Mechwarrior 5 Clans failure leads to layoffs at Piranha Games Inc.

[@sorcyclone]

I think an expansion for MechWarrior 5 about the clan invasion would have gone a lot further than a game about *being* the Clans. That game is still in dire need of endgame and that could have been it.

[@martinvomsozialamt334]

Can only agree here. Why cant we have a game about the IS and Clans together? i dont want to resort to the technological stoneage for that. Could have been a whole story from after succession war up until the dark age (i know people dont usually like dark age, idc)

[@myles5276]

I would love a game that sllows you to play through the different eras. Slowly update it over time But just like the mechlab not being indepth enough russ gets fixated on things and wont let them go.​@martinvomsozialamt334

[@myles5276]

Also replay value and wanting to do the campaign over and over again is not really an option.

[@PlatformUser85]

I would like to just have the mech customization from MWO in clans or mercs.... i hate how limited my build options are

[@smokeymoe842]

In retrospect it now seems like a money grab, carrot on a stick.

[@est189]

Congrats on the baby boy!! 🎉

[@ClnlBogey]

When you now have a Lance sized family.

[@NoGutsNoGalaxy]

Thx dude!!

[@NoGutsNoGalaxy]

I will def play TT with my kids when they get older

[@PHOTON-v3r]

Congrats to you and the fam, Phil!

[@spartakos3178]

Congrats!

[@Driver10011]

Well this is concerning. PGI missed the opportunity to make a truly special game with branching storylines. There could have even been dual campaigns: one from the Clan perspective and the other from the IS forces. Then they could have done a Comstar DLC following the buildup to Tukayyid. Sigh.

[@MrTBSC]

what there should and could have been is all a matter of budget ...

[@markfreeman4727]

@@MrTBSC and competence, matter not how big the money pile is if the one in charge of it is a bumbling idiot

[@grygaming5519]

@@markfreeman4727 Pretty much this. They didnt really need a full on writing team. They just needed a few writers that could adapt multiple novels from Battletech into a cohesive storyline for Clans. That also includes doing the duo campaigns. How it should have gone. First side of the campaign: Follow everything up to Turtle Bay. IS Side: DCMS survivors from Turtle Bay and the capturing of Hohiro. This leads to the battle on Wolcott where he bests Dietr Osis Leading to the Battle of Luthien where you are DCMS pilot pushing the clans back. The whole "let half a star become Dragoons" storyline needed to be panned and ejected. Then the two DLCs. The Summerset Strikers DLC; A whole campaign revolving around Clan Jade Chicken (er Falcon) vs Major Adam "They attacked my home planet" Steiner. Now this is where you can make up cannon to fill out the whole issue with the cartoon show and what got dramatized. Your Adam Steiner who is pretty much doing hit and run tactics against Jade Falcon up to this point. On the opposite side your just a Malthus that is part of the incursion force. Everything leads up to where Adam gets close to Summerset and Malthus ignoring a return to clan space because the whole bloodline was disgraced at Twycross (have a set of Missions on Twycross with one being where you play as a Kai Allad Laio at Twycross who challenges the whole Falcon guard in the pass). Leading to a duel to the death between Adam and Malthus. Second DLC: Prelude to Counter Attack. Twilight of the Clan Novel series influence, Clan side you play as Trent...IS side you play as the ROM agent who gets captured by Trent. Objective is to find the exodus road. Springboard to Mechwarrior 6: Twilight of the Clans

[@shatteredstar9565]

Starseige was like that, such a good mech game. Two storylines, humans and Cybrids, fight to save humanity from the kill bots, or attack the heart of the human empire and destroy it.

[@markfreeman4727]

@@shatteredstar9565 Starsiege......i wish i could have experienced it also a shame modern games cannot do what was standard when gaming was just getting started

[@d112cons]

Clans just felt too dumbed-down, and I don't just mean the mechlab. The narrative felt disconnected from the gameplay, all story was watching cutscenes, all gameplay was "shoot, press W". Each mission felt like a chore you had to do to unlock the next chapter of the story.

[@cyanidecologne9018]

The scanning is just annoying as well

[@Red_Hot_Eraser]

Piranha basically took all the feedback and all the Goodwill from the community did the opposite. Then was surprised no one was happy.

[@nikushim6665]

They tried to hard to develop around attracting console peasants and only succeeded in pissing off everyone.

[@murmuratingmemories]

It's what they do, always have.

[@arc00ta]

Sounds like AAA gaming in 2024.

[@falcon5190]

Yup. Summed it up perfectly. We wanted a Clan expansion/DLC for Mercs while most of PGI starts working hard on MWO2. Instead we got an overproduced standalone game with 0 replayability.

[@riptors9777]

But that was their modus operanti since the early days of MWO... so they stuck true to their guns so to speak.

[@avivgolan9241]

When a product fails to deliver the first one responsible is the CEO. The company culture they create will either promote growth or the opposite.

[@CD-vb9fi]

Exactly... I am really tired of them always getting the credit for success and the employees or market getting the blame for failures.

[@mwhighlander]

@@CD-vb9fi The management at PGI is and always has been the core problem since they acquired the IP. Back in 2012 a lot of long time fans did some sleuthing on "the PGI big 3" leaders and writing was on the wall. Over a decade later, milking a very mediocre couple games built on spaghetti code is exactly what a lot of us could have predicted... ...no one who is a fan of battletech is happy about this drought since FASA shutdown.

[@avivgolan9241]

@@CD-vb9fi Sadly, this seems to be a global problem, not just related to PGI

[@vulpinemachine]

@@mwhighlander I sure do miss Microprose 😢

[@scarcered2941]

In hindsight, they should of pushed a massive narrative driven DLC for mercs where you are caught in the middle of the clan invasion from the IS POV. This would of been a better way to introduce people to the clans and build anticipation around learning more about the clans and the desire to eventually get to play as clans.... THEN release clans. The issues specific to MW5 Clans not withstanding.

[@mrtwilight777]

It was almost a no brainer. Can't believe they didn't go this route.

[@kinggoten]

I do not think that would of helped Clans(if it was the same product), I do not know how much $$$ they get from gamepass but that 100% hurt sales, aside from that only including 16 playable Chassis was a huge let down among other bits, the core of the game is great even has great production values in the cutscenes and most of the voice performances(at some points they are brilliant in cutscenes and then completely mono tone in mission).

[@nitesy381]

Honestly that is more fitting to mechwarrior tradition

[@Sithishe]

Yup, I would love to know what Batchal, Bidding forces, Tumen, abd why Clans are so batshit crazy before playing Clans, and not learning it from youtube lore videos lol.

[@nitesy381]

@Sithishe brother, you would need to read a few source books. Too big in a game. There's atleast 200 years worth of lore. Like the Pentagon wars themselves would be like 3 games at least. The best we can give you is tell you to suspend your disbelief.

[@BigRed40TECH]

I really enjoyed Clans, it was a lot of what I wanted out of the game, but even I saw that a real lack of mech chassis' was a problem for player retention, and a huge problem for replayability. It's visually boring to just play such a limited number of machines. I'd still be palying it now to some degree if I could swap out Mechs for other options. The argument of "Well, Canon says only frontline mechs" doesn't work very well either, as Mechwarrior 2 and GBL broke that and did so for obvious gameplay reasons. I loved the story. Liked most of the missions barring the triple Sokolov one, but the entire playthrough I just felt really hamstrung by the extremely limited number of Mechs. It is what it is though.

