36 replies to this topic

[twibs]

Me

First a short closure where I'm coming from. I played 2 years WoT with rather solid dedication (and premium time) so the genre jump was rather small. Both are the 'slow fight' genre with more emphasis on strategy and not your own ADHD complex. Bare with me as I make several comparisons to WoT.

As to the MW franchise, I think I once played the 3rd, but can't remember, so not a fan. I have never played the TT and don't care if things are canon or not.

I have no problem spending some money on thins I like, and I like MW:O. It's my most played game at the moment. Not regretting the money spent, but any further purchases may be hard to justify. Lucky for me I don't need to in order to keep playing, and here is the first problem PGI made themselves, but more of that in detail bit later.

TL;DR: I'm a great dude. *grin*

Progression

What progression you might ask. So do I. With each mech available straight from the start, I merely need to choose one and it seems I'm at the end of that road. The three chassis obligation to progress to elite and master skills is a weak attempt to prolong the road, which is still very very short.

The skills are all the same and simple % change is not really noticeable in the game, other than that slight feel you get. There is nothing exciting to unlock, nothing to really look forward to as C-Bills are too general and can be used for any goal.

It's bit like if you'd gotten 100k XP in WoT with KT and then decided to use it to unlock IS-8 instead of the E-75 that's next on the line. There are no long term goals in MW:O, which are important to the more dedicated players like me.

TL;DR: More like WoT would've been better, pick chassis and play it, unlock the next variant until at the end of that road there sits some slightly better, more hard points, more module slots, perhaps even bit better mobility. I'm sure there was some progression road with the chassises in canon. Variety to skills or even making it so that you could only pick 4/8 would also help.


Random matches

Oh my how wrong they went here. In WoT you are allowed to bring 3-man team to a 15vs15 match and it's still sometimes enough to dominate the field. Here 4-man in 8vs8 is 95% victory. Been there, done that.

Slap in the fact that you can do even less alone in MW:O than WoT, further emphasizing the teamwork. Excluding the lights and their lagshield and the horrible convergence of ballistics.

Finish it with minimal choice of maps and one game mode, I'm surprised it's as fun as it is. I say one game mode since we have 'assault' and 'assault with 5 bases'.

And why do people keep playing? Because in that one match you did something spectacular, leaving you that fun feeling and you're hopinf the next match would be the same. If posible I never play alone, since it's plain suicide watching the unorganized team walking around like headless chickens. I expect the ELO to make soloing even worse for us who play mostly in teams but now and then do solo drops. We're sure to fill the gaps of the noob teams against the 4-man team. Oh the woe.

TL;DR: The incoming 12vs12 are desperately needed to randoms as are more and bigger maps, also dropping team size to 3 would be more than welcome change to bring more balanced matches, how ever much I too enjoy pug-stomping in 4-man. And no, I don't care that 'lance' is 4-man. It's a PUG, not a clan war.


Economy

As the progression is none extistent, there is little to no incentive to keep the premium time running for more than 2-3 moths, so PGI tried some moneygrab with the christmas items. New year set was bit more sane.

The premium time price and garace slots are same as in WoT, and I honestly don't know if it's just lazyness or trying to make use WoTters feel comfortable.

Also buying each variant with MC is bit tricky as ultimately it makes progression even shorter, getting quick gratifiction but ultimately shooting PGI in their own leg.

the 'Hero' mechs are quite nice and I have no problem with them or their pricing. Ilya is quite fun to play.

Camos feel tad expensive, as the nature of this game is to finish one chassis and move to next.

TL;DR: It feels like PGI wants our money now and they'll see what comes later. I certainly am not very convinced of their future. dedicated players gather all chassises, XL engines and loads of weapons in short time, and the F2P players are still not going to spend a dime, leaving playerbase which either don't need to or don't want to spend money to the game.


Patching

Not very convincing. It just feels like they don't have any internal testing (LRM fiascco) or either their little own ideas how things will work in FUTURE (ECM thingy). For me it seems weird to release equipment without implementing all the factors that should balance it out. (PPC? BAP?)

