2003 replies to this topic

[Arcteares Columbius]

Rathverge, on 06 January 2012 - 01:45 PM, said:

The "pay 2 win" haters that have no idea what Pay 2 win actually is, are suggesting this game ends quickly. Im not sure if they realize this game is entirely funded through player purchases. Many games have tried it and you cannot support a game with just skins and cosmetics. The best way is fast tracking (allowing people who dont have time to grind or are lazy to get to a place sooner) and consumables (strong ammo, mods, charges {temporary things})

If this isnt present Id recommend leaving these forums as they wont be here in a year.

This is BS. This is marketing scheming. If they go out of business because they'd rather gouge people with micro-transactions rather than put a straight forward affordable subscription plan then their game most likely sucks and why would I pay micro-transactions for a sucky game?

No, this is an 'excuse marketing scheme' to get people who want to own noobs and are willing to pay for it, to actually pay for it while others pay for it to catch up. You might a well just go ahead and pit little leaguers against the New York Yankees. In fact, just go ahead and give them money now since that's basically what you'll be paying for in a micro-transaction shop: an ego-stroking forum enhancement tool.

[Vulpesveritas]

Not if you keep things balanced with micro transactions. Like unlocking weapons as you level up or offering them as a microtransaction item so you can get it without having to grind as long. As well as various texture skins, eyecandy options, and perhaps a few 'silly' things.

I mean heck, look at combat arms. (combatarms.nexon.net) and the rest of Nexon's games. Nexon is completely freemium yet they have a huge player base.

And the only thing I spend money on is permanant items in combat arms so I never have to worry about loosing my G36 or my M6A2. I like those guns so I am willing to spend the $25 a piece so I don't have to spend in game money on it and instead use that in game currency on.... Mines. and Nades. And RPGs.

Also, they leave certain items, like said RPG, an in game currency item only.

In contrast, there's Mabinogi which is purely cosmetic items, with a 'gatchapon' which has less than a 1% chance you'll get a rare item which isn't even one of the 5 strongest weapons of it's type but merely looks cool and you can sell it for a lot for the simple fact that it's rare. And then of course pets/mounts are paid.

Then there's Maplestory where items in the cash shop were originally cosmetic-only but then someone had the bright idea to give a 5% damage bonus to the weapon skins and allow the pets to increase your walking speed. And then later add mounts which move faster still.


All freemium, nothing truly game breaking. I've played nexon games for more than half a decade now and I've never really thought that people who paid really get more than me. I haven't even gotten the same till I turned 18 and could use my own debit card. So yea. Can hold my own in CA, ..85KDR when I have a habit of wearing light armor and grabbing an smg and continually going on suicide runs. I'm level..... 362? in Mabinogi with rebirths, current level in rebirth 34. Maplestory I got up to level 42 then Mabinogi came out and I haven't really touched Maplestory since.

Just thoughts. If MWO adopts a similar cash shop, then I doubt it will be unsuccessful.

Food for thought.

[Mims]

Everyone has good ideas, but never weapons. Rare and op weapons only availible for real life money will create imbalances.

example: new player starts playing, only to come up against players who have paid for overpowering weapon systems (example:railgun:) Result. new player is discourage and quits game forever, due to being fraged over and over again while gaining nothing.

[Calx]

riot games' model is pretty ideal, though not much else can be said until we know more about the gameplay. keep the cash shop cosmetic, allow nothing sold there to interfere with combat and you can't go wrong. the game's job is to make you love the gameplay, the cash shop's job is to get you attached to your character/mech through personalization and styling.

[ShoveI]

I would really only like to see cosmetic items be available for RL cash. At most make some kind of monthly payment for a small bonus in xp or cbill rewards available. Any kind of exclusive mech/weapon/mod for cash should not have any real tactical advantage during play otherwise you turn into a pay to win even if it's slight it's still an advantage.

[Fyrwulf]

Mims, on 07 January 2012 - 09:20 PM, said:

Everyone has good ideas, but never weapons. Rare and op weapons only availible for real life money will create imbalances.

example: new player starts playing, only to come up against players who have paid for overpowering weapon systems (example:railgun:) Result. new player is discourage and quits game forever, due to being fraged over and over again while gaining nothing.

I don't think weapons should be available, but if you want to use rare and experimental tech you should be constrained by the timeline and by cannon mechs that use them. Say you want to use a Hyper Assault Gauss in an IS design, your only options is the RFL-3X Rifleman MUSE WIND. Assume a rate of $1 per one million c-bills you'd be paying around $5 for that variant.

