12 replies to this topic

[Kataris]

There is a lot of discussion amongst my friends regarding the state of MechWarrior Online. Let me begin by pointing out the two major weaknesses in the game:

Lack of Lobby

The lack of lobby creates a void in matchmaking. While general forum activism has led to immediate changes to prevent pugstomping, the bandaid change only randomized the stomping. This lack of organization forces good teams to play with random players to make matches more challenging and fun, but at the cost of accurate stats. In fact, the only players with stellar statistics will be those whom disconnect after every match. Here is a simple fix for the disconnects: add a stat for Number of matches disconnected. With these problems, I would once again request that lobbies and matchmaking take precedence over polishing the currently broken stats system.

Lagshield from Netcode Bugs

While development continues to reiterate how they continue to work on the netcode, there just has simply not been an observable improvement in over a month. All efforts to balance gameplay will fail while this bug exists. It will always be more advantageous to use weapons that fire and forget (e.g. streak srms) over aiming weapons when you cannot hit what you see. This snowballs into making the game a missile fest and removes the skill-element most people would expect to see in a game aspiring to be involved in esports.

Thank you for reading,
Kataris < Paragon >

[The Legendary Samurai]

Great post. Could not agree more.

[Vapor Trail]

Stats, maybe, if it's interfering with getting a lobby.

Game balance? Not on your life, or mine for that matter, as I tend to value that more.

Game balance is pone of the things that the new player will judge the game on, weather they mean to or not.

Someone whose only experience with MWO was during the "LRM Rain" patch (which apparently was legacy code that got implemented again) would have taken away the impression "If you're not running LRMs or with a group that does, you're screeeeeeeeewed."

And that was a major balance issue. The balance issues we have now aren't nearly that bad (or as obvious), but they do exist and they're skewing combat.

Knockdowns is a game balance issue.
The (perceived or actual) performance of the Gauss and Streak SRMs is a game balance issue.
The addition of new mech chassis to the game is a game balance issue.
The addition of new maps could even fall under the purview of game balance.

I'd rather the lobby come in along side all that, rather than instead of all that.

Edited by Vapor Trail, 24 November 2012 - 02:55 PM.

[Noth]

Matchmaking is being worked on, Netcode is being worked on.

That said the people working on those are not the people working on game balance. Further you can't just throw people at the matchmaker and netcode to make them get fixed any faster. Why do people think that all people on the game can do all jobs and that more people = faster work. It's simply not true at all.

[The Cheese]

Noth, on 24 November 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

Matchmaking is being worked on, Netcode is being worked on.

That said the people working on those are not the people working on game balance. Further you can't just throw people at the matchmaker and netcode to make them get fixed any faster. Why do people think that all people on the game can do all jobs and that more people = faster work. It's simply not true at all.

It gives me hope for the community to know that there are other people who realise this.

[ReD3y3]

why balance weapons based on flawed netcode

when the netcode is fixed they will need to be balanced again

p.s.

why is the netcode so bad, it was pretty good right before the cicada patch. why has it gotten worse instead of better ?

[Helmer]

Noth, on 24 November 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

Matchmaking is being worked on, Netcode is being worked on.

That said the people working on those are not the people working on game balance. Further you can't just throw people at the matchmaker and netcode to make them get fixed any faster. Why do people think that all people on the game can do all jobs and that more people = faster work. It's simply not true at all.

Essentially , this is correct.

Pulling Thomas off of the weapons balancing does not help the other engineers fix the "netcode" or matchmaking. Especially as how it is not his area of expertise and he would most likely hurt more than help (Sorry Thomas!)
Same as pulling the modelers or artists off adding content to the game would not help.


Cheers.

[Naeron66]

Kataris, on 24 November 2012 - 10:27 AM, said:

There is a lot of discussion amongst my friends regarding the state of MechWarrior Online. Let me begin by pointing out the two major weaknesses in the game:

Lack of Lobby

The lack of lobby creates a void in matchmaking. While general forum activism has led to immediate changes to prevent pugstomping, the bandaid change only randomized the stomping. This lack of organization forces good teams to play with random players to make matches more challenging and fun, but at the cost of accurate stats. In fact, the only players with stellar statistics will be those whom disconnect after every match. Here is a simple fix for the disconnects: add a stat for Number of matches disconnected. With these problems, I would once again request that lobbies and matchmaking take precedence over polishing the currently broken stats system.

Lagshield from Netcode Bugs

While development continues to reiterate how they continue to work on the netcode, there just has simply not been an observable improvement in over a month. All efforts to balance gameplay will fail while this bug exists. It will always be more advantageous to use weapons that fire and forget (e.g. streak srms) over aiming weapons when you cannot hit what you see. This snowballs into making the game a missile fest and removes the skill-element most people would expect to see in a game aspiring to be involved in esports.

Thank you for reading,
Kataris < Paragon >

Yet another person who does not understand how game development works. Tweaking values (such as the recent UAC/5 jam rate change) does not require new code. All it requires is a change to an existing number.

A good method of stat collection is needed for any skill based matchmaker, which MWO will have. If your stat collecting is flawed the your MM will produce flawed results.

You think netcode can be completely fixed in a month?

Much as I dislike saying this... Its a Beta. Release will not be for a while.

[Insidious Johnson]

"Matchmaking" and "netcode" are being worked on. Really? I've been hearing that for months. Are they on a mandated union 8 week break or something? Light a fire under them.

[Noth]

Insidious Johnson, on 24 November 2012 - 04:15 PM, said:

"Matchmaking" and "netcode" are being worked on. Really? I've been hearing that for months. Are they on a mandated union 8 week break or something? Light a fire under them.

You do know that games that have been in development for years often have really crap netcode. Many games that run complex matchmakers can take up to a year after release to even get it decent. Both the matchmaker and netcode aren't simple things to fix. They can literally take a year or more to get right or even to a decent spot.

[Insidious Johnson]

Makayla is not impressed.

[MrPenguin]

The people working on matchmaking and netcode are not the same people who work on gameplay balance.

[Asmosis]

agreed, although you have to remember you can't just throw 40 people at one thing and expect it to get done 40 times faster.

They have people working on any number of different items/features/issues concurrently. I'm pretty sure they realise player interaction (aside from shooting each other) is one of the cornerstones of online games and have people working on it.