A major problem with the campaign difficulty, but with an easy solution.

[Panpiper]

I have noticed a trend amongst the few streamers who have played to the point of acquiring the Argo. Virtually without exception, when the story mission is done, they find themselves orbiting the planet where that mission took place. This is perfectly understandable. The problem is that that planet is a two and a half skull difficulty planet!

Virtually every streamer at that point in the game has failed to realize that they can travel from there to a planet with lesser difficulty missions. Virtually all of them stare at those few mission choices and pick one, failing to realize that the navigation screen and the option to travel to an easier set of missions is right there. And predictably, they almost always faceplant. Oops. This is very hard on newbies.

One way to solve this would be to somehow hold their hand with some sort of tutorial reminder that they can travel elsewhere while getting repairs done, etc. Alternatively, and much more simple, is to simply make that planet a one skull mission planet. This could even be a temporary thing, for just the first month. The player could then pick from the missions they 'could' successfully do, and when they are done, checking the navigation screen to see where else they can go should come a little bit more simply.

I fear though that then too, they will simply take the default travel mission that will take them to yet another two and half skull planet. So maybe the more complicated tutorial reminder might be necessary after all.

 

[Kuroko_Fey]

I don’t know, a solid trouncing every now and then is good for the spirit. It’ll teach the ones not paying attention to start looking at those skull ratings, at least.

 

[FrostflyPrime]

The streamers all seemed to suffer from lack of reading the screen....I can't think of a single one I haven't screamed "READ THE SCREEN" at.

 

[Zythen1975]

The streamers all seemed to suffer from lack of reading the screen....I can't think of a single one I haven't screamed "READ THE SCREEN" at.

A lot of them are at best half focused on the game, because they are also putting on a "show" So when the AI is going a lot of them tend to look away and miss some things that should make it clear as day what they should do. But it is also easier to back seat drive as these are not our mechs and our pilots so we do not have the same investment.

 

[Pineapple Salad]

I hate forced tutorials and too much hand holding. I would much prefer it if players were forced to be observant and figure things out for themselves, but the information needs to be readily available. Wiki games are the other extreme and I hate those as well.

 

[Omar_Comin]

You guys are really, really salty about not being able to play yet. People play games differently and have different opinions of what fun is. On the other hand, maybe watching others play games just isn't for you. I say this as the OP has been one of the most vocal in their disparaging the playstyles of just about every streamer we've seen so far.

His last decision, to bring a 20 ton locust on a story mission while leaving behind a 45 ton Blackjack was just the last straw for me. I do not have to watch more, I will learn nothing and just spend my time facepalming in frustration.

Let's give this a try.

(Mod edit: please post topically not at others. Please use report, do not reply to friction.) I do not have to read more, I will learn nothing and just spend my time facepalming in frustration.

 

[Q_res]

I hate forced tutorials and too much hand holding. I would much prefer it if players were forced to be observant and figure things out for themselves, but the information needs to be readily available. Wiki games are the other extreme and I hate those as well.

This, if you're going mainly story you should have a giant, fresh pile of Cbills. It's kind of the perfect time to let you hit an increase in difficulty and see if you can handle it.

 

[Omar_Comin]

This, if you're going mainly story you should have a giant, fresh pile of Cbills. It's kind of the perfect time to let you hit an increase in difficulty and see if you can handle it.

For most players, that story planet will be the first Planet_Progress_2 planet they visit. It's not a "two and a half skull difficulty" planet. If you have progressed that far in the story, you should be able to handle the 1.5 difficulty missions available there.

 

[AussieGiant]

I mentioned this before in relation to difficulty.

A sense of achievement and satisfaction is only experienced when faced with a challenge and some adversity.

Failure to look at all the information presented to you and then make a poor choice that leads to a hammering is exactly what is needed.

Q: Is there enough information presented to the player in order to avoid the 2 and a half start contract?

A: Yes.

Therefore nothing to change. Don't build a game based on "that" lowest common denominator.

