Aus meiner Sicht, sind das auch zumindest Perspektiven...

1) Question from Jman5: Salvage has always played an important role in the Battletech universe and Mechwarrior games. Yet, in Mechwarrior Online it almost seems like an afterthought. Is there any plan on expanding the role and function of salvage to make it more interesting?


Answer from Paul: Not that salvage is off the table, but it is on hold at the moment. We have had numerous talks on what we could do with salvage but we are currently focused on the big rewarding features such as Community Warfare and UI 2.0. Once those are out the door, we can allocate more design time and team resources to features such as salvage. Even the thought of rearm/repair has not been axed but put on hold. We are striving to round out the experience of MWO but as I said, we’re focusing on the big fish at the moment.




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2) Question from Acid Phase: I think Betty should be delivering more information to the pilot. More than what we're hearing today. Past MW titles, in particular MechWarrior 2 had more announcements where it made you feel you're in a real cockpit. Betty kept you aware of many things such as....•"Planet ******* "

•"Ambient Temperature ********* "

•"Local Time is *********** "

•"Critical Hit ********** (Component destroyed) / Ammo explosion detected"

•"Light Amplification Engaged/Disabled"

•"Thermal Optics Engaged/Disabled"

•"Enemy mech/target destroyed" (Very important to know your target has been destroyed)

•"Primary/Secondary/Tertiary Objective ************ successful/failed"

•"Proceed to Dustoff site/Nav point for extraction"

•"Heat Level Critical"

•"Sensors indicate friendly dropship has entered atmosphere. ETA Dropship 1 minute."

•"Sensors indicate arrival of reinforcements" (Could be useful for a respawn game type)

•"Shutdown sequence initiated"

•"Shutting down"

•"Mission Successful/Failed"
As for incoming missiles, MW2 used to have some sort of alarm warning rather than the current flashing text "incoming missiles" we see here in MWO.

Q: Are you guys considering giving Betty more to say in the cockpit such as the examples I've listed above? If you are, how far into the priority list is this? And will you also consider adding "Missile Bay Doors Open / Closed" as an added Betty announcement?


Answer from Paul: We have to draw the line somewhere. Betty has not been locked down as final but we also need to be very aware of how much of her audio will be heard during combat. Priorities on her warnings and information updates have to be set so it’s not a constant stream of Betty telling you what’s going on. A lot of the examples you gave are for mission specific speech which is not something that will be entering the MWO development any time soon if at all.

A further example of what I’m trying to get at is… do you want clear concise messaging or a wall of “text” (voice over) being thrown at you when you’re shooting, listening for weapon recharges or even talking to team members on VOIP?




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3) Question from Redshift2k5: On Twitter Bryan mentioned they were working on an "Attack & Defend" game mode. AtD 48 Paul says "Attack/Defend is our next target." The recent Creative Developer Update for October instead lists new "Skirmish" mode as being ready for Internal Testing, which the previously-mentioned "Attack & Defend" mode being further down in the In Development list.

Which game mode is coming first, and why?

Does Skirmish Mode contain BOTH a "Team Deathmatch" type as well as a free-for-all traditional "Deathmatch" type? Team Deathmatch may play very similarly to the current Assault mode... A free-for-all would be a large departure from current gameplay, though.

If you really like me then feel free to further expand upon what new gameplay we can expect from these modes and some challenges faced by the dev team in bringing these new modes to life.

Answer from Paul: I’ll let Bryan comment on the timing but my personal focus in terms of game modes is Attack & Defend. It will become a critical component of CW when planetary occupation comes into play. Skirmish is more catered to the competitive crowd that will allow them to set up their own rulesets (from what’s currently available) and choose who they play against. Skirmish can be related to private matches where you’re playing game modes in a manner not in line with regular public gameplay rules and mechanics.

Answer from Bryan: Timing wise, we are done the basic functionality and could turn it on anytime. To clarify Deathmatch, we are only supporting 1 v 1 Deathmatch, which is technically TDM from our POV. Down the road we can examine expanding Deathmath to include more players.

