COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE: Questions from Pixo- your answers?

I sincerely hope that you didn't think the ladder climbing answer through... A big blow to the "need" to tank may be had if the rewards per game were increased as you move up the ladder.  Ag especially, but even Au in some regard.  Perhaps the prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and most beacons goes up 1 for every league past Gold or Diamond.

1): The current design is, OK. It's familiar to most and the layouts are well thought out. If I was to Add/Subtract: it would be to remove the "names and icons" above the Opponents heads. Forcing Players to hunt their opponents and add an element of immersion.

Beacons are good. They add points of contention giving Teams focus while including a sense of urgency. Their inclusion into Points would force some to accelerate their "climb" at the expense of their Teammates. Please refer to point #3.

2): The League system is good, although the mechanics are somewhat head-scratchingly confusing on Point allocation and Win/Loss determinability.

3): Teamwork should be a prerequisite. League places you on a Team. Therefore, "going rogue" will harm your fellow Teammates and potentially cost you and your Team the Win. This I believe is a result of granting individual rewards - it allows for inter-team competitiveness. This is the antithesis of Teamwork. A global Award should be granted to the Team who Wins, regardless of Beacon count or Mecha destroyed. A small caveat could be a minimum of 50k damage output to receive "Team Award."

4): Given the price of Mecha and weapons, Gold-wise, the current pay-out is fine. Too much Gold and you may run the risk of destabilizing the game's economy.

5): Since Mecha are war machines and this is a tactical simulator, alternative game-modes could be added to further enhance the role of the various types of Mecha, giving Pilots other mission statements.

ASSAULT/DEFEND: Opposition forces must hold a certain territory or number of Beacons for a set duration. Similar to what is currently in play now but the Opposition must Defend home territory rather than claim Beacons.

OBJECTIVE: Home forces must achieve a goal. Mission parameters can vary but may include statements such as, assault Springfield with light Mecha or suppress opposition forces until reinforcements arrive (1 Pilot per 15 seconds) - Essentially, survive to tell the tale.

For non-competitive play, a system that has worked in many other games which is still prolific would be the simple removal of Win/Loss in a Custom Lobby. It's a great way to test setups and familiarize yourself with a new Mecha or hardware and make friends.

I cannot speak for Clans, as I do not yet belong to one but have plans to create one, soon. I would like to see "Clan packs" for purchase and from what I read, Clan Wars would be welcomed.

I'm certain plenty of others will address the specific questions. I'd like to keep my feedback focused on the 3 areas that are most important to me about the MM.

The rewards for league advancement - too low IMO. They do not provide enough incentive to progress. I don't want to sound greedy as I'll take what I get, but it seems to me many see a greater value in strategizing ways to maximize gold production in other ways - ignoring the league advancement. Incentivizing advancement more (does not have to be just gold) may adjust this.

50% win rate - it feels like there is a mechanism to keep your win percentage around 50, with battle factors that slide high and low depending on previous matches. This takes away the incentive to spend money because it would only give me a temporary boost then the MM adjusts and it's gone. You rarely feel like you are improving because no matter what (until 12/12) you just get matched with higher level players. I get that should be a compliment, but humans crave the feeling of growth and progress (and yes superiority). Need to provide more of that to further incentivize progression, or people will find other ways to achieve that feeling.

Matching against similarly equipped players - this is the most frustrating. I understand it's part of getting better, but if you can match players against players closer to their gear range (not league) it may settle things. You can experiment more, try/buy new gear without a fear of "wasting" currency because you can no longer hang. If your skill increases you don't currently "feel" it, but you do feel that player 4 levels higher than you. Those who like certain bots can stay where they are, but not match with similar bots at lower levels as in the past. This also gives you a better sense of your own skill - how do you fair when things are "even"? There may be matching issues with trying to achieve this.

I'm sure that there will be too much inputs to be considered by the representatives or Pixonic. So, I think I will offer a simple input:

Ask them to learn more about other top online F2P with in-game purchases shooter games that involve ranks/class/etc (all platforms). Then implements the positives in War Robots. Don't rush to be "different than others". They can update and change things on the way, as long as the core game is balanced and enjoyable enough. That's all

- Incorporating beacons into league point distribution. How big of an impact should beacons bring?
    I think the Silver reward for beacon capture should be increased and tied to league. So 1 beacon would be 50k silver base then multiplied a league value. Perhaps starring in Bronze a 1.5x, Silver a 2x, Gold 2.5 etc.

- Rewards for ladder climbing. What would you expect to see in the future?
    There should be more silver rewards as that becomes more important as weapon/bot levels increase. If this is controlled by league then it would offer a way to control the payouts as higher bot/weapon levels will gravitate to the higher leagues. Players who deliberately manipulate the system in order to get easier matches will still farm for gold but low silver would disincentives high bot/weapon level players from playing in those lower leagues.

