2003 replies to this topic

[Tsen Shang]

TheRulesLawyer, on 03 November 2011 - 10:42 AM, said:

I want hats.
I'd like to be able to put all sorts of hats on my atlas. Maybe start with a wizard hat? baseball caps, cowboys hats, top hats, bonnets, etc, etc.

I put on my robe and wizard hat?

[mbt201188]

I would pay for decals, items inside the cockpits, basically anything that would help make my mech more unique visually without adding to its killing ablity.

[TheRulesLawyer]

Tsen Shang, on 03 November 2011 - 11:51 AM, said:

I put on my robe and wizard hat?

Oh, I like to play dress up.

[Ghost]

But if we added hats, it'd look like we're playing a giant robot-themed hat simulator, and competing with the other famous hat simulators out there!

[TheRulesLawyer]

Pffft. This is clearly a hat themed robot simulator. I know the two can be confusing at times, but this is about the *displaying* of hats vs the design and making of hats.

[Col Sanders]

I'd pay to get into the beta.

[BigBadVlad]

I'll chime in that I would consider paying for additional mechs. I look at it this way, one of my favorite games has been Forza Motorsport for Xbox. I love cars and what not and I enjoy the game. After the game launches they sell new cars as downloadable content, either individually or several in a pack at a discount. I buy the cars individually sometimes or often in a pack because I love the game and the cars I want, well I want and the price is usually equal to a lunch or two. If MWO is good and I love playing it then I would consider paying for additional mechs. Now obviously there are several factors that would factor in to my decision whether I buy or not: Is the game good? How much are the Mechs or Mech Paks? Are there enough players to warrant me wanting to spend more money on the game?

Guess I'm just saying I would consider spending a few dollars per mech. This isn't saying I necessarily would either. If I don't feel it's worth the money at the time, most likely because I don't enjoy the game enough, then I won't.

.02

Edited by BigBadVlad, 03 November 2011 - 01:41 PM.

[PK Violence]

The funny thing is I could care less how I can give money to the developers as long as i can. I just want a way to give them money for bringing back the best ******* game I know. I would drop hundreds just to have the opportunity to play this and if spending it on somthing keeps the game alive, where do i sign up.

If you must have a reason that shows that I contributed money to such a great game; how about valet mech parking?

[MagnusEffect]

i personally would probably spend most of my money on new OPTIONAL expansion content, new OPTIONAL mech packs, with a little spent here or there random custom bits and flair... especially how most flair probably won't interest me, but ALL expansions and mechs will DEFINITELY interest me

[UncleKulikov]

I would pay for a Mech Painter
I would pay for intricate Mech Skin packs
I would pay (a small amount) for different laser colors
I would pay for cool alternate weapon models (like a multiple barrel AC10)
I would pay for alternate Mech models
I would pay for a larger squad communication size
I would pay for a persistent Map Campaign mode

[Grimlox]

* Charge for cosmetic upgrades: Paint, decals, etc.

* Charge for extra inventory space (Can only store enough parts that if you want to change your loadout you have to start pulling parts off other mechs to swap around because you can't store everything you might fancy for a variant in your inventory without paying a one time fee to upgrade inventory space. This would make it more expensive in in-game currency for F2Pers to swap out their equipment all the time (pay for off one mech and onto another instead of just out of inventory and onto a mech). People who are willing to pay for extra parts space will have the convenience of not having to remove anything from other mechs to get the desired loadout for a specific situation and also they will have the encouragement to use more variety of roles in their gameplay.


* Charge a box price (This way everyone is contributing something and there are no freeloaders with a small % of playerbase expected to keep the game alive with purchases). This may not be on the table still with their F2P model, but I feel it is fair for a high quality product.

* Mech variant presets. Allow people to pay to save a variant configuration that will save all the tweaks and parts just how you like it and you can quickly activate the preset to load up the variant you like immediately as long as you have all the necessary parts. This is a convenience and one that is worth paying for if you have the money to do so. This also encourages those who pay to have more variety since it will take no time to change presets whereas a f2per will have to remember or write down their variants and manually swap each part.

*Mech bay slots. Make it so if you don't pay anything you can only store one mech of each class (light, med, heavy, assault) This is also the alternative to the idea people have proposed of making it so you have to pay to unlock certain chassis of mechs. I feel that unlocking all the chassis should be part of the game progression for everyone and anyone can choose which of the chassis they want once they've unlocked it, BUT the F2Pers need to sell their Atlas if they want to use a Supernova as their assault mech whereas the people who pay for an additional slot can have both mechs in the bay configured how they like and ready for action whenever they see fit.

I feel that all the above proposed items allow for fair gameplay and should be sufficient to keep MWO profitable while not nickel and diming everyone. These items are designed to encourage cosmetic, convenience, and encourage variety in paying players while not giving them a gameplay advantage over those that choose not to.

