62 replies to this topic

[CCC Dober]

LTS for a F2P title ... something doesn't add up here. One the one hand you have 10 bucks per month for premium (which is optional) and on the other hand several hundred bucks for life.

Do you realize how that looks like for those who might be interested in the game?
I wouldn't begrudge them if they simply turn away because they get a bad feeling about it. Hell, I would have a bad feeling about it, even though I coughed up 120.

How can I recommend this game to my friends when they see a payment option like that?
How can this ever be attractive for gamers on a budget? How exactly?
How can you get somebody interested in the game when there is such a huge barrier in front of him?

There's a bit of psychology involved here and if you think about it and compare how many were able to buy the founders package ... let's just say 120 is quite a lot already. I'm really not surprised that LTS was such a big downer for other games. I don't want MW:O to suffer like that. So I'm voting against such an option. If you still insist to have it, please hide it somewhere, where it doesn't attract attention and don't make it P2W or any other voodoo stuff. I really want to recommend this game and not scare people away with such outrageous prices. Thank you very much.

[Mal]

Wildcat, on 02 July 2012 - 03:17 AM, said:

STO was a subscription Based game to start off with, and had the LTS as an option, a great many took that up as an option... however the game later got taken over or merged with another and then STO went to a F2P Model, they still offer LTS as an option and currently has a Sale for the LTS for only $200, when normally its $300

Uhh... what?

STO has not been merged with another game...or taken over.. Cryptic Studios has been developing STO from day 1... yes, it failed as a subscription based MMO (partly because Cryptic kept putting everything into their cash store, not earn able in game). From what I understand, it's been rather successful as a F2P title, though I stopped playing it before that conversion happened.

[MajorLeeHung]

torytrae74, on 02 July 2012 - 05:45 AM, said:

After Hellgate London I will never ever again get a Lifetime sub ... for apparent reasons.

I loved Hellgate London

[Thanatos676]

in my experience the Life Time Subscription is just a way to milk money out of costumers for a game the Dev team knows will be free to play within 2 years, sort of like STO...

I think LTS would the first nail in the coffin for this game, and that's why i don't want to ever see it. I also don't think we will see it because this game looks waaayyyy better then STO ever did.

[SOGNeon]

I voted yes to both... however, here is the more detailed version, and I agree with MANY of the above posters.

I have been saving up for a Harley for years... I am roughly $1500 from being able to buy the bike I want. I intend to be riding that Harley by the end of summer. When I get it, I am buying a Lifetime HOG membership (which I believe is a li'l over $600) just as soon as I can afford it. (I believe it is roughly the equivalent of around 20 years of membership... I would be getting it more for the prestige of the life membership than the advantage over paying for it annually.

I am a ham radio operator, and the lifetime membership in the national organization is nearly $1000, once I have my Harley paid for, I will start saving for that lifetime membership. It too is the equivalent of 15ish years of membership, but it is a prestige factor, and will pay itself off by the time I am in my 50's...

These organizations will be here for the long haul I do not see either of them going away in my lifetime

As a hunter and fisherman, lifetime license in my state is over $1600, or roughly 12 years. I do not know if I will still be living in this state into my 50's so I do not know that it will pay to get the lifetime license over continuing to get annual licenses. on the other hand if I have a kid, I will get that kid a lifetime license while it is still cheap just incase (age scale pricing puts it at a very affordable couple hundred dollars, and would be a worthwhile gamble that I would get my moneys worth in future hunting and fishing with my kid) likewise once I retire, the discounted senior lifetime license becomes a worthwhile investment...

MW2 servers died out after a few years, and by 2001 I was having trouble even finding a good server. I never played MW3 online, and by the time I got MW4, the servers where again hard to find. (Though I hear they sprung up again after I stopped playing with the release of the free downloads of the game)

Many of the "successful" games today only survive from year to year because they sell you a new upgraded version every couple years. And while I do believe Battletech has enough of a fan base to keep it going for a while, I question if it will be enough to keep the company running and developing it for the long run... I do believe with the release of a mech developer kit, allowing the fans to develop the artwork according to a set of chassis specs would result in the company receiving so many submissions that the hardest task for them would be choosing the best to integrate into the game, and they would in short order have the entire battletech universe available (every mech, vehicle, aircraft, dropship, and infantry uniform. fully modeled, and ready to test.)