[@myles5276]

@BigRed40TECH do you think side missions that offerd access to a handful of different chassis that were mutually exclusive could help? For instance one mission offers the Warhammer 2c while another offers the Orion 2c?

[@BigRed40TECH]

@@myles5276 I mean, ideally there'd need to be more than just 1-2 mechs. The game literally needs at least 8 new mechs imo. If each had a side-mission to unlock that's fine, but its a genuine issue.

[@amdsyc]

MW2 and GBL happend much later in the invasion. They already had second line mech available.

[@twohorsesinamancostume7606]

My main issue is the lack of customization. My favorite part of playing a mechwarrior game is tweaking all the options on a mech to make it my own. Let me fiddle with everything until I create a monster. Clans is entirely too limited for my taste.

[@BigRed40TECH]

@@amdsyc Not in the formations mostly displayed in battle. Second-line mechs were mostly taboo until the end of the Fedcom Civil War era. Some units adopted them out of desperaiton alone, but that doesn't really describe the situation in either game.

[@TimberWolfD1]

Personally, my biggest issue with MechWarrior 5 Clans is the way they had every chance to improve the customization just general mechlab interface let the player interacts with all the time. Instead everything is buried inside of a menu, inside of another menu, to get you to another menu. That's what really killed it for me. So much menu bloat.

[@younger544]

Congrats on the baby! Also, the lack of a long term "career" game mode definitely hurt clans. It was a slight upgrade in mechanics, a definite upgrade in storytelling, but it completely took out the element that gave the game legs. People don't have thousands of hours in Battletech and Mech 5 Mercs because they are replaying the story over and over.

[@Kyle-sr6jm]

Yep

[@MarineCorpzor1]

Well if MW5 Clans writers understood Clan Smoke Jaguar, the story wouldn't have been shit. Written by people who did not comprehend the lore at all. It didn't help that you couldn't run the mechs you wanted to, you had to run your heaviest loadouts. Battletech may have spoiled me to where the game picks enemies based on my lance set up, instead of being restricted to the heaviest drop weight. You want to run 3 Timberwolfs and 2 Lokis at end game... yeah tough luck on the harder difficulties.

[@JaraKex]

Thank you for this comment. At least I'm not the only one who thinks like that. The way so many people are praising the story, it makes me throw up. Where is the warrior-culture? All I see is a bunch of aggravating teens... and even the older characters, no military or warrior behavior to be found. Yes, Battletech has spoiled us. 😁 But being forced to always drop as heavy as possible in MW5Clans, shows how little thought they put into the missions...

[@MichaelSantangelo]

My biggest complaint is that instant action is non-existent. I can't fathom a Mech Warrior game where I can't just launch into a quick round of combat with some mechs instead of campaign mission replays. Even regular MW5 had it.

[@jr0d2008]

Horde mode? That dlc is free now (which probably was the reason for the layoffs, whiners)

[@ericdefay7198]

But Is the game good. And what that means for the future of the game

[@n00blamer]

@@ericdefay7198 I enjoyed it, the balance is more on positive side for me.. but I understand why it could be negative for someone else; it wasn't perfect but I had good time.

[@n00blamer]

Now the question is what's next.. replaying the missions doesn't carry forever.. DLCs probably

[@MichaelSantangelo]

@ No, I don't want a Horde mode, I want a simple here's a map, build your star, drop in, fight a mission, run off and do something else. Great for testing builds in realistic situations.

[@tumate45]

I'm actually not really suprised about this. MW5 itself was like a luke warm pond. Sure there were a good amount of DLCs wich I bought but all of them were around 5 missions long, so they went by fast. Other 500 missions were generated content, so basicly a played a game made by a computer. And even if the game was rigid enough, like having a solid gameplay, and not crashing, the modders had to come in and make the game not bland. Nowadays it's almost a different game, but only thanks to the modders. Sure the older MW games were strict storywise, but they had flavor and it wasnt just one overly british person narrating every fight.

[@Snow_Arc]

*Scottish

[@hellotimber]

I really liked Clans but because im an old fan. Back from MW3 days. Im sad this happened but not surprised since this game has become so niche. Personally am very worried about what this means for MWO. I really like it and hope it continues :( PS. Congrats on the baby!

[@nerdly44]

I'm a little concerned for MWO as well. If that game goes offline, that's going to be a tough loss.

[@myles5276]

@hellotimber I know they would never do it but I have probobly 20 or so people interested in playing mwo but they only have xboxs would be great if we could see a port but I doubt it will happen.

[@Bigbacon]

same here, I LOVE MWO and I want it to survive...I still pay for stuff there becasue they derserve for my time playing. When it dies it will be like a huge whole in my life.

[@ResetIncoming]

I also enjoy MWO but if it goes offline, I can always spend more time playing table top Battletech.

[@kaseycarpenter73]

Conversely I wonder if this would make them see that the core they should focus on IS MWO and note these more linear, story-driven versions. Since those didn't work out, but MWO - even in its current state, still provides some income by way of the loyalists, maybe it shifts the spotlight back to MWO?

[@dmora2386]

Damn that sucks. I had a feeling it might be the last Mechwarrior game after it finishes up it's dlc lifecycle. That's why when I played it I went in knowing it could* be the last and to enjoy it while it lasted. I loved the game. Hopefully this isn't the end.

[@ffs-forfunsake6474]

In leaked roadmap they had rpg and some more games planned for battletech ip. Not anymore I guess

[@Haydin1117]

The last PGI mechwarrior game, but probably not the last mechwarrior game.

[@harlech2]

I thought the riding in MW5 Clans was stilted and written by a 5th grader. They completely missed the speech and mannerisms of the clan, and the overall atmosphere was wrong. There was a detectable undercurrent of DEI which always leaves one feeling like you just smelled a rose but caught the unmistakable whiff of shit. There was just enough to keep dragging you out of the immersion. I thought clans overall was a much worse product than the original. I am an old BatteTech player. I mean, really old. I first played it in 1989, so this is a very beloved franchise to me.

[@JookySeaCpt]

I had a lot of fun playing Clans co-op with my friends. That’s a good said, the campaign felt an act or two too short especially considering the lack of endgame activities. It really felt like the game needed another two or three missions per mech chassis unlock.

[@CommDante]

Did the coop manage others players as their own, or was everything just client side? They really should have fixed coop in Mercenaries.... It was just people instead of NPC instead of actually 'hiring some players' ...it could've been such a huge game with hosts/campaign doers hiring actual people with their own mechs as option etc, making a buck.

[@JookySeaCpt]

@ it was same as Mercs. Nothing carries over to the co-op players. All progress stays with the host.

[@CommDante]

@JookySeaCpt Why do they hate people playing MP? I mean, I'd understand a 'closer campaign' option of sorts, but pretty sure every player still needs to adhere to mission anyhoo,,.and then worst case... Hos t could just deny joining? Point is: even if you play in a group from start to finish.. anyone other than host doesn't really earn anything and were just NPC substitutes....

[@JookySeaCpt]

@ it felt less egregious in Clans than in Mercs. First of all, the entire game is the campaign and there is very little replay value. After you play through with your friends, there is little reason to go back and play through your own campaign. Second, co-op felt much better than in Mercs because everyone has access to everything except launching the mission. You can spend xp, queue items for research, mess around in the mech lab, and listen to the mission briefings. In Mercs all you can do is use the mech lab and wait for the host to pick a contract. Downtime in Clans gives the co-op players a lot more to do so it felt much smoother. Clans was by far the better co-op experience.

