101 replies to this topic

[KitK]

Project Phoenix Overlord Purchasing Guide

[Edit: The numbers below are based on the early bird sale, which included another month of premium time. This drops the "value" slightly for those who missed the early bird. However, the new loyalty program raises the "value" slightly. So, I think it is all in the same ballpark and have no plans to revise the information
originally posted.]

Below is a cost breakdown, as best as I could figure it, and some comments on intangibles that you might find helpful in deciding whether or not you want to buy this promotion. Individual evaluation of the merits of this promotion will differ on an individual basis and can be viewd in various related feedback forum threads.

Scenario 1: “Premium time, badges and medallions are bonuses and fluff – all I care about are the mechs!”
Cost per mech in all 4 packages: $6.67 USD (That’s likely a deal on everything but the locust since the COM-1B is roughly half that price.)

Scenario 2: “Itemize it for me. I want to know what I’m buying.”
Three things, at this point, can be itemized – the premium time, the mech bays and the medallions. 30 days of premium time are 2,500 MC, mech bays are 300 MC, and medallions are 500 MC. First calculate what this would cost to buy with MC. Then subtract that from the package to see what the mechs cost.
--4 Months Premium Time = 10,000 MC
--12 Mech Bays = 3,600 MC
--4 Medallions = 2,000
--Total MC = 15,600

Cheapest way to obtain said MC is 1 $49.95 USD package and 1 $29.95 USD package totaling $79.90 USD.

Actual value of premium time, mech bays and medallions: $67.37 USD
(79.90/18500*15600)

Remaining value of mechs: $12.62 USD
Cost per mech $1.05 USD

[EDIT: Scenario 3: "So the value of the promotion is about equal to the value of the non-mech items if bought with MC. But can't we at least estimate the value of the mechs too?"
Based on the average MC cost of the cheaper mechs of the same weight or a nearby weight, I estimate the MC value of the 8 standard variants at 14,746 MC. If we count the Phoenix variants as costing the same as Hero Mechs, their combined total should come out to 16,875 MC, for a grand total of 38,944 MC. That's worth like $150. Going with 3 of all 4 mechs as standard variants after their release estimates at 22,119 MC, so closing in on a $100 value.]

[Edit Scenario 4: “I’m saving my cash for an MC sale, that way I can buy just what I want when I want.” As far as the cost of MC goes, this is the best (psudeo MC sale) value yet at 590 MC per U.S. dollar (from estimates above). Of course the drawback is that you don’t get to decide how that MC is spent. So, for it to feel like you are actually getting that good of a deal you’ll have to embrace the idea of purchasing premium time, vanity items, hero mechs and standard mechs with MC.]


Other factors to consider:

Phoenix Variant: The Phoenix Variant is the unique, limited time thing of monetary value being offered. Everything else packaged with them is run-of-the-mill. You are essentially buying 4 hero mechs in a package with extras. If the Phoenix variant is not of interest to you then there is no deal here.

You can still play all of these mechs for FREE: If the C-Bill and loyalty point bonuses or special paint jobs and geometries are not of interest to you, all of these mechs will be in-game, purchasable with C-Bills, and playable by January 22, 2014.

Early access: You get to play all 4 mechs while everyone else waits for their general release. I won’t say it’s instant gratification since it’s still 4 months away. But, like the Heavy Metal Highlander release, people who don’t pay up will only be able to watch as you stride around for 3 months in your Battlemaster.

Time saving: As with any MC purchased standard mech, you save the time it would take to grind the C-Bills necessary to purchase them. Then your C-Bills can go to upgrades rather than the next variant. This can save a lot of time if you don’t have the time. On the other hand, a lot of people have a system down for grinding through variants and/or a pile of C-Bills sitting around anyway.

[EDIT: Hardpoints: The Phoenix Locust has slots for 4 machine guns and a small or medium laser. That sounds like a Spider 5K with less mobility, less armor and torso locked arms. The Shadow Hawk's missle launchers are 5 tube and 2 tube. You can't fit an AC20 on the arm of a Thunderbolt or Battlemaster. These are the mechs your 30/10 bonuses are on.]

[Edit: Clan Omnimechs: They are coming…we just don’t know when. And you know they'll do a package on that - maybe.]

Edited by KitK, 21 August 2013 - 05:53 AM.

[Magnificent Bastard]

What I want to know is...

Am I correct in thinking that all you need to do to take advantage of the "early bird" is get the lowest tier by the pre-order end date (order by July 25th)? And then you can upgrade to a higher package after the early bird deal is over while still maintaining the benefit. So is there no need to pay the $80 up front whatsoever?

