19 replies to this topic

[Skiddywinks]

Hey guys. Love the BT universe (despite my meagre experiences), love all of the MW and MC games, and even enjoyed the MA games on the Xbox.

Anyway, I finally caved to a F2P game, and at least it is MW doing it for me. I'm pretty sure I will pick up all the nuances and the like while playing or reading many of the guides and help topics. What I haven't been able to find, however, is a straight to the point break down of what in-game money buys you, what MC buy you, and where overlaps (if any exist) are. For example, what things can I do with MC that basically equates to short-cutting things I would normally do with C-Bills? Anything? Or are the two pools entirely separate (i.e. MC provide a whole raft of things totally unrelated to anything you can do with C-Bills)?

I'm looking forward to getting in to MWO and once I have this issue sorted out, I can decide if any of the money I would be willing to spend on the game is actually worth spending.

[Jin Ma]

only thing you HAVE* to spend real money on is hero mechs and Mechbays. if you play the game enough you are pretty much going to spend money on mechbays. Sneaky system is very pricy. Basically a 1.5 dollar cost on any mech you want to own after the first 4. A lot of dedicated players have spent 60+ dollars on mechbays alone.

you can get standard versions of package mechs (founders/phoenix etc) without the 30% cbill bonus

Edited by Jin Ma, 22 September 2013 - 01:05 PM.

[maddog6707]

MC is mainly used to speed of progress with a couple of exceptions. Extra mech bays cost 300 MC and there are some better consumables that cost 15 MC. Also exchanging experience from mech specific to general also cost MC. Now that being said you can only by parts for you mech with cbills.

[Skiddywinks]

So I take it Mechbays are for storing other chassis you have bought? So, for example, I could have a light mech that I can run around with for fun, and an assault mech for stomping people? I take it you only start with one?

[dienicy]

You also need to spend real money on blings in your cockpit and conversion of XP/GXP.

[maddog6707]

You start with zero mechs. There are 4 trial mechs you can choose from. You can't modify these mechs or gain any mech experience from them. For new players you are given a new player cbill bonus for 25 matches. The idea is you will have enough cbill after this trial period to buy and customize your own mech.

[Zphyr]

Skiddywinks, on 22 September 2013 - 01:05 PM, said:

So I take it Mechbays are for storing other chassis you have bought? So, for example, I could have a light mech that I can run around with for fun, and an assault mech for stomping people? I take it you only start with one?

You start with zero mechs, but free players have 4 mechbays. You can use trial mechs but they are rented, not owned, and they cycle every couple weeks or so.

More on mechbays - each one "house" 1 single mech, so we can own 4 mechs free of charge. If you want a 5th, then there's two choice: or you sell one of your existing mechs, or you buy another empty mechbay with MC.

Imagine that you are eliting/mastering a heavy mech. It would mean that you need 3 variants of that mech (say, 3 Catapults). You can then own 1 more mech that may give you a different feel of the game (say, a light like a Jenner). Now you have 4. You can't elite that single Jenner without also owning the other two Jenner variants. You can't buy any other mech either as you do not have the space to store them. So, or you sell the elited/mastered Catapults, or you buy a new mechbay.

I would recommend saving money and using MC only on mechbays, if you aren't prone to invest a significant amount of money in this game.

Edited by Zphyr, 22 September 2013 - 01:17 PM.

[Skiddywinks]

I think I've got the gist of it. Thanks for all the information guys! Look forward to seeing you on the battlefield!

[maddog6707]

Good Luck!

You should start out in the tutorials and/or testing grounds. This should help you to figure out the weapons, maps, and controls. Public matchs can be brutal for beginners and is the main reason why people quit due to there inexperience.

[Aym]

maddog6707, on 22 September 2013 - 01:01 PM, said:

MC is mainly used to speed of progress with a couple of exceptions. Extra mech bays cost 300 MC and there are some better consumables that cost 15 MC. Also exchanging experience from mech specific to general also cost MC. Now that being said you can only by parts for you mech with cbills.

Currently there are no "better" consumables that cost MC, there almost was, and there MAY be in the future, but currently any consumable you can get with MC, you can get with C-bills and GXP.

[Bront]

You can not get anything that costs MC or cash only without paying. That includes:

• Special Mech Offers - Founders and Phoenix mech packages come with some exclusive things, though it's mostly exclusive bonuses and skins, otherwise it's nothing you can't otherwise earn though (The mechs themselves). You also get (or got) early access and some other bonuses. Sara's Jenner was a special $10 purchase that was donated to Cancer research, but is mostly a unique skilled champion mech that you can't sell (but came with a free bay)
  
• Mech Bays - Generally considered a bargain at around $1 each if you're willing to drop a little bit of cash. I think the $15 package gets you 10 mech bays
  
• Hero Mechs - Unique skin and loadout mechs. Not necessarily better, but different and unique. You get a 30% bonus to when piloting one, and they cost 75 per ton. Their value is debatable, and probably depends on how much you like that mech, it's hardpoints and need
  
• Premium time - 50% boost in and XP earnings for some amount of calender time. If you're looking to spend money to ease grind, this is probably the most efficient way to do it.
  
• Paint and Skins - There are 4-5 paint colors you can buy with , but skins and all other colors require . Sadly, somewhat useful colors such as black or white are colors, but you can get most of the 6 primary colors of some kind in the basics. The prices here are expensive in general, particularly since skins are per mech chasis (so VIctors only, or Jenners only, etc), while paint is more expensive than a mech bay per color. Fortunately, they regularly put colors on sale for 50% off, which makes some of them priced OK. You can at least experiment with how they look before you buy.
  
