333 replies to this topic

[King Arthur IV]

i think we should just go with eve onlines pay model.

right guys?!?! right?!

[Tekadept]

I prefer Oprahs model. FREE MECHS FOR EVERYBODY!

[DaZur]

Cavale, on 19 October 2014 - 10:47 PM, said:

You need those Free to play players. And you need to be able to make them want to stick around and want to pay. Be it for a Hero, or Packs, or Even just Mechbays.

This in game economy is not supporting that.

To clarify... I've never said that the economics of MW:O could not stand improvement. That said, obtaining a mech for free should not be easy.

There was a definite tipping-point (I would define that point as pre-earnings nerf) where players could in short order grind a mech with marginal effort. When you added hero + premium to that, it was quite literally effortless to grind out mechs... It's that dichotomy the nerf was ultimately aimed at. The sad part is it inherently trickled down to the free-player pool... unavoidably.

The reality is, for F2P mechanics to work, even for premium players, there needs to be friction in the grind or there is no need to invest monetarily into the game.

I'm willing to agree the present grind could be lessened but I'll argue til I'm blue in the face that even premium players need to experience some form of friction.

Vassago Rain, on 19 October 2014 - 10:49 PM, said:

I know, right!?

MWO's current new player experience has led to very strong growth over the years, so we shouldn't worry.

Oh, absolutely... offering unsubstantiated snarky presumptions always is a good way to support ones point....amiright?

Edited by DaZur, 20 October 2014 - 04:36 AM.

[Bront]

Ultimatum X, on 19 October 2014 - 08:03 PM, said:

Unless a player is completely bad at this game or has really very little time to play, earning 1 million cbills a day/7 million per week (average) is really not any kind of a stretch.

that's 1 hour 40 minutes a day, or just over 10 hours a week playing this game. Some folks have that time and then some, others (quite a few in fact) do not.

[Bront]

Tekadept, on 20 October 2014 - 03:33 AM, said:

I prefer Oprahs model. FREE MECHS FOR EVERYBODY!

Laugh all you want, but folks have gotten very passionate about free mechs. the Free Cent and T-Bolt were popular (even for just the mechbay), and folks are quite happy PGI is throwing out the new Atlas, King Crab, and Cent to paying players.

You can't make everything free, but staring folks out with something for free is a good start. The trail mechs, while OK, are still missing a core component of the MWO experience, owning a mech and building it. Gifting new players, say, a free Hunchback, would help with new player retention as well as get players started on some of the fun earlier.

Edited by Bront, 20 October 2014 - 10:15 AM.

[Koniving]

Bront, on 15 October 2014 - 03:05 PM, said:

CBill earnings are bad, and have been bad for a while now. Earning between 80,000-120,000 cbills a match is just not enough, and it's costing the game players, and PGI money.

On a completely random side note... This is a contract in Mechwarrior 1, for one Blazing Aces mercenary to defend a supply depot from 1 enemy Light.

150,000 cbills for the defense of one facility from the attack of an estimated force of one enemy light mech.

<.<;
Of course this game has repair and rearm, and even when buying mechs you'd have to get them from the scrapyards for near market value, bought with pieces missing and typically functional or non-functional, and you'd have to fix them up before you could viably run them.

[gregsolidus]

Vassago Rain, on 19 October 2014 - 10:49 PM, said:

I know, right!?

MWO's current new player experience has led to very strong growth over the years, so we shouldn't worry.

Aw snap.

[DaZur]

PGI "gifting" mechs is all well and good... Until such time that gift is viewed as something entitled.

This community has a serious issue with looking gift-horses in the mouth.

[Mothykins]

DaZur, on 20 October 2014 - 10:25 AM, said:

PGI "gifting" mechs is all well and good... Until such time that gift is viewed as something entitled.

This community has a serious issue with looking gift-horses in the mouth.

You mean like that "I want My Free Vulture to be a lock Chassis, no one else can have, all mine. Mine." fellow?

[Bront]

Koniving, on 20 October 2014 - 10:18 AM, said:

On a completely random side note... This is a contract in Mechwarrior 1, for one Blazing Aces mercenary to defend a supply depot from 1 enemy Light.

