62 replies to this topic

[D V Devnull]

Peace2U, on 07 February 2018 - 08:13 PM, said:

I hate to admit it, but T.B.G. might have an idea that the 'Powers That Be' might be willing to consider.
Perhaps we could request premium time be purchased at an 'hours of play' rate vs 'per day' rate????
I'm sure they could configure the economics to be equivalent to the existing 'value' of daily premium time.

Any takers on that idea?
Peace

Spare Parts Bin, on 07 February 2018 - 08:45 PM, said:

That idea works for me.

Pardon my difference in opinion, but that might only work if PGI measured a 'Day' of time at a minimum value of '8 Hours', and still had the Pausing Mechanic in place. Otherwise, we can expect salty people feeling they didn't get "Their Time's Worth" out of their Payments/Rewards of Premium Time.

Unfortunately, I can imagine those who would feel slighted even then. How? Because they were given something that read "1 Day", only to find out that it isn't actually a "Full 24 Hours of Battle Time with Offline Pause" that they were able to have the use of. But then, it seems like we can't always satisfy everyone. At least, not unless the company providing the service decides to go for 'Maximum Positive Public Relations' with their choice. But then, what are the real odds of that with PGI?

~Mr. D. V. "That's the big hole with changing the idea in that manner..." Devnull

[Peace2U]

You are right, D.V.
I was reaching for the 'middle ground' on this issue.
We have to assume the developers are monitoring these 'feature recommendations', at least to some degree.
Our poll reads over 96% positive with a single declining vote.
Surely that must get their attention if the player base is heavily in favor of a reasonable change.
The fact that we have gotten no response, either way, from the Mech-Lords, indicates they may not be willing to change Premium Time Policy to our original Idea of 1-day = 24hr of play time.
So I tossed in the idea started by The-Blood-God, and tweaked it to see if we could get some manna from heaven.

I encourage any followers of this topic to make their own comments or recommendations in an attempt to get this seemingly unfair policy changed.
Peace All

[Spare Parts Bin]

Peace2U, on 09 February 2018 - 12:59 PM, said:

You are right, D.V.
I was reaching for the 'middle ground' on this issue.
We have to assume the developers are monitoring these 'feature recommendations', at least to some degree.
Our poll reads over 96% positive with a single declining vote.
Surely that must get their attention if the player base is heavily in favor of a reasonable change.
The fact that we have gotten no response, either way, from the Mech-Lords, indicates they may not be willing to change Premium Time Policy to our original Idea of 1-day = 24hr of play time.
So I tossed in the idea started by The-Blood-God, and tweaked it to see if we could get some manna from heaven.

I encourage any followers of this topic to make their own comments or recommendations in an attempt to get this seemingly unfair policy changed.
Peace All

With any luck the powers that be will listen.

[MegaBopper]

Attempting to remove accidental double post from the forum.
Moderators please remove this double post?

Thanks in advance,

Edited by MegaBopper, 11 February 2018 - 02:08 PM.

[MegaBopper]

Let's put this in perspective. I have a real life. What little time I have is valuable and that deserves some respect.

I stand in full support of my fellow players with regard to this issue. I WILL NOT PAY REAL MONEY FOR SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT PROVIDE FULL REAL VALUE! If PGI wants to make part of their profit from me and pay their expenses they must consider the real value of my real time that I spend playing the game that benefits them by helping to provide a playable environment for all of their customers. Even if I am only just cannon fodder this is still true. I feel ripped off by the current premium time system. That being the case I will only go f2p and I will not spend a single solitary red cent of my real world money on the game while this remains the case. No matter what, all forms of 'currency', all premiums, prizes, etc. that the game provides are virtual. That means it is not real. It cannot be cashed out and bears NO REAL WORLD VALUE. I can't take it with me to use for any other purpose. It could disappear in a microsecond without notice for any number of reasons. For me to spend my real time there is a valuable consideration. What I get from the game is purely recreational. I chose how to waste it for my own purposes but I get very unhappy when anyone deliberately wastes it for me.

Many other games have already recognized that players have gotten fed up and left to play other games with which they are more satisfied because of the way their premium time was being charged. So they have changed the way they are charging their players for premium time so that it is only actively ticked off while the player is actively playing the game.

For PGI making this change would mean the player would only be charged for premium time while actively participating in a match of some form. It would mean not being charged premium time for time not logged in or merely for being logged in or engaging in some "non active play" portion of the game. From a programming standpoint making this change is an incredibly easy thing to do. All of the needed information is already at their disposal.

To PGI: I may be a single person that you may scoff at but I think many, if not most of the others who play this game, feel the same way. If they do what would that do to your bottom line?

Think about it.

[Peace2U]

Megga B. makes an eloquent point.
'Premium Time':
a. Is of "virtual value" (has no value outside of this game).
b. As such, it is an incentive mechanism used by players to increase their in-game stats (which again, have no value in the real world).
c. Therefore, should only be active while 'IN GAME'. (did I say that too loud? - I wonder if anybody else heard us?)

