26 replies to this topic

[Willie Sauerland]

Soy, on 27 December 2012 - 01:26 PM, said:

This post is not about a problem and a solution, it's about opinions of observed social trends that individuals see within the community themselves and by combining all of these different experiences, perhaps find some insight into exactly who we are and where we might be headed.

Is it so wrong to have an philosophical discussion about ourselves? We like to judge each other a lot and draw lines in the sand that quantify who is boss and who is a nonfactor on these same forums, what is so wrong with an existential discussion of a different flavor for once? No agenda here, no epeen, I'm not out to offend anyone, it's just my experiences and possibly your experiences... and we are talking about them.

Hmmm... I remember from my philosophy courses that it was a search for an answer which may or may not be found even though a question was posed. There was a logical progression to it.

This "philosophical" discussion which really seems to not have a question also seems not to have the potential for logical progression.

But I'll happily answer your questions:

Who am I? I am Willie Sauerland in this version of myself. Where am I going? Right now the restroom, but I'm sure I'll be back soon.

[Soy]

You don't think the development of the game towards CW and "balance" (hehe) has a logical progression?

If you don't, well...

...the life cycle of a persistant state world and the community contained sure does have a logical, linear progression. This is a fact.

[Beo Vulf]

I guess you could put me into both the MW, and hard core gamer groups. I love the BETA testing aspect of games as much as playing them. I have been playing MW since MW2, and have collected all the BT/MW books. I am not so hung up on canon that balancing is an issue for me. I want the best game possible out of PGI so that the younger generation of gamers can see what us older gamers saw in the console, and tabletop versions of the game. I want this game to be better than Mw 2,3,4, legends, and the tabletop game. Than again I can go play Warhammer online, WOW, Planet Side 2, LotRO, or any number of games and have fun playing with friends. Its a game, it's supposed to be fun, and entertaining.

[SlXSlXSlX]

Well I have talked with alot of players on this. I had wanted more of the guys I already know to play. They arnt interested and there reasons are the ones I argue. They are all different people, and opinions differ but they all result in teh same conclusion. They dont want to play. I was/am a little different than them I tend to play one game.

You know alot of people play more than one game. Right now these f2p thing is big. I like the mechanics and fundemental concept of mwo, posts on the customization aspects that i love can be found, but the in game experience is rough. The throttle took me 3-4 days to get used to and im still fighting past 2 yrs of wot maneuvering instincts with it to date. And I bet I am doing better than most. So I think, wow, if it was any much worse I'd be gone, I bet alot of people have come to taht conclusion. Have you ever seen some of the things other gen chats say about this game? Or the random gaming forums which talk about mwo? Not alot of flattery.

For me, and I am sure some others, the social aspect is that we have already been there.. or for others they dont want to go there. I myself got a great experience in wot with organized warfare, but it took alot of effort and time. It was very rewarding. As BT etc is new to me I want to immerse myself casually.

For random players, facing a group of 4 friends is almost alyways fail. This holds true in RTS and FPS games I have played. In the RTS's for example, everyone had equal footing you get all the tech options the other has etc, and in other fps games like wot the same holds true. Regardless the pack of guys who play together alot, will more likely than not always win. I hope the mm patch helps. But I know that in wot we had mm issues w a community of 3-4k, and many said its not the mm, we need more ppl. Well that number did grow, and it definately is an excellent example of a game with a great mm.

My wot accnt for example has a 57% win rate, which is a combination of mostly solo pub matches. Its in the top %'s at 57 % win rate. Thats a balanced mm. Note also that in wot a team is capped at 3, and its a 15 v 15 match. The team of pals, at most, only comprises 20%.

I truely think this is the heart of the issue relating to the "not-so-fun" experience. Its just an opinion, only based on personal experience and what I have gleaned from game forum posts.

Edited by SlXSlXSlX, 27 December 2012 - 01:45 PM.

[Willie Sauerland]

Soy, on 27 December 2012 - 01:31 PM, said:

You don't think the development of the game towards CW and "balance" (hehe) has a logical progression?

If you don't, well...

...the life cycle of a persistant state world and the community contained sure does have a logical, linear progression. This is a fact.

Well, I think it would be fair to say that I hope there is a logical progression within the areas of community warfare and balance. However putting me into a box (given your own hyperbole) has little to do with the issues presented in community warfare and balance. You can't please everybody 100% of the time and any game is a game of compromises within itself. Whether I fit neatly into an arbitrary categorization is really irrelevant.

Given the game in its current state, I would disagree it is persistent at all. Sure, it continues to function after I exit the game, but my actions have no bearing on any game state, nor does your actions have any bearing on my in-game existence when I am offline.

I would hope there is a persistent state once community warfare is implemented, though again, I do not believe a deep introspection into who we are as a community will really benefit this fun game of stompy robots. Again, I fail to see how categorizing the community really benefits the community in relation to community warfare and balance. I actually suspect community warfare will be much more entertaining:

1. Receive orders or commission.
2. Attack whomever.
3. Collect reward or fail.

As such, while certainly not hostile nor a "bad" thing in essence, I do question the value of such an introspection.

[Soy]

Thanks Beo you bring up a great point that I haven't given enough thought to.

There is definitely a tangible impact that "open beta" has on the community. I know a lot of people who have been burned by betas and don't play them anymore by rule of thumb, or people who only want to play a game post launch when it is properly balanced [in their eyes, mmmderp].

On the flip side, I also know people who feel like they would rob themselves of the full immersion and experience of a game if they did not begin playing during beta or the moment the first servers launch live, etc. Like as if they're cheating themselves out of the best part, and to a degree I can understand because the beginning/launch of a game is always a passionate time for a lot of gamers, myself included.

I think this game has a lot of that going for it, so many people are ready to jump the gun and get down in the CW trenches and fully immerse. I can honestly say the simple "launch, drop, deathmatch, credits, mmm derp" rotation of activities in the game is a little stale, I am really hoping CW provides enough fluff to truly lose yourself in the universe and let your persona, groups, and achievements become something bigger than just a memory or a video.

Willie Sauerland, on 27 December 2012 - 01:46 PM, said:

Given the game in its current state, I would disagree it is persistent at all. Sure, it continues to function after I exit the game, but my actions have no bearing on any game state, nor does your actions have any bearing on my in-game existence when I am offline.

Correct, right now this is not a persistant state world. This is a test. Thanks for your interesting thoughts

[Red squirrel]

I think the two special things about the MWO community:

1) Avarage player age 30-40 years

2) Many people that are not active in many/any other online communities
(mostly due to real life preventing a student/gamers life or because as OP stated they
are only in it for the mechs)