106 replies to this topic

[Corvus Antaka]

3-4 mechbays in a starter pack?

[Lupin]

Gremlich Johns, on 19 February 2014 - 04:50 AM, said:

45%?

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

Look at the price and than look at the MC amounts you can buy in i.e. 1250,3000,6500 & 12000.
Prices for bundles nicely in between MC levels so you have to buy next MC package and spend more money.

Sounds like PGI just figured out there business model does not work.

[wanderer]

Yeah. Right now, these aren't "starters"- they're poorly priced, try to pad the "bargain" with MC, and are actually more of a detriment to a newbie than a boon.

Build a newbie-friendly Champion. Offer at a discount with a few consumable modules.

Packages should be 1250-3000-6500-12000 MC price pointed.

1250 should be aiming at a discounted 30-35T light Champion with DHS + XL already installed and a few consumable modules (personally, I suggest arty/airstrikes). And one day of premium time with each package.

3000 should be aiming at a discounted 50-55T medium Champion with DHS + XL installed and a few consumable modules- OR a trio of 25-30T 'Mechs. Again,one day of premium time.

6500 should be getting you a trio of 40-45T mediums or a 70-75T heavy Champion with DHS + XL and a WEEK of premium time, plus a few consumable modules OR an 85-90T assault Champion with DHS + XL and with a day of premium time + modules.

12000 should get you a HERO assault + 2 regular assaults of the same chassis type with a week's worth of premium time and consumables. Or for 9000, a trio of 65-70T heavies with a week of premium time + modules.

There you go, PGI. Was it that hard to make a newbie-attractive grab deal?

[Reno Blade]

Starter Packs should include stuff a new player does not have access to early on (including stuff you need to unlock with GXP).

Possible packages:

Small Starter Pack
- 1 Champion mech
- 1 Mechbay
- 15 consumables (5 arti, 5 air, 5 coolant)
- 7 days premium time
- 1 Target Information Gathering Module


Big starter Pack
- 3 mechs (of the same chassis)
- 3 Mechbays
- 30 consumables
- 30 days premium
- 1 Target Information Gathering Module
- 1 Sensore Range Module
- 1 Target Decay Module

In addition to packs not for starters only:


Mixed Paint bucket Pack
- 2 red colors
- 2 blue colors
- 2 blue colors
- 2 green colors
- 2 grey colors
- 2 yellow colors
- 2 brown colors

Selected X Paint bucket Pack (X for red/blue/green...)
- 10 X colors

Battlefield Supply Pack
- 50 Airstrikes
- 50 Artillerystrikes
- 50 Coolants

LosTech Engine Pack
- XL 250 Engine
- XL 275 Engine
- XL 300 Engine
- XL 340 Engine

LosTech Weapon Pack
- 5 ER LLaser
- 5 ERPPC
- 5 LBX AC10
- 5 UAC5
- 5 AMS
- 30 DHS
- 5 A-LRM (5 for each size)
- 5 A-SRM (5 for each size)
- 10 MPulse
- 5 LPulse

[Zolaz]

So you think new players want one mech in a starter pack? lol Cash Grab PGI strikes again.

[Necromantion]

Shar Wolf, on 18 February 2014 - 03:58 PM, said:

[/size]
FTFY.

Just because YOU don't do well with it or like it does not make it the worst.
The 4SSRM 2LRM15 A1 is one of the only mechs my light mechs fear.

That is about the only thing that will fear that mech, and a good light will run circles around you while you wish you had tag to speed up your locks as youre twisting in circles to maintain your lock.

A1 builds are contextual and situational at best. Theres a reason you barely see missile variants of it anymore other than troll builds like 6xlrm5 or the like.

Face it the A1 is the biggest hunk of crap out there as far as catapults, with the other c4 and c1 variants coming a close second. Face it the ergonomics of the mech make it crap compared to other missle options out there, the only thing thats nice about them is their torso twist range and that is severely outweighed when it comes to having your side torsos blown off, run a 4xlrm5 2xac2 2mlas jager if you want to be annoying or any of the same builds on the jager and enjoy losing your missle weapons less to pinpoint fire.

[Zira Alduin]

Hello, folks.

I don't think the deals are that bad as some here might imagine. I'm a newbie player and after couple of days in the game I feel that my main problem is c-bills. It wasn't a problem to get some mechs to start with, but there wasn't enough cbills to properly upgrade them (my spending wasn't very smart either). Or god forbid if I want to try an XL engine, ha ha ha.

So if this starter packs gives some decently equipped mech that makes it more fun (less frustrating) to grind for the rest of the stuff, I think it's ok. If the mech gives c-bill bonus the better. The bonus XP from champions seems quite pointless to me since I always play with same two mechs.

Some have suggested that this pack should offer three chassis of the same mech...I don't care personally. I'd rather have three entirely different mechs for more variety and fun than three jenners with very similar loadouts.

