17 replies to this topic

[Catalinasgrace]

Understand that I do not know how many people are actually playing MWO, or how many pixel products have been sold to date. However I can tell you that is it not as many as it cold be.

I believe it was "---------" who said "I would rather sell 10,000 products for $1 instead of 1 product for $10,000"... I might be a little off there but the point still stands...

I know there are some that feel the pricing is way to expensive, some think it is just right, and others think it needs to be higher. I'm not saying make everything $1 by any means here, but I am saying that I think you are pricing the company out of additional sales bigtime! Think of it this way if you will... You have guys and gals that have followed the Mechwarrior/battletech series for decades and therefore most of those people are going to spend their money on this as it is their passion. Then you will have people that are borderline that really like the the mech world but it isn't their life so they might spend money on items. Lastly you will have the new people to Mechwarrior who are really excited by the idea of rockem sockem robots but not really know much about it. Those are the people you need to target IMO. I say that because there are MANY other games out there they can choose from. People love to customize things, and they will choose where to spend the money more so than any one else. Right now at this time whether you choose to say we are in beta or not is beside the point entirely. Lets be honest, the game only has so much to actually do here and it isn't alot in game terms.

So my thoughts are this if the company needs funding:

Bring pricing down by 1/4 to 1/2... Make hero mechs cost $10-$12 and other cosmetic items $1-$2. I ask you, would you rather sell 100 hero mechs for $25 or 1000 hero mechs for $12... The math is pretty simple and people are funny about how they are spending their money. I also think paint sales would sky rocket as well if they were kept. Make each paint stored to the mech it was bought for only. I know for myself personally if it was that way I would probably have 10-15 paints easy!


Oh and if you dont know already my quote from above is from the founder of Japan Optical Industries Co. in 1917 and known today as Nikon...

[Bhael Fire]

Catalinasgrace, on 05 December 2012 - 09:21 AM, said:

I also think paint sales would sky rocket as well if they were kept. Make each paint stored to the mech it was bought for only. I know for myself personally if it was that way I would probably have 10-15 paints easy!

I think the camo spec system right now is what really started making me angry about the prices. If paint colors could be unlocked for individual mechs and used permanently for that mech, I think that would be a step in the right direction. Not seeing a whole lot of custom paint jobs out on the field...I think this would change if they revised the camo spec system.

Also, I agree with you about hero mechs; $10-12 is a reasonable price. MANY people would jump on that without even thinking about it. Just the same, if regular mechs were priced from $2-4 each (i.e. about 400-800 MC ea.) they'd make a lot more sales...instead of people grinding c-bills for them.

Edited by Bhael Fire, 05 December 2012 - 09:46 AM.

[Mechteric]

The prices seem about in line with other F2P titles (except for one-time use paints, but that's just my opinion). Where they can really rake in the money is by having rotating specials like Planetside 2 is doing. So for instance this week maybe the Centurion CNT-AL and Phranken is 50-75% off, but then next week its another mech and another paint scheme.

Edited by CapperDeluxe, 05 December 2012 - 01:03 PM.

[Drakemoore]

My largest concern with a lot of MWO's pricing model is like other threads have stated honestly. They need to be 'micro' transactions as the term implies. Dollar here, dollar there to do something. But with the silly amounts of MC needed for most things I've not had any desire to spend money myself on cosmetics.

The mech-bay for 300 a piece is probably the best thing there is and I'll possibly be buying some of that but why in the world would I spend upwards of several hundred MC for a bobble head cockpit item as well as many things that are for 'that Mech only' ?

In addition IMO, you should let people barter items they've purchased with MC.

[focuspark]

Drakemoore, on 05 December 2012 - 01:16 PM, said:

My largest concern with a lot of MWO's pricing model is like other threads have stated honestly. They need to be 'micro' transactions as the term implies. Dollar here, dollar there to do something. But with the silly amounts of MC needed for most things I've not had any desire to spend money myself on cosmetics.

The mech-bay for 300 a piece is probably the best thing there is and I'll possibly be buying some of that but why in the world would I spend upwards of several hundred MC for a bobble head cockpit item as well as many things that are for 'that Mech only' ?

