55 replies to this topic

[Khereg]

This might be getting into dangerous territory, moderator-wise. If it crosses a line, mods, please feel free to kill it and slap me on the wrist, but I'm curious how others perceive the value that MWO delivers (or doesn't deliver) for your entertainment dollar (or loonie, drachma, or ruble as the case may be).

What got me started thinking about this are the "mechbay tours" a number of people go on in FW to get in-game items that are only available for MC. You can get 20 total mechbays most efficiently by reaching rank 10 in each faction and moving on. In my experience, getting to this level requires at least a week or two of pretty intensive FW play. I know it's fun along the way, but it seems like a lot of effort to gain $10 - $20 worth of mechbays for "free". Not worth it to me, but others obviously feel differently.

I did a little noodling and added up all the money I've spent on the game and divided that out by the number of hours I think I've played and came up with a figure of about $0.60/hr, all-in. A penny a minute...

That includes all my MC purchases, mechpacks, etc. Being an old fart, I compared that number to the number of quarters I dropped into Tempest machines back in the 80's. You know, when a quarter was worth $0.75. I probably spent today's equivalent of $5+ per hour on those arcade games.

Other comparisons are spending $50 - $100 on traditional games for maybe 100 -200 hours of play time through a PvE campaign. That works out to $0.25 - $1.00 per hour. pretty comparable to MWO...

From where I sit, I see MWO as a pretty good value. I know others who go really hard core on the idea that F2P means free - no if's, and's, or but's. They've never spent a dime on the game. More power to them, but hey, PGI gotta eat, too, y'know?

So, what's your take? Good value? Total ripoff?

Edited by Khereg, 07 April 2016 - 08:31 AM.

[Johnny Z]

Value a cars worth by kilometers driven vrs price paid? Sure but its more than that.

[NoiseCrypt]

I only compare MWO to products like MtG and 40K. And my perceived value for MWO is higher than both.
I know a guy who plays a lot of WoT. When comparing features and cost, we both agree that MWO comes out on top.

Edited by NoiseCrypt, 07 April 2016 - 08:35 AM.

[Narcissistic Martyr]

Well... I've played 1000 hours and spent $500+ so it's not such a good value for me, but I'm having fun, I've got the money and it's still my cheapest hobby by far (traveling, restoring old cars and motorcycles, tinkering with robotics, etc) so... it's good value for me.

[Nameless King]

I play for at least 3 hours a day, almost everyday for a year and a half. I think it has good value as well.

[Khereg]

Johnny Z, on 07 April 2016 - 08:34 AM, said:

Value a cars worth by kilometers driven vrs price paid? Sure but its more than that.

Not to nerd out, but I actually have a Total Cost of Ownership spreadsheet for all my cars that accounts for purchase price, financing costs (if any), operations and maintenance costs (gas, oil changes, repairs, etc.), insurance, and so on. I could tell you the cost per mile/km and/or cost/day to own and operate all my vehicles.

So, um, yeah...

[Green Mamba]

Well the old MW titles you got a deep and rich campaign,instant action,large multiplayer with different game modes,probably 30 or 40 choosable and customizable Mech chassis and about 45 or so maps from the starting gate and this was before the expansion packs all for around 20 to 30 dollars, yes I am aware this pre f2p and 15 to 25 years ago.Just saying if you get your enjoyment's worth then great your happy.Compared to the older Mechwarrior Titles though considering what you get and long term playability, ummm...I am not sure anyone can compete with that..I know the White Knights are scrambling right now from their Barracks and thats ok

edit forgot to add* all the community made content adds to that as well which was wonderfull,some of the maps rivaled the retail developer made maps.

Edited by Green Mamba, 07 April 2016 - 08:52 AM.

[AlphaToaster]

I look at it as entertainment, not as an asset being acquired. So compared to a $50 night out at the bar, or a $100 night out at the bar after dinner, or $140 night out at the bar after dinner and a movie, or a $200 trip to the casino, I find I am being entertained enough for my money. The fact that I can login and the mechs are still there adds a bit of value to that as well.

I've slowed the big purchases when I realized the money doesn't go to where I want it to go. I bought the Pheonix pack thinking it was going to fund CW, but the week Phoenix was released Clan Pack was announced and I realized how niave I was. Add to that the whole "CW is 90 days out" and yeah.

Compared to a PvE game, I would be wary to compare to a F2P as far as value. Games like Farcry and Skyrim with thousands of hours of replayability dwarf F2P games by comparison as far as $/hr.

When MWO gets a healthy PvE element added (campaigns, missions, AI in private matches w/ premium time for training) then we'll talk about a complete product and the full value potential. PGI isn't realling getting the most out of their player base. Players want missions and campaigns. I want be able to build a mech for a mission and give it a go.

I feel War Thunder is using their PVE campaigns correctly in a F2P format. They sell you a hero plane and you get exclusive campaigns and missions for that plane. Or they'll announce they've released a dynamic campaign with a series of missions, and then release new planes and list all the current premium planes that qualify to start the campaign.

So there is real incentive to purchase some of those planes in order to gain access to more content. You can also buy a medallion for $ or win one for free that turns any regular plane effectively into a hero. These upgraded planes don't qualify for the campaigns per se, unless there was a special mission or campaign pack released w/ that model.

I spent a lot of time when I purchased a Mustang on an exclusive mission for that plane, where I had 22 AA guns around a factory and I had to take out all the guns while fighting off a wagon wheel of German planes. I felt I really got a good deal.

Imagine buying a Hero mech, and gaining access to a mission that starts you off in the cockpit inside the mech hangar where you're stealing it? Stuff like that shows up I wouldn't be able to throw money at my monitor fast enough.

[Maver0ick]

I am at roughly $1 per hour of actual in game quick play battle (and $500 total), though does not include CW and Mechlabing so roughly $0.5 per hour.

Compared with golf $44 per hour, movie with friends $10 per hour, movie with wife + kids $56 per hour, call girl $400 per hour.

Edited by Maver0ick, 07 April 2016 - 08:58 AM.

[Duke Nedo]

For me MWO has been perfectly reasonable entertainment per dollar, so all is well for me. Only worry is that I no longer have a reason to drop more money even if I wanted and I guess I am not alone...

[NoiseCrypt]

Green Mamba, on 07 April 2016 - 08:46 AM, said:

Well the old MW titles you got a deep and rich campaign,instant action,large multiplayer with different game modes,probably 30 or 40 choosable and customizable Mech chassis and about 45 or so maps from the starting gate and this was before the expansion packs all for around 20 to 30 dollars, yes I am aware this pre f2p and 15 to 25 years ago.Just saying if you get your enjoyment's worth then great your happy.Compared to the older Mechwarrior Titles though considering what you get and long term playability, ummm...I am not sure anyone can compete with that..I know the White Knights are scrambling right now from their Barracks and thats ok

edit forgot to add* all the community made content adds to that as well which was wonderfull,some of the maps rivaled the retail developer made maps.

If you sold 6 hours of gameplay today for $80, people would shame you to death
And the "old" MW titles are actually old enough that you also need to take inflation into account.

And the campaigns may have been deep and rich... but they where presented in a colored notepad. Conveying the same stories by today's standards would be a huge undertaking.

Edited by NoiseCrypt, 07 April 2016 - 09:01 AM.

[Flapdrol]

Great value, been playing on and off for years, only spent $45 or something.

[Triordinant]

At zero cost, MWO delivers great value as a "filler" game for when you have 30 to 90 minutes to spare and nothing better to do, but not enough time for a more involved game like Pillars of Eternity, Fallout 4 or X-COM 2. Pretty much like Counter Strike 15 years ago.

[Kanil]

I've spent more and played less on MWO than the other two F2P games I've played any significant amount of, so it's not really a great value there.

For video games as a whole, it's alright. I'm certainly not disappointed to have spent money on the game... but not especially eager to spend more.

