37 replies to this topic

[Kalimaster]

Please look as past contests. You will find that several Mech Bays were given away. You had to earn them however, which is part of the spirit of Mechwarrior. Some items if you want them you have to fight for them. In other words you have to play the game, go out and do some damage.

[DustySkunk]

MWO has one of the most fair F2P models in the industry right now. That is, very little (beyond cosmetics) is behind a pay-wall. A majority of the things you actually spend cash on are extras and goodies or early access to content. It's easily possible to play this game without spending a cent if you're willing to put in some time. That's really amazing if you think about it.... there are so few ways in this world to get something for nothing, and here you can play MWO totally for free! However I'm not opposed to dropping a few bucks here and there to help keep the game I like to play going and in turn help subsidize those people who can't afford to pay...

....which is why I have a hard time understanding the motivation for threads like this.

The reality of a F2P model demands that there is an income stream coming from somewhere. There is no angel investor just dropping money from the heavens so we get to play MWO and PGI can keep producing content. As many people have pointed out, there are a number of different ways to earn mechbay without paying (which is great) but even if you do pay for them, they are cheap. As a mechanic mechbays do not add anything to the game, but they do help keep the wheels turning and I support this.

I'd get it if PGI was attempting to change the current model to increase prices, but if anything paid content is just getting cheaper and sales happen frequently.

I do agree they could provide a few more mechbays to new users than they currently do to help cadets along. MWO is brutal for a new player and any help they can get is good in my book. However, blaming player retention issues on mechbays is ridiculous. Is it irritating at times? Yes. Have I ever once heard someone say "I stopped playing MWO because I didn't have enough mechbays?" Absolutely not. Nor are you likely too. There are a hundred other larger reasons new people leave MWO.

[Vlad Striker]

Gamers can play well using only default and events tp achieve mechbays. No restriction at all. Mechbays cheap. Mechbays included in mech pack. What else? Gamer CAN play at SAME LEVEL enhancements as others and MC does not affect improvements of mechs. It's only game as I know wich is not give advantage with "MC" money. Gamers TOTALLY have free will how to play this game.
My great respect to creators! Said NO.

[HlynkaCG]

Void2258, on 04 January 2015 - 06:51 PM, said:

Explain the BENEFIT of the mechbay requirement to the game. Not to PGI, but to the game itself.

You mean aside from servers getting maintained and developers getting to eat?

As for increasing the number of bays... I feel that 12 free bays is a bit much, but 6 (4 for your drop deck + 2 free slots for grinding) sounds about right.

Edited by HlynkaCG, 06 January 2015 - 01:03 PM.

[shellashock]

I would say an increase to 6 mechbays is fine. GIves you an oppurtunity to elite two chassis and gives 4 mechs for a drop deck + two spare mechs. And realistically speaking, the amount of time it takes to get the money to buy 4 mechs in this game (barring premium time and bonuses), is probably more of a turn off then the cap at 4 mechbays.

[Burktross]

Mechbays are the only MC items that are priced extremely fairly.
just make mc mechs cost less
/thread

[Banditman]

HlynkaCG, on 06 January 2015 - 01:03 PM, said:

You mean aside from servers getting maintained and developers getting to eat?

As for increasing the number of bays... I feel that 12 free bays is a bit much, but 6 (4 for your drop deck + 2 free slots for grinding) sounds about right.

If someone is interested in building a drop deck, they are saying "I'm going to participate in CW". In this case, two weeks of fairly casual play will net them the necessary LP to earn two more Mechbays.

There are 45 mechbays available to every player as faction rewards in CW. 45. 45!

[Trashhead]

JTSR, on 04 January 2015 - 06:35 PM, said:

i voted no,

PGI needs an income stream. So if people are not willing to part with $7 for MC may be they cant afford the internet either or the computer to play the game.

I do feel sympathy for those who cant afford to play but life is full of choices and i wonder how this compares to star citizen etc etc.

If as users we do not contribute at various times PGI will collapse as a business and the servers will shut down, power, computers, Servers, internet connections / broad band width etc all cost money each second let alone the wages for DEV people to live them selves.

I know i would jump ship if i suspected the income stream was failing.


sorry but i understand your intent but money has to come from some where.

(...)

^ This.
Voted "No" for the exact same reasons as JTSR.

[El Moosechacho]

PGI needs to diversify the means by which they can make money with MC purchases (a tricky line to walk to avoid P2W) , but make their price-points more reasonable.

Mechbays are probably one of the few more reasonably priced things you can get in this game, and yes, as others have pointed out, PGI tends to give them away often enough as well as put them on sale.

Edited by El Moosechacho, 07 January 2015 - 11:16 AM.

[Koniving]

Lily from animove, on 06 January 2015 - 04:02 AM, said:

what sucks more is that you need 3 mechs to master one, so maybe default amount of mechbays should be 6 to keep the 4 mainmechs and have 2 spare ones for the "leveling" mechs that you probably gonna throw away later.

I can agree with this. Honestly with PGI's original 'skill tree', the one in Dev Blog 4... eliting your mechs wasn't really a necessity but a choice. The increments were small, and you had to choose your path. Choose, more threshold or faster cooling? Choose, more speed or better turning? Choose, more acceleration or better brakes? Choose, faster twist or better twist range? Choose, faster lock times or better sensors? Choose, better reload speed or better weapon resilience, and on what type of weapons?

Actually that last one sounds kinda like quirks...but with a choice in how and what.
Man, 2012 PGI had some great ideas that they never used.

Eek. Sorry technically that's PGI in 2011.

[Banditman]

Actually, what PGI should have done with quirks is placed them above Master in each mech tree, and do it in such a way that there are more options available than you are allowed to get, so folks could choose how to advance their mech once it was mastered.

[Spleenslitta]

All i got to say is this- Unless you see how much money PGI gets from mechbay sales you cannot draw any solid conclusion.
If mechbay restrictions was removed what could potentially happen?

It could mean MWO life gets shorter by 1-2 years.
Or PGI has to cut down on staff members and thus we get slower release of mechs, maps and other features.

There are all kinds of things that could happen.

[Bront]

Mechbays are the easiest micro-transaction in the game, so they're not going away. However, awarding a few bonus mechbays after the first 25 I think is a good idea. Award 1 extra at 10, one extra at 25, and now a player can master 2 mechs without buying more mechbays or selling mechs, and they can get 10 more from CW fairly easily.

[Amer]

Just make a 50% off sale every quarter. Last time it happened late December.

[Serpentbane]

I did a quick count and just by doing challenges, you could have earned at least 15 mechbays so far if you include those delivered with the free mechs. Yes, you'd have to play the game, but if you don’t pay and don’t play, then you should just go away.

[ToxinTractor]

They shouldnt be removed. But they should be tweaked a bit. Yea w egot a lot of mech bays with the pre order stuff but.. 4 mech bays for players who actually are unable (Or choose to not put money into mwo) shouldnt be punished for that. having 6 or 7 mech bays feels like a acceptable option.

To put it simply, WoT gives every one a new tank bay when a new faction is added. This is a fair thing to give people since its value is actually quiet low. It would make sense for MWO do the same for players as well. especially since it has so many mechs being added to it 4 bays really limits you. (Yes I know thats what champion mechs are for but those are not really keeping up with the release scheduled.)

[Nightmare1]

One word to explain the Mechbay restrictions:

Microtransactions

Get over it. Mechbays are incredibly cheap and are often available as giveaway prizes. It's not hard to grow your garage if you're willing to put forth a little effot.

[Appuagab]

I've got two friends who have never bought something for real money in MWO and never spent event MC on mechbays and they both always have enough empty mechbays.