80 replies to this topic

[AUSSIETROOPER4]

If I only want to use my premium time when I am actually online is that possible?
I don't want to blow 30 days premium time when I work and sleep 90% of the time it would be active!

[Egomane]

No that is not possible. If it were, premium time would be massivly more expensive.

[AUSSIETROOPER4]

Are you saying that I am really paying for 30 days that is only intended to be 8 days worth of time on purpose.
While all the sit at homes can play 24/7 and get an advantage.

[Nightfire]

Egomane, on 20 June 2014 - 03:58 AM, said:

No that is not possible. If it were, premium time would be massivly more expensive.

Why would it be massively more expensive? It is a virtual product that has no cost to produce and can be sold in infinite amounts.
The only reason it would ever be more expensive if players were given the ability to control when it was and was not active would be a company looking to gouge a revenue stream and to promote unhealthy addiction style playing habits.

I will tell you right now that the current implementation of "use it or lose it once purchased" premium game time has often stopped me dropping money on premium game time simply because of the poor investment it would be, for the same reasons as the OP.

[Rhaythe]

Premium time is essentially a subscription. You don't purchase a subscription to Netflix and demand to only use it 3 out of 30 days of the month.

[Zuesacoatl]

30 day prem time is the same as a 30 day subscription as with MMOs. You pay the 15 for 30 days of access time to the servers or service you pay for, but it is not 30 days of your time, it is 30 total days of time. There is no reason for this F2P title should change what works for others. Though it is not fully effective, when I buy prem time, i do it a day at a time. Overall, you actually spend less on the 1 day then you do for the 8 days you play out of the 30 day time.

[Sky Legacy]

This thread made me laugh. Alot.

Can I purchase a new car but only make car payments on months when I drive the car alot? Lol

[Zuesacoatl]

Nightfire, on 20 June 2014 - 04:04 AM, said:

Why would it be massively more expensive? It is a virtual product that has no cost to produce and can be sold in infinite amounts.
The only reason it would ever be more expensive if players were given the ability to control when it was and was not active would be a company looking to gouge a revenue stream and to promote unhealthy addiction style playing habits.

I will tell you right now that the current implementation of "use it or lose it once purchased" premium game time has often stopped me dropping money on premium game time simply because of the poor investment it would be, for the same reasons as the OP.

You are only looking at this from the buyers point of view, and sure, it would be sweet if we could deactivate time when we log off, but this hurts an F2P developer because they do not have a more stable stream of cash inflow to support constant development on their title. So, to keep the right cash to development time ratio, they would have to bump the cost of the prem time higher, and lets be honest, with the crying happening in this particular thread already, there would be an uproar on cost of prem time. It is a business, they can not pay to support the servers if they do not have a flow of cash good enough from an outside source to fund it.

[Nightfire]

Sky Legacy, on 20 June 2014 - 04:09 AM, said:

This thread made me laugh. Alot.

Can I purchase a new car but only make car payments on months when I drive the car alot? Lol

Really?
How about "I want to lease a car but only want to pay for the time I'm using it and it isn't in the lease company's possession"?

Seems a lot of people have very narrow view on things.
Premium time isn't a subscription. You are not paying for access to servers, we already have that privilege.
It is an in game performance boost and games already exists where you can turn these on and off. The assertion that this must be equated to a subscription and as such, all the rules that abide that model is asinine.

BTW, if MWO actually had a subscription model had things that made the sub worth while then it might actually work in their favor.

[General Taskeen]

This is why pgi/igp shot themselves in the foot on this one. For those of us that can't or just play a couple times a week, the the premium just goes down the drain (and therefore money).

PS2 has the perfect solution with their pay-per-month subscription (https://www.planetside2.com/membership) as an alternative, premium is activated for the months you are paying for, and you get bonuses such as free station cash every month, and other stuff.

The current monetary policy for mwo feels like gauging, including the design by slow c-bill gain.

Edited by General Taskeen, 20 June 2014 - 04:20 AM.

[NextGame]

It should be that you should be allowed to active your subscription days in blocks of 1 day at a time, insead of "you bought giant chunk, you must activate giant chunk".

Too much sense?

Also, this is nothing like a subscription mmo. If it were, you would be getting plenty of new maps and features, and would be getting mechs for free without additional costs.

[Nightfire]

Zuesacoatl, on 20 June 2014 - 04:11 AM, said:

You are only looking at this from the buyers point of view, and sure, it would be sweet if we could deactivate time when we log off, but this hurts an F2P developer because they do not have a more stable stream of cash inflow to support constant development on their title. So, to keep the right cash to development time ratio, they would have to bump the cost of the prem time higher, and lets be honest, with the crying happening in this particular thread already, there would be an uproar on cost of prem time. It is a business, they can not pay to support the servers if they do not have a flow of cash good enough from an outside source to fund it.

Why do people always think so narrowly. Your assertion rests on the presumptions that

• The amount of premium time sold will always remain constant and unaffected by the ability to control premium time usage but the use of premium time will be heavily impacted by the ability to control premium time usage. This is a false premise.
  
• Premium time is the only OR only major revenue generator for MWO.

