91 replies to this topic

[Malleus011]

Sell the following:

Decals (Ace of Spades, canon regimental insignia, skulls, other symbols)
Nose Art (WWII style bomber girls, cartoon style mascots, mouths/faces/teeth)
Slogans (For the Chancellor! They called me slow - Once! Eat This!)
Special Geometry (Catapult noses, Atlas Skulls, variant fists, extra roll bars, additional armor plates)

For about 1$ per item. Mounted permanently to a single 'mech.





These would make them plenty of revenue for significantly less investment than new 'mechs and no effect on gameplay balance.

Edited by Malleus011, 01 May 2015 - 12:24 PM.

[Bilbo]

Naelbis, on 01 May 2015 - 12:17 PM, said:

MC purchasable ammo that increases your shots per ton. (100 SRM/ton cbill vs150 SRM/ton MC or 7 AC20/ton cbill vs 10 AC20/ton MC). Ammo isn't better (unlike in WoT), you just get more of it for the same weight. Instant revenue stream as the min/maxes go into a feeding frenzy. I doubt it would even break the game.

If you get more of it per ton it is better. You are increasing the potential of the mech to do damage with the ballistic/missile or enabling it to carry something it could not before.

[Naelbis]

Bilbo, on 01 May 2015 - 12:23 PM, said:

If you get more of it per ton it is better. You are increasing the potential of the mech to do damage with the ballistic/missile or enabling it to carry something it could not before.

Increased potential is fine, you still have to live long enough to use it. It is not game breaking as the vast majority won't live long enough for the extra ammo to matter and the truly skilled pilots don't need it anyway. But people will still spend money on it...

[stjobe]

PurpleNinja, on 01 May 2015 - 10:17 AM, said:

MWO2 built around Frostbite engine.

Crowdfunded, of course.

I'm ready with $120 for BattleTech Online: The Succession Wars, should anyone want to try their hand at doing MWO the right way (that is, actually stick close to the BT rules and not just throw them out the window when implementing roughly half of them doesn't magically make for a balanced game).

[Pjwned]

StraferX, on 01 May 2015 - 07:27 AM, said:

3. In game advertisement. The citadel could become Intel Citadel, HGP Manifold could become ASUS HGP Manifold. Mining collective becomes Thermaltake Cooling Solutions etc.

1. This is a terrible idea and you should punch yourself in the face repeatedly.
2. This is implying such companies would waste their time with ads in MWO.

Rebas Kradd, on 01 May 2015 - 10:45 AM, said:

Kind of like CW, VOIP, and LFG lobbies didn't make them money?

Right...clan mechs, which exist because of community warfare, didn't make PGI money.

Naelbis, on 01 May 2015 - 12:17 PM, said:

MC purchasable ammo that increases your shots per ton. (100 SRM/ton cbill vs150 SRM/ton MC or 7 AC20/ton cbill vs 10 AC20/ton MC). Ammo isn't better (unlike in WoT), you just get more of it for the same weight. Instant revenue stream as the min/maxes go into a feeding frenzy. I doubt it would even break the game.

Why don't we just have god mode instant win for $10 per match while we're at it.

If you don't realize how flagrantly pay2win that is then you're a lost cause.

[Naelbis]

Pjwned, on 01 May 2015 - 01:00 PM, said:

1. This is a terrible idea and you should punch yourself in the face repeatedly.
2. This is implying such companies would waste their time with ads in MWO.



Right...clan mechs, which exist because of community warfare, didn't make PGI money.





Why don't we just have god mode instant win for $10 per match while we're at it.

If you don't realize how flagrantly pay2win that is then you're a lost cause.

P2win...lol I won just fine in WoT against ammo that was TRULY P2win. You think having MORE=winning? But then, I'm old school that thinks all the F2P kiddies should get a job and stop leeching off the people who spend money so games get made so I probably am a "lost cause". This "I want to have everything without paying for it" attitude gamers are developing is just sad.

[Pjwned]

Naelbis, on 01 May 2015 - 01:10 PM, said:

P2win...lol I won just fine in WoT against ammo that was TRULY P2win. You think having MORE=winning?

