maxdest, on 11 September 2014 - 12:52 PM, said:
How things are
We all know the mech packs and the way they are used to monetize MWO.
Many of us want other things apart from mechs; Things like:
------> More maps
------> More game modes
------> More metagame (community warfare)
The problem is you cannot monetize these items or you will split the community.
But... you can monetize maps and features
The way this works is that you tie a mech pack to themed maps / features.
------> The mechs are exclusive to purchasers
------> The features / maps are offered to all and released staggered like the mechs
------> More mech pack sales = more features / maps for all
Benefits over the traditional mech pack
------> Encourages customers whom want non-mech items to contribute
------> Focuses and commits PGI to delivery of non-mech items by monetizing them
------> Makes each pack more of an event (even for non purchasers) and more likely to get publicity. Expansion pack > content pack.
Example 1: Clan invasion - Wave Two pack
New mech pack of four clan mechs that you purchase, as per usual. However the more mech packs sold, the more new maps that are delivered. All new maps are themed around wave two clan targets in lore (but would obviously be used for more than one planet in CW)
------> 1,000 packs sold = Trondheim - Lava themed map
------> 5,000 packs sold = Mannendorf - Canyon themed map
------> 10,000 packs sold = Twycross - Desert themed map
------> 20,000 maps sold = Garstedt - Ice themed map
------> 30,000 packs sold = Wotan - Temperate themed map
NOTE: volume of sales is just an example
Example 2: Solaris pack
New mech pack of four heroes using existing chassis. These heroes would be themed around Solaris champion mechs and have an extra +10% cbill bonus in Solaris game mode] In addition to the heroes a new Solaris game mode (all vs all) would be introduced, along with one arena map.
------> 5,000 packs sold = Additional arena map
------> 10,000 packs sold = Additional arena map
------> 20,000 packs sold = New feature - ingame weekly leader board for Solaris matches
So does anyone like the idea?
I miss the days of gaming when development thought was more "How do we make this game fun enough for people to buy" and not "how do we chop up our content best to sell piecemeal for massive markups". I miss the days when "Expansions" were a real thing with a large amount of content designed to make the game better, sold at one all inclusive price point.
The longer I'm exposed to free to play as a model, and even dlc in other games, the more I hate what it's doing to my hobby. Even games with exceptionally good F2P business models, like Path of Exile, suffer from the model.. introducing way more grind then they otherwise would, holding back the best art to be sold for markup, and worst of all.. selling solutions to problems they put into the game itself.
Quote
It works for Battlefield4 and it's not a free to play game that relies on the people buying more. It does not split the community, why would it split the community in a free to play game that exist thanks to everyone contributing with a small ammount of cash. Because you dont want to contribute?
I agree, stop selling mech pack. Release mech for mc/cbills on the same day, no preorder bs. and sell us expansion with 3 maps every 4 months for 120$. add a few free goodies in there too so people are happy.
A really really really bloody
terrible idea. Beyond terrible. Competitive titles should
never sell maps,
ever. This gives an unfair advantage to those who buy in early, (more importantly) it splits the player base between those who own them and those who don't (which will lead to lopsided queues, even deserted ones), effectively strongarms players into purchasing it if they want to play with friends who own them, and is just a terribly ethically repugnant thing for a company to do. CoD and Battlefield get away with it because they have trained the DLC generation of gamers to accept it (and have massive playerbases to support the division), but that doesn't mean it's a good practice. Even if you are selling an expansion, the maps and game modes should be part of a free pre-expansion update even if you don't own it.
There was a time when, if you told a competitive pc gamer he'd have to buy maps and map packs, they'd laugh their ass off at you. These things were free as a matter of course and were such for very good reasons.
Also 120 bucks for an
expansion.. containing
three maps? Full priced games are 60 at most when not counting collector edition BS, an expansion is not a full game by definition and thus is always cheaper than the initial game. Map packs are also not Expansions, expansions (as they used to be anyway) add large chunks of content to the game, new modes, new items, new systems, balance changes, improvements, and all manner of things, sometimes they nearly reinvented the game itself. Something is massively wrong with the industry if people are getting to a point where they see three maps being worth what entire game collections used to cost.
Edited by Quxudica, 11 September 2014 - 05:49 PM.
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