It's bit like giving us all scissors, and then patching in the rock and saying 'Oh ya, paper is coming in 2-3 months, have fun and please give us feed back'. Well what you could do is at least acknowledge that feedback.

So far I have not seen a game where the developers would've had even decent communication with their community, making me confused. Sure there are the trollers and QQers, calling them all kinds of nasty things but they are just frustrating the rest of the playerbase by not sharing their thoughs and ideas. I won't get to ECM that deeply, but simply stating their thoughs here, whether it be 'working as intended, with some explanation' or 'other methods are coming, again with some explanation', would calm many players.

TL;DR: Doesn't leave very professional image. Communication with playerbase could certainly use improvement, but it seems to be problem with all online game companies.


Open Beta

The favorite term of any game developer. The term to justify selling unfinished product. This game got out way too early. The crashes and lack of functionalities are baffling and only with the few latest patches and mostly stabilizing the mechlab have they achieved the minimal acceptability.

TL;DR: I'd say the current state + 2 maps - ECM would be acceptable state to start open beta. It didn't do very good to their imago and that damage has already been done.


MechLab

It's not all negative. At the moment there is one reason I keep playing this game, and it's the MechLab. The level of customization is just incredible. I've spent more hours of thinking how I should fit my mechs than actually playing some other games that I've bought.

Sure the weapon balance is not perfect, but it's just tweaking the numbers. Getting it even this balance is almost miracle.

Sure I can do some really stupid fits or even no weapons at all, but without that freedom so much more would be lost too. I thank the PGI for the trust that they place in the players as now we have true variety, and not just carbon copies of each variant.

TL;DR: I love it.

TL;DR of TL;DRs: Lack of progression is hurting this game, but MechLab is keeping it afloat, for now. General image isn't very professional. (And I still am a great dude.)

Edited by twibs, 04 January 2013 - 10:32 AM.

[Lusankya]

Being a fellow WoT player (although I have not played in a while because of MWO ) I agree with your observations. Lack of progression can really be a killer. Having played various Mechwarrior titles over the last few years I have to say that stomping around in huge robots always keeps me coming back for more .

[Sayyid]

While I dont agree with many of your points, you are right about the flow of information from the developers about patches and the why things are the way they are.

In comparison lets look at another game that was in development the sametime and has since released, Planetside 2.

SOE, had great communication with its testers through the whole beta and alpha process. They even made patch notes in a Roleplaying fashion that were fun to read and had a bit of information on why things were changed. The developers have an active Twitter feed that is on the main page of the forums and the website so you can, at a glance see what is going through the devs minds. If PGI had done something like this, and kept it simple in their responses to the public and stopped trying to hide behind the vail of secrecy, all that does to me at this point is tell me "You dont have a frakking clue what you're doing.".

This is game development, you arent designing the next US Airforce stealth attack drone that can fly 1,000,000 miles none stop without using fuel, running on a micro fusion reactor at the speed of smell, with a unubtainium projectile cannon in the nose for killing suicide bombers before they hurt anyone and resurrecting them as nonthreatening members of society who fart roses and urinate purified ice water.

[Carnivoris]

The point of buying mechs isn't to finish one and progress to the next. One isn't necessarily better than another, they serve different roles on the battlefield. I think you've got your head too far up WoT's ***, personally. I've played a bit of WoT and it feels too linear. Buy this then buy that then buy that and you call that progression. That's not how it works here. Each mech variant has different hardpoints which means it can mount different weapons. Some of those weapons are good at long range, some at medium range, some at short range. Choosing a particular variant and loadout dictates where and how you'll do battle.

It's not this one's better than that one and the next most expensive one is better than the one before it. That's not how it works in MWO.

Personally, I'm fairly happy with how PGI has been communicating with the community. They've been a little slack on it for the past month because of the holidays and many of them were on vacation, especially the last 2 weeks. That's fine. I have no problem with that. Everyone needs a holiday.

Camo pricing is good. That's how F2P games should work. Cosmetic items that don't really have anything to do with gameplay should cost money. I can buy any functional piece of gear I want with CBills. That's fine. Hell, if anything, I think PGI's F2P model favors the buyer way too much. I currently don't really see a reason to buy MC except for premium time and my personal life schedule has proven to be non-conducive to buying and activating premium time. That's on me. That's not PGI's fault.

