35 replies to this topic

[Ted Wayz]

Or they have just run out of things to monetize?

Truly the last two heroes were rushed out. Hero mech releases used to be regular and legit. But they didn't bring enough $$$ fast enough. So then pack-o-mania started and now we have packs going out to Q4FY15.

So what is left to monetize? Maybe the Flea ala Urbanmech? Clan Heroes? Realistically the next pack can't be for another couple months so what would you spend $$$ on in the meantime?

Edited by Ted Wayz, 15 July 2015 - 08:03 PM.

[Axeface]

I would prefer if they took some time on increasing the number and quality of paintjobs, and decals. I think the cosmetic side of this games economy is really under developed. That and convienience could get them a lot of cash (like being able to spend MC and give any mech cbill boosts).

[LordKnightFandragon]

Another nerf to the Economy to "convince" us to buy more premium and MC for conversions


How does an average of 30-50K sound? down from the oh so generous 80-100K avg?

[Kiiyor]

Ted Wayz, on 15 July 2015 - 08:03 PM, said:

Or they have just run out of things to monetize?

Truly the last two heroes were rushed out. Hero mech releases used to be regular and legit. But they didn't bring enough $$$ fast enough. So then pack-o-mania started and now we have packs going out to Q4FY15.

So what is left to monetize? Maybe the Flea ala Urbanmech? Clan Heroes? Realistically the next pack can't be for another couple months so what would you spend $$$ on in the meantime?

Pack-o-mania has always been the #1 source of income. You don't need to look for conspiracy theories - the truth is right there: Packs = #1 for monies, everything else #2 or lower.

I would dearly love a monetization run over a couple of patch cycles before steam release. Let me pimp my ride! I'll throw money at you, PGI. Decals, extra paint, paint effects (chrome, matte, rusted, anodized), unique geometry, different colour cockpit glass, mech themes, hangar themes...

Cosmetics are the way to go.

[Spheroid]

I would pay for decals and more hula people.

[Moldur]

Spheroid, on 15 July 2015 - 08:14 PM, said:

I would pay for decals and more hula people.

I would pay to win.

[LordKnightFandragon]

And game play and depth and other more important things go to the wayside as they release more paint jobs and all that....

[Axeface]

Kiiyor, on 15 July 2015 - 08:14 PM, said:

Cosmetics are the way to go.

Definately imho. Most f2p games manage to get by with it, I think PGI needs to think about it because people wont buy packs forever.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

LordKnightFandragon, on 15 July 2015 - 08:16 PM, said:

And game play and depth and other more important things go to the wayside as they release more paint jobs and all that....

Just as mech packs don't impact gameplay progress (except by funding it), decals and skins and such wouldn't impact it either. They are developed by different sets of people, and if the art department weren't working on mech packs or decals or skins or whatever then they'd be sitting idle or be laid off, and PGI would be losing the income from what they generate (that funds the game play and depth and other more important things).

[aniviron]

Levi Porphyrogenitus, on 15 July 2015 - 08:27 PM, said:

Just as mech packs don't impact gameplay progress (except by funding it), decals and skins and such wouldn't impact it either. They are developed by different sets of people, and if the art department weren't working on mech packs or decals or skins or whatever then they'd be sitting idle or be laid off, and PGI would be losing the income from what they generate (that funds the game play and depth and other more important things).

The art department does work on things besides mechs though. All those assets for maps, UI, etc., all have to come from somewhere.

[Quicksilver Aberration]

Ted Wayz, on 15 July 2015 - 08:03 PM, said:

Truly the last two heroes were rushed out. Hero mech releases used to be regular and legit.

The last mechs that got released outside of packs had their heroes released alongside the standard variants (King Crab being the exception) which may explain some of the rushed feeling. The Top Dog is based off the Tallman so it gets a pass, but the Quarantine does leave me a bit disappointed and feel rushed even though they add to add some geometry for it (implying it wasn't completely rushed).



The release of Clan battlemechs does open the door for Clan heroes, at least for the battlemechs, which is not surprising. What I wish they would do however is instead of creating these 4th variants, they would create the heroes and release them as part of the pack somehow.

