MAV issues

LET'S TALK: NEW PLAYER EXPERIENCE, MARKETING, AND WHAT WE CAN DO

Hello, MAV community.  With 0.6.0 on the ever-approaching horizon and Cyber eager to get on that marketing push, I wanted to talk about what I see as MAV's biggest barriers to success at the moment, and then I'd like to talk about what we can do about it.  There's a couple of things that contribute to this.  They overlap a bit and I have a headache so I hope you'll forgive me if this sounds a bit wonky.  Also, I realize we've talked about this before and to some degree decided we need to wait for 0.6.0, but I felt that with some of these things, we can start working on them and have them in place for the release with only minimal work by Cyber.


ROLE DESIGN VS GAMESTATE

MAV's primary method of play is team v team role-based combat.  certain chassis and weapon types are better at certain things.  In a way, this is like TF2.  That said, MAV is not TF2 and has some key differences.

While TF2 is generally styled around a sort of tug-of-war combat, MAV's arenas are much more open.  MAV also lacks respawns in Siege mode: If you die, you's dead and that's that.  In addition, TF2's classes are generally balanced against each other.  Just about any class has a decent chance of 1v1ing another class, and if they don't they usually have some fairly substantial support or escape mechanisms.  MAV, on the other hand, assumes that MAVs like Hexes will simply melt if they're out of position/unlucky, and that Scouts will only attack larger MAVs with the support of friendly large MAVs.  This isn't a problem in and of itself.  While it can be frustrating to new players, most of them will catch on to their intended roll fast.  The issue comes around when we view MAV as-is, not as-will-be.

Currently, MAV gameplay is centered on free for all arena matches.  That isn't to say MAV is designed that way...that's just how it is.  Without servers populated with people running siege matches and without a dedicated single-player campaign, that is what people will see when they come into MAV.  Those who buy the game eagerly eyeing the scout MAVs or Hexes (ignoring treads ATM because of the buff that will be applied come 0.6.0) may end up rather upset that their cool, painstakingly crafted first build was just blown away by an AI that looks like a bird's nest built out of scrap from a warzone.  This gets even worse when they inevitably jump into a multiplayer match and find themselves sniped from off the map, stunlocked by shotguns and cannons, or blinded by missiles and flamethrowers.  They may never find their role, because their role effectively doesn't exist, at least not in a way that will win them matches.

What do we do about this?
-A single player campaign based around teaching people roles
-Links in-game to the MAV website to build awareness of the existence of community-based help
-tutorials and game resources, especially community-produced ones. (see http://bombdogstudios.com/forums/topic/garage-usability-a-growing-concern/ )
-Prebuilt sample MAVs


IN-GAME MECHANICS

For this brief section, I'd like to borrow some terminology from the MOBA scene.  "DOTA mechanics" is a term some friends of mine use to refer to DOTA and DOTA2's tendancy to have hidden mechanical elements.  Many of MAV's mechanics remain somewhat obscure to new players, in particular as they might relate to designing MAVs.  Camera placement and destruction could be an example, but so can the function of things like a weapon's impact.  This is nowhere near the problem that it is in DOTA2 (although those devs arguably see it as a feature, not a bug) but we can still improve on it greatly.

What do we do about this?
-A spreadsheet database might make comparing weapons and chassis types easier
-tutorials explaining weapon types and their functions, as well as pointing out the functions of 'different' weapon types (such as the Quad rockets or Bullot cannons)
-Tutorials explaining the mechanics of deployables and modules, in particular the interaction of Commander modules and uplinks.
-In the first slot of any weapon group, have it display "CAMERA" either off to the side or in the box before a weapon is assigned.


YOUTUBER AND REVIEWER ACCESSIBILITY

Cyber has fought the good fight in working to get Media-senpai to notice MAV-chan, but it looks like Media-senpai's attention is held fast by the bigger ballistics of the rest of Media's harem.  What can we do to support MAV-chan, lest she turn to Yandere Sim for inspiration?

The biggest issue here is indeed accessibility, but not in terms of getting hold of keys.  Big media sites really only care about something they can drum up viewers for and MAV doesn't have superflashy visuals, a dev with some sort of heartwrenching backstory, or an existing media frenzy they can latch on to.  Youtubers have to be able to take the game and make entertaining videos which presents some additional issues.  While 0.6.0 MAV looks better than ever, the gameplay itself may turn many interested parties away.  They can't guarantee people will be online for them to play with, and blowup up the AI isn't exactly prime entertainment material.  We might be able to convince some of them to do one-offs, but as a business decision it'd likely be wiser for them to explore a similar game that will bring in views based on the name alone.

What can we do about this, BESIDES giving Cyber brain damage and setting him up for a comeback worthy of the cheesiest 'based on a true story' feel-good Hollywood movie adaptations?
-Post on the forums or reddits of LPers about the game to get it on their radar
-Make a single-player campaign or 'challenge maps', anything to give them a way to make consistent content.  Remember, the more consistent different content they can get, the more likely they are to do a multi-part series.
- https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/27/6c/08/276c08a6e971381ca236e929022a2919.jpg When we feel confident that they'll be able to make videos (either because of a more active online community or due to single-player elements), BEG (Don't be annoying).  Many of these LPers work hard to be responsive to their fanbases.  If you know streamers who might be interested, tweet at them or use a request mechanism if they have one.  Make sure to mention that Cyber's willing to give out reviewer keys.  For Cyber's part, he can make sure to open a dialogue when they email him and try to get details on when they think they'll be checking out the game.  That'll give him a chance to get an initial pitch in and potentially head off any early issues ("Oh, by the way, we know howwies are broken right now.  I'm working on a fix but you may not want to use them if you play in the next week or two", and then it doesn't get bitched about onscreen when it's discovered by accident).
-If someone makes a video, be sure to check it out and give it a thumbs up.  Answer questions in the comments and make sure anyone sent here by the videos is given a friendly ol' welcome.


no tl;dr:
go read wall of text
anyone want to start organizing tutorials?
(I realize some people have already made tutorials and such, but more never hurts)