[@rmgoodnews7124]

Grats on your newborn! Have appreciated your MWO input for years! PGI didn't get bought out, they wisely sold to get some money while their firm had value, as well as EG7 could support the game, though with less people. Have been playing MWO since beta, and had tried MW5 Clans, but it just fell flat with the story line and play style. Mech Warrior Mercenaries is most players want for the game: We want to run missions, earn coin, buy and sell mechs and weapons on a trade market, be able to buy mechs, drop ships, fighters and all the other goodies of RCT - tanks, artillery, etc. With today's technology, there is no reason they couldn't make a decent Mech Sim with tactical combat, and then background it with all the Innersphere has to offer with politics of war and territory. All they gave us was a clan story line that no one really cared about or asked for. Thanks mate!

[@chriswilson6486]

Quite frankly Piranha has had chance after chance, and they've squandered so much goodwill and fan enthusiasm because they've absolutely neglected the online audience. I really feel another studio should be given the reins. I'm sorry for those employees who lost jobs, that's never a good thing, but you're absolutely right in that the crowd that put Piranha where they are is basically sitting and waiting.

[@rmerrida]

Agreed. I have to wonder how much of this 'MW5 Clans' failure is a ripple effect, from the missteps of the upper PGI management with MWO that irritated, then drove loyal players (cash customers) away. Things like non-linear Skill Maze (Skill Tree is mostly linear now after PGI said it couldn't be done, but the damage is done.) Engine de-sync, highly questionable nerfs of fun builds, 'Doritos Gate', baiting and switching of the content behind pay walls, arrogance and not listening to their customers, etc.

[@odinulveson9101]

Careful what you wish for. EA, Ubi, ActiBlizzard will LOVE to jam in microtransactions and political sewer agenda into MW. You got your wish😁

[@mrfawkes9110]

@chriswilson6486 "I'm sorry for those employees who lost jobs, that's never a good thing" Bad employees that put out dramatically subpar work losing their jobs is almost always a good thing. The real problem is that the people who drag projects down are never the ones who's jobs are at risk.

[@ryandabeard6465]

Frankly, I don't really care a bout online, since I doon't care about playing against other people. I gave that stuff up years ago. I'd play MWO if i wanted that experience. That's why I play MW5. I don't think that is why things went wrong.

[@ssjjshawn]

What "other studio"? No one else is willing to pay for the Battletech license. We only got HBS Battletech thanks directly to Weissman charming Microsoft and PGI PGI had missteps, but in reality what really killed this game is it released near Space Marine 2. Making this game a MW5M expansion wasn't viable with what they did add, and frankly the engine needed to be updated. People will point out the mods, but also forget that MW5M with too much added on tends to crash and burn. A new engine was 100% needed, this couldn't be an expansion.

[@mclang5932]

I bought MW5 Clans because of the single player story, and I was not disappointed. Too bad the game didn't sell enough to keep people employed :/ I hope the mod projects you talk about get wind under their wings so that I can keep playing MW5!

[@jasongarfitt1147]

Yeah I loved it and am planning to buy the inevitable tukayid DLC. You shouldn't have to play a game for 500 hours. I want some 30 hours and done games

[@pirlantota]

Indeed, was hoping for Clan Wolf, Ghost-Bear and Jade Falcon DLC. Especially the COOP mode is awesome, so easy to join a campaign, no faffing around.

[@jasongarfitt1147]

@@pirlantota yeah co-op mode they did perfectly (after that first patch fixed the net code)

[@DragonHalo99]

Honestly with 3 people and decent loadouts led to me and my buddies competing on kills we were demolishing everything. Even early in the game. The first atlas you fight on turtle Bay lived for exactly 15 seconds because we destroyed it with headshots.

[@jasongarfitt1147]

@DragonHalo99 yeah running with MWO veterans you annihilate the enemy

[@joe-k-84]

Can we not use the corporate doublespeak of "business optimization" and instead call it what it is, layoffs.

[@sephrus77]

MW5 was only half the game the fans wanted. MW5 Clans was only 1/3. I guess this means no DLC support.

[@LowSpecActionSquad]

The reason we got MechWarrior 5 clans instead of mechwarrior 6 clans is actually due to historical precedent. Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries is based on mechwarrior 2 mercenaries, likewise, mechwarrior 5 clans is based on mechwarrier 2 clans. It's so closely related that they even redid the original cover art in the reveal trailer

[@justnoct]

It's because the license that Microsoft owns and PGI leases expired and only covered upto MW5. It would have been MW6 if they could have but the cost would be significant.

[@LB-yg2br]

Mechwarrior 2 clans??? You mean the base game?

[@cykeok3525]

@@LB-yg2br That's his point exactly. "MW2" was Clans. Then there was "MW2: Mercenaries". "MW5" is Mercenaries, then "MW5: Clans"... basically the inverse.

[@LB-yg2br]

@@cykeok3525 but there was never a game called "clans"... If it was going to be the inverse, then we would have just had mechwarrior 5 and then mechwarrior 5 clans

[@Its_Croaker]

It is a tragedy that Clans did not perform financially. In my option It was PGIs best game release. Enjoyed the campaign so much. I really hoped they would be able to use clans as basis for MWO 2. But I guess this will not happen now. Will they need to start a go found me for there next project? And btw you need a milk goblin emoji for chat 😅

[@ResetIncoming]

A gofund me? Cmon guy that is a terrible idea. I hope PGI lose the Mechwarrior license since they are a mediocre studio at best. they have drop the ball consistently and they are paying the price. My hope is that a more competent studio takes over the license and gives us a Mechwarrior 6.

[@Its_Croaker]

​​@@ResetIncomingjust remember where we are coming from. After MechWarrior 4 there was 11 years silence. Microsoft did nothing with the license because they did not earn money with MechWarrior. PGI with all their flaws brought back big stompy mechs and are trying to grow the franchise again. Yes they might have failed but don't think for one second that there is a major studio out there that would pick up the franchise. If PGI fails there will be no new MechWarrior game for a very long time 😢

[@ResetIncoming]

@@Its_Croaker I rather wait decades than deal with the slop PGI puts out.

[@Its_Croaker]

​@@ResetIncomingconsidering that the player base is already old AF you are sending a lot of us towards playing MWO for the rest of our life 😂

[@ResetIncoming]

@@Its_Croaker lol

[@cliffsangelsphotography]

I like 5Mercs and BattleTech(HBS). i wish there was NG+ and rare mechs more readily available. This is sad news, i hope we can still continue to get content in the future 🙏

[@shallendor]

I love the Battletech video game that HBS created, i still play it occasionally!

[@TheGoldenBoy01-x4n]

I hope Mechwarrior Online lives on. I hope there's enough money in the pool to keep that game afloat.

[@taredin]

me too, but the player count is not good 😞 i played with a friend, we wait over 40 mins to find a match 😕 for a group of two. when i played solo, i wait round about 10 - 15 mins to find a match. i only know the steamcharts with only 500 player played in the last 24 hours .. but i hope the game has more players over the stand alone launcher

[@madprophetus]

@@taredin they nickel and dime harpooned the whales to extinction. I was once one of those whales. I miss that game dearly but I can't go back.

[@BlazingOwnager]

@@madprophetus I was one of the many, many die-hard purists who left MW:O and cursed PGI's name until the end of time over the way they handled weapon balancing many years ago. Things like Ghost Heat instead of, you know, just changing the weapon recycle times like they do in MW5 and Clans.

[@kennethfharkin]

@@taredin 40 minutes? 10-15 minutes? Are you waiting for faction play because that is dead as Julius Cesear unless there is an event on. I always get into a quick drop solo or with a group of up to four in just a couple minutes.

