Summary:
New player experience is horrible.
Make Trial mechs simpler to use.
Re-design the "Training Grounds" website.
Starting with summary because I wrote more than I thought I would, likely far too much. Your suggestions are good, but they're not nearly enough. There are some things that would be really simple to do and some things that would take a lot of developer time (tutorials) so I'll try to address some of the things that seem easier to do. Sorry my post is ugly (bad formatting), but I think the info's good.
Trial Mechs:
The trial mechs are pretty powerful, but they're complicated in ways that someone familiar to MWO may not realize.
Trial mechs need to be standardized. This is not to say you can't still rotate them and let players try out different parts/mech types, just that some things need to be the same for all trial mechs so that new players can use them even a little bit effectively.
- Weapons need to be grouped properly for Mouse1 and Mouse2
- Mouse 1 needs to be a direct target that can be used without creating much heat.
- Mouse 2 needs to be a stronger weapon that adds no more that 50% heat when held down for 1 second.
- Trial Mechs should be effective using only mouse1.
- If a mech has missiles they need to be always in the same group (button 3 or 4), and they need to fire all at once.
- Arm Mount vs. Torso mount Standardization: This is key, this is critical, I can't stress this enough. Elaboration below.
Arm mounted weapons and Torso mounted weapons aim differently. They hit different places. Arm mounted weapons hit where the circle is, while torso mounted weapons hit where the crosshair is. however, when choosing a trial mech, there is no information about what weapon is mounted where. Most players will expect that when they fire lazers, those lazers are all going to hit the same place. This isn't true for any mech available right now. So, how can this be fixed? Pretty simple, actually.
- Trial Mechs should never have the same weapons in arm and Torso slots
- Lasers should always be arm mounted.
- Missiles should always be torso mounted.
I think the main reason all players hate the "PPC" weapons is because of this. On the AWS-9M, available as a trial now, there are 3 ERPPCs. 2 of them are torso mounted, 1 is arm mounted. This means that a new player will almost never hit with all 3. Because of heat, a new player (that only aimed with the circle) might literally be 3 times more effective if the torso PPCs were removed, and no other changes were made. Sure, the mech would technically have less firepower, but a
simple mech would seem more powerful and be more effective for new players. Additionally, I think all trial mechs should be armed with anti missile systems, as any automatic benefit will help new players immensely.
Changing all I've mentioned above can be done by one person, in just a little while. Change the loadouts of the trial mechs. They are
too versatile, and way too complicated for someone new to the game, and experienced played are (usually) not going to be using them
Training Grounds Website:
The training grounds website has a lot of good info, but some of that info is hidden and some basic things are missing. The worst part is that the new pilot training video is so prominent that the rest of the page is easily overlooked. For example, what I was saying about Arm and Torso weapons; this is explained in a small, unimportant seeming video with a terrible name: "Weapon Convergence". The video only has 5000 views right now vs 87k for the new pilot video, and is very likely the most important information on the training grounds page. Also, the Chain Fire and Alpha Strike buttons are listed on the control map, but nothing on the page indicated what those functions are. Someone new to mechwarrior isn't going to know what an alpha strike is, or why it's important. On the hud overview it mentions the reticle, but in game there are 4 separate reticles that all mean different things: Arm aim point, Torso aim point, Targeting Reticle, and Missle lock reticle. These need to be explained, as well as the difference between a solid triangle and an outline over an enemy, and why there's a percentage there (Overall enemy damage).
Really basic info missing:
- Circle vs. Crosshair reticles
- Destroying and enemy cockpit destroys that mech.
- Destroying legs or arms Inhibits mech functionality.
- Weapon acronyms explained (EX: SRM and LRM and Missiles)
- How Armor and Damage work (EX: Lazers do damage to the point they hit, while Missiles hit over a wide area)
- Missile reticle
More complex info needed/needing explanation:
- Reticles Explained
- Other Controls (\, /,',q, lctrl, backspace)
- Effect of losing Arms and Legs
- Complex Missle lock (Lobbing, evading missle lock)
Ok, I think that's the easy stuff.
Adding a tutorial and a Training area would also be really helpful, though that would take a lot longer.
Edited by direpinnacle, 04 December 2012 - 02:25 PM.
2