- Seasons. Should we increase their impact on the Leagues’ flow?
Yes. I like @darkangel12s idea in terms of Silver/Gold rewards.

- Separate non-competitive modes: are these required?
Yes. There should be a way to have matches without Gold rewards and reduced Silver rewards for a more "arcade" style of play. These matches should be limited by bot/weapon levels, similar to the old MM but be strictly tied bot AND weapon level. Should transcend league restrictions in terms of cups and there should be no cup reward or impact on regular win/loss, bots killed, and other stats (or maybe another set of stats for this kind of play?) This will allow people to play weird bot load-outs and play for fun without worrying about how it impacts their numbers. It will give friends and family a chance to play together more casually.

Topic of the first meeting: all things matchmaking

How do you and your peers feel about League system? What’s right and what’s wrong? What would you change?

I feel that overall this system is just that a system. All systems will have perks and all will have flaws. Ask anybody what system they would implement and they will give you an answer that is beneficial to them. The reality is none is really better than the other because whatever system is used most people will find the optimum meta for that system and use it. The only real change I would make to the current system is to tighten the search parameters, even at the cost of time, so that you don't ever get put into a match with people more than +/- one league from you.
Other than that tighten the way people are put into the "tanker" que and make or permanent (may let you out once in case you were there unfairly but second trip is permanent)because it isn't fair for those that don't cheat the system to face people who acquired big toys by cheating the system. It still needs tweaking because yesterday I still saw a squad of 2 "clan tanking" I know they were doing it because it was the same 2 guys on my team once and on the reds twice and I know both guys running in a squad didn't just happen to be the only two people to DC in 3 separate matches.


Incorporating beacons into league point distribution. How big of an impact should beacons bring?

The biggest problem people have with capping beacons is that the MM rewards damage only and spending a minute (dam/farm beacon at Springfield) running across the map and another 15-30 seconds getting to the action from those beacons hurts damage. I read the thread and saw someone above suggest a beacon being roughly equal to 50k damage and that seems about fair. It may be a little high on maps like DC or a bit low on Springfield but overall I feel its close.

The only downside I see is how do you display it? Do you add another column to the result screen so that it looks like

Damage-250k beacons-2 total-350k
Then sort by total

Do you just change the word damage to points so above would be

Points-350k beacons-2



Feeling good playing solo vs. promoting teamwork. What’s more important?

I really don't understand what this question is asking. "Feeling good solo" does this mean feeling good about my stats or feeling good playing in randoms?

For the most part "teamwork" doesn't exist outside of clans and when I run with randoms I simply take the role that is needed at the moment.

Me playing the role needed with randoms (playing to win) is that me "feeling good solo" or the game "promoting teamwork"?



Rewards for ladder climbing. What would you expect to see in the future?

Early on gold is important to acquire toys but then silver becomes important to level them. Generally, the higher the league the higher level bots that are there. I would suggest making higher silver payouts in higher tiers. This helps the people continue to upgrade instead of hitting a wall somewhere around level 10-11 and artificially inflating some leagues just because people hit a wall and cannot recover the cost of an upgrade while it is happening.

Seasons. Should we increase their impact on the Leagues’ flow?

I don't think I've ever herd a single complaint about the seasons. Keep in mind we are really just now in season 2 (the first one crashed and no real data was collected). Im from the camp of if nobody thinks it's broken don't fix it. And I see this as a measure of everything else being right. If people don't have anything else to complain about then I think the game is solid.


Separate non-competitive modes: are these required?

I don't know if this would work or not because "noncompetitive" usually means "no rewards" or at least "reduced rewards".

The biggest problem with the game is people wanting to find a way for easy rewards. Sure I would like to run a couple games here and there in light bots but the people who are screwing up the game now will still stay and screw it up then because they want rewards not fun content.

The biggest thing " noncompetitive " modes could offer is variety. Maybe I want to play a real game of capture the flag or run a game in light fast bots. It could be fun but not Required.



Activity points vs. League rating — what is more important to clans?

It really doesn't matter which you use because both are garbage. Clans want bragging rights. How do you get that? By beating other clans. Make a competitive mode where silver is distributed as normal and everyone on the winning team gets one gold. Now set 3 leagues (gold 2 and under) (gold3 to diamond 3) and unlimited keep track of clan placement by win/loss in this regard reset monthly. To enter the "clan battle" que you must have 4+ clan members online and the remaining spots are randomly filled using squads of 2 or a solo.

Did they themselves just gave the questions they want to be questioned about?

