369 replies to this topic

[AsianJoyKiller]

Just so I'm being clear: This would ONLY affect what YOU see. This does not force other people to see the same. So you would only be affected if you have the option turned on.
Think of it like a graphical option in the game settings. If you turn on screen shake or PhysX, only you are affected.

Also, this would only apply to Chassis. All other cosmetic options would remain.

What if there was an option you could toggle that would force the game to render other player's mechs as using their default chassis_

I don't know much (read: anything) about how this could or would be coded, but hear me out. I mean, what we see are 3rd person models that represent other players, and not the 1st person model that we actually use, right_ So it should be possible I would think. I know Global Agenda allowed you to view other peoples armor dye (ie: paintjobs) or force what you see to be default team colors.

This is a Free to Play game, and one of the largest money makers is obviously going to be cosmetics, and what body part is more popular to customize than the chassis_ It helps give you a sense of individuality  and can be great fun. I mean, aside from your paint job, or a TOW to the face, it's probably the first thing people notice about your mech.

On the other hand, there's a lot of people who have a serious and legitimate issue with not being able to identify mechs by their silhouette, and this can be problematic in competitive play, or just when you need to quickly identify what you are fighting, and knowing how to respawn properly.

So what if you could go into your options menu and toggle an option that shows all mechs as using their default chassis_
The idea is, this would only be on your end of things, so it doesn't take the freedom of customization away from those who want to see pretty things, but if you like having the readability of silhouettes, the option is there for you.

If you think that it doesn't provide an advantage, I encourage you to take this test to ID each mech and the weapons it is using and post your results.
http://www.deviantar...ler-d5xvt7f.jpg

Edited by AsianJoyKiller, March 13 2013 - 02:44 PM.

[stallion]

I'll retain from voting atm, but I must admit I love how cosmetics can deceive
ex. rushing with my EOC infiltrator on S2, capping, TwiceDead shows up, and I think to myself "why on earth is he piloting bruiser_"  
BAM! powershot+sabot+slug, stallion down...

true story

[davek1979]

Wouldn't it also have positive impact on performance _ I mean surely the system would love to load default stuff instead of having a ton of custom fuzzy bunny on top.

[robotokom]

Hawken addblock_

[Pure_Amazing]

Hmmm while it does sound like a good idea I have to wonder if everyone uses this option then it might defeat the purpose of customization. Because while you can still see your customization other people won't be able to see your awesome looking mech which to me is the purpose of customization. To have everyone else look at your mech not just you.

It does sound like a good idea but at the same time I disagree soooo i'm going to hold back on my vote.

[davek1979]

If someone wants to show off how much real money they put into their virtual fun it's their choice, let them have the switch on, I'm not interested in that.

I want to clearly see what I'm up against plus any performance gain I can squeeze out of it would be a welcome plus.

[Houruck]

It worked in Quake 3 OSP (I used to force bright green Tank Jr. models for enemies) and its descendants but as you said this is a F2P title where this is a key feature. I voted no because I have no problem with identifying enemies. It is true that this have surprised me before for a moment, but that will not last long (even with CR-T parts on a SS). I switched my Hiefram torso to Brommens because I like it more and I do not have an Assault. The desert digital camouflage is just a nice touch for Sniper's Paradise.

Edited by Houruck, March 11 2013 - 03:22 AM.

[TazzGo]

Being how cosmetics are the money maker, there's no way they'd ever do this, not sure I see the point in the poll...

[Majic12]

There's a similar topic about that here in case you're interested. While this touches only on competitive play, I agree with Houruck that since this is F2P, it is kind of a key feature to the game and I would not like this to be a user decision. Public servers are all about fun and good times which for me includes all the customization aspects of the game as well.

Surely, newbies to the game will probably struggle with distinguishing the mechs when chassis parts are exchanged, but eventually everyone will adapt if they decide to stick with the game. Other than that, up to the point where players advance in their skill level enough to adjust their tactics for different opponents/mechs, they probably will shoot anything that moves on sight anyways, so I don't think the chassis would make that much of a difference to them.

