39 replies to this topic

[Maelik Crowe]

A trend I've seen in the recruitment forums,

To a lot of people who hope to enjoy and are really excited about MWO, the initial choosing alliance process is going to be fairly intimidating.

For many now, and more in the future, the only thing that they will know is that a game they liked, either tabletop or MW(to...4) is back and they are excited. What they will see is previous alliances of long-time fans who are understandably even more excited and knowledgeable and who all seem to know one another and who have been talking to one another for years.

Recruitment forums are a nightmare of Houses and Mercs all saying 'I was X, knew A, B, and C'

How can a large population system deal with that? It needs some thought. I've been into MW since for a long time, tabletop and virtual and I have none of the relationships that seem to be important in setting roles in Houses and Companies. The game was officially announced 2 days ago and hierarchies are forming.

This is not the old 2000 people, and only some are hardcore method, some thought needs to be put into this.

[Stormwolf]

Don't let it get to you, you've still got tons of time to look around and make a few friends before the game starts.

[Bianca Flowers]

don't fret it. Battletech is big enough that your skill will get you where you want to be.

[Maelik Crowe]

Not worried about that. You miss my point.

Early adopters, and I'm one, will be given de facto control over a limited system.

What do you think the target player base needs to be for the game to be profitable? Can you squeeze them all into the existing Houses and Companies or Clans? I doubt it. Either the existing structure needs to become MUCH more flexible or we will have to be able to accept rising new Houses, Mercs and Clans not defined in the literature. It's just true. Everyone who plays will want to rise, everyone who starts high won't want to fall.

If it's formal challenge for position or allowing upstarts, something is going to have to give. Just my opinion

[Adridos]

Maelik Crowe, on 05 November 2011 - 04:00 AM, said:

A trend I've seen in the recruitment forums,

To a lot of people who hope to enjoy and are really excited about MWO, the initial choosing alliance process is going to be fairly intimidating.

For many now, and more in the future, the only thing that they will know is that a game they liked, either tabletop or MW(to...4) is back and they are excited. What they will see is previous alliances of long-time fans who are understandably even more excited and knowledgeable and who all seem to know one another and who have been talking to one another for years.

Recruitment forums are a nightmare of Houses and Mercs all saying 'I was X, knew A, B, and C'

How can a large population system deal with that? It needs some thought. I've been into MW since for a long time, tabletop and virtual and I have none of the relationships that seem to be important in setting roles in Houses and Companies. The game was officially announced 2 days ago and hierarchies are forming.

This is not the old 2000 people, and only some are hardcore method, some thought needs to be put into this.

I was having problems choosing too, but after being told, that everyone goes Davion, that Steiner are BIG "idiots", and I should look at Sarna for info on the eremaining 3, I chose Liao. Simple, but I agree they should give some info on houses as well (devs - mechs, history and something more).

[Bianca Flowers]

not houses.

The population of the SMALLEST House, Liao, is about 500 billion people. the largest, The Federated Commonwealth (a combo of Davion and Steiner) has several tens of TRILLION people -- the casualty count of the FedCom civil war was in the multiple BILLIONS. That's orders of magnitude larger than the entire population of Eaarth today. There's room for everyone in the world in the military of just ONE house.

[Ghost]

I share your concern.

[Stormwolf]

adridos, on 05 November 2011 - 04:23 AM, said:

I was having problems choosing too, but after being told, that everyone goes Davion, that Steiner are BIG "idiots", and I should look at Sarna for info on the eremaining 3, I chose Liao. Simple, but I agree they should give some info on houses as well (devs - mechs, history and something more).

You only recently joined a faction?

[Demongirl]

Maelik Crowe, on 05 November 2011 - 04:00 AM, said:

How can a large population system deal with that? It needs some thought. I've been into MW since for a long time, tabletop and virtual and I have none of the relationships that seem to be important in setting roles in Houses and Companies. The game was officially announced 2 days ago and hierarchies are forming.

Are you talking about brand spankin' new players who don't know anything about the universe, but happen to like giant robots stomping around and wrecking stuff? If so, then I think you might be over-analyzing the situation.

