20 replies to this topic

[Mazen Drakhov]

Although I like the concept of the platinum packs, I feel that the implementation is really quite flawed. I'm definitely part of the target audience for these packs, since I tend to blow money on my hobbies with little concern for the long-term ramifications to my bank account. But as much as I want to like the platinum packs, both to get a little more C-Bill income and also to support PGI, I just can't get excited about them. Here's my logic.

If you're a collector (like me), you probably already own most / all of the chassis in question. And if you like playing them, then they're probably already skilled. That means you need to totally reskill the new platinum versions, which costs at least 72,800 experience, and 4,095,000 C-Bills per mech. And that's if you only unlock 91 nodes. I often unlock far more and swap them out. Let's say you normally earn what, 150,000 C-Bills a match? At that rate, a +30% boost from the platinum chassis nets you an extra 45,000 C-Bills per fight. That means you need to play NINETY ONE games with JUST THAT CHASSIS to recover the opportunity cost from switching away from the non-platinum, previously-skilled mech. That means you pay $5 to PGI, as well as forfeiting the +30% C-Bill bonus for the next 91 games, just to start to break even after that period. What a waste.

If you're not a collector and you don't own the mech already, then more than likely you're not the target audience anyways. If a casual player doesn't like the chassis enough to buy one with virtual currency, why would they buy it with actual money money? For the paint job? That doesn't even look all that good? I don't see the value proposition here.

Yes I am aware there is a temporary event after a pack's release that lets you earn 4 million C-Bills and 100 GSP. This still means I have to suffer through 140-ish games with partially-unskilled mechs to earn the additional experience needed to skill up all 4 chassis. And once the event ends, those bonuses aren't even available anymore, making the deal even worse.

In any case, I only figured this out after buying the Platinum 01 Inner Sphere pack. And I only got it because I like the Hunchie 4P so darn much. Joke's on me I guess.

Here's how they can fix this, and actually make money on it, while making it a good value for customers:

1) Scrap the "platinum pack" concept entirely.

2) Sell a "platinum upgrade" for $5, or a pack of 5 for $20 or something. Allow players to apply the upgrade to any single purchased mech they want.

3) Any platinum upgraded mech gets the paint job unlocked, as well as a +30% C-Bill bonus. Everything else about the mech stays the same, including skill unlocks. Edit: Oh yeah and add the (P) at the end of the chassis name, because why not, and it's free for the devs to do.

4) ????

5) Profit

This way, people don't have to buy crap mechs they already own and don't want duplicates of, for real money, just to have to waste dozens of hours reskilling them from the ground up.

I'd definitely throw down to upgrade my favorite mechs with a +30% C-Bill bonus. Maybe I'm alone in this though. Who knows.

I hope this makes sense. Maybe I'm missing something obvious.

Edited by Mr_Fission, 19 April 2022 - 04:03 PM.

[w0qj]

1. For the Platinum Collection you get good value:
4x Special Variant mechs +30% CBills bonus
4x Platinum Camo that unlocks across all four (4) mech chassis (for all variants for the said chassis)
Not bad or $20, right?

2) That said, there was a complaint from a returning MWO veteran who literally had zero CBills in his account,
bought the Platinum Collection, and literally had no CBills to outfit the Platinum mechs!

A minimum amount of CBills would be appreciated, for those returning MWO veteran who literally had zero CBills in their account.

[Disclaimer: I myself did have enough CBills to start off my Platinum mechs, to the tune of three (3) million CBills per mech for Platinum Collection 01 series].

[Magnus Santini]

You guys know that you have mech armies bigger than Kerensky, have like 20,000 games played in them, and are really looking forward to playing the mechs you bought.

[LordNothing]

the problem is its the same old mechs with different skins. its not a soucre of novelty. when playing the mech you cant tell you are in a platinum mech. if anything its going to make the game look better for people who did not buy the pack. the bonuses are not even that great for older players because of the cbill horde many players have accumulated over the years.i think it would have been a better pack if it included some new variants.

[ScrapIron Prime]

Similar ask to the old "make my mech special" suggestion. Charge us a one time fee to add an (X) to any one mech we pilot, turning it into a +30% cBill grinder.

But yeah, spot on. I haven't bought a Platinum pack yet because I already have all these mechs and they have yet to hit a "OMG I just have to have platinum camo for that mech" soft spot in my wallet.