In addition IMO, you should let people barter items they've purchased with MC.

See my suggestion [http://mwomercs.com/...usiness-model/] I think you'll like it.

[Pupecki]

Bhael Fire, on 05 December 2012 - 09:45 AM, said:

I think the camo spec system right now is what really started making me angry about the prices. If paint colors could be unlocked for individual mechs and used permanently for that mech, I think that would be a step in the right direction. Not seeing a whole lot of custom paint jobs out on the field...I think this would change if they revised the camo spec system.

Also, I agree with you about hero mechs; $10-12 is a reasonable price. MANY people would jump on that without even thinking about it. Just the same, if regular mechs were priced from $2-4 each (i.e. about 400-800 MC ea.) they'd make a lot more sales...instead of people grinding c-bills for them.

I agree with everything you said, I know I would have bought atleast 4 mechs buy now if that were the case, but as it stands now I haven't even gotten one because as a broke college student I really don't have an extra $30 to drop on a mech and would rather just grind it out.

[Oppresor]

I must admit, I would prefer to buy the product in the traditional way, normally a one off £34.99 or there abouts. If the final product was sold that way I would definitely pay it.

[Mazgazine1]

Yeah their cost per MC or the MC it takes to buy stuff needs to change.

I'm NEVER buying a mech for $25, EVER.

The slots are the only thing that makes sense, they cost like $2-3 per slot and are permanent useful items.

But, buying a mech for as much as other entire games?? yeah right... Seeing the ornaments for a high price was also surprising, and the painting? yikes..

My mechs will be vanilla or red/black unless more promotion free skins become available like the Pro gamer one.

The one big thing that would fix this is a lower premium time cost. I'd pay a $10 monthly on this game for the boost, but its 25-30$ for that right now :/

Look at planetside2's pricing - they exchange $5 dollars for 500 points. This makes SENSE. Most of their transactions are at most $10, and their premium time is $10 a month.

[Catalinasgrace]

CapperDeluxe, on 05 December 2012 - 01:03 PM, said:

The prices seem about in line with other F2P titles (except for one-time use paints, but that's just my opinion).

That right there is where the downfall comes... In business you CANNOT be like everyone else, you must be unique. Simply put you must be better than the competition to be a true success... I do not believe that MWO has the player base that Planetside, Swtor, Lotro, or most other free to play games now and therefore the sales will not be equal to them either. I understand that most F2P games actually end up costing you 20 times more to play than a out right bought game for sure if you actually want anything. However, all of my points still stand...

[Pando]

I would love to see weekly or bi-weekly deals!

[neviu]

Hero mechs are at a good price for my idea,
Just look at wot best prem tanks cost 50$!
Little things can be cheaper yea but tue mechs should stay expensivr to buy,
But a good investment for the bonuses it gives,

[Catalinasgrace]

First of all this isn't world of tanks, that is its own special game going after a special crowd. Just as MWO is...

How many people do you know that will spend $50 on a mech?!?! Two, four??? I know that I would not, and I can tell you that 95% of the people playing would not either. This is a business after all and a business runs on finacial success.

Lets just say we have 10,000 people playing MWO right now...

Say that 500 people actually spent the money on that single mech for $50. That is a totall of $25,000...

Now lets say they dropped the price of that mech to $15, and 3,500 people bought it. That is a total of $52,500

If they drop it even further to $12 and 6,000 people buy it the total would be $72,000...

People will spend the money when the cost isn't what they see as too much. However as I stated in my original post I have no idea how many people are actually playing and spending money at this time. Just because the price of something is higher does not mean you will make more money...

Edited by Catalinasgrace, 05 December 2012 - 03:09 PM.

[Zirand]

The other thought to consider is it's not like they are selling inventory. These mechs don't take up space on the shelves, and there isn't a material cost for each one. Yeah, there's the initial creation, art design, and then balancing, and other factors that are involved, but they're involved regardless.

I personally would think it would make more sense to sell in bulk when the overhead costs are the same if you sell 1 mech or 100.

I know I would likely spend more money if the prices weren't so high.

