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f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  The Gaming Graveyard  |  MechWarrior Online  |  Topic: MWO now 100% owned by PGI, ending 3 years of weird IGP corporate decisions 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
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Author Topic: MWO now 100% owned by PGI, ending 3 years of weird IGP corporate decisions  (Read 13304 times)
Falconeer
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on: September 08, 2014, 03:19:32 PM

Rumor has it, the Clans and some other questionable deadlines, had been imposed by Infinite Game Publishing.

Quote from: Russ Bullock
Greetings MechWarrior's,

It's with great excitement that I share with you that Piranha Games Inc. has reached a deal with Infinite Game Publishing for the return of all MWO publishing rights to PGI as of September 1st 2014. Over the past three years Piranha enjoyed a good working relationship with IGP. From the beginning IGP brought passion and dedication to the MechWarrior brand and had many employees that were completely dedicated to the products success. However it can still be very difficult at times to make the corporate needs and strategies of two companies align, for this reason we were able to come to agreement with IGP for all publishing, marketing and hosting responsibilities to move to Piranha. With these responsibilities now here, everything from design, development, marketing and control of hosting resides within Piranha's offices. It is our expectation that this will lead to much more efficient development and marketing of the product. Although we just signed the deal at the end of Aug, we have been operating under this model since the beginning of August, this is reflected in the increased community efforts and updates over the last five weeks. This, along with the marketing efforts of the many events and faction based sales. This is a good example of how efficiently things can be with all facets within the same office space, were committed to continuing this efficiency throughout the entire project.

Lantyssa
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Reply #1 on: September 08, 2014, 05:32:15 PM

Potentially interesting.  We'll see if it leads to better or worse things.

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
satael
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Reply #2 on: September 08, 2014, 09:16:10 PM

If the deadlines were imposed by IGP then I wonder how long the CW (or atleast most of it's features) will be further delayed if someone isn't forcing Piranha to stick to deadlines.  why so serious?
Falconeer
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Reply #3 on: September 08, 2014, 11:27:21 PM

Reading around, seems like this is just a good move no matter how you look at it. The only annoying downside is that now PGI will use IGP as a scoapegoat for all the shortcomings of the past. But from now on, it's all on them and yes it is a good thing.

Falconeer
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Reply #4 on: September 08, 2014, 11:31:50 PM

Some of the things that Russ said in last night's Town Hall Meeting.

- Development pace will proceed as it has for most of 2014; no acceleration right away, but no abandonment of features or plans for 2015 either. CW is still on track, a "few short months" away. MWO did not lose any time, money, or significant staffing to the new project. (tidbit: Clans campaign made about 75% of Founders' stash.)
- IGP was exerting some control over development priorities - they were the ones who mandated tossing aside map creation to push the Clans out - and their departure has some perks, like total creative control by PGI, better patch support, easier time setting up regional servers, etc. Russ didn't go into a whole lot more detail on the IGP factor.
- Five new clan mechs coming out, after which Clan vs IS chassis production will probably become 1-for-1 as was planned (he doesn't know who offered that plan, as usual). Also, DECAL SYSTEM fairly close to deployment.
- The player base will be offered input into how PGI should spend 2015. Pursuing a single player campaign is a possibility, as is just spending time strengthening the four pillars.
- Maps cost more like $40,000 now and their production can be sped up significantly. Again, a new map design philosophy is in the works for 2015.
- Any spare cycles for the rest of the year will be devoted to UI improvement.
Pricing defended in the usual way: MWO is free-to-play and can be thoroughly enjoyed without a red cent. Premium time requirements very lenient next to many other games. Those things both give perspective to criticism and require high prices in other areas.
- As to question of trust, appeals again to improved 2014 as evidence of PGI's reliability. CW being prioritized because other three pillars are already in existence (I agree), though they could use improvement (I agree again).
- Decal system close to be deployed.

Hoax
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Reply #5 on: September 08, 2014, 11:58:25 PM

Most importantly.

CW does not sound like a MPBT3025 ongoing 24/7 campaign system. Though if they know exactly what it will be that was unclear.

Instead it sounded as if battles for individual planets (still on that one it seems) will take place with a time limit before the battle is "closed" some kind of scoring between factions will be in place in theory.

It was very unclear if only X and Y and maybe Z faction aligned players will be allowed to participate on a given planet. It was very unclear how many planets are going to be "active" at a given time, what map and/or gamemode restrictions each planet might represent if any and what the normal time limit was before a winner is decided. Or if you can force a planet to close and declare victory if you hit a certain "point" threshold. Or anything about the scoring system.

I tried but they didn't answer my questions about faction population balance mechanics (i.e. smaller factions have less planets available to be attacked at a given time).

The one potentially massive bit of information was that they currently kinda sorta (again I swear to you he's making this up on the spot based off some conversations they have had over beers, not actual coding of any kind) gave us was this:

They see CW has HARDCORE-RP TIME. Which to them doesn't mean 10v12  swamp poop but does mean that every IS faction will have access to only certain mech chassis and variants. It was unclear if Clan factions (which all do have preferred or shunned mechs in the lore) would face restrictions though I doubt it very much.