I ask because I live on a strict budget. I am interested in getting the Overlord Tier but $80 all at once is much harder to budget than $20 a month for 4 months.

Edited by Magnificent Bastard, 26 June 2013 - 02:42 PM.

[ZeProme]

I fail to see how the first package "Talons" is worth the money.

[LauLiao]

Nice breakdown KitK, but one thing you forgot to mention is that the medals aren't just the cosmetic cockpit item you can normally buy. The medals that come with the Phoenix packages all carry a loyalty point bonus too.

[Davoke]

I don't want the Battlemaster, because it never interested me, so the 60$ pack will do.

[KitK]

LauLiao, on 26 June 2013 - 03:05 PM, said:

Nice breakdown KitK, but one thing you forgot to mention is that the medals aren't just the cosmetic cockpit item you can normally buy. The medals that come with the Phoenix packages all carry a loyalty point bonus too.

Yeah, those medallions...I wondered what to assume about those. I am assuming that the 500 MC bling medallions will impart some amount of Loyalty points once CW gets rolling, and are thus comparable to the ones in the promotion. If not, that changes several things in my formula. Cost per mech is still well under $2.00 and you get 4 items of unknown value and possibly unattainable by the players who don't buy the promotion.

[Hawk819]

I'm going after the $80 purchase. I know, a lot of people don't have the money for this, but seeing that I do have the means to. And I am sorry for saying that; it's an oppportunity I cannot pass up. I played MechWarrior 2 Mercs, all editions. I have been waiting on a chance to see my all time favorite released. Its got meaning for meaning me, since the day I first played BattleTech, now MechWarrior, the BattleMaster has remained my all time favorite. Glad to see it coming back to game I love so much.

Edited by hawk819, 26 June 2013 - 03:50 PM.

[Koniving]

Magnificent *******, on 26 June 2013 - 02:41 PM, said:

What I want to know is...

Am I correct in thinking that all you need to do to take advantage of the "early bird" is get the lowest tier by the pre-order end date (order by July 25th)? And then you can upgrade to a higher package after the early bird deal is over while still maintaining the benefit. So is there no need to pay the $80 up front whatsoever?

I ask because I live on a strict budget. I am interested in getting the Overlord Tier but $80 all at once is much harder to budget than $20 a month for 4 months.

Yes. I bought the Talon and I now have the 40 dollar package listed as 20, the 60 listed as 40, and the 80 listed as 60.

The 20 dollar package is all you need at first, and then you can thrust forth any other amount until you get as far as you desire.

Koniving, on 27 June 2013 - 08:17 AM, said:

Here's how it works. You buy first package.

When you come back to the page it says Talon package bought.


You simply select the next tier to buy until you make it all the way to the top.

Since I edited that in... the answer to this question is...

Johnny Reb, on 26 June 2013 - 11:08 PM, said:

I'm 95% sure im buying it just want the reveals first!

edit: Answer to my sell standard question would be a big bonus!

Yes. You can sell standards. Wouldn't be any different than selling any other mech you have.

Edited by Koniving, 28 June 2013 - 05:09 PM.

[Benjamin Davion]

KitK, on 26 June 2013 - 01:11 PM, said:

Project Phoenix Overlord Purchasing Guide

Below is a cost breakdown, as best as I could figure it, and some comments on intangibles that you might find helpful in deciding whether or not you want to buy this promotion. Individual evaluation of the merits of this promotion will differ on an individual basis and can be viewd in various related feedback forum threads.

Scenario 1: “Premium time, badges and medallions are bonuses and fluff – all I care about are the mechs!”
Cost per mech in all 4 packages: $6.67 USD (That’s likely a deal on everything but the locust since the COM-1B is roughly half that price.)

Scenario 2: “Itemize it for me. I want to know what I’m buying.”
Three things, at this point, can be itemized – the premium time, the mech bays and the medallions. 30 days of premium time are 2,500 MC, mech bays are 300 MC, and medallions are 500 MC. First calculate what this would cost to buy with MC. Then subtract that from the package to see what the mechs cost.
--4 Months Premium Time = 10,000 MC
--12 Mech Bays = 3,600 MC
--4 Medallions = 2,000
--Total MC = 15,600

Cheapest way to obtain said MC is 1 $49.95 USD package and 1 $29.95 USD package totaling $79.90 USD.

