86 replies to this topic

[invernomuto]

Since February 2016 I have spent about 220$ on the game. I have no pay TV/Netflix or similar, I am fine with a montly spending of 20$-30$ for the game.
I do not know if I am a "whale" or not.

[JC Daxion]

El Bandito, on 17 August 2016 - 05:03 PM, said:

The game's been out for 4 years already, so I personally think that someone who had spent at least 800 USD total, or 200 per year, is considered a whale.

Hehe.. so with that in mind.. EVERY single person that paid a monthly fee for MMO's,, which was common place from the late 90's till just a few years back,, though a few are still going.. All lived on whales! FTP must have been a shock..lol



that said, I dunno what a whale is.. Maybe 500 bucks a year? I'm more like a minnow.

[xengk]

Ibrandul Mike, on 17 August 2016 - 04:23 PM, said:

Ok, because it is used in arguments over and over (besides Tier and times in the game), I have a few questions.

What is the common definition of a whale (NOT the animal!)?
Is it a certain amount spent in a specific time? (If so which timeframe and which amount)
Is it a certain amount spent in total?
Is there even a consens for the definition?

An Asian Whale, we are much smaller in size. You can blame it on our weak currency.
Rough estimated of $900 from Beta til this month.

I work in online game publishing, and our definition of Whale is player who spend more that the average or target ARPU (Average Revenue per User).
Example: If the expected ARPU of the game is $100, but a player spend $200, he/she is a Whale in my book.

[Lily from animove]

El Bandito, on 17 August 2016 - 05:03 PM, said:

The game's been out for 4 years already, so I personally think that someone who had spent at least 800 USD total, or 200 per year, is considered a whale.

funnily that would mean 16,67$ per month, depending on the dollar exchange ratio thats just an usual subscription fee for some MMO's with p2p model that also sells addons regulary.
And therefore thats like the average that a WoW gamer spents in money. So definately not a whale.

I guess whale is soemoen who just spents money on evertyhing he wants or evertyhign that exists being much above the average and not really caring about the price. While the total amount of spent mone yis clearly far above the average what others spent for games (in general).

I know there are some people in APB that just buy gambling boxes evertime a new on exists toget the legendary wepaon, which means they spent just a few hundret $ until they get it if they are less lucky. Thats single people spending 2k+ dollar in a single game. And those people do exist.

Edited by Lily from animove, 18 August 2016 - 01:20 AM.

[Eboli]

I believe I was a whale. I have spent over $1300 from Closed Beta+. Maybe my definition would be over $1000. I was a whale because I no longer spend any money on MWO due to many reasons but to be kind I would put it down to the game being very stale, boring and that there are just to many adjustments not particularly thought out well.

Cheers
Eboli

Edited by Eboli, 18 August 2016 - 01:19 AM.

[ShoeKush]

This is a cheaper hobby than anything else. But I might have spent a total of a grand or so on this game since 2014. I find the gameplay changes are not needed, but more maps and different game modes are. It's as if Howard Hughes was in charge of a company, and he was never satisfied with his product.

But I find it fun, engrossing, and compared to no man's sky it's got a lot more gameplay.

[A Shoddy Rental Mech]

At $275 over the last year, i don't consider myself a whale. But i'm not a minnow either.

[LordNothing]

the first time i ever heard the term it was in reference to rich people at casinos. these were the big wallet gamblers who make huge bets. casinos can make a killing on them but whales also have the capability of busting the bank and can be a source of trepidation for casino owners, especially when they are winning.

with reference to mwo, its those players who claim to have bought every mech pack since founders, sometimes claiming purchases totaling up to the thousands . pretty much pgi's cash cow. so if you start loosing them, you better release another mech pack should really add something new to the game to keep people from moving on.

i pretty much think everyone would agree with me. im not a whale, pretty sure my purchases are under $150. and thats a silly number for a single game that repeatedly fails to meet expectations.

Edited by LordNothing, 18 August 2016 - 03:05 AM.

[dervishx5]

Whales can't understand complex questions, silly OP.

[Imperius]

dervishx5, on 18 August 2016 - 03:14 AM, said:

Whales can't understand complex questions, silly OP.

We need this as a dekal

[Lily from animove]

Imperius, on 18 August 2016 - 03:22 AM, said:

We need this as a dekal

unlock when spending more than 1k$ on the game.

[invernomuto]

xengk, on 18 August 2016 - 12:06 AM, said:

An Asian Whale, we are much smaller in size. You can blame it on our weak currency.
Rough estimated of $900 from Beta til this month.