[@r1zmy]

@@taredin make sure you have all matchmaking regions selected instead of just one of it. Had the same problem because I found out I was only queueing in the Oceania servers

[@JudgemasterMarche]

So you CANT keep a company afloat and support other projects by charging ridiculous prices for mechs in an online game with ~2k total players. Got it. I decided to not give piranha money after MW5 mercs since it was so lackluster and takes a pile of mods to make interesting while running like ass.

[@3R45U5]

This. Piranha we're never exceptional at their craft but MW Mercs took the cake. Runs like Dog to this day. The only reason I have Close to a thousand hours in is because of mods and because it is BattleTech. Otherwise it wouldnt be worth my time. MW Clans is too pricey for what it is. Should have worked that content into Vanilla MW 5 and make it a coherent thing.

[@mclpoison7882]

Apologies, but I’ve not been back since the plank walk of a certain writer.

[@starcoloneldunadansonoft501]

You and me both.

[@Worse_Is_To_Come]

Who walked the plank?

[@gowankommando]

​@@Worse_Is_To_ComeBlaine Pardo

[@cykeok3525]

I started with MW2 which got me into the BattleTech universe and games (digital, tabletop, and the novels). MW5 Clans is a spiritual successor, with a campaign played from the point of view of a trueborn Clan MechWarrior, which I felt was done very well (although the mission design with insane number of enemy encounters was a bit over the top). No market for it anymore, I guess, the world has changed.

[@sigxfsz]

I developed and ran a Battletech MUX for years a few decades ago.. 3029.. was my life for awhile.. before i puttered out i was running a Merc site as a Beta for what i was going to do next and it's what MW5: Clans open world DLC/Mode should be: a full simulator of running bidding battles, managing economy, and selecting worlds to attack. It because a resource management task at the meta levels because that's the whole reason for a bidding system in their culture.. and it's driven home to the player managing the resources on the home front accentuated by the selection of targets and control for production. Clans worlds are more scaled to wrap the tag around.. But a MW5 mod ding the same thing would be awesome using Objective Raids sourcebooks as a base.. and a cross-developed MW5 DLC y piranha to enable that backend for modders would be a revenue source for the older product and double up the development. Add that layer and both games will become a windfall for Pirahna as it's what they BT Head dreams of

[@dwalk9674]

100%

[@chipwitgaming]

This news really makes me sad. I feel that we are truly seeing the beginnings of the end to MWO.

[@BlazingOwnager]

PGI has gone on something of a redemption arc, but never forget they lost probably half or more of their players almost instantly in the 'I'll troll the players and nerf the AC2,' 'I got rammed, so I'll take out ramming,' 'I need to put in Ghost Heat instead of just changing weapon cycle times,' etc. genius decisions being made by Paul Ionye. He pretty much single handedly drove out a LOT of people, and most of them have never gone back in any serious capacity eve again.

[@therosen9923]

@@BlazingOwnager Not too mention the fact that clans lacks some features they cheekily decided to add to a DLC charging a mental amount for, lack of customization and mechs to pick from. PGI acts as their bloody Blizzard or amazon half the time. Which is mental since they should be focusing on restoring their reputation completely (Not half way with a little redemption arc) and continue to release high-quality goods. Oh well if they can't be arsed, time for someone else to do it me thinks.

[@malcontender6319]

God willing.

[@BlazingOwnager]

@@therosen9923 PGI's biggest shackles are Russ and Paul - if Paul is still there.

[@allones3078]

I have no idea why they thought changing the HUD or making Omni mechs not Omni mechs was a good idea

[@timh4158]

Hands down, the worst part of this game is the mouse bug when using HOTAS. How tf is this still not fixed?

[@Cleric-Heretic]

Yeah. Drives me insane!

[@davevan9150]

Maybe this is why they tried the dlc as it was, hoping to improve profits as a last ditch effort.

[@_ENOVA]

You didn't mention UE5 optimization problems. I still have FPS drops below 30 FPS on my RTX2070S, while MW5M plays very smooth 60+ FPS. And the games looks pretty much the same

[@NoGutsNoGalaxy]

I could be wrong, but I believe the optimization issues are more developer related in this case.

[@mayakashiii]

@@NoGutsNoGalaxy No, you're correct. UE5 has a bad reputation for no reason. It is incapable developers who make it this bad. There are a lot of UE5 games with no performance issues at all.

[@spyderDFX]

@@mayakashiii Basically, UE is the biggest player. UE got 16-20% of the market. So, there should be a shitload of devs experienced with it. But still new games are unoptimized shitshow. So, maybe there is something with UE after all

[@ASNS117Zero]

The optimization at launch issues is the single biggest killer for the game, IMO. A lot of people don't understand just how much that affected the launch. Getting 5 FPS on low graphics settings in the first mission was *wild* when I cleared the recommended system requirements lol.

[@kinggoten]

the game ran bettween 80 and 3 FPS on my 2060 super that I had at launch it was horrendous. I believe it was poor VRAM management because it would happen when new things spawned in and when it was more rapidly spawnign in like the last turtle bay mission yes it when't all the way down to 3fps

[@Cynnister-vy5tl]

I'm new to the channel. But as a father and grandfather I say congratulations on the newest addition to your family. As far as Piranha goes it saddens me. I don't want anybody to lose their jobs. The missteps with Clans, the attempt at the DLC for Clans and GamePass sunk them. Might have been better to make Clans a DLC for Mercenaries. I don't know.

[@gundamwarrior]

In the words of Count Dankula, Oh no, wh what happened, what happen, oh no, how terrible, thats just, thats just awful, thats terrible, oh no. Anyway my problem with the game is. They didn't really do anything new. The gameplay was boring, the missions were exactly the same each time you go back in, no random elements of surprise. You play it over, its the same again. The mapping was sub par honestly. It looked barely much different than what we have in MW5 with random generation. The assets weren't even new by the looks of it for the most part. So what did they spend all their budget on? Oh right, the CGI and voice actors. They spent and dumped all their money into that than actual gameplay and mechanics. The game didn't feel fluid at all. The game felt CHEAP because funds for all of that on focus was transferred to the beautification of rendering the movies and hiring professional voice actors. They blundered by doing this. This is what happens when you think you know better but end up reaping what you sow.

[@malcontender6319]

It's like letting a vampire into your home.

[@WhatWorxDev]

I miss playing this game, when Activision, and even Microsoft managed the IP.

[@MrTBSC]

and now both companies are utter shite

[@WhatWorxDev]

@@MrTBSC indeed. its so bad im making my own game, and I am really lazy person

[@jamessmith5666]

Remember, Mechwarrior 1, and the Cresent Hawks games were the only titles that did any sort of character RPGing. Mechwarrior games since then haven't actually done Mechwarrior-ing. Just Mech simming.

[@wolfbert]

I am not surprised. After all this time Phranha can still not get the AI right. Your team just bunches up and continues to shoot you in the back. The concept of standing off and using range is not there. Also the wave after wave after wave after wave after wave after wave....you see where I am going with this. With ten to one odds it becomes more of a chore then fun. The fact they chose Smoke Jaguars the most hated clan faction did not help.

[@Cleric-Heretic]

Wow. Crazy. Thanks for reporting this!

[@AndrewS-fe8ng]

Uhh PGI is a failed game company. I know you play the game, but the rest of us don't. Why? It's a bad game.

[@Maximum432]

The sooner PGI and Catalyst collapse, the sooner it can go to someone competent.

[@wuushew]

What's your beef with Catalyst? They are the most competent IP runner since FASA closed down.

