222 replies to this topic

[jeffsw6]

WarHippy, on 09 April 2013 - 12:51 PM, said:

This is false, and it is pretty easy to see. "The price for hero mechs make them generally something nobody will buy." Yet I can't remember ever seeing a game where there wasn't at least one, and I have seen several that had 6-7 heros in them. Hero mechs sell very well. Don't get me wrong cheaper would be nice, but that is true of anything in life with a price tag attached.

The data-point we, the players, are missing is how many they really sold. We can't really know that; but PGI certainly does.

For example, maybe there are 2000 players who are playing for 3 hours daily, and half of them bought a HGN-HM. One would assume there are many more casual players who might play on Saturdays or just a few matches each evening. We, the players, have no clue if 30% of the total players bought a HM just because 30% of the mechs in our drops have been one.

Either way, it's up to PGI to analyze their players' buying habits and adjust accordingly so they can make the most money. They have far more information than we do.

Anyone saying "X is too expensive" as if it is factual is really just guessing. Is it useful for you to say you think it costs too much? Maybe. Hopefully they get an idea how many more players might purchase Hero mechs if they cost less, in part, by keeping an eye on forum QQ. However, folks saying it's "too expensive" without qualifying that with "for me to be willing to buy it" is not making an evidence-based statement.

[Rhent]

FrOdO, on 09 April 2013 - 12:58 PM, said:

Ok, need a mod to lock this thread down. Have come to point where we realize that this like many other business related things in life will have its share of early adopters that will shell out whatever the asking price is because they need to have it. The other group will complain about the prices not being reasonable and how the "suits" are a bunch of money grubbing evil people with ulterior motives that perpetuate the depressing world we live in. Money will be made, prices will eventually fall, and Mechwarrior Online will still be played. I don't think we are changing the world here. Shouldn't have even posted the thread in the first place.

There isn't complaining about cost, hero mechs are useless. Hero mechs offer a Cbill bonus when there is no R&R to drive costs. Hero mechs offer subpar hard points in comparison to their compatriots. Piranha needs to make hero mechs worth buying. I'd be damn happy to pay $40 for a mech that offered better combat capabilities than its compatritos, but frankly heros tend to blow goats.

[Lycanstrom]

FrOdO, on 09 April 2013 - 12:58 PM, said:

Ok, need a mod to lock this thread down. Have come to point where we realize that this like many other business related things in life will have its share of early adopters that will shell out whatever the asking price is because they need to have it. The other group will complain about the prices not being reasonable and how the "suits" are a bunch of money grubbing evil people with ulterior motives that perpetuate the depressing world we live in. Money will be made, prices will eventually fall, and Mechwarrior Online will still be played. I don't think we are changing the world here. Shouldn't have even posted the thread in the first place.

Glad to see you've come around (and no, this post is not sarcastic. I am in fact being sincere).

Edited by Lycanstrom, 09 April 2013 - 01:07 PM.

[Sierra19]

Price is in the eye of the beholder (or one of it's many eyes if it's a REAL Beholder...). Kind of pricey? Maybe, maybe not. I enjoy the game immensely, so I bought most of the hero mechs (yeah, I'm that guy...). If you think the price is too high, don't buy it, if you have a little extra disposable income, go for it, in all of it's pinkish glory. Thinking it's priced too high is one thing, but mocking or deriding people, one way or the other, only makes the poster look like a fool.

[JohnathanSwift]

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.

The only way this math works is if you literally only have about 1,000 players.

otherwise a $10 dollar mech would be bought by 5,000 players and net you 50,000 almost doubling.

So this confirms my suspicions since winter.

[armyof1]

Lycanstrom, on 09 April 2013 - 12:58 PM, said:

Thanks for playing, but you lose.

I clicked the topic because I love my HM and thought maybe the OP was looking for input. Had I known that it was just one more thread about how over-priced Hero Mechs are, you can bet I would have skipped it. Unfortunately for me, and I suspect quite a few others, the actual thread name gave no indication that it was going to be about price. You *could* come to that conclusion by reading it, but you could come to other conclusions as well.

So you're saying you clicked to read on a topic in a forum and it did not have the content you expected? Is this your first day on the World Wide Web?

