45 replies to this topic

[camtheking20]

1.2.3 i agreee with

[MechFighter5e3bf9]

i agree that many players notice its a game in development and quit when their mechs get rebalanced and gamemodes edited

[DarkAon]

Xarian_Prime, on May 27 2014 - 05:58 AM, said:

Having only played for a short time.. i feel im in a good position to relay the things that were "off putting"

Keep in mind ive gamed for over 25 years.. and i myself don't mind a grind.. nor supporting a game with $$.. i understand the cycle.

Ok.. a few things, right from the bottom of the pack.. some of my 1st *gates* i hit.

1. Fred.. I love fred.. now, but for a few (first) days i hated my TV on legs.. I felt gimped and poxy. I had no idea Fred was the fuzzy bunny, I felt i was forced into a mech, forced into being a B class nooblet... i longed for the A/C classes.. frustration rose as i was stomped on by Inc's and Reapers.. I endured... many wouldn't.

2. This was pre May patch, so internals and items.. that cost more than a mech.. were seriously now on the back burner.. it's better now but still after a few weeks i feel the tug of war inside as i try to decide how to spend my creds.. latley thats a even harder choice as it's taking ages to just win a match.. (see point 3) the main problem being if i buy a item.. and i buy wrong.. im stuck with it on THAT mech.. i can't add it to a pool and hopefully get use out of it later.. so i need to spend far more time scouring the forums for info.. and less time actually playing.. this leads to undue frustration and alot of buyers remorse (both bad things if your trying to keep a playerbase and encorage further real money spending)

3. Matchmaking.. sigh.. yeah.. Your locked out of the sever selection till you've done a few matches.. i got lucky on my 1st account.. this was pretty smooth.. but when i made this one (a few days back) it was hell.. and i mean TOTAL HELL.. had i not had a few weeks under my belt on another account.. i may have left it there. I was being stomped on by lvl30 pilots in fully kitted out mechs.. In my 1st hour, it was beyond brutal. This needs to be fixed.. and fast.. I enjoyed it.. as i wasn't trying to win just unlock the server selection.. but then agian.. im slighly insane.. im the guy that pushes i love to run distraction.. i love chaos.. many... many nooblets DO NOT play like me.. nor enjoy the brutal crushing defeat of being handed your behind by better players, im old.. and slighty wiser than most.. slightly.. death is exp .. im old school.. these kiddo's are not.. these kiddos have tons of choice.. i chose hawken (and im loyal.. lol, to a fault)

4. VOIP, and those that can't use it.. i don't mean "won't" i mean cannot.. they leave it on and stream thier bedroom..breathing.. everything, by default it's "on" even i messed up there as i have an external MP3 player (saving cycles kiddos..) and steam thinks thats my mic.. grr.. it's a small issue.. but it's a BIG annoyance. Then there's the ones that demand you have it.. but that's been adressed.. although it brings me to my final point..

5. Trolls and manners... there's a ratio latley of about 1/24 that 1.. will basicly cause the room to vacate after a match.. we have no way to report them.. we dont even know if there's anyone to report them to.. and im not talking about harmless banter or sporty sledging.. im talking full blown abuse. It's sad when i see so many of you with a great sence of game.. only to have to endure trolly mc abuso have a field day becuse they think they are untouchable.

6. Noone want to die in the AA with me..... i feel this is a MMR thing.. i dont know i dont care about my MMR.. i care more about messing up that huddled little cuddle club of enemy C classes sitting inside the box i want my team in.. I do my part, I cause distraction and chaos.. half thier HP is gone.. now is the time to push as the huddle is a broken behive.. but no.. as i respawn i see at least 3 of my team standing there either shootng the ship (in some cases.. thats ok..) or worse still..just standing there, being a mushroom.. posibly send by Sentium to lure us into thinking we have a full team.. when in reality.. we have a team of 3... we need vote/kick.. or similar.. and reprecusions for abuse of it.. maybe a auto kick if you've mushroomed out on your team.. it's a problem im seeing more of on both accounts. If i stop after i spawn and start firing at YOU.. take that as a note for further use.. i may simply refuse to heal you.. or ignore you.. or let you die when i could have saved you.. mark my words.. till it's fixxed.. i will make sure your MMR falls to 0... yeah.. 6.

This post isn't a troll.. it's the word from the dark bottom of the MMR barrel.. the nooblet news if you will.. Hawken's great.. it COULD be Awesome.. if just some of the above is adressed in a mature and gamer centric manner.

Chow.

