183 replies to this topic

[Malleus011]

It seems to me that the lighter 'mechs could easily include more variants, more skins/goodies, more premium time, or more variants for the same price. It doesn't really cost PGI more to add another free skin?

[Bluttrunken]

Dashia, on 03 March 2016 - 10:19 AM, said:

im thinking about buying the peasant pack cus im a med pilot, they look cool and remind me alot of my SHD. i like the ecm variant. the hardpoint locations could be better but with 97 speed you can get away with pokeing out of cover to shoot.

My big deal is im poor and want the base pack for the three mechs so i can master them and all the extra stuff i will get. But not having a variant that has the c-bill boost is kinda crappy.

so should i just get the 3 now and the extra stuff or wait till they come out for c-bills?

They shouldn't be that expensive for cBills, look at the Blackjack prices for a comparison, the Phoenix Hawk should be in the same range. Plus: You can pick your 3 favourites from the 5 non-hero mechs which are released in this pack. I don't think getting only the Standard pack is worth it, especially in this case.

If you really like the Phoenix Hawk you can always invest in a hero later on.

Edited by Bluttrunken, 03 March 2016 - 10:32 AM.

[Armorine]

Mawai, on 03 March 2016 - 10:18 AM, said:

There are several reasons folks put in the money ...

1) Older average player base typically means more disposable income.

2) Older average player base typically means less free time ... family, work, other commitments ... so buying mechs you want
is faster and makes the game more fun to play

3) Some folks like to collect things and online content can be one of those things ... so if they can afford it, they pick up the packs because they like them.

4) If you consider MWO a hobby then it is FAR CHEAPER than many other hobbies out there. Some folks like hang gliding, sailing, motorbiking, radio controlled vehicles, golf, downhill skiing, going out to movies, hanging out at a bar (hopefully with friends ) ... and so on. ANY of these can cost FAR more than even buying every MWO pack. A round of golf with a cart rental can be US$100 without effort and is over in 5 hours (better exercise though). MWO is accessible to everyone but the folks who pay are not the University student living on Kraft dinner saving pennies to buy an MWO mech (though there are probably a couple like that ) ... it is the folks who have some form of employment and disposable income.

mechwarrior is so much cheaper then my auto racing hobby.....it hasnt cost me an engine yet...until it does that itll be way cheaper!

[Stelar 7]

Perilthecat, on 03 March 2016 - 10:10 AM, said:

I apologize. I should have stated "How can anyone RATIONALLY reconcile..."



You're a collector most likely, or your nostalgia is steering your wallet. But strictly comparing one product to another product in context of the game, it's a terrible value proposition and it actively flies in the face of one of Russ' direct justifications for releasing mechs one at a time like this. In addition to being a rather blatant money-grab where they are literally just mining your nostalgia and the nostalgia of similar folks. Which I think is fine, if done at a fair price.

Basically what I'm saying is this company needs to give Henry Winkler his leather jacket back if we ever want to see the happy days return to MWO.

Easy,

I don't compare mechs to one another or think of smaller mechs as being cheaper than the big ones. That works out in Cbills but USD are another matter. When someone wants my money I look at what I get vs what else I could do with the cash. In this case I'm buying the basic $20 pack. I'll get three mechs, and a slew of early adopter stuff.

For comparison, if I want to do something else with that $20, I can get the family in and out of Starbucks, with one drink each, or maybe a sack for the kids. I can get 2/3 of a trip through McDonalds, 1/6 of a trip to the Aquarium, 1/40th of a season pass to the amusement park or a little over a month of play time on EVE online.

For me, $20.00 is basically disposable. Hell even the $85 could be done though there I would probably buy some other kind of toy. Even the $85 though is less than I have spent for dinner on some occasions.

Other people make more than I do, or have less to spend their money on, they can buy more. No one has to buy anything, five of the seven mech variants will be up for Cbills, so if you are one of those folks with free time, and not so much disposable moneys hey, you can drive the same mech as me in a few more months, as an added benifit you get to shoot at the Pixies early, thanks to those of us willing to buy, and we all get to keep playing the game with no subscription or required purchases.

Win, win, why complain?

