23 replies to this topic

[Corpsecandle]

IceSerpent, on 31 May 2012 - 09:11 AM, said:

I have to disagree - certainly, information along the lines of "what key do I press to move forward" should be in-game, but basic understanding is usually obtained elsewhere. A calculator requires basic understanding of math, but doesn't teach it. A word processor requires basic understanding of a given language, but doesn't teach it, etc. In other words, help specific to the application should be included (and usually is), while basic understanding of the underlying concept is usually expected to be there already.

That's not quite accurate though.

Let's take that word processor as an example. Yes you need a basic understand of English in order to use it, but English is not a function of the word processor. Changing fonts, adding graphics, headers, footers, page numbering...etc...these are functions of the word processor. Knowing how to save and retrieve your resume so you don't have to retype it each time there's a change...that's a function of the word processor (yeah yeah, technically a function of the OS, but the key strokes and button clicks are a function of the word processor). How many of you have been asked by less than tech savvy relatives, "How do I add a picture to my document?".

The expectation that everyone is not just capable, but GOOD at gathering information is inherently flawed. Believe it or not, research is a skill and if you're good at it, you should be proud of that fact. However not everyone is, and while I'm against general hand holding, I am all about putting people on the right path. This feature seems to be a pretty clear way of setting people down that path. If they want to learn MORE they have a solid foundation to start with, and if they don't want to learn more, they don't have to, because the pretty graph told them this mech hits hard at a distance.

Now addressing the success of EVE. What there's no statistics on is whether EVE would be MORE successful, if they were better at educating new players on its use. I know plenty of smart people (30's and 40's) who avoid games because the learning curve is too steep. Is it critical to the success of the game? Probably not, but it will help.

Now to counter my own argument: the learning curve can be used as a noob filter.

I get that. This is going to be a team game and drawing that random loser in a match is going to drive people up the wall. No matter what, in every game, no matter how difficult the learning curve, there is ALWAYS that subset of the population who's just not going to get it. They're going to ruin it for everyone. My hope is to give basic education to those who can be educated before they decide the game is too hard to learn, and it's not worth dumping time and money into.

[PirateNixon]

I don't understand why there is opposition to this idea. If you don't need the extra information, don't use it. Allowing new users to easily get help is one of the best ways to expand a user base. Sure, if the game is "too approachable" you'll get people who have no idea about anything mech related playing... but is that really an issue? Are we really having the debate as to how easy it should be to get into and understand the game because we want to make other people work to enjoy what we enjoy?

[Roland]

You know what, Insanity wrote a No-Respawn guide for MW4 that folks passed around the internet for years... Saw someone reference it at recently as a year ago. The specifics of the weapons and game mechanics would be different compared to MWO, but a lot of the overall ideas will likely still hold true.

Folks may want to look around and see if they can find that. It covers some basics of things like sensors as well, like what ECM and BAP are, etc. Again, won't be exactly true in the MWO universe, but may still be good for someone with absolutely no exposure to mechwarrior.

Ah... ok, I found some of the stuff.
Stalker from Avatar Knights put this Guide to MW Tactics together, with input from Insanity. It gives a fairly comprehensive overview of applications of tactics within MW4. Again, it won't apply directly to MWO, but it does provide some information about different weapons types and their uses. A lot of the weapons won't exist in MWO, due to differences in the timeline (no clan weapons, no light gauss etc.) but it talks about their different types and how they're used on the field.

Also, there is Insanity's No Respawn Guide. Again, this has some info about different weapons. The actual stats won't be exactly the same in MWO, but the overall purpose of the weapons will likely be similar. Also, it made me laugh to see the date on this, since I had to use the Internet Wayback machine to get the link.. This is a version close to what was available on the old dropship command boards... in 2002.

EDIT: Whoops, was 2004.

Edited by Roland, 31 May 2012 - 01:11 PM.

[Felicitatem Parco]

I am almost certain that www.gamefaqs.com will have a section for MechWarrior: Online, and that will be well-populated with user submissions. It's an excellent resource for user-generated video gaming guides, and fills in many gaps that are normally left behind to be filled by "Official" game guides and other commercial publications.

I know the game producers will be providing a certain amount of introductory information, but there will always be the community to draw upon... and with the ferocity of the BattleTech community, I bet the user-generated guides will in certain respects exceed the usefulness of some Official guides.

Edited by Prosperity Park, 31 May 2012 - 01:25 PM.