2003 replies to this topic

[DEVASTATOR]

I wouldn't mind seeing a system where you could combine experience points with cash to acquire goods or perks. So, if an item required 1,000 XP (as an example) and you only had 500, you could pay a few bucks to make up th difference. Perhaps a more simple way of explaining this would be to say that everything in the game can be purchased with XP and that Xp can be acquired through gameplay or by buying XP points with cash (XP to likely be known as c-bills).

As for comments about "people buying their way to victory with money" being a disadvantage I'm not sure I agree. It depends on what you are able to buy. Perhaps a split system where c-bills can acquire things and XP can acquire other things. Maybe certain mechs are made available for purchase only after you've reached a certain XP level no matter how much cash you spend on the game. At some point there has to be an incentive given to players to spend money so all those involved can turn a profit. That is the reason they are making this game afterall - its a business.

Edited by DEVASTATOR, 10 January 2012 - 05:26 AM.

[Shuu Long]

Dlardrageth, on 30 November 2011 - 08:48 PM, said:

Voice Packs.

Who won't want a voice pack that gives his Mech's computer either a sultry female voice that makes you miss a shot occasionally, or a Darth Vader voice pack or a South-Park'ish one or whatever. There used to be a time when people spent literally millions world-wide to customize their answering machines and the industry for providing new tunes/gimmicks for mobiles these days...

Then there's the microwave for the cockpit. Just be careful as a critical hit there might trigger a full-blown popcorn burst right into your pilot's face...

Depending on how the pilot avatar will be depicted/accessible in-game, that is a good option for upgrades as well. I'd sure want the proper uniform for my faction and a decent sidearm of sorts. Especially if future employers can see a pilot depiction, don't want to miss the "big deal" because they got hold of a picture of me wearing pajamas like these:
http://ecx.images-am...31v-hLeUtXL.jpg

Also, 100% boosts like OP suggests are maybe a bit over the top. 50% boosts should suffice. And no salvage boosts, pls, that would be close to paying for better weaponry once ClanTech becomes available through salvage, kthx.

I'd love the voice packs. Heck, even cute Vocaloid ones would be okay with me.

That aside, mechs of course. Boosts would depend if they're necessary for game enjoyment or not. Special/different PPC color/effects

I'd love to buy some Clan ER PPCs though I know they won't be available for awhile 8)~

[Elizander]

Hellen Wheels, on 08 January 2012 - 07:06 PM, said:

Nothing. You're off your rocker.

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

But that's just me :-)

=H=
MBCB

This really isn't surprising. This post represents probably 95% of the people who will be playing MWO. It will be up to the 5% or so people who actually pay to make it profitable.

Reflexion, on 04 December 2011 - 12:51 PM, said:

Second-A rule suggestion.
No player should be allowed to inject more than a fixed amount monthly.
I dunno... $30-$50

This is just outright silly. I am sorry, but if the customer wants to buy 10 hotdogs (or 10 hula girls), you sell him 10 hotdogs (or 10 hula girls).

***

Making everything available for C-bills (in-game currency) would be a dangerous model. Online games are often victim to hacks and exploits and a hack or dupe that manipulates C-bills would be quite a bit headache for the developer and publisher. 24/7 Bots that auto join games and AFK to accumulate currency or something they overlooked that allowed currency to balloon up to insane amounts (it happens) is a very real risk.

***

I will probably not buy every mech available, but there are models that I like and I would gladly buy them to skip the grind. I would probably buy some cosmetics for my favorite mech. I would prefer a 30 day premium subscription to purchasing individual items that give 30 minute or 1 hour EXP/credit/rep boosts though you could probably shaft a few of us by selling the items and making them stack with the premium sub bonus.

I prefer permanent hangar space as opposed to monthly rental. If weapons are random drops from salvage then I wouldn't mind buying them off the shop for customization.

***

The only problem with this discussion is that we are not quite sure what the game system is yet so all we can really do is speculate and base our assumptions off what is available in other F2P games.

If we're talking about prices, I had to go out of my way to find a Korean friend with a Korean credit card so that I could go buy my Shining Gundam for about $12 (plans and parts and such) in SDGO Korea. I still had to level the lower level Gundams so that I could combine them to what I wanted.

