157 replies to this topic

[shintakie]

Louis Brofist, on 09 September 2014 - 05:56 AM, said:

That doesn't seem much. Go with 10 for all I care, but make it cbill.

10 million is so far out of reach of casual players for just a mechbay (not even including a mech) it wouldn't even be funny.

Edited by shintakie, 09 September 2014 - 06:05 AM.

[Pjwned]

Lily from animove, on 09 September 2014 - 02:58 AM, said:

Solution for this would be "empty variant chassis"
Engines are an issue, because on IS emchs you buy a variant and its expensive engine that you gonna remove and rebuy another one for a load of money.

and yes the level 3 to maximise one mech is really annoying. they should better have a option to unlock higher tiers on a single chassis. But I guess the 3 variants to level is made to keep people playing the game and possibly spending MC on different Variants.

If it was possible to buy an empty chassis that would help too, but some stuff is still really expensive to buy like XL engines or modules and double heatsinks adds up pretty quick if you have it on every mech (including ones that you are only playing to get elite skills if you bother) so I would still prefer to have some sort of reduction across the board for equipment even with buying empty chassis.

As far as spending MC on other variants, it has the opposite effect for me personally because it makes me just not want to play, and if I'm not playing then I'm not spending or buying more MC.

shintakie, on 09 September 2014 - 06:04 AM, said:

10 million is so far out of reach of casual players for just a mechbay (not even including a mech) it wouldn't even be funny.

Assuming the mech bay is permanent then that's not so bad, especially if you happen to have any hero mechs and/or premium time. Personally I would like it if mech storage wasn't even a concern, but I also like to have realistic expectations and if you ask me 10m c-bills for a permanent storage upgrade, while steep, is not completely unreasonable.

When you consider it you can easily spend more than 10m c-bills on a new heavy/assault mech with upgrades and possibly a new engine and even more weapons, so it is attainable, although that price tag on a new heavy/assault is also a big reason why I don't play any of them so I certainly wouldn't be complaining if the price of everything was dialed down a bit.

Edited by Pjwned, 09 September 2014 - 06:16 AM.

[Tastian]

Well, I can only speak about my personal experience and what would make me personally pony up more $$. And this is it:

MAKE THINGS CHEAPER

(And yes, I'm already a founder, purchased the phoenix pack and clan pack, bought MC, own a couple Hero mechs, and even spent some money on colors and camos.)

I will never buy champion mechs and I will never buy cbill mechs for MC. But, I'd LOVE to have EVERY Hero mech, more colors and camos, and other customizations. But they are just too expensive. I would own every Hero mech and all of my mechs would have custom camos and colors if I could justify the prices. How much? I'd say something like this:

Light mechs: $2 Hero: $4
Medium mechs: $3 Hero: $6
Heavy mechs: $4 Hero: $8
Assault mechs: $5 Hero: $10

Colors: $0.25 - $0.50 (unlocked for all mechs)
Camos: $1.00 (unlocked for one mech type)
Camos: $5.00 (unlocked for all mechs)
Cockpit items: $0.25 - $0.50

And something people have been asking for is mech customization and decals. Make your mech look like the Serenity with a Reaver disguise. Add a pit bull hood ornament to your Dragon. Add moose antlers on your Stalker. Add a gold necklace around your Centurion. Each of those external vanity items, like cockpit items, cost a few MC each.

The recent weekend events with REAL prizes has been fantastic. Giving away cbills, premium time, mech bays, and even mechs is great and we all love it. I still own the free Centurion and Thunderbolt that were given away. Receiving that Centurion forced me to buy the other 2 Centurions to master and even started me down the road to master 3 of every mech. (I'm getting tempted again to master EVERY mech as well)


I'd even spend money on maps. I think just about every person here would give $5 per map if they knew it would help get a map out every 3 months.


I'm not sure if I would be called a whale or not. But I've definitely given more to this game then probably any other game I've played. But I'd give more.

[Pjwned]

Lily from animove, on 09 September 2014 - 02:14 AM, said:

No 3: leasing mechs for MC's
And something more complex a free customisable "lease mech". Nothing may be more frustrating than buying a mech and figuring out its crap, Either because it does not fit the players playstyle or the mech itself is not as they expected. Now with quite some punchy mech prizes this may be an issue. But I am ok with the pricing of mechs, they are buy to get early, and this is fine.

