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Here are his own words, sent to me (and reproduced with his permission):
First set of feedback, after one session with several games -
"Must admit, not enjoying the game much.... No incentive. Lose every single match. Fire twice, and overheat shutdown dead. Played about 16 matches not a win."
I talked to him some on the phone about how the progression goes, encouraging him to try running with a group, etc. A couple of days later I got this from him:
"Played a while last night. Went from a -5 to a -2 on a 1-10 scale. Actually won a few games. The matches are pretty hopeless for a new person. The test mech configurations are awful... Overheat 3-4 shots in, non complementary weapons... Was in an Atlas once and got killed in 2 hits, and never fired a shot... never saw the guy. Died several times now without a shot in return. Out of around 30 games I've won about 4. Really? Even the odds would say I should win randomly at minimum 1/3 the time (accounting for the disadvantage I am to the team). To be honest I'm pretty frustrated with it. I do like the lack of prep time required to play though; easy to pick up and put down."
That was from last night, and this morning some more:
"I would say the game play seems well designed and concepts are great. I really want to like it, but just very frustrated with it. The targeting system is awkward... I try to change targets and end up switching multiple times back and forth to get who I want. Part of that is not knowing who I have targeted - why is a delay on their readout needed? How about a bigger visual box that zooms on the new target acquired so I know instantly both when it switches and to whom even if the info is delayed.
"The mech configurations may be historically accurate but not PvP practical... seemingly impossible to get a kill on the test mechs. Does anyone with their own mech choose to play with the stock weapons configuration? I'm sure not. Especially against others with suped-up armor / engines / sinks?
I would like it see it succeed."
And one more set, later this morning:
"No doubt much, maybe 60-75%, of the game play dynamic is skill/practice/gaming equipment. The part left over for in game equipment (mechs) is very important though not completely overwhelming. For a fresh player with no experience, it's hard to get any at all when I die 8 seconds into a fight because the 25% usefulness of my free mech (my "ride") doesn't stand much chance 1v1 to the suked-up ones. In other words its tough to improve because I don't have the opportunity to level the playing field with in-game experience or (or and in part due to) mech comparison."
This is coming from a veteran gamer, who played MW2 and 3 back in the day and has played many other games in the interim. He is very smart, and seeing how he has been frustrated by trying to learn and play on his own is quite interesting - and is makes me sad as well, since I wonder now how many great people are being turned away from the game as it stands now?
Here is what I think needs to be done, based on the above info:
- A real tutorial, in the game itself, to teach controls (both movement and combat)
- A way to get out of the trial mechs faster, or perhaps to customize them in a limited way (though it seems like that would be harder / more confusing)
- While stuck in a trial mech, as a new player, a way to avoid being matched against veteran players and groups
- A better way to get into groups, even just with other random folks, in order to work together more effectively.
The first seems easy enough, especially if there are no opponents - just one of the existing maps with a pre-programmed set of instructions. Not sure if this will lag the server down, though, having bunches going alongside normal matches?
The second is also pretty easy: have an option once a player has gone a few rounds in to pick a starting 'real' mech (maybe a limited number of choices?) or a C-bill boost of enough to get a decent mech. Better yet, when Community warfare comes around I think that this could be done as a 'signing bonus' when joining a house military or merc company!
The third also seems easy, in theory, though the difficulties that have been had with matchmaking so far make me wonder if there is more to this than meets the eye. I would *think* that just having people in trial mechs with less than X number of games played only be matched against other trial mechs and players with less that Y (where Y is some number larger than X) number of games played would do the trick - let them go up against other fairly new players, and no groups at all (unless they themselves join a group).
The last is the only area I am aware that is actually being worked on actively, with the ongoing C3 integration, so hopefully that takes care of that eventually
Hopefully this info gets to the Devs, and can help as they continue to craft this game and the new user experience! Thanks for listening!
Edited by WardenWolf, 19 November 2012 - 02:40 PM.
