Scarlet Tempest, on 27 February 2016 - 01:32 PM, said:
The truth is most developers don't like steam but it is a necessary evil. They take 30% of your profits in return you get some extra player base but reality is games that get on steam find themselves being just another water droplet in an over-saturated market. Not every company wants to focus on steam if they know they aren't going to get much attention from being on steam.
That being Said. Those who are going to play on steam are going to be those this game really isn't that much catered too in the first place. This is a Battletech game meant for Battletech fans. The prices are what they are because the average age of those of us who play is quite higher than other MMOG. I got a good feeling most of those who complain a bout the prices being too high or that they wanted it on steam are probably under the age of 30 and henceforth not the quite same demographic that this game is catered too.
Not every game is for every body just like not every product is right for every store. This game is only on Steam merely to appease a small group of people who are very adamant that they will only play games if it is on steam. I doubt the profits from steam would merit much special attention because as those previous point out. Steam is a discount storefront and this game isn't a discount game. This is a Premium game, the one and only Premium battletech game.
TL:DR ; You're right PGI doesn't care about Steam because this game is catered to a specific audience which has a higher average income than the average steam user and so it doesn't make much sense to put the time in for such little return.
That's some of the most nonsensical conjecture I've read on this forum in a long time.
They take profits from developers just like any retailer does from an actual store, not many games have ever had the luxury of selling without a 3rd party involved. Any game also has the potential to create a massive fan base surrounding them if they use the Steam platform correctly.
"Battletech game for battletech fans" is another ridiculous idea that some of the minority here have engraved in their minds. Most gamers these days will play a game if it offers fun, replayability, and a reasonable cost structure which allows access to the features of the game itself. MWO gets stagnant for a lot of people because the maps are few, and they play almost the exact same way every single time you launch. I'm 30, was never really into BT all that much but I do enjoy games that require some thought and skill to play.
Steam is not a 'discount' storefront, it's far from to be quite honest. The amount of 60-100$ titles pushed through Steam monthly is staggering. This isn't even including the DLC that gets tacked on to most of them. Many people who use Steam will have thousands of dollars invested into their game libraries.
This idea you have that MWO is some unique 'better than thou' community where everyone is making a 6 figure salary is mind boggling, as if age translates into disposable income. Not only that, you are once again under the assumption without reasonable facts to back your statements that people that play MWO have a higher average income than people who use Steam as a platform. I'm not really sure how this actually makes sense in your head, but somehow it does apparently.
You obviously haven't played or even done a shred of research for games like CSGO or DOTA where people are literally walking around with thousands of dollars of 'skins' that do nothing for the game play and is simply a show of their social status. Much more than will ever be spent by a single person who plays this game, and they are much more common there than they are here.
If PGI learned to market correctly, interact with their fans, and give people what they want instead of penny pinching for every single aspect of the game, they would have done incredibly well on Steam and pulled in a lot more players. There are a few simple aspects of the game that directly compound the reason that this game isn't as popular as it should be:
-You need to master 3 mechs of a single type to be on a 'competitive level'.
*Then required to spend more on modules than the mech itself to get on the level of most people you will meet starting as a brand new player, not to mention the time investment for the GXP.
-You are charged for storing your imaginary robots in a mech bay, which means players can't experiment as much as they'd like to without PGI reaching in to their pockets.
-You have little to no customization options without shelling out a good amount for generic cosmetics.
-There is no 'testing' for mechs or builds you actually want, you are forced to pay into said mech and hope for the best, otherwise use one of the terribly created trial mechs PGI has slapped into the game.
It has nothing to do with people, and everything to do with PGI. You are so far off on your entire thought process it's stunning.
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