27 replies to this topic

[Sephlock]

Maybe it's because I'm a psychology student but it feels like the bonuses are actually incentivizing me to play LESS, since I have a clear means of measuring my grinding- once I've ground out the double XP time, I tend not to play much beyond that.

Could it be that it just feels that way because I'm switching mechs a lot?

Anyone else notice this/feel this way?

[Wintersdark]

No. But I have 24 mechs. I play 6-8 matches per day, probably 4 days a week. It would take roughly 35 matches/day every day to maximize my bonus.

[Escef]

I've found that it has caused me to bust mechs I haven't used in a while out of the hanger. Like my Catapults. After discovering the boating heat penalties do BAD^TM things to the 36Cat I refit it, and I like how 30 LRM tubes and 16 SRM tubes work together. My C1 is still solid. My K2 was still an unexceptional, sturdy workhorse, but I yanked the stock engine and dropped in a BIG XL engine and an AMS, and I do even better with it than before.

[HeavyRain]

Since I have unlocked the efficiencies on the mechs i own, the XP earned is irrelevant to me, so for most of my mechs the bonus remains unused. I don't play less than before the XP bonus but I also don't play more mechs because of it.

[TWIAFU]

Actually I find myself playing more. Once I get my x2 Bonus for the 'mechs I own I continue to play. On average, I am playing 3-5 more matches per 'mech now.

[Scromboid]

It only influences which mechs i play, which actually gets me to play ones that I have stopped messing with in a while.

If they did this with CBills, would you think the same thing? I imagine people would play all their available mechs to gain the most benefit. As it is now, I have way too much XP and too little CBills.

[Escef]

Scromboid, on 14 August 2013 - 05:43 AM, said:

It only influences which mechs i play, which actually gets me to play ones that I have stopped messing with in a while.

If they did this with CBills, would you think the same thing? I imagine people would play all their available mechs to gain the most benefit. As it is now, I have way too much XP and too little CBills.

I hear ya. I have over 130k XP on my K2. Been considering picking up some MC and converting it to GXP just so I can pick up a few Pilot Tree unlocks quickly (I'd love to get extra effectiveness on Cool Shots on my mechs that use them).

[JeepStuff]

Same as many above -- it causes me to play the mechs that were collecting dust instead of always wearing out my favorites. I've even discovered new favorites in the process.

I can see what you're saying about losing interest after getting the bonus for all your mechs, but I'm at a place where I have more mechs than time to play and I always run out of time before I get through them all. So the answer to your question is no for me.

[MoonUnitBeta]

The incentive is not that I can do less but that I can do more. It gets me playing mechs I wouldn’t normally play. Most of my mechs in my hanger are old hat to me. But actually the double XP got me to play then and have fun with them again.
I do double XP on almost as many mechs I can now for the XP conversion sales. I end up churning out 100kGXP through the sale, then I buy new mechs and elite them right away. Maybe that won’t be the case anymore with the drastically lowered c-bill income. I just enabled my 4 month premium time about 3 weeks ago, and now they’ve nerfed it. Aside from making me shake with rage, I did have that feeling that I should have just waited and should have listened to my gut.

But anyways, DXP helped a little bit with me blowing the dust off some old mechs. That’s about it really.

[Wintersdark]

HeavyRain, on 14 August 2013 - 03:18 AM, said:

Since I have unlocked the efficiencies on the mechs i own, the XP earned is irrelevant to me, so for most of my mechs the bonus remains unused. I don't play less than before the XP bonus but I also don't play more mechs because of it.

The bonus affects GXP too.

Playing just to clear the 2XP bonus from mechs you otherwise don't play is a handy way to amass GXP very quickly.

[DarkDevilDancer]

No but it did speed up unlocking that extra module slot on my awesomes, saved me a few painful matches.

[Escef]

Hell, if you have enough mechs and only have so much time to play, especially if you're really good at the game, it's almost like having double XP every day instead of on a promotional weekend. If you have an even W/L ratio it's about the same as one-and-a-half times XP.

[Homeless Bill]

Yes but the point isn't to get you to play for long periods; it's to get you coming back as regularly as possible, even if it's only for a couple matches. And I think it accomplishes that goal quite well. I've been popping in and getting a win in each of my unmastered Victors every day.

[Goose]

The Blue Letter(s) of Shame?

It's supposed to help me level stuff, but mostly it glares at me with how many trys it takes to remove on units I don't have all the basics in. Then, many of the "wins" that remove it come across as rather crappy …

It does motivate one to touch everything they are trying to level; But then, as one slowly realized it's taken 4~8 games to remove on just one 'Mech …

Yes: I can carry my weight in things that are double-basic'd; No: I don't need XP in them …

[Escef]

Goose, on 14 August 2013 - 11:34 AM, said:

It does motivate one to touch everything they are trying to level; But then, as one slowly realized it's taken 4~8 games to remove on just one 'Mech …

It takes you 4-8 games to get ONE win? I'm positively mediocre, and even I can get a win about as often as not.

[Goose]

I like to think leveling 'Mechs in a class where one has done well prior is a large part of the problem (see "Awesome's Bad Reputation"), but who's to say?

[Kitane]

The bonus doesn't fit with my playstyle at all.

I usually grind only 1 mech at time because I can't afford to buy more at once. And even then it takes quite a bit of time to get the money required for the new variant and all necessary upgrades. Modules were costly as hell too...

Using the bonus more extensively would force me to constantly move equipment from one mech to another. Until there is a better way to manage builds (strip all button and auto-fit based on saved configuration), I don't see myself bothering with the bonus at all..

[Arcturious]

Goose, I said the same thing first day it went in.

It can be very depressing to play 4-5 games and still see that little "x2" symbol sitting there taunting you and demeaning you and generally telling you that you're a bad person

When it works though its great. Helped me finish my VTR's off before Kintaro's drop. Usually though I just stare at the letters and sigh.

Edited by Arcturious, 14 August 2013 - 04:16 PM.

[Elizander]

It helps me play a bit more. I played way less before they implemented that bonus. Makes me not notice the c-bill nerf as much since I just try to get the 2x off some mechs that aren't full elite yet (and I still have no master mechs).

[Angel of Annihilation]

No. It actually has zero influence on my gameplay.

Right now I can't aford any new mechs due to the C-bill nerf and all my other mechs are pretty much progressed as far as they can go without being able to afford new mechs so XP means exactly ZERO to me. If it was double C-bills, I would be cycling though every one of my mechs every night, especially since it is taking me forever now to earn enough to purchase new mechs or equipment.