[Anjian]

Mech design reminds me of the Federation GM mobile suits in Mobile Suit Gundam. Just needs the right color for a good cosplay.

http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/RGM-79_GM

[Nauht]

Anjian, on 04 March 2016 - 01:04 AM, said:

Mech design reminds me of the Federation GM mobile suits in Mobile Suit Gundam. Just needs the right color for a good cosplay.

http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/RGM-79_GM

Argh what's with all these Gundam posts. If it's gonna be accused of rupping off something then at least have the courtesy of saying what it was actually ripping off from -

http://macross.wikia.../VF-1S_Valkyrie

[goatreich]

Beautiful as it is, it's just a 45 tonner. And an expensive one! I'll wait for the c-bills version.

[wanderer]

What PGI fails to realize is that the cheaper a 'Mech is for C-bills or even MC, the less appetizing it is to pay X megabucks per chassis unless you throw some extra goodies into the deal.

[Cato Phoenix]

My name is Phoenix

I may buy all of them.

[KrocodockleTheBooBoxLoader-GetIn]

Too expensive. Early adopter rewards aren't great either

[Dahkoht]

The basic pack is the cost of a Friday night movie ticket. A single ticket. The 85 dollar pack is what it costs me to take the wife and kids to a movie , and split one drink between 4 of us. (Which I don't make them do , so to set foot in the theater with a wife and 2 kids on a Fri or Sat night is going to cost 100 and thats still sharing a couple drinks.)

How getting 3 mechs , 30 days of premium time , cockpit items , 6.5 million c-bills , and modules that are around 10 million C-bills worth themselves , plus other trinkets , can be considered "expensive" , for 20 bucks , is beyond me.

Everyone is in a different situation , and I don't begrudge anyone who is in a financial situation that they truly cannot afford it , but again trying to spin it where the basic pack combined with the early adopter awards isn't a decent value just seems plain silly to me.

Does everyone go up to the theater or restaurant and haggle with the manager about the prices too ?

Edited by Dahkoht, 06 March 2016 - 04:42 PM.

[Unnatural Growth]

Have the disposable cash. Wanted the Phoenix Hawk.

Won't be buying.

PGI has pissed me off, my wallet stays shut. Likely permanently.

Fix the damn game. Fix mech/pilot trees. Fix the damn game mode voting. Fix balance/power creep/quirks. Remove ghost heat/instant convergence/pinpoint alphas. For "F" freakin' sakes fix hoverjets. Put in some content/lore/back stories. Start interacting properly and thoroughly with your customer base on your own F'n forums. Stop using Twitter/Twitch/Facebook and other 3rd party venues to communicate. We're here. Communicate with us HERE. You want to spread the word on 3rd party sites? Fine. But your first stop needs to be HERE!

Not
One
Penny
Extra

N.O.P.E.

Since PGI refuses to listen to their customers, I vote with my wallet. It's the only way I have left to "talk" to them. And I very much doubt they care, but my wallet is slammed shut.

[PeeWrinkle]

There is a lot of love for the Phoenix Hawk, and I am one of those lovers for sure!

Because of that I actually purchased the mechs. But I can see why people would be hesitant to do so.

Originally I used to purchase mech packs almost every time they would come out. But recently it seems as if the pricing is just too high. I don't feel like I get the value I did in the past, and most of that perceived value was from supporting the game. I love the BT universe, so I did not mind dumping money into it a few times a year. Now though, it seems like they are coming out with new packages every month. I can't offer that kind of support. And to be perfectly honest, the pricing has always been high, what has really changed is how often they are releasing content. Which could be a good thing as well.

But because my wallet is not super large I am now taking a more modest approach. When something I feel nostalgic about, like the Phoenix Hawk, comes along I will buy it. But I will not spend more than $200 a year in total on the game.

Which is very reasonable for me. And helps mitigate my CBill grinding.

Purchasing a chassis or a pack of chassis usually saves CBills, which ironically allows me to grind CBills without noticing I am doing so. Every few chassis I master I end up with over 100 million CBills, which I then use to buy other chassis.

For me it is a win win, but I definitely am spending money on this game less often now.

[LegendaryArticuno]

Head looks like a bicycle helmet.... humongous forehead.