That being said, we are waiting for some more features to come on line before releasing it.




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4) Question from Gauvan: Would you please tune the “Ready” mechanic introduced in the last patch to be more friendly for PUGs? Options to do so would include:

--Preventing premade lances from being split.
--Allow some sort of majority override to prevent one or two non-attentive players from holding up the drop.
--Add an “auto-ready” checkbox to the options screen.
--Reducing the length of the timer.

Answer from Paul: There are some adjustments being made to the READY status on the pre-match screen. Once all members of both teams have joined the match, the timer will drop to 20 seconds and countdown from there. Auto ready and majority override are something we have been looking at as well. As for preventing premade lances from being split, there are some options we can explore such as locking your lance prior to launching. That being said, this type of functionality might have to come with the UI2.0 flow.




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5) Question from Carrioncrows: Do you guys plan on fixing the hitboxes in regards to the Pelvis / Pelvic Area and instead of making it a CT hitbox simply split it between the leg hitboxes?

To get rid of this: Posted Image
Even though the Treb is torso twisted almost a 120 degree's away from any attacker to protect their CT, the CT can still be shot by hitting the pelvis / pelvic area.

For more information and a better understanding see proposed changes listed here.

Answer from Paul: The decision to destroy a Mech upon both of its legs being blown off is based off of two factors. The first is that being in a Mech that is severely hindered is not much fun. You basically become a tank turret and are rendered almost useless. The second is the griefing potential behind taking out a Mechs legs and just leaving them to hobble around in the environment. Imagine being stuck on Alpine and an enemy takes out both your legs and drops your speed to a fraction of what it’s normally at and that enemy runs off just leaving you there. It’s very frustrating.




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6) Question from Squid von Torgar: This is a question pertaining to CW, specifically the Economy. Bryan stated that part of the advantage of holding certain planets is that they will give you access to certain mech types. If your faction does not hold the planet then you will have to purchase the mech via the black market at a premium.

How does this fit in with our existing mechs in the mech bay? Does this mean we are going to see some sort of repair cost or that we have to purchase our mechs again to use in CW? Or does it mean we buy mech "Tickets" for example 4 Hunchbacks, whilst they are functional we can use that mech in our mechbay but once they are gone we will have to buy them back for CW. Will we be able to use any mech in our mechbay in CW or will it be decided by some sort of factor in CW?

To summarize, how exactly does CW economy dictate which mechs we have available to use in CW battles?

Answer from Bryan: I’ll be outlining more details in a future Command Chair post. Our goal is not restrict access, rather manipulate the prices. Restricting access limits content, which we’d prefer not to do. Manipulating prices allows us to simulate a production facility being capture.

It should look something along these lines. A production facility will be part of a faction. If you are a member of a faction you will get the `Mech for a discounted price. Other players will be a base price plus a premium depending on the current state of relations between said factions. Say a Merc Unit capture this manufacturing planet and occupies it on behalf of an opposing faction. The home faction will have lost the ability for this `Mech to be produced. The hometown discount will be removed and prices will change.

Now, there is still plenty of inventory throughout the Inner Sphere, so it takes time for the prices to climb. he longer a manufacturing planet is held by the enemy, the higher the prices will go. There will be an upper and lower limit to pricing to maintain some stability.




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7) Question from Rhialto: Will there be some kind of physics added to water in the future? How come a tiny Light running at 150Km/h can enter water without any slow down like if it was air? And in most maps they are close to be submerged so this should really have an impact. An Atlas on the other hand is already slow and with it's huge mass and strong engine, should not suffer much of being slowed down.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my 5D ... so it may looks weird to ask this but it's just that I'm also looking for better physics overall and water currently have no other purpose than being decorative and give better cooling to SHS which nobody use.

Answer from Paul: Anything physics related is very touchy when dealing with HSR and simulation across a network. Changes to the normal operational movement of a Mech has to be resynced with the server which can cause anomalies in their location/movement when it comes to HSR. We want to add things like this but will have to do it over the long haul and in VERY small increments.