The idea: make mechs leasable for MC for around 5$. This mech then has a leasetime of 7 days or maybe 10days. The mech has further a special "free equipment", so customizing this mech in the mechlab makes you not buy any components. But also not to pay for components. This way people can lease the mech, try any build they want and figure out if they like it or not. Then they either safe the Cbills, or buy them with real MC's.
connected to that, if someone leases a specific mech, offer him a 10% discount on the leased mech if he buys it within 3 days after lease time.
This is also a way to add some kind of micro transactions instead of big payments.

extention possibility no 2:
lease the same mech 10x and get it for free. For those not able to pay a lot money at once a possibility to buy them over time. Of course at all this is more expenisve then directly buying the mech, but hire purchase works in reallife, so why not in MWO?

Leasable platin mechs.
Shiny like the gold mechs, but platin, only available for lease. For people who don't have the big money but want to brag a bit here and there form time to time. Or just want to have something shiny as well.

A bit more crazy?
Make leasable "event mechs" like a Santa atlas with a big bag and a santa hat at christmas. If they are lease only and for limited events, I think that may be an "ok feature". Or bunny ear mechs at easter. But never release such a freaking thing permanently, they should be very event bound leases that disappear shortly after the events. Good for some holiday fun. But not ruining the whole MWO style.

I don't know about other people but I wouldn't spend real money to rent a mech, ever, and with your "extension" idea, needing to lease a mech 10 times before you own it seems more insulting than anything considering how much more money that is than just outright buying it with MC.

[VanillaG]

Different Types of Booster Time
Currently Premium time gives bonuses to XP and C-Bill generation and allows creating private matches. Provide specific booster times for each of those activities at 40% of the cost of Premium time. This allows the player to choose specifically what type of booster they want at lower price point but still provides value for Premium time if you want all three.

MC price to Master a mech
Provide a mechanism that allows a player to unlock a specific mech all the way to Master regardless of number of variants owned. Price should be one third of the average MC cost of non-Hero/Champion variants of a chassis. This would allow players to get around the 3 variant rule for mastering a specific mech.

For example, the unlock price for Atlases would be 1441 per variant and 2347 for Dire Wolf variants.

[Xenon Codex]

Eldagore, on 08 September 2014 - 08:32 PM, said:

I think giving premium time, and an MC allowance is a solid start for it. You get premium time, and 500 MC for example.

For a monthly subscription, this is what I had in mind as well. Premium time (non-bankable) and some MC to play with.

Perhaps even loyalty perks of bonus MC for continuous subscriptions. For example a bonus 500MC after 3 months, 800MC after 6 month, etc.

[Lily from animove]

Pjwned, on 09 September 2014 - 06:36 AM, said:

I don't know about other people but I wouldn't spend real money to rent a mech, ever, and with your "extension" idea, needing to lease a mech 10 times before you own it seems more insulting than anything considering how much more money that is than just outright buying it with MC.

A lot of games offer renting weapons over buying them even if this is more expensive. Thats othing unusual. And how is it insulting? Someone may rent a mech for one time. and buy the full price one. another gyu may only be bale to spare lower amounts of money per month renting the mech once for 7 days a month. and after a year gets it for free. Nothing wrong there.

[Jacmac]

You guys do realize that mech sales are a zero sum game for PGI right? There comes a point at which long time players don't want any more of them (how many people want a thousand mechs in their inventory?), and besides that, the canon is all used up. PGI's only way of survival at that point is pay to something-you-didn't-use-to-pay-for. It seems obvious that there is little or no growth in the playerbase and there would have to be something major released to turn that around; sales and lower prices aren't going to do much for new player growth.

[Onmyoudo]

I am another person wanting lower prices. If all mechs were a third the price they are now, more in the "Steam sale" range than the "Just released yesterday" range of prices for other, full games, I'd be much more willing to buy and spend MC. It would also take new players a hell of a lot further, rather than having them MC buy an Atlas and get destroyed, then quit in rage.

[Xyroc]

Let me buy premium match credits? or something of the sort instead of needing premium time activated.

[BourbonFaucet]

On the topic of lowering prices, maybe they could just give more MC per package instead of lowering all the in-game costs.

So basically you'd still get twice the bang for your buck if the $100 package gave 50,000 instead of 25,000 MC, but they don't have to go back and micro-manage all the prices if they need to shift them up or down. They can just change the amount of MC in each package instead.

On the topic of lowering prices, maybe they could simply just give more MC in each package rather than change the in-game prices themselves.

So for example, give 50,000 MC for the $100 package.

That way they don't have to change every last price in the game, they can just change the overall cost percentagewise by giving more MC in the package.