[martian]

Phoenix Hawk Orthographic View

Quote

Fiction for Shin Yodama's Phoenix Hawk"



DropShip Sābisu
Alrakis, Kessel Prefecture
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
15 July 3039

“Go.”

Despite adrenaline spiking as the countdown echoed loudly throughout the ’Mech bay and the confines of his cockpit, Shin Yodama’s mind wandered. His tongue ran across rough teeth and realized he’d not brushed that morning. His eyes fell on the brilliantly colored tattoos starting mid-forearm and working its way almost to his shoulder. The patterns of his life to date. Memories bubbled as though called forth by a witch’s brew.

“Yo.”

A punk eighteen-year-old kid with years of guerrilla experience who managed to talk his way into helming a Panther as the 117th Najha Training Company destroyed a rebel stronghold during the Ronin War of 3034. The locals called him a hero, yet he’d seen a glimpse of the wider world. The history books that chronicled the Ronin War never mentioned Najha, where a no-name planetary militia dispatched a few retired samurai looking to relive their glory days. He’d left the small world and their small dreams behind for greater things….

“San.”

Bribing his way onto a tramp DropShip, he’d worked like a dog for weeks in the cramped confines of the merchant ship, fending off attacks from crewmen displeased at having a yakuza brat on board. After groundings on Shirotori and Camlann, he’d made his escape on Buckminster, confident the prefecture capital world would bring new opportunities. But no. Five years. For five years he sweated and schemed and lived off the street, hand to mouth, before proving his worth, convincing Tai-sa Tasha Greer he was a warrior. A MechWarrior. A bushi that would honor the Dragon and the Eighth Alshain Regulars as much as much as a noble-born Combine samurai….

“Ni.”

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine the hated Federated Commonwealth would dare rise against the Dragon. Or that they would be so terrifyingly effective as their four main thrusts hit a staggering twenty-seven worlds in a mere two months. Or that the audacity of Kanrei Theodore Kurita would show no bounds as Operation OROCHI not only counterattacked the massive invasion meant to topple the Draconis Combine, but also struck hard across the Davion border. Or that he, a lowly yakuza orphan would command a BattleMech company about to take that fight straight back into the teeth of the Lyran forces currently occupying the world of Alrakis. A Combine world. A Dragon world. Our world. My world….

“Ichi.”

Memories scrubbed in an instant as Shin’s stomach lurched into his throat. He swallowed back bile, fingers whitening on the joysticks as the BattleMech’s drop pod fell away from the Union-class DropShip making its way laterally across the skies of Alrakis. He drew on his t’ai chi training, affixing a pattern in his mind, and he worked muscle memory through the calming motions to rein in his raging pulse and out-of-control breathing. Long minutes passed as vibrations pummeled through the drop pod and his new ride, a forty-five-ton Phoenix Hawk.

Light and sound washed through in a dizzying cacophony as the drop pod exploded away from his Phoenix Hawk a kilometer above the fast-approaching surface. Fingers danced across consoles, calling forth an avalanche of information, showing the Arcturan Guards already under fire from heavy aerospace strafing attacks; further damage the command already disrupted by the uprising. His feet feathered the jump jets, bleeding off inertia as he brought his weapons to bear, the Phoenix Hawk’s large laser seeking a target.

Time to earn that honor.



PHOENIX HAWK “KUROI KIRI”
Orguss Industries’ phenomenally successful Wasp was first produced in 2464, and Orguss leveraged that success into creating a new masterpiece: the forty-five-ton Phoenix Hawk. An engineering marvel of its day, this BattleMech retained the same speed profile as its twenty-ton cousin yet carried far more armor and firepower, including a Harmon large laser, giving it an effective ranged weapon far beyond most recon-designated models. The Phoenix Hawk would quickly fill the ranks of the Star League Defense Force and be produced in almost every House, earning a reputation as the “perfect medium BattleMech.”
Shin Yodama was orphaned by the Lyran Commonwealth during the invasion of Marfik in the Fourth Succession War, and was ultimately adopted by guerrillas. Across numerous operations where he took out his anger against his enemies, he proved his intelligence and natural grasp of tactics and was eventually recruited into the Kuroi Kiri yakuza family. The Kuroi Kiri secretly taught him many new skills, including how to pilot a BattleMech, which he used to good effect at the age of eighteen during the Ronin War. He also fought in the War of 3039 and would eventually serve in the Fourteenth Legion of Vega, where he would meet the man that would further change his life forever: Theodore Kurita, eldest son of the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine.
Despite his origins, Shin Yodama and his Phoenix Hawk, Kuroi Kiri, are destined for greatness in the service of the Dragon.