In our local KoS Secret Operations (FPS shooter, Sting Online in Korea) I paid about $8 each for some permanent guns they sold last December. The new female characters were cheap at around $5 each and I bought three of them so far. I regularly buy uniforms that last 1 day for around $0.50 and I play 1-3 times a week (our currency exchange rate is different as well as the economy. I am converting local currency to $$ for easier reference). During the times when hacks and cheats are proliferate, I do not play at all but I come back when they get blocked again.

When I played Gunbound, I remember buying a lot of things but it's been so long now that I cannot remember what it was I actually bought. :/

I pay the usual $15 a month for World of Warcraft and have been playing the game since Burning Crusade. I purchased the necessary boxes for the expansions (and the original game) and I sometimes subscribe to their WoW Remote service (extra $3). I also subscribed to a tunnelling service for better latency until I got better internet. I do not plan on ending my WoW subscription when MWO comes out and I plan to play both.

I am not too keen on merchandise (miniatures, posters, mugs, etc).

I think that stating my spending habits on other games is a better gauge of what I would be willing to buy for how much in MWO rather than guessing what might be for sale and what the entire game system might be.

Edited by Elizander, 10 January 2012 - 08:55 AM.

[MechaKitsune]

I have some strong feelings regarding how the micro transaction shop should work, not as much on exactly what I'd like to see in it.

While certain items may be only available for purchase with real money, any item that offers a technical advantage in combat should be simultaneously available for purchase with real money or C-bills. Players should not be punished or rewarded based on their method of payment. If I am a long time player with lots of C-Bills and not a lot of cash, I should not be considered a second class citizen to the player with real dollars. Why? Because as an invested player I am part of what keeps MWO going.

Almost every non-paying player will have friends who they will bring along to the game, who may very well open their wallets to contribute. Beyond that, just having people playing the game helps keep an online game like this going. Nobody's going to spend any money on an MMO that no-one else is playing. Extra Credits has some good points on this matter: http://penny-arcade....iii-marketplace

That rant aside, I would be very happy to see voice packs like other players have mentioned. (Though not expected at release) I feel that mechs should be purchasable via real cash or C-bills. I do not like the idea of "premium accounts" because I have never seen a game with a premium account system as well as a micro transaction store that was done right. If I have to pay a monthly fee to get the most out of MWO, and then pay even more to get certain items and perks, that's asking too much. (Unless the monthly fee is minimal like $5.) You should either make it a pay to play monthly fee with no micro transactions, or micro transactions and no monthly fee.

If you want to offer incentives for extra xp or c-bills earned in matches, then sell that as an individual perk in the micro-transaction store like LoL does it. Not like WoT does it.

Edited by MechaKitsune, 10 January 2012 - 09:32 AM.

[Battlefinger]

I think what you have is fine, except for xp boosts. Nobody should be able to use money to increase their rank in any way. Buy mechs, weapons, salvage with real money, but the rank should remain solely based on skill. There needs to be one thing that can give you an indication of how good the pilot is that your coming up against without it being skewed by their money. I think that's pretty fair.

[MechaKitsune]

captain kickass, on 10 January 2012 - 09:29 AM, said:

I think what you have is fine, except for xp boosts. Nobody should be able to use money to increase their rank in any way. Buy mechs, weapons, salvage with real money, but the rank should remain solely based on skill. There needs to be one thing that can give you an indication of how good the pilot is that your coming up against without it being skewed by their money. I think that's pretty fair.

I would agree, except that the xp system by default only indicates how much someone has played up to a certain point, and says nothing about their skill. Anybody could reach max rank simply by playing for long enough.

[Elizander]

I would also probably buy a voice pack that has a sexy female russian accent for my mech >_>;

[Blackfire1]

Ok thats the 30th some time I've read Mech AI voicepacks. I added it.

[UncleKulikov]

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.

That wasn't his suggestion. Weapons would be available for unlocking through normal play, or you could receive them earlier for money.

Since some part of the matching system is based on the equipment you bring into battle, the better the equipment you have, the better equipped your opponents will be.

If I pay to get a Pulse Laser, I'm going to be matched with people that have Pulse lasers. It won't be a free ticket to take the shiny new toy into Nubland and victimize players that have worse equipment.

