All timestamps are approximate: 0:00:00 Preview of topics 0:02:00 Start of interview 0:02:50 What was the MW5:Clans leak like for you? 0:07:15 Why Clan Smoke Jaguars? Inspiration for the approach to the story 0:14:45 Why not call it MW:6? touching on some design intent differences vs MW5:Mercs also 0:24:45 Russ defines narration in the context of MW5:Clans and storytelling in contrast to MW5:Mercs 0:29:30 Discussion on PGI's approach to human character creation 0:31:30 Does Unreal Engine 5 additions help with optimization/performance? Additional discussion of which consoles will be supported 0:37:00 MW5:Mercs approach to story worked - why change to a more story driven linear and bespoke campaign? 0:47:45 Are we moving away from cookie cutter "game modes" per mission? 0:50:00 Are there plans for non-campaign co-op content like horde battle modes/etc? 0:51:40 How does MW5:Clans approach replayability? 0:54:30 TMC/Hired Steel: do they have continuing involvement beyond the teaser? 0:58:15 What will mod support look like? 1:03:40 What does the future of PvP look like for PGI and MechWarrior? 1:08:00 Commentary on the EG7 slide 1:11:15 How are talks with MicroSoft for the MechWarrior License? 1:16:00 Discussion on how PGI has developed IP vs HBS moving away from BattleTech 1:20:00 What's your perspective on Epic and Steam, and volume vs merchant cut? 1:23:40 Commentary on MechAssault, contrasted vs MW5 and some commentary on MW5:Clans mechlab and barriers to non-hardcore mech fans 1:31:15 Some discussion on the evolution of mechlabs over the years of MechWarrior 1:36:15 How will 2024 compare to 2023 for MWO? Some discussion on how single player content benefits MWO 1:40:35 Is the door open for the community to ask for specific types of engineered changes (rather than XML changes) a la matchmaker, etc? 1:47:00 Commentary on whether matchmaker and skill tree are actually in a position to be meaningfullly improved 1:51:00 Is there talk of the possibility of another Mech Con? 1:54:30 How do EG7 and MicroSoft factor into PGI's decisions on what to develop going forward? 1:58:00 Commentary on how players and fans including Phil and Russ's relationship have evolved over the years 2:01:00 Last thoughts
What I REALLY want for Clans is to be a combination of everything good from Mech 2, 3, 4, and 5 including each games expansions. Not only just a good story and characters we get invested in, but I want the tone of the game to NOT be loaded with modern social interpretations. I want Clans to feel like a true 1980s 1990s intensity with no fear of being extreme, offensive, in your face, revelling in the Clans true views and honor. I don't want some sappy your player is against their Clan and just goes along with it, I want their character to love what they do. Besides that, I want Clans to have lots of weapons, equipment, Mech roaster, other military assets, to have a command map, better customization, real character pilots, no waste of time walking around a dropship and barely talk to 3 people, I want pre-planning for missions, i want autopilot and waypoints, huge maps, there is so much more to say but like I said I want Mech 5 Clans to be a combination of everything good from every Mech game. I hope the story is better than the Gambit, because honestly the story was BAD and I will pass it up when I play again
Thank you for taking the time to reach out to Russ. Also thank you Russ for your time. Content like this is very appreciated. Overall much perfer honest talks about the development process rather than hype peices.
Dedicate a small PGI team to it, doesn't need to be a huge game. basically a spin-off indie game (in it's scope), hammer down the gameplay and make a short campaign, see how it sells for like 19,99 and evaluate if it warrants more resources. hardcore mechcommander gamers will buy no matter what which should cover the costs. Deal, PGI? :)
Honestly? What with modern computing power, and the top-down perspective of MechCommander being very akin to an RTS (just without most of the economy aspects of those games), it would be really cool for MechCommander 3 to be capable of Regiment vs Galaxy battles, on-screen. That would be something new that we've never had in any battletech game, digital or otherwise. (It's been too time consuming or processor hungry to fight hundreds of 'mechs against each other).
Hey Phil, I’m loving and playing MW / BT for decades meanwhile. Thanks for your content and especially for interviews like that. I believe that this is one key element to give our small community some kind of anchor and to keep this all alive.
lol to say that MW5 told the best story of past mechwarrior games is a tall tale when there is stuff out there like MW4 Vengance/Black Knight&Mercs as well as MW3 which all told a better story and allowed for players to chose more about the outcome than MW5 ever will.
Hoping this is going to be a storyline taking you from your trial of position all the way up to Tukayyid, with all the psycho warrior stuff you'd expect from the Smoke Jags.
Russ April 2020: We think letting premade comp teams roflstomp casual solo players will fix matchmaker. Russ May 2020: Letting premade comp teams roflstomp casual solo players has completely fixed matchmaker forever. Russ October 2023: Ok, we admit, match maker is broken and beyond repair and the casual solo players we drove away cost us enough revenue that there's nothing we can do.
Yeah, that's what I took away too. Well, with one difference, I guess: While it's obvious to _me_ what the biggest problem with MM is, I'm honestly not sure Russ understands that. Nothing I heard him say sounded to me like: "I realize that putting groups into "soloq" has made MM worse."
@@SaltyPuglord exactly, he laments not being able to attract casual players but rather than look at what actually drove away casual players, he arbitrarily blames things like torso twisting and mechlab. He seems incapable of realizing that letting premade comp teams roflstomp casual solo players was anything but a positive panacea for matchmaker.
Well... they tried their insistance till well went dry. PGI gotta get kudos for being headstrong until something REALLY dont work. It coyld be worse like... not giving up on it
Having loved the MW5 sandbox and combination with story DLCs, what I'm curious about is what happens after the Clans initial release. What would DLC be like for it? More story following that character? Hopping to other stories like MW2: GBL did? More modes for instant action? I actually think there is a lot of potential for modes... I know Russ said "maybe the next game", but that leaves the question of DLC open.
I like mech 5, but come on. MW5 story telling was horseshit. We have now heard the director stick by the storytelling methods of mech 5 with a straight face. Not looking good.
I enjoy Rihanna and the actual lore stuff and basically everyone that isn't the protagonist or a crewmate (shut the fuck up Fahad I almost just died.) It's just the whole Mason thing that's insufferable and completely unlikable. Who wants to journey through space as a guy who'd have a bunch of 'hot takes' on Twitter in-between eating cheese doodles and drinking light beer watching his favorite NFL team lose games? @@jonathanstrobl2247
@@jonathanstrobl2247 Russ never actually said MW5 had a good story, he said that there's more story content than any previous MechWarrior game, potentially barring BATTLETECH if you count it. He very specifically tip-toed around saying anything about the quality of the story, but repeated stuck to talking about the quantity.
I'm still curious if Mech5 Clans is going to be sold on GOG. I bought the original Mech5 there and I'm much prefer buying it there as it's my preferred game store.
It's really cool that the CEO appreciates the awesomeness of open map exploration even if it's just new missions and new stores. If they could add a feature at the end of campaign or start of the career where you're able to change the map by engaging in key battles, that would be amazing.
So long as the hardcore fans remain I don't think there'll be any problems bringing out a new product. Over they years I've spent hundreds on MWO mechs and have all the DLC's for MW5 and while they may not compare to the massive budget, big hitting titles from the Microsoft days the fact PGI are stalwart in holding the torch is enough for me to continue supporting the beloved franchise. They are getting better at what they do and it has been great to watch over the years. Thanks for the great podcast I really enjoyed it. 👍
Uh... MechWarrior 3 had the best narrative campaign, hands down, without question. That was its major strong suit. The acting was probably some of the best in any MW game, ever. MW4: Vengeance tried to follow that up, and did a decent enough job, just with maybe slightly worse acting. I think Black Knight improved on the acting, again.
That said, ever since I played Mass Effect and then started playing MWO, I've been interested in Mass Effect in the Battletech universe, that level of Battletech RPG. If PGI can deliver on that (even if they don't get the facial animations quite right), that will be an epic adveture, and I'll be very eager to play that. After what happened with MW5: Mercs, however, I'll be waiting for the initial reviews...
You should ask about Arrow IV for MW5 Mercs. Many of the maps are perfect for its range. Especially if tube artillery can shoot at you, you should be able to fire at them to suppress them.