I realize that they are a business. Do you understand the economics of supply and demand and the possibility that they may be driving away more revenue than they are generating through this model?
Narrow thinking.

[Egomane]

Nightfire, on 20 June 2014 - 04:14 AM, said:

You are not paying for access to servers, we already have that privilege.

But we do!

Without enough income, there are no servers to play on. If your 30 days (or 720 hours, or 2880 games á 15 minutes) premium time, you can get with 15 bucks, lasts a year for you, but the cost and income of the game are calculated on those 30 days and everyone is using the premium time in such a way, then there is big dent in the income and something will fall short because of it. Make a dent that is to big and it will be the servers.

[Rhaythe]

NextGame, on 20 June 2014 - 04:20 AM, said:

It should be that you should be allowed to active your subscription days in blocks of 1 day at a time, insead of "you bought giant chunk, you must activate giant chunk".

Too much sense?

Also, this is nothing like a subscription mmo. If it were, you would be getting plenty of new maps and features, and would be getting mechs for free without additional costs.

You're looking at this entirely from the viewpoint of what's best for you. PGI is a business, and businesses look to make money (gasp!!). There would be little incentive to purchase premium time in vast amounts if you could burn it a day at a time. And I'm sorry, but premium time is the very definition of a subscription - you acquire the rights to enhanced in-game incentives for a limited scope of time based upon your purchase. You may not like all that comes with the subscription, but that doesn't change its definition.


Servers don't run on hopes and dreams, people.

[Truesight]

116th NorskaFresh, on 20 June 2014 - 04:03 AM, said:

Are you saying that I am really paying for 30 days that is only intended to be 8 days worth of time on purpose.
While all the sit at homes can play 24/7 and get an advantage.

You have to see, that everyone that sits at home and plays 24/7 can not afford to buy premium time. At least thats how it should be. Maybe you only buy Premium when you are on holiday? Or on weekends a day or two?

[Peedywheatstraw]

Normally I just browse through the forums and don't say much, but I have to on this one. First and foremost, when you buy premium time, you as the player already KNOW your playing pattern. If you only play a couple days a month, WHY would you buy a whole month of premium time KNOWING that most of it is going to go unused? That just stupid. If you only play every now and again, buy smaller chunks. That's just common sense. Would you rent a room for a week, stay 2 nights, and then demand that the hotel let you keep the unused days? NO. You knew when you rented the room you'd probably not be there the whole week. That's YOUR fault if you pay more than you need to. Hell, I'd sell you a year and would't care if you only stayed a day. That's on you, the consumer.

[Rhaythe]

Truesight, on 20 June 2014 - 04:30 AM, said:

You have to see, that everyone that sits at home and plays 24/7 can not afford to buy premium time. At least thats how it should be. Maybe you only buy Premium when you are on holiday? Or on weekends a day or two?

My guess is he has the 90 days from purchasing the clan pack and doesn't want to burn his banked account all at once. However, you are correct - purchasing smaller increments in timeframes where you foresee high availability is definitely the most efficient route (though it's not like any of us purchased the premium time in the clan pack - it was an incentive anyway).

[Zuesacoatl]

Egomane, on 20 June 2014 - 04:22 AM, said:

But we do!

Without enough income, there are no servers to play on. If your 30 days (or 720 hours, or 2880 games á 15 minutes) premium time, you can get with 15 bucks, lasts a year for you, but the cost and income of the game are calculated on those 30 days and everyone is using the premium time in such a way, then there is big dent in the income and something will fall short because of it. Make a dent that is to big and it will be the servers.

Rhaythe, on 20 June 2014 - 04:23 AM, said:

You're looking at this entirely from the viewpoint of what's best for you. PGI is a business, and businesses look to make money (gasp!!). There would be little incentive to purchase premium time in vast amounts if you could burn it a day at a time. And I'm sorry, but premium time is the very definition of a subscription - you acquire the rights to enhanced in-game incentives for a limited scope of time based upon your purchase. You may not like all that comes with the subscription, but that doesn't change its definition.


Servers don't run on hopes and dreams, people.

But But But, you guys are narrow minded... You guys are right, but the fact is, you are trying to tell people that can see no further than past their nose to see a business' perspective. They will him and haw and tell you they know economics and that you are narrow minded because it is effecting their wallets. Yes, prem time fluctuates from day to day, and they do have champ and heroe mechs as well, but they have formed a business model with all those factors to best support not only the cost of the hardware and development, but to earn enough of a profit to remain a viable company. You point out others who have prem time that can shut off, but you also mentioned they had subs, a means of adding additional revenue when people play for 2 hours every two weeks and have over a month of prem time stored.

You may not like it, but PGIs ultimate goal is to make a profit.

[Felbombling]

Thirty days of premium time is what... fifteen bucks? That's fifty cents a day for reward boost over that period of time. I spent more than that at the movies yesterday for a ticket and drink, and the movie was two hours long. Put things into perspective, OP.

[Rhaythe]

Bonus: Find a hero mech you love, purchase, and enjoy the 30% extra c-bills... forever. Yes, they have a higher up-front cost, but I've abused the c-bill bonuses on my Founders Atlas and my Firebrand (Rifleman) for a looooong time.