17 replies to this topic

[RAGE Quarter]

You know what might help new players? ... a second launch button ... Trial Mechs Only.
Sure vets and newb hunters could join in, but at least the mechs and loadouts would be on level ground.

Perception is reality, and if a newb gets owned drop after drop by a bunch of tricked out mechs, then their initial fun factor is zero and there is no chance that they will spend real cash or invest time on the grind.

If you want to reel in the new players, your window of opportunity is short. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

[Joseph Mallan]

There is a upcoming tournament where you must use trail mechs. I am definitely interested!

[Phemeto]

see i actually like this idea. even though trial mechs arn't good at all, it would still be an equal footing match, and with no repairs its not going to be super competitive and everyone can just screw around and have fun without worrying if they'll make a profit at all

[Vermaxx]

The way most people play that has almost no difference between real matches and gimmick matches. Very few people not on teams seem to worry about their potential repair costs.

[Dustein]

I agree that this should be a game mode. It would be perfect for new players getting a handle on the game.

People say the Trail 'Mechs are bad. My response is that they are not as good as most custom Mechs (Heat Efficiency alone) but they are far from useless (plus Trial 'Mechs have the inbuilt subtle yet brutal way of teaching players the importance of heat management, the hard way).

To encourage more players to use the Trial 'Mech only drop mode, how about adding a Daily Double system as suggested in this post that would affect the Trail 'Mech only Drop once per day per user?

[Agent 0 Fortune]

I fully agree. Trial mechs are where you are going to see the most inexperiened pilots (until they can buy a mech), and all of your exploiters. In a free to play game, anyone can make and delete accounts for the purpose of exploiting. Once those users actually buy a mech, then they have something to lose.

The solution have 3 queues.
1. Merc/House Queue - 8v8 drops
2. Lone Wolf Queue - up to 4 man teams, primarily PUG players.
3. Training Queue - Trial mechs only, cannot launch with a non-trial mech.

Trial mechs would only be allowed in the Trial mech queue, and the 8 man queue (and only in the 8 man queue so it doesn't force merc company memebers to drop without allies.). Basically you would never see a trial mech in the Lone Wolf queue, every mech in there is puchased with Cbills or MC.

[Anastasius]

I would love to see a trial mech only que. Great idea imo.

[Taryys]

Fixes for trials, grind and new player experience here:

How To Reduce The Grind And Create A Great New User Experience

[Taryys]

I would not mind a trial only drop type as long as it is stat based.

[Vermaxx]

Man, let's wait and see if stat based ever shows up before we wish for it in a mythical SECOND QUEUE OPTION.

I'm not convinced Phase 3 is even coming, because I think they'll just postpone everything until CW, and gut the current UI. If Phase 2 doesn't show up again today, I'll be even more sure.

[Aym]

I'd like to see this and also an option to drop a little MC, maybe 300, to unlock an extra perma-trial mech for the trial-mech only drops. I'd totally drop some MC to unlock some of my favorite stock variants that are stock-only, trial rules, knowing I could play with and against others doing the same. Plus free players could always use the current 4 trial mechs.

[Mancu]

Taryys, on 04 December 2012 - 08:47 AM, said:

I would not mind a trial only drop type as long as it is stat based.

Just set the trial mechs to drop in "trial only" matches until the player has purchased their first mech. As soon as they have a mech in their bay make all mech drops (trial or owned) standard que.

[Taryys]

Quote

DO NOT... put trial mechs in their own queue: putting trial mechs in a trial queue will create another set of problems, simply because vet players can also use or may need to use trial mechs. Vet players who are trying to game the system may try to jump into a trial mech to try to frag some newbs to make some easy money and destroy the game for others. We also cannot get rid of access to Trial Mechs for veteran players since they also may use them if they spend all of their cash on a new mech, or expensive upgrades, and then take significant losses while not being able to cover their Repair and Rearm costs. Plus the Trial Mechs are a way for people to test drive new mechs that they do not currently have access to.

[BigJim]

Agreed - I've been advocating this for a little while now.
While the trial mechs might be balanced against each other, and be an excellent tool to teach the larger game, they don't hold a candle to optimised builds.

The only, but only way to let trials run with custom builds is to - Well, there isn't one.

[John Horrigan]

sounds like a great idea .. maybe limit them to the small maps we have now (once we got more that is XD)

[Tastian]

I've been saying this for a while as well. I'd love to see specific options for "Trial Mech Only" match but also "Canon Mech Only" where you use unaltered canon builds.

[metalcloak]

This idea has been around for a while now and it keep popping up. I agree with the OP, please allow trial only matches.

Trial mechs are interesting because of their flaws... but no one will use them for extended period of time because you are more competitive in a custom mech.

[Taryys]

Trial mech only matches will not work for my reasons stated above.

metalcloak, on 04 December 2012 - 09:32 AM, said:

Trial mechs are interesting because of their flaws... but no one will use them for extended period of time because you are more competitive in a custom mech.