[@AlexDenton0451]

@@wuushew NGL I have really enjoyed Catalyst, their main issue is they just need to communicate better.

[@tfantini2966]

Never played Mercs, but played Clans, and I found the story line of Clans awesome, and made sense. Practically a movie was being made. A lot of people are unaware of Mechwarrior "Battletech", unlike MW4, their was a galore of players, that later moved on (personal stuff). People were able to host their own servers. That day is gone. People I know who played MW4, are unware of MW5, and playing other things. Myself have (moved on) and use VR in DCS, and Assetta corsa: comp. Mechwarrior/Battletech is a dream to play in VR. But since we are not using VR for Mechwarrior titles, we only look ahead of the cockpit, and move torso to see around us. This could be a crazy thought, not going to happen, but a movie would be kewl. But even the movie industry is not doing so good anymore. And if one were to be made, it would be confusing, and a lot of information to grasp about the Battletech universe.

[@DamitTucker]

Pray a Battletech movie never gets made.

[@c182SkylaneRG]

@ The intro cinematics to MW4: Vengeance were really cool. If it got done _correctly_ it could be just as amazing as Transformers was. You're right about one thing, though: the track record in Battletech of things being done "correctly" isn't exactly there...

[@mayakashiii]

They try to go mainstream and burn the hardcore fans. Then they fail to create a good mainstream game and burn the new audience as well. A recipe for desaster. PGI and Russ in particular, proved to be stubborn and incapable of accepting constructive criticism from a very well-meaning community (particularly evident with MWO).

[@wither5673]

PGI have been fumbling the IP since MWO came out so this is not a huge shock to me. MW5 was a huge disappointment on release and even after the DLC packs which range from ok to...not good at all and even with as many mods as I can fit I still struggle to get any fun out of it with how dogshit the AI is in the game.

[@AcheronBlade]

I didn’t even know this was a thing until I happened to see it pop up (once) on my steam store “you might like…” window on the side. Then when I looked, it looked like there was no open world element, so that killed my interest completely. This is as someone who played a lot of MW 5 Mercs and MWO a few years back.

[@rdionne]

I feel like a more full game that started with the Exodus and went through the current Ilkhan era would have been a far more intriguing game. Perhaps shifting POV's from the different clans or even going to key moments on the inner sphere side as a mission every once in a while to show the panic of the early invasion or swapping POV's during tukkayyid to show the desperation.

[@timebrain3188]

...you do realize that is hundreds of years of history to flip through, featuring way too many mechs and non-mech assets, let alone characters and factions to focus on. You couldn't do that justice, certainly not on a AA budget.

[@AccessAccess]

Most of my friends who once played MWO were driven away for numerous reasons, probably the largest was the whole epic game store debacle with MW5: Mercenaries. Among the older gaming crowd.. let's say men ages 35 and up, people have long memories and it's hard to get people to go back to something once they give up on it. We're cynical b'cos we've seen our hopes lead nowhere so many times before.. I think the best hope is that another company get the license that can create games that are worth playing and have some longevity. I never played MW5 (mercenaries or clans) but MWO was good for a few years, and I did enjoy the battletech games that were more tactical or strategy driven using the Xcom engine, so honestly I'm okay with what we got out of PGI but it's time to move on.

[@malcontender6319]

Where are the seething soyjack tearfaces calling you "old and grumpy" for your spot-on take? I'm sure they'll be in any minute now, as they're sharking these comments for no-no think.

[@Furzkampfbomber]

I never buy games at full prize when they got an initial 'epic exclusive' release and then get re-released on other platforms. If I buy such games at all, I only do it with a hefty discount during a sale or so - I figure they've made enough money already with the bribe they got from epic. Which is also true for MW 5. I am an old MW fan from MW 2/3 days and MW 5 was one of the _very_ few games I got hyped for in a _very_ long time. Then they've decided to make it epic exclusive for what, a year or so? Nope, not buying for full price then. Don't get me wrong, I love the game, I totally do - best 8 bucks I've spend on a game for quite some time.

[@Discovery2024-rn8kn]

They should have implemented branched storyline and player choice for replayability

[@Dazzxp]

I loved clans but yeah the replayability is not that great with two endings and very linear. Got 60hrs in the game which is fine I got my monies worth, just. However it's a far cry from my MW5 mercs 2+ k hours.

[@Stouts_]

I didn’t realize PGI was acquired as recently as 2023. The acquisition the year before, the delay (hurting quarterly earnings of EG7), and missing sales, make the layoffs make a lot more sense. Layoffs after an acquisition is common place for corporations. It a quick and easy way for the acquiring company to quickly make some of their money back. Gamepass is figured on different metrics than game purchases. I think the challenge with Gamepass is the no replay-ability. You can play and finish the game in a week and move on, so revenue from Gamepass is extremely less than someone who purchased the game.

[@igi44]

PGI got acquired in 2020, phil was waaay off.

[@neptunestrident4364]

Aside from the other problems you mentioned, I really detested how the Clanners acted/spoke in a non-lore way. For instance: would any SJ warrior really get upset about nuking a planet?

[@kathleendelcourt8136]

Because it made them look weak. They bombed from orbit because they were unable to keep things under control.

[@tugbobo02]

I believe the era of Battletech Universe (BTU) games is over. It just didn't reach enough young eyes to keep the IP profitable going forward in the next 10-15 years. the TT community has moved to WH40k. The digital gamespace cannot compete against Games Workshops titles (these IP's are actually apples to apples). Games like War Thunder and FPS are getting the young people. Not the BTU anymore

[@Bert-hb1yf]

The tabletop game is the second most popular game in the entire world behind only 40k with record level kickstarters that hit 7+ million making it one of the top kickstarters ever for ANY product not just table top gaming . It’s hugely popular . Maybe make better video games and actually market them is the answer .

[@tugbobo02]

@@Bert-hb1yf I do not disagree with this. But it deff needs digital visibility or it will fade in a generation. I do hope I am wrong

[@Apocalypse_Later]

Good. Hopefully if they get dissolved the IP can be passed to a dev that does something other than bungle everything they attempt.

[@spectrezero6834]

I really liked the clan story and playing clans. I think it suffers from no independent conquest campaign or flexibility in where you are attacking. You are put on rails and are effectively stuck there.

[@stevebarnett-f5o]

Another studio manages to screw up what should have been a sure fire winner, so many games going down this road now.

[@Shedovv]

First of All! Congratz on the Baby Phil! As for Piranha and MW5: Clans There is absolutely zero surprise here. The game they made, made massive sacrifices in exchange for MARGINAL improvements to certain very specific things when it comes to Gameplay. An example of it is the Lance or in this case Star controls. The Top Down Tactical Controls were a big and exciting feature, but turned out to be Barebones. Meanwhile a lot of attention as per PGI themselves went to Cutscenes and everything associated with them, in the name of Immersion, and what did we get? Sure the cutscenes a better than what we had in Mercs. But they are far from the level of AAA games. Which only makes sense given this is not a AAA studio, which naturally CAN NOT push the same level of quality and fidelity when it comes to these things, WITHOUT sacrificing in other departments. So the end product is a snazzier looking, LESSER PRODUCT, than what was provided earlier. And all of that is BEFORE the DLC debacle. Which in retrospect REEKS of Desperation on the Management's part to get their numbers up before the inevitable EG7 Retribution!

[@Boradumir]

Congrats on the baby... awesome. 🎉🎉🎉 Is it only for me or is the sound slightly off?

