222 replies to this topic

[Quxudica]

Chavette, on 09 April 2013 - 12:14 PM, said:

How do you know the current price point is the absolutely optimal one? How do you know the sales wouldn't quadruple if the price was halfed? They didn't experiment with it at all. Thats the complaint here, we feel like they simply put a "high enough" price and are happy with "good enough" sales.

It's actually a major problem among F2P games, very few of them actually market test their pricing models. Strange really when it's such a vital part of the business.

[One Medic Army]

Rhent, on 09 April 2013 - 12:02 PM, said:

All of the hero mechs from the founders pack for the most part aren't exactly useful now. So frankly, the likelihood of me ever buying a hero mech or premium time is ZERO. I buy camo and colors and that's about it. Cbills are ridiculously easy to get in the game and hero mech generally are poor, really poor.

Well since you're never going to buy a Hero mech, that means your opinion on their pricing is irrelevant to PGI.
You've already voted with your wallet, so why should they still listen to you?

Just pointing out that companies generally listen only to prospective customers.

[Ocilfa]

Frankly, I only got one since I had a $30 rebate gift card. It was either pants or the highlander. I think I made the right choice...

[Eric darkstar Marr]

I love my Heavy Metal.

Now if only the entitled generation wasn't ...well so entitled this game would proceed in a better.
Wonder why there are so many F2P games and there is a sort of war between Gen X and these Gen entitlers

Don't believe me go google it:
About 45,800,000 results (0.38 seconds)

Edited by Eric darkstar Marr, 09 April 2013 - 12:22 PM.

[Rippthrough]

And if they have already bought enough MC, then that second group of people represent an entire $7500 on top of that you weren't getting previously....

[F lan Ker]

S!

Bought IL-2 Sturmovik for 20€ and played it for years both online and offline. Mostly online in the online wars like SEOW and others. Was also part of the modding community for a bit. Talk about good price vs. long life on a game. It still rocks on thanks to the community. So got a lot of game for that 20€

MWO is F2P so devs do whatever to milk money from the players. What can you do? Nothing really if you want to keep playing. I would rather pay a monthly subscription than F2P, but can live with it.

[Rizzelbizzeg]

armyof1, on 09 April 2013 - 12:09 PM, said:

I've had hundreds of fun hours with Skyrim and Borderlands 2 for example, but I'm pretty much expecting you to tell me how bad they are so you can make that $30 mech come across as a great bargain.

Chin up, buddy, you already sound defeated. Borderlands 2 and Skyrim were fun for a while, but not $30 when they were fresh and new and I won't play them again now that I beat them.

Long story short, don't wanna spend $30 on a mech... DON'T. But don't knock me for deciding what I think is fun and using my disposable income on what I want.

[FrOdO]

Eric darkstar Marr, on 09 April 2013 - 12:22 PM, said:

I love my Heavy Metal.

Now if only the entitled generation wasn't ...well so entitled this game would proceed in a better.
Wonder why there are so many F2P games and there is a sort of war between Gen X and these Gen entitlers

Don't believe me go google it:
About 45,800,000 results (0.38 seconds)

Assumptions are a funny thing.

[Mason Grimm]

Ph30nix, on 09 April 2013 - 12:19 PM, said:

i like how you added in the extra fact that those that bought the highlander would ALSO buy more MC. most people i know either already had the MC and didnt buy more afterwards, or they bought only enough MC to get the highlander used the extra for a few mech bays or some other junk and also have NOT bought more MC.

there is zero point in sitting on an MC stockpile unless you buy it on sale with intention to use later

I think you misundstand.

I said those people are forced to buy more MC if they want more mechs. I meant hero mechs and that if another hero mech comes out next month they would have to purchase more MC to acquire said hero mech because you can bet in the mean time their stockpile of MC (left over after their purchase) will dwindle; be it on mech bays or other smaller mechs or hero mechs or even consumables.

Those people that you know that haven't bought more MC for anything else haven't done so YET. Until the next uber awesome super awesome wicked amazing must have thing comes downt he pipeline.

[Rhent]

Mason Grimm, on 09 April 2013 - 12:08 PM, said:

Unfortunately it comes down to maximizing profits on a per unit sales versus volume projections.

Let us break it down using small numbers.

1000 people are willing to buy the mech at $30 because they love it. That is $30,000 in sales.
1000 people complain about the price being too high and that they won't buy it. That is an addition 0$ in revenue.

A good percentage of these people are now out of MC and are forced to buy another pack if they want future mechs resulting in even more revenue. A few bruised customers but more potential revenue.

(1000*30) + (0*30) = $30,000 + X (x being future revenue based upon the need to purchase more MC for more mechs)

With me so far?

Ok..... Let us say the dropped the price to $15 per mech

1000 people would STILL buy the mech for sure!!! So that is $15,000

Those same 1000 people have spent HALF of what they normally would so don't need to purchase any more MC for any future mechs because essentially they can buy another 90 ton mech with what they have left over in savings.

NOW

Let us ASSUME that even 50% of people complaining "The price is too high" buy the mech....

500 more people are willing to buy the mech so that is $7500

(1000*15) + (500*15) = $22,500

BUT they lose all that potential future revenue on future MC package sales because the consumer doesn't need it anymore. Sure everyone is now happy or at least "more happy" but the company is down $7500 right off the get-go not to mention the lost revenue from potential MC sales. It is a HUGE hit in terms of their quarterly profits; and these are of critical importance within the first year or two of a companies life-time. It shows they can make it.

