I wanted mostly to weigh in on the PvP comments. ( but then mostly talked about guilds vs soloing issues---edit) doh!

The things that ruin MMO's for me to the greater degree are (A. PvE in mmo's is mind numbingly repetitive (B. soloers are either non viable or punished.

I know alot of people's first game was\is World of warcraft and they have not gotten tired of grinding npc bots, but for us that have become increasingly sick going from game to game choking on wandering baddies PvP is the only thing that gets your juices flowing and has varying and often exciting results!

In the case of warcraft i wish they would release a cheaper battleground version where all you ever saw was the battlegrounds and got a wide variety of weapons and armor to choose from with points earned. Then blizzard would again see a few dollars from my wallet.

As to soloers...Guilds should not get rewarded with power but rather with perks, letting soloers compete on equal footing but maybe with less attractive options. Sign in any of the 12 MMO's ive tried including Warcraft  that have viable soloing of some kind and you'll see 95% of everyone playing soloing. That should tell someone somthing. 

Clearly people can socialize in MMO's without being forced to group regularly in order to be able to compete. Some people love to socialize endlessly but the idea of that decribing gamers in general seems ludicrous.There are people that would guild even if it offered no strategical benefits and I wish those were the people developers accomidated without punishing the rest of us.

So... :) I like what these guys said alot. Oh and I also agree that complaining about a game being PvP when so few are seems odd. Its been a long time since Ive seen a mainstream game not have a decent accomidation for NoN PvP'ers and PvP'ers alike anyways.

Personally for me, offline games handle PvE sooo much better then MMO's I cannot understand why PvE is usually the biggest part of such a huge percentage of MMO's. Actually it seems for some odd reason the developers across the globe think most gamers are chatty carebears with a desperate need for an online family. That would'nt have been my guess. 

Originally posted by daadamo

So far it sounds like a nice change of pace. My question is will you only be able to play as a Mech? Much like Eve or the now defunct Auto Assault?

Or will you actually be a toon independant of your Mech, with the ability to fight outside of it regardless of your inneficiency or lack of firepower? The ability to "park" your Mech and enter a seedy bar some place.

As was said above, there are apparently plans to incorporate crafting later on. It would feel and look kind of hokey and unimmersive if I'm sitting in my mech cranking out blaster cannons.

Also, the absolute removal of any viable activity ( other than walking around to shop in limited areas) outside of your vehicle is definitely one of the biggest reasons for AA's demise, as well as a contributing factor to EvE's niche status.

People need to identify with their charcter on some level when it comes to RPG games. Being confined to a Mech (or any other vehicle) at all times makes that pretty much impossible to accomplish.

So, any comment from the devs on this would definitely help alot of people decide if there would be any reason to play this game at all.

As Zorvan suggests, it would be extremely great to be able to hangar your Mech and go grab a beer at the local bar, or gather some intel on x,,y,z objectives (PvE). I'm currently playing EVE and that is truely the only downside about the game. I like an environment where you can leave your ship, explore the city on foot (or such) . Just like the Animé Cowboy Bebop (and others).

Yes, plans are to have Human Character Avatars to be part of the game, with the ability to get outside of the Mech, vehicle or aircraft in the environment.  There will be some restricted areas, such as domed cities, which will not allow Mechs to go rampaging around.  That does not mean that all settlements will have the same enforcement policies.  There will be places or actions that can only be done as a human, such as going into a ruined under ground facility. 

Originally character avatars were to not be part of the initial phase.  We realized that we were falling into the trap of becoming a Mech centric game, and so we're going to be having character avatars made available; but in a limited capacity at first.  Phase is likely to be considered Mech Centric, but the second phase will become Character Centric. 

To help show that we are to have characters as the avatar, we're going to be using virtual cockpits (camera is on the character's eyes and not the Mech's head) in the first phase.

I hope that explains things (in brief).  And keep asking the questions or bring up the concerns and we'll answer them.

Sounds great, thanks :)

I am really looking forward to this game.  There is a need for a mech MMO, I do have a question though.  Will there be an engineering (crafter) class in the game?  One of the things I loved about PRE CU Starwars galaxies was it's complex crafting system.  I can see engineers taking salvaged pieces and altering them within spec (ie making armor plating lighter but giving up protection to do so, or the other way around)

Question for the community here:

Would you like to see the Mechs (and vehicles and aircraft) can only "disappear" from the environment if they are parked in a Hanger of sorts?  If you leave the fighting units, while in the environment, the unit still stays there until you return to it.  (Granted, in case of character death or something, the fighting unit will be picked up and transported back, or something like that)

Originally posted by Jenneroflok

I am really looking forward to this game.  There is a need for a mech MMO, I do have a question though.  Will there be an engineering (crafter) class in the game?  One of the things I loved about PRE CU Starwars galaxies was it's complex crafting system.  I can see engineers taking salvaged pieces and altering them within spec (ie making armor plating lighter but giving up protection to do so, or the other way around)

There is no classes in use or skill limitations.  Rather, it will be up to the player to decide on being an engineer.  Depends on the skill selected and advanced.  And there is no limit to the number of skills that a character can have (you will not need to drop skills to learn new ones).  So it is possible to be both a combatant and an engineer, as well as a medic, and who knows what else.  Depending on how you want to spend your time and interests.