[EvilCow]

MWO is a good value for entertainment.

I have left for 8 months and only returned recently, in the process I have gained two things:

1) Renewed trust in the dev team after "experiencing" another similar game where the dev team is, like they say, "biased", beyond ridiculous lack of standards.

2) MWO itself is like MWO 2.0 after so few months, what a surprise for me, it is progressing very fast now.

[Khereg]

AlphaToaster, on 07 April 2016 - 08:51 AM, said:

Compared to a PvE game, I would be wary to compare to a F2P as far as value. Games like Farcry and Skyrim with thousands of hours of replayability dwarf F2P games by comparison as far as $/hr.

I completely agree with the larger point, but I've got to call out your math a bit. I've never had an off-the-shelf PvE game I played for more than a year without leaving it for something else. To get even 1,000 hours of play time out of a title like that over the course of a year, you'd have to play it for an average of 20 hours a week.

I not saying you didn't/don't, but I know I've never done that with a PvE... That's why I put up about 200 hours-ish as the max for one of those titles. Some may go up to 500 or more or so for some people, but "thousands"? I'm not seeing it.

Also, those games are few and far between b/c to deliver that value, they need to sell millions of copies to recoup the astronomical development cost. As such a niche product, MWO will never compete in that arena.

And, BTW, I know I throw more money at MWO than many. Another benefit to being an old fart with a checking account not constantly in the red is that I have the luxury to buy my way through some of the grind. I generally basic all my mechs with GXP, for example, and occasionally buy MC to convert MechXP to GXP from my favorite chassis now and again.

But sure, the better comparison for product to product costs would be against other F2P titles. In terms of "value" however, value is however you perceive it. The most common definition I've heard is that Value = Benefit - Cost. "Benefit" in this sense is really the joy you get out of spending your time playing. That's obviously unique to the individual.

Edited by Khereg, 07 April 2016 - 09:31 AM.

[TELEFORCE]

For the money I've put into this game, I have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of it. I feel like it's well worth the money.

[zagibu]

Narcissistic Martyr, on 07 April 2016 - 08:35 AM, said:

Well... I've played 1000 hours and spent $500+ so it's not such a good value for me, but I'm having fun, I've got the money and it's still my cheapest hobby by far (traveling, restoring old cars and motorcycles, tinkering with robotics, etc) so... it's good value for me.

I would say that 50 cent per hour is a pretty good deal for any kind of entertainment.

[Tarogato]

I doubt there's anybody who's gone as far as I have without spending a penny on the game. Free mechbays, free Urbie pack, now I'm up to 70 mechs, all Mastered, most are moduled, most are camo'd, own about 20 colours... playing in competitive leagues...

altogether, net worth only about $150 though. =/

[Bud Crue]

Looking purely at MWO as a title it has given great value. Even with the large investment of $ that I have made into it if I use Khereg's reasoning it is easily my cheapest indulgence (time spent and enjoyed/$ paid).

That said, I was once a HUGE Civilization player (other the MW titles Civ is only other game I have played habitually). All of the Civ games (Civ 2-4 plus add on packs) was maybe a total investment of $200. $200 bucks for game play that I never ceased to enjoy and that I played at least an hour a day (often far more than that) for more than 15 years. Now that is good value. That still isn't a good comparison though to MWO.

The Civ games had superb re-play-ability and -via the wisdom of the dev's opening up the game to the community- had an army of dedicated third part moders and developers that were constantly reinventing and reinvigorating the titles well past their normal expiration/obsolescence date. MWO lacks all of that. I like MWO, but even I get bored with its limitations, and unlike the old Civ titles I can't post a "hey wouldn't this be a cool feature" and within a week someone will have put out a mod putting that feature into the game.

Apples and oranges I suppose, but if MWO had that kind of freedom (I know it has the community will) its value (at least to me) would be beyond measure.

Edited by Bud Crue, 07 April 2016 - 10:05 AM.