38 replies to this topic

[Deathlike]

Dirus Nigh, on 08 July 2013 - 03:19 PM, said:

Also under your idea of grinding for free hero mechs, how does Sara Jenner get money to the charity?

You do realize that Sarah's mech is effectively a Champion mech, which is still effectively a regular mech you can purchase anyways? I don't see the point you're making for that. It serves little to no purpose at this moment in time (eventually all Champion mechs will be rotated into the Trial rotation at some point).

I was hoping this thread stay buried, but let me be clear. This is my opinion on the matter and if others disagree, that's fine. I have no intention of bringing this up again and I am not planning to convince anyone to change their minds on this. If you want to keep beating the dead horse that I'm not interested in, I don't know what else to tell you.

[Leafia Barrett]

Pater Mors, on 07 June 2013 - 01:18 PM, said:

While I do believe Hero Mech's are over priced, if you can afford all the things necessary to play this game (computer, internet, a house and rent) chances are you can afford to splash out on some MC once in a while if you really want that Hero.

Just popping in to say that this is BS, and I'm a living example. The only reason I'm able to play MWO at all is because it's F2P. As is, purchasing MC (especially enough MC to buy a hero mech) would mean not being able to pay bills. I know that's probably not enough of a reason to make hero mechs available for free, though.

[SwalerD]

Hi guys,

I felt moved by this article so I thought I'd use my first post add my two pence worth.

As a father to two girls with expensive tastes I don't have much 'disposable' income of my own and so seldom get to buy games. F2P games are a godsend for me in the maintainence of my sanity and I feel that, as has been stated previously, the ability to buy Hero Mechs with C-bills would be detrimental to PGI's income and had to vote no.

Whilst we all have the desire to stand out in a game with having unique appearances we have to be grateful to PGI for minimising real cash outlay to cosmetics and, so far, not charging for game modes etc. I would definitely find the money to pay for single player campaigns and a hero Atlas but I would be gutted to have to pay for any new game modes/types (assault and conquest just aren't enough any more!) and so I am heavily reliant upon those that DO pay for hero mechs in order to continue playing.

I mean, let's not kid ourselves here, the hero mechs are the biggest source of income for PGI and so, to the 'Wallet Warriors' out there, I salute you.

[White Bear 84]

Dont take my specialness away from me. No.

[TehSBGX]

Reducing prices of Hero mechs I'm in favor of, making them free... No. They should cost something because the C-bill boost is pay2lazy. The different hardpoint lay outs aren't neccesarily better than c-bill variants either, honestly the only Hero Mech that worries me in a fight is Muromets.

[Modo44]

Require 3+ free variants mastered, make them silly costly Cbills-wise, remove the XP/Cbills bonuses, drop them at least half a year after the MC version becomes available.

While the idea sounds cool, I doubt any such system would make business sense for PGI, so I'm not holding my breath.

[Destructicus]

I hate how even with a free game people are still suggesting that the cost of paints be lowered and people want to be able to purchase Heros with cbills and the like
Like
The game is free dude....
F-r-e-e
The sense of entitlement some members of this community display really irks me.
Like
I can't believe people ask for more free stuff and lower costs for items in a game thats absolutley free to obtain and play.
You people can't get everything free
PGI gives you a free game and you still want more just because you feel PGI shouldn't be charging so much for such things
You can have plenty of fun in this game without even dishing out a penny

Edited by Destructicus, 31 July 2013 - 08:40 AM.

[Redwood Elf]

Meh. There are plenty of suggestions out there that could cover this anyway (like making some way to convert GXPs to MCs, say at a rate of 10 GXPs per 1MC (That would be 3000 GXPs for a mech bay, and a LOT more for a hero mech)

[Bhael Fire]

Hero mechs are unique and uncommon. People pay money specifically for that privilege (and the c-bill boost). Making them commonplace would defeat the entire purpose of having hero mechs.

[Lugh]

Mr Creosote called. He says he's full and you can .... ...

You want a Mint. Pay for it.

[Seddrik]

No. I've got quite a few mechs and a few heros. In MANY cases the normal mechs allow BETTER builds than the hero mechs and when they differ they are very very similar. The only real advantage hero mechs offer is some extra CBills. So, there is no real penalty to a player who doesn't have a single hero mech. It just speeds up the cbill gain. Otherwise, depending on what normal mech you use you can get almost identical builds and damage in many cases.

