20 replies to this topic

[Hythos]

Assuming MWO:Mercs remained just as it is now (on the same pace/rate of released content, ** Edit & F2P), but also offered a monthly subscription:

What would you guys like to see as part of a monthly $?

Edited by Hythos, 19 September 2013 - 05:41 PM.

[Edustaja]

1500 MC/month
daily passive Cbill + GXP gain
Cbill + XP boost

Edited by Edustaja, 19 September 2013 - 10:01 AM.

[Claive]

There are some features missing from the game that make the idea of a monthly sub... unpalatable?

If they added (at a minimum) the following
1) Matchmaking / lobby / guild systems
2) A way to sort out items I don't own in the mech bay. Hell just a more convenient mech bay. Smurfy good.
3) Fix the economy so that whether I pay or not I get the same pay out per mission. 30% boosts from mechs and boosts from premium time have "upset the balance."
4) Change the experience system. I shouldn't have to buy two other mechs to get good with the one I already have. It is an obvious and painful attempt to extend the grind.

I would expect the following for $15 / Month
1) A monthly newsletter explaining exactly what they were working on and their progress towards those goals.
2) The ability to vote on where they should be directing their resources towards those goals (only those with a subscription can vote)
3) $15 worth of MC per month (at an exchange rate equal to the value of the length of time I was purchasing the subscription for.)
4) All the colors and patterns in the mechbay unlocked, so long as I have an ongoing subscription.
5) Access to more game modes. Perhaps with dynamic events. Perhaps where you jump into a different mech when your first is destroyed.

Things not to do
1) If I accomplish something (anything really) while I have a subscription. I shouldn't loose access to it if and when that subscription expires (so no extra mech bays, clan tech, etc.)
2) Extra C-Bills. Extra Loyalty bonus. Extra Xp bonus.

Edited by Claive, 19 September 2013 - 10:15 AM.

[Ryokens leap]

Good idea. This would generate capital to further develop the game and would weed out all the non hackers and Tweens.

[Novakaine]

Turbine's been using that formula and it works.
Been shilling out there for the past 4 years.
It's FTP and VIP subscriptions.
It works.

[Green Mamba]

Subscription Based games I, like a lot of other people expect "Regular" Content to the point that we should have a WOW factor on Patch day...I had this feeling once along time ago With Asheron's Call.Not really since.Deadlines should be met promptly with no Or very few Pushbacks and absolutely no misleading or outright lying to your customers.I am not sure there are not many Developers that can do this anymore especially PGI. Edit* I would be for a subscript game if the Developers could meet the above criteria though I will add

Edited by Green Mamba, 19 September 2013 - 11:09 AM.

[Kaeb Odellas]

They already have Premium, which basically amounts to a subscription service. Or are you suggesting they move away from FTP entirely?

[Hythos]

Kaeb Odellas, on 19 September 2013 - 11:53 AM, said:

They already have Premium, which basically amounts to a subscription service. Or are you suggesting they move away from FTP entirely?

I feel some of the short-falls we experience are due to either poor financial forecasting, or NO forecasting at all. They've stayed afloat via occasional sales to provide an influx, then of course via Phoenix and the "Oh Sh-- Phoenix wasn't enough" reinforcements...

SO! With a type of financial forecast (ie, monthly subscription) that could provide something to the player on an equivalent level of what they would otherwise get for spending $ to buy ONLY MC...
As a forecast, they can show periodic income that would dramatically improve investment potential, and increases the likeliness they could float a loan if necessary.

I'd be willing if they'd give an incentive in MORE than just the equivalency in MC, as well as include premium; there are lots of things that could be introduced that wouldn't amount to it becoming pay-to-win.
Alternatively, they could offer a subscription-level for Hero 'Mechs... (just as a thought; it's not like a particular 'package' would cost them anything beyond a little man-hours to draw up the terms.)

** Edit - Think multiple 'packages' / tiers - while retaining the existing Free-To-Play model - would allow for anyone to continue in the same manner, but also select optional levels of monthly ... Premiums, packages, coverage, pick your term, if one were interested.

Edited by Hythos, 19 September 2013 - 05:33 PM.

[GRiPSViGiL]

Currently I would not be willing to pay a sub. I like the F2P aspect though because it allows new players a no risk trial option. I feel the premium time feature is the way to go if you are willing to pay. I know I plan to carry premium time once there is more reason to do so.

[RandomLurker]

I prefer subscription model games on the whole. They tend to be more stable, with more dev resources devoted to game features and balance instead of gimmicks that can be sold for a quick buck. They tend to allow for (not guarunteed. only being a good dev company can that) superior games then F2P allows for.

Hybrid subscriptions are halfway between, and I wouldn't mind seeing them. Premium time doesn't count. All it does it makes my grinding alightly more efficient. Since grinding and playing the game normally are the same thing anyway, there's no point to it. I would want, at a minimum, what Edustaja posted. Ideally, I'd like to expanded features like chat rooms, clan vs clan battles, public ladders, and so on. Things that take server power and might just be easier for PGI to put in the game if they had more consistent income.

[Veranova]

I would happily pay £40 or £50 a year to play this game, if it meant that I was permanently premium, had some monthly MC added, and maybe even had some other quirks.
My logic is that with games like COD or Assassins Creed, they get a yearly release and so we end up paying £40 a year to play them.

But on the extended topic of the cost of playing this game.
I understand the F2P model, but I don't understand the notion that we should be doing something because "it's how everybody else does it". Just because the world does something a certain way, doesn't mean it's RIGHT.

