106 replies to this topic

[Dan Nashe]

Editing is destroying formatting, so I have to double post, sorry:</p></p>

$30 packs: 6500 MC

Jenner Heroic Starter Bundle: (6500 MC)
Includes all of the Elite Bundle, Plus:
* Oxide: 2625 Value
* Upgrade to 30 days premium time instead of 3: 1850 MC Value [30 days is 1850 more than the 3 days with Basic/Elite]
*Dice: 500 Value
*All Four Basic Colors: 2000 Value
Total Additional Value: 7000
50% off: 3500, bringing the total package up to $30 for 6500 MC for 13,000 in Value

Hunchback Heroic Starter Bundle: 6500 MC ($30)
Includes all of the Hunchback ELITE Bundle, plus:
* Grid Iron: 3750 Value
* Upgrade to 30 days of premium time (from 1 day): 2250 Value
* Add Dice: 500 Value
* Basic Color: 500 (Red?)
Total Value: 7000
Half Of: 3500 (bringing total package to 3500)

All of these packs are 50% off or less, so within PGI's current sales ranges.
They let a player try everything (colors, cockpit items, premium time, elited mechs, hero mechs).

And importantly, for a player who has never spent a dime before, they don't have any wasted MC.

Edited by DanNashe, 18 February 2014 - 05:47 PM.

[Moku]

Why don't they just offer the best hero mechs and premium time package at a slight discount without all the fluff and more people would buy them. Honestly new players should get a free champion mech, so they feel special instead of gouging them with these bundles.

[DragonsFire]

MavRCK, on 18 February 2014 - 04:35 PM, said:

<snip>

What these guys said. While this is the first foray into the whole bundle situation, these suggestions are pretty solid take-aways to have right from the get go and would be very much worth implementing in the future. Heck, a light bundle that included more mech bays might be picked up by people who have been playing the game for a while and are looking to branch out anyways.

[Malleus011]

KnowBuddy, on 18 February 2014 - 01:34 PM, said:

In my opinion, the best "Starter Bundle" I can imagine would be:

• 3 'Mech Bays
  
• 1 Hero 'Mech
  
• 2 Normal (non Champion, or 1 normal and one champion) 'Mechs - same chassis as above Hero 'Mech
  
• 1 (MC) UAV
  
• 1 (MC) Arty Strike
  
• 1 (MC) Air Strike
  
• 1 (MC) Coolshot
  
• Premium Time

This would give a new player a ready setup for mastering one or all three of those 'Mechs, premium time to help, and MC consumables to whet their appetite. Throw in a hula girl if desired, sure... but otherwise keep the accessory items to vanity/accessory bundles (like a camo+3colors bundle).

This, and keep it cheap as you can - having a Hero, Champion, Regular variants. You want to draw the new players in with an inexpensive 'starter' set to help them avoid the grind. Even if you can only keep the Light package at 15$, it would make a true 'starter pack' that would be good for new players.

Also, just a side note - please fix the A1 launcher geometry before promoting them to new players. They're ugly right now.

[slide]

I am not likely to buy any of these packs as I already own these mechs. But for future reference should you offer other packs in the future, I have a question.

Does Premium time get banked behind the "activate button" as other packages and promotions have, or is it active immediately for Founders and Phoenix owners?

[Heffay]

slide, on 18 February 2014 - 08:07 PM, said:

Does Premium time get banked behind the "activate button" as other packages and promotions have, or is it active immediately for Founders and Phoenix owners?

Premium time is always banked until it is activated. When it is activated, it activates all the time you have in your bank.

[slide]

Not always, If I buy Premium alone, it activates immediately, saving my banked time. Just want clarification on the Bundles premium time.

For reference random promo days, like we received with that big patch a few months ago have been banked.

[Roadbeer]

BLATANT CASH GRAB!!!

#amidoingitrightneckbeards?

[Alaskan Nobody]

Roadbeer, on 18 February 2014 - 08:27 PM, said:

#amidoingitrightneckbeards?

Didn't accuse any of the people who like it of being a Whiteknight - so no.

[Hawk819]

Deathsani, on 18 February 2014 - 12:02 PM, said:

This is a move in the right direction for new players. I think there are probably better choices for starter mechs, as each of these isn't the best or a hero, but still good none the less.

Agreed. I would also like to see bundles for both MechWarrior Credits and C-bills.

Ex:
1250 MC
12,500 C-bills

This could help those who are trying to buy newer `Mechs.

[VooDooAddict]

Horrible "Starter" bundles. Any bundles billed as starter should fit better into the $7 1250MC, $15 3000MC, or $30 6500MC pack.

A proper chassis starter pack should include 3 bays, 3 variants (preferably with one a hero or champion), and 3 days premium time.