[Mazen Drakhov]

w0qj, on 19 April 2022 - 04:27 PM, said:

1. For the Platinum Collection you get good value:
4x Special Variant mechs +30% CBills bonus
4x Platinum Camo that unlocks across all four (4) mech chassis (for all variants for the said chassis)
Not bad or $20, right?

2) That said, there was a complaint from a returning MWO veteran who literally had zero CBills in his account,
bought the Platinum Collection, and literally had no CBills to outfit the Platinum mechs!

A minimum amount of CBills would be appreciated, for those returning MWO veteran who literally had zero CBills in their account.

[Disclaimer: I myself did have enough CBills to start off my Platinum mechs, to the tune of three (3) million CBills per mech for Platinum Collection 01 series].

It looks like you didn't read what I wrote. You seem to have missed the part where you have to literally play ninety-some-odd games before you reach the break-even point and begin to even make use of that +30% bonus. I'm surprised you ignored that part of my message. It's literally the main point of the entire post.

But to answer your question though, no it's not a good value. Not in terms of time (90+ matches to break even), chassis performance (same stats), looks (a flat color?), or income. It's a wash across the board. And it costs real money to get it.

Let me hammer this point home for you with some more stats that you'll also ignore.

If you buy MC directly, then convert it into C-Bills by using 15 MC consumables instead of 40,000 C-Bill consumables, a $15.00 MC purchase (which is the closest you can get to the $20.00 cost of the platinum pack) would net you 8 million C-Bills. Let's say you WOULD be earning an extra 45,000 C-Bills a match from the +30% boost from the plat pack. That means you would need to play the 91 games to skill up, followed by an additional 177 games to overcome the opportunity cost of the platinum pack, using zero consumables the entire time, before you'd break even with simply buying the MC and using it to save on consumable costs. That's 269 games of playing the SAME MECH using ZERO CONSUMABLES before you break even with just paying $15.00 for MC. A purchase which is also 25% less expensive than the platinum pack as well, I might add.

Saying that it makes in-game financial sense to grind C-Bills with platinum mechs is nonsense. It's a gargantuan time sink. The +30% C-Bill bonus is a red herring unless you can apply it to an already-skilled mech. Even then, it's not special.

Edit: Math

Edited by Mr_Fission, 19 April 2022 - 06:29 PM.

[Magnus Santini]

Maybe I have this wrong, but can't you use the special gxp (?) to level a mech without playing it first? Now calculation of the cost of doing that would require some math. EDIT: Oh no I think they were talking about the cost of equipping the mech, not levelling it.

Edited by Magnus Santini, 19 April 2022 - 06:55 PM.

[Mazen Drakhov]

No I mean the cost of leveling it. Yes you can use GXP. But that doesn't solve the problem. All it does is deprive another mech of that GXP. You're not creating any value, you're just shifting existing resources around by using GXP.

The reskilling cost is the same in the long run, regardless of whether you use GXP or not, because it won't be available for another mech you skill later.

[ThreeStooges]

I didn't see the value of it so I didn't bother. I already have the k2 with enough xp from using it to skill it 3x. The pay bonus would be nice but I don't care for the other mechs. Add on the meh quirks like the velocity to guns and it's clear the mech isn't going to be any ppc sniper. The pnt has a better quirk for ppc sniping. Now if the k2 had an er ppc heat -50% quirk then it might be a good ppc mech.

[Bassault]

150,000 cbills a match? Like what? Huh? More like 300,000-400,000.

[feeWAIVER]

I'd buy platinum upgrades. I'd probably buy a lot of them tbh. Give me that cbill bonus on my favorite mechs!

[CreativeAnarchy]

Can we get a pick your mech platinum bundle? I'd like to get the c-bill bonus for a few other mechs.

[feeWAIVER]

CreativeAnarchy, on 22 April 2022 - 05:40 AM, said:

Can we get a pick your mech platinum bundle? I'd like to get the c-bill bonus for a few other mechs.

I reported this post as the smartest solution ever.
Everyone else should too. CreativeAnarchy just solved The Problem with Platinum.
Give the man a unique title, too: "Problem Solver".

Edited by feeWAIVER, 22 April 2022 - 05:54 AM.

[Gagis]

I think that suggestion is what platinum packs are the solution to. They are the practical way to try to make it happen.

People have been asking for (S) versions of their favourite mechs for years, but that hasn't been possible without making major changes to the games internal programming. Now they are making platinum packs so people have more diverse options to choose for.

I'll buy when theres a SHD-2D2(P)

Edited by Gagis, 22 April 2022 - 06:13 AM.