One of the innovative crafting features we're planning for in phase 2 centers around how (and where) you get the resources to craft with, and what you do with the item you manufacture.  To be honest, our take on that has changed slightly over the past 3 years, but the core of our efforts remain the same:  No item grinding. 

Most crafting systems would have you spend X number of hours searching for resources (or to make the money to buy them), and when you have attained both the skill and the required resources, you are able to make that item.  The same item, every time.  Over and over again.  For example, SWG allowed for experimentation but you had variable resource attributes, so if you had "the best" stats on your resource, you could make an item with "the best" stats for your customer.  Since experimentation was universal, essentially every crafter in the game capable of making an item would make the same item if they had the same resources, it just took a little more time and effort to get those last few stats.

If we're true to our lore, massive corporations would surely have the ability to make available something as mundane as copper or steel, wouldn't they?  And not every "master armorsmith" would be a clone of 25,000 other random individuals, even if they had the same training and materials, because some people just have more talent (or patience) than others.  Through the player driven creation of new alloys and new techniques, our players *should* be able to make unique items for themselves or their house/guild.

Pardon the Star Trek pun here, but the strategy we'll be implementing will please both the hardcore crafter/explorer (who wishes to seek out new mines and new materials) as well as the combat jock who can make due with a decent item he makes himself from quality materials that are easily obtainable, and boldly (or quickly) go where no Mech jock has gone before, with slightly fewer stats.  When the game is centered around the skill of the player rather than the amount of money he has to grind, there's a lot more room for fun!

TexMechs
Wardog Studios, Inc.

Originally posted by Hamilton-WDS

Question for the community here:

Would you like to see the Mechs (and vehicles and aircraft) can only "disappear" from the environment if they are parked in a Hanger of sorts?  If you leave the fighting units, while in the environment, the unit still stays there until you return to it.  (Granted, in case of character death or something, the fighting unit will be picked up and transported back, or something like that)

 

Originally posted by Jenneroflok

I am really looking forward to this game.  There is a need for a mech MMO, I do have a question though.  Will there be an engineering (crafter) class in the game?  One of the things I loved about PRE CU Starwars galaxies was it's complex crafting system.  I can see engineers taking salvaged pieces and altering them within spec (ie making armor plating lighter but giving up protection to do so, or the other way around)

There is no classes in use or skill limitations.  Rather, it will be up to the player to decide on being an engineer.  Depends on the skill selected and advanced.  And there is no limit to the number of skills that a character can have (you will not need to drop skills to learn new ones).  So it is possible to be both a combatant and an engineer, as well as a medic, and who knows what else.  Depending on how you want to spend your time and interests.

I have been wanting a mech mmo for ages. THANK YOU!

1,Now then, if a player climbs down from his cockpit to stretch his legs, the mech should stay there towering over him looking all awesome and powerful, but if another player comes along in his mech he should be able to attack it.  I almost said hijack it too, but a player should only be able to pilot one mech at a time, and stealing another guys ammo is a little petty so. So, yes, the mech should stay in the environment.

2, If a player parks in a hanger and leaves his mech, I think its very acceptable that the mech leaves the environment until he comes back. Maybe there should be a crane or some other system that whisks it away into storage or something.

3, attacking other mechs and then salvaging parts... I LOVE that kind of stuff. Especially if I can craft my own upgrades/mechs/weapons etc.

4, There absolutely MUST be human avatars in the game, and I'm glad you said there will be, but I think you could lose lots gamers early on if you add this in phase 2. You must have it in phase 1 to show people that it really is there and not just a promise. People are not very trusting these days, SHOW them, don't promise to show them. Put it in the start to let players have a taste of what they will be getting.

If you have to limit human avatars in phase 1, so be it. I can accept that. Have the pilot's avatar at least go to and from the hangar-maybe to a bar to get info or hang out. Also, crafting should be done at the player's own workshop (player owned) as a human avatar.

5,...wow did you say aircraft too? I mean... that is excellent!!

Originally posted by impulsebooks

 

I have been wanting a mech mmo for ages. THANK YOU!

You are quite welcome!  To make sure that your ideas, thoughts, and dreams make it into the game, be sure to participate in our forums at www.forceofarms.com

I like the idea of salvage as well.  And come to think of it, if a player gets out of his Mech, the thought of the limited use of sniping is implied, isn't it?