As soon as you move in a more professional direction, I'd make this a server side variable thingy rather than a user switch to provide an even ground for all participants.

There surely wouldn't be any downsides to this, but to me it would feel weird to know I spent cash for something that probably most of the advanced player base won't see anyways, therefore making me think twice before my next purchase. I could imagine the devs could probably lose some of the income with such a measure.

[davek1979]

Majic12, on March 11 2013 - 03:51 AM, said:

...
There surely wouldn't be any downsides to this, but to me it would feel weird to know I spent cash for something that probably most of the advanced player base won't see anyways, therefore making me think twice before my next purchase.
...

So why DID you spend that money _ To show off for the others or to know your mech now looks awesome _

[Majic12]

Since I can't see my mech myself most of the time, I need it to be seen by others in order for changes to be noticed. This is pretty much a tree falling in the woods situation. To be fair, I mostly see cosmetics as a bonus for giving the devs money for their work. Nonetheless, wouldn't you agree that the desire to exchange parts would decrease if no one except you could see them (assuming the worst case here).

[Osune]

I might be not a competitive (like high level professional) player, but i play my matches not only for joy but to do good in the match.
So I would turn on 'force default chassis' all the time, because it gives you some kind of advantage.

And cosmetic features are not a thing which is great for yourself, cosmetic features is all about show off. Like 'look i have this great paint job/chassis combination, suck it!'.
What I mean is: Why would i like to see other peoples beautified mechs, especially i have a disadvantage in the opposite of more competitive players_

EDIT:

davek1979, on March 11 2013 - 03:55 AM, said:

Majic12, on March 11 2013 - 03:51 AM, said:

...
There surely wouldn't be any downsides to this, but to me it would feel weird to know I spent cash for something that probably most of the advanced player base won't see anyways, therefore making me think twice before my next purchase.
...

So why DID you spend that money _ To show off for the others or to know your mech now looks awesome _

Yes exactly and I don't feel bad about that. =D

Edited by Osune, March 11 2013 - 04:09 AM.

[KaszaWspraju]

Quote

can be problematic in competitive play

hahahah
Just by the attitude of some cool components have already been removed.

Lower even lower the skill bar for pro players.  It looks like they have too many problems with this game:
This in my way in aiming, the game is too slow, it's hard to see enemy, etc. I guess you're not such a pro.

First you have to worry about enemy weapons, and not assume in advance what weapons are attached to the chassis, because it looks like one of those.

EDIT
Sorki, but skill is not only aim, it is also the physical limitations of your body, and if you dont  differentiate fast between who beat you, it is your problem.

Why better players be equal to those little worse.

Edited by KaszaWspraju, March 11 2013 - 05:20 AM.

[davek1979]

Kasza: I literally didn't understand 70% of your post. I understand English is not your first language, but if you could try to be a little bit clearer I could decide if I agree with you or not.

[ScHizNiK]

Do I have to show you the math on why this is a bad idea_



I understand the issue in pub games but you can easily view the opposite team make up with the scoreboard, first thing to happen in our scrims is to call out the opposition teams class build.
Still it may become an issue later on when we start seeing about 20+ class types.

All that aside I am all up for extra menu options, I like options the more options the less people need to mess with the game .cfg files.

Edited by ScHizNiK, March 11 2013 - 04:58 AM.

[AsianJoyKiller]

Majic12, on March 11 2013 - 04:07 AM, said:

Since I can't see my mech myself most of the time, I need it to be seen by others in order for changes to be noticed. This is pretty much a tree falling in the woods situation. To be fair, I mostly see cosmetics as a bonus for giving the devs money for their work. Nonetheless, wouldn't you agree that the desire to exchange parts would decrease if no one except you could see them (assuming the worst case here).