150,000 cbills for the defense of one facility from the attack of an estimated force of one enemy light mech.

<.<;
Of course this game has repair and rearm, and even when buying mechs you'd have to get them from the scrapyards for near market value, bought with pieces missing and typically functional or non-functional, and you'd have to fix them up before you could viably run them.

Yeah, but Davions are cheap ********.

[Kalimaster]

I am going to be on PGI side of things here. You are mad because you are not making that many C-Bills. Try enjoying the game.

The C-Bill rate is fine. The prices for Mechs were set long ago while the game was still nothing more than a Table Top Game. You want hard, try a table top game with a killer GM!

Battletech, a.k.a. Mechwarrior has been around for a long time. It is intended to challenge you as a player, as a gamer. Rise up and meet that challenge! Enjoy the game. Earn the C-Bills. I have about 70 Million C-Bills in my account, give or take a C-Bill or two.

If you want a Mech faster, get premium time or use your wallet and buy a Mech. Meanwhile, take a breather. It's not like you are going to some store (not mentioning any retailer) and buying a lamp.

Yes I am being harsh. I've been a gamer all my life, and MWO is only one game I play. In one game I'm familiar with it would take you about two years of game play to earn something nice which would still be bottom of the line merchandise.

[Alexander MacTaggart]

While I think the OP's premise is sound, and the rate of c-bill gain is lower than it should be, I've found that one of the significant money sinks in kitting out mechs ends up being new engines. Especially if you're converting a STD to an XL.

I've just been leaving the stock engines in my mechs, thus skipping that big chunk of cost. Sure my HBKs only go 64.8, but that's perfectly viable once you adjust your playstyle to it.

[Nick Makiaveli]

Dazzer, on 19 October 2014 - 07:49 PM, said:

all those that are saying it too easy to get C-bills now need to remember that most people work and have wife/GF and possible children and as such cannot play hours loong meaga session day after day. I am lucky if I can get a hour in 4 times a week.

Vassago Rain, on 19 October 2014 - 07:55 PM, said:

People who say it's too easy to get c-bills all have huge collections of robots and parts already. They've forgotten that when someone puts 30 million into 3 variants of the mech of the month, they also have to pay for upgrades, weapons, and different engines.

These same players are so loaded that they can actually drop 30 million in one go without needing to even consider the possibility that the mech will be a dud, as they have about 20 other good robots sitting in the hangar already.

Not saying it is too easy, I am saying it's a F2P game, so duh you don't get everything in a matter of a couple of hours. Otherwise who would bother to pay for MC or Premium time?

You have two options.

1. Grind out the C-bills. But if you are having fun, is it really a grind? If you aren't having fun, why are you playing?

2. Spend $. Pick what works best for you. Little time to play? Stay away from Premium time. Better to grab a package deal or enough MC to get a mech with a bonus to C-bills.

3. (Ok I lied. Sue me.) Variation of #1. Take a break till CW comes out. See how things are. Maybe it will be more fun then and it won't be painful to "grind" the C-bills.

[PappySmurf]

Koniving said (

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Posted Yesterday, 11:18 AM

Bront, on 15 October 2014 - 04:05 PM, said:

CBill earnings are bad, and have been bad for a while now. Earning between 80,000-120,000 cbills a match is just not enough, and it's costing the game players, and PGI money.


On a completely random side note... This is a contract in Mechwarrior 1, for one Blazing Aces mercenary to defend a supply depot from 1 enemy Light.)
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I still play PC MechWarrio1-4 all the time and play MehWarrio4Mercinaries on GameRanger to me these games and Battletech3025 still represent MechWarrior. As hard as i try to believe MWO is a MechWarrior game it is not it represent such a shallow boring grind experience a normal player becomes brain dead after 100 of the same 12v12 free for all type matches on 3 game modes and 11 maps. And the fun and experience playing these older PVE/PVP games was reward enough in C-bills because you had META something most modern grind based garbage games do not have.

And I know MWO will never be a true Mecharrior game only a shallow low fun experience that I would not support in its current form.