I'd buy an all in one game that combined PVE and PVP. If it was everything I ever wanted in MW I'd be happy to. Like I've said before the lore is there for endless DLC and a really good PvP aspect would only serve to complete it. I see it as a win-win for the fans and PGI from a business perspective.
Most questions Phill asks, the answers seems to end up at point about dollars. That kind of pops some red flags for me personally. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like Russ is answering questions that a publisher asked and not a fan of the IP.
Stoked. So freakin' stoked, I can't wait to see the story come to life. This is the ultimate in fan service you guys. I'm a customer & a patron for life.
When I think storytelling in a battletech game I think of Heavy Gear... Yes I know it's not. Wish that narrative love was in a real-time battletech game.
i was wondering why clans was a stand alone game, im really excited for it now, you should have asked russ, after a period of time will there be a dlc for mw5 with clans?
me and all my friends would buy a PSVR2 Mechwarrior Clans it would be a dream come true, with the new tech of eye tracking we could be like in the lore with the neurohelment to just look at a mech and shoot it. PLEASE MAKE THIS
Mwo needs small squad coop pve campaigns where you bring your mwo mechs. MWO maps are too shallow and the full single player company game doesn't allow friends to bring their mechs and skill progression. Need PVE MMO for Mechwarrior! Like 1 hr missions.
I want my Fucking Catapult Doors, not missile tips fuckin glued to the outside of a fixed door. I also want my FUCKIN KING CRAB CLAWS TO FUCKIN OPEN AND CLOSE TOO!!!!!
There is a mod for it in nexus mods! However i do understand it should have been in the game in release!!! I dont understand why they weren't there in the first place
I'm at 11:50 or so and getting some KOTOR vibes, i.e. the option to commit the war crimes, but not necessarily the obligation. Could be a cool mechanic with some crusader vs. warden leanings getting you different perks.
The boogeyman Mechassault has been mentioned lmao. I agree with a lot of what was said. It was my introduction to the franchise i never would have dove so deep into it without that game series. I find the MW series significantly more fun and interesting and the MA gameplay to just be silly light fun, but MW is fucking DAUNTING from a new player perspective. It took me a loooong time to make the jump from MA to MW because so many aspects are simply unapproachable. The mechlab in MW5 is too simplified and i prefer the lab in MWO, but trying to get any of my friends interested has never worked because they see the mechlab and dont feel its worth the time to learn. I fully support having different levels of depth for different players, such as a very simple mechlab that breadcrumbs you towards the MWO system.
You are a really good interviewer Phil. You let your guests speak without trying to talk over them, which is kind of rare :) And Russ seems a lot more relaxed than in the last interview which is really good too.
With all the questions regarding stories, I was surprised you never asked if this new story would fill in the Merc story arc. For example, what was the background or history with commander mason Sr.!
I think he means on the line of speaking character story not just story. Of course Merc 5 wasn't the best story of all the games but when you do look back most of the games are either loaded with text, have spoken parts or not enough or at all character development. I agree with you
I disagree with the idea that MW5 has the best narrative, but I do agree that they've never had much a narrative. Any coolness of narrative has been inherited from the overall Battletech plot, but all the characters have always been minimalist archetypes. Traitor uncle, grizzled mercenary, etc. MW3's and MC's parts of Operation Bulldog and Serpent were cool ... because that's a cool Battletech narrative. The games occasionally had some nice or funny voice acting, but that's it (Duncan Fisher, Unther "Deadeye") . MW4's little family squabble was cool, but I barely remember it. Within that (spoilers!) finding out that your dad was a clanner and getting into a drawn out fight with ComStar is actually not a bad little twist to the classic revenge story. So While MW5 might not be great, it's not exactly competing with amazing sagas. What MW5 does terribly - and to his credit, Russ addresses this directly - is complex missions that reflect the story. Because of the procedural system, it's harder to tell story *during* the gameplay using the missions themselves. The DLCs have worked around this somewhat, and even have some much larger battles that almost feel like you're part of an army, but the procedural systems mean that what goes on in gameplay is very limited. There are neat custom maps (fighting inside that warship in Kestrel Lancers was cool!) and custom voice overs, but still the same objectives and formulas. Bespoke, fully hand-crafted missions might do wonders for the game.
The story telling has been verrrry much top down... Like a history show. Its the opposite of immersion. What is immersive is getting a realistic perspective. Your star trusting information to be true when its not essentially true. Only knowing knowledge that you would have access to. Only having access to important historical characters the way a normal person would. Having varying perspectives inside your own community. Its like being a pawn on a chessboard but understanding the strategy and moves from the person playing the match of chess... Not just the perspective of yourself as the pawn.
I'd love a mech 5 freeLC: 'Wolf's Dragoons' for anyone who pre-orders / buys clans: * Adds a custom start date / location as dragoons * Dragoons get janky star league era mechs, great pilots * Campaign is a ticking clock to scout (complete missions for/against factions in various regions of the sphere) * 1-2 narrative missions to give pre-invasion lore (maybe mission 0 is a simple batchall to be selected) * Add clan mechs to game data (patched into dlc after clans release) * Adds clan character models for use in mech5 (patched into dlc after clans release) An excuse to backport assets for modders to legally use em and avoid massive mod sizes + a pre-release excuse to get back into a mechwarrior
I just wish you could play as clans in the sandbox and run the war on the inner sphere as a star leader. Shit, jst add the clans to it and let ppl figure it out. I have np using clan tech as a merch, siding w the clans, and acting as if i was a unit sent in ahead of the invasion. Thats how i play roguetech
Re: Storyline narrative - seems you guys are selectively dismissing MW4:Mercs - that had voice acting and command animattions before EVERY mission and many of them had ending debriefs too. I was expecting that to continue in MW5:Mercs but what they gave us was pathetic.
Mercs with clans and a few more mission types, maybe a bit better ai and squad commands, would be the ultimate game. I feel like linear is a step back, one and done no reason for a second, third, and def not more playthroughs
If you listen to the investor calls they sort of insinuate that we’re a good cow to keep milking So expect a another Merc game but they will establish the clans first
Exactly the only way they can can get replayability at that point is by making PVP, I mean If your going to do a whole different game, it needs to be as replayable as mercs.
The only thing that I felt disappointing was the stupid large, medium, and small slots for all weapons, and no engine swap modifications. I hoped the weapon tiers would make up for it but It did not. Ultimately the story gameplaywise. I felt that I was riding a roller coaster through time and events that I as a player don't get to change or have an impact in. Other than as some background spectator mission. It's good to go down memory lane in the Innersphere but I want to continue the story further make things happen and shape things anew. For MW5 Clans I want them to throw out the current Slot and weapon Teirs ideas. As we are going to deal with OmniMechs I don't want to be stuck in aTimber Wolf with an Omni Pod with a large EN Slot for an ER-Large Laser and a Small Slot for an ER Small Laser. When I want to Swap them out for 2 Medium Pulse Lasers. For the Love of GOD! Do NOT! DO what you did in MWO and give set bonuses to Omni Pods. Give each Omni Pod their own set of perks by themselves and make the perks cover what type of weapons that the Omni Pod can carry. example: No, 20% Cooldown on UAC/2, Make it 20% Cooldown on Ballistic weapons. Also get rid of the tedious cantina missions. I find my self pulled outta the immersion having to hunt BS things to get perks for builds. The finally request is don't make it Epic Games exclusive again. I waited for MW5:Mercs to come to steam and I felt it wasn't worth the wait for reason above.
I'm getting contradictory reports on Mechwarrior 5 Clans. Is Mechwarrior 5 Clans a DLC that you play on Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries? Or is it a separate game entirely?
A shame they don’t upgrade MWO or include PVP in clans. I find playing against AI generally boring unless a really good story line is there. Path of Exile is being ported over to Path of Exile 2 and I thought that was a great idea. Should do the same for MWO.
Cool interview but will someone please do a short summary? Russ talks in circles so much I just can't listen to him without my attantion drifting off. I made it roughly an hour in but that is as far as I can go.