Quote

Fiction for Sir Paul Masters' Phoenix Hawk

North of Jojoken
Andurien
Duchy of Andurien

27 December 3039

A curtain of graceful white wafting from the windows of heaven fell in ever-thickening waves as the season’s third hard snow fell across the capital city—and its northern reaches—of the Duchy of Andurien. A different curtain, however, was drawing closed on a long, painful decade that had begun with bright dreams and the youthful enthusiasm unbound by the certainty of experience or the chains of regret. Snow blanketed the landscape in all directions, softening scars, dampening fires, covering corpses grown cold.

But still this last fire to extinguish.

Force Commander Paul Masters tried to shake the maudlin thoughts—Gonna get me killed—and concentrated on the jarring impacts each step hammered up his spine. His beloved Phoenix Hawk—his Roc—sprinted through winter’s mantle at ninety-seven kilometers an hour. His left hand pushed against the throttle as though the extra pressure might eke out one more joule of energy from the fusion engine trapped within the chest of the forty-five-ton war machine. Each step of the BattleMech spanned long meters, tearing up large sections of the picturesque scene, revealing all the ugly of human conflict hidden beneath. Behind Paul, spread out in emulation of an ancient Roman wedge formation, Second Battalion of the First Marik Militia marched hard, trying to keep up with their sprinting commander.

“How long will it take them to recover?” he breathed.

“I don’t give a good damn how long it takes them to recover,” the harsh voice of Colonel Shanna del Rey broke across the commline, anger and exhaustion drenching her words in equal measure. Paul jerked in surprise—unaware his commline was still open from the last transmission—causing his Phoenix Hawk to roll heavily into the next step. He kept the machine upright but felt the extra hammer blow of the footfall all the way into his teeth.

“They rebelled against their rightful liege—our liege,” Colonel Rey continued her tirade as muffled explosions peppered her transmission. “They deserve everything they get. What I do care about is how long you’re taking to reposition. The duchy is finished, but someone forgot to tell the First and Sixth Defenders that. If you’re not in position on the left flank in the next five minutes, we just might be the next ones buried under this Blake-cursed snow.”

Paul cleanly maneuvered his BattleMech past a large berm—a hill, or a destroyed tank housing the corpses of fellow Free Worlders?—and continued on, watching the radar screen as the flank of the Sixth Defenders of Andurien worked ever closer.
“Almost there, Colonel,” he announced. He’d planned on redeploying into a more broad, rolling line of attack but now realized Colonel Rey’s First Battalion were finally pinned after several days of heroic raiding that left the Andurien defenders furious. The Anduriens now pushed with all of the anger that only a decade of failed secession dreams could fuel.

He clenched his teeth to open another commline to his own battalion. “Those able to keep up, stay in wedge formation. I’ll lead the strike directly into their flank. We’re gonna move fast and hard, and we’ll push through then wrap back around to exit their rear. As they reposition to deal with us, it should buy the colonel a reprieve and give the rest of you slow movers the time to catch up and bring your big weapons to bear. Any questions?”

A chorus of no sirs echoed as he came upon the valley ridge. In the diffused light below, laser lines the color of rage slashed through curtains of white, and secondary explosions burst harsh and hot. Setting aside his sentimental thoughts, Paul stomped down on his foot pedals, igniting jump jets that violently thrust his BattleMech into a harsh parabolic arc. Then he brought his targeting reticule in line with an enemy Hermes II, his large laser expertly liquefying armor across its torso in a spectacularly display of marksmanship.

Time for the duchy to end….