[@fatal_bull]

I think most just wanted CLANS added to Mercs. Plus it's Unreal Engine 5, and just looked.. like 4 🤷Personally I hated not being able to mod the Mechs as much as I could with the Inner Spheres.. I get it, but I just didn't enjoy being restricted so blardy much!

[@lazytomcatranch]

Considering all aspects of the game: Graphics, combat, AI of lance members, storyline, replay interest... Graphics were of course the best in any Mechwarrior game ever. I thought combat was good. AI of both lance members and enemies was good. Storyline, I suppose it was to be expected given the premise. Would have been better if You played 'against' the clans, or even if the story fully embraced the aggression of the clans 'without the 2024 is watching us' mentality. To Me personally the insanity of the Officer responsible for Turtle Bay, and the constant whining of Ezra one of Your lancemates was a real turn off. I will say that MW5 Mercenaries got VERY repetitive and boring, and that is why I think they took sandbox play out of Clans, but it did negatively affect replay value.

[@vrry8835]

I think Clans is the best game I could have hoped for. Maybe the best platform for the games I could have hoped for. Everything made me feel immersed and invested. There is so much more that could have happened within this system they built. I think PGI punched well above their weight with the tools they have. I totally understand that some players wanted another sandbox Mercs game, but I'm glad they took at least one chance to build the world out differently. It's been my absolute favorite game in the universe and did things Mercs couldn't do. I think the world is a very different place now than it was when we all became invested in Battletech. The markets are saturated with more immersive games that have more satisfying game play loops specifically for the purpose of getting the player invested. Helldivers has infinite possibilities of interesting content they can introduce while relying on an interactive scheme that every kid is familiar with. (running, diving, shooting, winning) Fortnite is easily accessible with a tight gameplay loop and tangible rewards. (for kids... maybe not for me) On the other hand Battletech has a bazzilion complications. It adheres to a ridged systems aligned to the lore and systems created when we were kids. The laws of the world are rooted in a table top game. It's deep and it takes time to become invested and understand the limitations. You cant introduce the zerg and protoss just to offer different gameplay. You can't introduce 25 kill streak tactical nukes. Balancing a Flea with an Atlas doesn't happen because they're not balanced. The game play only really builds in a single direction and in a single way... which is the same for all Mechwarrior games since forever. I think we're in a time where what captured our imagination as kids is now fringe. How many people are out their building model train sets? I love Mechwarrior. I love Clans. I hope the journey continues for all of this.

[@lazytomcatranch]

@@vrry8835 Hey, I did like the game, just found that the rigid storyline and limited number of mech chassis/limited ability to customize mechs had a negative impact on replay potential.

[@malcontender6319]

@@vrry8835 Not hard to draw the connection between these walls of copium and oddly unwavering support (ideological) for these damaged goods.

[@malcontender6319]

@@vrry8835 I'm drawing parallels between these walls of copium and the ideology of the people who write them. Go back to the brown sea and screech there.

[@lazytomcatranch]

People have a tendency 'I have noticed' when commenting on Mechwarrior or Battletech to toss out their 'street cred' as a way of backing up their statements, so here are mine. I started a MWO YT channel 'this account' back in early 2023, and was doing well 'considering it is a MWO channel' until June 23rd of that year when a pre-dawn house fire destroyed My world resulting in the death of My Father, and 30, yes, 30 cats. After that I only uploaded 1 video, but with a new gaming PC I am hoping to start uploading again very soon. I started playing Mechwarrior/Battletech PC games shortly after the release of Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries Titanium in 1996. I have played every Mechwarrior/Mechcommander/Battletech PC game released since that time, and was considered one of the top 100 players ever in Mechwarrior 4 multiplayer back in it's glory days, and an infamous legend in MWL 'Mechwarrior league'. My game name back then Was Warmonger, in case any OG MW4 players see this. I have also read every classic Battletech novel ever published, My favorite book is Exodus Road, and My favorite character is Star Captain Trent. If any old MW4 players see this, please leave a reply, I would love to talk to even an old enemy from those days.

[@headp3]

Instead of a shooter based Mechwarrior game I would like a turn based Battletech game available for councels also. Yes BT Advanced 3062 is out there but its only for PC. They gotta do a big switch if they are gonna be able to grab and keep our attention at this point. If not the next title, is just a repeat of Disney Star Wars, less and less interest. But I still fill out spread sheets and throw dice, so video game or not this franchise will still be played and shown to others.

[@MrDamnLag]

I never finished the campaign. After they dropped the "DLC" for $25 I uninstalled the game and moved on the next game in my library. Before you start typing, I know they've rolled that back, but I had already moved on. I may return when there are mods.

[@DecusTex]

Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy!🎉🎉 I completely agree with you about clans. I find the visual appeal and storyline captivating. While I enjoy the gameplay, I must admit that I have spent an 3,377 hours in MWO. It holds a special place in my heart because of its exceptional playability.

[@2nd_Directorate]

The best thing PGI and Harebrained did was re-establish the unseen mechs. Battletech was a good game but it could have been more and it paled (imho) in comparison to MC1 and MC2 in interactivity and scope of the missions. MWO is a good game which was plagued by unbalance and unfrindly practices towards new players. MW5 was a mess at start and had the same problem as Battletech. Unbelievable boring single point missions. Again paled to its predecessor MW4 Mercs. Haven´t played MW5 Clans as i had my reservations after MW5. PGI just have no ideas and their technical execution is moderate. Shame that Microsoft ignores their IP. Would really wish for fresh wind in it.

[@MrTBSC]

just my personal opinion but MW4 vengeance and mercs is horrible i still hate how everything bellow large lasers is pretty much useless in those games as well as how bad most chassis are

[@markfreeman4727]

what happend was simple Clans five made a good attempt to fix mercenaries lack of story (had flaws but still alot of work put in that you can see in game) they then threw away everything Mercenaries did right along with adding a whole bunch of original mistakes)

[@xyonblade]

Congrats on the new kid! My wife and I had our third kid a few months ago, having children around is a lot of work but its so nice too.

[@GathMemvar]

While I really enjoyed clans in general, my wife, who is pretty new to BattleTech and MechWarrior (via my constant ramblings and fanboying) had a bunch of really interesting comments: - Half of the mechs are really, really good. The other half are simply subpar or borderline useless. Big examples include Gargoyle, Executioner, Shadow Cat, and Summoner. While there are some builds that can make those mechs better, the first impression was "why did I unlock this worthless machine" leading to inconsistent power growth. One big complaint was the lack of a 90-tonner that required using lighter, less armored mechs, or heavier, but worse mechs. - The mechlab is extremely confusing at first, but she said she really liked the omnipod system. The big challenge was mechs that had entire sections taken up by non-removable equipment. MASC was a big offender, as it frequently took up CT slots that could be better used for armor. - Lack of context around the broader universe. Clans has a ton of lore that an in-game lorepedia like what HBS BattleTech did or something like the Mass Effect series did would have gone a long way to contextualizing the invasion and the actions the clans took. If you're brand-new to the universe, there's a ton of context that is missing in the game. She says she only understood why something was happening because I could explain it to her, and I had to look a bunch up on Sarna because I was also missing lore. - Characters were greatly improved from Mercs (she bounced off of Mercs pretty hard due to lack of story), but still needed more detail, especially around Naomi and why that one big jerk (trying to avoid spoilers) was suddenly back in charge. Also, one of your starmates has a significant change later in the story and it takes a little while before they get around to explaining what the change is and why it occurred. She found that sudden change in personality pretty jarring. - Level design was a little inconsistent but overall not bad. The challenge here was some missions you had a glut of repair bays and could keep everyone in good fighting shape, while others you had to face down entire regiments with no repair bay. The way she described Clans (which she does like) is "Almost Really Good." It's like it needs to have one or two more iterations to clean up. We're both hoping the new DLCs move the story forward and expand on the overall content of the game, as it does have a very solid base.