Most of this is pretty spot on.  I joined shortly after Hawken came to Steam, and haven't played much until this last weekend (went from Pilot lvl 9 to 21 with a free XP boost).  I consider myself a semi-casual gamer in general.  Just another nooblet trying to add to the discussion

1.  Fred didn't bother me, but I had picked up the Steam Nemesis pack once I realized I liked the game enough to play it off and on, and had access to many mechs at that point.  I don't think fred is too big of a problem, but that is a purely subjective observation.

2.  The part grind is rough.  It is made worse by the fact that it is also behind a Pilot level grind wall to get access to many parts.  So after you grind for pilot level, you must grind some more for HC if you have been buying anything at all.  One or the other please.

3.  Matchmaking improvement is the biggest thing that can be done to make the game more accessible.  Getting stomped at level 1 (or level 15 for that matter) by level 30 players will make people quit.  The trick is (and always will be) matching skill levels while putting matches together in a reasonable amount of time.  Hopefully they are working on this one.

4.  I know this is different for everyone.  I personally will never use VOIP outside of organized play.  I think there are many others that feel the same way.  In this regard, expanding and improving the tactical notifications (Spot Enemy, Request Assistance) may be key to being able to improve communication on the battlefield.  Assistance calls need to have a ping on the map so people can find who is requesting it.  Retreat and Regroup calls need to be added.  Text communication from players needs to be more visible in game.  Coordination call-outs could be added certain modes.  Some of these are less useful without some sort of chain-of-command, but that is something that can only be worked out socially and shouldn't be forced on players.

5.  This one is big, and 90% in the communities control.  I agree a poisonous community will ruin a game like this.  I have found that people tend to act as others are acting, so discouraging poor behavior while encouraging good sportsmanship will be key.  Reporting would be nice, but I don't know how effective it would be as active moderation isn't going to happen with a company this small, and banning would likely result in a new account being created and therefore poison the low level community the most.  Encouraging muting rather than fighting may be helpful, as ignoring people who are screaming for attention is usually pretty effective at discouraging that kind of behavior.  I think the solution is going to need to be community driven.  This one is tough.

6.  I have yet to play Missile Assault or Siege modes, so I have no real comment, but it bothers me that people care about their MMR as a number.  People should be more concerned with getting matched with equally skilled opponents (regardless of what that number is).  Being competitive about the rating defeats its purpose I feel.  Let increases happen naturally and have fun.

Edited by DarkAon, May 27 2014 - 02:58 PM.

[dam_im_dead]

Like a few, I'm quite new to Hawken as well - surprisingly my kid got me into it.  I'm a veteran of the Duke Nukem days so I've had my butt handed to me for quite a while.  And this isn't the first go around with the F2P genre..  I understand the concept and that it is a business; you've got to have an income to continue to propel the game forward....

I believe the worst part of any F2P game is the grind; mind you I've managed to get to pilot level 25 and enough hc to get 3 different mechs without buying mc.  I'm not one to waste $$ to buy what I can earn.

With that, the theoretical "he who pays plays with the big toys" concept of F2P is what drives most away.  You've got to figure out how to get it balanced - bang for buck equally compared to the grind.

With that..  I thought the mech xp transfer was a great idea..  And then I found out you had to have mc to use it...  So, now I've got a boat load of "extra" xp on the first bot...  What a waste...

[Lion_ThunderPants]

For me, personally, I find the lack of drive to play the game overwhelming. I love this game, it's my favorite by far and I've played competitive for years in all sorts of games. The game play, the mechanics, the reward of skill.. This game is amazing! However, I find its lack of depth a disappointment. Not enough catering to the competitive side of things, also leaves the feeling of "Why get better if it's just to pubstomp_". Then there's casual players who have no story or background to the game, they just are thrust into a world of walking death machines and are told to survive with no insight on the games true potential for fast paced, intense game play. And finally, the last point I want to make is the lack of activity. Bigger games (While they have the money and resources, understandably) are constantly trying to keep the game and it's world feel alive and active; trying to paint a bigger picture to being part of that community. This is what Hawken needs badly; That "Bigger than all of us" feeling, like it matters that we like and play this game. Just my 2 cents..

[Terr_]

Xarian_Prime, on May 27 2014 - 05:58 AM, said:

VOIP, and those that can't use it.. i don't mean "won't" i mean cannot.. they leave it on and stream thier bedroom..breathing.. everything

Huh_ I've played 25 hours and I have never yet encountered an actively-bad voice-user. The only person I even considered muting was broadcasting quiet static, presumably because another voice program was catching their input.

Edited by Terr_, May 27 2014 - 05:41 PM.

[KaylaClaire]

It's a good game, and definitely has potential. However:

The Grind....
Grinding is a sign of no content, and not alot of westerners love to grind just for upgrades, I don't mind sitting there grinding for ranks and levels, just adjust the grind length, not by alot, but it shouldbe looked into

Game Modes...
Get creative here, surely you could put in King of the Hill, capture the flag; start with the basics, then put in original modes. 4 modes just isn't doing it for me.