Originally posted by impulsebooks

 4, There absolutely MUST be human avatars in the game, and I'm glad you said there will be, but I think you could lose lots gamers early on if you add this in phase 2.

As Hamilton mentioned earlier, there will be avatars in Phase 1.  It may simply be a cockpit avatar, but there are many in our design team who are working towards mobile avatars.  Like you, there are days when I get home and want nothing more than to really whip the crap out of someone, then get out of my Mech, and make some tea, as it were...

Originally posted by impulsebooks

5,...wow did you say aircraft too? I mean... that is excellent!!

Who would say something silly like aircraft?  Nah, there's not going to be any aircraft in Force of Arms..  "Dual Purpose Infantry" is the correct term . 

Hey TexMech..

   I see you talking about the human avatars and the 'limited' role they would play.  It seems that your plan is to make the human avatars only useable outside of 'combat'.  Ie: When your chilling in the Dome cities or your guild hanger, crafting, etc.

  Are their any plans for small units like the old Battletech 'Elementals'.  Like.. small highly agile and mobile powered armor suits that are there to swarm and harass enemy mecha.   With weapons like like Magnetic Mines, Remote explosives,  Weapons that increase heat buildup,  EMP, etc...

It would definitly add another deeper element to the game to allow the challenge and strategy of using smaller more mobile units and give those avatars another place to play.

I think a picture (though concept art) should help to explain things.

This is of the Genoma Personal Armor Line (Body Armors (Flex and Rigid); and Battle Suit (Powered)).  There are plans to provide Battle Armor (adds about 1ft in height) and Combat Armor (basically mini-mechs).  Powered Armor is going to be preferred (almost required) when assaulting Mechs or vehicles.

Ok, here is a bonus body armor image

Sweet...This just got a slot on my 'to look out for' list most definitely...

I'm an outspoken supporter of the Indie MMOG  movement.  I think these guys at Wardog are doing a fantastic job so far, and I look forward to trying out Phase I. 

Originally posted by Cheap_Cheap

Hey TexMech..

   I see you talking about the human avatars and the 'limited' role they would play.  It seems that your plan is to make the human avatars only useable outside of 'combat'.  Ie: When your chilling in the Dome cities or your guild hanger, crafting, etc.

  Are their any plans for small units like the old Battletech 'Elementals'.  Like.. small highly agile and mobile powered armor suits that are there to swarm and harass enemy mecha.   With weapons like like Magnetic Mines, Remote explosives,  Weapons that increase heat buildup,  EMP, etc...

It would definitly add another deeper element to the game to allow the challenge and strategy of using smaller more mobile units and give those avatars another place to play.

Think of phase 1 like the skeleton of the game and each phase afterwards adding some muscle and organs to it, if that makes sense.

Originally posted by chaintm

Definitely interested,

There is an obvious following for this sort of game and I am (as many) am surprised to not see a mech type game coming to light.

, thou I am concerned with what you are offering (IE , is it very feasible in your current build is this more of a wish list?) So many titles in the past that haven’t come to light even today have promised this or that to build the hype of a community to then be shadowed by closure or discontinued or on-hold of production because they couldn't find the publisher to back up their idea or ran out of funds.

So with a blunt remark I ask "Are you guys just trying to hype your game in hopes of getting a community that you can sell to a publisher?" While this is a very blunt and almost rude comment, I ask it for the previous reason. We the players have seen this over and over again lately and hope this is not the case here. Is there any response you would care to give or comment on that might enlighten some of us that are a bit doubtful? I really would love to see this title hit the shelves so to speak, god a good Mech game is WAYY over due.. But I have my doubts.

Then that sums up the first question in wondering if having such cool features in the game, is it a bit more then you can chew? Or is this really what the team is after? Really submersion and game play that we have been looking for sense the days of miniature playing thinking "man wouldn't it be cool if we could make a game that does this?!"

A hopeful fan,

 

Thanks for the interest, we knew there was a following for the Mech genre and were surprised at first as well. Then, we learned a bit more on how they operate at the big corporate offices, and weren't so surprised anymore.

We understand the community's fear with newer companies, given the dismal results of things like DnL or Mourning. One of the problems with mmo development these days though is not due to how small a company is, even larger companies like Sigil who have $30 million to spend run into "snags".

We have a rather large wish list, we also have a vision that we will see completed. As you said many others have built their own hype, DnL, VSOH, both did this and once the players realized what it was they were getting they left. We understand that, listened and learned from it. I personally followed both of those games' development closely.

What we have planned is a phased approach so it will not happen all at once, as we have said from the beginning. Not one indy team in existence should even consider trying to do similar without a thorough plan in place. We are currently in Alpha, it took a few years and our own personal blood, sweat and tears of commitment and self-funding to get us here. Large or small companies don't normally make it this far without millions of publisher dollars already at hand, we have creatively done so without a publisher.