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8) Question from Philadelphia Collins: How close is the game to tonnage limitations and larger than 4 person pre-made groups?

Along the same line, from Grimlox: After reading the October development update (Which I loved) I didn't see any mention of tonnage limit implementation. Can you please tell us where this sits in the development process and any insight into how you will be implementing this?

Answer from Paul: Tonnage limits will be coming shortly after UI2.0 is implemented into the game. We need a new UI for this feature and it makes sense to roll it out with the new screen designs rather than trying to shoehorn it into UI 1.5. The match maker also needs a bit of tweeking in order to get this to work but would probably be developed in parallel with the UI needs so they’d be ready at the same time.




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9) Question from Roadbeer: So, Command Console... What's going on with that?

Answer from Paul: The Command Console is currently on hold until we get over this hurdle of UI2.0 and CW. We already have design plans for the console but we still need to vette the implementation with the team before moving forward. This is low priority at the moment.




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10) Question from Polski Penetrator: In Mech´s Cockpit we have many Monitors like "Mission Kills 0" or "Auto Detect No Signal" etc. Do you intend to give the entire Cockpit some love in form of more Details what´s happening on the Battlefield, which components are dead etc? And when will you add some ingame Music like those tracks in previous MW titles. Thank you.


Answer from Paul: We plan on making use of a few more of the cockpit screens. However, putting too much critical information on these screens will not be helpful in gameplay because they sit so far out on the periphery of vision. We will not be making use of the entire cockpit but a few more screens is not unacceptable.

Ingame music is not on the drawing board at this moment. The reason is, is that there is so much ambient noise going on that music becomes a hindrance when listening for nuances of combat. Things like warnings, weapon cool downs, instrument feedback, and even listening for enemy footsteps all take priority over music. Ingame music is much better suited for single-player campaign gameplay. The front-end menus however will be getting music with UI2.0 and is already in the current early builds of the UI.




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11) Question from Biruke: What mechs will be included into the first 'Clan-Pack' (if it ever comes)?

Answer from Paul: Wouldn’t you like to know? :P




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12) Question from MnDragon: First of all I want to say that the communication over the last few weeks has been great, please keep it up! Now on to my question:

As a military member I can tell you that unit patches are the heart of the unit and are a way for people to rally around their friends. It’s a symbol of recognition between members and foes. The most important thing is that it depicts what the unit stands for and why it exists. To have a generic, cobbled together patch would lessen the heart of what the unit is. With the advent of CW around the corner and being able to form units within the game:

Will we be able to create and load our own pre-existing unit patches for use in game as opposed to only being able to create one with the generic graphics provided? If not, can you cite specific reasons why this would be too difficult to allow?


Answer from Paul: There is an inherent problem with user created content. Abuse. The amount of moderation required is significant and will have to be gated in some manner. The probable route for 100% user created patches would be some sort of monetary investment included with a submission/review process. This type of system would not be done in-game and would require a lot of new online systems/tools for the website/billing/and CSR team. There is still talk about how we can implement this but we’re going to have to be very diligent on a system that works for everyone (you and us).




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13) Question from Fat Amy: Will we ever be able to get more info of our teammates???
Currently, when I target an enemy, I get info on his armor and his full loadout (excluding engines, but that can be guessed). I can even see when an AC jams. Unfortunatly, there is no way (othet than asking) to see what my own teammates have on their mechs. This seems kinda odd, since that info should be available. After all, we do share targeting info within the teams. It´s kinda ridiculous that we should know moire about our enemy than about our own team.

Answer from Paul: It comes down to the amount of information/noise that is displayed on screen. Right now if you press Q (by default), you see your teammates health and Mech chassis. You don’t see their loadout because that would take a bit of time to retrieve that information and then displaying it on screen would be a consideration on how much space it would take up.




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14) Question from Jexser: When will we see advanced movement mechanics?