While yes, the BT universe is really fleshed out and most people will be attracted to this game because they're a fan of the miniatures game, the role-playing game, the novels, the cartoons, the console games, the computer games,the arcade pods, the artwork, whatever their chosen fandom is within the 25-year body of work that went into creating this universe, some people will simply wander in because PC Gamer said something about a new video game and decided that giant stompy mechs was worth their time.

Who's to stop them from gathering a group of like-minded buddies and starting a new Merc Unit if they don't want to join an existing one? Hell, that's how most gaming groups get started anyway, both IRL and online; either a group of RL friends who like to game together pick a name for themselves and begin to play under that name, or some established players without a group find synchronicity in a PUG, make friends in-game and start a group.

Or maybe the new player will just just pick a faction based on something arbitrary; favorite color, which faction name sounds cooler to the individual, or whichever logo strikes his or her fancy. Then s/he begins to start playing with people from that faction and makes a decision on whether to stay with that faction or re-roll with a new one.

Or maybe the new player will look through the existing Merc Unit recruitment threads and pick one arbitrarily again, and ask to join. Then s/he will at least have the backing of a close-knit group of people who are both willing to help a new player out and yet have a proven track record of excellence.

And then, the brand new player of today becomes the fan of tomorrow, and will hopefully look to broaden his or her horizons and start researching his or her chosen faction.

It's not a big deal. These things always work out in the end.

Edited by demongirl, 05 November 2011 - 05:27 AM.

[Jack Gallows]

I don't think it'll be that big of a problem. I've never really been active in an online Btech community though I know a GREAT deal about the game and have played every incarnation of it sans MPBT.

There's going to be plenty of places for newer players to join and have fun, and make their own stories and friends while they get to know those who already know others from previous boards/games.

It doesn't matter if you've known someone for 10 years or 5 minutes, there's only so much that the player base is going to be able to decide in terms of priority within a house/merc unit. Many are going to be open to new members and be supportive anyway, and most are just willing to have a good ole time with people regardless of how into the property they are or where they came from.

I'm going to make friends on the boards, or in game, and go from there. I'll play with anyone.

[Demongirl]

adridos, on 05 November 2011 - 04:23 AM, said:

they should give some info on houses as well (devs - mechs, history and something more).

Well, if you're new to the universe, this will be a great help to you: New to BattleTech? - While it centers on explaining both the miniatures game and the role-playing game (which is fine, as it's posted up on the Board Games site), the second free PDF listed there (BattleTech Universe Guide) will give you a brief history as well as explain the different factions.

Hope that helps you make an informed decision!

Edited by demongirl, 05 November 2011 - 05:30 AM.

[metro]

well said everyone.

Maelik, you will find the number of people here who will offer you assistance and a place to play far out weight those who will not.

Over all....this is the best gaming community, you will find anywhere.

Good lluck to you!

>VDB<

[Adridos]

stormwolf, on 05 November 2011 - 05:09 AM, said:

You only recently joined a faction?

Not a faction, house. When I came here I didnt know of the remaining 4 and knew just of Davion and Clans as a non native speaker who played MW 4 when he didnt understand English. When I got to the forum and saw you have to choose, I asked and got to stick with Liao guys.

To Demongirl (nice name ): I decided while back, so no need for the info anymore, I wanted to say devs should give some info in the game so people like me wont have to read walls of text and decide in things they never cared for.

[Stormwolf]

adridos, on 05 November 2011 - 06:48 AM, said:

Not a faction, house. When I came here I didnt know of the remaining 4 and knew just of Davion and Clans as a non native speaker who played MW 4 when he didnt understand English. When I got to the forum and saw you have to choose, I asked and got to stick with Liao guys.

To Demongirl (nice name ): I decided while back, so no need for the info anymore, I wanted to say devs should give some info in the game so people like me wont have to read walls of text and decide in things they never cared for.

A house is a faction, but a faction isn't always a house.

Just some food for thought

Edited by stormwolf, 05 November 2011 - 06:53 AM.

[Jack Gallows]

stormwolf, on 05 November 2011 - 06:53 AM, said:

A house is a faction, but a faction isn't always a house.

Just some food for thought

FRR go!

Edited by Jack Gallows, 05 November 2011 - 06:59 AM.