I do want more maps, bigger matches, and a tweak to premade team size. Actually, I don't really care about that last one. There's nothing quite as satisfying as kicking some premade's ***, especially when they come in all boisterous like "Aw ****! Time to get your ***** kicked, pubbers!" This happened to me last week. We put them in their place

Patching in a beta game is always going to be iffy. Internal testing is restricted to a small scale so equipment may not affect those battles the same as it affects ours. That's why they give it to us. We're testing it for them. Our job is to test and provide feedback. Unfortunately, too many people on this forum are quick to scream "YOU'RE NOT DOING YOUR JOB! I'M TAKING MY BALL AND GOING HOME!" or some equivalent nonsense. If you can't accept your place in this world, go find another. Your job is to test, not be pampered.

Don't like open betas? Don't play them. There, problem solved.

I do wish there was more of a goal in the game but there are things that need to be addressed first. As far as we know, Community Warfare is still on the table. I asked the devs for an update yesterday but have not received an official answer yet. Hopefully that's still in the works and they're not pulling a War Z on us, promising us something and then canceling it without telling anyone. Surely they learned something from that fiasco.

Wait for the patch on the 15th. See what it accomplishes. Until then, cool your jets, have a drink, and explode some giant stompy robots. OK? ok.

[MustrumRidcully]

The lack of progression is an interesting point. I don't like grind, but I must say, just doing the same thing over and over without any meaningful changes does still feel pointless and provides no real motivation. Yes, an individual match can be fun, tinkering can be fun - but in the end, there is nothing that moves forward. There is neither a story that advances, nor a feeling that the character advances. I usually need both in my games to feel happy.

Sayyid, on 04 January 2013 - 11:08 AM, said:

This is game development, you arent designing the next US Airforce stealth attack drone that can fly 1,000,000 miles none stop without using fuel, running on a micro fusion reactor at the speed of smell, with a unubtainium projectile cannon in the nose for killing suicide bombers before they hurt anyone and resurrecting them as nonthreatening members of society who fart roses and urinate purified ice water.

But maybe they are secretly simulation a real world Battlemech?

[JP Josh]

Carnivoris, on 04 January 2013 - 11:30 AM, said:

The point of buying mechs isn't to finish one and progress to the next. One isn't necessarily better than another, they serve different roles on the battlefield. I think you've got your head too far up WoT's ***, personally. I've played a bit of WoT and it feels too linear. Buy this then buy that then buy that and you call that progression. That's not how it works here. Each mech variant has different hardpoints which means it can mount different weapons. Some of those weapons are good at long range, some at medium range, some at short range. Choosing a particular variant and loadout dictates where and how you'll do battle.

It's not this one's better than that one and the next most expensive one is better than the one before it. That's not how it works in MWO.

Personally, I'm fairly happy with how PGI has been communicating with the community. They've been a little slack on it for the past month because of the holidays and many of them were on vacation, especially the last 2 weeks. That's fine. I have no problem with that. Everyone needs a holiday.

Camo pricing is good. That's how F2P games should work. Cosmetic items that don't really have anything to do with gameplay should cost money. I can buy any functional piece of gear I want with CBills. That's fine. Hell, if anything, I think PGI's F2P model favors the buyer way too much. I currently don't really see a reason to buy MC except for premium time and my personal life schedule has proven to be non-conducive to buying and activating premium time. That's on me. That's not PGI's fault.

I do want more maps, bigger matches, and a tweak to premade team size. Actually, I don't really care about that last one. There's nothing quite as satisfying as kicking some premade's ***, especially when they come in all boisterous like "Aw ****! Time to get your ***** kicked, pubbers!" This happened to me last week. We put them in their place

Patching in a beta game is always going to be iffy. Internal testing is restricted to a small scale so equipment may not affect those battles the same as it affects ours. That's why they give it to us. We're testing it for them. Our job is to test and provide feedback. Unfortunately, too many people on this forum are quick to scream "YOU'RE NOT DOING YOUR JOB! I'M TAKING MY BALL AND GOING HOME!" or some equivalent nonsense. If you can't accept your place in this world, go find another. Your job is to test, not be pampered.