[Belorion]

Perhaps a free version that takes a lot to earn, and doesn't include the xp or cbill bonus.

[Fire and Salt]

Leafia Barrett, on 09 July 2013 - 08:47 AM, said:

Just popping in to say that this is BS, and I'm a living example. The only reason I'm able to play MWO at all is because it's F2P. As is, purchasing MC (especially enough MC to buy a hero mech) would mean not being able to pay bills. I know that's probably not enough of a reason to make hero mechs available for free, though.

Where did you get your free computer?

I have a few friends who would gladly spend 50 bucks on this game, but won't because they can't afford the $500 computer that they would need to play it...

Edited by Fire and Salt, 14 August 2013 - 12:00 PM.

[Leafia Barrett]

Fire and Salt, on 14 August 2013 - 11:59 AM, said:

Where did you get your free computer?

I have a few friends who would gladly spend 50 bucks on this game, but won't because they can't afford the $500 computer that they would need to play it...

I got it a couple of years ago, back when money was a thing that actually existed for me. And no, my computer CAN'T handle this game well, so don't tell me that I must have a super-expensive computer to play at all. Prior to the recent performance patch, I was getting 4-7FPS in 12v12, and before that, 8-12FPS in 8v8.

Belorion, on 02 August 2013 - 07:13 AM, said:

Perhaps a free version that takes a lot to earn, and doesn't include the xp or cbill bonus.

This is word-for-word the thing I'm trying to say.

Edited by Leafia Barrett, 14 August 2013 - 01:08 PM.

[Boyinleaves]

I was going to vote no to your questions straight away, and then I actually read your post. The reasoning behind making them available for everyone to try is somewhat sound.

However, I also do feel that allowing everyone to access Hero 'Mechs, even with the caveats that you propose, does reduce their (perceived) value. I would propose that they should be testable in Training Grounds before purchase (as every 'Mech should be) rather than available after the grind that you propose. However, anything that requires more time invested for F2P players is a good thing, because it gets more people in and playing the game.

FWIW I have bought several Heroes and some of the Champions, and while I respect the thought that's been put into this idea, I don't believe that they need to be accessible, although this would result in P2W arguments becoming null. It is necessary at some point however, that they be available to test before purchase.

[Chaon]

The only problem I see with buying hero mechs ATM is that you also have to pay for a mech bay for them which is another 300mc on top of the hero mech cost.

If you got a free bay when buying a hero mech it would be a better deal.

Other than that, having them only available with mc makes them special and gives people an incentive to save money for buying mc.

[Morang]

My answer is no. I refuse to attack their opportunity to make money in a way fair enough - selling regular mechs for MCs only a week prior to launch of CBs sales and especially selling Hero Mechs for MCs only, which is familiar way of monetization for me (Premium tanks from WoT). I'd rather say that Hero Mechs instill even lesser feel of inequality between free players and donators because they are variants of existing chassis as opposed to mostly unique premium vehicles in WoT. I want PGI to have fair and secured ways of getting income because I don't want them to have excuses to wander further in less fair areas of monetization in future ("gold ammo" or extending period between MCs and CBs release of new chassis or metagame being only available for premium accounts and so on).

Edited by Morang, 15 August 2013 - 01:41 AM.

[Deathlike]

Niko Snow, on 14 August 2013 - 09:30 AM, said:

Appreciate the arguments made but this isn't as win-win as it seems. We are already ambitious in our goals for a AAA F2P game that does not cross into the P2W scenario, and Free-to-Play gaming isn't free (at least not for the developers and publishers). The Hero Mechs allow us to offer both custom geometry/art and a slightly different hard-point variation in a way that helps the game to remain both fair AND sustainable over time. We believe this is an honourable approach to the F2P model that will benefit free players, paying players, and the dev team alike in the long-run.

Let me put it this way... C-bill growth (which you've nerfed), terrible Hero mech pricing, and terrible balance decisions give me no incentive to spend 1 penny for this game which you wish to make money on.

[Elizander]

I would say yes but I wish it were done right off the start. It might cause too much trouble to implement now.