Volume projections never work with products like digital content because some of those who are the most vocal are also the most full of it. They won't buy anything at any price; because they can't or because they won't. Complaining gives them something to do and allows them to vent. It's human nature (shrugs) I do it too sometimes.

Your are basically asking the company "Please don't make as much money every month because I want to buy this mech and MAYBE some of the other people like me will purchase it as well".

Sheer madness.

What you are forgetting is that the only benefit hero mechs offer are a Cbill bonus. With the removal of R&R, Cbill bonuses are meaningless. The load outs on Hero Mechs tend to be be **** poor in comparison to their compatriots. You are better off gameplay wise, not using a hero mech.

Unless the devs can put in an actual bonus to using hero mechs (MC generation per match, additional hard points) OR put in some kind of system in where Cbill acquisition isn't so easy, charging $30 for a mech that offers a unique paint job and that's it, isn't going to make much money for Piranha in the long run.

[FarEYE]

One Medic Army, on 09 April 2013 - 11:57 AM, said:

My personal thought is they're trying to maximize profit from early adopters (and Founders with lots of MC left) while using Sales to snag anyone who thinks the full sticker price is absurd.
Why sell 1000 at $30 or 2000 at $15 when you can sell 1000 at $30 and another 1000 at $15?

Or the music stopped. This company is bankrupt. They announce a plan to release the game for a couple days after they plan to go to bankruptcy court. And this is all for paying the layers and to move into offshore accounts.

[Kaelus]

Chavette, on 09 April 2013 - 12:14 PM, said:

How do you know the current price point is the absolutely optimal one? How do you know the sales wouldn't quadruple if the price was halfed? They didn't experiment with it at all. Thats the complaint here, we feel like they simply put a "high enough" price and are happy with "good enough" sales.

It's very simple, they are following the world of tanks model without knowing why it works. That's what they have based most of the decisions and framework on of this game from day 1. They are emulating things in LOL without understanding why they work. They dont understand you can't just take things from games without understanding the context in which they succeed. Problem with the hero mech pricing is there may be people with too much money and not enough sense, but there isn't nearly as large of a market as there is for enthusiasts that enjoy tanks from a specific era.

They didn't even test different prices because of greed, they see WOT making money hand over fist and want some fo that money. Even though valve has shown you can be incredibly successful with a volume based marketing strategy. I doubt things anything will change. Everyone knows micro transactions work, these aren't micro. There's a certain price point that digital goods work well at, this isn't it.

Edited by Kaelus, 09 April 2013 - 12:30 PM.

[Rhent]

One Medic Army, on 09 April 2013 - 12:20 PM, said:

Well since you're never going to buy a Hero mech, that means your opinion on their pricing is irrelevant to PGI.
You've already voted with your wallet, so why should they still listen to you?

Just pointing out that companies generally listen only to prospective customers.

Just pointing out that when customers point out glaring problems in their business model and ways to fix that, companies that are in business still generally fix their sales model. The current sales model for Hero mechs is you pay $10-$40 for a custom paint job for a mech that does the exact same job as other mechs in the chassis but generates a small bit of very easy to get Cbills. As it stands now, the only people buying Hero mechs are those who have money to waste. There is no game reason now to buy any of the hero mechs and thats a problem.

[Exoth3rmic]

A lot of the arguments in this thread are only relevant if you already spent some money on the game.

If you didn't spend money on the game, at all, then its somewhat illogical to QQ about the price of a mech you want but aren't willing to cough up the £$ for and then mentioning any number of titles you paid for to get fun from for X hours.

Its like buying a sun roof for £15,000 but getting a free car with it. The sun roof is obv not worth 15k, but look at the value you get with the freebie attached. That's Hero mechs and MWO.

[Nicholas Carlyle]

I regret my YLW.

Honestly, this is a question of...at what price point would most people buy them?

Because You want everyone buying everything. It might be half the price it currently is, but the volume of purchases would make it worth while.

They should drop the price of paint and camo to the point where everyone is just like "Ah f it, it's cheap, I'll just get em all and have fun with it".

[FrOdO]

Chavette, on 09 April 2013 - 11:53 AM, said:

$35 ain't nothing bro, I'll pay you $35 to not post these boring threads.

Sure! Paypal?

[Demoned]

considering all the hero mechs I've seen this weekend, I'd say they sell well enough,
so the price can't be that bad


you lot are just cheap ********

[Mason Grimm]

Demoned, on 09 April 2013 - 12:31 PM, said:

you lot are just cheap ********

Im the most broke arse cheap arse firefighter I know! For real!!!!!

(hangs head in shame)

[FrOdO]

Mason Grimm, on 09 April 2013 - 12:32 PM, said:

Im the most broke arse cheap arse firefighter I know! For real!!!!!

(hangs head in shame)

According to some people in this thread, if you don't make past a certain amount you must be apart of that "PC generation".

[Kaelus]

FrOdO, on 09 April 2013 - 12:34 PM, said:

According to some people in this thread, if you don't make past a certain amount you must be apart of that "PC generation".

They like to use the word "entitled" because they see it a lot and it makes them feel smart, oh and that IGN article used it for ME3 as well.