57 replies to this topic

[PhoenixStorm]

Just started game, was wondering if I could play competatively without ever spending real money on the game?

Also when will I be able to buy new mechs? other then the trials?

[Arnold J Rimmer]

Of course! One thing MWO has consistently done well is avoid P2W concerns. There is nothing you pay for in the game that cannot be matched with in-game currency and time. Well, except for mechbays, but they work out as something like a buck-fifty each. And often the Hero mechs are objectively worse than their free counterparts - the Golden Boy for example.

You can buy new mechs as soon as you have the cash - but I'd hold off until you have the full Cadet Bonus from your first 25 matches. It works out as around ~8million c-bills, or up to 12 million if you redeemed your free day of Premium Time from the download page. By the time you've earned it all, you might have a better idea of the weight class you like to play and the other mechs on offer.

[Sancho Kabrinski]

Absolutely, maybe you will need money for more mechbays but that aside you can play without expend a cent.

You will be able to buy more mechs when you have enough CBILLS.

[Lucky Noob]

As Arnold said, absolute no need to spend any Money, all Mechs ( exept Hero variants ) are avaible for c Bills ( ingame currency ) you can say about MWO what you want, but there is no Pay to win content and no need for RL Money, exept you like to.

[PhoenixStorm]

thank you for the quick replies.

Does it matter what faction I join?

Also if I die and quit a match do I sitll get rewards?

[Tahuti]

In this year there were 3 free mech bays to win and there was 7 days of premium time free on the last christmas.

Yeah... You can be fully competative without moving in any cash into the game.

@ Joining a faction now doesn't matter in the game much. It is more about the community of the faction. That's also a place where you can play with people and find yourself a group. Like:

http://housemarik.enjin.com

Edited by Tahuti, 26 April 2014 - 04:06 AM.

[Androas]

I just chime in to repeat it, yeah, there is, power wise, no difference between F2P and people which spend money.
Things take a tad longer when F2P but, but, the RL money only items, are at best equal to the free to play stuff (heroe mechs vs. normal mechs) in some cases, the Pay to use stuff is even "worse" then the F2P Stuff.

Thats one of the things, PGI does REALLY REALLY right.


Faction does not matter ATM, and if you quit AFTER you got killed, yes, you get all the rewards.

Edited by Androas, 26 April 2014 - 04:04 AM.

[Arnold J Rimmer]

As Androas said, the server gives you your rewards when the match ends. However, it's worth sticking around to spectate your team mates to see what they get up to. Also bear in mind that if you damaged an enemy and they're killed after you quit, you don't get the assist. So it's doubly worth staying until the end of the game.

[Androas]

Arnold J Rimmer, on 26 April 2014 - 04:12 AM, said:

As Androas said, the server gives you your rewards when the match ends. However, it's worth sticking around to spectate your team mates to see what they get up to. Also bear in mind that if you damaged an enemy and they're killed after you quit, you don't get the assist. So it's doubly worth staying until the end of the game.

Not true if you got killed, you only lose out on Assists if you quit while your mech is still operational.
At least thats the info i got.


*edit* but anyways, yes, especially as a new player, it would be wise to stick arround, spectate, learn, and ask questions

Edited by Androas, 26 April 2014 - 04:27 AM.

[Clownwarlord]

PhoenixStorm, on 26 April 2014 - 03:51 AM, said:

Just started game, was wondering if I could play competatively without ever spending real money on the game?

Also when will I be able to buy new mechs? other then the trials?

Yes you can, it just takes how quickly you learn the learning curve. Heck the most competitive mechs or metas as they are called are all able to be bought by C-Bills. That being the Cataphract 3D, Highlanders, Victors, Firestarters, Raven 3L, Shadowhawks, Hunchies, and some others. So do you have to spend cash for mechs to be able to compete? No.

What do you have to do to be a good player? Well check out the videos on training or basics (that way you get a basic level of theory). After that put it into action dropping and completing all you Cadet Bonus match (but DO NO SPEND THE CBILLS). After Cadet Bonuses have been earned buy a mech you like based off of you playing stats and enjoyment from the trial mechs you used to get cadet bonuses. After all that look around and join a group to play with or hang out in a open ts server. That way you can drop with others and learn more elite techniques.

As for buying a new mech well save save save and NEVER sell anything, because you take a 50% or more C-Bill loss.

[Tahribator]

You can play for free . . . until you want to keep more than 4 mechs. Currently there is no way to get more mechbays(=empty slots) without paying for MC. PGI recently recognized this flaw and has given out 2 free mechbays in last 2 months, but it still remains an issue.

Other than that, you can play for free without being disadvantaged against other players. The balancing of that aspect is top notch.

[Appogee]

Q: Does it matter what faction I join?
A: At this stage: not at all.

Q: If I die and quit a match do I sitll get rewards?
A: You get the rewards that you earned up to the point that you quit. However, if you damage an enemy, then that enemy is killed after you quit, you won't get the kill assist for that particular kill.

I recommend you stick around the extra couple of minutes and spectate on good players for the rest of the match. I still get interesting ideas this way, even though I've played more than 4,000 matches.

Edited by Appogee, 26 April 2014 - 04:49 AM.

[IraqiWalker]

PhoenixStorm, on 26 April 2014 - 04:03 AM, said:

thank you for the quick replies.

Does it matter what faction I join?