[Sturmbb]

xp c-bill and loyalty point bonus is good but not at 100% to high.

[Doctor Horrible]

captain kickass, on 10 January 2012 - 09:29 AM, said:

I think what you have is fine, except for xp boosts. Nobody should be able to use money to increase their rank in any way. Buy mechs, weapons, salvage with real money, but the rank should remain solely based on skill. There needs to be one thing that can give you an indication of how good the pilot is that your coming up against without it being skewed by their money. I think that's pretty fair.

MechaKitsune, on 10 January 2012 - 09:35 AM, said:

I would agree, except that the xp system by default only indicates how much someone has played up to a certain point, and says nothing about their skill. Anybody could reach max rank simply by playing for long enough.

If you can outright purchase superior gear then the XP system is by default affected by players that have more money, because having the better gear gets you XP faster and easier.

I'll buy lotsa stuff, (its a bad habit of mine) but I hate going up against rich kids or guys that still live with mom and don't have to face the real world economy lol.

[plodder]

plodder, on 08 January 2012 - 09:57 AM, said:

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..

I really like the way this guy thinks !!! L L

Edited by plodder, 10 January 2012 - 06:43 PM.

[Elizander]

Adding stuff to the cockpit would be even better if they can link your account's cockpit to the forums/website for other people to see. Sort of like the WoW armory.

[Nasty McBadman]

sinsofzavv, on 06 January 2012 - 07:12 PM, said:

i agree with buying stuff with real money. if every thing that effects the game play can be gotten with c bills. i know if someone pays for a mech and i did not and we are both lvl 5 in game if they have a better mech o well but if i am maxed lvl and we have the same mech and they payed for something that i cant get that give them a advantage i will not want to play the game at all

Likewise as a father of a 4 yr old I will find myself not able to devote the same time as someone who has nothing but time. I may need to pay for stuff that others players have gotten with time if I want to be able to compete. If not I will not get any pleasure out of playing the game.

[Sug]

It's getting to the point that I would start paying for more information about this game....


Maybe a screenshot or 2? Or some movies of gameplay? Summer 2012 tick tock piranha

[Blackfire1]

I don't see have a real money auction house would help MWO. But that Penny arcade had a good point.

[Elizander]

Blackfire1, on 11 January 2012 - 01:49 PM, said:

I don't see have a real money auction house would help MWO. But that Penny arcade had a good point.

Any well-designed FP2 will allow you to enjoy playing the game without paying (to some degree) as long as you are able to put the time in. It won't be the exact same experience as those who pay, but when you meet each other in the battlefield it should even out more or less.

It's quite necessary that the game be fun for people who do not pay for it to be a success, as much as it is important for them to give a reason for the few capable to shell out some cash for it.

[Morashtak]

Don't have any big disagreement with OP. In fact, kinda like it. Not familiar with other F2P games other than LotRO and didn't stick around that for long as didn't have any friends from other games jump ship for it.

Would like the ability to order a figurine of my 'Mech from a third party (ex. Figure Prints), as well as posters, wall hangings, etc.

Will be easier to give an informed reply when we see what the real and in-game costs for the different options/abilities are.

[Rathverge]

Doctor Horrible, on 10 January 2012 - 01:59 PM, said:

I'll buy lotsa stuff, (its a bad habit of mine) but I hate going up against rich kids or guys that still live with mom and don't have to face the real world economy lol.

This is usually the only issue with a F2P system, unless they really dont know what they are doing (which most dont). Sure some F2P systems are failing but that is either = failed amateur design OR lack of design. Meaning either its just a huge cash grab or they never intended it to be F2P. Since most likely neither apply, all we must overcome are ego's and inadequacies.

[Hellen Wheels]

Blackfire1, on 11 January 2012 - 01:49 PM, said:

I don't see have a real money auction house would help MWO. But that Penny arcade had a good point.

In the most recent dev post, there was mention (IIRC) of a "pay-to-progress" aspect of MWO.

That statement troubled me a bit but it isn't a game-breaker (I hope.)

At this point, I would prefer to see a "pay to play"...I'd pony up $15 right now just to play a beta right now for a month.

And so would a heck of a lot of other people.

How else are the programmers going to get paid?

Just my two pfennigs.

=H=