State of the Game (MechWarrior Online)

TL;DR: It is still beta.

Details:
Right now, we have no repair or rearm bills. Once you purchase a mech (either with C-bills you earned or by dropping real money in game) you can play that mech without any penalty. This leads to some reckless behavior by some pilots. It also leads to some severe frustration when playing with people outside of communication.
There is a side of people trying to play this game as if it were solo ...they are very interested in their stats (either win loss ratio or kill death ratio or both). There is another set of people interested in playing a team game with comms that is learning to play using strategy and techniques. Then there are those who just play the game for fun they love the IP and will play just to pilot a 80 ton mech.
Now you can be a member of any of these groups or all of them but there are 2 pieces of information that are vital.
With so many gaming choices out there - Are you coming back to play this game?
What would you pay to play if they were charging or would you find something else?

Replayability is huge it keeps you drawn in and talk to your friends about it. It makes you stay for "just one more" when you are thinking about shutting down. It makes you say the next time I/We will win or at least take out an enemy before I/we am/are done for the night.

ECM is a problem.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/ECM_Suite
The game shows one mech umbrella covering all the mechs in 180 meter of the ECM. It is overpowered and with little negative repercussions. Sensors can sometimes override this jamming, though by that point the enemy unit is already within visual range and can track the opposition with their own eyes.
What this has led to is a game of who has more ECM in many cases.
My Suggestions:

• A huge cost for ECM if destroyed (100,000 cbills) 
• A large amount of heat generated while in use 
• Forcing the ECM mech to remain stationary while active (reducing the range while moving would work)

Stalkers are HARD to kill!

Image ripped from http://themittani.com/news/mwo-december-18th-patch-news

Third person view MWO?

Wow, PGI is actually now talking about how they could include a third person view.

This has been a hotly requested and denied request. Just about 50% of noobs, players of other mmos have either asked about it or stated this game will fail without one.

Old school players, beta players and everyone else has either stated they will quit or learned to play without it.

So what is PGI to do ..they have to appeal to the masses because they are a F2P game or languish in obscurity. They are talking about how to add it in without giving an advantage - something that everyone could turn on and off.

How about a 3rd person view after you die that is limited to what other mechs can see?
How about a remote cam you can release as a module limited to one shot per game?
How about third person view to take screenshots? Maybe even after a match like a replay mode?


What would you suggest? Remember it cannot give an advantage to your team.

Tactic Tip 105

Orbit Orbit Orbit

It simply does not matter if you have 8 man premades (which I love and miss*) or 4 man lance. If you have one of the team in an assault calling targets and everyone else running around him protecting his back and watching the sides you may not win but I guarantee you a fun time.

* Supposedly the 8 man premades are coming back on Tuesday Nov 20th 2012.

Quotable Wednesday version 5.0

"I - drink - your - milkshake! I drink it up!" Daniel Plainview There will be blood. 2007

This quote has become a meme. I saw the movie and well I was completely underwhelmed. I mean it just isn't my type of movie. This quote though stands out to me. In the film, the phrase was intentionally used as a metaphor: sucking milkshake from someone else to demonstrate not only oil drainage from prized land, but the harsh nature of how cruelty often trumps meekness.
He is explaining how even if he has a milkshake and you have a milkshake his straw is long enough to drink your milkshake and his milkshake.

I have heard players complain about stealing their kill. I am not sure if they are serious or joking sometimes. A lot of players are so concerned with stats in this game from Kill/Death ratio and Win/Lose ratio. The real ratio that matters is fun/doing something else.

Tactic Tip 105

4 man lance success is sticking together. The Assault mech calling the target and everyone else supporting him, keeping flies off his back, and focus firing. I call it orbiting. This has proven very very successful for us.

I am not sure why PGI decided to try 4 man lance + 4 man pug. I am guessing it is purely based on match making and giving noobs a chance at winning and less complete pug stomping.
We actually had a 4 man lance last night and when we dropped in we were informed to stay together they were a 4 man premade. So we ended up with 2 premade lances versus well they lost ....soundly.

I can say we lost a few matches due to lack of coordination with the pugs on several matches we pulled out some squeekers though and overall I had a fun time.

I will also say before this 4 man premade business I had fun just dropping in and winning or losing. I am finding without my team though I do not like playing as much. I can find better things to do with my time. What does that mean for the future of the game?

Quotable Wednesday version 4.0

"You hear me talkin', hillbilly boy? I ain't through with you by a damn sight. I'm gonna get Medieval on your ass." - MARCELLUS WALLACE (Ving Rhames) in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Well hello patch day!