[S3dition]

I would pay for mechs, weapons, upgrade modules, cbill/exp acceleration, additional storage in the mech bay. Basically anything permanent. I can't say that I would ever pay for repairs or ammo. I can't see wasting money on expendable items or required to continue playing.

Let me be a bit more specific:

Mechs

• Out of each class (light through assault) a couple of mechs should be bought with real money. This doesn't make the mechs any better than the others, only different.
  
• All mechs should be repairable with normal cbills.
  
• The purchased mechs could have set weapon configurations that are unique and otherwise unavailable (note: this doesn't mean more powerful, but a unique setup that you couldn't use otherwise).

Weapons

• Experimental weapons can be purchased that are not explicitly better than stock, but might have greater variety of abilities. A gauss rifle that reloads faster, but only has 2/3 the normal ammo per ton for example.
  
• Each improved weapon could have a limit set to reflect rarity.

Modules

• Like weapons, modules are experimental. They may take up less space, but generate heat (or more heat) or have other limitations.
  
• Also limited to how many you can purchase, and may be incompatible with each other (for example, an experimental radar might be incompatible with experimental jammer).

Metagame

• This is the big money maker. If people can only store 3 mechs and, say 50 tons of equipment, they're going to want to upgrade to hold more. This also holds true if you need to buy and store armor plating and structure.
  
• Merc companies should have a shared hangar with additional storage space. This should NOT cost money, but require a LOT of cbills to upgrade. This prevents companies with big spenders from just buying everything. It also prevents litigation that may come from one person fronting hundreds of dollars, then getting kicked from the company. Instead, players should be invited to play more to save up the funds, which will lead to greater volumes of weapon/mech/module purchasing.
  
• Make a salvage pit where people can spend a small amount of money to pull random "junk" from the pile. Random parts could be badly damaged mechs, weapons, or modules. These could either be combined in order to be repaired (in other words, 3 ER large lasers have enough parts to put them together into a working ER large laser) or cost a large number of cbills to get into working order. This, of course, depends on how much premium content is going to be offered.

Edited by S3dition, 03 November 2011 - 03:26 PM.

[Bad Haircut]

Knightcrawler, on 02 November 2011 - 06:43 AM, said:

brixx, good suggestion. I didn't think of that. They could make alternate meshes for the mech that you could buy. This'd be pretty popular considering how many artistic interpretations many mechs have in BT/MW.

ghost, I am not sure how much that would cost, but it would be priceless!

Would be good to see something like Star Trek Online starship customization. Meaning each house has a slightly different take/production method of a mech and you can purchase different houses parts to mix your mechs appearance.
I'd pay quite a bit of money for this option as long as the main structure of the mech stayed the same and it was always recognizable as that chassis.

[zverofaust]

I'd pay money for exclusive Mechs, weapons and special ammunition and equipment, so long as that equipment wasn't too overwhelmingly powerful. A unique Mech not available anywhere else that lets me say "Look at me, I'm pretty badass with my ENORMOUS RESERVES OF DISPOSABLE INCOME, YOU IMPOVERISHED POOR ********", and may be slightly better in certain stats than their naturally-earned counterpart, but that's about it. Something like a Highlander or what-have-you.

I'd pay for a boost to earned XP/Money for a certain amount of time ie 24 hours or 1 month, whatever.

I'd pay for the ability to convert money into in-game currency.

Sidenote: I'd actually not pay for any of the above more likely than not, but those are the things I'd like and expect to see in a F2P game. Actually scratch that, I'd be tempted to buy one of the unique premium Mechs.

[Vortigern]

andrew harvey, on 02 November 2011 - 08:22 PM, said:

What I am willing to pay for:


Gameplay Stuff
-$15.00 to unlock-Voice Chat. This is a biggie. Some people may not like the idea of making voice chat a paid option and think it would be unfair to those who don't get it. Well I counter with the fact that many of us were ready to buy the game before it had 'free-to-play status'. Simply consider this a small purchase fee. Besides making voice cost money to unlock will weed out unwanted people like griefers who get in a game simply to bother legit players with screaming and annoying recordings. It may also filter some younger players who may or may not understand the meaning of the words "good sport" or "inside voice" or "**** KID!".

-$10.00 to purchase-Deleted Battlemechs. Maybe you didn't want to put in the Hatchetman because melee combat isn't included. If infantry aren't modeled, maybe that Firestarter is without a purpose. Maybe you just thought a 'Mech was too obsolete to include. But someone will want to pilot them, even if their disadvantages handicap them. If I want a dang Mackie, I'll pay to drive the museum piece around.