Don't like open betas? Don't play them. There, problem solved.

I do wish there was more of a goal in the game but there are things that need to be addressed first. As far as we know, Community Warfare is still on the table. I asked the devs for an update yesterday but have not received an official answer yet. Hopefully that's still in the works and they're not pulling a War Z on us, promising us something and then canceling it without telling anyone. Surely they learned something from that fiasco.

Wait for the patch on the 15th. See what it accomplishes. Until then, cool your jets, have a drink, and explode some giant stompy robots. OK? ok.

that was me i wage warefare on two fronts the mind and your mech.

amazingly i get two or three people to disconect when i lie that my team is fully synched premaid. hehehehehe

[Codejack]

I've commented more than once that this would be a great game if they would just fix the part where you have to go out and actually shoot at people to get money so you can keep playing with the mechlab

[Sayyid]

MustrumRidcully, on 04 January 2013 - 11:33 AM, said:

But maybe they are secretly simulation a real world Battlemech?

I doubt they are working on this.

[JeepStuff]

twibs, on 04 January 2013 - 10:31 AM, said:

What progression you might ask. So do I. With each mech available straight from the start, I merely need to choose one and it seems I'm at the end of that road. The three chassis obligation to progress to elite and master skills is a weak attempt to prolong the road, which is still very very short.
The skills are all the same and simple % change is not really noticeable in the game, other than that slight feel you get.

Are you playing in a premade? If so, then the road to unlocking the skills probably feels very short indeed. But as a pug, it takes forever and a day to get anywhere. Granted, this will (hopefully) change with Phase 3. Hopefully the pace will speed up for puggers and slow down for premades. Also, I disagree that the % change is not noticeable. There are a few that are immediately noticeable (speed tweak, shutdown recover), and the others are subtle but helpful.

twibs, on 04 January 2013 - 10:31 AM, said:

There are no long term goals in MW:O, which are important to the more dedicated players like me.

Community Warfare is on the roadmap to address your long term needs.

twibs, on 04 January 2013 - 10:31 AM, said:

TL;DR: More like WoT would've been better, pick chassis and play it, unlock the next variant until at the end of that road there sits some slightly better, more hard points, more module slots, perhaps even bit better mobility. I'm sure there was some progression road with the chassises in canon. Variety to skills or even making it so that you could only pick 4/8 would also help.

Other than more hard points, this is what they implemented. More module slots. Check. A bit better mobility (speed tweek, anchor turn, twist speed, pin point, etc). Check.

If you want the unlocks to be more dramatic than this, then you would further aggravate the stomping issue we have now, where the more you win the better equipped you are, so the more you win, etc and on and on. Again, in theory Phase 3 would solve this. But I love being able to try different mechs right away, so I'm glad all the variants are available from the start.

For me, when I start to get tired of a chassis, I rebuilt it. Tired of lasers? Try converting to ballistics. Tired of that? Try converting to missiles. Tired of slow brute force? Rebuild for speed. Etc etc. There are so many possibilities in the mechlab that you should be able to keep trying new builds to tide you over until the Community Warfare kicks in. And if not, take a break, and come back when it's there.

twibs, on 04 January 2013 - 10:31 AM, said:

Oh my how wrong they went here. In WoT you are allowed to bring 3-man team to a 15vs15 match and it's still sometimes enough to dominate the field. Here 4-man in 8vs8 is 95% victory. Been there, done that.

Can't disagree here. I agree that a 4-man is a 95% victory, and in my opinion (as an exclusive pug) this is the hardest thing to be patient about. But again, I'm hoping Phase 3 comes in and saves the day.

twibs, on 04 January 2013 - 10:31 AM, said:

I expect the ELO to make soloing even worse for us who play mostly in teams but now and then do solo drops. We're sure to fill the gaps of the noob teams against the 4-man team. Oh the woe.