I work in online game publishing, and our definition of Whale is player who spend more that the average or target ARPU (Average Revenue per User).
Example: If the expected ARPU of the game is $100, but a player spend $200, he/she is a Whale in my book.

Thanks for the technical explanation. Now I am eager to know how the target ARPU is calculated by a game publisher

[Ibrandul Mike]

Took out the derailments... don't know if I got all... too sleepy.

Good question invernomuto... it is probably an easy algorythm... but they tell you it is super secret and can't be told

[Snowbluff]

I'm sure the industry definition, to put it politely, is the people who pay to keep the game running for the free to play players.

[RussianWolf]

Ibrandul Mike, on 17 August 2016 - 05:50 PM, said:

Thanks for the answers so far and for keeping it very civil and constructive

And special thanks to those who are no longer whales but can say why in a constructive way!

Former Whale

Legendary Founder, Overlord with Saber, All the top of the line packs up through Clan Wave 3 and even the Urbie collectors (and I was never into the Urbie). Lots of MC and even bought PT by the year.

Spending money was a way to reduce grind since I couldn't sit in front of the computer for 8 hours a day (at least not playing).

Then development really stagnated so I stopped paying. I collected all the cbill mechs for all the old chassis and mastered them. Then I bought a few newer mechs and mastered them. I'm at something like 275 mastered mechs and recently went back to playing my (F)s almost exclusively.

I could easily drop another grand on the game tomorrow if PGI gave me a reason. But they need to step up their game and Russ' "We don't need or want player input" attitude needs to change before that will happen.

[C E Dwyer]

Personally I think calling people, that spend money on something they enjoy, a whale, is insulting to whales.

People spend according to enjoyment, and disposable income.

I also like sushi, I neither feel cannibalistic, or nervous when I walk into a Japanese restaurant.

Whales seem to be a term that people use, to talk down about those that keep a game going, that they play for free or used to and have now 'seen the light'

I'd worry more about the people that use the term rather than what makes people qualify for it

Edited by Cathy, 18 August 2016 - 06:53 AM.

[Mechteric]

There are small whales and big whales too, Killer Whale versus Sperm Whale

[dervishx5]

CapperDeluxe, on 18 August 2016 - 06:58 AM, said:

There are small whales and big whales too, Killer Whale versus Sperm Whale

Pfft, sexist.

[ice trey]

I started a whale, and bought a gold mech... before it came with the Masakari pack.

...but I'm a single player gamer. I play Mechwarrior games because of the immersion, atmosphere, and lore. I need a raison d'etre in my games or it just doesn't hold me - leaderboards and e-sporting need not apply. Up until a few weeks before the clan packs hit, I was very much a white knight for MWO, but one week before the clan packs went live, I cancelled my purchase. I wasn't interested in clan mechs, I was interested in supporting PGI in making CW. We'd received hints that CW would hit a month or two from the announcement of the clan packs, but a week from the gold mech delivery date, CW still hadn't left napkin doodles and what-ifs. I was tired of the bullschitt carrot-on-a-string treatment of trying to drag things out with the lure of CW - the unicorn that may never come. Not cancelling my pre-order would have given them the wrong message, if money is the only thing that will get through to them.

Well, CW hit, and when it did I started supporting the game again, but I was still left wanting for the things I like about single player, and CW wasn't the concession to the SP community I'd hoped for. Instead of a unicorn, we got a lame mule with a construction-paper cone duct-taped to it's forehead. In the end, it still feels like a Sisyphus rock pushing simulator. I throw a few bucks at it when PGI do something right, but that's it.

So I wait for HBS. The Shadowrun games have been great. For fifteen years, I've been stiffed by both big studios and the modding community for a Story-driven Battletech single player gaming experience. At last, someone answered.

Edited by ice trey, 18 August 2016 - 07:24 AM.

[nehebkau]

Given that most games have a retail cost of around $50 (USD) and, I would "thumbnail" monthly service fees for many games averaging at $15 (USD) and using a game start-date of January 2014 (look start dates are hard to pin down with this game because it was in beta so damn long) I would say
$50 + $15 * 31(Months) = $515

So, if you spent more that $515 on this game I would consider you a whale. You spent enough to purchase the game outright and funded 2 and 1/2 years of subscription fees for the game. If MWO were a regular game you would be called their core player-base and treated with perks for your continued support of the project.

.... and I am well passed that amount I am in the blue whale category (from holding my breath until I turn blue waiting for an immersive FP?) having funded the full 4-year subscription of the game plus the initial purchase price.

Edited by nehebkau, 18 August 2016 - 07:18 AM.