PHOENIX HAWK “ROC”
Few BattleMechs become the meterstick against which all others of the same class are measured against. The forty-five-ton Phoenix Hawk is one of those truly supernal designs. Originally marching off the Orguss Industries production line in 2568, the P-Hawk quickly became a staple of recon lances and was fielded in large numbers during the Star League. A successful combination of speed, armor, and firepower was suitable for long deployments, which meant this popular BattleMech would continue in the employ of every Successor State. Unlike so many designs that disappeared during the downturn in production during the Succession Wars, the Phoenix Hawk has remained in constant production—albeit limited numbers at the tail end of the Third Succession War—for almost five hundred years.
Colonel Paul Masters is a standout within the Free Worlds League Military. He is the son of the hero Jean Masters, who served with distinction during the Fourth Succession War, and is close friends with Captain-General Thomas Marik. His first battlefield success occurred when he brilliantly led a battalion of the First Marik Militia to victory against the First and Sixth Defenders of Andurien, which eventually led to the Duchy of Andurien’s surrender in January 3040. Despite such accolades—and the charisma that has drawn influential people into his wake—he remains a thoughtful commander who weighs the opinions of a few trusted advisors and then makes the best call for all of his troops.

He and his Roc are staunch defenders of House Marik, and their stars are still on the rise.
Written by Randall Neil Bills

Edited by martian, 24 March 2016 - 08:50 AM.

[Barantor]

Kinda weird that they picked the PHX-1b version and didn't add in the PHX-3M...

edit: I'm full of meds so my thoughts aren't working, edited for clarity.

Edited by Barantor, 24 March 2016 - 10:23 AM.

[martian]

Barantor, on 24 March 2016 - 09:56 AM, said:

Kinda weird that they picked the PHX-1b as the ecm version instead of the PHX-3M...

I quite don't understand: PXH-1b is the Royal variant and it was actually equipped with ECM. On the other hand neither the stock PXH-3M nor the Masters' Hero 'Mech based on PXH-3M had ECM. So it seems to me that everything is as it should be.

[Barantor]

martian, on 24 March 2016 - 10:06 AM, said:

I quite don't understand: PXH-1b is the Royal variant and it was actually equipped with ECM. On the other hand neither the stock PXH-3M nor the Masters' Hero 'Mech based on PXH-3M had ECM. So it seems to me that everything is as it should be.

Sudafed head strikes again! Yeah 3M doesn't have ecm.

I don't understand why they don't release all variants when they do these though. The 3M might not be so different than the others, but with it's loadout and quirks still being a thing they could quirk it differently than the others.

Aren't all the 'b' royal versions rather rare? Didn't many of them get destroyed through the ages or go off with Kerensky?

Edited by Barantor, 24 March 2016 - 10:24 AM.

[Metus regem]

Barantor, on 24 March 2016 - 09:56 AM, said:

Kinda weird that they picked the PHX-1b as the ecm version instead of the PHX-3M...

Because ECM did come standard on the PXH-3M?

• PXH-3M The 3M variant of the 'Mech was also introduced in 3048, built by Earthwerks Incorporated from their Keystone factory and using upgrades based on rediscovered Star League technology. First, the internal structure of the 'Mech has been redesigned to utilize a 1A Type7 Endo Steel chassis. The engine was then replaced with a GM 270 XL and the heat sinks were upgraded to double heat sinks. This allowed the weapons payload to be changed extensively, with all of the original weapons being stripped from the chassis. In their place the 'Mech carried two Diverse Optics Sunbeam ER Large Lasers as its primary weapons and two Martell Medium Pulse Lasers for close in work, with one of each mounted in either arm. Finally, a MainFire Point Defense Anti-Missile System replaced the right-arm machine gun, with two tons of both AMS and machine gun reloads carried in the CASE-protected left torso. The electronic systems were also replaced with an Achernar Electronics HID-8 comm system and Federated Hunter target-tracking system.^[5][23] BV (1.0) = 1,057, BV (2.0) = 1,307^[24]

[Metus regem]

Barantor, on 24 March 2016 - 10:22 AM, said:

Sudafed head strikes again! Yeah 3M doesn't have ecm.

I don't understand why they don't release all variants when they do these though. The 3M might not be so different than the others, but with it's loadout and quirks still being a thing they could quirk it differently than the others.

Aren't all the 'b' royal versions rather rare? Didn't many of them get destroyed through the ages or go off with Kerensky?

It is my understanding that the bulk of the SLDF Royal units and mech variants went off with the Clans, save for those in the Black Watch.