Uhh, I don't think they plan to do the matchmaker this way. I don't think the ELO thing will work the way the weight class works -- where for every Assault on one side, there's an Assault on the other side, etc. I don't think they are planning to say that a match is "balanced" with an even mix of new players and veterans on each side. I think the matchmaker will attempt to put 16 people (or team averages) of the same skill level in a match. No mixing and matching where possible. I thought I read that somewhere but I can't find the link. So whether you are solo'ing or playing in a team, in theory you should always be in a match with 15 other players at your skill level. Now it won't be ideal because the size of the player base may not allow all 16 to be the same skill level, so there's bound to be variety. But I really don't think new players will be mixed with veterans unless the total player base falls to really low numbers.

twibs, on 04 January 2013 - 10:31 AM, said:

As the progression is none extistent, there is little to no incentive to keep the premium time running for more than 2-3 moths, so PGI tried some moneygrab with the christmas items. New year set was bit more sane.

Again, since you play in a premade and "enjoy pugstomping ever so much", the progression would go by in a blink to you. For those getting stomped, it's a long road and premium is necessary to make it tolerable.

Let me be clear. I'm not blaming you for pugstomping. If you want to play in a team and don't have 8 players, you have nowhere else to go. It's the same for me, I want to exclusively pug, and there's nowhere else for me to go. So we end up together in the same game and it's fun for one of us and not for the other. That's nobody's fault and it will get fixed.

I'm just saying that your perception of the progression is skewed. My guess is, if you came in after Phase 3 and started the grind from scratch, you might find that the pace is slower than you think. Fortunately you won't have to experience the grind because you entered the game in the fast lane and maxed out your stuff before the devs had a chance to slow you down.

Edited by EJT, 04 January 2013 - 11:41 AM.

[MaddMaxx]

Just 2 things. First, communications has been pretty damn good over-all. If you missed the CB, then that's ok, If you have not read the DEV Blogs etc, you really should.

Second, you can only BUY Mech Bays and "Hero" Mechs with MC. All other Mechs are bought with C-Bills. (just to clarify that point)

[Horned Bull]

twibs, on 04 January 2013 - 10:31 AM, said:

TL;DR: More like WoT would've been better, pick chassis and play it, unlock the next variant until at the end of that road there sits some slightly better, more hard points, more module slots, perhaps even bit better mobility. I'm sure there was some progression road with the chassises in canon. Variety to skills or even making it so that you could only pick 4/8 would also help.

Actually I dislike a fake feeling of progress. I think I might be too old for mmo. Heavier/bigger mech here doesn't make you a bigger threat on the field (in some cases). A jenner can kill stray atlas without a problem. Also lighter mechs doesn't teach you to play heavier ones. They have completely different playstyle.

But that's just my opinion.

[twibs]

Carnivoris, on 04 January 2013 - 11:30 AM, said:

The point of buying mechs isn't to finish one and progress to the next. One isn't necessarily better than another, they serve different roles on the battlefield. I think you've got your head too far up WoT's ***, personally. I've played a bit of WoT and it feels too linear. Buy this then buy that then buy that and you call that progression. That's not how it works here. Each mech variant has different hardpoints which means it can mount different weapons. Some of those weapons are good at long range, some at medium range, some at short range. Choosing a particular variant and loadout dictates where and how you'll do battle.

By progression I speak of personal developement. Skills can hardly be taken as such. The lack of progression, grind if you will, will mean less paying customers as there is nothing long term to keep the players interested.

Carnivoris, on 04 January 2013 - 11:30 AM, said:

Patching in a beta game is always going to be iffy. Internal testing is restricted to a small scale so equipment may not affect those battles the same as it affects ours. That's why they give it to us. We're testing it for them. Our job is to test and provide feedback. Unfortunately, too many people on this forum are quick to scream "YOU'RE NOT DOING YOUR JOB! I'M TAKING MY BALL AND GOING HOME!" or some equivalent nonsense. If you can't accept your place in this world, go find another. Your job is to test, not be pampered.

Don't like open betas? Don't play them. There, problem solved.

I'm a paying customer, yet I am treated like a fanboy tester? Something here doesn't sound quite right. When they start taking real money, beta is just term they can flaunt as my as they want, but the game is released.