I personally plan to have my legendary founder bought soon. (I had planned on getting it today, but an unexpected expense put it off a few days to a week.) I am all for the idea of life time memberships, BUT I would likely not get one myself till I saw how well they pull off the game, and what the gaming community proves to be like. (I have seen to many players who do not know anything more about the battletech universe than what they got in the intro scenes of MW4 or mech assault, and long had to preach against the idiots who apparently thought they where playing doom with giant robot skins when I was an online player myself.) I would likely use the founders membership period as a trial period, then I would see what I could budget for getting my lifetime. I would likely get the lifetime just for the prestige, and might wait a year to see that it remained a strong community driven game before doing so.

I understand that the company is contemplating how to get more funds to continue with the project, and I would even be willing to invest in the company to see the game a success. but I agree with the others that the prerelease sales of lifetime memberships is a bad idea... the company would either have to discount them so low that I was not concerned if it was a success so long as I could buy my li'l piece of prestige in hopes for a successful game I could dedicate my love of the franchise to (such as the founders membership)...

I personally would suggest a "special lifetime membership" around Christmas time, followed later by possible permanent sales. Or even just periodic "special" sales

Also I would like to address the comments made by some about maxing out in a game. Devs, please remember, MW/Battletech should not be a game about maxing out stats. It is about OUR skills as a pilot and a gunner. yes there is the ability to earn rank in the game, earn the ability to have bigger badder mechs, etc. but in the end I believe you are taking the right path, based on one of your youtube videos, by trying to promote playing a role in the game more than trying to get the biggest baddest mech in the game... I also disagree with the concept of anyone holding the rank of regimental commander or higher unless they actually have 100+ players under them who actually follow their leadership. We should not be able to earn higher than captain or major anyway. those game squads I have seen which play with a real command structure seldom have more than a few dozen players... above that they tend to be more of semi autonomous hoards in which the command structure is often "I started this club, I am the leader..." combined with "he attacked me... everybody get him" being the resounding battle cry throughout the group, which makes li'l more than ******** alliances.

[Ptath]

I voted no & no because I do not think theyare a sound choice for the company as it would create a lack of funds starting around year 3.Just my humble thoughts on this.

[Todd Lee]

The problem with Lifetime subscriptions is that if the company goes belly up, or you simply decide to quit, you lose quite a bit of money. I don't know if anyone remembers what happened with Hell Gate London, but that's a perfect example of what can happen.

I know people like to feel special because they put money into a game and for some reason think that they're more privileged than others, but it's best to just leave things be. The game is already going to support the ability to buy power, and that's bad enough as it is, don't make it worse.

Edited by Todd Lee, 02 July 2012 - 11:26 AM.

[Black Storm]

I think a LTS system wouldn't work for this game. It is a premium F2P game. You buy the game and play it. If my understanding from one of the dev articles is correct, by buying the legendary founders package, you have basically done the LTS which gives you +50% on C-bills and XP earned. I think (and may be wrong) that beyond a sub for the bonus C-bills and XP, you can buy C-Bills if you run out.

Let's face it, you lose enough mechs without wins in between, you're going to be unable to afford a new one. Logon, buy C-Bills, build a new mech and continue on. I expect that if you're any good and team with people who can play, you should be able to avoid that scenario, I hope.

[William Thor]

I like the loyalty program though, it encourages people to keep there subscriptions up, and the longer you subscribe, the better the rewards. However, PGI keeps its constant cash flow, which is the real money maker if you've read polygon today, rather then the LTS which is a one time kinda deal.

[fez]

I'd rather a company I wish to continue supporting a game I love get a steady flow of money, instead of a big wad at the front end. So my vote is no.

[john shadow]

good thing for 120$.

[W4rl0ck]

I also had the lifetime subscription for hellgate london .... it was "only" $149 but it also had only a lifetime of 6 month ,)

I remember all the hype about hellgate london and how many ppl where looking forward to it .. but it didn't work.