[@Shorkshire]

Didn't they literally say like a month ago that more DLC is in the pipeline because of mw5 Clans success? This is so confusing. Why would they say one thing and then the exact opposite thing a month later?

[@DerekIcelord]

Standard marketing BS. The official press releases will *always* talk as if things are a smashing success.

[@andreasmangs3131]

One thing I did like about mw5clans was the new engine with improved graphics. Playing clan side was not a problem for me since I like clan mechs better. The worst thing about it was too few mechs and no "open world" roam to pad playtime to infinity.

[@Joric78]

Death knell is the term you were too exhausted to remember. Sad to hear Mechwarrior 5 didn't meet their financial goals. Although to be honest most of my time in the Battletech universe is spent in the Roguetech mod for Battletech, and we already lost 80% of Harebrained Schemes to layoffs. Even though I played the tabletop in the late '80s and early '90s (and still do), it was the video games that brought the universe to life for me (I am a scifi novel fan and tried the books from a couple of authors, but they weren't my cup of tea) and kept it alive through the Dark Age. It seems that making it easy to add the content for factions and positions on the timeline via mods like Roguetech is a great step towards any really successful Battletech game. As well as fostering the community to do it of course. DLC that does some of that work also seems pretty obvious, and it shouldn't take too much interaction with players to know which factions, mechs etc are the obvious choices.

[@Cannon1221]

I started playing BattleTech and reading the books since 1995. I am a Clanner to my core with Smoke Jaguars being one of my favorites. So I was extremely excited about leading a Star through the invasion. But the main characters did not FEEL very clan like. It felt just like another writer wanting to tell their story and shoe horning it in where it did not belong paying only token respect to the original IP. I loved most of the supporting characters. Most of them behaved and felt like I would want Smoke Jaguar leadership to behave. But I just could not connect to Star Commander Jayden or any member of the star. With a few minor tweaks the inter-personal story could have been a House Unit on Operation Bulldog or any other major conflict.

[@riptors9777]

They felt less like gene engineered super soldiers bred for war, trained under the constant real threat of death... and more like a group of fresh college boys and girls

[@BlazingOwnager]

It's a real shame to hear it failed, because it was actually a really fun game. And I say that as someone who checked out of MW:O and was a big detractor of PGI. If anything, the reason I never played it until recently when being roped into co-op was entirely based on how they ran MW:O with stuff like ghost heat and too little, too late.

[@matth.2916]

It just saddens me how Battletech and Mechwarrior have struggled over the years. There have been successes, sure, and it's really nice to see quality assembled plastic minis for the game available in game stores at a reasonable price. And MW5 was a decent, if simple, game particularly in an era of total trash being released as AAA games. But then you log into MWO and wait for a match because of the tiny player base or see how skewed the game is towards heavier mechs, die to pinpoint damage, etc. Or you struggle to find any local Battletech groups. Or maybe you get fed up with how the IP is chopped up into so many pieces between so many companies it's a miracle when anything positive happens. Not trying to get into a debate about specific mechanics, games, or companies, but it's just frustrating. The Battletech universe is expansive and has enough depth and story to be fun and appealing to lots of people if the story is told well and people see it. The tabletop game is solid, while not perfect, and has some nice advantages like the rules not changing every few months or needing "what you see is what you get" models, and so on. The video games are fun - giant stompy robots! But it all struggles to come together for any length of time, and it's just disappointing. It just seems Battletech never gets a big win in its favor without something going wrong to follow.

[@kunndit989]

I just got into battletech through MWO very recently, I didn’t see any marketing for clans and when I did do some digging for other battletech games I was pretty confused over both mercs and clans being “Mechwarrior 5” I thought they were the same game for a while. So the marketing was definitely a sore spot, especially if they were expecting this game to pull in new players, I guess the least they could have done is changed the name a little bit more to better differentiate it from the older title.

[@ryanh7844]

I thoroughly enjoyed MW5: Clans. I tried doing a 2nd playthrough and just could not do it. So I went back to my modded MW5: Mercs.

[@wikikomoto]

all the mw5 games have been baffling to me. obviously these are never going to be mass-market games, yet they dumb them down to appeal to a general audience. there isn't a doubt in my mind that the game would have preformed astronomically better if they'd committed to making it more of a sim, closer to what mechwarrior 3 was trying to do. basic stuff like, balance. being able to fall over. weapon recoil. blowing legs off. managing your balance so you don't fall over while running in a light mech, and so you can keep your heavy autocannons on target in an assault. a more realistic and "down to earth" art style instead of the semi-cartoony generic 2010s american sci-fi look its had since mechwarrior online. they should be appealing to their hardcore playerbase. and if they went all in on the simulation elements (different scan modes and radar modes, internal damage model with modules like most flight sims, interactive cockpit, that sort of thing) it would have attracted players from other genres. the biggest hurtle to simulators is the general need for peripherals. steering wheels or HOTAS and the like. you wouldn't need that for mechwarrior. you could make it a sim from the group up to work on keyboard/mouse. and I'm sure it would have attracted a huge audience. the simple idea of "realistic robot game" has people still buying and playing steel battalion, with its 500$ controller. there is a thriving online community for that, and zero games to fill the niche.

[@JustinLee-r4u]

They made a lot of mistakes with the game in hindsight. They must of spent to much to make the game. The game was boring, the cutscenes were cool but the missions were the same every time. Then they killed off any goodwill they had with the dlc debacle.

[@CorwinS-kd6yu]

As someone who bought all the dlc for mercs and not bought clans yet, I feel like I have a perspective that others might share. All I saw was a cool story mode and good visuals. Nothing that would make me set down Mercs and pick up clans. And i really want to use clan mechs. The lack of customizability of the mechs, the lack of content(I assume because i couldn't see anything to do off what was shown/playtested). It just all looked not worth the new game cost

[@xsteinbachx741]

I've personally just been waiting for a sale, but keep seeing bad reviews so my view of must buy went to, sit and wait till patches fix the game. When I heard that it's super linear in the reviews, and the game just spams lances without any variety of gameplay makes me pretty sad. Maybe I will play.. one day. Maybe I'll boot up MWO instead.

[@carstenstille8503]

There where a lot of fans who where not that exited that there was no Sandbox mode. The Sandboxmode in Mercs brought me back to it with all the mods that are available the game has changed a lot to its benefit. thats not the case for Clans.

[@therealmikewazowski3231]

For me it was the trailer showing clanners as these nice guy goody two shoes. I’ve never played battletech but I have always understood the clanners to be a mystical warrior race of people. Not wholesome chungus good samaritans. All of that on top of it being a linear game which means those characters are much more important to the playing experience. I feel like a lot of game studios now have a hard time creating protagonists and antagonists that have more depth than just “good guys” and “bad guys”.

[@malcontender6319]

The rot of moral relativism runs through that entire community.

[@ryandabeard6465]

Weeeeeeeelllll, I really don't know what you are getting at with clanners "being nice guy goody-two shoes". lol

[@basilforth]

The Clan story line was good. Enjoyed it. Bold pick to select the SJ. The in game economy was pointless. No need for "Kerenskies" as coinage. Clan currency should be honor and victory in combat. Also did not like the need to takt 500 tons of Dire Wolves into all the final scenarios. Would have been better to make some of the final missions small mech friendly. Back to MW5 Mercs for me!