Also if I die and quit a match do I sitll get rewards?

IMPORTANT:
Your first 25 matches you have what's called a "Cadet Bonus" it's a flat amount of C-Bills you will gain for those 25 matches, totaling up to about 9-12 Million C-Bills. SAVE ALL OF THEM, after that experiment some more with mechs, and ask around here for advise on starter mechs, then decide which mech to buy first.

Here's a more detailed response for your other questions

Factions

Spoiler

Factions are more of a lore-friendly aspect, if you are not familiar with them, and would like to know more about them, I'd say check http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Great_Houses

Sarna is a great encyclopedia for everything Battletech (the franchise MW:O is from) there's a loooooot of history in there if you want to get into that.

When Community Warfare roles around (Factions will hold planets, and start punching each other in the face) faction decisions might become more important as they dictate what planets (and resources on those planets) you start with. However, you can always switch factions (can switch factions once every 24 hours I think).

Leaving a Match

Spoiler

Now as far as leaving a match

You will get the money and XP for everything that happens while you are still connected. However, if for example you only managed to graze a few enemy mechs, and didn't destroy parts or score kills, and then disconnected, you will not get the rewards for the assists.

To be specific, you will get rewards for everything that will pop up in the lower left corner of your hud. For example:
Spotting Assists
Component Destruction
Kills
Assists while alive
Countering ECM
UAV Spotting
Destroying Turrets
NARC Assist
TAG Assist

If you manage to do any of these things, you will get the reward for them even if you disconnect.

The main reason this happens is because early on, we used to have a lot of players who would charge into enemy lines, hit almost the entire enemy team for about 1 damage a piece, and then die, and disconnect, jump into another mech, rinse-repeat. These suicide rushers caused quite the outrage in the community, and so this solution was implemented.

However, I advise you to actually stick around, especially if you are new. After you die you get to spectate through all your teammates, and see what they are piloting, and how they pilot it. Which can teach you a lot. Also, you can help point threats and weakened enemies to your teammates who might be too focused/distracted on something else.

There's nothing more fantastic than recommending a target for your teammates and watching them immediately focus and tear it down in seconds, than being alive and doing it with them XP.

Now, before you think that this is causing you huge losses, it's actually not. 9 times out of 10, you will be making more money by simply jumping into another mech and starting a drop. Losing 30K C-Bills is negligible at best if you managed to contribute to the team, as you will be rewarded for everything else. If you died in the first 2 seconds you weren't going to get anything more than base rewards anyways, and that one time where it would, I'm pretty sure you'll be sticking around anyways to see how the match will end.

Now if I am wrong about the Suicide Rush solution, please correct me. I personally can't seem to find the original post where that was mentioned, however I do believe I read something along those lines.

Edited by IraqiWalker, 26 April 2014 - 04:51 AM.

[Redshift2k5]

with the exception of my one hero mech (Orion Protector) and larger number of mech bays (about 25?) there is nothing stopping you from having the same mechs and loadouts as I do.

you may be limited to having fewer mechs I you do not buy extra mechbays, but the mchs you do own will be functionally identical to the ones I drive. Putting in a few dollars down the road when you run out of mechbays, just to get a few mechbays and maybe a handful of colours might be a good idea later on I you enjoy your time with MWO.

Some hero mechs do offer unique loadouts but no hero mech is pay to win in the strictest sense.

Edited by Redshift2k5, 26 April 2014 - 06:58 AM.

[Modo44]

sneeking, on 26 April 2014 - 06:58 AM, said:

hero mechs are pay to lose lol....

On average, their match usefulness is on par with the free (Cbill) variants. Some are very strong (e.g. the Dragon Slayer at the moment), others utter garbage (Pretty Baby), most somewhere in the middle. Their actual value comes from grind reduction (30% more Cbills) and fluff (unique camo and loadouts).

[Mechteric]

Just don't buy crappy mechs and you'll have no problem making CBills!

Edited by CapperDeluxe, 26 April 2014 - 07:27 AM.

[Shatterpoint]

I think the RL money hero mechs give you a small boost to your ingame earnings, they won't give you much if any advantage in a match.
Some are just pretty/cool looking while actually being inferior to their free counterparts.

[Bulletsponge0]

Shatterpoint, on 26 April 2014 - 07:43 AM, said:

I think the RL money hero mechs give you a small boost to your ingame earnings, they won't give you much if any advantage in a match.
Some are just pretty/cool looking while actually being inferior to their free counterparts.

Everyone says the Golden Boy is inferior to other Kintaro variants. Sure its not as fast, nor can it twist its torso as much...but I have a BLAST playing my GB, and do very very well in it too...that extra energy hardpoint really gives it the punch it needs when combined with 5 ssrms to go light hunting ..lol

[Flaming oblivion]

You can compete with the p2p as f2p, essentially theres no difference (well the p2p do get better paint to make them easier targets) but that's about it, Your in for a rough ride initially till you get out of trials, But that's from the f2p who've played longer as much as the p2p

[Heinreich]

Also remember to check the skill tab from time to time. The mechs you pilot earn you XP for that specific mech and general XP for your pilot. You can spend mech XP on skill upgrades that increase your cooling capacity, maneuverability, etc for that specific mech chassis. You can also spend general XP on it but this is not recommended. Use your GXP on pilot module unlocks instead, which lets you purchase upgrade modules that can be installed in any mech.