I think this is gonna be very interesting in MW5-C because there's very very few games that show things from the baddies point of view. Best one I can think of is the TIE Fighter game, you're an Imperial Navy fighter pilot, a servant of the Empire which is NOT a nice happy fun place. But you're not off kicking puppies or stealing candy, you're fighting rebels and dissidents, your character isn't 'stache twirlingly EEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil. So what will it be for us as Jags, there could a case where its a case of "Warrior Dave, these lower caste scum are refusing to obey their betters. Destroy them." And its a case of these lower caste people being civilians on strike because they're starving. Do you then obey your Star Captain, or do you go "Neg." And challenge them to a Trial of Grievance and Possession over the matter? Like in Malvina's Falcons, there were those Warriors of all ranks, up to Galaxy commander who were aghast at what Hazen did, and tried to hold true to their honour and duty. Will we get that chance? And, at the end, are we fated to die or become Bondsmen? Would we fall on Luthien, or Tukkayid? We'll have to see but i'm really looking forwards to what comes :) And I totally agree with your point about showing things at the 'back end' because the Clan sibko system, especially in more extreme clans like the Jags basically raises its Warriors to be high functioning psychopaths. Someone insults you and accepts your challenge, then you're going to probably be killing someone if the insult was bad enough, and this is done with kids that are 16 years old + That's how the Clan's are the aliens of the setting, because their society is SO alien to ours, its like how the Ancient Greeks would view our society, they'd have nearly zero points of reference of us, nor we of them in their views and practices.
It's just a bunch of tech that's far removed from industry standards now. Like UI built with flash pipeline that was a thing 10+ years ago just doesn't exist other than in legacy code, etc.
@@yrrot7 That is what confounds me. We always had websites like smurfys or others that handled the UI just fine with some kind of web-based interface. I remember how clunky their UI was from the beginning and while the one now is better when it comes to designing mechs, it's still very clunky for everything else.
@@AccessAccess the flash UI pipeline was sort of industry standard briefly when MWO was being built. So if your UI team was already using it in game, it made sense for them to just build the front end with it too. Definitely did not stand the test of time.
Despite many opposite opinions I personally second your verdict. Sure, the scripted maps and missions are far more exciting per se, but definitely not in repeated run throughs. Basically MWO is more boring with the same maps and the same missions over and over again - yet people do not complain because just the single factor of random PvP makes MWO ininitely (re)playable. I play(ed) all my MW titles over and over numerous times - just because I loved them, for me personally the sandbox and proc gen make the absolute difference. You never know the map in advance, you don't know the opositions spawn points. There are days when I play MW5 that I even refuse to take scripted missions - because I already know what's happening, know the mission map, know the enemy, which one is coming from where and when...and even the best story telling could change that.
⚠️ Wall of text incoming.. bring coffee!😂 So I am excited despise MW5 flaws. I just hope at least in the next main MW title, PGI for their shortcomings, add more immersive things that even previous titles had and is baked in from ground up with modder cooperation and intensives without mods, though open for extensive modding still🤝 Birthday Truck list em up in his constructive critique of MWO+ MW5. A few examples:: ❗️Improved immersive soundscape. More Oomph, swoosh, zaps, tsugs, rattata, dakka, swish. Getting hit by different weapons should make impact sounds be different ❗️If very story driven, different outcomes to singel lore-canon accurate results/ consequences, if more MW mercs games, much better and meaningful sandbox ❗️ Improved in-game economics be it story or merc ❗️Use of more lances/ stars if not more mission types that encourage NOT to go ALL 4 x max ton mechs ❗️ Combined armored vehicles, air, land, infantry etc. Independent of more than one Lance/ Star ❗️Better mixed music tracks of electronica, rock, metal, orchestra and not least eeerie athmospheric music. Its a brutal, dark setting ❗️MW3 esque aiming ❗️Shot up leg make limp ❗️You can fall over and get up ❗️INFANTRY ❗️Mobile Field Bases + stationary ones through some missions not only scripted ❗️MW3 style mission briefings ❗️HTAL HUD options +++ ❗️Visually Enter/ exit cockpit of mechs ( even MW5 demo kinda.. and MA 2 had it! ) ❗️Cockpit glass being damaged even shattered, dmg marks can be semi-emrandom placed but correctly stem from the different weapont types and variants ❗️Visible ejection + continue on foot! ❗️Even more improved dmg scarring in-outside cockpit, visual effects aka armor melting, jagged metal, sparks etc ❗️Dropships!! Instead of end-mission teasers!! Overlord, Union and many others exist ❗️More In depth mech loadouts, roles, specs. I agree with hardlocked engines to be authentic/ immersive this is NOT and should NOT be MWO! Could be an optional setting/ mode, pros + cons if so for both IS a d Clan Lastly I would wish for HBS Battletech 2 and Mech Commander 3 HBS could with support do both series!
I would say Mechwarrior 3 had a much better story that mechwarrior 5. I enjoy mechwarrior 5, but the characters just all feel bland. the mission briefings in mechwarrior 3 felt like there was weight.
Umm...dude. Going back to Win 95 from Win 11 would be an absolute dream come true. Back to XP or 7/8 would be even better, but still even 95 would be an improvement over to 10/11.
@@canisblackWell you'll certainly be in the minority there! 😂 Either way, perhaps a better analogy might be MW5 Mercs is to MWO what The Phantom Menace is to The Empire Strikes back. I don't know anyone who thinks MW5 Mercs is a good game.
If they make a new MWO, I will want to see them let banned people play again because most of us have spent so much time money and our mental on MWO and now can't play again. I only hope that they find a way to make MWO better or redesign it into a new game wither it be without us or with us. And when I mean "banned people" I mean the people who were Perma banned for something that we shouldn't have rather than have all of the banned people come back that actually deserved the bans. Lastly, I think that if they were to create a new MWO, I would like to see a better MM, a healthier community base and more communication from the DEVS, cauldron to the community even if I can't be playing, I always loved MWO and hope that you guys can improve it!.
so other banned people are bad, but u are oke and need to be unbanned. because u get to decide that what u did is oke, but what other people did is bad. u are the special kind of guy that breaks the rules and thinks u wont get cout, then when u get cout the punishment is to harsh. because u are special and u dont desrerve the punishment. the other bad guy's do but not u. you are just he right kind of banned player that deserve a second chance, but the others not. they are the real bad players, not like u. no u get to break the rules and get away with it. because we want to give cheaters a second chance to cheat ones more. u f*** the other players of the game before and now u want them to let u do it again. actions have consequences, you MWO account is gone and all the money u had spend. and it was all YOU. please cry now.
@@est189 For instance, I got banned for having reshade in my game files, the ban before that was having a tunning.cfg in game files which half of the player base has. Note that even some comp players did the same things as me and aren't banned.
The reason IMHO as to why Epic isn't what it could have been is cause it SUX, it's 2023 and if you have to format or change from say 10 to 11 you have to redownload the whole flaming game again, a small update is needed and it wants the space of the whole game plus the update on top it's just a major PITA, and as such I refuse to purchase any game from them till that's changed, and I know lots of other people who're in the same boat! And they refuse to fix it.
@@PSYCOMMUnist I think you are confused. If I were to say "Russ has a full face twitch doesn't he look _____?" or something disparaging along those lines THAT would be making fun of him. I didn't do that. What I am saying is that I have never trusted him (even before he proved to be dishonest) and that perhaps his body language is a tell. It could very well be a neurological disorder but the feeling I get is that it is a tell. Also, perhaps you are somewhat new and are not aware that he has been dishonest in that past? Now that would not excuse making fun of a condition but again, not what I was doing.
Cryengine is notoriously complex and a pain. Transfering engines, even relatively well used ones such as Unreal, Unity, Frostbite or IdTech, is a royaly pain in the ass. Now you add in Cryengines history and how much of a bitch it is and that pain of transferring things just multiplied 100 fold. Really theyd have a easier time just taking the framework of MW5 and adding and adjusting things to work like MWO.
MW5 was unreal engine 4, the step to unreal engine 5 is a babystep compared to porting something as old as a cryengine game to unreal. That's like making a new game from scratch
I am cautiously optimistic that PGI will FINNALY get good voice actors. And if they cant, I'M AN ACTOR, WHY DONT THEY HIT ME UP?! ILL WORK FOR FREE AD INFINIUM.