Meteor Credits
This game seems to dependant on In-game purchases... I mean it is fine for a F2P game to have them, but Hawken goes overboard on it. pictures, camo,cockpit ornaments, mechs, upgrades. xp transfer, etc etc way too much lol I hate cash shops, I would rather pay $40-60 for the game and DLC then use cash shops.

Campaign
Nothing drives a game better then a story, make it co-op 1-4 players

[teeth_03]

I think a $60 unlock all mechs, weapons, internals and items option would give the player base a boost, and stop people from complaining about the grind.

I have already given them that much, and would give it to them again if they gave me all of that.

[Coder]

I feel this game lacks modular customization. Myself and my friends all learned about Hawken when we were hunting for PC games like the Armored Core series. We weren't the first either since many people have asked for the same thing and were told about Hawken as a possible alternative. It was because of this that I was a bit disappointed when I finally played Hawken. In AC, you have an untold amount of customizations available to you which made the game very interesting in terms mech possibilities. Hawken failed me in this respect. If others came to Hawken seeking the same thing, they were no doubt let down as well and could have moved on. I stayed because I see potential but it's definitely not there yet. Put simply, I'd rather buy parts and customize my mech that way than simply buying a whole new mech. Without the finite control, Hawken is only a hairline above Unreal Tournament.

[Klaw]

XP transfer being made free effectively would reduce grind (and it's only really for the option to buy parts), so I don't know why this is being charged for in the first place.  I remember when it was first introduced it was free.  

To increase people spending for the game you'll need people IN the game, so anything to boost players is the best option imo.  Also having one server dedicated to NOOB ONLY play, say level 10-15 and under, would help.  I honestly think too many noobs are facing lvl 30 players with Assault G2s.

[Solardream]

Hmm. Interesting ideas.

Bu I see most oft his is focused on the PvP gameplay. I was playing Mechwarrior Online. (I'm an old gamer, started with the first PC game in the 90's of this genre.)
I came here because of one single reason: You have one single PvE option! (Co-op vs Bots). I realise there are posts for a (not going to happen) campaign. But Id still be keen to see some love for gameplay that is not PvP. It never has been, nor will be my bowl of rice.

Minor Suggestions to start:
1.) Open up all the maps to vs Bots mode.
2.) Open up the modes of play (like missile assault) for Players vs Bot teams.
3.) Allow for Bot difficulty level, and expand on the daily objectives like less armour, more speed. This can then scale with more rewards for harder play. (example: Having only easy bots = low credits, xp. Having a harder bot increases it)
4.) Attempt to expand teams to say, three on a map_ Imagine the frag fest there.(Even for say PvP_)
5.) Expand on the level system some more. Something akin to more minor gains when levelling_ More levels for mechs and/or pilots_
6.)  Start an actual military rank structure for the game to earn. (Going from a buck Private to a General, or whatever.) Add some ribbons/medals for accolades. Heck, maybe have a rag doll of our pilots in a uniform displaying these things_

I basically play this to have fun without the drama/rubbish I see in PvP (and all the experience /equipment differences).And I personally feel more connected to a game when I feel like my character matters, and I'm not just a shiny toy.
Food for thought.

Meh, well one can dream eh.

[Odra]

I'd like to be able to test all of the mech's weapons in practice mode, just to see if they are worth the investment.

[Superkamikazee]

$30 million dollar budget right_ Take whatever's left, I'm assuming there should be a lot left because this doesn't play like a 30 million dollar game, and higher a ton of people to finish this damn game already. Forever beta is killing Hawken.

[DEATHL0K]

They could go look at how Digital Extremes handled Warframe, then do that. Next time.

Pretty sure it's too late for this version.

[camtheking20]

Solardream, on June 02 2014 - 11:01 AM, said:

Hmm. Interesting ideas.

Bu I see most oft his is focused on the PvP gameplay. I was playing Mechwarrior Online. (I'm an old gamer, started with the first PC game in the 90's of this genre.)
I came here because of one single reason: You have one single PvE option! (Co-op vs Bots). I realise there are posts for a (not going to happen) campaign. But Id still be keen to see some love for gameplay that is not PvP. It never has been, nor will be my bowl of rice.