Hell, I'd pay the $282 for an Orca that was available on April Fool's Day and could only be played during April Fool's Day events. For the lulz and all that.

[plodder]

I have been thinking a bit on this. You know what i would find money for, and I think a lot of others would, two things, maybe combined, maybe not.

Solaris , a place for proven, newbie, or elite mech pilot to be matched up. where his house spends c-bills(no cash bought) or cash bought entry fee. some of the bouts would be so awesome, you would have to pay c-bills, or cash to see. have tournaments? How about a yearly superbowl,world cup, or whatever you like the best.....championship!! 1:single combat 2:squad combat: 3:house combat..

Grudge matches of honor in the solaris arena. Some fella ya dunae care fer....you would pay to knock his block,right???

Also: maybe you could earn special mech chassis, or hard to "find" weaponry(not better but rarer) for being a winner in a tournament..

[Felicitatem Parco]

I absolutely WOULD NOT pay a $10 monthly subscription fee.

New, modern videogames should cost between $30-80, and they should be playable for many years. If MWO tries to charge me $100 per year to play, then I would delete my account prior to game launch.

[Bernardo Sinibaldi]

I wouldn't want to pay for anything that affected game effectiveness at all. Cosmetic stuff - absolutely fine. I'd pay for dancing hula-girls, a bowler hat for my Urbie and flashy paint schemes (or ability to create my own). I wouldn't want to pay to increase my level or xp reward rate. I might be ok paying to unlock mechs but only if they were well-balanced and didn't compromise the game for other players. It may sound silly, but I'd happily pay for things that have a negligible impact but would hate to pay for something that had a major impact.

I'm quite happy with the Rise of Flight model - I can buy new planes, streamers, scarves for my pilot, map lights - that sort of thing. That's fine for me.

Edited by Bernardo Sinibaldi, 08 January 2012 - 10:44 AM.

[SilentWolff]

Let me preface this by saying that I want MWO to make money, lots of it. I will be spending money on this game, without a doubt.

I'd be willing to pay for just about anything that doesnt involve items needed to compete. When it comes to gameplay, I want player skill to be the overriding factor of whether you win or lose. Being nickle and dimed on those kind of items is the ticket to failure imo.

Anything else to charge for is fair game and there already have been alot of good ideas in this thread including the OP's.

[Fyrwulf]

Guys, you don't seem to understand that so long as you keep really tight to BT cannon these issues are moot. If a mech variant isn't available in 3049, it isn't available period. If a weapon isn't available in 3049, you can't go to Mech Magic Inc and request a custom variant with non-existent weaponry. BT comes with a pre-existing balance and the closer this game stays to it the better.

Frankly, I've decided this question comes from the fact that MW4 and its predecessors almost universally required boats and other cheap tricks to be successful. Just from the way the Devs are presenting this game in the run up to release, I think balanced designs are going to be the rule and any exceptions are going to have serious drawbacks.

[Zeddy]

I'm currently playing world of tanks and their online shop works well... you can have premium shells, mechs, paintjobs, etc...
you can set matches base of mech tonnage... so a premium assault mech only goes up vs heavy- assault type... same goes for light mech... you can have all sorts of premium mechs from light to assault and not worry about a locust going against a Madcat...

[Hellen Wheels]

Nothing. You're off your rocker.

I'll take seventeen Merc Lances before I pay a dime.

But that's just me :-)

=H=
MBCB

[statler]

ill accept look changing things and novelties that don't really effect game play, and some map and mech packs but thats it. and even then, the mechs better not have any advantage at all, or any real configuration differences than standard mechs that can have a real effect on a build.

if i have to pay real cash for repairs, or actual game play mech upgrades, or mech configuration changes that arnt cosmetic, or any advantage, i will be so disappointed in the designers that i will never buy anything at all out of spite, and probably quit quickly because of disgust. absolutely no cash for c-bills!

I dont want an advantage because i have more free cash over somebody else on the field, but i will so drop cash to customize my mech with visual only stuff like hula girl or paint. i will so drop cash for a mech that isnt part of the standard pack, but has the exact same pod options/wieght/all numbers.

i'd also happily pay an initial purchase, and monthly fee for continued development, and still buy cosmetic changes.

Edited by statler, 09 January 2012 - 05:42 PM.

[Sam Slade]

If Mechs in the super-future don't have I-Pod connectivity I'll be angry: so make that a buyable feature. "should see the subs on my Couger dude... the bass is awesome".