That is where we differ from them, we are not looking for a publisher. We have partnered with Multiverse to develop on their middleware, in a way we consider them our publisher and they have and will be involved with us post release. Will our numbers be WOW numbers?, most likely not, but that is not what we set out to achieve. If it happens, fine but we are making our game what we envisioned it to be, our own IP and we are not tied to a publisher or IP owner. It is a game set to our market-base, one which currently there is none....

Although we like the hype and excitement, the questions/interview were not an attempt at anything sly. We recently demo'd at AGDC again this year and were scheduled to have a one on one interview with Jon Wood. Due to scheduling conflicts on our side, we didn't make it to the conference until the last day. I suspect MMORPG.COM was still interested in speaking with us when they sent the interview questions which you are reading here and discussing on the site. We are not marketing on any large scale, word of mouth does that just fine at this stage for us, were just happy to answer questions when any one is interested. We like our game and like talking about it. 

Thanks for the interest. 

I did play the Virtual World BattleTech Simulator when it was opened in San Diego, CA.
Now onto those questions:

Q - Is it very feasible in your current build is this more of a wish list?

No, building an MMO is not easy thing; so we're building and releasing in Phases.  Much of how it was done with BattleTech.  There was the first BattleTech Box set, then CityTech, AeroTech, Mech Warrior RPG, other additions and so on. 

Q - Are you guys just trying to hype your game in hopes of getting a community that you can sell to a publisher?

No, we have no intent of going to a publisher.  I did attend a lecture about "How to pitch to Publishers" by a panel of representatives of the big publishers and afterwards knew that was not going to be a possibility for us.  For one, signing over our IP is something we don't want to do, as well as have about 80% of our title and game play change; and no longer being in control.  Which one possibility could be, that we make this hype of a sophesticated mech system, only to then be released by a publisher as a water-down version.

We really don't have much reason to sigh with a Publisher as it is.  The best thing that a Publisher can offer to us is retail distribution.  But the client is expected to be free, so maybe the only initial charge is to buy an Account Key (this is just an example) and electronic distribution is becoming popular.  So why go retail?  Also by not going retail, we avoid piracy issues and ERSB ratings.

Building some hype is helpful in generating interests, receiving feedback, checking to see if there is indeed a market for a Mech based MMO, and growing a community.  We do need to make sure that we do not build up the hype too great or fast, or otherwise that could lead to some disappointments or very negative criticism.

Q - Then that sums up the first question in wondering if having such cool features in the game, is it a bit more then you can chew?

Sometimes it is, but given time and resources anything is possible.  Every title in development has its ups and downs, sometimes like a roller-coaster ride.  Just a matter of not giving up and seeing it through.  Fortunately we have been going through with this for about three years now.  And when we applied to be listed on MMORPG.Com, well, we were confident that we can see this through to launch.

Q - Or is this really what the team is after?

Yes and I would like to use your own exact words for the answer.  Really submersion and game play that we have been looking for sense the days of miniature playing thinking "man wouldn't it be cool if we could make a game that does this?!"

I hope that answers your questions and is to your liking.

Heh, next time before I post...  I need to open another tab and see if there has been a response.

Very good news indeed guys. Glad to see your going this rout, I will be following this title with much anticipation then. If it comes out with even parts of that which you are saying, it should be a blast! It seems obvious to me you guys are into mechwarrior and such from the past like many of us who were in during those times. With that kind of actual mech game experiance, I have no doubt you will be working towards that submersion we have all so much craved for the longest of times.

One quick note as an burnt out MMO player, the one thing that always gets me (and I will repeat this from my last post ) is details. Those simple details such as getting out of your mech and it remaining , is just one excample that many MMO properties seem to just look over as "flair" when in realitity it is the emmerision we are after for in the first place when we go into these fantasy worlds. (non realtiy).. Why does a developer beleive ... "well ok if you die, you end up here" type of gameplay is accepted is beyond me. No one goes beyond the box anymore and it seems you guys are. Kudos to you then, if you are looking for this sort of deep interaction of your world, I think you will find many who will appreciate and let others know how emmersive you game really is.

On another note.. do we get jump jets? hehe

Edit: On a side note, if you have this kind of interaction with your community all the time be V.I. Public Realtions guy or devs like you , you will find a huge following just because of it. While many devs today beleive that "sure , we listen but if we actually took all of that into consideration the game would suck" is one track mind. There is nothing wrong (and I beleive it is the right way) with interacting with your community and saying your peace. They might not like all you have to say and other things they will love, but at least the community will feel your are actually interacting and listening. Sure at some point when its, 10000 users posting questions to one guy, you can only answer so many. But at least you try and that is, after all what many of us in the MMO community only want. Some dev willing to interact and at least hear us out, sure you can't answer all of the questions, but some would be nice :)