It is unreasonable to provide a benefit that can 'NEVER' be fully utilized. (sorry - I'll get myself checked for tou-rette syndrome)

*** We Players would like to see Premium Time only active while In Game - - - Can I Get A Hell-Yeah????? ***

Peace - Out

[D V Devnull]

Peace2U, on 13 February 2018 - 02:49 AM, said:

Can I Get A Hell-Yeah?????

HELL YEAH!!!!!!!

~Mr. D. V. "You asked for that... LOL" Devnull

[Wodenborn]

Peace2U, on 15 January 2018 - 07:37 AM, said:

You see, I suffer from a common ailment:
have-a-life.

If I were to purchase premium time, and start using it, but was called away by some non-game situation, like work, my premium time would be burning off while I was away.

This is why I've stopped buying premium time at all: I only ever use a fraction of it.

However, your problem is already solved: it costs 50 MC to get the Premium Time Bonus on a single match.

If you want per match Premium Time? Buy MC. Expensive, isn't it? PGI can afford to charge far less for premium time when they're giving your more than you can possibly use. Also, the real-time aspect makes it seem like monthly time is a far better value than it is.

Spending 50 MC on Faction Play matches for 200k-400k Cbills a pop is actually a better value if you have less free time. It works out to about a quarter per match and you can choose to only spend it on the best matches to maximize value. This means it's about a dollar for a $1,000,000 Cbill bonus, which is a fair price.

Is that still too much? Then play for free. I can make $1,000,000 Cbills an hour on a good day and I'm in the bottom 30% of players in terms of match score.

My suggestion: If you need to hit a specific goal: a certain mech or engine you need or a drop deck you need to complete, then it's worth buying premium time. If you have a large chunk of time set aside, get the monthly premium time, otherwise play faction play and spend MC to the get the bonus when you win.

But remember: faster progress isn't always better. Exploring new mechs and new options is fun, but working towards those goals can just as fun in its own right.

And lastly, there's one more good reason to buy premium time anyway: to support the game. This, I encourage wholeheartedly.

Edited by Wodenborn, 14 February 2018 - 08:48 AM.

[D V Devnull]

Wodenborn, on 14 February 2018 - 08:47 AM, said:

<<<snip>>>

This is why I've stopped buying premium time at all: I only ever use a fraction of it.

However, your problem is already solved: it costs 50 MC to get the Premium Time Bonus on a single match.

If you want per match Premium Time? Buy MC. Expensive, isn't it? PGI can afford to charge far less for premium time when they're giving your more than you can possibly use. Also, the real-time aspect makes it seem like monthly time is a far better value than it is.

Spending 50 MC on Faction Play matches for 200k-400k Cbills a pop is actually a better value if you have less free time. It works out to about a quarter per match and you can choose to only spend it on the best matches to maximize value. This means it's about a dollar for a $1,000,000 Cbill bonus, which is a fair price.

Is that still too much? Then play for free. I can make $1,000,000 Cbills an hour on a good day and I'm in the bottom 30% of players in terms of match score.

My suggestion: If you need to hit a specific goal: a certain mech or engine you need or a drop deck you need to complete, then it's worth buying premium time. If you have a large chunk of time set aside, get the monthly premium time, otherwise play faction play and spend MC to the get the bonus when you win.

But remember: faster progress isn't always better. Exploring new mechs and new options is fun, but working towards those goals can just as fun in its own right.

And lastly, there's one more good reason to buy premium time anyway: to support the game. This, I encourage wholeheartedly.

I can punch one big hole in your idea of using the "Per-Game Bonus (MC) Purchase"... You don't get any GXP Boost to go with it. That effectively nullifies the point of that Bonus in the first place, as only Premium Time properly affects it.

So, we still need the ability to pause Premium Time while logged off.

EDIT :: By the way, I noticed you didn't vote on the Poll above. Could we have your Support, please?

~D. V. "PGI misses too many "Good Public Relations" opportunities, then doesn't get why people close wallets." Devnull

Edited by D V Devnull, 15 February 2018 - 11:53 AM.

[Sir Immortal Shadow]

PGI I promise you, and people: try to draw some attention to this point with your likes.
This applies not just to premium time but prices in general.
Giving us less for what we pay for does NOT MAKE YOU MORE MONEY! If our premium time didn't slip through our fingers and mech creds couldn't easily be spend by the hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth on things like colours and patterns and everything.
People will spend more money. Because we will be wont feel like we're being ripped off. There is plenty of stuff in the game to spend our money on, and if we feel like the things are actually WORTH the money we are spending, we will buy more stuff. To the point that we will actually spend MORE money!
I've spent a couple hundred dollars on this game, bought stuff almost exclusively on your best sales, and I still don't have even close to as many colours patterns and mechs as I want (And I will NEVER buy premium time). Part of this is because I lost the computer I was using and haven't been able to put in the hours, but mostly it's that my money just vanishes into this game with hardly any impact at all. Sure it's "free to play" but you charge us a lot for things that come standard on other games. It shouldn't cost an arm and a leg just to "pimp-my-mech"
Make colours, patterns, and other cosmetics cheaper, and stop bleeding away premium time.
Your sales will go way up.
PS make more patterns and other cosmetics. Give us... Maybe alternate weapon designs,

Edited by Sir Immortal Shadow, 16 February 2018 - 08:57 AM.

