47 replies to this topic

[Fleeb the Mad]

I don't know what you expect here.

There were extra bonuses attached to the package to encourage you to buy it in the absence of information that would influence your decision. It's in there to encourage people to accept the risk in paying for future content without an ability to evaluate it. After all, they can't refund it if they don't like it once it's delivered.

A deadline is applied to encourage people who are on the fence not to wait, because waiting will in general result in fewer sales. If you could still get all the bonuses a week before release, after which more info is generally available, why would you buy early?

If there's no incentive to buy early, then fewer people will purchase before the quality of the mechs becomes known. I had some significant regrets after buying the Wave 2 clan package, but there's no going back.

So...I guess I don't understand why people feel entitled to early adopter rewards when they didn't buy early. I's not like there wasn't a months-long purchase window. The package is going to still be available for sale next week. There's seriously no point in buying now than it will be once the first feedback comes in.

Hold onto your money unless you desperately want that mech now, and wait to see what people say about it.

[Crosell]

Absolutely the value in mech packs is already shakey the extra free stuff actually makes it closer to a reasonable value. I wouldn't have minded getting origins or r2 but by the time I came to.mwo I had missed pre sale and its like well its a lost sale from at least

[Monkey Lover]

Fleeb the Mad, on 07 September 2015 - 12:09 PM, said:

I don't know what you expect here.

There were extra bonuses attached to the package to encourage you to buy it in the absence of information that would influence your decision. It's in there to encourage people to accept the risk in paying for future content without an ability to evaluate it. After all, they can't refund it if they don't like it once it's delivered.

A deadline is applied to encourage people who are on the fence not to wait, because waiting will in general result in fewer sales. If you could still get all the bonuses a week before release, after which more info is generally available, why would you buy early?

If there's no incentive to buy early, then fewer people will purchase before the quality of the mechs becomes known. I had some significant regrets after buying the Wave 2 clan package, but there's no going back.

So...I guess I don't understand why people feel entitled to early adopter rewards when they didn't buy early. I's not like there wasn't a months-long purchase window. The package is going to still be available for sale next week. There's seriously no point in buying now than it will be once the first feedback comes in.

Hold onto your money unless you desperately want that mech now, and wait to see what people say about it.

I dont see how the first month shows any more of the quality of the mechs then 3 weeks before. Its rare to get any information. I didn't know the masc was junkish on the shadow cat until the day i played it.


I don't see where you get "entitled" from. People what the most value for their money I don't think i am getting the value i should be getting when preordering even a month before the screen shots are even out.

Edited by Monkey Lover, 07 September 2015 - 12:36 PM.

[sycocys]

I bought the first two clan packs way late - wasn't playing for a while and was interested in checking them out without grinding for c-bills. Regretted that purchase a couple hours later as to me none of them were really that interesting.

Total lack of development on CW made me decide not to buy the origins pack, thought about it after just because it'd be nice to have those hunchbacks, but missing that last variant which is a fair bit different just makes it not all that appealing now.

If they slashed the price for a sale I might consider it after the early adopter rewards, but without that additional mech the c-bill versions look more and more better.

[Quicksilver Aberration]

Fleeb the Mad, on 07 September 2015 - 12:09 PM, said:

A deadline is applied to encourage people who are on the fence not to wait, because waiting will in general result in fewer sales. If you could still get all the bonuses a week before release, after which more info is generally available, why would you buy early?

It is also a double edged sword as it encourages those who might've bought it later to just wait for c-bill releases.

[Alistair Winter]

Abso-diddely-lutely.

First of all, mech packs are rather expensive for this aging computer game. I mean, there's probably a lot of players who have spent $500-1000 or more by now, which is pretty insane for a single computer game. But you can almost justify some of the mech pack prices when you get all the early adopter rewards with the premium time and everything. Without those, it effectively means you're paying for less.

Second, there's just some innate "instinct" in a lot of people, I think, where you don't want to feel you got less than everybody else. It just feels like you got the worst deal when you order after the early adopter rewards are over. And really, you did get the worst deal.

Third, by the time one mech pack has almost arrived, there's inevitably another one available for pre-order which grants you all the early adopter rewards. Does this mean you'll only buy one instead of buying both? I don't know. Maybe for some and not for others.

I don't really think it's a terrible thing. It's a double edged sword and this model has its advantages. The only thing I find completely dumb and greedy is the 'limited edition' items they keep throwing about. I much prefer the Star Citizen model, where early backers may have been rewarded some rare snowglobe which nobody else starts out with, but you can always acquire that rare snowglobe in the persistent universe if you're willing to work for it. Even if you have to spend hours searching the galaxy or grinding credits, you'll find all those rare items for sale somewhere, for everyone. Not a fan of the snowflake-ism going on in MWO.

[CtrlAltWheee]

I do feel a little that "buy it early or not at all." And yes it factored in to me not purchasing the resistance 2 pack.

Speaking as a guy who's probably $1000 in, I don't like the tiered purchases starting with the lights. And the $35 with no bonuses doesn't work either.

If I want to pay $60 for the medium, heavy, assault mechs, I think on the whole it's better to let customers get what they want and not force them into mechs they don't want. It leaves a bit of a bad taste the way they have it set up, and I imagine the only reason it's how it is was from IGP. But who knows. Never too late to change.

[MischiefSC]

Admittedly I'm glad they have doubled down on this approach of adding perks to get you to buy stuff you wouldn't pay for otherwise and do it sight Unseen. This last round was enough to break me of my 'ah why not' feeling about them and I haven't and won't buy resistance 2, not to mention a Clan pack.

