288 replies to this topic

[Sparks Murphey]

Abrahms, on 18 June 2014 - 08:51 PM, said:

its stupid to believe that you can buy game stuff with the currency you buy for said game, just like every other studio out there that sells game currency?

Yes. See my above post for why.

[Abrahms]

Aidan Kell, on 18 June 2014 - 08:46 PM, said:

Then go buy that other game. This has been six pages of most people telling you that you're acting like a petulant, entitled child. If you haven't made your point by now, why flog a dead horse over and over again. Consider it a lesson learned and move on. Caveat Emptor.

perhaps only due to timing, people like you are left around

I think most sane, logical people would assume that if you buy in-game currency, that you can buy in-game items with it and not be discriminated against compared to those who let their MC rot and spend more dollars on it

sort of like... you know... how every other company that sells in-game currency functions

[oneproduct]

@Sparks
But his MC which he bought with USD is being treated as a second class currency. Why? MC is the currency of MWO, you should be able to use it for anything with equal standing as USD.

Again, imagine if a game came out on Steam and they said you couldn't use what you already had in your steam wallet to buy it and instead you had to wait a few weeks before you could use your Steam wallet on it. The internet would go berserk and Steam would take such a huge PR hit.

[Roland]

Sparks Murphey, on 18 June 2014 - 08:46 PM, said:

...which he can spend his in-game currency to buy in-game items. Two weeks prior to the c-bill release, just like every other 'Mech released.

You're basically just creating a disincentive to buy MC then.

Honestly, PGI should have just let folks buy clan mech packs with MC, since MC is the same as real world currency.

I mean, you could still keep them out of the store (although I'm not sure what the point of this is, since you can still buy clan mechs anyway... keeping them out of the store just makes it harder)... but letting players use MC instead of a traditional credit card seems like a fairly reasonable move.

Seems like you could just make them MC only in the store for a while, like Hero mechs, and PGI would probably sell more of them.

It's not like there is some limited ability to purchase them now or something. Anyone who wants to buy a clan mech can... so letting them just buy them with MC wouldn't really change anything, other than letting folks use the MC they bought.

[Pale Jackal]

Shar Wolf, on 18 June 2014 - 08:45 PM, said:

How do we not see the problem with that?

Gee - maybe because expecting to buy the stuff with in game currency - before the announced date of release of availability for said currency - is rather stupid?

... Yeah, because the shipping times on those digital products are killer! We have to wait until the boat gets to Canada from China, right?

Sparks Murphey, on 18 June 2014 - 08:46 PM, said:

...which he can spend his in-game currency to buy in-game items. Two weeks prior to the c-bill release, just like every other 'Mech released.

If you think a 5 month wait to spend your real money currency is perfectly reasonable, then there's little I can say to convince you.

There's nothing polite I can say about you, or your arguments.

[Sparks Murphey]

Abrahms, on 18 June 2014 - 08:53 PM, said:

perhaps only due to timing, people like you are left around

I think most sane, logical people would assume that if you buy in-game currency, that you can buy in-game items with it and not be discriminated against compared to those who let their MC rot and spend more dollars on it

sort of like... you know... how every other company that sells in-game currency functions

I would think most sane, logical people would expect an in-game currency to buy what it's advertised as buying, and not expecting it to buy other things.

Say, maybe like these conditions I mentioned earlier:

Sparks Murphey, on 18 June 2014 - 07:45 PM, said:

Gee, they didn't mention that you wouldn't be able to spend MC to pre-order 'Mechs when you bought your Founders pack? How strange...

...well, actually, not. If you want to go that route, let's look at what you COULD buy with MC. At the opening of closed beta, you could buy a single Atlas variant, a Jenner variant, a Catapult variant, and a Hunchback variant. We also saw a few more variants and chassis added as time went by, and camo schemes, paintjobs and cockpit item. At the time, Paul was well known for his phrase "You're still not getting your freakin' Mad Cat". The notion that you could have access to 'Mechs that other players didn't yet have was not yet introduced, and wouldn't be until the Phoenix packs went live, based on the model of the Founders packs that also weren't purchased with MC.

Just to point that out again, MC existed at the time the Founders packs went on sale. You could buy it if you wanted, though most people didn't at the time since they weren't sure what they were getting. What it couldn't buy, though, was a Founders Pack. The Clans were a distant dream. So now, several years later, you want to fly in the face of what you knew, expecting that your MC would buy you a product you didn't know would exist in a transaction that had never been supported before?

Dream on.

...or maybe you just can't stand to read proof you're oblivious.

Or maybe you're just not good at reading.

[Motroid]

After reading the whole thread I can't help but feeling you are unpatient and greedy, Abrahms.
I see your point. Your feel about your original founders money like some investment. There was a deal - PGI delivered. No word, sentence or agreement about future deals. It was PGIs decision to handle it this way but still you got what you payed for. Everything else makes you look greedy and unpatient.
PS: You said P2W? Aaaaand you are OUT....!