Premium time might be nice to get more c-bills, but one month seems like too much, esp. if it makes most of the price.

I'm actually thinking about the Jenner champ, just because of the 300XL engine. But then again I could just buy it for 1450 MC and skip the premium time and hula girl

Reno Blade's ideas are actually pretty great, lostech or colour packs would be simply awesome.

Edited by Zira Alduin, 19 February 2014 - 07:47 AM.

[chaas]

I mean the concept is nice but once this introduction sale goes away, you're talking about $30 for a jenner, $50 for a hunchie, catapult or atlas. I'd get more out of premium time with trial 'Mechs.

[Revorn]

Bundles looking lame to me. Imho.

[Evil Ed]

Good idea, terrible implementation - as always. $30 for a starter pack? Wake up PGI. What is so interesting about you is that you have excellent support (just had a mech buy for MC I did by mistake cancelled, ty for that!), great art team, but the team doing "marketing" and pricing is just horrible.

Edited by Evil Ed, 19 February 2014 - 08:42 AM.

[VooDooAddict]

skulk of daemur, on 18 February 2014 - 01:05 PM, said:

Math check isle 3...

1 Jenner Champ - 1450
1 Mechbay - 300
1 30 Premium - 2500

Total..... 4250. Savings of 1000 MC.

Cheers,
daemur

Just chime in for the math correction? Or are you reading and taking note of these suggestions for future "packs"?

[Mawai]

Just a quick comment ... but it would be REALLY useful if the store was able to show the contents of the bundle when you click on it. It is a huge barrier to purchases to have to go to a website to find the details of bundles (Or mechs for that matter) before making a purchase. All the ingame store shows you is "Light mech bundle" ... with no indication of what might be included.

Also, in future bundle deals I would suggest an option that includes 3 variants of a particular mech ... at least as long as you plan to keep the current xp system. Buying a starter bundle and then discovering that you need to earn enough to buy 2 more variants to level them up can be frustrating.

[Garlion]

I like the idea PGI. Here's where you lost me. It's a starter kit. It should be:

1) A GREAT deal. $5 for the light package, $10 for the medium, $15 for the heavy, $20 for the assault.
2) Offer should expire 30 days after creating your account. That way it truly is for new players only.

I see a lot of idea out there. And yes, I agree, the current setup is too expensive for what you get. Keep in mind, these comments are from people who have been playing the game and are providing good 20/20 hindsight. There are plenty of idea out there on what people would like to see in these packages, But if this is truly to be a starter package, it should be a limited time promotion for those people just starting AND reasonably priced at a F2P model. (I.E. cheap enough to show that it's a good deal to get them a head start, get PGI some quick cash even if the player does not end up sticking with the game, and doesn't feel like a money grab scheme.).

You all have a great product. Please dont alienate the new player base with bad deals. If you treat the players right at the beginning, they will give you money along the life of the game.

[KnowBuddy]

Garlion, on 19 February 2014 - 10:06 AM, said:

I like the idea PGI. Here's where you lost me. It's a starter kit. It should be:

1) A GREAT deal. $5 for the light package, $10 for the medium, $15 for the heavy, $20 for the assault.
2) Offer should expire 30 days after creating your account. That way it truly is for new players only.

I see a lot of idea out there. And yes, I agree, the current setup is too expensive for what you get. Keep in mind, these comments are from people who have been playing the game and are providing good 20/20 hindsight. There are plenty of idea out there on what people would like to see in these packages, But if this is truly to be a starter package, it should be a limited time promotion for those people just starting AND reasonably priced at a F2P model. (I.E. cheap enough to show that it's a good deal to get them a head start, get PGI some quick cash even if the player does not end up sticking with the game, and doesn't feel like a money grab scheme.).

Yes, both of these definitely.

I'm not going to reiterate that cosmetic items are "non-starters" (ba-dum-tiss) as many posters have pointed out, and that good solid 3-variant mastery-bundles and/or good solid multiple-chassis variety-bundles would make a whole lot more sense and be good starter purchases while the current options on offer are not. Okay, yes I guess I just did reiterate that.

But a logical bundle aimed squarely at new players (like a mastery-bundle or variety-bundle) including:

• a small amount of premium time (3 or 7 days, since 1 day is already available for free if new players knew to look for it)
  
• 'Mechbays (to avoid confusing new players on the very very small chance that they have somehow managed to fill their starting 'Mechbays before purchasing the starter bundle)
  
• at a very very good discount to bring the entry barrier down to impulse-buy levels ($5-20 MAX)
  
• but only available as a truly new player (delimited by time or by number of matches played, a la Cadet Bonus)

This is the combination that would be most likely to:

• Entice a purchase from a very new player
  
• Avoid buyer's remorse turning new players away from MWO
  
• Actually provide things which are difficult for new players to acquire ('Mechs)
  
• Not make the purchaser's life more difficult by encouraging a difficult/frustrating experience thereby worsening the already steep learning curve (like buying the current Heavy Bundle is likely to do to a new player)
  
• Whet a new player's appetite for MC purchases later on.