Look, mechassault wasnt a great game, but it was fun, and it did great story telling to a degree too! What if we just rehashed the Jihad timeline, which are basically where the mechassult games fall?
Russ: Mech 5 Mercs is the best Mech game. What the actual heck ! Mech 5 is 5/10 at best. The fact that Russ says it with such confidence is pathetic. Its a minimally viable product. Clans is going to be another shameless cash grab by PGI. The fans will fall for the false promises once again. I'm waiting for MechWarrior under PGI to have a Starfield type Bethesda fans awakening. That game really highlighted just how incapable that studio despite having all the cash was incapable of writing a good story. PGI is worse, in their own words they're a tech studio😂. Well, the narrative of Mech 5 shows that.
Let's be honest. MW5 Mercs is awful and a HUGE backward step from MWO. It's only got some good reviews because they were probably paid for or written by the devs. At best it's a 5/10. The mechanics in MW5 are clunky, the graphics and environments look terrible, the level of immersion low, the depth of the game shallow, the UI is basic and the soundtrack instantly forgetable. Most importanly for a single player game the story was utterly pathetic and the gameplay repetitive and boring. BattleTech (the PC game) was far superior to MW5 and an example of good story telling. Piranha Games you have to look at MWO and BattleTech as the templates for this new game. You just need to copy MWO making improvements here and there which will free you up to focus on story telling and immersion. Stop listening to people who say MW5 Mercs was good. It was not. It still is not. It's shit. I'm sorry to be frank about it but we all want this next one to be good. Please don't let us down again like you did with MW5 Mercs!
You're nuts if you think the low res textures in MWO look better then what's in MW5. Lots of reasons to critique MW5 but saying the graphics look worse then MWO is definitely not one of them lol
@@TimberWulfIsHere You could've fooled me! And besides who cares if it's 'technologically' more advanced, the gameplay is paramount. I'm personally not interested in playing a modded game - it's not THE game is it? I'm sure many others feel the same. Ever stopped to wonder why Phil streams MWO way more often than MW5?
pleeeeeeas change your minde and call it mech 6. why limit yourself white a name that look way to muts like a simplel DLC pack and not use the number 6. no one wil take the time to find out it is a unreal 5 game insted of unreal 4. no one wil take the time to find out its more story driven and less generatid maps. no one wil take the time to look for a singel second as soon as a singel braincel go's "if seen this before in 2019" every one will skip it becouse u are selling more of the same. becouse u name it like it is more of the same. the meck comunety wil know but other people dont. u know how important a good inpresion is becouse u put the timberwolf on the frunt cover. why name it after a 5 year old game that is not even in the same game engine. if u like 5 u probebly like 6. if u some what liked 5 but it had some stuff u didnt like u probebly like 6 if u like 5 do u want more 5? if u some what liked 5 but it had some stuff u didnt do u want more 5? 5 years later? no. i will not be able to get enny one of my friends to play mech5 clans, i can tel them it is new but the old name screams more of the old game and i berly liket it 5 years ago. i will be able to get my friends to tale atleast a look if it is named mech6 clans. if noting better is out we may give it a try. pleease russ, dont shoot yourself in the foot. i underdtand thet mech5 clans makes sense in your head. and your explanation u gave has some logich to it. but in current year u only get the smallest little chance to make a impresion. u NEED viral marketing. u need youtube, twitch and the rest they wil not take the time to finde out it is a new game, and then try to convince there audience to play a 5 year old game. please dont make it harder to sell that it need to be going from 5 tot 6 is a good story for twitter haiters to give some free exposure. it is stande alone. it is unreal 5. its more story focust instead of open space map. why name it like its one of the DLC,s? i was a long time MWO player and played MW5. i saw the leak and i was under the inpresion it was DLC. i needit to read it multipel times to understand it is not DLC. if it whowd up on my steam news page i whud have ignord it gecoude i do nont want MW5 DLC. and u hud have skipt it. i mean MW5 clans is DLC, how can it not be. it is MW5 and a dlc name. how can it be a new game if it has the MW5 name. like is there a law that u need to reuse a number if the game is kinde of similer? and think of the exposire. a, more of thet game, naaa that was my reaction. o its a new game with a new engine and a diterent focus? u need a new name to scream thet it is new. no one folows any thing. no one reads anything. u get 4 secons on the start up on steam and that is it. if u need to put in effert to find out that it is some thing u may like insted of more of the same u have failed. if a infuwencer or steamer is loking to do someting diferent from the rest in the hope of finding the next fallguy's gaving a name that screams expancion is stupid. TLDR, call it 6........it feels 6 it looks 6 just name it 6. just do it Russ, dont think about it. just do it
I agree; when i first read the leak, i was under the impression it is just a big DLC for mw5. If the gsme is really as big as hes saying, why not call it 6? Or why not just: Mechwarrior 6:Clans 😂
Mech games have had no story: bruh, no offense but the game you made has the weakest story elements of any mech game since 2. Acting like story is brand new tells me that youve learned literally nothing from the stories from prior games... I find that low key disrespectful. Play the mods for mw5 and get some ideas for things like pilot skill mechanics. Play mw3 again for story. It has a lot to learn from.
All timestamps are approximate:
0:00:00 Preview of topics
0:02:00 Start of interview
0:02:50 What was the MW5:Clans leak like for you?
0:07:15 Why Clan Smoke Jaguars? Inspiration for the approach to the story
0:14:45 Why not call it MW:6? touching on some design intent differences vs MW5:Mercs also
0:24:45 Russ defines narration in the context of MW5:Clans and storytelling in contrast to MW5:Mercs
0:29:30 Discussion on PGI's approach to human character creation
0:31:30 Does Unreal Engine 5 additions help with optimization/performance? Additional discussion of which consoles will be supported
0:37:00 MW5:Mercs approach to story worked - why change to a more story driven linear and bespoke campaign?
0:47:45 Are we moving away from cookie cutter "game modes" per mission?
0:50:00 Are there plans for non-campaign co-op content like horde battle modes/etc?
0:51:40 How does MW5:Clans approach replayability?
0:54:30 TMC/Hired Steel: do they have continuing involvement beyond the teaser?
0:58:15 What will mod support look like?
1:03:40 What does the future of PvP look like for PGI and MechWarrior?
1:08:00 Commentary on the EG7 slide
1:11:15 How are talks with MicroSoft for the MechWarrior License?
1:16:00 Discussion on how PGI has developed IP vs HBS moving away from BattleTech
1:20:00 What's your perspective on Epic and Steam, and volume vs merchant cut?
1:23:40 Commentary on MechAssault, contrasted vs MW5 and some commentary on MW5:Clans mechlab and barriers to non-hardcore mech fans
1:31:15 Some discussion on the evolution of mechlabs over the years of MechWarrior
1:36:15 How will 2024 compare to 2023 for MWO? Some discussion on how single player content benefits MWO
1:40:35 Is the door open for the community to ask for specific types of engineered changes (rather than XML changes) a la matchmaker, etc?
1:47:00 Commentary on whether matchmaker and skill tree are actually in a position to be meaningfullly improved
1:51:00 Is there talk of the possibility of another Mech Con?
1:54:30 How do EG7 and MicroSoft factor into PGI's decisions on what to develop going forward?
1:58:00 Commentary on how players and fans including Phil and Russ's relationship have evolved over the years
2:01:00 Last thoughts
Thanks!
