...okay, I need to know more about this. How on earth did such minor changes so grossly destroy the love the fans had for the game?
Especially a third-person camera. Just don't use it if you don't like it!
It's not that simple. The game was supposed to be a mech simulation. Not a 3rd person shooter.
The addition of 3rd person DRASTICALLY changes how the game is played. And, due to the 3rd person perspective, those using it have DRAMATIC increases in situational awareness. Because, instead of relying on LOS and instrumentation, they simply zoom out and see stuff that SHOULD be hidden from them.
This leads to phenomena like "pop tarts". Basically a pop tart is a jump enabled mech that simply stands behind an obstruction, and when an enemy is sighted, they pop straight up, alpha-strike the crap out of the opponent, and drop back down into cover. And this style of play is ONLY viable because of the 3rd person POV.
What did Pirannha Games ignore from their customers?
Players made it known VERY early in development (as in before they opened to private beta) that 3rd person was something that would ruin the game Pirannha was promising. And, at the time, Pirannha basically flat out stated that they were going for a mech sim, not a 3rd person shooter. It was even said as such at the sit down at GenCon 2012.
It's actually bad enough that I refuse to talk about the product in the BT community due to my position. Because it'd be construed as me shitting on a partner.