All I can say is WOW the forest city is beautiful ...polished in fact it looks ready for prime time. The only flaw I saw in the environment was snow in the cave. I am telling you last night after a pretty large patch this game is looking good.

I upgraded to Artemis IV for my missiles. This is an 1.2 million dollar upgrade that assures better accuracy of missles (by 35%) ...and I can honestly say I see the results. The missiles right now are very tightly packed and they look awesome streaking across the battlefield. Supposedly, Artemis requires line of sight to work and you must have one for each system (ie if I had lrm 5 and lrm 15 I would need 2 Artemis ...I run with 2xLRM 10s and once I made the purchase all of my missiles say LRM Ammo + Artemis IV and my arms both say LRM 10 + Artemis)

The heat issues still remains. In fact, I over-heated twice last night in 8 matches and the only solution was to power down and reignite. I have not bought into endosteel, double heat sinks or ferro-fiberous armor. I just dont have enough information or space at least as far as my catapult is concerned. I would love to hear from others what builds are working. It is hard to build a missile boat when you can't carry many missiles.

It was nice seeing a bunch of camo'd mechs and I know people are into customizing but it is getting a lot more attention than matchmaking, weapon balance, in game comm.

PGI are hiring new people so that is a good sign. The question is will it be fast enough. They have removed the in game tracker of people. I feel like that is a double edge sword ....are they hiding their numbers because in closed beta we saw a max of 3k people ..now that we are in open beta have the numbers not changed? I was hoping to see 10k but maybe it isnt hitting the numbers they were hoping ...can it survive as a game if they don't reach some marketing persons number?

Tactic Tip 104

Leadership

The action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do.

So many games have been won by someone stepping up to take control ...even a hair-brained scheme different than the normal to turn around a potential loss.

We are down 6 to 8 in mechs
One pilot rallies us together ....go "C" line now to intercept ...everyone return to base to defend they are almost there! Jenner head to enemy base and help me out.
We stop firing on the mech that was heading in the Caldera and spin back towards base.
The leader is missing one arm and one leg of his mech but limping toward their base with one following him.
5 of us arrive back at our base just in time ..and we destroy them standing in our base.
We win as the mech chasing our leader has overheated and is destroyed by the jenner.

Leadership it is not for everyone but you should try it every once in a while ...most groups love to have someone else run the mission once in a while.

Do You Want Original Computer Voice Actress Back

I saw this on the forums. You know "the voice" if you played any MW2 you know this voice all to well. Forum topic

Carole Ruggier

She is an amazing voice actress and I would at this point bet money on her involvement.

 

 



Exciting news because on teamspeak I have heard players playing the dropship sound and voice while we are all "ready"ing up.

It sets the tone and draws you in. Worthy of a new blog post :D

Tactic Tip 102

Fridays, I have decided will mainly be about a tactic.

Todays Tactic is:

FOCUS FIRE



(this is not what I mean)

FF is a proven tactic to win. A scout will target an enemy mech (we now have narc and tag) and the whole team commences targeting that one mech until it is dead. It works very well on that target rocking it back and forth keeping it lost in a barrage of lasers, missiles it is quite glorious.

NARC - is a no damage missile beacon that is placed on an enemy mech that will call missiles to it. It does not require LoS (line of sight)
TAG - is a laser shot and held on by a scout that directs missiles and assist with faster locks causing MORE missiles to strike a target. TAG requires LoS.

Focus fire requires that you listen and assist in killing one mech even if you are getting hit from elsewhere.


That is it for today.

Terms 101

Common Gaming Terms
Zerg = from Starcraft 2 - there was a technique (very effective) of sending in the smallest fastest swarm of creatures to destroy an opposing team. Zerg were the "alien" like species the zerglings were like face huggers. You would send in as many as you could and zerg the base. If you did not send enough or you waited to long the opposing side would win due to the fact that you had exhausted all your resources on creating the zerg.

Goon = basically it is an unholy alliance of:

1. new players
2. people with no skill
3. throwing together ridiculous builds at any cost to win
4. One of their mottos is "every ship counts" it has a feel good approach but the truth is you become the personal army of peopel that can ruin a game

Many member are from the somethingawful forums. I recommend you stay away and leave them alone.
Eve Wiki

Noob = someone new to a game or someone who does not take the time to learn to play
L2P = You are execpted to know what  your role is and not make an idiot of  yourself. Accept constructive critizism.
PUG = Pick up group, AKA a team of random players without direct communication.

GLHF = good luck have fun (seems to be common phrase posted before the mechs are released) I also believe it may indicate you are up against a premade that has been having fun killing pugs.