[@themomaw]

The frustrating thing is that I probably would have paid money for the hero variants and maybe adding a few "IIC" mechs to the campaign. I have every Mercs add on and I want them to financially succeed, but the value just wasn't there for Clans DLC1.

[@missjayspeechley9213]

I would have loved to have seen a larger roster of playable mechs and omnipod configs.

[@LapoftheWorld]

First, grats on the kid! Second, I Hate to hear about the human impact first and foremost with PGI, that sucks and I wish the best for those who got let go. For some context (not evident on my own channel) I'm ex 228th BW (MWOWC era so don't owe PGI anything, lol), and a massive table top nerd with the cited ~1000 hrs in HBS Battletech and ~600hrs in Mercs. I played through and honestly enjoyed Clans overall. PGI delivered on the "most narrative" MW game to-date, it's decently pretty if run on a good rig, it wasn't even that buggy. That said (and with some grain of salt with DLC out there) there were a lot of missed opportunity with allowing more player agency through the campaign. So many opportunities for "choose your own adventure" mid-mission decisions left on the table, only the initial trial of position, no opportunity to participate in the bidding process, etc. They kinda railroaded you through without letting you lean into your desire to either rail against the clan establishment or show those spheroids what war crimes look like. I'd have taken some only-recorded vs rendered dialoge, or heck even a block of text telling me how far Perez was going to try to lodge a boot into a specific orifice because I refused to trash civvy buildings, or how my ruthlessness was going to get me promoted sooner (as the case might be). Anyway, appreciate your continued news feed on the franchise as it helps keep in tune in spite of stepping back from mechs to play with cars more these days. 🍻

[@Barzarel]

Personally the two main things that put me off was that it seems like its far more story driven and linear from what I heard, then its also if I am to trust review far more restrictive that even Mechwarrior mercenary 5 was with replacing parts in mechs and upgrading them. Both things that had me feel really cautious and disinterested in buying it.

[@GoldElderDragon]

I disagree people didn't want a clan centric game and it affected sales. Clans in games are OFTEN asked about...usually as DLC or maybe mostly wanting their mechs. I think you are 100% right on the non open world affecting the sales. This is probably the biggest thing outside of maybe Gamepass. It's hard to justify its price tag when you have games like Helldivers and a platheora of indi games that are often cheaper and give you more play time. There were a number of battletech centric youtubers that really liked it which told me the game was in the right place. The main thing, I think, are the causes of the poor sales is 1) no open world/replay-ability (like both Battletech the Video Game and Mechwarrior 5 had it). Had some really good price for quantity in 2024 2) Mechwarrior, and Battletech in general, are still relatively niche. I don't know if their projections took this into account. 3) Gamepass - unsure if this affected sales and what kinds of kickbacks PGI gets based on gamepass plays. It being on gamepass AND being a one and done simple story game really doesnt meld well. It sucks. PGI, i think, really put a lot of care and effort into the game and i really enjoyed it as a Battletech lore and tabletop fan. (I also play MW5 mercs and the Battletech Video Game a lot). I hope they take some time to make a really solid DLC expansion that gives us open world I hope that opens up a lot. I just hope they aren't like "well you have open world already...you have mw5 mercs"

[@GARGOYLEVINE]

thanks for the update

[@snowstalker36]

MW5 honestly was pretty lackluster until Heroes of the Inner Sphere. They did such a good job with the big patch and that DLC that it restarted the game hype, and they just built from there. I was hoping for the same for Clans. I am very concerned that they will be able to pull something like that off after the reduction in force.

[@Arnuld15Governator]

I saw the writing on the wall so I'm not surprised. The lack of content even compared to MW2 and MW2 GBL for a modern 2024 title and the fact there is very little innovation between the two titles blows my mind. Mechwarrior 5 Clans should have had elementals, more aerospace fighters, infantry (albeit it was a official mod in MW5 Mercs) and so much more to keep us engaged. What killed it for me was the lack of clan launch battlemechs from the original title. I assume they were banking on making clan battlemechs a DLC down the road which I am not a big fan of. I know for the classic titles the console versions only had omnimechs, but I don't think there's really any excuse for the lack of battlemechs besides just trying to milk the IP even more. With the licensing issues I think the Clans should have been a DLC for Mercs. I was not a big fan of the audio changes for the weapon systems in Clans either. I think Mod support will spark my interest again.

[@vonseitentv]

What I find a little funny is that in a nutshell, PGI did actually exactly what everyone was asking for after MW5 Mercs: more story, more handmade missions etc...also here on the channel/comments;) While true that more handmade story and missions are cool, it is also clear that making that also takes tons of resources away, resulting in cuts e.g. in openworld-ness, since PGI is not an AAA-level team size. I would have preferred a MW5 Mercs II tbh, but also I never play MW5 Mercs for story missions but for the openness and yeah, Mods for sure;)

[@mcbhomis]

I am an old enough to have played BattleTech on the table top before the Clans even existed in the game. When the Clans showed up they became the enemy we always hated both within our tabletop/RPG game and it's effect on the early table top game. So I did not have a lot of desire to play as a Clan mechwarrior. MW5Merc when you add in all the DLC really scratched that old succession war itch for this long time fan, but Clans did not.

[@jasonpeko8293]

It was a one and done for me. Been a MW player since the end of MW2. Played MW3-4 and some MWO. The PvP asect of these games is what is missing in the recent titles. I've had a dream of a full MW universe game. An RPG where Players play as a Mechwarrior insted of just mechs. A galaxy wide sandbox with real time consequences. Think of it as Eve,Warthunder, and Mechwarrior smashed togeather. Set in the MW universe. It would be glorious. A dream 30yrs in the making. Still waiting.

[@JustinKase1969]

Grats on the kiddo. I don't know about this. I really enjoyed the MW5 Clans campaign, very enjoyable story and great voice acting. It was frustrating to have the 'mechs limited, but it also makes sense in the way that the Clans work, so I just took it as the mechanic for the game - not a big deal. What they needed was some open play at the end where you could just do fights on a handful of worlds (for variety of maps) and being able to just fight and grow your stable of available 'mechs. People are just too used to the sandbox elements of previous games, and the ability to collect more 'mechs than a periphery nation would own, where this game went for more of a fluff based stance.

[@badipaddress]

Gamepass is also not meeting financial expectation according to Microsoft. This could also explain MW5 Clans failure.

[@kaeseblock1362]

I really liked the MW5 Clans story but it felt like a railshooter with very little variation in tactics. Tried to play the campaign with friends and it was fun, but there were some usability problems and crashes that stopped us from finishing that. And we were ranting about the UI again. It was simply not user friendly enough...

[@Mofflin1]

Clans as a game was fine. It was just fine. Not terrible, not amazing. The problem it faces as a base game is that once you’ve played through, that’s it. There’s no reason to come back and play the same thing again. Once you’ve reached the end of the game there’s no reason not to just stomp in with 5 Dire Wolf laser boats because the game never forces you to do anything interesting. The DLC debacle just hammered the nails into the coffin as the prime example of how not to treat the people that pay your bills.

[@Wolva10]

All they had to do was look to Mercs saw what worked and made it for Clans....that open custom experience. But nope, They only have themselves to blame for this sadly

[@skexy]

the lack of replayability would not have hit as hard if it weren't on gamepass. the 'DLC' might have muted that if it weren't botched and were a part of the game initially. Proper DLC for a game without replayability would be more and expanded campaigns