Pilot A needs 300 missiles for their SRM heavy build so they have 3 tons of ammo acquired with c-bills
Pilot B needs 300 missiles for their SRM heavy build so they have 2 tons of ammo acquired with MC and now have room for a bigger engine or an extra heatsink or more jumpjets or whatever else

Can pilot A have such an advantage without paying? No? OOPS, pay to win!

Quote

But then, I'm old school that thinks all the F2P kiddies should get a job and stop leeching off the people who spend money so games get made so I probably am a "lost cause". This "I want to have everything without paying for it" attitude gamers are developing is just sad.

I think you should stop polluting my hobby with your garbage standards if you try to rationalize paying to win in a video game.

I don't care if you support games I play, games that are actually good and not a giant piece of crap wouldn't need fanboy apologists like you defending them in such a manner, and this game would be better if people like you didn't support PGI's money grubbing laziness.

[Naelbis]

Pjwned, on 01 May 2015 - 01:21 PM, said:

Pilot A needs 300 missiles for their SRM heavy build so they have 3 tons of ammo acquired with c-bills
Pilot B needs 300 missiles for their SRM heavy build so they have 2 tons of ammo acquired with MC and now have room for a bigger engine or an extra heatsink or more jumpjets or whatever else

Can pilot A have such an advantage without paying? No? OOPS, pay to win!



I think you should stop polluting my hobby with your garbage standards if you try to rationalize paying to win in a video game.

I don't care if you support games I play, games that are actually good and not a giant piece of crap wouldn't need fanboy apologists like you defending them in such a manner, and this game would be better if people like you didn't support PGI's money grubbing laziness.

If people like me didn't pay for this game (and others like it) you wouldn't have a game to play now would you? Developers and studios don't make games just because it's fun, they do it for the money. You can't make enough money to keep people employed and the doors open selling only cosmetics. WoT is the gold standard of F2P gaming and guess what, they have things in the game available for money that give direct advantages. Camo paints=bonus to camo rating, gold ammo=better in every way, gold consumables=better in every way. You think the grind is bad here? Unless you are super good you literally CANNOT run a tier 8+ tank regularly without premium time or a premium tank to grind credits as their repair/rearm mechanic is punishing. You will lose money more often than not running a tier 10 unless you consistently top the scoreboard for damage/kills in a match. So complain about P2Win all you want, but PGI would kill to have the revenue stream WoT has and they obviously copied most of their gameplay ideas from WoT.

Edited by Naelbis, 01 May 2015 - 01:37 PM.

[Maxx Blue]

I don't necesarily dislike the weekly sales and waiting for mechs to become the 'right price', but I've been wondering if some sort of digressive pricing would help at all. Basically, decrease the price of a mech steadily over the 12 months after it is released. Give discounts for the pre-orders, then start out at full price for the first three months after release. Then, over something like the next six to nine months, decrease the price of the mech down to between 30% and 50% of full price. Sort of similar to how whole games get cheaper over time on Steam. It seems like an idea that is at least worth experimenting with.

Start with some of the first chassis like the Catapult or the Hunchback, where you would think the initial investment has been paid off, and see if dropping the prices now that they are old-news results in enough sales increase to generate more profit or not. I don't know if it would make more money or not, but is seems like you could try it on a couple chassis with a long history without risking too much. It would also give new players acess to a stable of considerably cheaper mechs to pick from without relying on weekly sales to pick up three variants of a mech. I would think many players would still pay more money to pre-order or buy mechs when they are new since we all know pretty much every mech will be on sale at some point, and many players still pay full price rather than wait.

Also, while I would like more more 'gimmick modes' like stock-mech mode, I'm not sure if making them totally separate game modes will be viable or not. Maybe we could try allowing players to accept handicaps in exchange for increased rewards. So, in the case of a stock mech, say dropping stock gives you a 30% bonus to C-Bills and XP, or maybe it just gives a flat payout. Play a game with no radar and it gives you 10% extra. Basically, give people a way to have a different experience in a match and give them some small reward for doing it. Will people game the system and choose the most effective mech for a particular Debuff? Well sure, but at least now you have the option of giving yourself a different challenge without necessarily splitting the player base into more queues. I would like to play an official stock-mech mode, but I'm not sure making it a full game mode and giving it its own queue is the way to do it.