[Maverick Howell]

a little more Mc increase for what you spend would be nice. i would like to see 5$ 10$ 15$ 20$ not this 6.95.$ 14.95$ MAKE THEM EVEN NUMBERS! YOUR MAKING MY OCD GO MAD PGI!!!!!!

[Soulforge]

I think how about making the pricing model based on the individual items on mechs not just the mechs themselves..

Ex.

Make the mechs cheaper to buy with dollars but carry the standard basic equipment around 5 - 10 dollars range

make being able to buy special equipment possible ex. Liao Modified Sreak SRM 2 (reload & lock on times 50% faster) $1

another example of special equipment that can be purchased for cash would be the Mobile Mech repair and rearm vehicle $ 5

allowing a Mech to repair itself by 50% and re arm fully 1x per battle and has a 30 seconds repair duration.

[Barrett]

Quote

its own special game going after a special crowd

I know I am "special", my poor Mech piloting skills prove that, but I am still wise enough not to shell out that much $$$ for a game.
I am willing to spend $30 in total, not one one mech, so I am waiting for them to launch a Christmas Special coupon.

@Soulforge - That is a brilliant idea. Maybe it will get incorporated when the "bases" finally become dropships with their own arsenal.

[Catalinasgrace]

While all the ideas for different things to sell are great, and I'm sure the more they have to sell they more money they are going to make for the company. That is a little beside the point of my original post... An example of cutting your own nose off is the black friday deals that went on. Another known F2P game had a double your money deal from the top package to the bottom package. MWO only offered a small deal on the top 2 most expensive packages. Which company do you think actually sold more? I understand the other game has a huge population however if you scale it down between the two I'm certain the results are the same.

Most people are on a budget now days and have a set dollar amount they are willing to spend on something. When it comes to pixels on a screen 9.9 times out of 10 they will go for the best deal. I have seen a couple people in my squadron that have bought the newest hero mech but the remaining 50 people said almost exactly the same thing. "no way in hell am I going to spend that much on a single mech"...

I know its difficult to have sales, cut prices, ect when a company needs financial backing. Its even harder to do when your are still in a semi start up position trying to cut into the mainstream of the gaming industry. Its EASY to price yourself right out of the market though, and I feel that is what is happening here.

Take iRacing for example... They have what I would call a rather expensive setup IMO however what you get for the money is worth it. There is a $12 a month fee if you pay by the single month, but they do deals twice a year at least where you can get a year membership for $49. The cars are $12 each, and the tracks are $12 to $15 each... The cars and tracks are laser scanned to the mm and very nicely done. Some of the tracks are HUGE, such as Silverstone, Daytona, VIR, ect... You also get all configurations of the tracks you buy, not just one of them. You can paint your cars yourself, and what you buy is yours in your account forever... They also offer deals to where the more you buy the cheaper it is to buy them. If you buy 4 pieces of content at once it is 20% off. If you buy what is remaining to push you to 100% content you get 25% off. They also dish out iRacing credits to buy content or month dues with. If you race in official races at the end of the season you can get up to $10 in credits.

As it stands right now I have spent upwards of $900+ on iRacing, $100 on planetside, and about $100 on MWO. I am not a cheapskate by any means, however if the prices keep following the path they have been with MWO they will be getting less and less of my money and I'm certain there are ALOT more people like me out there than there are those who are willing to pay whatever the cost of MWO.

Edited by Catalinasgrace, 06 December 2012 - 08:49 AM.

[Ceribus]

Heck I'm sitting on 20K MC but can't bring myself to buy anything cause the value seems so off. Hero mechs, I'd buy them for $15 dollars tops. Paints and Patterns I'll only buy if they cost MC to unlock and then after that are Cbills to use. Cockpit items, I really wanted the santa clause but $5 really, if they were $1 I would buy all of them but i'm not spending $5 on a bobble head. Part of the problem is $60 equals a full produced and finished game so trying to convince my self to spen half of that on a single mech (Ilya Muromets) in this game just doesn't work.... I'm willing to drop money on this game, I've given them $120 and I'd give them that much again if they give me value for my money which at the moment they are not, so i'm sitting on my 20K MC cause I can't find anything to spend it on