10 replies to this topic

[kalligrapher]

Take a moment and consider this game from the point of view of players who play seriously but who are constrained for some reason from joining a group. i.e. cannot commit to playing for more than a game in advance for real life reasons.

This means that they spend a significant amount of their time in PUGs. If you have played in many PUGs you will know that they are currently pretty disheartening ... having a four man team on the other side pretty much leads to a loss. Focus fire and shared intel on even a basic level are highly influential factors. Mathematically speaking - guaranteeing that half of your team are organised is a big odds advantage.

I've been on both ends of this situation. In a 3 or 4 man my win loss ratio is such that I win 75-80% of my matches. In a PUG .. I win ~ 25% ... usually scoring better than most of my team but mostly it ends with me dying on the other end of a focus fired steamroller.

My suggestion is simple - allow the option for solo players to drop in matches with NO teams (of even 2) allowed. Give reduced rewards for doing so - (CBill and exp) - this leads to a situation where the individuals ability to either play or to influence 7 strangers into some sort of cohesion has a decent chance of affecting the game's outcome.

When it comes to it - you attract new players by making games FUN - not by giving out CBill handouts.

And as a side effect - it will push teams into facing more coherent opponents. As any long term, mature player will tell you - a challenging match is more fun than 5 walk overs. It is those players that give this game a long term future.

[Balsover]

pleasse yes, I have lost every single game ive played tonight. probably about 15 in a row.

[Regrets]

/signed

[Blackbag]

Im pretty sure they already planned on solaris VII style arena free for alls. but what about single player missions, bot practice matches or a campaign of some sort? pve of any kind would add an extra play option. or even bigger matches like Faction wars of 20-50 mechs running rampant in a giant death match...im drooling.

[kalligrapher]

Axl Barude, on 18 December 2012 - 10:10 PM, said:

Im pretty sure they already planned on solaris VII style arena free for alls. but what about single player missions, bot practice matches or a campaign of some sort? pve of any kind would add an extra play option. or even bigger matches like Faction wars of 20-50 mechs running rampant in a giant death match...im drooling.

Although I like the idea of some of these ideas, especially the Solaris death match ! (gimme!) - my suggestion is for a change they could implement now with minimal effort. They all ready have the code for this around now (almost) so implementation is not something that will take long. These ideas would take a lot of effort to implement.

[Elder Thorn]

OP, i understand you, but i don't think this should be done.
What should be done in my opinion is to match teams vs teams. So if the enemy team has a 4 man group, your's should have one, too.
Also, there should be indicators, so you can see who is on a team with who on both sides.

[kalligrapher]

Elder Thorn, on 18 December 2012 - 11:04 PM, said:

OP, i understand you, but i don't think this should be done.
What should be done in my opinion is to match teams vs teams. So if the enemy team has a 4 man group, your's should have one, too.
Also, there should be indicators, so you can see who is on a team with who on both sides.

Agreed that this would be an alternative, forcing the matchmaking process to balance like that, but I still prefer the idea of a team free mode. I have played with more than one pick up team that happily uses PUG players as diversions / shields / cats paws. Since they treat members of their own side so cavalierly at the drop of a hat you must understand when that solo player walks away from the match feeling a little less motivated to drop again.

Natural depredation of the original founder / serious player base means that MWO has to renew these numbers out of new players or their funds will dwindle. One of the first casualty of customer base reduction is development and taking remedial steps on the issue of keeping new / solo players is not something that is effective when taken years / months down the line.

[pjnt]

I don't have a problem with this idea except that I don't think there are enough players online to do it. There might be huge wait times while they try match up the teams when there are no PUG players to fill in the gaps.

[kalligrapher]

So you're saying it's a good idea except there aren't enough solo players ... ? Maybe that should be sounding warning bells ?

Edited by kalligrapher, 19 December 2012 - 03:48 AM.

[pjnt]

kalligrapher, on 19 December 2012 - 03:48 AM, said:

So you're saying it's a good idea except there aren't enough solo players ... ? Maybe that should be sounding warning bells ?

Other way round I think. If you have a bunch grouping 2, 3 or 4, they might NOT be able to get the 2x8 needed without adding in a PUG or two. And yes, the bells are ringing.


edit. lol, added a very important NOT

Edited by pjnt, 19 December 2012 - 04:29 AM.

[kalligrapher]

Which is why I suggested the reduced rewards - players out to build up CBills would go for the version where teams were included. In effect paying pilots for playing in an environment where they are less likely to have a good experience.