Posted 17 December 2013 - 12:04 PM
I dunno....for what's been brought to the table already + what's supposedly in development, I for one seriously doubt probable financial hardship at this moment for PGI. The numbers may have dropped, but what they have in the bank already off the past promos and the regular purchase of MC for whatever reason would seem to have covered way more than what it's taken to field this game to date. After looking around at several F2P/P2W hustles, it seems that PGI feels they deserve the same or more for their product. What seems to anger quite a few of us is they ran their big fat mouth too fast in a fashion that reeled quite a few of us in to spend, having enough faith shown through any form of financial investment, only to be let down time and time again. To be honest, the game is better now and a bit more evolved than it was a year ago sans added mechs and maps. They claim it's different departments working on different aspects of the game...but we can't tell if the updates look more like task switching than multitasking. For the revenue, one would think a gang of these things would be done already. After looking at the process of making a map and how much was spent on it, my lip was to the floor, it reminded me of government contractors selling cheap mops to the Navy for $120/pc...the same mop in Home Depot is $15 at the most. Releasing a "Skirmish" mode that is by definition Assault with no option to cap is not a development. What really bothers me is the muscling of MWLL out of the way just so MWO could milk the BT universe and hold it hostage for profit. Yeah, we can still go play MWLL, but with development blocked due to MWO, then there really isn't much of an option left over the course of time compared to MWO. In any case, I look forward to seeing how this is going to turn out, I really think a retraction of the latest promo pricing is in order or a revamping of the purchasing model. Labeling a $500 gold mech as sign of ultimate MWO/PGI loyalty or "ambition" (as they termed it) is a blatant insult to those who have already paid that + more with the state of things as-is, if I was a Legendary Founder who continued to purchase hero mechs occasionally and had all the colors/patterns etc., and my "ambition" was challenged for not being insane enough to pay $500 for a digital toy robot, I would smack whoever made that statement dead in their mouth. They can remain up for sale, it's ok, but the statement attached to them has to go, if anything, they need to dig through the records, find their top whales, send them an activation code and give it to them for FREE, they've already earned it. How the h3ll do you do a Kickstarter on top of another Kickstarter, this is where the "cash grab" inferences aimed at PGI stem from. If by chance they do get CW out the door at least and allow us to customize our clan tech purchases, then it would honestly be a tolerable deal, if a scenario called for 2 Novas, a Thor, and a Warhawk to drop against IS forces for control of a certain set of planets and certain pilots in a clan were exclusive to doing combat in these particular mechs, then what do they need a Kitfox, Uller, or a Stormcrow for, they may never even visit the mechbays. PGI stands to make more money over time allowing customization of the intial packages for purchase because there will be a time that a pilot will be required to drop in a mech and get up to speed with the efficiency and get the most out of it ASAP for the team, a Prime variant will undoubtedly be a better investment even if it does cost more than a regular variant. Forcing unneeded Primes and standards of chassis that players aren't really interested in initially for purchase and slapping a lofty tag on the collection (although, when added up, the pricing is correct compared to the Phoenix package...but where's the early bird premium time bonus to round out that comparison? Seriously...) is too bold a move. I received my very first Clan pack *free* with my Diamond Monster 3D card back in 97' and paid maybe $45 a pop for Mercs, MW3(+Pirates Moon), MW4(+Vengeance/Black Knight), and $0 in MWLL...so now they cost how much again? We expect to pay something to keep the game going and PGI/IGP (...hmmmm) know dam well a hefty percentage of us got into this game with aspirations of one day returning to a CW type of environment for organized play in Clan or IS mechs, but to harp on our reverence for BT nostalgia and adherence to canon in this manner is rough. There are people who state "hey, if you don't like it, don't buy it" to them I say read the previous statement and use your brain to see the big picture, then you'll understand why quite a few are actually offended by this move on the part of the developer. I can't wait until the next NGNG podcast, it will probably have the highest number of listeners logged on in it's history to date, hopefully someone from PGI will be there to explain and hopefully there will be no white knighting by the show hosts or cutting to irrelevant subject matter.
Another point: If we can't control what maps we drop in, why are they charging us for patterns and colors still? Think about it, you want to deck your mech with a particular white or white/gray camo scheme to drop in Alpine and you land in Terra Therma 5X in a row...I would suppose the intent of sale is for the purpose of campaign effectiveness in CW, so since it's not here as promised several times, why not drop pattern and color prices until it arrives. This would actually push more sales in that area pre-"supposed" CW release if people knew the prices will go back up afterwards, pilots in a House, Clan, Merc, or Pirate group without the colors needed won't be allowed to drop unless they are in accordance. Running around with an off brand scheme that's been purchased and sticking out like a sore thumb on a map it wasn't designed for is BS, it's old now, and wearing a snowfall polka dot pattern in Caustic Valley would be the last straw. Do they even consider this madness when asking for your money.
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focuspark, on 17 December 2013 - 08:13 AM, said:
