92 replies to this topic

[Sandpit]

Metus regem, on 03 March 2016 - 10:43 AM, said:

Perfect example is the whole $100k tournament they are putting on.... -sigh- such a waste of resources...

Well

Here's my take on that.

If I were funding a 100k tournament I would have scoured every esport site, tourney, league, etc. to find sponsors big and small. I'd have been advertising it on every public esport forum out there. Marketing it to that crowd.

When Russ was asked about this in the Townhall his reply was "Yea, I guess sponsors would be nice, we'll see"

We'll see? Your tourney is a few months out. You just failed to market and advertise your game to esport competitive teams out there to garner an entirely new audience and player base for your game that would bleed over into every other part of the game and increase the player base size as well as your revenue.

You just failed to get major game peripheral companies involved.

These are things that should have been done last year. These are things that any marketing guy would see as a great opportunity for free advertisement of their product as well as advertising the ability to win real money playing it.

Competitive esport teams aren't going to jump in feet first with a month or two of preparation time on game they've never heard of. Well, a few might, but nowhere near what they'd get if they bothered advertising it.

Go ahead and google MWO and esport. The only links that come up are this site and a couple dated from December of a couple of websites saying that PGI announced a 100k tourney.

Nothing else.
And definitely nothing in any of the major esport or gaming hubs and communities.

They have positions at PGI that are getting paid decent money to do things like this, yet I see nothing.

It's not hard if you have a head for advertising and marketing. It's really nothing more than creating hype and interest and getting the brand out there in front of more eyes.

[Metus regem]

Sandpit, on 03 March 2016 - 11:08 AM, said:

Well

Here's my take on that.

If I were funding a 100k tournament I would have scoured every esport site, tourney, league, etc. to find sponsors big and small. I'd have been advertising it on every public esport forum out there. Marketing it to that crowd.

When Russ was asked about this in the Townhall his reply was "Yea, I guess sponsors would be nice, we'll see"

We'll see? Your tourney is a few months out. You just failed to market and advertise your game to esport competitive teams out there to garner an entirely new audience and player base for your game that would bleed over into every other part of the game and increase the player base size as well as your revenue.

You just failed to get major game peripheral companies involved.

These are things that should have been done last year. These are things that any marketing guy would see as a great opportunity for free advertisement of their product as well as advertising the ability to win real money playing it.

Competitive esport teams aren't going to jump in feet first with a month or two of preparation time on game they've never heard of. Well, a few might, but nowhere near what they'd get if they bothered advertising it.

Go ahead and google MWO and esport. The only links that come up are this site and a couple dated from December of a couple of websites saying that PGI announced a 100k tourney.

Nothing else.
And definitely nothing in any of the major esport or gaming hubs and communities.

They have positions at PGI that are getting paid decent money to do things like this, yet I see nothing.

It's not hard if you have a head for advertising and marketing. It's really nothing more than creating hype and interest and getting the brand out there in front of more eyes.

Yup... and we have a game that they are trying to make into an eSport, at the cost of several factors that could make this more sim like... but yea...

Sometimes I wonder what is going on at PGI, there are so many miss-steps, missed opportunity or just out right miss-handled, point in example the Phoenix Hawk Ultimate pack, if they had made that limited time, say 1 week or two and given it a bit extra swag or a slight discount say 10%, I think they would've seen more of them sell like hot-cakes. Either way, I went that route to avoid being hit by the exchange rate premium four times to save a bit of cash.

[Matthoos]

Don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of these 60-85$ single mech packs. Yeah they're iconic, but is it worth that much when 3-4 months ago they were giving us complete sets of mechs for the same price model? I don't know what's going on in the marketing department, but I've stopped pre-purchasing these packs. Just my 2 cents.

[Monkey Lover]

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky, on 03 March 2016 - 09:05 AM, said:

Sadly, most of the varients are gonna suck unless they get some massive quirks...

I would have bought the ultimate pack if there was incentive... But I think Ill just buy the basic, and the reinforcement pack (if I can), because I dont like the poor hard points on the other varients... Especially the heros...

6 months from now I would bet the only mech being used will be the ecm version. They're 45 tonner so they will be cheap for cbills, I can wait. I still find it funny I bought an 100ton kodiak for the same price as a medium 45 tonner.

[C E Dwyer]

Stefka Kerensky, on 03 March 2016 - 03:38 AM, said:

Mandatory comparison:

85$ for 8 mechs----> 10.625$ per mech....and only ONE chassis to design

IIC, resist.2: 80$ for 16 mechs------> 5$ per mechs, and FOUR chassis.

Yes the value of these packs are getting worse, the development/production9 time is going to be the same, but seeing how its a 45 toner, you'd think there would be more goodies, to make up the tonnage x mc per ton seems to have gone out the window.

I like many thought jezzthat steep, but I bought the lot, dumb I know, but it was late for me, and just thought what the hell, click.

Monkey Lover, on 03 March 2016 - 11:29 AM, said:

6 months from now I would bet the only mech being used will be the ecm version. They're 45 tonner so they will be cheap for cbills, I can wait. I still find it funny I bought an 100ton kodiak for the same price as a medium 45 tonner.

Yeah there really isn't much point in that many variants, as you rightly say only the E.C.M or maybe the Masc version will get the nod over the Black Jack, unless they ramp up the quirks for the PHX, its not like you get any more credits, cockpit items for spending big

[Mad Strike]

Oderint dum Metuant, on 03 March 2016 - 12:14 AM, said:

Zero discount or increased early adopter rewards for something not available for over 4 months is absolutely ridiculous.

I can only presume they don't actually have a qualified marketing division.

Yo don'y need a marketing división for that its calle common sense XD

[0bsidion]

OminusAnonymous, on 03 March 2016 - 11:23 AM, said:

Don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of these 60-85$ single mech packs. Yeah they're iconic, but is it worth that much when 3-4 months ago they were giving us complete sets of mechs for the same price model? I don't know what's going on in the marketing department, but I've stopped pre-purchasing these packs. Just my 2 cents.

I wouldn't say I'm tired of them, as that would require more of an emotional investment than it's worth. But it's really simple, if you don't think 60 to 85$ mech packs are worth it, don't buy them.

I get it completely, because it seems the higher cost packs have diminishing returns. IMO the best bang for your buck is and always has been the $20 basic pack + the early adopter rewards, which almost make it a no-brainer.

I'll probably do the $20 pack and maybe a single hero and call it a day.

[Sandpit]

OminusAnonymous, on 03 March 2016 - 11:23 AM, said:

Don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of these 60-85$ single mech packs. Yeah they're iconic, but is it worth that much when 3-4 months ago they were giving us complete sets of mechs for the same price model? I don't know what's going on in the marketing department, but I've stopped pre-purchasing these packs. Just my 2 cents.

that's disingenuous, the pack is only $20 if that's all you want to spend and you get a pretty good deal in my opinion on that.

$20 nets you 3 mechs, 3 mech bays, 30 days premium time, cockpit items, 6.5 million cbills, modules worht millions of cbills, and a camo

The add-ons are intended for the collector's in the game honestly.

This system of mech sales is MUCH better than having to buy a pack of 4 mechs (some of which you may not want) and spend a minimum of nearly twice as much.

It's much easier for many gamers to be able to spend $20 a month than it is to buy a big pack every 3-4 months. It also keeps a steady stream of revenue coming in.

Personally I think they should do 1 IS and 1 clan each time. It would help clans catch up faster in mech choices and then if a player is a loyalist to one side or the other, they don't wind up waiting 2-3 months between new mechs.

Mechs are, and always have been the main source of revenue for PGI (due in large part to their inability to think outside the box in terms of marketing) so that's never going to change.

I don't think it's fair to hold PGI to a standard of pricing mechs according to tonnage because there's no system that separates tonnage. There is no "best" mech or "best" weight class out there. Some players are going to get the Phawk and do really well with it, outperforming and outscoring assault pilots, others won't.

Weight shouldn't be a factor in the pricing in my opinion.

As far as marketing goes, let me (maybe if they'll bother reading for once) show PGI what a real marketing manager would do.

Tshirts: Hello PGI, you keep claiming you don't have the rights to market mechs and stuff like that, but last time I checked you own a brand and logo outside of mechs. It's called your company. You have a logo right?

Coffee cups: see above

Dog Tags: Player's name, rank, and favorite mech type and unit or faction affiliation

Cockpit item replicas: Hello, keychains, hanging items for xmas trees and rear view mirrors

Artbooks: You don't own the rights to market mechs but you own the artwork, put together a book of Alex's art, it would get gobbled up

That's just a few examples, if you want more, call me, I'm open to taking a telecommute position at your company to do this kinda stuff for you, but I'm not going to do this for free. The way I see it I just offered you 4 easy revenue streams that don't violate any of your IP ownership rights, cost very little to create, (heck I even have 3d printing capability, for an extra fee I can produce some of those for you), and brand your company and game.

Heck, I'll even give you a founders discount on salary.

[Bishop Steiner]

Sandpit, on 03 March 2016 - 11:08 AM, said:

Well

Here's my take on that.

If I were funding a 100k tournament I would have scoured every esport site, tourney, league, etc. to find sponsors big and small. I'd have been advertising it on every public esport forum out there. Marketing it to that crowd.

When Russ was asked about this in the Townhall his reply was "Yea, I guess sponsors would be nice, we'll see"

We'll see? Your tourney is a few months out. You just failed to market and advertise your game to esport competitive teams out there to garner an entirely new audience and player base for your game that would bleed over into every other part of the game and increase the player base size as well as your revenue.

You just failed to get major game peripheral companies involved.

These are things that should have been done last year. These are things that any marketing guy would see as a great opportunity for free advertisement of their product as well as advertising the ability to win real money playing it.

Competitive esport teams aren't going to jump in feet first with a month or two of preparation time on game they've never heard of. Well, a few might, but nowhere near what they'd get if they bothered advertising it.

Go ahead and google MWO and esport. The only links that come up are this site and a couple dated from December of a couple of websites saying that PGI announced a 100k tourney.

Nothing else.
And definitely nothing in any of the major esport or gaming hubs and communities.

They have positions at PGI that are getting paid decent money to do things like this, yet I see nothing.

It's not hard if you have a head for advertising and marketing. It's really nothing more than creating hype and interest and getting the brand out there in front of more eyes.

I have a feeling they burned some sponsor bridges. Anyone remember the control set that Razer was advertising and gauging interest in during closed beta


The one PGI did nothing to promote, and in fact, went out of their way to ignore joystick support, period?

Anyone remember Nvidia and Razer supplying all the goods for the Launch event?

The Nvidia and PCGamer promotions?

All stuff that we haven't seen a hint of since 2013?

[Sandpit]

Bishop Steiner, on 03 March 2016 - 12:15 PM, said:

I have a feeling they burned some sponsor bridges. Anyone remember the control set that Razer was advertising and gauging interest in during closed beta


The one PGI did nothing to promote, and in fact, went out of their way to ignore joystick support, period?

Anyone remember Nvidia and Razer supplying all the goods for the Launch event?

The Nvidia and PCGamer promotions?

All stuff that we haven't seen a hint of since 2013?

I think it has more to do with PGI not knowing how to do things like that and work with other companies honestly.

Being a game dev and/or president of a game dev company doesn't mean you know how to market and handle PR

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Sandpit, on 03 March 2016 - 11:54 AM, said:

that's disingenuous, the pack is only $20 if that's all you want to spend and you get a pretty good deal in my opinion on that.

$20 nets you 3 mechs, 3 mech bays, 30 days premium time, cockpit items, 6.5 million cbills, modules worht millions of cbills, and a camo

The add-ons are intended for the collector's in the game honestly.

This system of mech sales is MUCH better than having to buy a pack of 4 mechs (some of which you may not want) and spend a minimum of nearly twice as much.

It's much easier for many gamers to be able to spend $20 a month than it is to buy a big pack every 3-4 months. It also keeps a steady stream of revenue coming in.

Personally I think they should do 1 IS and 1 clan each time. It would help clans catch up faster in mech choices and then if a player is a loyalist to one side or the other, they don't wind up waiting 2-3 months between new mechs.

Mechs are, and always have been the main source of revenue for PGI (due in large part to their inability to think outside the box in terms of marketing) so that's never going to change.

I don't think it's fair to hold PGI to a standard of pricing mechs according to tonnage because there's no system that separates tonnage. There is no "best" mech or "best" weight class out there. Some players are going to get the Phawk and do really well with it, outperforming and outscoring assault pilots, others won't.

Weight shouldn't be a factor in the pricing in my opinion.

As far as marketing goes, let me (maybe if they'll bother reading for once) show PGI what a real marketing manager would do.

Tshirts: Hello PGI, you keep claiming you don't have the rights to market mechs and stuff like that, but last time I checked you own a brand and logo outside of mechs. It's called your company. You have a logo right?

Coffee cups: see above

Dog Tags: Player's name, rank, and favorite mech type and unit or faction affiliation

Cockpit item replicas: Hello, keychains, hanging items for xmas trees and rear view mirrors

Artbooks: You don't own the rights to market mechs but you own the artwork, put together a book of Alex's art, it would get gobbled up

That's just a few examples, if you want more, call me, I'm open to taking a telecommute position at your company to do this kinda stuff for you, but I'm not going to do this for free. The way I see it I just offered you 4 easy revenue streams that don't violate any of your IP ownership rights, cost very little to create, (heck I even have 3d printing capability, for an extra fee I can produce some of those for you), and brand your company and game.

Heck, I'll even give you a founders discount on salary.

Who is our community manager and what do they do?

[JudgeDeathCZ]

Bishop Steiner, on 03 March 2016 - 12:15 PM, said:

I have a feeling they burned some sponsor bridges. Anyone remember the control set that Razer was advertising and gauging interest in during closed beta


The one PGI did nothing to promote, and in fact, went out of their way to ignore joystick support, period?

Anyone remember Nvidia and Razer supplying all the goods for the Launch event?

The Nvidia and PCGamer promotions?

All stuff that we haven't seen a hint of since 2013?

3:17 is that Swafty talking to Athene?

[Navid A1]

Oh, So now everyone just suddenly realizes the absurd marketing and pricing for these single chassis packs overnight?

Its funny, because when i started discussions regarding the bad single chassis pack model and pricing when they introduced the marauder.. i was bombarded by "don't like it, don't buy it" crowd. I think the marauder nerdgasm was too much at the time, and now people are starting to see things as they are.

Interesting.

And this is coming from someone who bought every top pack up-to warhammer + basic packs of kodiak and archer.

Edited by Navid A1, 03 March 2016 - 02:28 PM.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

0bsidion, on 03 March 2016 - 09:41 AM, said:

The target audience for these is the nostalgia crowd. Still, the ECM and MASC variants are bringing something different to the table that might make them more viable than you give them credit for.

I am definitely one of these "nostalgia crowd" people you speak of. I absolutely love the Phoenix hawk, and would have bought the ultimate pack, if there was some type of discount or package incentive... but... there wasn't... so i'll buy the basic and the reinforcement pack (for the ecm and masc)... but the heros... are bleh... unless the quirks are amazing...

[0bsidion]

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky, on 03 March 2016 - 02:32 PM, said:

I am definitely one of these "nostalgia crowd" people you speak of. I absolutely love the Phoenix hawk, and would have bought the ultimate pack, if there was some type of discount or package incentive... but... there wasn't... so i'll buy the basic and the reinforcement pack (for the ecm and masc)... but the heros... are bleh... unless the quirks are amazing...

Well I won't blame anyone for that. Like I've mentioned before since they didn't add any extra perks to the Ultimate pack the returns really begin to diminish at that price point.

And also like I've said before, the $20 pack + early adopter rewards is easily the best deal. The 30 days premium time is $12 in the store, plus you get 2 modules, 6.5mil cbills, cockpit items, and a camo unlocked for the chassis? At that point each mech is being sold for what, $1?

Even if you hate the bloody thing it'd still be worth it.

[Ace Selin]

Metus regem, on 03 March 2016 - 10:43 AM, said:

Perfect example is the whole $100k tournament they are putting on.... -sigh- such a waste of resources...

Agreed

[Maver0ick]

They should have given a title with it called "Whale"

[MeanFacedJohnny]

Only reason I'm checking the forums right now was to see if this has been said. So it has, and I agree.

[Ted Wayz]

"Hey, I won't admit that all these people saying that mech sales are declining despite the addition of Steam users are right. I will also conveniently forget that people predicted that pack prices will continue to increase as sales go down. Instead I will demand a 10% decrease in price packs because I still do not realize the game PGI is playing."

GG close.

Glad you are finally catching up.

[MeanFacedJohnny]

Bishop Steiner, on 03 March 2016 - 12:15 PM, said:

I have a feeling they burned some sponsor bridges. Anyone remember the control set that Razer was advertising and gauging interest in during closed beta


The one PGI did nothing to promote, and in fact, went out of their way to ignore joystick support, period?

Anyone remember Nvidia and Razer supplying all the goods for the Launch event?

The Nvidia and PCGamer promotions?

All stuff that we haven't seen a hint of since 2013?

I want one... so, so bad.

Side note: A buddy of mine won't play mwo solely because it doesn't support hotas. He tried.