Aside from people having lives outside video games this site has been pretty dead because of how divisive Twisted Metal 2012 was. Older TM fans felt great disappointment in a glitchy title that offered no new TM characters and one that offered no real competitive play since the game was not balanced and had too many exploits that ruined the chance of fair play. There were those who liked TMX but for some reason felt it necessary to shun the TMA/old school community without really offering any real insight to what was good about the new direction TM took, and really only seemd to like TMX because they were good at it. Still haven't seen a great defense of the TMX style.

Your ideas are not bad though I'm against full healths in competitive play. I like the idea of Taunting other drivers as a game-play feature.

I'd say for a next Twisted Metal I'd like to see the following trends reversed

-Instead of MORE homing weapons, TM should have less.

-No Sniper weapons. It doesn't belong in car combat.

-Instead of MORE of the same types of Special weapons, TM should go back to the variety offered in the past. There is no reason several cars need the same kind of special. The whole point of calling them SPECIALS was because they are meant to be unique attacks.

-Vehicles need a specific driver. The idea of having 4 characters/factions that can drive any of the vehicles cheapens the experience for me.

-Car switching in a match was not a great idea. Players get too obsessed with what players they dislike choose, and it becomes an annoying back and forth competition to outdo the other player by picking vehicles that could have an advantage over the other. Either the feature needs to be done with or limited so you can only change your vehicle one time.

-Arenas need to stop getting larger in Twisted Metal. Unless the next game is massive and holds up to 20+ players, there is no reason for extra large maps. Medium sized arenas with enough open space and cool destructible stuff that do not get in the way of combat are better.

-The next game needs more weather variety and other factors to keep maps from being boring without interfering with the combat experience.

-The next game needs more characters, real stories, but no "Story Mode". Just a classic Arcade tournament with a intro/middle/end cutscene would suffice, but what should be done different is maybe have the stories connect better. If there were to be a separate "story mode" episodes it should center on Calypso since he's not a driver, thus it would make sense to elaborate on his story apart from the car combat. I agree a comic book writer would be best for a task like that.

-Team Modes need to be done right. The next TM needs to be smarter in team matchmaking, and make an effort to keep games from being ruined, like booting idle players, stopping matches that are landslides within minutes, and creating a points system that doesn't reward poachers.

Great reply by MAWSH, good to see you again pal.

I would love another TM, but honestly I think I would rather have a legit HD port of TMB and TMB:Online on the PS4 before I would think they would remake an entire new Twisted Metal.  TM is a difficult game to sequel, for the same reasons we all love.  There's so much new "CONTENT" that is expected. Content is harder and harder to get into the games on the next gen systems due to the tech and expectations always rising.

A new twisted metal has to have the old cars in true HD glory, better than they have been before (although the Sweet Tooth in Rocket League is FREAKING SICK -- pic below).  It also has to include a handful of new cars, with new looks and specials.  It also must have at least 8 different maps, of varying sizes. It also needs to include at LEAST a beginning and end story for each character. And finally it needs to have at LEAST two bosses.  That doesn't include all of the testing and insane amount of scripting/collisions that have to be done over and over and over and over again. As a software tester, believe me when I say that Twisted Metal is a lot of moving software parts, and I think it's forgivable to screw it up.

That being said, I don't think Jaffe is certainly qualified for another Twisted Metal title. He certainly has had a few misses the last few years, including TMPS3. Drawn to Death looks interesting, but until I play it, I will have to believe that the gameplay will be similarly shallow, but I will of course reserve that judgement until the game is out. It is of course my opinion, but the real stars at Incog and SingleTrac that worked on STELLAR gameplay were working on Warhawk PS3 and Starhawk PS3 before Stawhawk flopped. The Eat Sleep Play and Starhawk crew (8 that remain) are simply working on iOS games now instead of AAA titles.  The gameplay / balance talent that Sony had in SingleTrac/Incognito all went to other companies.

So in that light, I'd rather a new Sony studio take Twisted Metal and put their own touches on it.  Maybe the MotorStorm / DriveClub team, maybe the KillZone / Horizon team after Horizon's release (not likely), but I don't know who would be willing.  Twisted Metal is a tough nut to crack.  The really good developers like to OWN their own franchises, not lease them.  Naughty Dog and the like wouldn't touch it.

EDIT: Almost forgot the wallpaper pic.