Sure, avoid including Hero 'Mechs in the starter bundles (to encourage downstream Hero purchases), and throw in a couple colors and/or a cockpit item to illustrate the options for those types of MC purchase (opening the door to further vanity MC purchases), or make it a cash transaction and throw in some MC which can be used for consumables and vanity items. I'm torn on whether including Champion 'Mechs is a good idea or not (mostly because I think they are bad purchases without at least a 10% C-Bill bonus as well, but having a whole bundle which is mostly C-Bill purchasable makes it look like it's not a good deal, so including a Champion 'Mech sidesteps that criticism).

The new-account limitation allows for discounts which won't be available at all later, but I imagine few established players will be too bent out of shape that the discount is available for some but not for them, considering that they could start a new account and take advantage, and considering that it's "just" a few C-Bill purchasable 'Mechs along with possibly a Champion 'Mech (something not interesting to established players, but a very tempting purchase for a new player who wants to experience more of the game immediately without investing lots of time to be able to grind out C-Bills to do so). However, it allows bringing the price per mech down to a reasonable "dip your toe in" level which would be beneficial considering how many posts across the forum point out that the real money cost of a single mech is a little bit prohibitive.

Also, I'd like to highlight the "new player in steep-learning-curve-game" comments which have been around since Trial 'Mechs were even more abysmal in closed beta. Tailoring the offerings in the starter bundles to deliver an enjoyable experience for new players is absolutely the way to convert them to regular purchasers of MC. A low-cost-super-deal starter bundle is much more likely to get that initial purchase, but it feeling like a good purchase is what will get you many more (and much larger) purchases down the road.

If the marketing folks don't understand the game, which is leading to the (perceived) previous strategy of "put the stuff that doesn't sell well on sale," then they need educating. Otherwise, these are the suggestions and points that the marketing staff are probably already pushing, so listen to them if they are (or start thinking about why they aren't out ahead of the playerbase on this issue, and what could be done better to make you more money and promote a healthy, fun, successful game).

[Alaskan Nobody]

Necromantion, on 19 February 2014 - 07:29 AM, said:

That is about the only thing that will fear that mech, and a good light will run circles around you while you wish you had tag to speed up your locks as youre twisting in circles to maintain your lock.

Yeah.....no.

Try again buddy.

[Evil Ed]

Oh, and one more thing: Every starterpack should have it's own instruction video with basic play for that specific mech.

[Zolaz]

For the starter pack they should just paint a mech gold and charge you 500 American dollars. See, now I am thinking like PGI.

[xMintaka]

Zolaz, on 19 February 2014 - 12:18 PM, said:

For the starter pack they should just paint a mech gold and charge you 500 American dollars. See, now I am thinking like PGI.

Real constructive...



Just chiming in on this.

The idea itself is great. Props to you folks for making this game a lot easier for new players. Those who aren't averse to spending a little bit of money, at least.
Which, imo, they shouldn't be. By all means, play your first 25 matches then decide whether or not you like the game. If you do and plan on playing it a lot, why not invest $30? You need not spend any more money, and you've just "bought" yourself a boxed game effectively. For all it's failings (in some people's eyes), the game definitely is worth £18 to me.


However, I feel that these packages could be much better. For example, why give out cockpit items? I've spent a great deal of money and guess how many cockpit items I've bought? Yup, none. They're pointless "bling". If you get given them with a package (like Clan or Pheonix) or for finishing a challenge, then fine. But they are utterly useless for a new players. If anything they might pose a distraction and cause them to perform worse, which is the last thing you want. The learning curve is steep enough.

My idea would be to scrap the cockpit items entirely and throw in an extra two mechbays filled with two more variants from the chassis so said new players are started out right. You all know how much 'mechs come alive when they get the 2x basics. In particular the four you have chosen benefit massively from having the chassis elited.

Even if you up the price by a few dollars, I doubt many would complain and it would be an excellent way of enticing new players (who will make you, PGI, more money at the end of the day!).

Edited by Lunatech, 19 February 2014 - 12:35 PM.

[Kageru Ikazuchi]

Some really good feedback here.

I agree a good "starter package" should include three variants of the same chassis, including one Champion 'mech.

Cockpit items are not necessary, but are kind of neat ... I think a basic camo unlock and three basic colors would be more interesting (also not necessary, but gives the player something to really make them feel like they're customizing the 'mech, not just accessorizing it).

[AC]

This is what you should have had from day 1. It is late, but I am glad you finally released something like this. Congrats PGI!