93 replies to this topic

[Meep Meep]

So after listening to the Russ interview it seems that the biggest obstacle to further development or an extension of the ip rights is funding. As per his comments MWO pulls in over a year about the same as it used to pull in over a month and half to two months.

So basically income has decreased by around 80% which would normally be a death knell for an online game. But since this is partially a game built by BT fans and the studio is small the money coming in while not great is still enough to keep the door open and lights on simply because its a passion project of a sort.

So the question is this: What would entice you to spend money on the game to ensure its still here years from now?

One idea would be to revamp premium time or add in an alternate type so that the benefits are more geared to established players than newbies. This could be in the form of a small mc injection each month you keep the sub active and all the time discounts on ingame items like consumables and cosmetics.

Plus if we really want the game to keep rolling just a simple purchase of the smallest mc pack by a good portion of the active players each month would probably have a huge impact. We have been playing for free for a decade now maybe time to give a little back? I mean in reality its basically the price of a mcd's meal or starbucks and muffin and who thinks twice about that?

So what would ~you~ like?

[Kynesis]

I'd donate toward making the game open source.

[Bud Crue]

Meep Meep, on 11 January 2023 - 12:03 AM, said:

So the question is this: What would entice you to spend money on the game to ensure its still here years from now?

This is going to sound crazy, but my idea is that if they engaged in actual game development, that might get some folks to throw some cash their way.

[Meep Meep]

Bud Crue, on 11 January 2023 - 03:59 AM, said:

This is going to sound crazy, but my idea is that if they engaged in actual game development, that might get some folks to throw some cash their way.

Catch 22.

80% drop in revenue means very little game development because what are they going to pay the workers with and still have enough left over for keeping the servers turned on. Why do you think they resorted to volunteer cauldron for balance? Afaik none of them are getting paid. We are well and truly in maintenance mode unless cash starts to flow again. This is why I was putting forward ideas that require minimal effort to implement.

[Bud Crue]

Meep Meep, on 11 January 2023 - 04:18 AM, said:

Catch 22.

80% drop in revenue means very little game development because what are they going to pay the workers with and still have enough left over for keeping the servers turned on. Why do you think they resorted to volunteer cauldron for balance? Afaik none of them are getting paid. We are well and truly in maintenance mode unless cash starts to flow again. This is why I was putting forward ideas that require minimal effort to implement.

Alas. The game lasted a good long time and its end is inevitable. Russ expecting the existing base to keep supporting the game at this point, in this state, as they have in the past is something of a fools errand. There is nothing PGI/EG7/Russ can do to get substantial revenue for this old product as long as they refuse to develop it further. That's just the way it is.

[sycocys]

Personally I'm not interested in spending any more money on this iteration of the game. I offered them several hundred dollars for it already and they never returned that by developing it into anything much more than it was at beta/shortly into live. Maybe some technical limitations, mostly just bad leadership choices steering hard towards e-sports/dota styling without having a fleshed out game to take that direction.

That being said, I'd still offer them some money to do a sequel to this game as it seems that the oversight of EG7 has actually done the company some good.

[Papaspud]

If they want more of my money- they need to make MWO2. When I see they aren't going to develop it anymore= my wallet just went dry. The only reason I have supported MW5 was in the hope that maybe some of that money would go towards MWO2, but that isn't happening. 11 years has been a good run.

[w0qj]

MWO support...let me think it over while playing my second DWF-A(P) from the Platinum Collection

Personally, I am jumping up and down in excitement with Platinum Collection mechs!

[ScrapIron Prime]

Existing monetization model... I'd buy a Bull Shark. Or a Phoenix Hawk IIC.

To get more... break that model. Offer new content. Start small like new game modes, even if its just Quickplay. Fix Incursion, make different kinds of base capture or flag capture scenarios, bring back scouting missions, use drop decks in Quickplay...

Just SOMETHING NEW. Doesn't have to be big.

Oh.. and advertise. Because they're not. At all. Not even on Steam.

[Nightbird]

Would be fastest if you just ask them for their wire account number and send them money directly.

[JediPanther]

NEW MAPS AND MECHS NOT RE-SKINS OR REMAKES. The same thing this game has needed for years. Mwo adds one map while other games get almost en entire games' worth of new maps in the same amount of time.

[VeeOt Dragon]

honestly nothing at this point. been playing long enough that i have pretty much everything i could want or need. i find their new mech packs WAY overpriced to be honest.

what the game needs are new players, people who don't already have more than enough to work with. this would require ADVERTISING. well that and a bit of work on the new player experience. (not saying that new players are there to be milked its just a new player is more likely to drop cash on the game than those that have been collecting event rewards for years.)

Edited by VeeOt Dragon, 11 January 2023 - 08:02 AM.

[Col Jaime Wolf]

give new players 5-10 good mechs for free to get people into the game without grinding

make it so some mechs for new players can be skilled and re-skilled for free so new players can experiment and find what works without grinding or wasting their skillpoints.

put ingame comms (microphone) in the mech bay/group screen so you don't have to use third party applications to communicate with your team while preparing to drop.

enable copy and paste from clipboard so mech builds/skills and links to discord/teamspeak channels are easy to share.

make teams free to add members up to a certain point (think 20-30 or so) so new teams can get started easily.

take a page out of mech 2 mercs, let new players choose to join a AI faction/unit (could even make it fun and lore-full) that provides them with free mechs, free equipment and refits and free skillpoints for those mechs only (they don't get to keep the mechs, but they should get keep their XP progress with those variants, like transferring historic XP)

make it so as they advance in rank in that lore based faction they get more mechs/skills (think rank 1 they can spend 10 skill points on every mech their faction has available, at rank 2 they get 20 for every mech available, est) and/or other perks (like XP or Cbill medallions for their faction mechs that are unique to AI units) so they can feel like they are actually progressing in the in-game universe.

but as a counter they don't earn c-bills as fast as a being an independent merc and their mech selection might be more limited to those mechs of that faction (like davion, ghost bear est).