For example, when Mech loses its side torso it becomes unbalanced and should be harder to control. By the end of the battle my Catapult running with no ammo so its weight is the same like Kintaro — 55 tons. It should run faster than at the begin of the game. It’s a question of survival.

I’d like to see spider falls after hitting wall with full speed. I’d like to see legs broken when 35 tons of steel falling down from 200m height Crimson’s Straight top hill. And finally I’d like to see how Jagermech has become a turret after falling down from more than 50 meters on Tourmaline Desert.

Answer from Bryan: I think there are lots of people who would love to see this level of detail, unfortunately it’s incredibly expensive and complex to calculate and replicate to prevent cheating. We constantly balance realism with speed and performance. Maintaining a steady FPS usually trumps adding some of what you are talking about. That being said, we have looked at modifying speeds based on `Mech condition.




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15) Question from Felio: What does your telemetry show for win/loss rates when it comes to starting location on the different maps? Are they balanced?

Answer from Bryan: For the most part they are balanced, with a few exceptions. The level team has been addressing them, moving locations around and trying out different ideas to create more balance.

Hello MechWarriors!

Here's the Ask the Devs 50 (Quickfire Edition)!

Thanks to Bryan for the multitude of answers. Stay tuned for the new format of Ask the Devs, coming SOON™ ;)



#1 MangoRhinehart: Will the option be available to change a Pilot's name? Possibly as a MC purchase?
A: Yes we plan to support this feature for a fee.

#2 Crohnic: What will happen to our ability to use Assault `mechs once tonnage limits are implemented?
A: You will still be able to use them, however it will require team coordination to stay within tonnage limits. Most players run multiples classes of `mechs.

#3 grayson marik: Pre-defined matches N vs M player sized groups, selectable opponent group. When?
A: It's in the production pipeline, no ETA.

#4 kashper: Will you implement coming back to started drop if you DC during combat? (Assuming the `mech is still alive)
A: Yes.

#5 ChrisM: Do you have any ideas/plans to add Omni-Mechs, so we only have to buy one variant of each `mech (e.g. much more expensive) which we can equip at will?
A: We have an Omni Mech design in the works right now.

#6 reiGngehoWn: I want to change my email! ETA?
A: We are now able to make email changes! Please log into the forums and visit this link to make the change: https://mwomercs.com/profile/email

#7 Thomas Covenant: Is 1PV exclusive matches going to return soon to those not a part of the 12 man premade scene? Are there certain population numbers you are wanting to meet before reintroducing the concept of a hardcore mode?
A: Not in public queues. For now we have seen the ecosystem balance out nicely and players have adapted well to mixed view modes. Private matches will allow players the option to turn off 3PV.

#8 Magnakanus: Is it realistic to create, and if yes could we get, an in-client indicator of the number of users online or at the least the reinstatement of the number of active users (e.g. logged in within the last day/week/month/year)?
A: No plans to add this back in.

#9 Dracol: What options are planned in CW in regards to helping Merc. Units work together for a common goal? (ie, alliances, joint contracts, etc.)
A: Merc Units will be able to do this on their own informally and we are exploring a way for a Merc Unit to pad their teams with pick up players.

#10 CarnifexMaximus: Will UI 2.0 allow for a full view of the `mech's paper doll (head, torsos, arms and legs) all at once or will we only be able to view one section at a time?
A: We are considering other visualizations of MechLab after the initial launch. The first will me less graphical, more advanced view where a player can see all of the components and critical space in one view.

#11 DeathofSelf: The servers seem to be rather unstable at times, which is particularly a problem on weekends- any plans to correct this?
A: We monitor sever stability, and I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to. We had a bout of problems a few weeks ago during the middle of the week, this has since been resolved.

#12 CommEE: Are there any plans to address the usefulness of Single Heat Sinks versus Double Heat Sinks such as giving SHS a larger "heat reservoir" than DHS or making SHS lighter?
A: It's a future tuning item.

#13 Xenroth: What do you think about not-so-common weapons that already exist in the timeline, like the Long Tom and Swarm LRM? Will we see them in the future?
A: We're focused on Clan tech weapons and items currently. After that we can look at adding any other items that are currently available in the 3050 era.