What I REALLY want for Clans is to be a combination of everything good from Mech 2, 3, 4, and 5 including each games expansions. Not only just a good story and characters we get invested in, but I want the tone of the game to NOT be loaded with modern social interpretations. I want Clans to feel like a true 1980s 1990s intensity with no fear of being extreme, offensive, in your face, revelling in the Clans true views and honor. I don't want some sappy your player is against their Clan and just goes along with it, I want their character to love what they do. Besides that, I want Clans to have lots of weapons, equipment, Mech roaster, other military assets, to have a command map, better customization, real character pilots, no waste of time walking around a dropship and barely talk to 3 people, I want pre-planning for missions, i want autopilot and waypoints, huge maps, there is so much more to say but like I said I want Mech 5 Clans to be a combination of everything good from every Mech game. I hope the story is better than the Gambit, because honestly the story was BAD and I will pass it up when I play again
Thank you for taking the time to reach out to Russ. Also thank you Russ for your time. Content like this is very appreciated. Overall much perfer honest talks about the development process rather than hype peices.
i might be the only one wanting this but i would love PGI to revive the mechcommander series like they did with mechwarrior
Dedicate a small PGI team to it, doesn't need to be a huge game. basically a spin-off indie game (in it's scope), hammer down the gameplay and make a short campaign, see how it sells for like 19,99 and evaluate if it warrants more resources. hardcore mechcommander gamers will buy no matter what which should cover the costs. Deal, PGI? :)
Honestly? What with modern computing power, and the top-down perspective of MechCommander being very akin to an RTS (just without most of the economy aspects of those games), it would be really cool for MechCommander 3 to be capable of Regiment vs Galaxy battles, on-screen. That would be something new that we've never had in any battletech game, digital or otherwise. (It's been too time consuming or processor hungry to fight hundreds of 'mechs against each other).
Who wouldn't want more mech games? Diversity is always good. I would enjoy both a mechcommander and/or rts battletech/mechwarrior game(s)
No, pgi doesn't need to ruin another battletech game
You are certainly not alone
MWO needs more truely global chat channels in game.
Community is how you keep ONLINE games together.
Hey Phil, I’m loving and playing MW / BT for decades meanwhile. Thanks for your content and especially for interviews like that. I believe that this is one key element to give our small community some kind of anchor and to keep this all alive.
lol to say that MW5 told the best story of past mechwarrior games is a tall tale when there is stuff out there like MW4 Vengance/Black Knight&Mercs as well as MW3 which all told a better story and allowed for players to chose more about the outcome than MW5 ever will.
Hoping this is going to be a storyline taking you from your trial of position all the way up to Tukayyid, with all the psycho warrior stuff you'd expect from the Smoke Jags.
Not only that, but I hope each DLC expansion is a new campaign as each Clan
Russ April 2020: We think letting premade comp teams roflstomp casual solo players will fix matchmaker.
Russ May 2020: Letting premade comp teams roflstomp casual solo players has completely fixed matchmaker forever.
Russ October 2023: Ok, we admit, match maker is broken and beyond repair and the casual solo players we drove away cost us enough revenue that there's nothing we can do.
Yeah, that's what I took away too. Well, with one difference, I guess: While it's obvious to _me_ what the biggest problem with MM is, I'm honestly not sure Russ understands that. Nothing I heard him say sounded to me like: "I realize that putting groups into "soloq" has made MM worse."
@@SaltyPuglord exactly, he laments not being able to attract casual players but rather than look at what actually drove away casual players, he arbitrarily blames things like torso twisting and mechlab. He seems incapable of realizing that letting premade comp teams roflstomp casual solo players was anything but a positive panacea for matchmaker.
Whats the time stamp?
Well... they tried their insistance till well went dry. PGI gotta get kudos for being headstrong until something REALLY dont work. It coyld be worse like... not giving up on it
Lmao, that was happening during the closed beta, and never stopped. PGI never had the mental horsepower to handle a game like MW.
Having loved the MW5 sandbox and combination with story DLCs, what I'm curious about is what happens after the Clans initial release. What would DLC be like for it? More story following that character? Hopping to other stories like MW2: GBL did? More modes for instant action? I actually think there is a lot of potential for modes... I know Russ said "maybe the next game", but that leaves the question of DLC open.
21:55 Mechwarrior 4 had a deeper, more impactful story than MW5.
Russ looks about as done with MWO as most who played it.
Apparently everyone gets sudden amnesia when talking about storytelling in a MW game and forgets Mechwarrior 4 exists...
I like mech 5, but come on. MW5 story telling was horseshit. We have now heard the director stick by the storytelling methods of mech 5 with a straight face. Not looking good.
I enjoy Rihanna and the actual lore stuff and basically everyone that isn't the protagonist or a crewmate (shut the fuck up Fahad I almost just died.) It's just the whole Mason thing that's insufferable and completely unlikable. Who wants to journey through space as a guy who'd have a bunch of 'hot takes' on Twitter in-between eating cheese doodles and drinking light beer watching his favorite NFL team lose games? @@jonathanstrobl2247
@@jonathanstrobl2247 Russ never actually said MW5 had a good story, he said that there's more story content than any previous MechWarrior game, potentially barring BATTLETECH if you count it. He very specifically tip-toed around saying anything about the quality of the story, but repeated stuck to talking about the quantity.
Bring us Mechwarrior 3 level of storytelling. I think it was the best of the entire franchise.
I'm still curious if Mech5 Clans is going to be sold on GOG. I bought the original Mech5 there and I'm much prefer buying it there as it's my preferred game store.
Same. I'm ok with Steam, but I'd prefer GOG.
It's really cool that the CEO appreciates the awesomeness of open map exploration even if it's just new missions and new stores. If they could add a feature at the end of campaign or start of the career where you're able to change the map by engaging in key battles, that would be amazing.
Yeah, another Mechcon would be great. Russ puts on a good party and the community is tons of fun to hang out with.
So long as the hardcore fans remain I don't think there'll be any problems bringing out a new product. Over they years I've spent hundreds on MWO mechs and have all the DLC's for MW5 and while they may not compare to the massive budget, big hitting titles from the Microsoft days the fact PGI are stalwart in holding the torch is enough for me to continue supporting the beloved franchise. They are getting better at what they do and it has been great to watch over the years. Thanks for the great podcast I really enjoyed it. 👍
Uh... MechWarrior 3 had the best narrative campaign, hands down, without question. That was its major strong suit. The acting was probably some of the best in any MW game, ever. MW4: Vengeance tried to follow that up, and did a decent enough job, just with maybe slightly worse acting. I think Black Knight improved on the acting, again.
That said, ever since I played Mass Effect and then started playing MWO, I've been interested in Mass Effect in the Battletech universe, that level of Battletech RPG. If PGI can deliver on that (even if they don't get the facial animations quite right), that will be an epic adveture, and I'll be very eager to play that. After what happened with MW5: Mercs, however, I'll be waiting for the initial reviews...
Lastly, I seriously hope that MW5: Clans will include the Fire Moth. It's been long awaited since it was excluded from MWO.
You should ask about Arrow IV for MW5 Mercs. Many of the maps are perfect for its range. Especially if tube artillery can shoot at you, you should be able to fire at them to suppress them.
I'd buy an all in one game that combined PVE and PVP. If it was everything I ever wanted in MW I'd be happy to. Like I've said before the lore is there for endless DLC and a really good PvP aspect would only serve to complete it. I see it as a win-win for the fans and PGI from a business perspective.
Most questions Phill asks, the answers seems to end up at point about dollars. That kind of pops some red flags for me personally. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like Russ is answering questions that a publisher asked and not a fan of the IP.
MWO "Future", the answer is "none" innit?
Stoked.
So freakin' stoked,
I can't wait to see the story come to life. This is the ultimate in fan service you guys. I'm a customer & a patron for life.
When I think storytelling in a battletech game I think of Heavy Gear...
Yes I know it's not.
Wish that narrative love was in a real-time battletech game.
i was wondering why clans was a stand alone game, im really excited for it now, you should have asked russ, after a period of time will there be a dlc for mw5 with clans?
Why wouldn't it
It would be awesome if you could play as trent, bouldar ,paul moon ,
me and all my friends would buy a PSVR2 Mechwarrior Clans it would be a dream come true, with the new tech of eye tracking we could be like in the lore with the neurohelment to just look at a mech and shoot it. PLEASE MAKE THIS
Somebody clip Russ saying "what it is" so we can use that as a greeting.
A Mechwarrior RPG would be ultimate.
You know this.
Yea!
Is the AI going to be dumb as rocks in Mechwarrior 5: Clans? Hoping for the true Clan experience, so...fingers crossed.
My big ask is for Piranha to work on scale. Cause although I appreciate big robots, I think they're getting a bit too exaggerated.
My most anticipated game.
You stay the hell away from my mechlab, Phil! PGI knows we want the full system. Why do you think everyone plays with BTA, Roguetech, and YAML?