[Sparks Murphey]

Pale Jackal, on 18 June 2014 - 08:58 PM, said:

If you think a 5 month wait to spend your real money currency is perfectly reasonable, then there's little I can say to convince you.

There's nothing polite I can say about you, or your arguments.

Yeah.

I do.

Time versus money, it's the way free to play games work. You can pay real world money now, pay premium in-game currency in 5 months, or not have to pay a single thing in five and a half months. Patience, young padawan.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Abrahms, on 18 June 2014 - 08:51 PM, said:

its stupid to believe that you can buy game stuff with the currency you buy for said game, just like every other studio out there that sells game currency?

Try reading more than just me calling you stupid.

Believe it or not - that actually makes you look less stupid than just getting offended over me calling you stupid.

Because guess what!
Same situation as the Phoenix Package!
(as you have been informed multiple times!)
Those who pre-ordered it get it sooner!
Those who did not.... get to buy them (with any in game currency).... later!

Pale Jackal, on 18 June 2014 - 08:58 PM, said:

... Yeah, because the shipping times on those digital products are killer! We have to wait until the boat gets to Canada from China, right?

Really are not doing your side of the argument any favors there bub.

Since you were apparently no more intelligent than the person you are defending:
This is basic marketing:
Giving early access means more people will order it.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Well, on the one hand, there are no MC prices listed for clan mechs (yet) or any of the content in the clan packs. So we really are at a loss right now of what the price should be, if one had been listed. Maybe in the future they will consider your arguement, Abrahms. I think you have brought up a good point.

At this point though, I think you are just upset that you spent money on this game and you are still dissatisfied with it and you've just picked out this latest thing to complain about. I think you are just upset that you put money into this game and it's not what you wanted and you feel your investment is lost. Why else would you still be holding on to your MC? I doubt you were saving it up 2 years ago specifically for Clan mechs? Lots of things have come out for you to spend it on in the meantime. Even now, premium time, mechbays, and MC only mechs (none of which are inherently better than non MC mechs) are still great uses for MC. There are also customization options for your mech, if you want to spend MC on them. But the problem is you don't want to spend your MC because you are still waiting for the day when you really want to play this game and thus spend your MC at a time when it matters.

[oneproduct]

Sparks Murphey, on 18 June 2014 - 09:01 PM, said:

You can pay real world money now, pay premium in-game currency in 5 months, or not have to pay a single thing in five and a half months.

Premium in-game currency is paid for with real world money. The first two things in that list should be the same. Is it that hard to grasp?

Microsoft Points are bought with real money. Microsoft Points are a premium currency. Microsoft Points can buy everything now, not in 5 months.

[GreyGriffin]

Someone doesn't understand the principles of Tokenization (Like arcade tokens, not ethnic/racial tokenism. That's different.)

Tokenized currencies are nonrefundable "tokens" that can be spent in a specific venue. They are only for specific uses. You can't buy a pizza at Chuck E' Cheese with game tokens. Same principle here.

[Roland]

Shar and Sparks seem to be under the mistaken assumption that you can't just go and buy clan mechs on the website now with money anyway... that they're exclusive for some time period or something, and that's why you can't sell them for MC.

But that's not the case. I could buy clan mechs through the website right now.

It's not like the founders' packages, where it was a limited time offer and you can't ever get those mechs now.

[oneproduct]

GreyGriffin, on 18 June 2014 - 09:07 PM, said:

Someone doesn't understand the principles of Tokenization (Like arcade tokens, not ethnic/racial tokenism. That's different.)

Tokenized currencies are nonrefundable "tokens" that can be spent in a specific venue. They are only for specific uses. You can't buy a pizza at Chuck E' Cheese with game tokens. Same principle here.

It's not that it's not understood, it's that it's a scam to do this kind of thing. This is the very reason Microsoft stopped using Microsoft Points and started using real money: because there was a PR nightmare of people complaining about being forced to buy Microsoft Points in certain quantities and always having some useless amount left over. PGI should not follow in their footsteps. They make a bit more money by doing so, but it hurts their reputation.

The problem is that Microsoft was only really forced to do this because Sony allowed people to buy things using exact dollar amounts. PGI has no one to compete against, so they can use MC, make you end up with funny amounts of it, and not even let you use it for some things and there's not enough reprisal for it.

Edited by oneproduct, 18 June 2014 - 09:12 PM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Also, as hinted at, one reason they didn't accept MC is so you had to pay them real money now. Obviously that's a business decision. It also means that you had to pay, say $500 for a gold pack with no possibilities of a discount, as MC can be won as awards or sold at a discount. So that $500 pack you might have only paid $400 for and it somewhat devalues the content.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Roland, on 18 June 2014 - 09:08 PM, said:

No - I am very well aware of that - or did you completely not read my posts?

IE:

Shar Wolf, on 18 June 2014 - 09:04 PM, said:

Try reading more than just me calling you stupid.

