116 replies to this topic

[vondano]

bad deal is bad... pricing in this game is outrageous...

i mean, half-price hero mech is still crazy expensive...

Edited by vondano, 15 April 2014 - 11:18 AM.

[Daekar]

Nothing wrong with the C-bill packages. I hope people buy them.

[Deathlike]

Iqfish, on 15 April 2014 - 11:08 AM, said:

**** them for not making their packages P2W enough, right?

No, it's more like the classical response to "do you play your own game?" type of deal.

[Loc Nar]

This is bad, especially on the heels of the steady nerfing the cbill economy has undergone since Great Depression began some months back when Paul decided we were getting undeservedly space rich. Since the great cbill nerf, numerous layers of match delaying features have compounded the net effect of players abilities to grind up the large sums needed to get anywhere in this game.

Seeing this makes it all seem like crude f2p tactics to squeeze blood, which is a real turn off. I hadn't even considered the cbill nerf to come (launch module) until reading Roadbeers post, but he brings up a good point that makes this scenario even worse.

[Almond Brown]

Calamus, on 15 April 2014 - 10:50 AM, said:

I think that the current exchange for how many c-bills you get for real world dollars (mc) is a joke.

With such a crappy exchange rate, I'm not worried about it at all. Anyone buying a measly 6 million c-bills for close to $20 real cash is a moron, and deserves to be separated from their money. 6 million c-bills will get you what? Double heat sinks, and an XL engine? Please.

Some would say those who bought OverLord are morons. Think about that.

Deathlike, on 15 April 2014 - 11:04 AM, said:

Technically, you could buy 1 day of premium time, grind for 1-2 hours and get 1.1m C-bills easy.

So, the math is terrible, and PGI should feel terrible.

Oh they will. All the way to the bank. Just because some here won't, or don't need to buy, doesn't mean many more won't or feel the need to to keep up with the E.Pee Jones.

Edited by Almond Brown, 15 April 2014 - 11:30 AM.

[Iqfish]

Almond Brown, on 15 April 2014 - 11:26 AM, said:

Some would say those who bought OverLord are morons. Think about that.

Oh yea these guys, must be total idiots

[NocturnalBeast]

Iqfish, on 15 April 2014 - 10:30 AM, said:

New Bundles:

- Small C-Bill Bundle: 1,100,000 C-Bills for 800 MC
- Medium C-Bills Bundle: 2,400,000 C-Bills for 1600 MC
- Large C-Bills Bundle: 6,500,000 C-Bills for 4000 MC


So apparently we can now buy C-Bills for MC.

My opinion: mixed feelings.

On the one hand it seems like the beginning of P2W, on the other this was possible with buying/selling Hero 'Mechs already before.


What do you think?

I highly support this and I had suggested something similar months ago. There are other games that successfully use similar systems. This is still not pay to win, you can still play and earn Cbills for free. Now if the conversion is a two way slider, that would be a huge win for the FTP crowd.

[Dymlos2003]

There is seriously whining about a cbill package... wow that is pathetic.

[Deathlike]

Almond Brown, on 15 April 2014 - 11:26 AM, said:

Oh they will. All the way to the bank. Jst because some here won't, or don't need to buy, doesn't mean many more won't or feel the need to to keep up with the E.Pee Jones.

It has nothing to do with "showing off", rather the "starter bundles" should have covered giving the player some C-bills to customize the mechs they bought.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

Mystere, on 15 April 2014 - 10:58 AM, said:

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I have already seen quite a few of people calling premium time as P2W. So I expect this to be an accusation too. In fact, it has already started:

Consensus is the last refuge of the incorrect.

In other words, just because quite a few ignorant people are claiming that paying for convenience is paying to win, doesn't make it so.