Actual value of premium time, mech bays and medallions: $67.37 USD
(79.90/18500*15600)

Remaining value of mechs: $12.62 USD
Cost per mech $1.05 USD

Other factors to consider:

Phoenix Variant: The Phoenix Variant is the unique, limited time thing of monetary value being offered. Everything else packaged with them is run-of-the-mill. You are essentially buying 4 hero mechs in a package with extras. If the Phoenix variant is not of interest to you then there is no deal here.

You can still play all of these mechs for FREE: If the C-Bill and loyalty point bonuses or special paint jobs and geometries are not of interest to you, all of these mechs will be in-game, purchasable with C-Bills, and playable by January 22, 2014.

Early access: You get to play all 4 mechs while everyone else waits for their general release. I won’t say it’s instant gratification since it’s still 4 months away. But, like the Heavy Metal Highlander release, people who don’t pay up will only be able to watch as you stride around for 3 months in your Battlemaster.

Time saving: As with any MC purchased standard mech, you save the time it would take to grind the C-Bills necessary to purchase them. Then your C-Bills can go to upgrades rather than the next variant. This can save a lot of time if you don’t have the time. On the other hand, a lot of people have a system down for grinding through variants and/or a pile of C-Bills sitting around anyway.

Thanks for the itemized list, that's exactly what I tried to do before I got bored of trying to get my math together. $1.05 for ANY mech is a win, even if you loathe and abhor it, you could always sell the thing for spare C-Bills. Definitely bought the Overload tier.

[Johnny Reb]

I still want to know if all purchased mechs are locked, like the 4 founders, or can I sell the standard variants when im done with them and keep the mech bay slot.

[Dexter Herbivore]

Project Phoenix Overlord Purchasing Guide (TL/DR version):

[Johnny Reb]

I'm 95% sure im buying it just want the reveals first!

edit: Answer to my sell standard question would be a big bonus!

Edited by Johnny Reb, 26 June 2013 - 11:09 PM.

[Stryker67]

Wow..this is awesome. The BattleMaster was always one of my fav original BTech mechs (that and the Rifleman)

[Kalam Mehkar]

Dexter Herbivore, on 26 June 2013 - 10:08 PM, said:

Project Phoenix Overlord Purchasing Guide (TL/DR version):

This. Exactly this.

Once I saw my beloved Shadow Hawk, $80 was just jammed down the throat of the interwebs faster than a Locust running away from a Battlemaster...

[Jack Lowe]

Kalam Mehkar, on 27 June 2013 - 09:10 AM, said:

This. Exactly this.

Once I saw my beloved Shadow Hawk, $80 was just jammed down the throat of the interwebs faster than a Locust running away from a Battlemaster...

Was the Thunderbolt for me but yep now that I see it I'm right there with u.

[Goregrimm]

The Battle Master and Shadow Hawk have been favorites of mine since I played the role-playing game in high school. I had to have them. I never liked the Thunderbolt but after seeing the gorgeous remodel, I am a fan. Now if they would only add the Warhammer and Archer.

[BigTaeng]

Thanks for the breakdown. Even though the Locust does not really seem like a viable 'Mech in the current metagame, it still seems like a really good deal for the other tiers. 12 'Mechs, 'Mech bays, cockpit items and 90 days (120 w/Early Bird) premium time for $80, hard to beat that.

I am really excited about Project Phoenix. I cannot wait for the Thunderbolt as that has been one of my favourite 'Mechs for the longest time.

[Apoc1138]

I wasn't particularly interested in most of the mechs, so wasn't going to buy, certainly not the $80 pack, but then when you consider you are basically getting a whole load of mechs for $1-2 each, even if you do just sell all the standard variants, you are still getting a pretty good deal on premium time, mech bays, and effectively a bunch of cbills and kit

and for players who have not yet put any money in to the game, this is an awesome starter pack

Edited by Apoc1138, 28 June 2013 - 02:59 AM.

[Ragnar Darkmane]

ZeProme, on 26 June 2013 - 02:44 PM, said:

I fail to see how the first package "Talons" is worth the money.

It's worth it's money because it comes with 30 days of premium time and is only $5 more expensive than 30 days of Premium time. For these $5 you get the Hero Locust, 2 other Locusts (which most likely will have better hardpoints), 3 Garage slots and the Forum/In Game Profile e-peen goodies like the Phoenix founder icon.
To compare: The hero Commando costs more than 5$ and doesn't even come with it's own mech bay.

Besides that it's hard to judge how bad the V1-Locust Hero will really be when it's released in 3 months because MASK might be in the game and MGs will likely be buffed again.

[BR0WN_H0RN3T]

I bought the $0 package, then popped down $125 on Star Citizen