Mwo needs small squad coop pve campaigns where you bring your mwo mechs. MWO maps are too shallow and the full single player company game doesn't allow friends to bring their mechs and skill progression. Need PVE MMO for Mechwarrior! Like 1 hr missions.
I would love a Mechwarrior PvE MMO.
I want my Fucking Catapult Doors, not missile tips fuckin glued to the outside of a fixed door. I also want my FUCKIN KING CRAB CLAWS TO FUCKIN OPEN AND CLOSE TOO!!!!!
There is a mod for it in nexus mods! However i do understand it should have been in the game in release!!! I dont understand why they weren't there in the first place
I'm at 11:50 or so and getting some KOTOR vibes, i.e. the option to commit the war crimes, but not necessarily the obligation. Could be a cool mechanic with some crusader vs. warden leanings getting you different perks.
The boogeyman Mechassault has been mentioned lmao. I agree with a lot of what was said. It was my introduction to the franchise i never would have dove so deep into it without that game series. I find the MW series significantly more fun and interesting and the MA gameplay to just be silly light fun, but MW is fucking DAUNTING from a new player perspective.
It took me a loooong time to make the jump from MA to MW because so many aspects are simply unapproachable. The mechlab in MW5 is too simplified and i prefer the lab in MWO, but trying to get any of my friends interested has never worked because they see the mechlab and dont feel its worth the time to learn. I fully support having different levels of depth for different players, such as a very simple mechlab that breadcrumbs you towards the MWO system.
You are a really good interviewer Phil. You let your guests speak without trying to talk over them, which is kind of rare :) And Russ seems a lot more relaxed than in the last interview which is really good too.
With all the questions regarding stories, I was surprised you never asked if this new story would fill in the Merc story arc. For example, what was the background or history with commander mason Sr.!
Russ thinks mw5 having the best narrative.... What the actual...
What? WHAT?
I think he means on the line of speaking character story not just story. Of course Merc 5 wasn't the best story of all the games but when you do look back most of the games are either loaded with text, have spoken parts or not enough or at all character development. I agree with you
I disagree with the idea that MW5 has the best narrative, but I do agree that they've never had much a narrative. Any coolness of narrative has been inherited from the overall Battletech plot, but all the characters have always been minimalist archetypes. Traitor uncle, grizzled mercenary, etc. MW3's and MC's parts of Operation Bulldog and Serpent were cool ... because that's a cool Battletech narrative. The games occasionally had some nice or funny voice acting, but that's it (Duncan Fisher, Unther "Deadeye") . MW4's little family squabble was cool, but I barely remember it.
Within that (spoilers!) finding out that your dad was a clanner and getting into a drawn out fight with ComStar is actually not a bad little twist to the classic revenge story. So While MW5 might not be great, it's not exactly competing with amazing sagas.
What MW5 does terribly - and to his credit, Russ addresses this directly - is complex missions that reflect the story. Because of the procedural system, it's harder to tell story *during* the gameplay using the missions themselves. The DLCs have worked around this somewhat, and even have some much larger battles that almost feel like you're part of an army, but the procedural systems mean that what goes on in gameplay is very limited. There are neat custom maps (fighting inside that warship in Kestrel Lancers was cool!) and custom voice overs, but still the same objectives and formulas. Bespoke, fully hand-crafted missions might do wonders for the game.
Great interview. Glad to see Mech Warrior is in good hands.
The story telling has been verrrry much top down... Like a history show.
Its the opposite of immersion.
What is immersive is getting a realistic perspective. Your star trusting information to be true when its not essentially true. Only knowing knowledge that you would have access to. Only having access to important historical characters the way a normal person would. Having varying perspectives inside your own community.
Its like being a pawn on a chessboard but understanding the strategy and moves from the person playing the match of chess... Not just the perspective of yourself as the pawn.
I would love to have some of these story campaigns set in the FWL. Only major house that didn't get any love in the video games (so far)
it was kinda both interesting and I learnt nothing new, exept minor things (Russ tell Microsoft about all new MW stuff; MW6 gets Instant Action)
Great podcast Phil. I only ever got to go to the first MechCon but I loved the intimate feel to it. I would absolutely love to see that come back.
I'd love a mech 5 freeLC: 'Wolf's Dragoons' for anyone who pre-orders / buys clans:
* Adds a custom start date / location as dragoons
* Dragoons get janky star league era mechs, great pilots
* Campaign is a ticking clock to scout (complete missions for/against factions in various regions of the sphere)
* 1-2 narrative missions to give pre-invasion lore (maybe mission 0 is a simple batchall to be selected)
* Add clan mechs to game data (patched into dlc after clans release)
* Adds clan character models for use in mech5 (patched into dlc after clans release)
An excuse to backport assets for modders to legally use em and avoid massive mod sizes + a pre-release excuse to get back into a mechwarrior
My hope is that I get to play an unrepentant Clan Warcrimes person. I don't want to be the good guy. I want to laugh as I evaporate Turtle Bay!
I just wish you could play as clans in the sandbox and run the war on the inner sphere as a star leader. Shit, jst add the clans to it and let ppl figure it out. I have np using clan tech as a merch, siding w the clans, and acting as if i was a unit sent in ahead of the invasion. Thats how i play roguetech
Or even have the choice to play from one of the houses against the clans.
Re: Storyline narrative - seems you guys are selectively dismissing MW4:Mercs - that had voice acting and command animattions before EVERY mission and many of them had ending debriefs too. I was expecting that to continue in MW5:Mercs but what they gave us was pathetic.
Mercs with clans and a few more mission types, maybe a bit better ai and squad commands, would be the ultimate game. I feel like linear is a step back, one and done no reason for a second, third, and def not more playthroughs
If you listen to the investor calls they sort of insinuate that we’re a good cow to keep milking
So expect a another Merc game but they will establish the clans first
Exactly the only way they can can get replayability at that point is by making PVP, I mean If your going to do a whole different game, it needs to be as replayable as mercs.
The only thing that I felt disappointing was the stupid large, medium, and small slots for all weapons, and no engine swap modifications. I hoped the weapon tiers would make up for it but It did not. Ultimately the story gameplaywise. I felt that I was riding a roller coaster through time and events that I as a player don't get to change or have an impact in. Other than as some background spectator mission. It's good to go down memory lane in the Innersphere but I want to continue the story further make things happen and shape things anew. For MW5 Clans I want them to throw out the current Slot and weapon Teirs ideas. As we are going to deal with OmniMechs I don't want to be stuck in aTimber Wolf with an Omni Pod with a large EN Slot for an ER-Large Laser and a Small Slot for an ER Small Laser. When I want to Swap them out for 2 Medium Pulse Lasers. For the Love of GOD! Do NOT! DO what you did in MWO and give set bonuses to Omni Pods. Give each Omni Pod their own set of perks by themselves and make the perks cover what type of weapons that the Omni Pod can carry. example: No, 20% Cooldown on UAC/2, Make it 20% Cooldown on Ballistic weapons. Also get rid of the tedious cantina missions. I find my self pulled outta the immersion having to hunt BS things to get perks for builds. The finally request is don't make it Epic Games exclusive again. I waited for MW5:Mercs to come to steam and I felt it wasn't worth the wait for reason above.
I'm getting contradictory reports on Mechwarrior 5 Clans.
Is Mechwarrior 5 Clans a DLC that you play on Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries?
Or is it a separate game entirely?
Diff game
I just want mwLL with mw5 graphics
Number of times the word "..like.." was repeated without meaning in this vid: 2364. I counted.
It was closer to 2784 times before i took my exodus of this video
A shame they don’t upgrade MWO or include PVP in clans. I find playing against AI generally boring unless a really good story line is there. Path of Exile is being ported over to Path of Exile 2 and I thought that was a great idea. Should do the same for MWO.
Cool interview but will someone please do a short summary? Russ talks in circles so much I just can't listen to him without my attantion drifting off. I made it roughly an hour in but that is as far as I can go.
I think we're due an update soon!