There is one easy test to apply: Can a free player match the in-game performance of a pay player, given time? If the answer is "yes," then it is not pay to win. The closest PGI has come to live pay to win issues (setting aside a few planning blunders like their initial consumable proposal, which they wisely listened to feedback regarding) would be a few of the Hero variants, and even there it tends to be debatable. Heros don't get more armor per location, or boosted weapon performanc, or anything like that, merely unique gear combinations (which makes them an edge case rather than blatant p2w).

[Almond Brown]

Loc Nar, on 15 April 2014 - 11:21 AM, said:

This is bad, especially on the heels of the steady nerfing the cbill economy has undergone since Great Depression began some months back when Paul decided we were getting undeservedly space rich. Since the great cbill nerf, numerous layers of match delaying features have compounded the net effect of players abilities to grind up the large sums needed to get anywhere in this game.

Seeing this makes it all seem like crude f2p tactics to squeeze blood, which is a real turn off. I hadn't even considered the cbill nerf to come (launch module) until reading Roadbeers post, but he brings up a good point that makes this scenario even worse.

RoadBeer is the Master of Tinfoil and scenario's. He also knows that a business doesn't run on smiles and lollypops, or he should.

[Roadbeer]

Loc Nar, on 15 April 2014 - 11:21 AM, said:

Seeing this makes it all seem like crude f2p tactics to squeeze blood, which is a real turn off. I hadn't even considered the cbill nerf to come (launch module) until reading Roadbeers post, but he brings up a good point that makes this scenario even worse.

This is how the rabbit hole begins.

Players: "We want to play this way"
PGI: "Ok, here's Premium Private Matches, you can do what you want for Premium Time, until we go to pay per play"
Players: "Um, we're still charged for consumables and we're not earning Cbills"
PGI: "Buy MC consumables, they're better anyway, right?"
Players: "Yeah, ok, but I'm not earning anything to buy new mechs"
PGI: "You can purchase Mechs for MC, can't you?"
Players: "Yeah, I guess, kinda sucks that I have to buy MC variants I won't keep in order to master, wait I can't master because I'm not earning XP"
PGI: "You can convert xp to gxp and back with MC"
Players: "Sigh, yeah, I guess... but I can't buy modules or weapons without Cbills"
PGI: "Good news, you can now buy Cbills for MC. Problem solved"


I'm all for companies making money, but make me WANT to spend the money, not HAVE to spend the money.

Edited by Roadbeer, 15 April 2014 - 01:27 PM.

[Almond Brown]

Deathlike, on 15 April 2014 - 11:29 AM, said:

It has nothing to do with "showing off", rather the "starter bundles" should have covered giving the player some C-bills to customize the mechs they bought.

Sorry, you want ALL of it up front and leave nothing to fight for? Is that it?

Roadbeer, on 15 April 2014 - 11:30 AM, said:

This is how the rabbit hole begins.

Players: "We want to play this way"
PGI: "Ok, here's Premium Private Matches, you can do what you want for Premium Time, until we go to pay per play"
Players: "Um, we're still charged for consumables and we're not earning Cbills"
PGI: "Buy MC consumables, they're better anyway, right?"
Players: "Yeah, ok, but I'm not earning anything to buy new mechs"
PGI: "You can purchase Mechs for CBills, can't you?"
Players: "Yeah, I guess, kinda sucks that I have to buy MC chassis I won't keep in order to master, wait I can't master because I'm not earning XP"
PGI: "You can convert xp to gxp and back with MC"
Players: "Sigh, yeah, I guess... but I can't buy modules or weapons without Cbills"
PGI: "Good news, you can now buy Cbills for MC. Problem solved"


I'm all for companies making money, but make me WANT to spend the money, not HAVE to spend the money.

Fair enough. How much money have you "HAD" to spend Road? And what are you missing because you didn't force yourself to spend said monies? Seriously.

Edited by Almond Brown, 15 April 2014 - 11:34 AM.

[Mystere]

Levi Porphyrogenitus, on 15 April 2014 - 11:29 AM, said:

Consensus is the last refuge of the incorrect.

