Well right now I would be really satisfied if this game becomes an RPG-ish SM++++++++++++++ .
I had already ditched the MMO idea long time ago.

Let me tell you about MWO as a comparison.

MWO is a lobbyshooter.

The "campaign":
- Out of ~30 planets, you get to attack/defend 2 predefined planets as determined by some external algorithm. You cannot choose what part of the "galaxy" your faction shall conquer. You have zero control over where you are fighting.

- You enter the map, you win or lose. On some planet some counter moves by "1".

- When the counter has moved far enough, the planet changes owners. Except that it's entirely irrelevant whether you just conquered a planet or whether you just lost a planet. Winning and losing have no ramifications whatsoever for how you are doing the next game, the next day, the next month.

The MWO-campaign is just map after map after map after map after map and from time to time some spot on a map changes its color. It is entirely irrelevant whether you personally are wining or losing and it's equally irrelevant whether your faction as a whole is winning or losing. The game is always the same. Always.

I backed way back when it was all theoretical and the important thing I get to do now is run around as a space marine/ Eldar/ ork/ chaos marine in a setting I enjoy. I didn't play for a few months there and when I returned the game was drastically different and better IMHO. If you feel angry about the game frustrated take a break go chill out and come back later, you might feel upset now ( which you're all entitled to be) but in that time you're away the game will change and you might be pleasantly surprised when you return. * dives under bags of salt to avoid incoming fire*

Yea, that sucks. Who would ever play such a game as MWO for more than 2-3 hours per week? The hell with such games

Its like mantra: release without interactive campaign map --> negative reviews, because of being simple lobby shooter with W40k skin --> not a diehards try it and run away after some days - weeks --> more negative reviews --> less people playing --> not enough money to develop the game properly --> long queues and emptiness for those who still comes to play --> ends up like Space Marine, with casual gameplay sessions.

Oh, PGI fucked up the launch of MWO. They fucked it up BIG-TIME.

I joined during Open-Beta.
PGI made promises: We will have a galactic map! You will fight on different planets! People began bombarding the forum with speculations and helpful suggestions. People developed expectations and PGI never communicated towards those expectations, allowing them to get out-of-control.
For example:
PGI said that you will have a character and that people can band together to form units and that those units can choose where to fight.
Naturally, I expected that we will play an actual person that has a profile and a location in the galaxy and everything.
Naturally, I expected that units travel from planet to planet in some manner. Especially because PGI had also announced "dropships" that would serve as mobile bases for the units.

Then, one day, PGI declared that launch will be at this and that date.
The date came closer and was eventually there.
I started the game. "Weird. I have the Beta installed and there is no patch for the final game?"
I looked around and guess what.

The MWO-launch consisted of replacing the "MWO - Open Beta"-tag with an "MWO"-tag.
That's it.
The launch consisted of changing the title of the game.
The forum EXPLODED with rage.

And what did the devs say when confronted?
"Well, the end of Beta only means that the basics of the game are laid down and fixed. We will now start developing all the stuff we promised for the final game."




And what have we gotten in MWO? A campaign where you cannot control anything and where winning and losing are the same.
The only thing that matters in MWO is the grind to get more money to upgrade your Mechs and to buy more Mechs.
Grind, grind, grind.
Gotta-catch-em-all.

The "character" you are playing consists of name, XP and money.
The "unit" is a group of characters.
The "dropship" is a spreadsheet to keep track of your unit.
The map is meaningless, because you have no location. You can fight on one end of the galaxy in one match and then fight at the other end of the galaxy 5 minutes later. Travel does not exist. War-fronts do not exist.

For a while I was playing MWO on a regular basis.
"Only X more hours of grinding until I can buy that thing!"
I eventually stopped playing MWO altogether.

And MWO is still the same. PGI keeps pumping out content (Mechs&maps) to sell stuff to players with microtransactions, but the broken campaign-mechanic was never fixed.

This is how I see the state of the community.

1. Many feel bamboolzed because promises about the game's design are not being met (launch = met). These promises are not technologically impossible because there are other games which have campaign like structures or better.

2. Many people are white-knighting the devs.

3. Many people care about the future of the game. People in both camps 1 and 2 mostly feel this way.

We all want a successful game. Many posters wrote that to have a successful game we need a large player base. The assumption by people in camp 1 and the moderates is that the only way to achieve a large player base is to make the game more than a lobby shooter and to add a campaign element.

Many people feel that the game should be delayed until the campaign element is added.

It appears to me that for the health of the game, which is also the long term profitability of the game, not just the short term profitability, that the game should be delayed until at least the campaign element is added.

I get the feeling that if the devs did delay the game's release to put the map in, there would still be people up in arms over the decision, simply because they were promised a summer release and now the game's been delayed.

nonsense.

I didn't see anyone here since the start who cared about release date.

ALL of us (at least those I've read their post) said time and time again they could delay how much they want we want a good polished game at release.

it's not like we will not purchase the game as all of us purchased it even before the closed early access pre steam era.

The launch only matters in terms of publicity and in terms of attracting new players.

If you already are a fan of EC, you can already play it and the launch-date is irrelevant.