[Shredhead]

Here's what I'd do:
Lower the prices for all the bling bling.
Half the prices for colors. 250 MC for standard colors is about a dollar each, which is perfectly fine. 500 MC for the premium colors is about 2$, and it's a one time investment anyway, and you basically only "need" black and white.
Half the prices for cockpit items, down to the minimum of 250 MC. Same reasoning as with the colors here, a dollar for some dangling medallion or a hula girl is exactly the right spot.
Camo specs; prices for one time use are fine. 75-125 MC is nice and it's the stuff I frequently buy for my new mechs. Throw the restriction to one chassis out for the unlock. You will still need up to ten mechs to reason the unlock, and currently NOBODY buys it, because for 3-5 mechs it's not viable.
Make decals in the range from 125 MC for prefab decals to 250 MC for individualized decals (personal or unit). Oh, and let me make a pilot name decal, that would be neat. Having some decals for CBills is also fine to lure people into buying more bling. Combine this with achievements = win. Every achievement that currently only gives you a title could become linked with unlocking a CBill decal.

Now, let's get to the mechs.
Overall, I find the MC prices for mechs and hero mechs ok. But there's not enough incentive in it for me to buy them. Leave the normal mech MC prices as is.
Champion mechs need an upgrade. XP boost does not help me at all after the one or two evenings I need to level them. Give them a 10% CBill bonus as well, keep the prices as they are. More bang for the buck, and new players get a mech they can use for grinding. Also think about delivering them with a free mech bay.
Hero mechs need more incentives. The first incentive should be that it comes with a free mech bay. Period. Why should I pay 300 MC extra or sacrifice a mech bay? And then you can get creative. Give either colors and/or parts of the paint job as decals for free with the purchase. Now the new player/player that has never bought bling gets into the stuff and might want to buy more of the shmancy fancy because it looks good.

Boosts.
Offer more different packages catering to all kinds of players. For example you could make 20/50/100 hour premium time packages, that only run when the player is online. This helps the weekend/infrequent players and adds possibilities for revenue.
You could also offer an XP boost package with the same conditions as the normal premium time package (day/week etc + i.e. 20/50/100 hours) but without CBill boost and private lobby privileges for half the price.
Same goes for a private lobby package for half the price of a premium package for the same conditions.
For X amount of MC you could also sell a mech booster, permanently adding a 10% (for example) CBill bonus to a mech of your choice.
I, personally, would like to get a 3 month premium time package. It's somehow missing.

Mech bays.
Leave the price as is, it's fine. Add a free mech bay at the completion of the recruit phase (just linked to the achievement system).
Keep on giving out free mech bays once a month as part of challenges.

Sales.
Keep on with the sales. There are people that don't like paying as much for the hero/champion mechs, well, here's their chance at getting it for half the price. Offer every hero/champion at least once in a 3 month cycle for half the price.

[Malleus011]

OK, I've dusted off my cynicism and made a few suggestions, detailed here:

Comments are appreciated.

http://mwomercs.com/...ce-suggestions/

http://mwomercs.com/...big-difference/

http://mwomercs.com/...dules-and-soul/

So there's that.

[Torgun]

They need to stop doing mech pack after mech pack after mech pack and let everything else be put on hold. But hey clan pack 2 out before Christmas, color me surprised. Nothing has changed from leaving IGP, the business model and focus on quick cashgrabs are all exactly the same.

[Kirkland Langue]

Easy: IMPLEMENT CW.
That's it. That's all the Devs need to do to improve the F2P model for MWO.

Once players have to pay C-Bills to move their mechs from one planet to the next - they'll be looking for ways to generate more C-Bills. That will create more incentive to purchase Heroes. Not only that but once Corps can leave their tags on Planets, or in some other way make their mark on the map, then the whole social aspect of the game will kick in where players try to outdo each other.

Heck, once you get the clan/house loyalty points and players start to make individual names for themselves - that opens up plenty of opportunities for a F2P model. Imagine a House giving an award to a pilot, with a "news article" being available to every player to see that they got an award - the article could include a picture of their best mech. That would give players more incentive to paint a mech and use custom camo.

[Ph30nix]

headclot, on 08 September 2014 - 07:39 PM, said:

What prices would you suggest?

5 dollars? 10 dollars 20 dollars?

$1 per light , $2 for medium, $3 for heavy, $5 for assaults $10-$20 for heros (maybe even cap it at $3 for heavy/asasults)
mech bays $1
colors $.25
one time camo $0.25
perm camo $1.00
premium time as is ($15ish a month)
if game had those prices id have purchased every mech i have with cash and would probably own every single one on top of the phoenix an clan pack

[Gallowglas]

headclot, on 08 September 2014 - 06:58 PM, said:

Personally - I think that 500 dollar gold Mechs should be done away with and never looked at again.

