64 replies to this topic

[The Animus]

I don't know if I agree with everything the OP said but I do agree MC prices are currently too high. I'm not paying $30 for a mech and the prices are just a deterrent to spending in general.

In addition I want community warfare. I played Battletech 3025 10+ years ago. It was very similar to MWO except it had actual factions and community warfare and that was in beta. Here you have launched with a bad matchmaking system, no community warfare, and discouragingly high prices.

I'll make you a deal. Give me community warfare and better MC prices and I will spend ~$60 towards this game.

[Steven Dixon]

Actually I think that MWO is one of the most reasonably priced games out there. You get almost all of the content completely free (purchasable by in-game currency). You will probably have to buy mechbays, but they are pretty reasonably priced. Paint isn't too bad because you get to keep it. I think that permanent unlocks for paint schemes are overpriced but the single use ones are quite reasonable.

I do think that hero mechs are probably too expensive, but you don't need to buy hero mechs. They aren't any more powerful than the MC versions, many are in fact weaker. You get a 30% C-bill boost which is nice but all it does is speed up your earnings. If your time is worth $30+ then you should buy the hero mech if its not then don't and play the game for free.

In many F2P games, subscriptions are virtually mandatory despite the F2P tag. The game makes it so difficult to play (via various hindrances and handicaps) that you eventually feel compelled to buy a subscription. Going back to World of Tanks for example you need a subscription in higher tiers just to pay for your repairs otherwise you can actually start to lose money by playing. This isn't the case in MWO. As someone stated, premium time (which is MWOs version of a 'subscription') really isn't that great. Its just there for people who have more money than time.

Edited by Steven Dixon, 20 September 2013 - 09:54 PM.

[Diamond Jim]

Colonel Pada Vinson, on 20 September 2013 - 05:13 PM, said:

everything is free. nothing "requires" MC to compete with others.

When did we get mech bays for c-bills, I missed that patch note.

[Jess Hazen]

for how expensive everything is in this game you think they would have broader sales. encompassing everything in the game including mech bay slots and a discount to all cbill costs. remember you can easily get people to spend more if they think they are getting a deal. for example you can easily assume 3 times the people will buy a sale item at half price and that right there is a 50% increase in revenue. their sales department is a bit in the dark when they could be easily be making more money by offering quantity. many players are not so inclined to spend three dollars per mechbay but those same customers would jump at the chance to pick up a bunch of mechbays at $1.50 if they could get them on sale. the marketing teams failure in this scenario alone is greatly hindering sales.

they do have the issue of creating the product at a reasonable premium. but to me it seems that they are complacent on spending $80k per mech chassis and charging through the tooth for them. 80k is a bit over the top and I'm not sure if i can believe that. if its true they need to find a more efficient method of production. then again if they can persuade more players to keep playing their game through good marketing the profit to production cost ratio could skyrocket beyond their wildest dreams and 80k would be pennies.

Edited by Jess Hazen, 20 September 2013 - 11:31 PM.

[Muffinator]

I agree this game is too expensive no question. By too expensive I mean a reasonable persons expectation of the value of what is sold would likely be less than what that thing actually costs in this game. I think prices probably need to come down by about 30% to be perceived as fair by the average person and I think PGI would make waaay more profit if they did that. But that's all my opinion without having access to the analysis PGI/IGP used to determine their pricing!

[Charons Little Helper]

I actually think that from a business perspective the prices are too high.

I mean - if I were playing and a mech trouced me - I'd probably be willing to drop a couple bucks to try it out. Maybe as much as $5. But not $15-20.

[Carcearion]

I'm one of three plays who just joined on the launch date. We find the low value of MC, and low CBill gain awful. Every time we look at the cost of something we just laugh. All three of us are waiting for a fix before we put any more money into it (we tried out premium time and even that seems far too slow).

[Sandpit]

Pretty much. I'm not paying the price of an entire game for a single mech. I'm not paying the price of two games for a single mech. I am hoping they are just milking their whales until they run dry and then they'll lower the prices "as the community cried out for, see guys? We DO listen to you!" while we jump up and cheer whilst the former whales now feel cheated. It's like that circle of life thing the lion king talked about

[OmniJackal]

ABFalcon, on 20 September 2013 - 01:44 AM, said:

In its present state, you can spend $1,000 USD on this game, and you still will not unlock all the MC content.

Reduce all MC costs by ~15x - 20x. If the devs really think that a hero mech is worth over $30, I want some of whatever they are smoking. Unlocking every single assault mech in the game, heroes and all, is not even worth $30.

Content is not worth that much. Not in any universe. I can buy an ENTIRE GAME for the cost of a battlemech here. It's lazy, it's greedy, it's sleazy, and until prices come down, you cannot have the contents my wallet, PGI.

I'll pay $45 for every unlock in the game. Unlimited mechlabs, all colors, all battlemechs, all vanity items, and a year of premium time. Finish community warfare, fix matchmaking, fix the weapon balance, and update all existing mechs with dynamic visual hardpoints, and then we can discuss a full retail $60.

I think the MC prices are way way way too high but what you're asking is absolutely ridiculous and probably offensive to the guys that spend all that time working on the mechs. I want to see colors come down to a dollar. Light champs 5. Medium champs 10. Heavy champs 15. Assault champs 20. I think that's all fair. But you want ALL of it for $45? I'd rather have some of what you're smoking because it's obviously better than what the devs are smoking.

Tell you what, you get all of that for $45 but then you get to pay $15 a month subscription fee to keep the servers running. Deal?