Then later, after they have experimented with mechs and builds they may want to strike out on their own or join a real unit and buy mechs for themselves that they can even use while still in the AI faction and that can make more cbills/XP than their faction mechs to encourage them to want to seek independence and find a good unit to play with.

make the game more accessible to the casual gamer to just pick up and play for a few hours at a time, without having to dedicate all their time and gaming budget on simply one game. so they don't just write MWO off because they don't have any friends to play with, they don't have any real way to progress and the game just takes to much grind if your not willing to shell out a small fortune of real life space bucks.

MWO as it currently stands appeals to a very small sliver of the gaming population, mostly those with nostalgia for battletech and the original games, it is good for the game and the players to keep MWO firmly planted in the battletech universe, and it is also good for the game and the players to make MWO fun to play for newcommers and worth returning to instead of just playing (insert generic online shooter of the month here).

[Bassault]

We're ******. It doesn't matter what you do. I'll spend much more money if more content like weapons or something interesting like IS omnis are added, making faction play actually interesting, stuff like that. The problem is that this is never going to be added because Russ himself has stated that there hardly devs working on MW:O because the game is hardly generating money. Even if they wanted to add ****, they don't have enough people who know how to work Cryengine, so we're ******.

Also I'd be total sucker for a gold Annihilator.

Edited by I LOVE ANNIHILATORS, 11 January 2023 - 12:21 PM.

[MechB Kotare]

New clan mechs! Is omni mechs! Perhaps new weapons.

But, i dont think we will get any of that, nor do i think anything would change, even if every single active player bought stuff for 100e. The amount of active players is way too small. Not enough money > no new content > not enough money > no new content... etc.

[Davegt27]

<div>

Quote

So the question is this: What would entice you to spend money on the game to ensure its still here years from now?

</div>
<div> </div>
<div>well I swore I would not spend money on MWO</div>
<div> </div>
<div>but in Dec 2021 the roughneck BLT came out and I forgot about not spending money</div>
<div>I bought that pack that included a SMN and a BLT and gifted it to a streamer</div>
<div> </div>
<div>so based on past experience I for sure will spend money on a good mech that makes sci-fi sense</div>
<div>I will forget the problems with the game</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I spent over $75 on gift subs to MWO streamers in Dec</div>
<div> </div>
<div>the game is interesting but not fun (I get interested in a build and pop in to try it/test it) </div>
and I am not talking wins and dmg everyone knows how much of a beating I take in this game

why in the world would I want to know how much dmg I soaked up, how is that fun
why in the world would I want to know how much of a chitter I am
lastly dear PGI wow your computers work great I am really impressed
can we try something different

Edited by Davegt27, 12 January 2023 - 07:07 AM.

[An6ryMan69]

The problem is the game needs a wider audience, not trying to squeeze the same players for more.

I actually suspect that the per-player money spent on this game is quite high.

Personally, and I cringe to say it, I know I have put $400 or more into it in the two years I've been playing.

I've NEVER spent more than about $80 on any other game, ever, and I have games with 600+ hours on them that I paid $40 for and thoroughly enjoy.

I've mentioned it in other posts, but I'll say it again, IMO the problem is how unforgiving the game is on new and casual players. From the very steep learning curve overall, to Lore related frustrations like the heat management system, to MWO only things like ghost heat, specific mech scaling and agility issues, Ace of Spades level players jumping on Cadets and eating them alive, pre-made groups destroying randoms single players....all of these things make MWO just kind of....hard and frustrating to those who aren't very quickly addicted to it.

There are lots of other multiplayer games out there for people to put money into, and most of them are much more forgiving. There are also other "giant fighting robot" games, and I've never seen one that wasn't decidedly simpler and easier to play than MWO.

Don't get me wrong, I spend way too much time playing, and paying in MWO. But I hadn't been hooked on Battletech since way back when the original MechWarrior was released like 35 years ago, I probably would have passed on this game after my first dozen quickplay drops lead to me getting completely demolished every time...

Edited by An6ryMan69, 12 January 2023 - 08:31 AM.

[BarHaid]

As an old grognard I try to spend a little bit every few months; but if a new mech comes out? Yeah, new mechs are the way to my heart. I have way too many C-bills, so I have everything I want that’s available. Finish the TRO 3025 releases and I will keep giving them money. (told you I was a grognard)

[Novakaine]

Just saying........

[Glymbol]

Papaspud, on 11 January 2023 - 05:59 AM, said:

If they want more of my money- they need to make MWO2. When I see they aren't going to develop it anymore= my wallet just went dry. The only reason I have supported MW5 was in the hope that maybe some of that money would go towards MWO2, but that isn't happening. 11 years has been a good run.

I did the same thing. I don't even play the new DLCs for MW5 although I have purchased them all.