is 3rd person cam really the answer to that? Lets face it, this game is hard on newcomers. Why is that? Well, certainly there is a level of complexity and torso twist is sort of weird for the non tank crowd but what have you done to address this? I am very sorry to say the answer to that one is practical nothing. Yes the NGNG guys (whom I love) have now done a brief video that covers some basics (but not, notably, the UNIQUE torso vs arm aiming mechanic) but one youtube post does not a tutorial make.

Recently, I have been involved in a number of Alpha and Beta game projects and I can say EVERY LAST ONE has had an in game tutorial FROM JUMP(even the ones that were fairly standard first person shooters). Add to that the fact that the mech lab has almost no information as to what does what makes for a game that is almost totally inaccessible for the new player.

Now here lies the dark heart of the thing. If you use 3rd person for training, unless you make new players "graduate" to 1st person view somehow THEY WILL NEVER DO IT! There is no, none, not any advantage to 1st person save for "immersion" and you know what trumps "immersion" for 90% of new players? WINNING! That means you will polarize your own community between "hardcores" who do not want to play with 3rd person view players and everyone else who won't switch views unless you make them. How would community warfare even work? Hardcore Merc Group A won't accept a match with the Battalion of 3rd Person Cam Lovers unless it's a 1st person match, does that mean the 3rd personers can't take that planet over? I can see that going over like a lead balloon. So now you are going to have to double your server overhead in order keep both sides separate (the only fair thing to do). Not to mention the fact that even a very restricted 3rd person view would lessen the idea of roll warfare, something you guys are pushing pretty hard. Who needs a light scout if you can see around corners and over hill tops?

So, in conclusion (finally right?), before you decide to implement 3rd person IN ANY FORM please make a real in-game scripted tutorial that can be replayed as many times as needed and actually put descriptions and information into the mech lab. If, at that point, you still feel like you need 3rd person to teach people how to play be aware that you will need to either divide your community (and servers) or make people "graduate" to 1st person (say only trial on trial mech matches can have 3rd person; any cbills earned there count as normal but customizable mechs must be 1st person only).

PS: Regardless of what happens, I'll likely still be playing. Perhaps not as much, and I would likely not spend much more money, but rage quitting is just not my bag. Also, I know this is a lot to ask but try to keep it reasonably civil, assuming anyone actaully reads this novelle I have writen.

3Rd Person And The New Player

#1 Ohgodtherats

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