That's a pretty big deal as its the most they've ever done because of the lore that I know of and its sure to piss off all sorts of entitled shitfucks so will probably be rolled back. I had personally never expected them to go so far. I figured best case they would only award faction loyalty points (which unlock what? colors if we're lucky I figure) for drops in a faction affiliated mech.

Also mixtech and clan tech being looted by super l33t IS merc units was shot down. Presumably the clan loyalist faction acts as Clan Mercs.

This means that there is no way beyond constant faction switching (no word on if that will be restricted by timer or the loss of some kind of resource) to use both your Clan and IS mechs in CW. Which I always expected but again the forums for this game amaze me with their stupid at every chance so there are going to be some tears.

Here's an outdated post that is missing later chassis (I'll update the list later) that gives a quick rundown of which mechs which IS faction uses. A rough guide. Not exact and who knows how bothered to do research PGI will be.
http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/143245-faction-specific-mechs/page__view__findpost__p__2939541
« Last Edit: September 09, 2014, 12:26:02 AM by Hoax »

A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, then that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation.
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eldaec
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Reply #6 on: September 09, 2014, 01:02:28 AM

I still don't understand why anyone thinks CW could be anything more than a map on a website that is influenced by things that happen to other people, plus pub matches in which shitfucks feel greater entitlement to insult people for dying, and an epic forum thread about which faction is overpowered.

"People will not assume that what they read on the internet is trustworthy or that it carries any particular ­assurance or accuracy" - Lord Leveson
"Hyperbole is a cancer" - Lakov Sanite
Falconeer
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Reply #7 on: September 09, 2014, 01:16:12 AM

I agree with you Eldaec, 95% of the players won't be affected nor would ever get near Community Warfare. Still, CW will bring a sense of persistency that would make the game feel less static and pointless, regardless of your participation in the war. People have been playing this "arena game" for two years quite consistently, and that's a sign that the core gameplay (and only that) is solid. The CW is going to bring nothing more than an idea, a carrot on a stick, that will motivate lots of players to stick around, even if they don't play that aspect. As a personal anectode, when I started playing EverQuest (or all the subsequent clones), I knew I had no chances to get into the big raids, but I loved knowing they were there and it wouldn't have felt the same if I thought that there was no organized endgame, regardless of my ability to take part in it.

Also, and probably more relevant to the common player, Community Warfare will bring in a 3050 calendar of fictional events, and will finally introduce some lore as a background layer for these silly battles.

I do not think CW will affect our every day gaming sessions that much if at all, but I think it is a critical element that will finally inject some of the much needed lore in a game setting that is all about lore.

Hoax
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Reply #8 on: September 09, 2014, 07:47:04 AM

Reminder that, same as its been for two years now.

CW is 90 days away.

Please buy this grab deal of clan mechs in the meantime.

Fuck these guys so much.

PS the silent majority wanted ghost heat, not convergence fixes, not cone of fire, not proper heat scale penalties (movement, aim, etc), not a better hardpoint system that just didn't allow for small lasers to become PPC's...
« Last Edit: September 09, 2014, 04:34:08 PM by Hoax »

A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, then that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation.
-William Gibson
Falconeer
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Reply #9 on: September 09, 2014, 10:09:01 AM

So yeah,

A new Clan Package (Clan Invasion 2) will be available for pre-purchase coming next week. 120 dollars, containing the usual 4 'mechs in 3 variants, so 12 'mechs total. Release date is December 17th, BUT if you previously preordered a Clan Package of at least a certain tier, you get a FREE unique new Clan 'mech starting from September 23rd. Also, the new Clan package will come in different faction flavours, so based on what facion you pick, you'll get your new Clan Invasion 2 package with faction-based paint jobs.

Oh and CW is 90 days away.

Pennilenko
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Reply #10 on: September 09, 2014, 05:35:07 PM

Oh and CW is 90 days away.
Haven't they been saying that for like two years?

"See?  All of you are unique.  And special.  Like fucking snowflakes."  -- Signe
Merusk
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Reply #11 on: September 09, 2014, 08:02:40 PM


The past cannot be changed. The future is yet within your power.
Falconeer
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Reply #12 on: September 09, 2014, 11:55:17 PM

Oh and CW is 90 days away.
Haven't they been saying that for like two years?

It's a joke. I was quoting Hoax, because yes, they have been saying that for exactly two years. I have stopped believing anything they say about september 2013, when they launched the game without UI 2.0.

satael
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Reply #13 on: October 03, 2014, 03:16:11 AM

http://themittani.com/news/pgi-aborts-transverse-crowdfunding-campaign

Seems that PGI is proving their capabilities in making great decisions by themselves (abysmal failure to get crowdfunding but atleast they pulled the plug on it...for now)  why so serious?
Falconeer
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Reply #14 on: October 03, 2014, 03:30:01 AM

This was the brainchild of Bryan Ekman who is the idiot half of PGI (the better half is Russ Bullock). It's a very good thing that he's off MWO to pursue his Transverse dream. The bad part of this failure is that he could be back on the MWO bandwagon any minute now.

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