Edited by Maxx Blue, 01 May 2015 - 01:47 PM.

[AntiCitizenJuan]

If they just lowered prices of Mechs for mC I would give them more money.
I dont want to pay 30+ for a single Assault mech

[Sundervine]

Jumpships and dropships, not warfare in space, but space homes. Like in star wars and just about any other ftp game that needs an income. People pay lots of money to be able to show off their homes.

What in mechwarrior would you show off? well your favorite four mechs in a mechbay you can walk through. No real art assets needed of course since its already done. Mechs done. A trophy section were you could show off the awards you have won like we just got a few days ago etc.

Just need one person in a jumpsuit that is able to be either female or male at first, then sell character mods. Later of course. Only need one room each and a hallway at first in the jumpship. Then the dropships they already have in game, allow the clan that has the most units to PAY to change the colors and decals. Assets done, just need the channels unlocked. Coding maybe a few hours, income, dramatic. You have no idea how much some of these Companies would pay to let their enemy know they are comming for them when they enter. Then solo pug drops. Any clan that has paid extra can even have their dropship drop them off. Extra money and all it does is show the enemy who is comming. Then slowly add more and the more you pay the more you can do outside the battle. Do not worry about sitting or anything like that, since most games do not worry about that kinda stuff. Then slowly add other paid things like dances and the like. So much money can be made this way.

Edited by Sundervine, 01 May 2015 - 01:51 PM.

[Rebas Kradd]

AntiCitizenJuan, on 01 May 2015 - 01:47 PM, said:

If they just lowered prices of Mechs for mC I would give them more money.
I dont want to pay 30+ for a single Assault mech

So don't. Get it for free with C-Bills.

[Pjwned]

Naelbis, on 01 May 2015 - 01:36 PM, said:

If people like me didn't pay for this game (and others like it) you wouldn't have a game to play now would you? Developers and studios don't make games just because it's fun, they do it for the money.

If people stopped spending hundreds of dollars on every mech pack then some actual work on the game itself would get done.

Quote

You can't make enough money to keep people employed and the doors open selling only cosmetics.

Companies like Valve and Grinding Gear Games (Path of Exile) show that you're wrong, but I'm not really arguing for PGI to sell only cosmetics since obviously they'll never do it at this point.

Quote

WoT is the gold standard of F2P gaming and guess what, they have things in the game available for money that give direct advantages. Camo paints=bonus to camo rating, gold ammo=better in every way, gold consumables=better in every way. You think the grind is bad here? Unless you are super good you literally CANNOT run a tier 8+ tank regularly without premium time or a premium tank to grind credits as their repair/rearm mechanic is punishing. You will lose money more often than not running a tier 10 unless you consistently top the scoreboard for damage/kills in a match. So complain about P2Win all you want, but PGI would kill to have the revenue stream WoT has and they obviously copied most of their gameplay ideas from WoT.

World of Tanks is trash and I don't care what happens in trash games.

[AlexEss]

Pjwned, on 01 May 2015 - 02:01 PM, said:

If people stopped spending hundreds of dollars on every mech pack then some actual work on the game itself would get done.

Not really. In fact the more people who spend money on mech packs the more will get done... Your logic would be like "if people did not sleep they would have more time to work" well it is true but they would quickly fall apart.. same thing actually happens to companies that does not make enough money.. the fall apart.

Also actual mech design takes up fairly little resources...

Pjwned, on 01 May 2015 - 02:01 PM, said:

Companies like Valve and Grinding Gear Games (Path of Exile) show that you're wrong, but I'm not really arguing for PGI to sell only cosmetics since obviously they'll never do it at this point.

Yeah... I am sure Valve only get by selling funny hats.... It is not like Steam is the end all be all of Valve these days... games like TF2 is just a curiosity.. And it literally does not cost them anything these days.

You could be right about PoE...

Any way... Do you like to gamble on that cosmetics will be enough..? Because i know a lot of people who play this game and are not ready to do that.