Have a chat with Itunes and see if they'll buy an I-tunes connect option for cockpits. That way you could have the music distort and crackle when a radio message or a missile salvo reaches the mech. Could also include a 'music escalation' so the track automatically changes depending on the pilots situation... Beverly Hills Cop theme for scouting... Flight of the Valkyries for alpha strike after jump jetting in.

[Vulpesveritas]

Sam Slade, on 10 January 2012 - 12:00 AM, said:

If Mechs in the super-future don't have I-Pod connectivity I'll be angry: so make that a buyable feature. "should see the subs on my Couger dude... the bass is awesome".

Have a chat with Itunes and see if they'll buy an I-tunes connect option for cockpits. That way you could have the music distort and crackle when a radio message or a missile salvo reaches the mech. Could also include a 'music escalation' so the track automatically changes depending on the pilots situation... Beverly Hills Cop theme for scouting... Flight of the Valkyries for alpha strike after jump jetting in.

Bah, who wants ipod connectivity or itunes? Give me an Android MHL dock with Google Music.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 10 January 2012 - 12:03 AM.

[Sam Slade]

Oh that... I want music that responds to the environment

[atlas shrugged92]

Prosperity Park, on 08 January 2012 - 10:06 AM, said:

I absolutely WOULD NOT pay a $10 monthly subscription fee.

New, modern videogames should cost between $30-80, and they should be playable for many years. If MWO tries to charge me $100 per year to play, then I would delete my account prior to game launch.

agreed no subscriptions please

[Admiral Bosh]

Blackfire1, on 30 November 2011 - 08:35 PM, said:

Ooo Hanger Space thats a good one.

This one million billion times. if we have one hanger spot per mech, and 50cents for each new hanger spot. I know most people would buy atleast 2-3 hanger spots.

Paint jobs, oh yea!

Hula girls. You bet.

Here is a good idea.
You could even do voice com for 2 bucks a month.

hear me out on this.
If you have built in voice com at 2 bucks a month or so for a person to use it with an ingame interface, you would get alot of clans to use it. Rather than one person spending 10-15 bucks a month for a vent server for a clan, im sure most people would opt to pay the 2 bucks themselves for voice com rather than stand up and provide free voice com to their group at a large cost to themselves.

Also, advantages of ingame voice com include the entire team being able to talk in regular pick up matches without needing to exchange voice com info.

...

Yea charging for voice com that allowed people to join rooms, and talk with lance mates would be awsome.

[Admiral Bosh]

Cavadus, on 30 November 2011 - 08:43 PM, said:

-Hangar Space For Mechs
-Armory Space For Weapons/Equipment
-Custom Paint Schemes
-Aesthetic Modifications
-Custom Cockpits/Cockpit Modification

_______________________________________________________All above this line is good and just.

Cavadus, on 30 November 2011 - 08:43 PM, said:

-"Premium Account" for bonus XP and C-Bills (and perhaps salvage if they have that)
-In-Game Currency (as long as the matchmaker puts together fair matches I don't see any problems)

Honestly, I think your pricing for XP and C-Bill boosts is way over the top. Games like Global Agenda and World of Tanks sell 30-day premium accounts for normal MMO subscription prices. I want that. What the OP proposes is pretty much gouging.

The rest of this can take a flying leap. If you let people buy power you kill the game. Also keep in mind that you WILL BE TEMPTED to do this. "but its only a little bit of an edge, it wont throw off the balance" You start like that, and i know it is easy to talk yourself into it, but that is how it all starts. That is how you kill a game.

An auction for victory, is not a game.


buying C-Bills is a horrible idea. I have only ever seen this done right ONCE. That was in EVE ONLINE.

A player could buy an item for real world cash that when used in game would credit their account with a one month subscription. That player was then able to sell that item in the markets for ingame cash.

Note that they did not let people buy currency, but they set up an item purchase that allowed curency to be exchanged for ingame money, and vis versa. When you get down to it, what they did was let a player purchase two subscriptions so that he could pay for another players game with real money if that player would give him in game funds.


This made it so that their was no actual inflow of in game currency to inflate prices or cause a general glut. All that happened was that people bought other people play time in exchange for their ingame cash.

On the accounting end, it likely only increased subscription sales a little bit, but it did increase cash flow by the total value of the unused subscription items for sale or unused at any given point of time in game. When in game, they represented an increase in prepaid subscriptions.



Tl;Dr NO BUYING ******* MONEY OR STAT ADVANTAGES WITH REAL MONEY.