MechWarrior Specific
LRM = Long range missles
SRM = Short range missles
CAP = Standing in the opposing teams base to win instead of killing
Legging = Taking out the leg of another mech to disable them.
BennyHilling = is chasing a scout like it is the last target on the planet ...typically out into the open or into a trap.

Battletech 101: Inner Sphere and the Houses

I can't even imagine jumping into a game with super rich lore and history and being expected to stay because of that content. It is just too much to ask for a casual player.

WoW is kind of an exception because so much of it became mainstream ...but still new people jumping in are doing so to play with friends or family ...I highly doubt they care about the lore or background story.

I am thinking about starting a Tuesday blog discussing components which hopefully will be interesting enough to draw more people in and show the reasons to play besides "blowing up some bitches".

Years ago; to get anyone off my back when I was on my way to my office to start gaming I would tell my family "Well, I guess I am off to save the world (or universe)" they would laugh because they knew I was off to gaming ....but the side note here is I was playing a game which is persistent with people from all over the world ----I don't know about you but that is just damn cool to me.

Now I do not know a lot about Battletech or MechWarrior ...I played Mechwarrior 2 and fell in love with piloting a huge mech and I said I am not interested in playing any new games unless someone does a battlemech type game. Fast forward 5 years later and here we go.

MWO timeline: We are currently in 3049 during Mechwarrior Online. Basically Humans have moved beyond the solar system; achieved FTL (faster than light) and splintered into feudal territories which each believes to be theirs.

What is the Star League?
The brainchild of Ian Cameron, the Star League was a self-policing interstellar council formed from the Terran Hegemony, the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere, and the Territorial States of the Periphery. Each of the States of the Star League was required to provide soldiers and war materiel for the mutual protection of the Star League Defense Force, but otherwise was allowed to maintain its own standing army, and even conduct (rare) small-scale wars. Though not completely stable, the relative peace, prosperity, and advanced technology of the Star League have led many to consider the Star League as the zenith of human civilization.

What is Inner Sphere?
The Inner Sphere is a region of interstellar space surrounding Terra to a radius of roughly 450 - 550 light-years, generally demarcated by the outer borders of the "Great Houses." Within this region of about 2 million stars, there are approximately 2000 inhabited planets. Beyond the Inner Sphere is the Periphery.

What is Terra?
Terra is Earth.

What are Houses?
The sundering of the Star League, followed by centuries of Succession Wars, brought about five large nations known as the Successor States (called so because they were controlled by bloodlines). These are feudal realms, modeled after stereotypical cultural templates. They collectively comprise the Inner Sphere. Numerous other factions came and went over the course of the perpetual conflicts. The most notable and long-standing BT factions are:
 House Davion, House Liao, House Marik, House Steiner and House Kurita

What is Lostech?
It is Lost Technology - technological advances and knowledge that existed during the Star League era, but which were lost in the Succession Wars that followed

What is success in a gaming MMO?

First
What is an MMO?
MASSIVE - Supporting Hundreds of players.
MULTI-PLAYER - must allow multiple people to play simultaneously in a persistent world
ONLINE - must be online to play

Second
What is success?
Well no one will give the same answer. The truth is success is a measurement of happiness and money. For example, if I owned my own business and barely made any money but I loved what I do - I would consider that a success. But say I had creditors ...then I owe money and I am also quite unhappy. What if I make enough to pay my creditor but cannot pay my employees what they deserve and they are unhappy.

Now look at the gaming industry MMOs in particular.
The most successful game in the history of gaming World of Warcraft. Even if you haven't played it I bet someone you know close to you has. WoW became the standard of what gaming companies thought they should be. So now every single game that comes out says well its like WoW but the setting is different or Wow doesn't include this we do.
When someone steps outside of what makes WoW successful they either fail, or are looked down on like a failure.
EQ2 has been running as long as WoW ...it has a deep lore, made players happy with wants and fulfilled many roles. Yet no where near the player base of WoW, gone free to play, yet no advertising.
Warhammer Online - huge opening day, too big in fact they underestimated the need for servers and had long queues. They resorted in opening new servers and after the newness wore off they had to shutdown and combine servers. While they had lots of testing they failed by not including a 3rd realm for combat and could not support huge battles when 300 people entered a combat zone the servers just could not handle the load.
SWTOR - after a huge bump and push to take over the top slot ...failed as of this writing it looks like they are combining ALL servers just to get a reign on population. Froogle
Guild Wars 2 - nothing truly original and yet, so far, highly successful. 2 million subscribers when it opened.