-$5.00-$10.00 per kit-Refit Kits. Let's say I've got an older SDR-5V Spider Battlemech. New technology has made the upgraded SDR-7M model available. Since I already have the 5V design and the changes wouldn't be too drastic, I can buy a $5.00 Refit Kit that upgrades it to the new model. Now let's say I have an ENF-4R Enforcer. The same thing happens; new technology makes the ENF-5D model available. But this upgrade involve much more sweeping changes. In order to get a Refit Kit that will upgrade my 4R to a 5D, I have to pay $7.50. This goes on and on, with the most extensive Refit Kits costing $10.00, and those should be unavailable part of the time. It's expensive, but this balances the Kit method with the normal process of saving up C-Bills and etc.

-$0.50 per special ammo load-Example: "I've got a 'Mech equipped with LRM launchers. The year is 3052 and I want to try Thunder LRMs, which spread minefields. So I buy 2 tons for a dollar." There's lots of specialty ammunition that, if used improperly, can be trouble. Making ammunition types like Thunder LRMs or Inferno SRMs money-only items may prevent people who don't really know what they're doing from causing accidental damage to themselves or their teammates.

-Up to $60.00 to unlock-Single Player Campaign. I don't mind if we have to wait several months after launch. That'll give you time to plan, use experiences in the multiplayer game to make changes, and do recordings and programming and etc. Just try to make it at least as deep as other Mechwarrior SP campaigns. If you program it, money will come. Guaranteed.


In-Cockpit
-$2.00 per item-Cockpit props. Just little decorative doodads. It'd be especially cool if you added animation to some of them (gently swaying Dreamcatcher, sticky notes that flutter, bobbleheads that bobble). Just let me keep them even if my 'Mech gets shot out from under me (I grabbed 'em before I ejected okay?).

-$1.00 to unlock-Several different HUD modes/looks. Being able to change the color/layout/reticule of my HUD is an option I would be willing to pay for if it wasn't available for free. It'd also be cool to have a choice of computer voices. Maybe we have some basic, ho-hum voice to start with, but we can upgrade to MW2's *******' Betty, or the Duncan Fisher Edition. Oh yeah.

-$0.75 per item-Different control appearances. It wouldn't be a bad idea to make the controls of most 'Mechs (older than 3040) look dirty/old in the cockpit view to start with; most 'Mechs are pretty old, and it'd be immersive if the cockpit reflected that. Maybe a few wires are duct taped in place, or a joystick is grubby looking, or a few back-lit buttons have gone out. There are all sorts of variations. Some people may prefer the grubby look, but I and others would probably pay to be able to revamp the inside appearance. Maybe several old, cracked screens could be replaced by a single large Multi-Function Display, or a panel of old buttons could be replaced with new ones. Again, having in-cockpit animations reflect those changes would be awesome.

-$0.50 per gesture-I'd pay money to be able to flip the bird in cockpit. I doubt anyone would be able to see it, but being able to purchase animations of rude gestures would be fun.


Battlemech Visual Items
-$2.00 per custom paint job-There are lots of artists out there, and giving us the option to create custom paint jobs would be great (I'm sure a few people would want their Highlander to have a Scottish kilt). We could have the option to fix a damaged paint job for 10-25c, or we could leave them patchy for that weathered look.

-$1.00 per camo paint job-It's hard to disguise 4 stories of metal moving at 70kph, but we'd like to try. Make up some nice camouflage paint schemes that actually work in their environment (ex: Urban, Swamp, Forest) and we'll buy em.

-$0.50 per custom badge/writing-A few basic stock badges should be free, but I'd pay to use custom badges. Another nice feature would be to let us write custom messages on our 'Mechs like phrases(ex:'Takin' Care of Business') labels('Big Bertha' on a Hunchback's AC/20), or a 'Mech's name ('Doom').

-$2.00 per effect-Maybe I want to put kill marks on the barrel of my Panther's PPC or a fanged grin on it's head. Having little effects like that for each 'Mech would be something I'd pay for, especially if there were unique 'Mech-specific effects (exskull paint job on an Atlas).


'Mech Bay
-$5.00 per slot-We're probably going to want to buy more Battlemechs than we have room for. Whether we want to try several different roles at once, or just have a 'Mech we can't get rid of because of nostalgia, we'll want to have more than 1 'Mech at once. It'd be nice to start out with at least 2 Mech Bays. Just make sure our bay expansions are permanent; no 'renting' of Mech Bays please.

-$0.50 per simple prop-We'll probably be spending a lot of time in the Mech Bay. Eventually, we'll get bored of the stock appearance. We could get things like oil slicks, a stack of ammo, a pinup poster, or a national flag to personalize things. There's lots of possible options for that.

-$2.00 per complex prop-Big shiny things. We all like them. Maybe a wide-screen TV with scrolling market prices, a holographic map of the Inner Sphere, or a radio that plays music and the occasional bit of news. Or perhaps I just want a window.