Minor Suggestions to start:
1.) Open up all the maps to vs Bots mode.
2.) Open up the modes of play (like missile assault) for Players vs Bot teams.
3.) Allow for Bot difficulty level, and expand on the daily objectives like less armour, more speed. This can then scale with more rewards for harder play. (example: Having only easy bots = low credits, xp. Having a harder bot increases it)
4.) Attempt to expand teams to say, three on a map_ Imagine the frag fest there.(Even for say PvP_)
5.) Expand on the level system some more. Something akin to more minor gains when levelling_ More levels for mechs and/or pilots_
6.)  Start an actual military rank structure for the game to earn. (Going from a buck Private to a General, or whatever.) Add some ribbons/medals for accolades. Heck, maybe have a rag doll of our pilots in a uniform displaying these things_

I basically play this to have fun without the drama/rubbish I see in PvP (and all the experience /equipment differences).And I personally feel more connected to a game when I feel like my character matters, and I'm not just a shiny toy.
Food for thought.

Meh, well one can dream eh.

Like your sagestians hated meckwarrer tho no responds

[ShockBlast]

DEATHL0K, on June 02 2014 - 02:00 PM, said:

They could go look at how Digital Extremes handled Warframe, then do that. Next time.

Pretty sure it's too late for this version.

Oh God no. The grinding in Warframe (at least when I was there) is even worse than in Hawken, or even Borderlands 2, the game's netcode is mixed puke, and weapon masteries create pointless restrictions.

[camtheking20]

camtheking20, on June 02 2014 - 02:11 PM, said:

Solardream, on June 02 2014 - 11:01 AM, said:

Hmm. Interesting ideas.

Bu I see most oft his is focused on the PvP gameplay. I was playing Mechwarrior Online. (I'm an old gamer, started with the first PC game in the 90's of this genre.)
I came here because of one single reason: You have one single PvE option! (Co-op vs Bots). I realise there are posts for a (not going to happen) campaign. But Id still be keen to see some love for gameplay that is not PvP. It never has been, nor will be my bowl of rice.

Minor Suggestions to start:
1.) Open up all the maps to vs Bots mode.
2.) Open up the modes of play (like missile assault) for Players vs Bot teams.
3.) Allow for Bot difficulty level, and expand on the daily objectives like less armour, more speed. This can then scale with more rewards for harder play. (example: Having only easy bots = low credits, xp. Having a harder bot increases it)
4.) Attempt to expand teams to say, three on a map_ Imagine the frag fest there.(Even for say PvP_)
5.) Expand on the level system some more. Something akin to more minor gains when levelling_ More levels for mechs and/or pilots_
6.)  Start an actual military rank structure for the game to earn. (Going from a buck Private to a General, or whatever.) Add some ribbons/medals for accolades. Heck, maybe have a rag doll of our pilots in a uniform displaying these things_

I basically play this to have fun without the drama/rubbish I see in PvP (and all the experience /equipment differences).And I personally feel more connected to a game when I feel like my character matters, and I'm not just a shiny toy.
Food for thought.

Meh, well one can dream eh.

Like your sagestians hated meckwarrer tho no responds

Hated that

[EM1O]

i like it just the way it is: free to play.
unfortunately, game dev and publishing is not free.
one means to helping this might be to go open source, even opening the code base to linux porting, and possibly gaining literally tens of thousands of volunteer gaming coders--and a lucrative source of cash donors enthusiatic about this game.
you can only shrink the work crew or close so many offices until you run into the wall.
putting hawken on sourceforge _
maybe. but id be one of the first to put my birthday money into a second wave "initiative" if called upon, to blast this marvelous creation into the final Release Candidate

[Superkamikazee]

I for one HATE free to play, and now more so than ever HATE this new "EARLY ACCESS" "ALPHA" "BETA" trend. A lot of these companies make a killing off a half baked fuzzy bunny of a game with little to no reason to finish or polish it after the fact. On top of that free to play may single handily ruin an industry and gamers are allowing it to happen. Welcome to the future of micro transactions people. Multiplayer online games like Hawken can get by and still be entertaining enough, but once you start throwing micro transactions into narrative based games **cough Dead Space 3 cough** it becomes a nightmare.

In hindsight Hawken would have been better off going with a business approach similar to Kerbal Space Program, Rust, or Day Z. $14.99, $19.99, whatever to get into the beta if that's what was really necessary to get this project off the ground, then release a $40 game once it's finished. There's just too much controversy around F2P and competitive games, Pay 2 Win. That's a huge hurdle that many people just can't get over whether it's true or not.

And quite frankly with a $30,000,000 budget why the hell does this game need to be in beta for what, a year and a half already_ If you're not concerned about Hawken yet, you probably should be.

Edited by Superkamikazee, June 02 2014 - 03:21 PM.

[[HWK]HUGHES]

Superkamikazee, on June 02 2014 - 03:20 PM, said:

And quite frankly with a $30,000,000 budget why the hell does this game need to be in beta for what, a year and a half already_ If you're not concerned about Hawken yet, you probably should be.

I keep seeing you mention this number but I don't know where you're getting that as a budget for HAWKEN.