The following starter bundles would be tempting to both new and old players who don't yet have the chassis. 3 days of premium time is a perfect fit to tempt someone into tackling a new chassis over a weekend.

Jenner Starter Kit - 3000MC (5460MC value)
3 Mechbays - 900MC
JR7-F© - 1,450MC
JR7-D - 1,205
JR7-K - 1,260
3 Days Premium Time - 650MC

Catapult Starter Kit 6500MC (8790MC Value)
3 Mechbays - 900MC
CPLT-A1© - 2790MC
CPLT-C1 - 2325MC
CPLT-K2 - 2125MC
3 Days Premium Time - 650MC

Edit: I see others above me have come up with similar combos.

Edited by VooDooAddict, 18 February 2014 - 10:02 PM.

[Leifanator]

Opinions! I have them and you will read them! (Or not, whatever)

As many have said, vanity items do not a starter pack make.

Here's a slightly different idea to what I've seen suggested so far. Instead of selling a mech bundled with other stuff, why not sell just the mech bays bundled with other stuff? For example: 3 mech bays and a day of premium time. Cheap, easy, and newbie friendly.

The cheapest MC bundle option should be where you aim for new players. Get them to test the waters of the game by playing for free, then say "Hey, for only $7 you can get a few more mech bays and a boost to your C-Bill rate." Then you can hook them further with a deal on a hero/champion mech. Then, THEN, once they've invested a bit of money they would be more willing to justify buying vanity items to pimp their rides so to speak.

How feasible is it to change the name from "Starter Bundle" to "UI 2.0 Bundle"? I think a lot of people would be happier with a name change at this point.

Edited by Leifanator, 18 February 2014 - 10:18 PM.

[Gasoline]

As a base to start from I honestly think this is a good idea. This seems to be a very legit way selling your champion mechs. The thing that disturbs me the most is, that every pack includes the same two cockpit items (hula girl and dice). This might be something to think about.

[DaisuSaikoro Nagasawa]

I really hope PGI pays attention to this thread. They seem to have a hard time really knowing how to connect or deliver for new and older players of this game. This thread could be total trollville and yet there are some really brilliant suggestions and possibilities. If you want to get new players really getting over the hardship of jumping into this super rough game give them something really substantial to keep them around for awhile.

[GalaxyBluestar]

is it just me or am i the only one who fails to understand how advertising a F2P game comes along with a new player helper... via charging them for 1 mech and decoration fluff rather than making a 3 mech type instantly accessable for leveling instead?

zudukai, on 18 February 2014 - 12:36 PM, said:

weak, give them a full chassis and variant pack, teach them how much better having a mastered mech is!

cool i'm not the only one then.

[Lupin]

Just a small point but information on Bundles not available in shop when you click on item? Seems to have to almost buy it before it will tell you about it.

Yes if I was a new player I might give you $14.95 (3000mc $14.95), but I would not give you $29.95.
Also maybe colours or camo should be part of bundles, as something more useful to encourage to mod there mech.

Edited by Lupin, 19 February 2014 - 06:19 AM.

[A Man In A Can]

Cool stuff. Thanks for offering it.

[Gremlich Johns]

45%?

That really is an arbitrary percentage. You should just run this at 50% for a week and advertise the sheise out of it

[MaxStr]

supertrieuper, on 18 February 2014 - 12:09 PM, said:

Looks kinda like the cousins of the founder packs. The included statue seems alright.

Heh my thoughts exactly.

Well, glad we have bundles now so we can spend more money on cockpit items >_>

MavRCK' said:

2. the light package should be 3000MC so it's obtainable with the $15 MC package.

That's the entire point I think. World of Tanks used to do (maybe still does?) this all the time. Its basically a scam marketing tool to force hook people to spend more on filler stuff they don't want a little more on quality value packages and then use the extra gold on even more stuff, and then oh look now that they have spent $30 on stuff they might as well spend more, etc.

Edited by MaxKarnage, 19 February 2014 - 05:23 AM.

[Tiamat of the Sea]

Either way, though, the label 'starter' is unfortunately horribly misleading. These packages aren't things anyone new to the game should be spending their MC on, and that's going to lead to trust issues and poor feelings between new players and PGI, particularly since the player has to think to hunt down the information about the package contents on the forums.

If it's a 'starter' package, it should include things that a new player is going to need or want for the purposes of starting out in the game. Maybe the mechbay isn't neccessary (though it is very nice to see), but the cockpit decorations are a terrible choice since they plain old don't do anything- at least, as long as anyone's pretending these are 'starter' packages.

Call them 'Deluxe Mech Packages' or something like that and you're much more on the mark and much less likely to see bad feelings from new players- which are very much not needed with the amount of QQ'ing and doomsaying that goes on around this game all the time.

-QKD-CR0