[xengk]

Spheroid, on 15 July 2015 - 08:14 PM, said:

I would pay for decals and more hula people.

more hula people, bobblehead and tetatae

[Naduk]

The visual customization system definitely needs a big overhaul
Mechs need to have at least 1 or 2 "geo" slots
Think of it as a module style slot that changes your appearance, give your atlas horns or spiked fists or perhaps you might like glowing eyes, unequip the pointy nose of your founders catapult and equip it to a different cat (pointy nose K2 anyone?), buy a new sheild for your centurion or a new head, grab a new set of gun arms for your jagger that might accidentally resemble a rifleman, or perhaps you just want a different color for your jumpjets

Obviously the options are endless and id imagine a fair bit of work would be involved to get it to happen
But people would buy beauty parts in droves

[Soy]

****** Stean

[TyphonCh]

Naduk, on 15 July 2015 - 10:32 PM, said:

The visual customization system definitely needs a big overhaul
Mechs need to have at least 1 or 2 "geo" slots
Think of it as a module style slot that changes your appearance, give your atlas horns or spiked fists or perhaps you might like glowing eyes, unequip the pointy nose of your founders catapult and equip it to a different cat (pointy nose K2 anyone?), buy a new sheild for your centurion or a new head, grab a new set of gun arms for your jagger that might accidentally resemble a rifleman, or perhaps you just want a different color for your jumpjets

Obviously the options are endless and id imagine a fair bit of work would be involved to get it to happen
But people would buy beauty parts in droves

The solution to the red eyes on the Atlas folks. Right here. PGI Geo module slots, make it happen!
They would make a killing on custom geo options and more customization in general!!! Almost everything nowadays is customizable for a reason - it sells.
You can bet I'd be the guy to drop 1500 MC to make my JJ'S a different color!

[Speedy Plysitkos]

The prices are high, but more customization of EACH mech, = more $.

colors, are not enough. cockpit items variation is laughable small, there should be 10x times more items, with variety, and something players would like to buy. i dont think, black rock, is something people want to have inside mech.

Edited by Titannium, 16 July 2015 - 12:36 AM.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

aniviron, on 15 July 2015 - 09:19 PM, said:

The art department does work on things besides mechs though. All those assets for maps, UI, etc., all have to come from somewhere.

I'm not actually sure that even the 3d art teams are the same between mechs and maps, let alone the other sections of the art department. There's probably a lot less overlap than you might think.

Given how much progress they've been making on the maps, even amidst both IS and Clan mech pack preparation, I don't think that taking assets away from the one that they can monetize easily would sufficiently boost work on maps and such, and certainly not to the degree necessary to offset the loss of income from regular, quality mech pack releases.

[Alistair Winter]

Just based on how little new content PGI is providing in terms of cosmetics, it seems it's not profitable enough for them. And I would argue that this is partially because of the extremely high prices to unlock colours and unlock camo patterns. But at any rate, with the current prices, they're not making a lot of money on cosmetics. Otherwise, we'd see more effort put into that.

We haven't seen new camo patterns for ages, we haven't seen the different cockpit colours people have been asking for, and decals keep being pushed further and further back.

Now that PGI has basically confirmed that they don't give a **** about the lore and the timeline, except as a tool to sell mechs, I think they're going to stick with mech packs. Next year, I wouldn't be surprised if they moved the timeline to 3055 or 3060 to sell more mech packs.

[aniviron]

Levi Porphyrogenitus, on 16 July 2015 - 02:44 PM, said:

I'm not actually sure that even the 3d art teams are the same between mechs and maps, let alone the other sections of the art department. There's probably a lot less overlap than you might think.

Given how much progress they've been making on the maps, even amidst both IS and Clan mech pack preparation, I don't think that taking assets away from the one that they can monetize easily would sufficiently boost work on maps and such, and certainly not to the degree necessary to offset the loss of income from regular, quality mech pack releases.

I don't really know how PGI does it; different studios do things differently.

I do remember that when there was a year that no new maps came out, word was that it was partly due to them having to get all the clan wave one mechs worked on.

[CycKath]

I honestly think PGI is moving away from Hero 'Mechs. The pre-order packs aren't time-limited any more, they serve the same purpose while also avoiding permanent rather than timed paywalls. IMO we only got the Wolverine and Teabowl heroes because they need them for mastery bundles, and mastery bundles will end after all the Phoenix variants are covered.