• Cockpit items - A few could be earned though challenges (Like Operation 24), or but otherwise they come as part of cost packages or cost . Sadly, they aren't even universal, you need to move them around or buy multiples to stick them in more than 1 mech. Again, like paint, you can experiment, and yes, they're purely cosmetic (though only you see them unless someone is observing you, and in some cases, you have to actually look around the cockpit to see them). Probably the least useful thing you can spend MC on.

[Sadistic Savior]

Skiddywinks, on 22 September 2013 - 12:49 PM, said:

SO FOR EVERYONE ELSE IN MY POSITION; WHAT'S FREE, WHAT COSTS, AND WHAT CAN I *NOT* GET WITHOUT PAYING REAL MONEY?

Hero mechs, and consumables cost money. You also have to pay for some vanity stuff (cockpit items, camo patterns ect). You have to pay for additional mech bays (but they are cheap, and you get 4 for free). Everything else you can obtain through gameplay.

Hero mechs do not do more damage or have any in-game bonuses. They have different hardpoint configurations that you cannot find on other mechs, but thats it. Hero mechs do have non-game bonuses (additional loyalty points or CBill bonuses).

This game has no heirarchy as other MMOs do. It is not a race to assault mechs. All mechs have assets and liabilities and they all balance out. The best tank in the game is not a heavy or assault mech....it's the 30 ton Spider.

When you pay for stuff in MWO, you are paying to either avoid grinding, or to get access to stuff before the official release. But it is all stuff you would otherwise be able to grind to eventually. MWO is not pay to win...you get no real advantage from paying for stuff other than to avoid grinding. You just get more configuration options or get access to stuff sooner.

Edited by Sadistic Savior, 22 September 2013 - 01:41 PM.

[Redshift2k5]

Keep in mind that even mech bays can be circumvented by having multiple accounts.


This is a game I *would* suggest spending a small amount of money on, though, but at least it is flexible about how much to spend.

[Nick Makiaveli]

Sadistic Savior, on 22 September 2013 - 01:38 PM, said:

consumables cost money.

Not exactly true. You can get a "better" Cool Shot for MC or unlock it with C-bills and GXP. So again, cash speeds up the process.

In other words, there is really almost nothing you can't get, outside of boosts to C-bills and XP. There are mech variants that are different but not in such a way as to make them OP in any way.

[DodgerH2O]

Redshift2k5, on 22 September 2013 - 02:24 PM, said:

Keep in mind that even mech bays can be circumvented by having multiple accounts.


This is a game I *would* suggest spending a small amount of money on, though, but at least it is flexible about how much to spend.

Technically (at least at the beginning of Open Beta when I checked last) it's against the agreement you sign to have multiple accounts. I don't know of anyone who has had negative consequences for doing so, but if PGI loses too much potential money from this tactic it will likely change. I suspect that it's currently a low priority of enforcement plus there's the situation of significant others/housemates sharing IPs.

[Nick Makiaveli]

DodgerH2O, on 22 September 2013 - 02:30 PM, said:

Technically (at least at the beginning of Open Beta when I checked last) it's against the agreement you sign to have multiple accounts. I don't know of anyone who has had negative consequences for doing so, but if PGI loses too much potential money from this tactic it will likely change. I suspect that it's currently a low priority of enforcement plus there's the situation of significant others/housemates sharing IPs.

That and how much would they really lose? A separate account wouldn't have access to any modules that were unlocked etc, so it's not like there is NO reason to not keep it all on one account.

So anyone who is willing to grind that much, is either not able or willing to spend cash, and at least this way the devs have a loyal player providing the rest of us with someone to go up against.

[Bront]

DodgerH2O, on 22 September 2013 - 02:30 PM, said:

Technically (at least at the beginning of Open Beta when I checked last) it's against the agreement you sign to have multiple accounts. I don't know of anyone who has had negative consequences for doing so, but if PGI loses too much potential money from this tactic it will likely change. I suspect that it's currently a low priority of enforcement plus there's the situation of significant others/housemates sharing IPs.

It is against the ToS to have multiple accounts in order to troll. It was likely against the ToS durring closed beta (and as a result, early open Beta) to have multiple accounts because that was effectively a useless account. Currently, if you want to run multiple accounts, there's nothing stopping you, though good luck getting to any useful modules though GXP, and it would be a pain to have to log out and back on to switch mechs while in a group.

[Redshift2k5]

DodgerH2O, on 22 September 2013 - 02:30 PM, said:

Technically (at least at the beginning of Open Beta when I checked last) it's against the agreement you sign to have multiple accounts. I don't know of anyone who has had negative consequences for doing so, but if PGI loses too much potential money from this tactic it will likely change. I suspect that it's currently a low priority of enforcement plus there's the situation of significant others/housemates sharing IPs.

The new code of conduct http://mwomercs.com/...79#entry2753479 are clear about using multiple accounts to make forum arguments , but says nothing wrong with owning multiple accounts simply for gameplay.

Edited by Redshift2k5, 22 September 2013 - 03:37 PM.

[Skiddywinks]

Wow, I was pretty satisfied with the answers, but there is some great info in here now. Thanks a lot guys, I'm looking forward to getting stuck in!

[Alaskan Nobody]

Skiddywinks, on 22 September 2013 - 05:53 PM, said:

I'm looking forward to getting stuck in!

Time ta git stuck in wit da Boyz!