Ok, I guess it's time for my two cents. I think the problem with games today is the lack of gameplay as a whole. It's a lot of cinematic cut scenes and timed button sequences, and not a whole lot of actually doing anything.
We see a few rare exceptions to this, and even a slow reversal of this as development pipelines become more efficient and more resources go into gameplay mechanics rather than story and visuals.
Older titles in general are still pretty fun because of the focus on gameplay, and also their LACK of content. With the hardware limitations at the time, a game had to be simple, and yet get the point across.
Twisted Metal is and always will be my go to example, because it was such a fun and simple concept. You had a dozen unique vehicles with a driver; you fight through a tournament and get an ending.
Gameplay was key in having a game that people wanted to come back to, and Twisted Metal's concept works. An arena type death-match that progresses in a tournament is very good for way to keep people coming back.
You'd think playing the same levels over and over again would get boring, but TM kept it fresh by having a cool and unique vehicle roster. Each vehicle was a new gameplay experience, and with that, gamers felt a new challenge with each character.
The vehicles had their own driver as well, something that made each character a little more interesting when driving around. TM1 and TM2 also left a lot of the character to the player’s imagination as well, because we only got a few sentences and some ending dialogue to understand who that person is. Darkside from TM1 had the coolest driver, because you never really knew who or what he was, if we ignore the goofy live action endings.
That is where I think the new TM fell short, and what can't be absent from a new title.
Every vehicle needs a character behind the wheel, and they all need their own special and play style.
The levels are also a good chunk of TM's charm. They always had fun levels, and note that it doesn't always have to follow the "World Tour" style. The levels can be limited to a single location, i.e. LA or Harbor City. TMPS3 suffered from the levels being a little too big, and their layout feeling a little bland because of it. The older TM's didn't have huge open areas, but rather streets, paths, ramps, and small areas for combat. There was not any moments of isolation in TMPS3, because everything was very destructible and open, in contrast I'll always remember TM1 Cyburbia having tense moments of confusion as you got lost in the rows of never ending houses looking for your opponent.
Twisted Metal as a whole is a funny thing, Jaffe wanted to be fresh with the new title, but if you think about it, he didn't have to. The last title was on PSP, which I'm sure not everyone played, so in reality the last full release for Twisted Metal was back in 2001. The game doesn't NEED to be fresh, because it's not even released enough to get repetitive! A franchise like Call of Duty gets repetitive. Car combat isn't even a big enough genre to get repetitive either.

So what am I getting at with my ramblings? A god damn cut and paste of TM1 and 2. Update it graphically/reboot it, but keep it stuck in the 90's. It can feel dated in it's styling, music, and characters, that is a part of it's charm for me personally. I just want good detailed models, high quality textures, and fun vividly colored maps. The gameplay can be exactly how it's always been, except for a nice multiplayer portion and, for the love of god, online co-op.
I don't need it to be a 60$ title, but if they want to add some extras to bump it up to a full title I'll except that.

I can contribute a lot of points myself, but for now I'm just going to respond to and emphasize/contest a few things mentioned thus far.

Ghastly wrote on 07/05/15 at 19:27:49:

Not a fan of that idea. It'd be more realistic if your vehicle was crippled when taking damage, but from a gameplay perspective it's make things less excited cause it'd be much harder to make a comeback. I could also see it empowering pussy tactics, since players would try to keep their vehicle in optimum condition and avoid putting themselves in situations where they could be damaged.

MoshTMA wrote on 07/07/15 at 03:10:05:

I'm not a fan any pickup or element that restores full health, I agree. I do think that health can have a meaningful purpose and can add depth in a TM game though. In a game like Black especially, I totally get why health is bullcrap, and only strips depth since it encourages shallow pussy tactics to rebound from your mistakes. In team-based TM 2012 though, it does add elements of map control, pacing and pressuring the opposing team's weakened players before the health cycles come around, and becomes a real turf war. How it would function in a game with a dedicated team mode, but higher ability to dodge has yet to be determined, but I believe health can work in team games. In FFA, disable health. Health serves no purpose in those modes, especially in LMS and 1v1s. There should be nothing resembling health stations, health taxis and health semis either, as they restore too much with minimal coordination required.

MoshTMA wrote on 07/07/15 at 03:10:05:

I'm going to disagree with that, mainly because it's not like TM is a rock paper scissors match where one vehicle indisputably trumps another. If the next game is properly balanced, any vehicle matchup should be competitive, but we've never really had a TM with that level of balance. My major issue with locking people in their vehicles is that it would discourage players from mastering a range of vehicles. The best teams are ones that are hard to predict, can run any vehicle lineup and can alter their tactics mid-game. If the game is balanced properly and there isn't any cheap elements to a specific vehicle, there shouldn't be any need to switch out of spite.

MoshTMA wrote on 07/07/15 at 03:10:05:

Much agreed. We don't need larger maps, or a larger player capacity even. It might be fun to have an insane amount of players for DM or another casual mode, but in TDM, 6v6 is really as large as a team can be while still being able to coordinate over mics and whatnot. All of the XL maps in TM 2012, except LA Skyline XL, are too big for even the unranked max of 8v8. Most of the medium maps in TM 2012 are decent (except Dead Man's Crossing which we never play competitively). It'd also be awesome to have more variants offered, since having only one variant on LA Skyline (Vertigo) really sucks since it's one of the better maps in the game.

MoshTMA wrote on 07/07/15 at 03:10:05:

I would greatly prefer to see the teturn of original system of drivers being inseparable from their vehicles. However. I don't care to see high production values invested in the story. I still want the writing to be decent, but minimalist comic stories would do just fine, as I would rather see more resources be out into developing the gameplay. What I care about most is that they nail the overall atmosphere of Twisted Metal. I can forgive the lack of substance in TM 2012's single player in that it felt like a TM experience... for the short time it lasted.

Luis wrote on 07/07/15 at 09:43:28:

The multiplayer unlock system should purely be ascetic modifications. Although I kinda understand the logic of restricting vehicles like Reaper or Darkside that are really unforgiving for someone who just began playing, locking killstreak perks, energy abilities and so on is just terrible logic, and aside from just TM, I don't get why so many online games opt to put new players at a disadvantage from the start.

I'll add more if other elements aren't brought up in the next few posts.