I find MC cost itself to be reasonable, but the cost of most MC items is 2-4 times too expensive.
You can charge me 1500 MC at most for a mech. 250 at most for a colour. 500 for a camo pattern.
300 for a mechbay, and the cost of premium time are both reasonable however.

If these were the prices of everything, I would be spending money on this game every single month.
However they're not, and as a result I hardly spend a penny. I bought MC recently to get more mechbays and have some premium cash. I also bought 3 colours as I was sick of green, but won't be buying another colour EVER at those prices.

[Gaan Cathal]

A lot of games run F2P and Sub models side by side, that's the basis of STO's "Silver" and "Gold" member status setup, and it works pretty damn well for them (for reference, the sub gets you a nominal quality-of-life boost in terms of bank space, etc which would equate roughly to Premium Time and a Zen (RMT currency) stipend). It's a good addition to an F2P setup, to be honest with you, since it's guaranteed income and the subbers still need to buy ships (Hero Mechs) and so on unless they save up their stipend for 4-5 months.

That said. There's just not enough game here to justify a sub. And honestly, while I think if they'd offered this some time ago it may've worked, and may well have funded PGI to the point where we'd have a far superior game right now...I just don't see a significant enough uptake with the game in the state it is right now to justify the expense of developing the subscription system. The people who would be subbing have been flat out told they're not wanted, and the people who are wanted wouldn't be subbing (or indeed, with the sate of the NPE, playing enough matches to earn their entire cadet bonus).

[Sean von Steinike]

I won't pay another dime till PGI get's its act together, which seems unlikely.

[Alistair Winter]

I really don't trust PGI enough at this point to pay them a monthly fee.

Furthermore, I would be rather disappointed if they added significant content that was limited to "premium members", beyond XP and C-bill bonuses, etc.

EDIT: To answer your question: I would at least expect some cosmetic freebies, like free paint, free camo, free cockpit items.

Edited by Alistair Winter, 20 September 2013 - 02:19 AM.

[ShotgunWillie]

Edustaja, on 19 September 2013 - 10:00 AM, said:

1500 MC/month
daily passive Cbill + GXP gain
Cbill + XP boost

This.

I don't think there should be a passive "I pay $15/month so I get CBills and GXP just 'cause" gain without even signing into the game. At the very least, you should have to play the game to get the bonus. TANSTAAFL.

Basically, give an MC stipend (doesn't have to be 1500 MC, could be 750 or 1000) and premium time and you've got the minimum for a subscription. Just make sure the subscription premium time stacks with Hero mechs and separately purchased premium time. If you wanted to add a GXP boost to it, too, that's fine, just so long as you have to actually play to get it.

Keep in mind, 30 days of premium time is 2500 MC, which is $12.45 if you buy the minimum MC pack to cover it (14.95, with 500 MC/$2.49 left over), and the cheapest MC pack is $6.95 for 1250 MC. So, a $15/month subscription would have to be at least that good, and guaranteeing PGI a monthly income should be more rewarding than just the bare minimum.

Basically, it has to be a good deal without being so good that it's required.

[WVAnonymous]

I have floated the Hero subscription package in other discussions, where it's a third tab in the "trial mechs" and "owned mechs" list. For some additional MC you can "lease" the Hero mech inventory.

If they want you to buy Hero mechs outright, what better way than having 4 Heroes that rotate. When you finally have that Misery build tuned just the way you want it, and it's almost to Master... whoosh, it's gone, leaving a pile of equipment on the ground.

[Modo44]

Any subscription boils down to improved, auto-renewing Premium Time, so it makes no business sense to include MC in it. But it might make sense to provide a predefined (maybe selectable) item normally available for MC, say a "fee" mechbay or color per month.

Edited by Modo44, 20 September 2013 - 09:26 AM.

[Edustaja]

ShotgunWillie, on 20 September 2013 - 08:55 AM, said:

This.

I don't think there should be a passive "I pay $15/month so I get CBills and GXP just 'cause" gain without even signing into the game. At the very least, you should have to play the game to get the bonus. TANSTAAFL.

Basically, give an MC stipend (doesn't have to be 1500 MC, could be 750 or 1000) and premium time and you've got the minimum for a subscription. Just make sure the subscription premium time stacks with Hero mechs and separately purchased premium time. If you wanted to add a GXP boost to it, too, that's fine, just so long as you have to actually play to get it.

Keep in mind, 30 days of premium time is 2500 MC, which is $12.45 if you buy the minimum MC pack to cover it (14.95, with 500 MC/$2.49 left over), and the cheapest MC pack is $6.95 for 1250 MC. So, a $15/month subscription would have to be at least that good, and guaranteeing PGI a monthly income should be more rewarding than just the bare minimum.

Basically, it has to be a good deal without being so good that it's required.

I wanted to give subs a lot of passive benefits just to get them subscribe even without playing. Someone who sits on a yearly sub and never plays is still a steady revenue stream that incurs very little costs.

[merz]

depending on the complexity of the Community Warfare implementation, I'd happily purchase a premium account to participate if the full tier-3 community warfare system as it has been previously described..

Edited by merz, 20 September 2013 - 09:30 AM.

[Avalios]

2000 MC per month
Premium time while subscribed
1 additional Mech bay given per month
Doubled GXP generation rate

Sounds fair for 15$ monthly subscription. I would do this if it was offered.

Edited by Avalios, 20 September 2013 - 09:42 AM.