I hope mwo will do better .. but I won't put another $300 in it ,)

edit: I just noticed they will have a "yearly" subscription plan, mentioned in this thread: http://mwomercs.com/...-and-its-value/

I guess it won't make sense to have a plan that includes 3 veteran rewards ,)

Edited by W4rl0ck, 03 July 2012 - 12:05 AM.

[Monsoon]

I say no to LTS, makes more sense with Pay to Play, STO still provides them, but that's probably because PWE are greedy little money grubbers, they certainly are nickel and dime'ing the F2P model.

The Veteran's Rewards idea however isn't a bad one, STO doesn't offer anything game breaking from what I've seen, a Captain's Shuttle, some unique species bridge officers, full respec, extra ship/character slots, some emotes and some titles.

Keep it balanced and interesting, and I'd probably be a sucker for MWO veteran rewards.

Edited by Monsoon, 03 July 2012 - 06:17 AM.

[Pernumbra]

I would probably buy a Lifetime Subscription now, based on my previous experience of Mechwarrior/Battletech.

After I get to actually try out MWO I probably will still go for any Lifetime Subscription offers (I already have the Legendary Founder pack) unless it is really bad and/or unplayable (based in UK but do not have many unplayable lag issues with other US only based games).

So, yes, I would like a Lifetime Subscription offer at some stage. I think that it would be better to leave it a while, see how the game and it's players develop, then maybe the cash boost from from a Lifetime Subscription offer could be used for a non-US based server or two?

I also think that the idea of rewarding regular monthly subscribers and/or game veterans is a good one. Usually that is usually achieved by discounted costs for purchases of longer subscription periods and in game gifts on game anniversary dates.

However, it would be nice if any anniversary gifts were tied to the players first day in game date and/or length of account existence and there were in game rewards for continuosly subscribing for certain amounts of time.

I am sure there will be something, even if it is just discounts on purchasing longer periods of subscription.

Another F2P to compare to might be LOTRO - that no longer has Lifetime Subscriptions, but previous Lifetime Subscribers and regular subscribers get a number of points, and all, including free players, can earn more points by completing quests, achievements and generally progressing in game. The points purchase all sorts of stuff, but nothing that gives big advantages and mostly all consumables or cosmetics.

Edited by Pernumbra, 03 July 2012 - 06:54 AM.

[Lord Cole]

I wish I had an opportunity to have paid for a lifetime subscription when I started EQ, as it stands, I played for 10 years monthly plus a couple thousand in expansions and micro transactions.

Although, I did go Legendary, I would be willing to pay an additional cost for a lifetime premium account AND pay extra for phy collectors edition game/expansions.

[Gamgee]

At first I thought LTS was a good idea, but now that some people have really made their arguments and made them well I have changed my mind. I wouldn't be opposed ot minor veteran rewards, perhaps cosmetic in nature .

[Schtirlitz]

Devs said that there will be plenty cosmetic thingies, not affecting the game ballance.

[Neurotic Heretic]

F2P games usually have a premium and free account types. With the premium accounts getting a credit boost and other perks, and the LTS giving the premium perks plus usually a couple minor others. I like the idea of the LTS option and will most likely get one if offered in MWO as I have one in STO. Never have to worry about making monthly payments or keeping subscription active ever again, so i can spend money micro sales in game. I don't see LTS hurting a game as long as they keep in game micro sales going and the play interesting.

If you think its to expensive to buy a LTS then just don't buy it but i see no reason to prevent those who want it from getting one.

[Graefin Zeppelin]

torytrae74, on 02 July 2012 - 05:45 AM, said:

After Hellgate London I will never ever again get a Lifetime sub ... for apparent reasons.

Ah what are these reasons if I may ask ?

[Skadi]

City of Heros/Villians did this, it was a very good system and honestly, why NOT impliment this?
people saying no give a valid reason, it does not impact you at all if you choose not to pay for the option sub, and guess what, little cosmetic rewards from it isnt going to hurt you either.