 

[huilun02]

I have noticed a trend amongst the few streamers who have played to the point of acquiring the Argo. Virtually without exception, when the story mission is done, they find themselves orbiting the planet where that mission took place. This is perfectly understandable. The problem is that that planet is a two and a half skull difficulty planet!

Musta watched ChristopherOdd's latest upload eh? Yeah the game offers no bearing of what enemies the player might encounter at any given difficulty rating. Its pretty much trial and error. As you know the actual difficulty also scales with progression in the main story, which further complicates things. However for Odd's case he has already demonstrated the ability to avoid difficult missions in his last two side mission episodes. I'm afraid this time he has caved in to the frustration, and might be attempting to go kamikaze mode to give himself a reason to stop the playthrough just like what CohhCarnage did.

 

[Bushwacker84]

Musta watched ChristopherOdd's latest upload eh? Yeah the game offers no bearing of what enemies the player might encounter at any given difficulty rating. Its pretty much trial and error. As you know the actual difficulty also scales with progression in the main story, which further complicates things. However for Odd's case he has already demonstrated the ability to avoid difficult missions in his last two side mission episodes. I'm afraid this time he has caved in to the frustration, and might be attempting to go kamikaze mode to give himself a reason to stop the playthrough just like what CohhCarnage did.

Cohh made me quit watching his streams around episode 17 purely due to lack of competency and simple common sense in his decisions. This Odd guy is a much better player but he does some attrocious things in mechbay. I think Phil from NGNGTV have done the best stream so far (or the less annoying one) there are some long periods of inactivity in his videos though.

But as long as they are having fun...They sure thought me some basic rules fo taking contracts. 2 - 2,5 skulls - I need to have at least one heavy mech or very well equiped mediums to avoid stress. Anything higher: add a heavy for every half of skull. At 3,5 assults should start to come into play.

 

[huilun02]

Cohh made me quit watching his streams around episode 17 purely due to lack of competency and simple common sense in his decisions. This Odd guy is a much better player but he does some attrocious things in mechbay. I think Phil from NGNGTV have done the best stream so far (or the less annoying one) there are some long periods of inactivity in his videos though.

But as long as they are having fun...They sure thought me some basic rules fo taking contracts. 2 - 2,5 skulls - I need to have at least one heavy mech or very well equiped mediums to avoid stress. Anything higher: add a heavy for every half of skull. At 3,5 assults should start to come into play.

I don't watch Cohh at all. If it wasn't already apparent, he is a video game salesman for GOG and other deals. He only goes through the story to strike each game off his checklist of things thrown at him to promote and generate publicity. He's done all he could for his pre-release copy as far as the story is concerned, and will not do many side missions because the game is difficult, niche, and not ideal material to gain or maintain his viewer count. If not for the partnership with GOG he would not have touched BattleTech at all.

And yes I agree Phil is the most competent player who has livestreamed thus far. Managed to walk away from his last side mission without any permanent loss, despite having the odds stacked against him. Long periods of inactivity is to be expected of streamers who haven't put in many hours to master everything, and may need to refer to chat for moves. Also you cannot blame them for responding to chat, especially to subscribers and donations. Phil gets a lot of that in his streams.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

From someone who has watched Cohh (all the way to his current stop at episode 39), I can say that he seems to have a genuine excitement for the title and does want to play the full game when it releases. He doesn't strike me as an individual who is just going through the motions because they have to. If he is doing that, he hides it pretty darn well because he does come across as genuinely liking the title and he seems to be thoroughly enjoying his play through. I get the feeling that he is going to be a BattleTech/MechWarrior fan after he plays through BattleTech properly.

Phil is more knowledgeable for sure. Phil has a lot of experience with the franchise. Not only does he play MWO, but I think he was also into the MechWarrior: Living Legends Crysis Mod a while back, MechCommander (he has a lot of good Let's Plays of that on his channel) and I am sure he has played many more titles as well. He is going to play well just by tapping into all that experience he has gained from building mechs in MWO and playing strategy like MechCommander.

Where Cohh is coming in fresh and having to learn a lot, Phil has a lot of previous knowledge and experience to fall back on.