I think this is gonna be very interesting in MW5-C because there's very very few games that show things from the baddies point of view. Best one I can think of is the TIE Fighter game, you're an Imperial Navy fighter pilot, a servant of the Empire which is NOT a nice happy fun place. But you're not off kicking puppies or stealing candy, you're fighting rebels and dissidents, your character isn't 'stache twirlingly EEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil.
So what will it be for us as Jags, there could a case where its a case of "Warrior Dave, these lower caste scum are refusing to obey their betters. Destroy them." And its a case of these lower caste people being civilians on strike because they're starving. Do you then obey your Star Captain, or do you go "Neg." And challenge them to a Trial of Grievance and Possession over the matter?
Like in Malvina's Falcons, there were those Warriors of all ranks, up to Galaxy commander who were aghast at what Hazen did, and tried to hold true to their honour and duty. Will we get that chance? And, at the end, are we fated to die or become Bondsmen? Would we fall on Luthien, or Tukkayid? We'll have to see but i'm really looking forwards to what comes :)
And I totally agree with your point about showing things at the 'back end' because the Clan sibko system, especially in more extreme clans like the Jags basically raises its Warriors to be high functioning psychopaths. Someone insults you and accepts your challenge, then you're going to probably be killing someone if the insult was bad enough, and this is done with kids that are 16 years old + That's how the Clan's are the aliens of the setting, because their society is SO alien to ours, its like how the Ancient Greeks would view our society, they'd have nearly zero points of reference of us, nor we of them in their views and practices.
It sounds like MWO codebase has been poorly managed.. a lot of legacy code that no one wants to, or even can, touch.
It's just a bunch of tech that's far removed from industry standards now. Like UI built with flash pipeline that was a thing 10+ years ago just doesn't exist other than in legacy code, etc.
@@yrrot7 That is what confounds me. We always had websites like smurfys or others that handled the UI just fine with some kind of web-based interface. I remember how clunky their UI was from the beginning and while the one now is better when it comes to designing mechs, it's still very clunky for everything else.
@@AccessAccess the flash UI pipeline was sort of industry standard briefly when MWO was being built. So if your UI team was already using it in game, it made sense for them to just build the front end with it too.
Definitely did not stand the test of time.
The sandbox and proc gen makes it infinitely replayable
No it doesn't! It makes it boring and unplayable.
Despite many opposite opinions I personally second your verdict. Sure, the scripted maps and missions are far more exciting per se, but definitely not in repeated run throughs.
Basically MWO is more boring with the same maps and the same missions over and over again - yet people do not complain because just the single factor of random PvP makes MWO ininitely (re)playable.
I play(ed) all my MW titles over and over numerous times - just because I loved them, for me personally the sandbox and proc gen make the absolute difference. You never know the map in advance, you don't know the opositions spawn points. There are days when I play MW5 that I even refuse to take scripted missions - because I already know what's happening, know the mission map, know the enemy, which one is coming from where and when...and even the best story telling could change that.
bruh! Looking forward to playing Mech 5 Clans with my Sunday homies again.
Oh, Soundtrack. Please. 💫
So I will need a PS5 for clans, all I needed to know.
Shut up and take my money 🤣
Both Clans and more MW5 DLC, I'm full game for it.
⚠️ Wall of text incoming.. bring coffee!😂
So I am excited despise MW5 flaws. I just hope at least in the next main MW title, PGI for their shortcomings, add more immersive things that even previous titles had and is baked in from ground up with modder cooperation and intensives without mods, though open for extensive modding still🤝 Birthday Truck list em up in his constructive critique of MWO+ MW5. A few examples::
❗️Improved immersive soundscape. More Oomph, swoosh, zaps, tsugs, rattata, dakka, swish. Getting hit by different weapons should make impact sounds be different
❗️If very story driven, different outcomes to singel lore-canon accurate results/ consequences, if more MW mercs games, much better and meaningful sandbox
❗️ Improved in-game economics be it story or merc
❗️Use of more lances/ stars if not more mission types that encourage NOT to go ALL 4 x max ton mechs
❗️ Combined armored vehicles, air, land, infantry etc. Independent of more than one Lance/ Star
❗️Better mixed music tracks of electronica, rock, metal, orchestra and not least eeerie athmospheric music. Its a brutal, dark setting
❗️MW3 esque aiming
❗️Shot up leg make limp
❗️You can fall over and get up
❗️INFANTRY
❗️Mobile Field Bases + stationary ones through some missions not only scripted
❗️MW3 style mission briefings
❗️HTAL HUD options +++
❗️Visually Enter/ exit cockpit of mechs ( even MW5 demo kinda.. and MA 2 had it! )
❗️Cockpit glass being damaged even shattered, dmg marks can be semi-emrandom placed but correctly stem from the different weapont types and variants
❗️Visible ejection + continue on foot!
❗️Even more improved dmg scarring in-outside cockpit, visual effects aka armor melting, jagged metal, sparks etc
❗️Dropships!! Instead of end-mission teasers!! Overlord, Union and many others exist
❗️More In depth mech loadouts, roles, specs. I agree with hardlocked engines to be authentic/ immersive this is NOT and should NOT be MWO! Could be an optional setting/ mode, pros + cons if so for both IS a d Clan
Lastly I would wish for HBS Battletech 2 and Mech Commander 3 HBS could with support do both series!
I would say Mechwarrior 3 had a much better story that mechwarrior 5. I enjoy mechwarrior 5, but the characters just all feel bland. the mission briefings in mechwarrior 3 felt like there was weight.
if the mechwarrior community did not jump in and mod mw5 mercs, it would have failed.the vanilla game was/is a failure
Not kidding about no engineering support. MWO has been down, including forums, all day.
Why does Russ look like he's about to give up on everything? Dude gives major depressive vibes...
He is more done with MWO than people who quit when the clans were introduced
@@harackmw poor guy. Needs transverse lol
@@the_astrokhan
They better not botch this one like they did MW5 Mercs. MW5 Mercs was a diabolical travesty - it was like going back to Windows 95 from Windows 11.
Umm...dude. Going back to Win 95 from Win 11 would be an absolute dream come true. Back to XP or 7/8 would be even better, but still even 95 would be an improvement over to 10/11.
@@canisblackWell you'll certainly be in the minority there! 😂 Either way, perhaps a better analogy might be MW5 Mercs is to MWO what The Phantom Menace is to The Empire Strikes back. I don't know anyone who thinks MW5 Mercs is a good game.
I think a Twin Stick Shooter would lend itself so well to the Mechwarrior IP.
With the mods in Clans, as long as we can replace all the MWO mechs with classic models, then the game should be perfect.
This man blinks with his whole face
Wow...Russ really gets the product he's been building for all these years. As one of his customers, respect.
Idea:
Nonlethal weapons, and Enferno SRM's,
I have ZERO interest in the new "pay to win" mech game that replaced MWO. How do I stop these youtube recommendations...
If they make a new MWO, I will want to see them let banned people play again because most of us have spent so much time money and our mental on MWO and now can't play again. I only hope that they find a way to make MWO better or redesign it into a new game wither it be without us or with us. And when I mean "banned people" I mean the people who were Perma banned for something that we shouldn't have rather than have all of the banned people come back that actually deserved the bans. Lastly, I think that if they were to create a new MWO, I would like to see a better MM, a healthier community base and more communication from the DEVS, cauldron to the community even if I can't be playing, I always loved MWO and hope that you guys can improve it!.
Other than cheating, what other reasons were people banned?
so other banned people are bad, but u are oke and need to be unbanned.
because u get to decide that what u did is oke, but what other people did is bad.
u are the special kind of guy that breaks the rules and thinks u wont get cout, then when u get cout the punishment is to harsh.
because u are special and u dont desrerve the punishment.
the other bad guy's do but not u.
you are just he right kind of banned player that deserve a second chance, but the others not.
they are the real bad players, not like u.
no u get to break the rules and get away with it.
because we want to give cheaters a second chance to cheat ones more.
u f*** the other players of the game before and now u want them to let u do it again.
actions have consequences, you MWO account is gone and all the money u had spend.
and it was all YOU.
please cry now.
@@est189 For instance, I got banned for having reshade in my game files, the ban before that was having a tunning.cfg in game files which half of the player base has. Note that even some comp players did the same things as me and aren't banned.