There is no magical formula. WoWs numbers are slipping even though they have a huge expansion coming out. Almost every game on the horizon is free to play. How much time are you willing to invest ... and how does that equate to money and success for the company making the game? Can they paid developers with that success? Do companies just keep making games as fast as possible and move to the next one until they make a successful self running game and then come back to it and "fix" it? At what point is it considered a success?

Scouts balancing power and effectiveness.

Scouts are not rangers. Although they excel in nature, being a guide, being a teacher.

Scouts not archers. Although they carry the equipment and are precise in striking.

Scouts are not rogues. Although they are masters of speed and camoflage.

Scouts are not cartographers. Although they know the land and have memorized locations and landmarks.












The way I see it you cannot have a complete squad without a scout. It requires speed, spotting forces, cover, communication, diversion. Being a scout is in many ways like being a poker player.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When I was growing up my parents listened to different music but I had to listen to enough coutry music  that I would like to punch them for ingraining in me now. It did make it onto the pop charts peaked at number 16 (! omg it broke into the top 20) in 1979.
So thanks but that mom and dad ...however it did have one gem that stuck with me.
Kenny Rogers "The Gambler"

"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away, know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table,
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

See the key here is a scout will have to learn to make the best decision typically at a moments notice. this applies to any game I have ever played and still play. I have been one and I typically enjoy it ...it has a defined purpose and has turned the odds in many games.



 



Do you get spam in your mail?

So yesterday, I see a tweet from Russ Bullock (President - Piranha Games Inc. - Developing MechWarrior Online ) that indicates that if you are not in the closed beta by now you are doing it all wrong.

"If your not in Closed Beta for #MechWarrior Online yet, why not? Is your Closed Beta profile at 100%.Make it so letting in huge numberss now"

Now maybe you did get in but it was marked as spam by your email reader so go check that first.

This leads me to a funny story (well atleast my friends think so) that we laugh about to this day.

When I say "we"; I mean "we" had this thing going about 3 years ago where a group of us from work played games together about once a week. We went through some games, if we liked it we kept playing but mostly each game lasted about 3 months. RL would get in the way or we would just get frustrated with trying to get together ...whatever, we burned out; collectively as a group.

We were playing Warhammer Online ...now its a great game, fun pvp, interesting classes, pretty easy to stay together. But it requires a lot of running back and forth if you want to stay in combat you must fight in one location and either sit and wait for combat or run to the next destination and pry it away from the other side. There is not much fun in waiting so you run.

We had just help turn the tide in a gruesome battle and were running to the next hotspot. Six of us ...on the way to the next location we stopped at a village to repair armor, bio break, grabbing a drink and whatnot.

Well you know how is it ...in a group ...one person is a bonehead. Todays bonehead was XXXXXXX (name changed to protect the innocent). It was an epic fail but everyone is getting ready to go we are all lined up to run to the next area. Except bonehead is not moving we are watching his icon on the minimap and he is just completely stopped. "Let's go," says our commander. Everyone says they are ready except bonehead. "Hey" he says "you get spam in your mail?!?" It makes me laugh everytime I hear someone say spam now ...it was aggravating then and it is funny as hell now (to us anyway).

Every once in a while while we are together you will hear someone say "hey, you get spam in you mail" for no reason at all. It is funny.

River City

From Wikipedia : "River City" as a brevity code, an order to implement immediate communications blackout until further notice
River City this video is very interesting. I love the urban decay and broken bridges.
Also from the Wiki:
River City, as a city nickname, may also refer to any of the following cities:

[edit] Australia

• Brisbane, Queensland

[edit] Canada

• Edmonton, Alberta
• Winnipeg, Manitoba

[edit] China

• Chongqing

[edit] Indonesia

• Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan

[edit] Japan

• Hiroshima
• Kōtō, Tokyo
• Niigata, Niigata
• Osaka
• Tokushima, Tokushima

[edit] New Zealand

• Wanganui

[edit] United States

• Austin, Texas
• Cape Girardeau, Missouri
• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Decatur, Alabama
• Evansville, Indiana
• Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Kansas City Metropolitan Area, MO/KS
• Little Rock, Arkansas
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Mason City, Iowa
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Oconto Falls, Wisconsin
• Omaha, Nebraska
• Peoria, Illinois
• Portland, Oregon
• Richmond, Virginia
• Sacramento, California
• San Antonio, Texas
• Sioux City, Iowa
• Spokane, Washington
• St. Louis, Missouri
• Toms River, New Jersey
• Vicksburg, Mississippi
• White River Junction, Vermont