[An6ryMan69]

Yeah, I'd happily pay $5-10 per mech to be able to add a Hero/Platinum title to my existing regular mechs, as they are already skilled up, and customized, and I hug them say "good night" to them before bed.

Definitely.

[FupDup]

Gagis, on 22 April 2022 - 06:12 AM, said:

I think that suggestion is what platinum packs are the solution to. They are the practical way to try to make it happen.

People have been asking for (S) versions of their favourite mechs for years, but that hasn't been possible without making major changes to the games internal programming. Now they are making platinum packs so people have more diverse options to choose for.

I'll buy when theres a SHD-2D2(P)

A way to do it without any new programming would be to make a new cockpit item that boosts C-Bill gains by 30% (we already have much weaker boosting items), and purchasing this item would unlock platinum camo for a variant of your choice (this would require PGI to make plat camo for every mech though, which might be a problem).

If possible those items could be restricted to a specific chassis family so that people couldn't just buy 1 and rotate it between all of their mechs. Or even restrict it to just one specific variant.

[w0qj]

Yeah, I've also suggested +30% CBills bonus cockpit items as a way around the (S) variant, or even bypass the Platinum Collection system...

In fact, you can also get:
+CBills bonus Warhorns!

Cockpit items or even mech co-pilot which can give unique skills to your mech!
+3% kinetic burst cockpit item or mech co-pilot
+3% Coolrun cockpit item or mech co-pilot
+10% All Ammunition cockpit item or mech co-pilot
etc. etc.

FupDup, on 22 April 2022 - 01:10 PM, said:

A way to do it without any new programming would be to make a new cockpit item that boosts C-Bill gains by 30% (we already have much weaker boosting items), and purchasing this item would unlock platinum camo for a variant of your choice (this would require PGI to make plat camo for every mech though, which might be a problem).

If possible those items could be restricted to a specific chassis family so that people couldn't just buy 1 and rotate it between all of their mechs. Or even restrict it to just one specific variant.

[FupDup]

w0qj, on 22 April 2022 - 05:17 PM, said:

Cockpit items or even mech co-pilot which can give unique skills to your mech!
+3% kinetic burst cockpit item or mech co-pilot
+3% Coolrun cockpit item or mech co-pilot
+10% All Ammunition cockpit item or mech co-pilot
etc. etc.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[CreativeAnarchy]

I like that cockpit item idea, something standing or hanging. I don't want to replace my war horns unless there might be a bonus for them as well.

Back to my previous suggestion about picking my mech... I don't care about the color itself, that is far and away not even on my radar.

The only reason I buy these mechs is for the c-bill bonus.

Just slap that bonus on any mech I choose, I'll be happy with the paint job I already have.

I don't care if I have to level it up even if I have another one fully skilled, I just want the c-bill bonus on a variety of mechs that I want to and already like to play. I have a few such as the MX90 that I haven't ran in a while because it has no c-bill bonus and I'm paying out a lot for stuff just to try out various builds to see which one fits best for my preferences.

The current IS pack, there is only 1 mech I really want and 2 I want to try, don't care about the light but it will be nice to have. I have no interest in the Clan pack.

I bought the last IS and Clan plat packs, I hate the Jenners and will pick just about any other light, the Hunchies are ok and I wanted to try them out, Atlas was the main reason I bought the IS pack, already had that model but I wanted the c-bill bonus, and didn't care about much else but wanted a few mechs with that bonus.

Just let me pick my mech and attach the 30% c-bill bonus. That is all I really want and obviously I will pay real money. I have a growing collection of Hero mechs mostly just because of that.

Edited by CreativeAnarchy, 22 April 2022 - 09:24 PM.

[CreativeAnarchy]

ScrapIron Prime, on 19 April 2022 - 05:48 PM, said:

Similar ask to the old "make my mech special" suggestion. Charge us a one time fee to add an (X) to any one mech we pilot, turning it into a +30% cBill grinder.

Here...

Just sell the 30% c-bill bonus chassis quirk as an item in the store and let me apply it to a mech. Just sell the quirk by itself and let me slap those babies on every mech chassis I buy. I'll buy a bunch of these, pretty much with every mech I purchase.

Also, when I buy a mech, just add a check box to automatically add it to the mech when I purchase it. It has to go through the store anyway, just make it easier for me to give you my money.

Bonus...maybe stack with a hero mech bonus or in addition to a champion bonus?

Edited by CreativeAnarchy, 22 April 2022 - 10:12 PM.