[Maelik Crowe]

Well said and considered all,

To Demongirl,

I DO expect a large influx of people who just like 'big robots stomping around wrecking stuff' and have been actively promoting MWO over several blogs and aggregators. It's not going to be a sandbox for BTech nerds forever if it is successful.

I'm not hating on anyone, and I foresee huge growth in the Merc industry.

All in all, I couldn't be more hyped. Only real bummer is that it's not out yet!

[Demongirl]

Maelik Crowe, on 05 November 2011 - 08:51 AM, said:

I'm not hating on anyone, and I foresee huge growth in the Merc industry.

Hehe! I wasn't saying that you were "hating on anyone", just pointing out that you were probably getting worried over nothing.

If anything "n00bs" are going to have one hell of an easy time getting into this game because of all the "BTech nerds" getting super excited over this game. Hell, just take a look at this thread: within 5 minutes of the OP's cry for help, there were at least that many replies giving him the info he needed, and more just kept chiming in. Other "BTech nerds" tried to get a jumpstart on answering questions with a well-written post, but it probably got lost in the glut of new topics. (Someone really should sticky that!)

So don't worry!

[Colaessus]

Let the old farts have their moments of internet E-peen stroking.

Once this game starts the newer generation of gamers are going to wreck their 20 year old gaming group in seconds.
All they will have left will is their friends.

Really, why are people joining Mercs. and Factions before any sort of news of mechs or game play is released.
There is more Role playing in here then D&D.

U Mad Bro?

[unknown]

I'm hoping not to have to choose a house, but rather be a mercenary where my allegiance shifts based on the highest bidder

[Firefly]

I see what the OP is asking and I don't think anyone has yet properly addressed the OP's concern.

In the MechWarrior video game universe alone, there is, what? well over 15 years of legacy and history among the players. There are at least three different MechWarrior niche-legacies, so to speak. And how many of them mesh up with each other? How many different player-run "Clan Smoke Jaguars" have there been? How many unit commanders? How many self-proclaimed "lord of House Davion" players have there been? How many old players are expecting to come back and immediately lay claim to their old nickname and house name? The majority of them, no doubt, are planning on playing this game. And the majority of them, no doubt, are probably expecting to be greeted like MacArthur getting off the boat and wading ashore like the Returned Messiah.

I've got one answer for you: first come, first serve. I'm a video game developer by trade. Prior to moving up to a dev position, I worked in Customer Support as a CSR for MMOs. And whilst Piranha Games may have its own policies and procedures and plans to handle this issue, let me tell you what my company's response would be: first come, first serve. As a CSR I'm not going to go into Joe Q McNoob's account and erase his name of DrizztLegolasSparklyVampire just because you had the name back in Hello Kitty Online: The Glory Years. Sorry. He got it first. And I'm especially not going to entertain trouble-tickets based upon "Well, my guild is called House Davion 1337x0rz and we are a legally-trademarked name so if DrizztLegolasSparklyVampire doesn't give up the name and the guild that he hijacked, I'm going to pursue legal action". Because honestly, you're not. And if you are part of the 0.001% that would, your lawyers are going to be bombarded in litigation paperwork that will take ten years to sift through.

I hate to be harsh and sound like a **** in that last paragraph, but just because you lorded over House Davion in Mechwarrior 2 or Net BattleTech or Inner Sphere Wars does not mean that you are Victor Steiner-Davion. Your claim is just as valid, or perhaps invalid, as DrizztLegolasSparklyVampire's. And in all honesty, if Piranha Games does not puts a ban-hammer down on creating merc units named after canon units, then we can't really expect them to arbitrate disputes based on who had the name on AOL or Kesmai in 1942 (dates exaggerated purely for effect).

And as for the subject of brand new players... I don't know about anyone else, but I'm a huge fan of both MechWarrior and BattleTech. And I'm absolutely keen on bringing in fresh blood to the IP and getting it the prominent recognition that it deserves. So if Joe Q McNoob comes into the game after having read a Btech novel or done his homework on the Sarna Wiki, and someone acts like a high-and-mighty **** because McNoob got their name, it's just a turn-off to a new player and gives them a bad impression of the community.