TL;DR: the way MC is set up at present is needlessly complex and seems dangerously close to X-Box Live's "Microsoft Points" that got them sued 4 years ago,
AND WE AREN'T HAPPY WITH IT.
As a long time player (and financial supporter, so I can make myself feel better about all the skins I've bought) of League of Legends, the MC pricing in MWO is entirely bogus. Here are some of my problems with it:
Currently, MC is not worth a static amount of real-world currency. The "real-world price" of MC is entirely dependent on which MC package you purchase the points with. This means that ANYONE not willing or able to drop $100 for the most efficient MC package isn't getting their money's worth.
MC - Real-World Currency Table - $100, 25,000 MC $1.00 = 250 MC, 100% efficiency
- $50, 12,000 MC $1.00 = 240 MC, 96% efficiency
- $30, 6,500 MC $1.00 = 216 MC, 86.4% efficiency
- $15, 3,000 MC $1.00 = 200 MC, 80% efficiency
- $7, 1,250 MC $1.00 = 178 MC, 71.2% efficiency
MC has no set real-world value. The more money you can afford to spend, the more you can get. If you can only afford to purchase the lowest tier of MC for whatever reason, your MC is literally more expensive.
The Jester and Firebrand are fairly popular Hero mechs from what I've seen from my matches, so I applied this table to the act of purchasing either of them, price at 4,875 MC. First let's look at how much the mech is worth based on the above table:
- $19.50
- $20.31
- $22.57
- $24.38
- $27.39
Unfortunately, because MC is only offered in set amounts, you would have to purchase:
-1
$30 package (6500 MC, 1625 leftover)
$30
-2
$15 packages (6000 MC, 1125 leftover)
$30
-1
$15 package, 2
$7 packages (5500 MC, 625 leftover)
$29
-4
$7 packages (5000 MC, 125 leftover)
$28
At each of these options, it's very clear that unless you're shelling out $30 (or more) to get MC, you're wasting loads of money. The amount of MC you get decreases exponentially the lower you go in MWO's offered MC packages.
What else would you be able to buy with your leftover MC, assuming you went with the $30 option?
- A light champion mech, or any standard mech up to a Trebuchet (excluding upgrade-default chassis).
- Two 750 MC cockpit items or six 250 MC ones.
- Two Camo pattern unlocks or one 1,000 MC paint unlock and one 500 MC one.
- A ton of one-use paint colors and patterns
So what's the problem? The problem is that we are being forced to pay for MC that we don't explicitly want or need. A Jester or Firebrand, while theoretically only costing a player $19.50,
forces that player to
first spend $100. Any player that is unable to purchase more than $15 or $7 bundles is being actively screwed over by this system. Mechwarrior Online is not asking, but telling us that we have to spend as much money on their game as if it were a full-fledged primary hobby if we want to drive that new hero mech that came out.
Realistically, a Jester or Firebrand costs $30, along with a bunch of little stuff that no one wants to be forced to pay for.
HEAVY METAL, LA MALINCHE, and THE BOAR'S HEAD hilariously force players to purchase another package (or a single higher one) since they are between 6,750 and 7,500 MC (Heavy Metal taking the cake for financial dickery by being priced at just 250 MC more than you get from a $30 package).
It's 4am and this probably isn't too organized, but the point I'm trying to make is that MC isn't fair. I want real-world prices for everything in the store, not some bullshit Microsoft Point-esque thievery.
A few minor points are things like:
- Most paint colors and patterns are entirely locked out to non-paying customers. There are VERY limited color options that are available for millions of C-Bills, and no patterns available for C-Bills. Customizing your mechs' appearances is one of the main facets of the Mechwarrior universe and MWO has decided that only paying customers are allowed to do so.
- All cockpit items are for paying customers only. Cockpit items are a minor enough cosmetic detail that there should be at least SOME options available through C-Bills.
- Hero mech prices are ridiculously exorbitant. If I want to own multiple Hero mechs, I'm looking at spending much, much more than an entirely new video game.
Edited by oswin aurelius, 15 April 2014 - 12:59 AM.
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