#14 ShadowVFX: Have you considered implementing a CS-style quick radio commands into MWO while we wait for the more robust BF3-style command rose to get ready?
A: Yes. We have plans for a commo rose, which will have many quick commands and orders.

#15 Razuko: Will the matchmaker ever replace disconnected or never-loaded players before a match starts?
A: No. However, players that have been disconnected will be able to rejoin.

#16 Homeless Bill: At what pace will you be revisiting old `mechs to add dynamic gun models and re-work missile tubes (are we talking once per month, whenever you put out a Hero `mech, or what)?
A: I believe the art team is doing 1 per month. There are only a handful left (6, I think).

#17 Crusadiar: What type of integration will players see as far as Company Commanders being able to edit the Battlegrid? More so than we have now, much like a paint editing tool; issuing movement orders via direct routs, with lines, arrows etc.
A: No plans for visual editing tools in game.

#18 Glowhollow: We recognized some buildings which are damaged. Any Plans to introduce destroyable Buildings / Environment to block the ways - or, for example, exploding gas tanks?
A: Yes, it's part of a future collisions update.

#19 Fryepod: Do you guys plan on making a "Solaris" type of mode or event? Where players could go one on one with spectators? Maybe in game C-bill betting or something of that nature?
A: It's been discussed. A long term goal.

#20 LordRush: When CW arrives and conditions present themselves, would you guys ever consider giving more power to the people by having community-driven Houses instead of AI?
A: Maybe, however we have seen other games try this and fail, so we are being cautious. Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely. We always have to make sure a player or group of players cannot destabilize the game and adversely effect the player base.

#21 Alabraxis Hyperion: With the success of the community awards on the forums, any plans to put community content (screenshots, tutorials, videos etc.) on the main website? The weekly screenshot for instance could probably be crowd sourced from the playerbase and give people a chance to contribute "officially".
A: A great idea, and one we are working towards right now.

#22 FactorlanP: With the perceived difficulty hitting certain small `mechs, can you please comment on the current state of hit detection and what is being done to correct situations where a `mech can apparently avoid damage to the point of effectively being much more armored than is truly the case?
A: We are continually tuning, tweaking, and fixing hit detection.

#23 Sylara: Are there any plans to add any more new Hero Mechs that do not come from lore (i.e. such as the Ilya)? I would really really really love to see a Hero Catapult.
A: Jester!

#24 Tyberion: Is there an ETA for Decals?
A: It's a post DX11 feature.

#25 Malsumis: Will `mechs ever cause splash damage when they are completely destroyed?
A: We've opted not to have secondary damage caused by `mech death explosions.

#26 Deathlike: Will 'mechs under UI 2.0 show the actual hitboxes that are designated internally by the game?
A: No.

#27 Adridos: Will there be any improvement of general immersion enhancing features like rain?
A: The art team has a laundry list of features they are working on to improve immersion. With a very aggressive content schedule, they find time between sprints to do extra work like this.

#28 kamakazie: Will the knock down mechanic ever be re-added to the game?
A: Yes, as part of the a collision module.

#29 Ghost Badger: When IS UI 2.0 scheduled to drop?
A: When it's done and stable. I encourage everyone to test it out when we have Public Tests.

#30 Vaasces Diablo: Would you consider putting more module slots on the locust?
A: At this time no. When we do an audit of `Mechs, this will be looked at.

#31 Foust: Will fallen `mechs prevent or hinder movement in the future?
A: No plans. It's a technical challenge with server-side movement.

#32 YellaChicken: Seeing as a death match mode has been mentioned and that free for all death match doesn't really have a place on a battlefield, is this likely to take place in a Solaris type setting/scenario?
A: TDM will be something likely in public play, with DM being reserved for private matches and some sort of challenge series aka Solaris.