Let me pose these questions to you...

How often, and be honest, do you get people commenting on how your mech looks_
And how often does that happen in comparison to how often you see your own mech while repairing or in the garage and think "that looks nice"_
Something else to think about. People who would turn this on are likely people who don't care much about what other people's mechs look like in the first place.

If you think that others not being able to see your customization would have an appreciable affect on profits, it's highly unlikely.
Global Agenda had the same sort of system, yet the fact that you could disable dyes clientside didn't deter people from buying all kinds of wild patterns and using them. The dyes in that game were tradeable via the auction house, and some of the dyes would shoot up to costs of over 10 million credits (a price only in range of veteran players).

Cosmetics in general are vanity items, and as such, it really ends up being more about ourselves than you might think. People who customize, do it for themselves when you get down to it. That's the driving force behind why cosmetic options are so popular and make great money in F2P games. And if there's even a chance that someone else might see you, like this option would allow for, there's plenty of people (myself included) willing to drop cash on it.

davek1979, on March 11 2013 - 04:51 AM, said:

Kasza: I literally didn't understand 70% of your post. I understand English is not your first language, but if you could try to be a little bit clearer I could decide if I agree with you or not.

Half his post is just baseless insults, so it's not worth understanding.

Edited by AsianJoyKiller, March 11 2013 - 05:25 AM.

[KaszaWspraju]

Quote

baseless insults

There was no such intention.

[Pure_Amazing]

AsianJoyKiller, on March 11 2013 - 05:14 AM, said:

And if you think that others not being able to see your customization would have an appreciable affect on profits, it's highly unlikely.
Global Agenda had the same sort of system, yet the fact that you could disable dyes clientside didn't deter people from buying all kinds of wild patterns and using them. The dyes in that game were tradeable via the auction house, and some of the dyes would shoot up to costs of over 10 million credits (a price only in range of veteran players).

Well to be fair in Global Agenda your in third person so your going to be looking at your character all the time which is why you want him/her to look good and is why you can include this disable dies option because the game has more of a focus on your looks rather than other players. Hawken is different because its in 1st person making looks less of a focus on you seeing your mech but more of what others see, so including this default look option would be killing off customization and start making it pointless, not totally because its an option but Hawken doesn't have much to fall back on.

These are only my thoughts and still won't vote so don't rage at me or anything lol.

[AsianJoyKiller]

KaszaWspraju, on March 11 2013 - 05:27 AM, said:

Quote

baseless insults

There was no such intention.

Ah.
Well then, you may want to be more careful with your wording in the future.

EDIT: Sorry if I'm being abrupt.

Edited by AsianJoyKiller, March 11 2013 - 05:42 AM.

[AsianJoyKiller]

Pure_Amazing, on March 11 2013 - 05:37 AM, said:

AsianJoyKiller, on March 11 2013 - 05:14 AM, said:

And if you think that others not being able to see your customization would have an appreciable affect on profits, it's highly unlikely.
Global Agenda had the same sort of system, yet the fact that you could disable dyes clientside didn't deter people from buying all kinds of wild patterns and using them. The dyes in that game were tradeable via the auction house, and some of the dyes would shoot up to costs of over 10 million credits (a price only in range of veteran players).

Well to be fair in Global Agenda your in third person so your going to be looking at your character all the time which is why you want him/her to look good and is why you can include this disable dies option because the game has more of a focus on your looks rather than other players. Hawken is different because its in 1st person making looks less of a focus on you seeing your mech but more of what others see, so including this default look option would be killing off customization and start making it pointless, not totally because its an option but Hawken doesn't have much to fall back on.

These are only my thoughts and still won't vote so don't rage at me or anything lol.

No worries. I understand your point and where you're coming from.

Something just occurred to me.
In GA, you could turn off cosmetics for the enemy team only. That meant you could see all the colorfulness of your allies, while your enemies still had silhouette readability.