[SkyHammyr]

Make Private Matches free to everyone except the Match Owner. Match owner "rents" the space with MC.
Then, provide mission building tools at MC cost to these Match Owners so that they can create their own missions to play (Sort of like the Foundary in STO and Neverwinter).

Create a Lobby (Like the CW Lobby) where players can search for and play in these missions. They can then rank and donate MC to Match Owners.

Edited by SkyHammr, 01 May 2015 - 02:27 PM.

[Gut]

Invest in programmers to make a much better play experience = better price model long term.

http://mwomercs.com/...-pricing-model/

Edited by Gut, 01 May 2015 - 02:27 PM.

[Pjwned]

AlexEss, on 01 May 2015 - 02:13 PM, said:

Not really. In fact the more people who spend money on mech packs the more will get done... Your logic would be like "if people did not sleep they would have more time to work" well it is true but they would quickly fall apart.. same thing actually happens to companies that does not make enough money.. the fall apart.

Also actual mech design takes up fairly little resources...

Nope, PGI sees that they can get away with very little work on the game in between shoving out mech packs that cost hundreds of dollars so they keep doing it instead of prioritizing actual work.

Obviously PGI would resume making money if people stopped saying "I'm giving you hundreds of dollars for your lazy, sloppy, untimely work so that you can continue being lazy, sloppy, and untimely with your work" but apologists insist that PGI would shut down if they stopped shoveling out money despite the self-evident potential for money with an actual quality product.

PGI chooses to take the easy way out because they know people will spend money on their game if they just keep pumping out mech packs for people to spend money on, and their customers keep proving them right again and again.

Quote

Yeah... I am sure Valve only get by selling funny hats.... It is not like Steam is the end all be all of Valve these days... games like TF2 is just a curiosity.. And it literally does not cost them anything these days.

You could be right about PoE...

I was not including Steam there, I was referring to both TF2 and DOTA 2 being quite successful F2P games while selling (essentially) only cosmetics, and while CS:GO is not free it also makes a lot of money selling cosmetics.

Quote

Any way... Do you like to gamble on that cosmetics will be enough..? Because i know a lot of people who play this game and are not ready to do that.

Whether or not you can get away with selling only cosmetics obviously depends on what kind of game it is.

Edited by Pjwned, 01 May 2015 - 07:45 PM.

[TLBFestus]

PurpleNinja, on 01 May 2015 - 10:17 AM, said:

MWO2 built around Frostbite engine.

Crowdfunded, of course.

OH OH OH!! I like this idea!

They could call it "MechWarrior Online 2; The Transverse"

[ZhaLinth]

Make it possible to buy camos and colors with real money.
I wouldn't mind dropping a buck or two on a cool camo, decal or mech bay once in awhile, but converting my hard earned cash into a virtual currency that I might never and up using just seems silly to me.

Make premium time tick only when logged in.
As a casual player I really would like to get some premium to ease the grind, but I sometimes take a long break without a particular reason. Activating premium in advance would quite often be a complete waste, so no money from me.

I will buy the wave III though.

Edited by ZhaLinth, 01 May 2015 - 04:38 PM.

[Naelbis]

Pjwned, on 01 May 2015 - 02:51 PM, said:

Nope, PGI sees that they can get away with very little work on the game in between shoving out mech packs that cost hundreds of dollars so they keep doing it instead of prioritizing actual work.

Obviously PGI would resume making money if people stopped saying "I'm giving you hundreds of dollars for your lazy, sloppy, untimely work so that you can continue being lazy, sloppy, and untimely with your work" but apologists insist that PGI would shut down if they stopped shoveling out money despite the self-evident potential for money with an actual quality product.

PGI chooses to take the easy way out because they know people will spend money on their game if they just keep pumping out mech packs for people to spend money on, and their customers keep proving them right again and again.



I was not including Steam there, I was referring to both TF2 and DOTA 2 being quite successful F2P games while selling only cosmetics, and while CS:GO is not free it also makes a lot of money selling cosmetics.



Whether or not you can get away with selling only cosmetics obviously depends on what kind of game it is.

I stand in awe of your highly developed business acumen....without knowing PGI's internal financials or having the information to run a SWOT analysis you seem to know exactly how they are failing and how to fix it. You should apply at PGI!