#33 Blade Pride: As a lone wolf player I would like to click "Launch" and be placed with a team, then stay with that team game after game until I leave the team. Will we see something like this? Or some other "Looking for a group" function.
A: Something similar is planned. We're changing how the matchmaker works in a future update to allow players that have been matched together, to remain together.

#34 KnightmareX13: Will UI 2.0 include the option to change the field of view in the settings?
A: Yes.

#35 KhujjoBD: Will the existing hero and founders `mechs be retro fitted with the loyalty bonus to bring them in line with the current Phoenix `mechs?
A: No. We may offer a way for you to earn an in-game upgrade.

#36 trickyrick: Will we ever be able to see what skill level fellow/enemy players have on their `mech in use? Like ( B.) for basic (E) for elite and (M) for master after the chassis name. Or color-coded maybe?
A: Yes, I hope so. It's on my wishlist.

#37 Terciel1976: Any chance that thumbnails will reflect our custom paint in UI2.0?
A: It's planned.

#38 cepera: What other `mechs will be ECM capable in future?
A: Can't comment on that right now. But there will be more in the future.

#39 Interrogator: Are there any plans to have multiple ratings for ECM and BAP (i.e. Simple, Intermediate, Advanced) allowing for more interesting equipment and `mech combinations?
A: Neat idea, no plans at this very moment.

#40 Flawed: Will missiles be able to lock on to individual body parts with in the future like we did in the previous MechWarrior games?
A: Another good idea, no plans currently.

#41 Ronan: What are the maps you're currently working on, maybe in order of "completeness"?
A: HPG is coming out in December, after that we're not sure quite yet. We have a few prototype levels in the works for CW.

#42 Fnordish: How much lead time will we get before the patch is launched that allows the forming of Merc. Companies?
A: 2-4 weeks.

#43 Sir Stomps A Lot: Any chance we'll see a small ballistic weapon other than machine guns in the near future? My Locust 1V(P) would really like some variety.
A: If it's in the timeline and available, eventually.

#44 Matta: Roughly when can we expect to see next Hero light `mech ?
A: Spring.

#45 Epicedion: Can we expect critical hits to basic `mech systems in the future, and if so when-ish / what-ish? I'm talking about hits to Gyro, Life Support, Lower Leg Actuator, that sort of thing, as well as Engine hits.
A: We'd love to start doing this. Right now we're focused on other core features.

#46 Levi Porphyrogenitus: Is there an ETA for more objective-based rewards emphasis (whether fresh objective-based game modes or reworked rewards for Conquest capture victories)?
A: We're design more granular role and team work rewards as we speak.

#47 RiceyFighter: What is the current situation with weight restriction?
A: We have tightened up the weight restrictions for now. This will be replaced by tonnage limits in a future update.

#48 thunderswamp: Will we get a dense city with no open areas just streets and alley ways for the `mechs to fight on?
A: Probably not, the `mechs need enough room to move around.

#49 Nurph: Would you consider adding an option to disable film grain? (performance/eye strain reasons)
A: Yes.

#50 Gorak6: Will players ever be able to know what map they are dropping on before they choose a `mech/variant, if so how will/might this be implemented?
A: Yes, we are working on this feature right now - ready screen (lobby)


Bonus:

Robert Corso: In the coming year how many new `mechs do you plan on releasing?
A: At least 12 and probably a lot more.

uwasawaya: Are you planning on implementing options to adjust HUD colors for the colorblind? Specifically targeting boxes and reticules and damage readouts?
A: Yes when we revisit the HUD and revamp it.

Tarzilman: When will other actions besides making as much damage and kill as many enemies as possible be rewarded or rather be more rewarded, especially capping?
A: We're working on adding a bunch of role and team play rewards.

van Uber: I appreciate you being very active on twitter, no complaints there, but could you please add your twitter stream on this page so we can see it here as well?
A: I'll bug Kyle.

CateranEnforcer: A lot of questions are about things with no ETA or otherwise very little to update us about. Is there anything you *can* talk more about that's not commonly asked about?
A: That's a big question. Yes. And the answer is going to come soon in the form of a new format for the CDU and ATD.