Carnivoris, on 04 January 2013 - 11:30 AM, said:

I do wish there was more of a goal in the game but there are things that need to be addressed first. As far as we know, Community Warfare is still on the table. I asked the devs for an update yesterday but have not received an official answer yet. Hopefully that's still in the works and they're not pulling a War Z on us, promising us something and then canceling it without telling anyone. Surely they learned something from that fiasco.

"but have not received an official answer yet." I do love your optimism

Carnivoris, on 04 January 2013 - 11:30 AM, said:

Wait for the patch on the 15th. See what it accomplishes. Until then, cool your jets, have a drink, and explode some giant stompy robots. OK? ok.

Do I come off as agressive? If so then I apologize. But I think you should *krhmm* 'cool your jets, have a drink, and explode some giant stompy robots'.

Are you perhaps MW-fanboy, unable to take criticism? If not please do articulate your points bit better, since so far all I hear is ranting.

[twibs]

EJT, on 04 January 2013 - 11:39 AM, said:

Are you playing in a premade? If so, then the road to unlocking the skills probably feels very short indeed. But as a pug, it takes forever and a day to get anywhere. Granted, this will (hopefully) change with Phase 3. Hopefully the pace will speed up for puggers and slow down for premades. Also, I disagree that the % change is not noticeable. There are a few that are immediately noticeable (speed tweak, shutdown recover), and the others are subtle but helpful.

Yes they are noticeable, but after the fifth chassis they become more a chore than anything interesting. There is no choice, only chore.

EJT, on 04 January 2013 - 11:39 AM, said:

Community Warfare is on the roadmap to address your long term needs.

We'll see, but I fear it will be too little to late, especially if they can't impelemt more maps.

EJT, on 04 January 2013 - 11:39 AM, said:

Other than more hard points, this is what they implemented. More module slots. Check. A bit better mobility (speed tweek, anchor turn, twist speed, pin point, etc). Check.

If you want the unlocks to be more dramatic than this, then you would further aggravate the stomping issue we have now, where the more you win the better equipped you are, so the more you win, etc and on and on. Again, in theory Phase 3 would solve this. But I love being able to try different mechs right away, so I'm glad all the variants are available from the start.

For me, when I start to get tired of a chassis, I rebuilt it. Tired of lasers? Try converting to ballistics. Tired of that? Try converting to missiles. Tired of slow brute force? Rebuild for speed. Etc etc. There are so many possibilities in the mechlab that you should be able to keep trying new builds to tide you over until the Community Warfare kicks in. And if not, take a break, and come back when it's there.

You have to think of this as more fundamental level than simply changing once aspect. Obviously the MM would've needed major overhaul to address this change, to keep the players playing against similiar power levels. Trial vs trial would be good place to start at.

EJT, on 04 January 2013 - 11:39 AM, said:

Uhh, I don't think they plan to do the matchmaker this way. I don't think the ELO thing will work the way the weight class works -- where for every Assault on one side, there's an Assault on the other side, etc. I don't think they are planning to say that a match is "balanced" with an even mix of new players and veterans on each side. I think the matchmaker will attempt to put 16 people (or team averages) of the same skill level in a match. No mixing and matching where possible. I thought I read that somewhere but I can't find the link. So whether you are solo'ing or playing in a team, in theory you should always be in a match with 15 other players at your skill level. Now it won't be ideal because the size of the player base may not allow all 16 to be the same skill level, so there's bound to be variety. But I really don't think new players will be mixed with veterans unless the total player base falls to really low numbers.

Let me clarify this bit more. With ELO rating and me usually playing in group, I expect my rating to raise at least above the average. now assuming that enemy has 4-man team, all of relatively high ELO, grouped with some newbies so 4 good ELO and 4 low ELO. If I need to play alone, when my mates aren't online, our team too should have 4 good ELO and 4 bad ELO, with me being usually playing in teams, I get tossed in as good ELO with the other puggers. I expect the weight classes to remain, but I doubt the ELO rating can put a weight on the fact that the 4 enemy players are grouped together and very like in TS or mumble, like I usually am when grouping.