[FrOdO]

Rizzelbizzeg, on 09 April 2013 - 01:01 PM, said:

Fixed that for ya

You really did it!

[Selous]

Oh please.

$30 for mech that will entertain you for as long as this game survives and gives you a bonus to play it.

$30 = 1 night to see some stupid vampire movie and take your girlfriend to Chilis (if you have a girlfriend, otherwise maybe two movies for your lonely self).

You are a cheap ******* if griping about a $30 entertainment toy.

[Ph30nix]

Mason Grimm, on 09 April 2013 - 12:25 PM, said:

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.

okay that way makes more sense but your still making too many assumptions.

Ive always looked at it this way, in my opinion $1-$3 per mech is a good price, $5-$10 for heros is a good price, camo/paints say $0.25 for paints $1.00 for camos
ive currently spent $30 on the game and i actualy bought ONE hero mech (the death knell dont judge me i love that thing currently has my highest KTD ratio too) alittle higher price then id like but $8 isnt too bad including the 30% c-bill bonus. Once that $30 runs dry i wont spend anymore unless i need more mech bays which wont be for awhile.

Now if they had things priced like i mentioned above... id buy almost every single C-bill mech with cash that way i could save my C-bills for upgrades, id actually BUY camo's and paints, and id probably get every hero mech that i even remotely liked (so i could have a variant of mechs i like that give a bonus) so in the end their income from me would only be limited to how many mech's they introduce into the game (which there are thousands of possibilities if they wanted)
at current item list they could easily get $100-$150 from me within a year with that cost scale.

but at current rates, they MIGHT get another $15 from me before i get tired of the game.

and id bet there are alot of people who feel the same.

[Ngamok]

jeffsw6, on 09 April 2013 - 12:44 PM, said:

CB is certainly not useless. If you want more mechs, you can buy (non-Hero) mechs with that. You can purchase armaments for all your mechs. You can buy consumables. If you are going to farm CB for something, and you have a good Hero, you might as well use it. That bonus is really nice.


I have bought both Dragons, X-5, Heavy Metal, and the Ilya. HM is currently my favorite. I also like both Dragons and play them regularly. I'm no good at the X-5 and Ilya, but I have not mastered them yet. I don't regret buying any of them. If I was real worried about whether or not I would regret a $20 or $30 purchase then I probably wouldn't get them. Just my $0.02.

I heard about MWO on the SimCity forums, while reading thread after thread of the game being broken, experiencing that myself (it was unplayable), and seeing absolutely no useful feedback from EA/Maxis. I spent $80 on the Deluxe SimCity. What a waste. I played it for one weekend, and by "played," I mean, I spent most of the weekend frustrated that I could not connect to the servers; and when they did work right, I just grew a city that had ridiculous traffic or fire/police/etc. problems.

I tried MWO, it does work well (for the most part), and so I spent money on it after I decided it was entertaining enough to buy some Heroes and Premium Time.

There are plenty of ways MWO can improve. If you are not happy with it, though, no one is forcing you to buy a Heavy Metal or anything else.

I have purchased the Ilya, Flame, X-5, and Heavy Metal.

Ilya I bought because I fell in love with the Cataphracts after I bought the 2X, 3D, and 4X. I mastered the 2X, 3D, and Ilya. The Flame because I love arm mounted weapons. I do better with arm mounted weapons than I do with torso mounted weapon systems. And 4 energy hardpoints on the Flame was a deal for me. I masted the 1C and 5N as well. The X-5 I really bought for fun and to show Garth some support. The only Jenner I liked is the D and the X-5 to me is just a 5 ton heavier Jenner. The Heavy Metal I bought because I absolutely love the look of the Highlander even though I am a Medium / Heavy pilot (9 mediums mastered, 10 heavies). How can anyone not love this picture (which is why I always liked the Highlanders).









Also, I love the Hunchback because it has that same brawler heavy torso and legs look as well as the Summoner (Thor) and Hellbringer (Loki).

Edited by Ngamok, 09 April 2013 - 01:11 PM.

[jeffsw6]

Rhent, on 09 April 2013 - 01:02 PM, said:

I'd be damn happy to pay $40 for a mech that offered better combat capabilities than its compatritos, but frankly heros tend to blow goats.