While I intend to be prepared to comment politely with relevant feedback on these talking points if Pix brings them up,  I will be tying all answers back to the core issues of MM/Leagues/Lack of diversity.  I plan to strategize with Dredd77 before the meeting so we can use our individual times with the "conch" To make sure all IMPORTANT issues are brought to Pixonics attention in a thoughtful way with just enough overlap to reinforce each other's opinions. 

From their recent participation, it seems as though the people PIxonic is mostly likely to co-operate with, stewpendous , acethunder , blitheran , will be making similar suggestions to Pix & hopefully they will be swayed by the common thread amongst attendees.

How do you and your peers feel about League system? What’s right and what’s wrong? What would you change?
I don't mind the league system but the tanking and sandbagging damage of level 12 bots is not fun. League play should have a bot requirement. Example: 12/12 bots should not be allowed in Silver or Gold. 





- Incorporating beacons into league point distribution. How big of an impact should beacons bring?

I think beacons have to be incorporated into the league point distribution. As someone else suggested, add weight to 2+ captures and then beacon liberation. This will encourage players to capture the beacon and allow light bots to participate a beacon runners and advance without having as much damage. 


- Feeling good playing solo vs. promoting teamwork. What’s more important?

Teamwork is good but solo players should not be matched against an entire, or even half a squad. Most squads communicate with each other and solo players do not have that ability. I'll be if PIX looked at the stats they'd see full squads will slaughter most solo teams.  


- Rewards for ladder climbing. What would you expect to see in the future?

I say give gold for climbing and Silver bonuses for the higher you climb. This can help players upgrade to upgrade and climb the ladder. 



- Seasons. Should we increase their impact on the Leagues’ flow?


I don't have an opinion on this one. 


- Separate non-competitive modes: are these required?


Open play without complex match making would be fun as long as you know what you are getting into. 


- Activity points vs. League rating — what is more important to clans?
N/A

My Personal Feelings:
1) BEACONS should be as important as the winning conditions that appear at the beginning of a match make them appear.

2) There is a distinct difference between CLANS and TEAMWORK. When you first begin to play War Robots you are not allowed to be in a clan, but you are part of a team from your first match! Nothing a fancy-dancy two minute tutorial video couldnt fix.

3) Better AG payouts or dimininished cost/time associated with upgrades. Upgrades are intimidating and seemingly unattainable.

4) Thecseasons as in Summer, Spring, Winter & Fall? I dont understand whats being asked here and in my understood context, why it matters.

5) YES.
            CLAN vs. CLAN
            6/6 = Like the current 8/8 Test Server... A game mode for 6/6 should exist OUTSIDE the current league system. Any mek or weapon thats used appears at level 6... No league points awarded, winning percentage, activity or experience points accumulated... Games could feature 3v3, 4v4, 5v5 or 6v6 based on player availability... LOWER AG rewards. No AG Squad Bonus... Regular AU rewards (no squad Bonus)
            LEAGUE = MM pkay as it cirrently appears with added AG reward percentage as an incentive to participate in leages

            with the addition of CvC and 6/6 modes, the LEAVERS CUE would be eliminated.

6) CLANS need to be looked at. In the same way PILOT OF THE HOUR was eliminated gecause of people manipulating that system to gain noteriety, the CLAN RANKINGS need a LEAGUE structure that collects activity that can ge jeadired hased and then ranked, on clan activity. CLAN ACTIVITY gets calculated and then divided by the number ofca clans total pilots... Ratings are then divided into four categories: PILOT -> MEKKER -> WARRO -> ELITE ... War Robots players reaching BRONZE league should be allowed to join clans, not per level.


thanks for the opportunity to be heard DREDD

- Feeling good playing solo vs. promoting teamwork. What’s more important?

Solo is more important. This is a mobile device app game, not a full fledged computer game. Noticably missing from the game is ANY way to truly communicate with other players.

My days of hours upon hours on Teamspeak and Ventrilo for raids, battles and god knows what else are long behind me.

I play because it's the closest and best game I can get to relive Robotjox and many other fond giant robot memories quickly, ~10 minutes max at a time, when I actually have time now that I am a Father of two, have a job, a dog, a cat, a yard to take car of, a house to take care of, the wife to deal with...

I am not going back to shooting the spit while gate camping Amamake, or logging on early to start crafting raid supplies in Ogrimmar before hours long gaming sessions.

Again
The lack of voice comms (or any comms) coupled with the fact that this is a mobile device game/app has permanently cemented it's roll as a fast paced, semi team based, giant robot action shooter.

Trying to make this game into something it never was will only detract from it.

Those that truly want to be on teams and in clans already have the means to do so, let them continue to hash it out amongst themselves.