I mean this in all sincerity and as someone who did NOT buy a gold mech: why does this bug you so much? What does it matter that a purely consmetic feature that, frankly, makes the mech less customizable is available to those who were willing to pay a premium? Now, maybe it might bug someone that anyone might be willing to give PGI $500. Maybe you think it's silly that someone would pay that much for so little. That's a different debate. However, do you really feel marginalized just because you can't have gold plating on your mech?

Now, that said, I personally think decals, customized computer voices, metallic colors, and maybe more stuff like the warhorns are the best way to go. I also think they should open up hero and prime variants so that the camo can be swapped. The latter would instantly generate sales.

Edited by Gallowglas, 09 September 2014 - 11:19 AM.

[Pendraco]

Eldagore, on 08 September 2014 - 08:32 PM, said:

i want to elaborate on the hybrid model more...

Subs should not really gate content. They should be for conveniance, and possibly some value. I think gating content is the biggest offender for ost people when it comes to the idea of a sub based game. The old model of pay to play is pretty well history in the gaming market now, and the hybrid models vary a lot.

I think giving premium time, and an MC allowance is a solid start for it. You get premium time, and 500 MC for example.

That MC allowance gives players some choices on what they want to do-
Play as normal, earn premium time c-bills XP. use the MC to buy 300 MC mechbay, use c-bills to put mech in it. use leftover MC to buy a camo and paint.

OR

Want that nice Illya? Save your MC allowance, buy it in a few months. New chassis released? Buy three mechbays with allowance, fill with c-bill mechs. Buy all three mechs with allowance MC. whatever floats your boat.

What does PGI get? Monthly sub money. Player that wants to save for that hero? now they get multiple month sub money. Sub money is reliable for the most part, and can be used to show trends in player populations and other metrics. Give away a free month to a new player, they might get hooked on the premium time and sign up.

In the end, end result: you have reliable income coming in every month, and the store is still there for those that want instant gratification, or just plain ol have the money to spend right away on MC and such. Get that MC allowance, lets them buy a mechbay and mech. new chassis, well you need 3 to elite it, so now players can either wait for more allowance, sell mechs to open bays, or buy more bays right away by purchasing more MC.

It will take some planning out and number crunching to see what would work best, but I think the hybrid model would add some good income to PGI, and make a lot of the player base happy also. its having a FTP, and a sub game at the same time, both sides of the coin are happy. Nothing is gated, sub players get a discount/better value of sorts for the premium time in exchange for giving PGI a steady income, FTP players nothing is changed.

Correct me if I am wrong, but do we not have something like this now? Last time I checked $14.95 gets you 3000 MC, 30 Days of premium time costs 2500 MC.....This leaves you with 500 MC and a solid month of XP and C-Bill bonuses.

[shintakie]

Ph30nix, on 09 September 2014 - 11:12 AM, said:

$1 per light , $2 for medium, $3 for heavy, $5 for assaults $10-$20 for heros (maybe even cap it at $3 for heavy/asasults)
mech bays $1
colors $.25
one time camo $0.25
perm camo $1.00
premium time as is ($15ish a month)
if game had those prices id have purchased every mech i have with cash and would probably own every single one on top of the phoenix an clan pack

When you say 1 dollar for a light, what exactly do you mean? Do you mean 1 dollar for a Commando or 1 dollar for a Jenner?

If its the former, does that mean you really want PGI to sell a mech for 50 cents? Do you not realize how bad of an idea that is?

I'm all for mechs being too expensive and needing to be brought down in price, but you're absolutely insane if you think a business model like yours would be sustainable.

At the end of the day, halving price of mechs across the board would be a great start. A Boars Head costing 20 dollars isn't really the end of world. Its about as much as other F2P games price their more expensive commodities.

Edited by shintakie, 09 September 2014 - 11:38 AM.

[Roland]

I have no opinion regarding specific prices, but I am a firm believer that you should be able to grind ANY content (barring purely cosmetic elements) through purely in-game effort.

That is, you should be able to play a F2P game without spending one cent, and drive ANY mech in the game. Further, you should be able to drive it as soon as anyone else, and not have to wait for it to be released for CBills at a later date.

Now, it may cost you a MOUNTAIN of cbills to purchase certain things... that's perfectly fine. But you should ALWAYS be able to get them via purely in-game means.

This is what keeps a game from being P2W.


And the reality is, tons of folks will still pay money for those things, because they have more money than they do time to grind in game. That's the fundamental basis of good F2P titles.