That would make the game "Pay to Win," and is a frequent topic.

What if you had a mech with superior capabilities, but you were only allowed to drop it into matches against other players who also had superior mechs? Wouldn't that be kind of silly? It is the only way people would not cry "P2W."

[FrOdO]

Selous, on 09 April 2013 - 01:04 PM, said:

Oh please.

$30 for mech that will entertain you for as long as this game survives and gives you a bonus to play it.

$30 = 1 night to see some stupid vampire movie and take your girlfriend to Chilis (if you have a girlfriend, otherwise maybe two movies for your lonely self).

You are a cheap ******* if griping about a $30 entertainment toy.

The logic here is impeccable.

[James Montana]

I went to buy the damn thing as well, but then I did the math.... I will never pay that. $5 - 8, yes, but 30!?

[Lycanstrom]

armyof1, on 09 April 2013 - 01:03 PM, said:

So you're saying you clicked to read on a topic in a forum and it did not have the content you expected? Is this your first day on the World Wide Web?

I'm saying I clicked the topic thinking I might be able to offer a fellow gamer an opinion that may help him make a decision. It's called being helpful. You should try it sometime.

[One Medic Army]

Rhent, on 09 April 2013 - 12:59 PM, said:

What actual advantage do hero mechs give you?
1st) Custom paint job (for 1/20th the price you can buy a better camo pattern than a hero and look unique)
2nd) Cbill bonus (repair and rearm is out of the game, cbills are meaningless now)
3rd) Additional hard points (for most of the heros, short of the Ilya/X5, the hard points don't mean much)

There is no benefit to running hero mechs. If Piranha wants to make Heroes useful then:
1st) Small MC generation per match. The idea being that it would be impossible for a person to actually generate the MC Cost from the mech's use. However some MC would be generated, with Cbills being useless this at least is a way to generate something of use
2nd) Add in an extra module slot and always have that slot populated with the base (non-mc) version of a module.
3rd) Add in hard points that actually make the mech the best of the series

Simply put, hero mechs offer a unique camo pattern that everyone else in the game has. Hero mechs were good when R&R were in, but now they are absolutely horrible.

So you'd only pay for a hero mech if:
1st) It paid you
2nd) It gave you free consumables
3rd) It was P2W

I think that in the long run option 1 would be worse for PGI, and option 3 would make the forums rage out.
Second option isn't a bad idea though, but consumables are so terrible right now I doubt it'd change the minds of many.

Edited by One Medic Army, 09 April 2013 - 01:13 PM.

[Sharptooth]

This has been very entertaining. Thanks Nice video comments FrOdO.

[FrOdO]

I guess when I started this thread my intentions were to check the "pulse" of the community rather than to incite some sort of argument.

I myself am an early adopter of most new things, i.e technology. For example I will probably buy a PS4 no matter how much it costs when it comes out. We are all different, so we all justify likes, dislikes, necessity, etc etc.... differently.

I thought back to MW4, I bought a $50 dollar game when it came out because, I really enjoyed MW2 and MW4 was exceptional. $50 dollars got me over 20 mechs, all of the weapons in the game, a multiplayer component, maps to play in multiplayer, and a full single player campaign. So, my logic was "$30 dollars for one mech, that's absurd... I used to be able to get and experience the whole game with one investment.


This game is F2P, it needs to generate revenue in one form or another. I just need to do some more research before I start slinging "mud" at a company's business decisions. Never was a businessman.

Edited by FrOdO, 09 April 2013 - 01:28 PM.

[Tickdoff Tank]

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?

And that is a good business decision.

[Rizzelbizzeg]

Well put, FrOdO. Cheers! *tips hat and walks into the sunset*

Edited by Rizzelbizzeg, 09 April 2013 - 01:34 PM.

[Dmitri Valenov]

Ghost Bear, on 09 April 2013 - 11:34 AM, said:

They should offer the Atlas a monocle and charge $70 for it

Eve Online Monoclegate reference gets a like.

At least the Heavy Metal can actually do something. Not like they are charging $30 for the cockpit items or camo spec. Also, you don't have to buy it people.