[gregsolidus]

We all want more C Bills but the question is how will they make us pay them with real money? C Bills as of right now are the core of MWO progression, how can they make progression easier while still turning a profit? I'm asking this as a legitimate question and am not saying it's impossible.

[Joseph Mallan]

Koniving, on 20 October 2014 - 10:18 AM, said:

On a completely random side note... This is a contract in Mechwarrior 1, for one Blazing Aces mercenary to defend a supply depot from 1 enemy Light.

150,000 cbills for the defense of one facility from the attack of an estimated force of one enemy light mech.

<.<;
Of course this game has repair and rearm, and even when buying mechs you'd have to get them from the scrapyards for near market value, bought with pieces missing and typically functional or non-functional, and you'd have to fix them up before you could viably run them.

You were stupidly overpaid! And Davions normally give contracts like that when they suspect That 1 Light is actually the 1st Sword of Light, and you are going to be bait!

[Lily from animove]

the issue is a new palyer additionally will probnably buy the wrong mech first beign doomed with having thrown all the money into something pointless.

tbh a solution would be selling IS emchs without engine. so that you don't pay twice for a engine you remove adn never use again.

[PappySmurf]

Joseph (You were stupidly overpaid! And Davions normally give contracts like that when they suspect That 1 Light is actually the 1st Sword of Light, and you are going to be bait! )
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When I go back and play the PVE for MW1-MW4 these games had it right on rearm and repair and C-bill and salvage amounts I never felt it was to hard to complete a mission and I never felt it was easy either. When PGI screwed up the rearm and repair in MWO I was sad because i knew they really did not know what the hellll they were doing and probably the DEVS and staff had never booted up MechWarrio1-4 and played1 game.

MWO should have had so many things in place by now from social player interactions to arm and repair to collisions done right. At this point what do you say? raise C-bills by 10-20% per battle or go back and redesign this game to be fun exciting the way older PC MechWarrior games were for PVE and PVP?.

[Bront]

Nick Makiaveli, on 21 October 2014 - 07:48 AM, said:

Not saying it is too easy, I am saying it's a F2P game, so duh you don't get everything in a matter of a couple of hours. Otherwise who would bother to pay for MC or Premium time?

The issue is not just the grind for 1 mech, but that you need to grind 3 mechs at least to unlock their potential (even if you only want one), and that you're hiding some of the better gameplay (playing in your custom kitted out mech), behind an amazing amount of grind, as well as many of the easy monetization features are based on folks wanting to play Pokemech, where as the game is setup to be more monetized by grind reduction, at prices that are large enough to give pause to new players.

[Almond Brown]

Bront, on 16 October 2014 - 08:34 AM, said:

Not to make stuff up, but let's examine how this works.

Folks buy new mechs when they have the CBills to do so or decide to spend the MC for one. CBill income droped by 30%, that's in theory 30% less mechbays needed for CBill mechs. How much of that is made up by people spending MC instead is unknown, but it likely makes up some portion of that, but not likely the entire influx.

New CBill modules were released. This CBill money sink means you have to choose modules or mechs. This likely eats into MC purchases of Mechbays, and there's no MC way around this other than MC for CBills direcly (a really bad deal as they have it implemented now, you're better off buying a mech with MC and selling it).

So yes, they have shot themselves in the foot regarding mechbay sales. The question is are they making up for it elsewhere in this economy, or are they better off making the free/cheap players feel they can get more for 'Free' and hope it encourages spending? I think they need to encourage play more by making it rewarding rather than by making it necessary to get what you actually want in the game.

For someone who said they would not make stuff up, that is a lot of made up stuff. You cannot BUY a MB with c-bills. Thus, if you BUY a Mech for C-Bills you need a MB. Thus you have to spend MC.

How many Mechs a players buys with c-bills is determined strictly one a player by player basis, despite how much c-bills they have to earn to fulfill that need.

If earning were static, then the number of 30% may be accurate, but given each game generates it own separate payout, that 30% number was pulled for a ******, and fit the need of the whiners at that time. There was no real hard PGI based #'s.

They simply stated that they thought "we" were generating to much... that was all.