In other words, just because quite a few ignorant people are claiming that paying for convenience is paying to win, doesn't make it so.

There is one easy test to apply: Can a free player match the in-game performance of a pay player, given time? If the answer is "yes," then it is not pay to win. The closest PGI has come to live pay to win issues (setting aside a few planning blunders like their initial consumable proposal, which they wisely listened to feedback regarding) would be a few of the Hero variants, and even there it tends to be debatable. Heros don't get more armor per location, or boosted weapon performanc, or anything like that, merely unique gear combinations (which makes them an edge case rather than blatant p2w).

Hold on a second! I am not saying that it is, only that people will whine about it ... and the whining has already started,

[Roadbeer]

Almond Brown, on 15 April 2014 - 11:33 AM, said:

Fair enough. How much money have you "HAD" to spend Road? Seriously.

None, everything I've spent I've WANTED to spend.

Now that the only way I can play with my friends over 3 is in the Premium Private Match system, to advance in the game, I HAVE to, or return to the Derpqueue

[Deathlike]

Almond Brown, on 15 April 2014 - 11:33 AM, said:

Sorry, you want ALL of it up front and leave nothing to fight for? Is that it?

You're gonna have to fight for the XP to get your mech past basics. C-bills are to allow a player to try a different weapon, just for experimentation. Even 1 million C-bills included in the light mech starter pack would allow a player to immediately remove the small lasers and replace them with more DHS or medium lasers. The mechlab early on is needed for experimentation. Once you figure out what you want, you will start saving for the next big thing. That's how it's supposed to work.

[Zerberus]

I say "PGI has monetized laziness, good for them".

It was always possible to "buy" c-bills by buying and selling a mech. And this is actualy an even worse exchange rate.

If people want to buy c-bills directly instead obf buying premium time or hero/champion mechs would actually do them real good, I see no reason in the world for PGI not to cash in on it.

You still can`t buy skill, so this really just caters perfectly to the lazy, casual "I don`t wanna /can`t find the time to grind out for upgrades for this mech I bought, and I use mc consumables anyway" crowd that most of us don`t really have cause to fear anyhow.

Deathlike, on 15 April 2014 - 11:29 AM, said:

It has nothing to do with "showing off", rather the "starter bundles" should have covered giving the player some C-bills to customize the mechs they bought.

I`d wager that the assumption was that they would purchase it still during or shortly after their cadet phase and use the thusly earned C-bills to equip their ahiny new toy.... It may or may not have worked out that way, and that may or may not have something to do with these new bundles.

Edited by Zerberus, 15 April 2014 - 11:44 AM.

[Renegade Robot]

I have mixed feelings about it. It in no way does it buy an advantage in-game, but I really feel like this is something that should have been polled before hand. Instead it's stuck at the very bottom of the patch notes like it's something they felt guilty about. I do though, recognize that some people have less time and more money and this would better fit them. Time is money. You're either able to spend time or spend money. I just don't like the feeling someone was trying to be sneaky even though there was no way to miss this. I'm not upset, considering it does not effect me, but I would be lying if I said it didn't raise an eyebrow when I saw it.

[Deathlike]

Zerberus, on 15 April 2014 - 11:39 AM, said:

I`d wager that the assumption was that they would purchase it still during or shortly after their cadet phase and use the thusly earned C-bills to equip their ahiny new toy.... It may or may not have worked out that way, and that may or may not have something to do with these new bundles.

Well, there was some "requests" for this, which I can understand. The idea to "buy engines" with MC was a floated idea. This is the "closest" thing to accomplish it, but plopping down 4000MC for 6+m C-bills for buying some large XL engine does seem like the worst conversion rate possible.

[Pyrrho]

I can only imagine that their will be a percentage of people who buy this bundle who then use the C-bills to buy 'mechs. Don't be those guys--only purchase modules with your MC-bills