Believe it or not - that actually makes you look less stupid than just getting offended over me calling you stupid.

Because guess what!
Same situation as the Phoenix Package!
(as you have been informed multiple times!)
Those who pre-ordered it get it sooner!
Those who did not.... get to buy them (with any in game currency).... later!


Really are not doing your side of the argument any favors there bub.

Since you were apparently no more intelligent than the person you are defending:
This is basic marketing:
Giving early access means more people will order it.

[Roland]

Ultimately, the moral of the story is not to buy MC unless you specifically want to buy something right then, and don't more MC than you need for it, because there's no guarantee you'll be able to buy future things you want with that MC... so you're better off just keeping your real world money, since you are guaranteed to be able to buy anything you want with it.

Shar Wolf, on 18 June 2014 - 09:10 PM, said:

No - I am very well aware of that - or did you completely not read my posts?

IE:

Yeah, it doesn't look like you understand it from that post, since you talk about people who "pre-order" getting it sooner.

There's no pre-ordering here. I can buy the clan mechs right this second if I want.

The only thing you got for pre-ordering was some extra fluff content and I think some premium time.

Since folks can buy the clan mechs right now, letting them do it with MC doesn't really change anything.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Roland, on 18 June 2014 - 09:08 PM, said:

Shar and Sparks seem to be under the mistaken assumption that you can't just go and buy clan mechs on the website now with money anyway... that they're exclusive for some time period or something, and that's why you can't sell them for MC.

But that's not the case. I could buy clan mechs through the website right now.

It's not like the founders' packages, where it was a limited time offer and you can't ever get those mechs now.

It is a limited time offer, they just haven't stopped selling them yet. And the prime variants are exactly like Founder mechs where they have some slightly different geometry and a cbill bonus but otherwise identical to the cbill version (when it comes out for cbills)

[Sparks Murphey]

oneproduct, on 18 June 2014 - 09:06 PM, said:

Premium in-game currency is paid for with real world money. The first two things in that list should be the same. Is it that hard to grasp?

Microsoft Points are bought with real money. Microsoft Points are a premium currency. Microsoft Points can buy everything now, not in 5 months.

But they're not the same thing, as demonstrated with my "but I can't buy Duke Nukem Forever with MC" argument earlier. When you purchase MC, you exchange the advantage of being able to spend that currency at the times you like, in whatever proportions you like, for the disadvantage of not being able to spend it on other things like shoes, or other games, or, yes, even packaged bundles from the same developer.

If you buy $60 of MC, you can buy some camos of your choice, some paints (again, of your choice), some premium time, exchange some XP for GXP, and maybe bank some for a rainy day. If you buy the $60 Clan pack, you get what comes in the package, no choice to switch things around. Of course, you could also buy from the a la carte menu, in which you get to have both versatility AND timeliness, but now you've traded that for cost, with $55 only buying you a single 'Mech, rather than the two of a $60 clan pack.

[Abrahms]

Sparks Murphey, on 18 June 2014 - 08:59 PM, said:

I would think most sane, logical people would expect an in-game currency to buy what it's advertised as buying, and not expecting it to buy other things.

Say, maybe like these conditions I mentioned earlier:

...or maybe you just can't stand to read proof you're oblivious.

Or maybe you're just not good at reading.

MC is advertised as the game money that you buy with real money, like microsoft points, steam wallet, RP in league of legends, etc.

For the most part, if not in all situations, other companies that sell their own currency for real money recognize their own sales as valuable.

If Blizzard sold me a gift card to use on their game products, but then released a game that I couldnt use the gift card on until three months from now, people would be PISSSSSEEEEDDD and rightfully so.

As it is now, there is no real reason to buy MC. It is a second class currency that cannot be used on new content.

Sparks Murphey, on 18 June 2014 - 09:16 PM, said:

But they're not the same thing, as demonstrated with my "but I can't buy Duke Nukem Forever with MC" argument earlier. When you purchase MC, you exchange the advantage of being able to spend that currency at the times you like, in whatever proportions you like, for the disadvantage of not being able to spend it on other things like shoes, or other games, or, yes, even packaged bundles from the same developer.

If you buy $60 of MC, you can buy some camos of your choice, some paints (again, of your choice), some premium time, exchange some XP for GXP, and maybe bank some for a rainy day. If you buy the $60 Clan pack, you get what comes in the package, no choice to switch things around. Of course, you could also buy from the a la carte menu, in which you get to have both versatility AND timeliness, but now you've traded that for cost, with $55 only buying you a single 'Mech, rather than the two of a $60 clan pack.

You must seriously have brain damage if youre comparning buying clan gear with MC to buying shoes at the shoe store.

The proper analogy is that the shoe store sold you a gift card and now will not recognize it, essentially taking your money and giving you nothing back until "three months from now."

It is ********, and no reasonable consumer would expect that. Especially when I bought my MC prior to the clan release schedule.