14 replies to this topic

[Toxic9813]

Alright. I just discovered this game was happening about a week ago surfing the net. I have to say, I didn't play any other Mechwarrior game, really. When MechWarrior4 came out I didn't understand it, cause I was five . Anyway, I'm really psyched for the beta, it looks great so far Currently playing MW4 to keep myself occupied.

Now, on topic. The one game in particular I wanted to compare MW:O to was World of Tanks. If you've played and liked it, you might understand what I'm saying:

AFAIK, It's extremely successful. There's usually 30k+ people online at a given time, and when I talk about it, lots of people seem to know. I don't know the secret to its success, maybe others here can deconstruct that. It's a premium F2P game, and you can buy your way though the Tech line, without gaining a significant in-game advantage. There are, however, "premium tanks". They have a boost in their earnings of in-game currency (but they're not always tremendously good. In fact, some may argue they're bad). Do you think there will the the possibility of 'Mechs that cost money? Maybe equipment?

*Edit*

I had more points, but I deleted them because I wrote them in a way that didn't make sense.
Feel free to add your own comparisons to other F2P games, as well as WoT.

Edited by Toxic9813, 13 May 2012 - 05:21 AM.

[Adridos]

Toxic9813, on 13 May 2012 - 05:21 AM, said:

Do you think there will the the possibility of 'Mechs that cost money? Maybe equipment?

They want to be as free as the model allows them to and will surely sell thingies like hula girls into cockpit, skins for mechs (look into Fan Art repaints section to see how good can a dedicated, not just 3 color layer paint look) and other things that don't connect to the gameplay itself. So we probably won't see any paid mechs.

And WoT, while a bit poorly P2W, is an original game and deserves success.

[Toothman]

I think they will take all the good ideas from WoT, leave out the bad ideas, and make a game that will force me to make this my main game to spend money on.

[pursang]

Hmm yeah. WoT is great and all, but I'd rather not have the P2W elements from that game.

[Grokmoo]

While no pay to win would be nice, my bet is that you will be able to buy new mechs for real money. This is a large source of potential income that the devs will not be able to pass up.

[LackofCertainty]

It's early enough to where we really don't know what real money is going to get you in game.

If you want my broad speculation, the I will say, I expect you to be able to buy mechs, ammo, weapons, skins, decals, expanded color options, and C-bill/XP boosters with real monies. The only things that I expect will be cash only will be Skins, decals, expanded color options, and C-bill/XP boosters.

I like the core game of WoT a lot. It is a very sim-y tank combat game, and there isn't really anything else out there like it right now. That's probably why is has a lot of business at the moment. However, I stopped playing WoT because it is a "Pay to Win" game. What do I mean by that? I mean that you can put real $ in the game to get a slight advantage over someone who hasn't. The Premium tanks are part of the issue (because while their stats aren't godly, they count you as a lower tier for Matchmaking than a tank of that power normally would) but the one factor that's easiest to spot is the premium ammo.

People brush it off as saying "well it's not that big a deal" but the fact remains that the current ammo options are:
1. AP ammo (high penetration, low damage) available for in-game money
2. HE rounds (high damage low penetration) available for in-game money
3. Premium ammo (higher penetration than AP ammo, and same or higher damage than AP ammo) available for real monies.

If their premium ammo had been a middle ground between the two in-game ammos, it'd be fine. (aka, make it medium penetration and medium damage) It's not though, it is a purely superior AP round, that gives people who are willing to "shoot money" from their tank a strict advantage.

There are other flaws with the WoT (how difficult it can be to play with friends, how limited group size is, the noticable dis-incentives for leveling, the massive grind, etc etc etc) but primarily the one that made me stop playing was the fact that you can buy yourself an advantage in that game.

I'm hoping MWO will feel a bit similar to WoT, (sim combat) but just without all the jank. (mech balance should take out the grinding issues, mechs being balanced against eachother should remove grouping issues, won't be any real punishment to leveling, hopefully no premium ammo or premium mech)

... also mechs are cooler than tanks.

Edited by LackofCertainty, 13 May 2012 - 06:00 AM.

[StandingCow]

I view a lot of the way this game will be, on WoT. It's a fair model, since they do need to make money.

I never really felt you were paying to win in WoT... sure if you buy stuff you had a bit of an advantage, but it wasn't so bad that totally free players didn't have a chance.

[Saren21]

WOT is a fairly good model... I just hope they take what we learned from WOT and apply it to a new and very much improved MW:O. If they get it right it will be like going from an old cell phone to getting your first smart phone and being like...Dang...this is awesome.

[Mason West]

Adridos, on 13 May 2012 - 05:25 AM, said:

They want to be as free as the model allows them to and will surely sell thingies like hula girls into cockpit,

I will buy one for every mech no matter the cost

[Fear Radick]

The last things I would want to see in a F2P model, is allowing people to purchase mechs, or basically c-bills with real money. In the end yes, mech does come down to skill, but there is also an advantage in having certain mech chasis due to their loadout, as well as in having multiple types of mech to give you more freedom in advancement of your pilot skills. That in my opinion could be detrimental to the overal game, especially as new mechs are released, namely clan technology next year, and people iwth the power to spend are buying up this equipment before most others are able to earn the c-bills needed to purchase them.

Some good ways they might be able to earn money from a lot of the public, without affecting any balance, would be for instance to charge for mech hangar space, if you want to own more than 4 mechs say you have to pay for the additional hangar space. They can charge for special decals, and other visual items so that people can customize more fully,

Other things like modules that you have earned normally, but do not have the c-bills to buy might be purchased with real money instead perhaps, as that won't affect the balance of the game as it will still force you to get the appropriate experience and points

[David Decoster]

Don't forget that regardless of the 'how', PGI will need to make a profit from the game in order for us to be able to enjoy it for years to come.

[Juiced]

I think that buying mechs with money is not a big deal as long as those mechs are avalible for C-bills and are not so over priced c-bill wise that people just buy them and that they are not glaringly more powerfull.

For example lets say im a jenner driver but i want to get an atlas and such just for fun. I should be able to buy the mechs, weapons, ammo...etc with real money instead of c-bills.

There should not be premium ammo, weapons, or mechs.

[Insidious Johnson]

What other F2P game comes with your own cheerleader in a grass skirt on your dashboard? ' Nuff said.

[Redshift2k5]

I'm sure they will sell Mechs for money(or sell C-bills you can send on mechs and new gear), that will be a major cash flow for them.

They will just be the same mechs anyone can earn for free by grinding and earning their way.

Some things will have to be in-game only to not give everything to the paying customers too easily, though. Example: Super Monday Night Combat lets you pay money to unlock player characters (dubbed a "Pro"),and you also pay real cash for cosmetic items/costumes/taunts, but for the inventory upgrade/modification items(Of which there are two types) you must earn them with in-game currency only. Players who pay more get more variety of playable character classes and costumes, but players who play more get the upgrades faster. MWO's mech XP and pilot XP fall into the latter category, and even if you spend a load of money on the game you'll still be grinding/earning your way to those sweet skill progressions.

[stukinit]

/lurk

If you look at the Mechlab video it shows an option for buying mechs with "MC" (or mechwarrior credits, as one of the devs pointed out) which can be purchased with real money.

So... yeah.

:resumelurk: