cplkillem, on 04 July 2012 - 06:58 AM, said:
So I have been playing World of tanks for over a year now (~1700 matches in) so I do not consider myself a newb to FTPgames.
In typical FTP you start with cheaper gear (in this instance it will be mechs), and you will have to unlock better mechs and earn money to buy them. In world of tanks, you start with a tier 1 tank. You accrue XP to unlock upgrades and better tanks while earning money (used to repair your tank, buy ammunition and upgrades). At the start, money is never an issue. You simply make more money then you need to repair and rearm your cheaper low end, entry tank (you may have to grind a little to earn enough $ to buy that next, tier tank but you end up with a profit from every match). This makes sense, a new player needs to be able to cut his teeth, get the feel of the game, try different classes to see what suits their fancy and frankly, get hooked.
As you progress in world of tanks, as you get to arround tier 7 things have changed greatly. If you have a bad round you loose alot of money (you may not make enough to repair your tank, let alone pay for ammunition to replace what you expended), while on a good round you may break even or make a small profit. Leading to 3 play options,
1) stick to playing with tier 6 and below tanks, rarely earn less virtual money in a match then it costs you to play the round and be happy
2) Play multiple lower level tier matches to build up some cash reserves then play with the tier 7+ tank until the reserves run out, then go back to grinding lower tiers to rebuild the reserve.
3) buy a premium account and or premium tank. to greatly decrease the amout of farming needed to generate the required cashflow to compete in higher tier matches.
Premium accounts let you earn more $ and they also let you earn more XP (sound familiar?). In short, a premium account at the beginning serves no purposes but to help you get thru the lower tiers quicker, while later on, a premium account lets you play higher tiers without having to grind money with lower tier'd matches.
Please oh please let me buy into the founders program, but let me choose when I want my account to be a premium account. I am more then happy grinding thru the lower level/beginning tiers at a normal pace, without the premium account. I am concerned if I have a premium account at the beginning, I'll fly thru the lower ranks and when I need the premium account the most, it'll expire. For this reason, today, it makes no sense for me to buy in to the founders program, but wait until the ~2 month mark and just buy a premium account then (if at all).
with this simple little change, you'll get more money out of me (and I suspect others) in the long run....
First, the Founders programisn't for people that want an instant advantage, we're simply supportin gthe development fo the game. the in game goodies are a bonus as far as i'm concerned.
Second, the main reason for the money drop off in WOT is to keep the low er tiers populated so the new players dont have to play against a tiny fraction of the playerbase. There are always large numbers of low tiers playing because 75% of the players DONT PAY A DIME and need to grind silver to support high tier tanks.
Third, the only tiers in the game are unlockable skills and equipment. You unlock a tier of equipment like a laser and then you have access to that so you can purchase it - thats it.
ScrapIron Prime, on 04 July 2012 - 07:34 AM, said:
Big time. WOT is a brilliant example of how NOT to run a F2P, and if that's your only experience with such a game, then you're operating from a very skewed worldview.
This low level bigotry is stupid. Stop demeaning yourselves. Ignorance of the wot financial mechanics and company motives blinds peopel to exactly why things are as they are in wot - russians even belarussians do nothing without a plan.
Edited by grimzod, 04 July 2012 - 07:39 AM.