The reason IMHO as to why Epic isn't what it could have been is cause it SUX, it's 2023 and if you have to format or change from say 10 to 11 you have to redownload the whole flaming game again, a small update is needed and it wants the space of the whole game plus the update on top it's just a major PITA, and as such I refuse to purchase any game from them till that's changed, and I know lots of other people who're in the same boat! And they refuse to fix it.
I want to pop it
I've never trusted Russ. From his full face twitch to his long non answers he just feels... I don't know, shifty?
That's cool making fun of people for what could be a neurological or other medical issue. You seem like a real stand up guy.
@@PSYCOMMUnist I think you are confused. If I were to say "Russ has a full face twitch doesn't he look _____?" or something disparaging along those lines THAT would be making fun of him. I didn't do that. What I am saying is that I have never trusted him (even before he proved to be dishonest) and that perhaps his body language is a tell. It could very well be a neurological disorder but the feeling I get is that it is a tell.
Also, perhaps you are somewhat new and are not aware that he has been dishonest in that past? Now that would not excuse making fun of a condition but again, not what I was doing.
I hope clans is a hit and fun pew pew. I hope pvp in the future one day 2027 lol
so they can port MW5 to a new engine but MWO still gets left on the shit that cry engine alright........
cuz they milked the MWO whales and they know it
It's not a port.
Ignorant argument.
Cryengine is notoriously complex and a pain. Transfering engines, even relatively well used ones such as Unreal, Unity, Frostbite or IdTech, is a royaly pain in the ass. Now you add in Cryengines history and how much of a bitch it is and that pain of transferring things just multiplied 100 fold. Really theyd have a easier time just taking the framework of MW5 and adding and adjusting things to work like MWO.
MW5 was unreal engine 4, the step to unreal engine 5 is a babystep compared to porting something as old as a cryengine game to unreal. That's like making a new game from scratch
the story and the plot in MW5 was crap and boring. I hope the focus will be on the story of the game.
Award winning narrative
Not just story but massively improved gameplay across the board, Clans needs to be a combo of everything good from Mech 2, 3, 4 and 5.
No PvP till maybe but probably not 2027 is big poopoo.
I am cautiously optimistic that PGI will FINNALY get good voice actors. And if they cant, I'M AN ACTOR, WHY DONT THEY HIT ME UP?! ILL WORK FOR FREE AD INFINIUM.
I'm a stran
Russ should take any of his opinions and insights and do the exact opposite and he'd be on the right track.
if chris is involved, im out
Who's chris?
Look, mechassault wasnt a great game, but it was fun, and it did great story telling to a degree too! What if we just rehashed the Jihad timeline, which are basically where the mechassult games fall?
Russ: Mech 5 Mercs is the best Mech game.
What the actual heck ! Mech 5 is 5/10 at best. The fact that Russ says it with such confidence is pathetic. Its a minimally viable product. Clans is going to be another shameless cash grab by PGI. The fans will fall for the false promises once again. I'm waiting for MechWarrior under PGI to have a Starfield type Bethesda fans awakening.
That game really highlighted just how incapable that studio despite having all the cash was incapable of writing a good story.
PGI is worse, in their own words they're a tech studio😂. Well, the narrative of Mech 5 shows that.
They need a new mech artist
All piranha designs are garbage
I get so mad at both their games I alt f4 after 5 minutes
Let's be honest.
MW5 Mercs is awful and a HUGE backward step from MWO. It's only got some good reviews because they were probably paid for or written by the devs. At best it's a 5/10. The mechanics in MW5 are clunky, the graphics and environments look terrible, the level of immersion low, the depth of the game shallow, the UI is basic and the soundtrack instantly forgetable. Most importanly for a single player game the story was utterly pathetic and the gameplay repetitive and boring. BattleTech (the PC game) was far superior to MW5 and an example of good story telling.
Piranha Games you have to look at MWO and BattleTech as the templates for this new game. You just need to copy MWO making improvements here and there which will free you up to focus on story telling and immersion. Stop listening to people who say MW5 Mercs was good. It was not. It still is not. It's shit. I'm sorry to be frank about it but we all want this next one to be good.
Please don't let us down again like you did with MW5 Mercs!
You're nuts if you think the low res textures in MWO look better then what's in MW5.
Lots of reasons to critique MW5 but saying the graphics look worse then MWO is definitely not one of them lol
@@JR-rv8ww MWO looks WAAAY better. Perhaps on paper it shouldn't, but it 100% does. Just my opinion but I should add I know many others who agree.
@@JR-rv8wwthe textures are lower res but they use a certain type of material which makes the 2d environment look 3d.
Technologically wise, it's a lightyear ahead and mods address all issues you have with the game.
@@TimberWulfIsHere You could've fooled me! And besides who cares if it's 'technologically' more advanced, the gameplay is paramount. I'm personally not interested in playing a modded game - it's not THE game is it? I'm sure many others feel the same.
Ever stopped to wonder why Phil streams MWO way more often than MW5?
pleeeeeeas change your minde and call it mech 6.
why limit yourself white a name that look way to muts like a simplel DLC pack and not use the number 6.
no one wil take the time to find out it is a unreal 5 game insted of unreal 4.
no one wil take the time to find out its more story driven and less generatid maps.
no one wil take the time to look for a singel second as soon as a singel braincel go's "if seen this before in 2019"
every one will skip it becouse u are selling more of the same.
becouse u name it like it is more of the same.
the meck comunety wil know but other people dont.
u know how important a good inpresion is becouse u put the timberwolf on the frunt cover.
why name it after a 5 year old game that is not even in the same game engine.
if u like 5 u probebly like 6.
if u some what liked 5 but it had some stuff u didnt like u probebly like 6
if u like 5 do u want more 5?
if u some what liked 5 but it had some stuff u didnt do u want more 5?
5 years later?
no.
i will not be able to get enny one of my friends to play mech5 clans, i can tel them it is new but the old name screams more of the old game and i berly liket it 5 years ago.
i will be able to get my friends to tale atleast a look if it is named mech6 clans.
if noting better is out we may give it a try.
pleease russ, dont shoot yourself in the foot.
i underdtand thet mech5 clans makes sense in your head.
and your explanation u gave has some logich to it.
but in current year u only get the smallest little chance to make a impresion.
u NEED viral marketing.
u need youtube, twitch and the rest
they wil not take the time to finde out it is a new game, and then try to convince there audience to play a 5 year old game.
please dont make it harder to sell that it need to be
going from 5 tot 6 is a good story for twitter haiters to give some free exposure.
it is stande alone.
it is unreal 5.
its more story focust instead of open space map.
why name it like its one of the DLC,s?
i was a long time MWO player and played MW5.
i saw the leak and i was under the inpresion it was DLC.
i needit to read it multipel times to understand it is not DLC.
if it whowd up on my steam news page i whud have ignord it gecoude i do nont want MW5 DLC.
and u hud have skipt it.
i mean MW5 clans is DLC, how can it not be. it is MW5 and a dlc name.
how can it be a new game if it has the MW5 name.
like is there a law that u need to reuse a number if the game is kinde of similer?
and think of the exposire.
a, more of thet game, naaa
that was my reaction.
o its a new game with a new engine and a diterent focus?
u need a new name to scream thet it is new.
no one folows any thing.
no one reads anything.
u get 4 secons on the start up on steam and that is it.
if u need to put in effert to find out that it is some thing u may like insted of more of the same u have failed.
if a infuwencer or steamer is loking to do someting diferent from the rest in the hope of finding the next fallguy's gaving a name that screams expancion is stupid.
TLDR, call it 6........it feels 6 it looks 6 just name it 6.
just do it Russ, dont think about it.
just do it
I agree; when i first read the leak, i was under the impression it is just a big DLC for mw5. If the gsme is really as big as hes saying, why not call it 6?
Or why not just: Mechwarrior 6:Clans 😂
Mech games have had no story: bruh, no offense but the game you made has the weakest story elements of any mech game since 2. Acting like story is brand new tells me that youve learned literally nothing from the stories from prior games... I find that low key disrespectful.
Play the mods for mw5 and get some ideas for things like pilot skill mechanics. Play mw3 again for story. It has a lot to learn from.