tl;dr : GoonsSwarm and IGP are responsible for third person view - more detail in the following text
Third person view has been extremely unpopular since its introduction into Mechwarrior Online, but I think it's important that players know the real story behind it.
I have it from verified, reliable inside-sources that we have none other than the GoonSwarm to thank for the inclusion of third person in the game. I know what you're thinking, but hear me out and you'll see how it all came about.
Inside sources have explained to me that there are goon-sympathizing people working in the testing group at IGP and that the goons have members inserted into the internal testing group that reviews all the game builds before they go live. In fact, goon operatives have been spotted at both the PGI, but more importantly, the IGP buildings. IGP sightings are more important because it is IGP and not PGI that does the internal testing and gives the go-ahead to release in-game features.
These inside operatives have worked in cooperation with the GoonSwarm leadership to coerce and intimidate PGI into their reversal on the third person view. How is that even possible?
When it comes to pure numbers, anyone with any experience with the Goonswarm knows that they have numbers on their side. The sheer number of in-game Squaaawk!-ing trolls bears witness to this, not to mention the number of alternate and sock-puppet accounts they also have at their disposal.
So a coordinated emailing campaign of unprecedented size (in MWO) began where the Word of Lowtax (goon) players began flooding the PGI devs and IGP representatives with requests for third person view.
This occurred at the same time as the inside operatives were making suggestions that it wasn't so bad and that with all the requests, it may be a good idea to move ahead with the idea of developing a third person alternative (see the soft-sell?) for those players who wanted it.
The thin edge of the wedge, now firmly inserted, the goon game testers in the internal group gave glowing reviews for the new system. Working toward a feedback loop fed by external requests and perpetuated by goons and goon sympathizers on the inside all of this culminating with the #savemwo open forum.
The developers, now firmly convinced that they would be losing this large, vocal subset of players began full development of third person and pushed back other in-game systems like UI 2.0 and community warfare. All this because of the Goonswarm and sympathizers in IGP.
Now I know what's going to happen after this post goes live. People will begin saying how the goons love this game and how some of their best friends are goons and that they're really nice guys and this is all nonsense and hyperbole. But nothing could be farther than the truth.
People who have been in other games that have been exposed to goons know one thing about the goons; the only thing better than winning as a goon is ruining someone else's gaming experience. The goons do not play the game for the same reasons as the average player. They play as trolls, unapologetically and openly. They want nothing more than to make the game un-fun for others while exploiting any in-game mechanics they can find. They want to beat you and rub your nose in it and tell you it's not their fault; that if only the game devs would fix these problems that they've been so kind as to demonstrate, the game would be both fun and fair.
For this reason, their leaders formulated a strategy. They sought to determine the best method of upsetting the battletech fans. First they found and adopted the Tetatae bird-aliens as their mascot (hence their Squaawk! battlecry). The Tetatae are the most-reviled characters of lore in battletech and generally considered non-canonical by Battletech enthusiasts.
This persona in place, the goons then looked to see what other features of gameplay would upset, annoy or enrage the Battletech PC gaming purists and they found their perfect target in third person view. There has never been so visceral a reaction to a game change since MWO went public. There may never be again.
I tell this to you all for the purposes of letting the blame fall squarely where it is deserved and that is in the laps of the GoonSwarm and their sympathizers at IGP.