Blew my steam library up instead. I've got like 20 games I've never even installed.

[Livestick]

Didn't buy a resistance 2 pack when it came out because by then I'd started to feel like the packs cost more than they're worth. Now that I've seen the Mauler though, I'm tempted to but the fact that I'd miss out on the early bird variant is... well, it's contributing to my not giving in. That and I still think $80 for a bunch of pixels is a little overpriced.

[Fate 6]

It's not as bad for the Mauler, but for the Crab and Wolfhound the extra variant is the important one. I haven't bought any packs after the early access, extra variant or bust.

[Davegt27]

"Why get a Mauler now? everyone who got the pack is going to be playing a Mauler, wait a few months."

Catch 22

When it’s up for c-bill's I expect the nerf bat to have hit hard

Of course if you know something is going to get nerfed why buy

Then again if you buy early at least you will get to enjoy it for awhile before the nerf

Catch 22

[Chuanhao]

I bought wave 3 cause the carrot of the fourth mech was too good to resist at that point.

As a weekend warrior, I Have found that it is not worthwhile to be working on a fourth mech at all since I only need three to attain Master Grade. And since they were omnis, means that other than pods, that "chassis" is of little use, quirks or not.

Applied to IS or non-Omnis with unique hardpoints, if the fourth variant is what you wanted, then yes, one might be suitably less happy and just await cbills if you missed the early-bird.

At the end, we all had one month to decide whether to subscribe to R2 with open eyes, even the subsequent R1 + R2 offer. So it was a conscious decision. It does seem like a short change to get R2 now,but it was still each person's deliberate decision.

And we know ala carte has no bonus. So unless you want early access still, or a 30% bonus mech, otherwise, no point getting R2 now, whethe pack or ala carte as well.

I have decided 30% bonus mechs are not useful to me as I will often move on to play other chassis and hardly play chassis I have mastered except maybe for CW.

I have found that money is spent better on PTime. I can afford to wait for R2 as I only have 64 chassis. So there are plenty of other chassis that I haven't piloted, further there Is always a chance of encountering a sale to stretch the cbill.

[SkyHammyr]

patataman, on 07 September 2015 - 11:00 AM, said:

Plus i'm saving for the marauder pack and the warhammer pack at some point in the future.

This.
It's all I'm waiting for now.

[FupDup]

I was actually about to cave-in to buying Origins just before the Early Adopter expired...but then I had Xsolla problems and missed the window. Without the grabdeal better extra variants, I felt that there was no point in attempting to order it again...

So here is a confirmed case of the early-grabdealer window making somebody NOT buy the gundams.

[Impyrium]

I think the early adopter rewards end far too early. As far as I'm concerned they should continue right up until the first 'mech is released. I can't really see a reason why they wouldn't other than just to encourage on the spot buying, which is just poor form anyway.

Although I must admit, currently the most fun about 'mech packs is the exchange rate at the moment, the top pack is worth $120 AUD and alacarte is $50...

[Elizander]

Yellonet, on 07 September 2015 - 09:21 AM, said:

I broke down a few days and bought anyway, but I feel as I'm getting punished for not getting it on time

Yes, you've been a bad boy for not buying on day 1. This should teach you a lesson. Next time Daddy PGI releases a pack, buy it right away and don't think about the consequences.

[Fleeb the Mad]

Monkey Lover, on 07 September 2015 - 12:33 PM, said:

I don't see where you get "entitled" from. People what the most value for their money I don't think i am getting the value i should be getting when preordering even a month before the screen shots are even out.

If you ordered after the early adopter deadlines were over, you're definitely getting less for your money. Though I'm still struggling to grasp the problem. The point of the early adopter stuff is to get people to invest money earlier in the process rather than end-load everything at release. It is a cash flow driven marketing strategy designed to reduce the amount of developer money that has to be tied up paying for the resources to create the thing. Less risk for the developer holding the bag if the sales figures don't pan out, less financial strain on having to eat wages and production costs up until release.

The longer these sorts of awards go on closer to release, the less useful they are in achieving the cash flow goals

I say entitled because, well, there's no reason you should get more by ordering after the deadline. It was clearly stated that the rewards ended at a certain point, and what you get in a package is always clearly defined. It's not like any other kind of business will cut you slack for showing up 3 days after a holiday sale is over and being disappointed you have to pay more for the same thing someone else bought, or buying something and finding it on sale 4 months later.

If you don't like what you get as-is, then my only advice is not to buy it.

WM Quicksilver, on 07 September 2015 - 01:04 PM, said:

It is also a double edged sword as it encourages those who might've bought it later to just wait for c-bill releases.

Those who wait for c-bill releases don't get the premium time, little floof extras like badges, faction camo, or the +30% c-bill bonus variants. They also face having to spend more on MC if they don't want to grind the c-bills. That's the deal with packages, even when you exclude the wait. The early adopter business didn't change any of that.

If the early perks didn't sell you on it more than 3 months ago, and the current advantages of the package still don't, then I have my doubts they lost a sale there.

[Scandinavian Jawbreaker]

Yo dawg. No point preordering if you miss the preorder of a preorder. The difference in value is too much.

[Karl Marlow]

They changed how early adopter awards work this time around. It used to be a scale where the rewards diminished the longer you waited. This time you had a short window all or nothing. I didn't have the money at the time but I would have gotten the 80 dollar package. Without the extrasnit didn't seem as worth it.

[TheArisen]

For me its just kinda disappointing that I didn't have the money to buy Res.2 when the early adopters were up.