9 replies to this topic

[Thomas Covenant]

Wow this has been really hard to write, and now its getting late and I have to go to bed soon. Yet I feel strongly that we must talk about this.

Quote

How best can I make my product accessible for potential new customers?

Piranha and PGI are thinking about this. MWO community in general is not. We need to find a balance or things like "3rd person perspective" are going to really divide us. If we want Piranha to hear us, we need to consider the same things they need to consider. And there is a lot of fun in that. Where did you get stuck when you first played? imagine next time you play, or watch someone else play the newest build, for the first time. imagine, or remember how you thought these troubles could best be solved.

Go post them in the suggestions!

The more we(Piranha+players), the whole MWO Community is onboard, well the more were going to see the kind of changes we like.

[Circles End]

I think the best way to get new people up to speed on how to play, in a fun way would be to make them run some voiced tutorial missions. These could be run locally to remove strain on the servers.
These could be divided into beginner, advanced and expert level tiers with beginner containing things like basic movement, weapon grouping, heat management and targetting.
Advanced would then contain stuff like jumpjets, weapon convergence, and minimum range weapons and expert would be things like spreading damage using torso twist and free-look arm aiming, DFA, XL engine drawbacks etc.

Each of these could then be awarded some cash for being completed, ex. 150K Cbills (subject to payout only once) which in the end would accumulate to allow users who completed the tutorials to buy a medium mech.

If the user were one of those who hate tutorials, he could dive in with the trial mechs and learn things the hard way.

[Deadoon]

A training ground/ simulator would be a way to bring in new players, allow them to test out load-outs.

A major addition would be a rental system, similar to trial mechs but you pay, maybe 100-200k and you get to try another default mech that is not a current trial mech for say 5 games? It wouldn't be customize able or anything just a try before you buy kind of thing to get players hyped about that atlas or the dragon they may be wanting rather than disappointed in how useful it is or not fitting their playstyle well due to weapon placement or the mechs size.

[ToBe998]

Solo or Training Missions are way better IMHO to get new players in. Tutorial missions are great too, but may need much effort for the dev teams (depending on their implementations) that may be needed elsewhere.

Not only that, but they also give the much needed chance to test builds.

These 3rd person views remove much of that simulation feel from the game and slowly move it to an arcade shooter that is not focused on tactics or anything else but blasting away. I hope it will never get implemented...

[Vincent Lynch]

i think "tutorial games" should be introduced, where new players get dropped with experienced, voluntarily mentoring, players, maybe in 2vs2 matches, maybe with twice the armor so the battles last longer. Afterwards the newbies could rate how much mentoring they got, on a 5 or 10 point scale for example, and the experienced players would get CB on that rating instead of on killing or winning.
Alternatively, experienced players could be riding passenger on the newbies mechs from the beginning of the battle and give them tips over chat.
I know it might sound boring, but i would do that.

Edited by Vincent Lynch, 19 November 2012 - 08:25 AM.

[pjnt]

I think this is horse before cart mentality. The game is broken. New people come in get smoked by veterans and give up. They can't fire strait because mechs rubber band all over the place. There are so many bugs that is puts people off. Now the whole community has said no to 3rd person view, yet is it still coming?

This NEVER should have gone open beta. Which is just a way of saying we will release now but don't complain about the bugs.

The question should not be how do we get new people? But how do we keep them?

Fix the game and people you get will stay. Then worry about getting new pilots. Now too many of the ones you get, leave. The most loyal and interested people come first and they are the ones getting frustrated.

I am not complaining. It's just that this question is way to premature.

[Dagger906]

Options don't divide us, they bring the disenfranchised into the fold.

Or in this case, older MechWarrior fans who played previous MW games that have 3rd person option. I know kids today play FPS that's 1st person only, but MechWarrior isn't a FirstPersonShooter.

Optional 3rd person view should be in MWO, as they were in previous MechWarrior games. It's an important MechWarrior heritage. If you want FirstPersonShooter, go play one. Don't try to make MWO into something that's not MechWarrior.

Edited by Dagger906, 19 November 2012 - 10:29 AM.

[Alois Hammer]

Dagger906, on 19 November 2012 - 10:27 AM, said:

Options don't divide us, they bring the disenfranchised into the fold.

...by letting the community splinter into Pre-made/PuG, First/Third person, RP/non-RP, Friendly Fire/No FF, Heat/No Heat, Unlimited Ammo/Limited Ammo and other such factions that won't intermix come hell or high water?

Based on the definition of "divide," I'd have to say it's exactly what "options" do.

Edited by Alois Hammer, 19 November 2012 - 11:18 AM.

[ZivyTerc]

Some time ago I replayed an older MW title, I think it was MW4, and there was an introductory mission that guided you through moving, concept of torso twist, HUD details, weapon groups, radar modes etc. Everything was done ingame with voiceover so the new player could try it on his own. We need something like that in MWO. As I've already said elsewhere - people don't want to read instruction manuals and how-tos, nor watch tutorial videos. They want to jump into the game and start playing, even if they spend the first hour in a single player tutorial.

Edited by ZivyTerc, 19 November 2012 - 10:59 AM.

[Deadoon]

Dagger906, on 19 November 2012 - 10:27 AM, said:

Options don't divide us, they bring the disenfranchised into the fold.

Or in this case, older MechWarrior fans who played previous MW games that have 3rd person option. I know kids today play FPS that's 1st person only, but MechWarrior isn't a FirstPersonShooter.

Optional 3rd person view should be in MWO, as they were in previous MechWarrior games. It's an important MechWarrior heritage. If you want FirstPersonShooter, go play one. Don't try to make MWO into something that's not MechWarrior.

It's not just a "fps" it's a simulator(although kinda ****** at that currently) just because other previous games have something, doesn't mean this one should. Mechwarrior 4 had free ammo with every launcher and ammo was based on the weapon not ammo placed elsewhere on the mech. It had pulse lasers that act like laser machine guns(not that this was a bad thing), it had lrm that you have to stare directly at your opponent to get a solid lock, it had non existent weapons(clan smrm)... Need i go on?