I myself enjoy watching both. I like to see how Phil tackles missions being experienced with BattleTech games, but I also like watching Cohh or ChristopherOdd because I like to see how people new to the franchise interpret the game and it's mechanics. Things obvious to us are cryptic to those who are new. I think Cohh is catching on rather quick, where as ChristopherOdd seems to be still struggling a bit. Both seem to be having fun though which is the important part.

Overall I enjoy watching a bunch of different streams for different reasons I suppose. I like watching experienced players like Phil, but I actually think I get a bit more enjoyment watching new players discover the title like Cohh and ChristopherOdd. Regardless, the coverage has been really fun to watch.

 

[kvetcha]

I don't watch Cohh at all. If it wasn't already apparent, he is a video game salesman for GOG and other deals. He only goes through the story to strike each game off his checklist of things thrown at him to promote and generate publicity. He's done all he could for his pre-release copy as far as the story is concerned, and will not do many side missions because the game is difficult, niche, and not ideal material to gain or maintain his viewer count. If not for the partnership with GOG he would not have touched BattleTech at all.

Cohh has posted over 20 hours of video, at least 8 hours of which is side content after he's hit the story embargo. If you're looking for someone who's only playing "for business reasons," he is a poor example to cite.

Cohh is a high-level backer of the game, and he played way more BattleTech than he originally intended because he was enjoying it so much. It's going to be part of his regular rotation on release. He's the furthest thing from a contractually obligated streamer.

Is he also a skilled showman? Sure. But you can tell he loves the game. There were whole swathes of the stream where he seemed to tune out the chat entirely and just sink into the combat.

 

[stjobe]

One way to solve this would be to somehow hold their hand with some sort of tutorial reminder that they can travel elsewhere while getting repairs done, etc.

Hasn't the game done that once already? When the navigator says (paraphrased from memory) "There's no contracts here, I've loaded up the nearest system with a contract in for you, lte's go there"?

It's right before or after the mining colony mission, can't remember off the top of my head which it is right now.

 

[Varkin]

He's done all he could for his pre-release copy as far as the story is concerned, and will not do many side missions because the game is difficult, niche, and not ideal material to gain or maintain his viewer count.

He plays for about 11.5 hours and hits the story embargo point and after that plays for around another 8.5 hours of side missions coming fairly close to equaling the amount of time put in before hitting the story embargo point. I am not following the "will not do many side missions because the game is difficult, niche, and not ideal material to gain or maintain his viewer count." part.

If not for the partnership with GOG he would not have touched BattleTech at all.

So are you saying he was lying when he said he was a kickstarter and at a high enough level to get a flight jacket? Or do you think he was just backing the project so he could say he was one of the cool kids, but actually had no interest in the game? In my opinion someone that backs a kickstarter at that level most likely wants the thing that the kickstarter is trying to kick off (you notice how I said it was my opinion instead of stating my opinion as a fact.....).

 

[FlyingDutchman]

From what I have seen of the streamers/YouTubers, all of the NOOBS have said how much fun it was to fail in a battle, they did not blame anyone or anything, but admitted they could have done that better. Based on their collective reaction I would say nothing needs to change and they don't need "Hand holding". Interesting the "Experienced" players are the ones that took the lose hardest and blamed "RNG" when in fact it was both tactics and mech armament that cost them dearly.

 

[Tnarien]

Is it really that hard to look at the difficulty rating of a given world and compare that with the recent actions you've undertaken and come to a reasonable analysis of whether you're ready for the new tier of shenanigans?

I'm asking that seriously because it seems like more than one person is asserting it is.

 

[Cyttorak001]

I think this game is far too complex to let players just figure stuff out on their own. It would take them months (and most of them would probably lose interest long before that). I'm still a fan of tutorials, although maybe not forced tutorials like in the intro. The conversations with the crew aren't enough; the players must SEE what concept is being illustrated sometimes.
I think the tutorials of MechCommander 2 were perfect: you could load them at the intro screen and do some training whenever you wanted.

Without this option, you are basically forcing the players to fail in order to learn. So you're forcing them one way or the other.

 

[kvetcha]

"The greatest teacher, failure is."