Avatar Customization
-$0.50 per item-Physical features and clothing. You give us a character creator. We pay to unlock additional advanced features. Mechwarrior Porkins; a short, fat, smelly lump of a pilot with a lot of heart. Sir Fancy Pants; monocle and sneering upper lip=equipped. Darkman; can he possibly have more scars on his body? I don't want bondage gear or ****-less chaps (and please *** no fursuits). But give me plenty of options.

-$1.00 per item-Props and accessories. Gun belts. Sunglasses. A cape. Gloves & boots. These are things that would be awesome to equip.


Actual Real-Life Merchandise
-$5.00-$25.00 per item-Clothing and apparel. Give it to me baby. Patches, hats, shirts, if it can be worn I'll be sporting it.

-$30.00-A boxed copy of the game with a thick color manual. A manual. In case you didn't see it the first time, A. BIG. MANUAL. I and others like manuals; their weighty heft, the physical sensation of turning pages. It's a thing with us, and I know I will pay to have one. Cmon. There's gotta be a Kinko's or other somewhat professional printing company nearbye. Just humor us luddites huh?

-$15.00-$30.00-Artbooks and posters. The gig is up. We know you have FlyingDebris. Whether he's tied up in a dark room somewhere, or sipping Mojitos in Miami, I want his art. If he draws a 'Mech, I will probably be wanting to buy a copy of it. Blow up some for posters, or just package a couple dozen in a nice book with some commentary and other concept stuff. We'll buy it. No offense intended to the other project artists, it's just that Mr. Debris aka A. Iglesias has hypnotic power. I...must...buy his art...

Underlined I agree with (pricing independent).

Italics I have some problems with.

The crossed out I have many problems with.

What's standard I haven't really decided on, for whatever reason.




Voice chat, as you admitted, would grant tactical advantages... besides, they already have Teamspeak and Ventrillo...

Refitting also, would confer obvious advantages.

Special ammo, again would grant advantages.

Custom paint jobs or decals should be free, otherwise you would require premium access in order to conduct a uniform, organized mercenary outfit.

There are also definite tactical advantages to being able to choose from a large array of mechs for whatever task is necessary. Hangars should be a little expensive, but fully purchasable with in-game currency, if that turns out to be necessary at all.




The best ways to go about funding a free-to-play game are:

• By having payment necessary customization options that only effect the player, or what the player can see and do not effect any outer customization that may be desired for communicative or camouflage purposes.
  
• By selling real goods in promotion of the game (or by using the game as a promotional model itself).
  
• By seeking sponsorship and putting up banner ads in loading screens.

A Secondary way might be:

• To sell alternative game modes or single-player campaigns that confer no advantages on the player's multi-player experience.

Edited by Vortigern, 03 November 2011 - 05:40 PM.

[Souske Sagara]

Fuzzy dice for my HUD. They already said they will probably have 'mechs in the shop, I imagine house variants from op factions would be an option. I do like the idea of buying a teabag button to use on my fallen enemies.

[Aethon]

Fuzzy dice and a Natasha Kerensky hula girl.

Edited by Aethon, 03 November 2011 - 11:08 PM.

[Andrew Harvey]

Vortigern, on 03 November 2011 - 05:37 PM, said:

Voice chat, as you admitted, would grant tactical advantages... besides, they already have Teamspeak and Ventrillo...

You're right about that, using dedicated TS or Vent servers didn't even cross my mind.

Quote

Refitting also, would confer obvious advantages.

I still think that something like that could work; set a high enough price and the number of people using them would be low enough that the rest of the player base wouldn't be at a disadvantage. But okay, I see where you're coming from. Another idea I'd had was to make it easier/less expensive to refit a Battlemech to an upgraded variant if you had spent enough time piloting it (earning exp, maxed 'Mech skill points, whatever). That would still create an advantage, but it wouldn't be based on money.

Quote

Special ammo, again would grant advantages.

The same thing here maybe. You have to work on certain skills/abilities to be able to use special ammo.

Quote

Custom paint jobs or decals should be free, otherwise you would require premium access in order to conduct a uniform, organized mercenary outfit.

I didn't mean to make it seem that it should be impossible to change the color of your 'Mech without money. A large number of simple color schemes could be purchased with in-game currency, and a similar C-Bill fee could be incurred to use Unit paint schemes and badges that were approved by Moderators. But if you wanted to do something a little less practical like draw a mural of a Classical Art/Battletech crossover on the back of your 'Mech, you might be willing to pay for it.


***. You know what you've done? YOU KNOW WHAT YOU MADE ME DO VORTIGERN?!
see the ruin you have caused

[MagnusEffect]

Oh, just thought of one other thing:

An UrbanMech statue...

to scale.

okay not really, but I would buy a small one

[Razor Kotovsky]

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