[MegaBopper]

Wodenborn, on 14 February 2018 - 08:47 AM, said:

However, your problem is already solved: it costs 50 MC to get the Premium Time Bonus on a single match.

If you want per match Premium Time? Buy MC.

You clearly missed the point. No one wants to spend any real money for anything including MC when it's just going to bleed off or possibly disappear uselessly.

Edited by MegaBopper, 16 February 2018 - 05:22 PM.

[Spare Parts Bin]

MegaBopper, on 16 February 2018 - 05:21 PM, said:

You clearly missed the point. No one wants to spend any real money for anything including MC when it's just going to bleed off or possibly disappear uselessly.

Money is a precious resource not to be squandered uselessly. If I had not bought as many Mech Bundles and Standard Clan Packs the Premium Time I possess would not be.

[Peace2U]

From my perspective, if you have the money to purchase premium time or not, why would you buy something that just evaporates, even if you are not using it?

I think it's time to do some 'is like':
I'll start it off, and you folks can pick up the baton and run with it.

Premium time is like:
Filling a gas tank with a hole in it.
(I've got a hundred of em, but I'd like to see how creative other mechwarriors can be.)
Peace All

[Spare Parts Bin]

Peace2U, on 21 February 2018 - 04:00 PM, said:

From my perspective, if you have the money to purchase premium time or not, why would you buy something that just evaporates, even if you are not using it?

I think it's time to do some 'is like':
I'll start it off, and you folks can pick up the baton and run with it.

Premium time is like:
Filling a gas tank with a hole in it.
(I've got a hundred of em, but I'd like to see how creative other mechwarriors can be.)
Peace All

No one in their right mind wants to expend assets when they can not be utilized.

[Peace2U]

Should we start a new poll to rename premium time to something more applicable, like, "sometimes your time", or "time is running out, time".

Sorry for the salt, sometimes I let my frustrations out. (everybody likes a little @$$, but no one likes a smart @$$)

What do you guys think?
Peace

[TheoLu]

Until middle of last month, I was working 270+ hours a month for a few months in a row.

I often-times had less than 11 hours between finishing one shift before I'd start the next 12 or 13-hour shift.

In-between those shifts, I still had to cook, sort out my clothes, do some chores around home, wash myself and try to get some 'me-time' in *somewhere* in-between also.

Before those months of never-ending work started I had at least 1h every two or three days I could play some games during my me-time. I would have been super-irked if I had to spend as much as premium time costs buying a multi-month package only to have maybe 2 days of actual play-time, if that much, be usable of that multi-month package.

I'd have been even more irked if I had to know every minute I sit around waiting for matchmaking to find me a match, my premium time was still ticking away.

Consequently I never have, and never will, buy premium time for this or most other games. Because it's completely irrational to me that this thing I pay for which only benefits me when matches I partook in conclude should tick away even if I'm not partaking in any matches at all.

[D V Devnull]

Peace2U, on 16 March 2018 - 09:24 PM, said:

Should we start a new poll to rename premium time to something more applicable, like, "sometimes your time", or "time is running out, time".

Sorry for the salt, sometimes I let my frustrations out. (everybody likes a little @$$, but no one likes a smart @$$)

What do you guys think?
Peace

Or just call it "Limited Boost Time", in order to be delicate as to how bad it is.

~D. V. "...and it really is bad." Devnull

[Peace2U]

How about Can't Stop the Clock time, or Premium Time Fly's time?

I really wish the Developers, would consider giving us a fair break on premium time, and have it consumed only while logged on.

Don't get me wrong, if someone were to purchase a month of PT, you would expect them to be hard core gaming, and the value for them would be reasonable, but many of us, I believe, can't play continuously, and to have premium time disappear when we are busy with life, is not reasonable.

Please vote your mind on this poll, so we can get PGI to pay attention to their consumers.
Peace

[Ravendaark]

Countless times i bouts/activated premium, that real life got into the way and i could kiss my premium good bye. I remember one time i bough month of premium, thinking, fookyeah lets sink month of my life into this game... nope... nope... i played for a day when situation came and i had to go away and was unable to play anything for an year.

[Popcat]

I would totally be happy with a system that only ticked off my premium time while I'm logged in and not just let it waste away.Even if it only worked like that for the time I pay for and not the time I win.