[DeadEyes COTP]

Make a new account and run the cadet bonus out for an easy 10+mil, buy whatever mech and equipment you like and go to town. You won't get the tiny little bonus that comes with owning all 4 of one type, but who really cares. I'm not a cheap person at all, and I've thrown literally thousands at RCE games, and subbed / bought skins etc in many FTP model games. I'm sure I'm not alone here when I say I will never pay a cent for this game until some drastic action is taken.

Sorry to be so blunt - the MC prices are ******* absurd, and anyone who pays for anything in this game is feeding the evil. Stop paying, they lower the prices. The game doesn't die, they just grow a brain. I can already see into the mind of the person they have in charge of their business model;

"derr we get 1 peoples to pray 50 dorrars and we makes more moneyz that way than if 50 peoples payz 5 dorrars."

Any grade school student could put that together. You don't make more money by people not paying for things. It's not rocket science.

[CaveMan]

Fierostetz, on 20 September 2013 - 03:29 PM, said:

For the love of god, just get a better job and stop complaining.

This has nothing to do with being able to afford the prices. It's about the pricing of content not reflecting its value.

When I see a slightly shinier pretend internet robot selling for the price of a week's groceries, it doesn't make me mad that I can't have it all. It makes me laugh at the people who would overpay for it.

[Tekadept]

I started playing War of the Roses which is a F2P game, I spent 10 bucks and i managed to unlock a decent amount of content, to make it feel like i got value out of that 10 bucks. 10 bucks buys you bupkiss in MWO.

If prices were lower in MWO, yes the might make less per mech, but they will mostly likely sell more mechs and in the end make more money.

If I could convert MC to cbills I would probably even do that too, seems stupid to buy a mech then sell it for a loss to get some cbills. but that would probably be overpriced as well.

Edited by Tekadept, 26 September 2013 - 12:24 AM.

[Onmyoudo]

I bought Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Platinum (includes both expansion packs) and Dark Souls on Tuesday for approximately 20% of what the new Atlas hero will cost. MWO's pricing model is a little outdated. Just sayin.

[DeadEyes COTP]

CaveMan, on 25 September 2013 - 11:45 PM, said:

This has nothing to do with being able to afford the prices. It's about the pricing of content not reflecting its value.

When I see a slightly shinier pretend internet robot selling for the price of a week's groceries, it doesn't make me mad that I can't have it all. It makes me laugh at the people who would overpay for it.

That is my biggest issue when I'm trying to explain to the people who already shelled out 30-40$ for a single mech, how they are not understanding the value of their money. To them it's a "deal", because compared to everything else in the store it offers the most benefit. I would also hazard a guess a good majority of the people paying either love the MW series and simply can't live without their stuff, or are somehow convincing their parents that the money is going to something reasonable.

I have to convince myself no one made the conscious decision that the prices are in any way fair, for fear of losing complete hope in the human race.

[Kargen]

Agree with many of the sentiments above.

I can afford to pay $25 for a mech. I just don't want to.

I don't see the value in buying a single mech thats half the price of an entire AAA computer game release.

[Ransack]

I agree with the message in this thread.

[Esperax]

Well, sorry to disappoint you guys, but i dont think PGI will give a s*** what you care.

They have the upper hand, "YOU" want to play the game despite how bad the game actually is, and lets not talk about the pricing. As long as people are willing to pay such ridiculous prices, the other poor folk will just have to suck it up.

The only thing that will change this mess is when people stops buying MCs

[Nick REX Trebla]

Doubled. Check: http://mwomercs.com/...-are-too-macro/ . And please... there's a "search" button up on the right in the forums...

[Scromboid]

If a customer has to think about the price vs. the value they are receiving, the cost is too high.

Period. End of story.

Do not compare MWO to other floundering games... look at games like LoL. They have as much production value into each of their Champions as MWO has in their robots. If you do not think so, ask why all of the mechs sound the same. Voice/Music costs money and all of those Champs have their own tracks.

Look at what Riot does. They have an awesome free game with a 10 spot rotation champion list where you can TRY BEFORE YOU BUY, and you can buy ANYTHING YOU WANT FOR IN GAME CURRENCY, but... even if you are super duper excited for a guy you can buy it for a couple of dollars easily... RP is like $10, and you can buy 1-2 champs with that money. You will get a little more free RP as you go up the ladder, but not much... not like MWO. On average, for $10 (nets you 1380 RP), you can buy a champ for 975, a skin or two and maybe some rune pages.

You want to buy a Mech in this game? $30, !@#$%! At LEAST. And... PGIGP is not shy about telling you that some are worse than others and they are NOT WILLING TO FIX IT EITHER.

Camo? $4 - not bad. See... the camo, I can get on board with as it is essentially a different skin for your robots. No problem there, especially when they go on sale. Colors?? $5? FORGET IT. Really? Color palettes are FREE all over the internet and do not cost you ANYTHING in game to ... uh... 'develop'. Don't screw me bro.

Look, this game has a lot of potential, but PGIGP proved last night in their launch 'party' that they are just not up to the task. Even basic planning items such as calling a production company is lost on them. They cannot even plan a 'party' right when they control all aspects of it from start to finish. Hell, they could not even get their OWN GAME to work correctly for them and had to restart their teams MULTIPLE TIMES. LOBBY SYSTEM. Just sayin.

Anyways, I am done. They are inept and show it every time they get the chance. This game is dying on the vine and PGIGP does not have the wherewithal to save it.

[Chrithu]

I found a solution to that problem:

I don't buy MC anymore, ignore anything that is MC exclusive and just act like it would not exist so I don't have to complain about it.