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It's not because that I don't like to spend money, because I genuinely do. I have 17000 MC left from founders program, but I'm struggling for things to spend it on. Camo really appeals to me, but there's a massive wall.
So here's the problem:
It costs MC every time to paint a Mech. People want to -own- things. There are collectors out there that I'm sure would like to collect patterns, paint, and so on, just like they do with cockpit items. (like.. me.)
I've seen responses such as , "well if you don't want to repaint your mech, then don't sell it! Make sure you paint the mechs you want to keep."
And that's ridiculous. That is not a money-making, or even a user-friendly response. It costs 300mc to buy a mech-bay. And I'm not looking forward to storing the entire mass of variants, just because I like camo and don't like the idea of selling a mech for 2 million after spending 1000mc on it just in paint. Get real.
I'm often approached with these questions when I'm staring down that MC cost, "Is it worth it to spend 1000mc to paint this mech? What if I don't end up liking the mech, or will need to sell it? Am I going to sell this mech in a month, or am I going to keep it for the sole reason not to vaporize my 1000mc paint job? If I decide to keep the mech forever, I'll need to spend 300 more MC on a mechbay."
Currently, that's a huge amount of risk with the way the camo currently functions. The reward is just too little to even bother considering. I often don't even think about it anymore. It just plain does not appeal to me, not even 125MC. I've spent that on cockpit items, because I own them after.
Here's the solution.
It's a simple change of mechanics. It involves purchasing, owning, and installing camo. It also involves installing fees; kind of like Artemis, Endo-steel, etc. Let me explain:
How it works:
- Pay 750MC for the Phranken Pattern.
- Pay 125MC for the primary Phranken Black.
- Pay 125MC for the primary Phranken Red.
- Pay 125MC for the primary Phranken Light
What's different is you now own those Pattern and Colours. You'll never see an MC cost associated to those ever again. They are yours. (however, the MC option is still available.)
The MC cost is converted into CB by a factor of x1000 should you want to paint other mechs. So you will pay 750,000CB to apply the Phranken pattern, and 125,000CB for each Phranken colour. (this is why the MC option is still available, but it is an option only for those who do not want to grind out the CB)
The jolly part: If you buy patterns or colours for the first time with MC, you do not pay the CB install fee. Even more incentive to use MC to paint your mech the way you want it the first time to save CB, yet if you like it then you then can spend CB to paint other mech's, without the pressure on your wallet.
The here point is to get people to buy camo and remove that sense of risk or the need to think months ahead. Such as, "Will I even be keeping this mech long enough to make the MC paint cost worth it?".
Eventually, by the time he has mastered that Mech and, regardless if he was willing to buy the camo previously, he is bored of the mech and found something else to pilot. He has moved on and the sale is lost. (speaking from personal experience. I've had two mech's that I would have painted, but I got bored of them and sold them.)
Being able to "own" the camo is huge. And when the players understand that it's theirs and will then only need to spend CB afterwards, it gives a sense of "well, if I don't end up liking it, it's not a total loss." The sense of risk, and pressure on their wallet is reduced, and it will end up encouraging players to buy more patterns, and colours. Probably even getting them to spend more money than what they have initially wanted to spend.
A future long-term benefit for PGI, the x1000 multiplier conversion puts value on CB. When people find out that Premium up's their CB bonus by 50% they might actually consider it down the road and think "Man, i need to make more CB, and I'd like to paint a few of these mech's" and so they start buying premium time. (probably even forgetting that they even spent MC on their patterns, which is why they are running out of CB in the first place and is making them concide).
I would really.. really.. really like to see this put into place. I would use the remaining 17000MC I have for the camos (I'm not even kidding) and then afterwards spend $100 to buy MC and use it on premium time (again, I'm not even kidding, it's all in my paypal account, I'm just waiting for this to get done!!!) just so I can afford painting all my mechs. It may cost ME more, even when I see how devious this plan is in the long-term, but in the end the big deal maker is that I'm not faced with high-risk decisions - I'm not left feeling like I'm getting ripped off if I decided to sell a mech slathered in 1125MC.
Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 07 January 2013 - 10:46 PM.