[siLve00]

good solid post...
as for me i dont care anymore for PGI.

as they went realy off for holiday during the x-max time..... sry as selfemployed person who runs a business....

if you do marketing you have to care... PGI doesnt.. they going to holiday... thats plain awesome.

amateurs having the power over a franchise i realy like since iam a little boy.. its a shame.

[MaddMaxx]

Sorry but his is simple and unmitigated BS.

Quote

"I'm a paying customer, yet I am treated like a fanboy tester? Something here doesn't sound quite right. When they start taking real money, beta is just term they can flaunt as my as they want, but the game is released."

It is FREE to PLAY. If you spent money and did not understand what F2P meant, it is not the Developers problem. Just because you decided to spend some RL monies does not, by some miracle, entitle you to something "special", be it some form of recognition that you spent said money or some internal need to have others know that you are special to have spent said monies.

We are ALL customers. Those who wish to pay can do so and not assume that doing so, or should anyways, somehow link that with some perverse desire that they deserve something special.

That "Special" thing you think you deserve, it is whatever you bought with your converted cash...

[Boss Awesome]

I disagree with the OP about the idea of "progression". I like choice and hate "progression". Grinding is boring, I don't understand why people feel the need to do tasks they don't enjoy for the sake of a reward. I blame that Pavlovian nightmare called WoW for this. I want to play MWO because it is fun, and fun is what will keep me playing. I like the idea that mechs are competetive with each other and their really is no best mech. (ECM issues aside). World of Tanks was extremely lame in that it was simply a grind to get the best tank. How boring would it be if we all were just trying to get Atlases because they are the best? Hell no. World of Tanks sucks, no thanks.

What MWO really needs is community warfare done right, hopefully the devs can figure something out that would let the players influence a larger world in meaningful ways. Here was my suggestion thread: http://mwomercs.com/...80#entry1694580

[Windies]

MaddMaxx, on 04 January 2013 - 11:55 AM, said:

Just 2 things. First, communications has been pretty damn good over-all. If you missed the CB, then that's ok, If you have not read the DEV Blogs etc, you really should.

Second, you can only BUY Mech Bays and "Hero" Mechs with MC. All other Mechs are bought with C-Bills. (just to clarify that point)

Just to clarify the bold point, last I checked you could buy any mech with MC, not just Hero Mechs. Hero Mechs are simply MC only.

[BigJim]

Carnivoris, on 04 January 2013 - 11:30 AM, said:

The point of buying mechs isn't to finish one and progress to the next. One isn't necessarily better than another, they serve different roles on the battlefield.

I've played a bit of WoT and it feels too linear. Buy this then buy that then buy that and you call that progression. That's not how it works here.

This.

Take a team game, like football, or Rugby - You don't magically get better, faster running boots or more powerful balls ( ) as you progress, you just become a better player as you practice more & more - That's all the "progression" I'm interested in, that progression of the actual player, not some set of Final Fantasyesque stats..

Working through arbitrary upgrades and unlocks like you get in RPGs just seems like a waste of time in a multiplayer game, because until you're at the proscribed maximum, you're not as effective to the team, so everything up to that point is just grinding, and I see grinding as being the opposite of playing for fun - it's a job - otherwise we wouldn't consider it a grind.

They make sense in a single player game, but are just a barrier to real play in a MP game, it's why I utterly detest anything that stinks of Planetside and it's ilk.

Those aren't fun MP games for me, because everyone is at a different level of effectiveness outside of thier skill level and choice of tactics (inc loadout).

The only way around that is to grind mindlessly to get your gear to the maximum level and thus be competitive.
Nah, that's no fun imho. Mercifully this kind of artifical levelling-up is pretty minimal in MWO.

[Adridos]

Carrot on a stick? I'm sorry, my friend, but we're not laboratory monkies that must get a bannana every 100 matches to grind for that ultimate piece of chocolate.

Grinding is just an exploit of animal nature.

[Suko]

Carnivoris, on 04 January 2013 - 11:30 AM, said:

Wait for the patch on the 15th. See what it accomplishes. Until then, cool your jets, have a drink, and explode some giant stompy robots. OK? ok.

I've been listening to people say that for 4 months now.


Also, I lol at your "don't play betas" comment. As if this game has any right to call itself beta. Ho ho, you make me laugh.