Oh boy. What a thread.
Looking at myself I can only concede that PGI did their job quite well. I have fun and I pay for it with real cash.
To put my posting here into perspective, I would have bought the game for ~$50 REGARDLESS of (i) what reviews would have said, (ii) what screenshots would have looked like or (iii) what glimpse I could get of the community: simply the "YAY, a new mechwarrior game" feel is worth 50 bucks to me. So those 50 bucks were basically spent and gone once I heard of MW:O. Do I care that it's still beta (closed or open)? Nope, it just means I get to play with it earlier... win/win.
Oh, and I also would have paid a monthly fee just to be able to play (if the game in the end is fun enough), but might not be willing to do that for a beta phase (but cannot absolutely exclude that I wouldn't have done even that...). Luckily PGI has this covered with the benefits coming with a premium account, so that's something I most likely will spent MC on in the future...
That said, PGI got me even happier at the very beginning: hey, I don't even have to pay $50 now, I can participate in the beta and play for free. Sweet.
And now here's why PGI's business guys together with the designers also did a good job: I *could* play MW:O for free, but do I (!) *want* to? (Note: this is a question everyone has to answer for him-/herself!) For me the answer is clear: Nope. Because I don't want to spent my (rather limited) spare time on basic things necessary for me to actually have FUN with the game, like getting a decent chassis plus some extra cash to equip it properly (and to my needs and quirks). So what did I do? I bought some MC, bought me my desired mech(s) (sold one or two immediately again for c-bills) and here I am: happy as can be since day 2 (spent 1 day running around with trial mechs and to do a quick calculation of how long it would take me to get what I want through grinding).
Yes, I spent real cash, but I spent it not TO get what i want, but to get it NOW (with the added benefit that I can tell myself that even though no founder I still support PGI while the game is in development - yay!).
So for me everything's actually just fine. Granted, I am willing to spent a few bucks for my personal amusement (which is unfortunately requried for this game to be amusement to me). But I am also totally happy that others, who, for example value time differently than I do - or don't need mech customization and/or have fun/success piloting trial mechs - can play the game for free and achieve the same gear/experience as I who has paid for it. I actually embrace it, because the more people play this game, the better for the game in the long run and - ultimately - myself and my entertainment.
But guys, I cannot stress enough that those who are paying nothing for this game must not expect the game to be the same fun-factor as "paid for entertainment". Nothing is free (unfortunately) and the only question you personally have to ask yourself: "is the fun I get from it actually WORTH it", both in time and money spent?
Also, from a business perspective I'd expect that at this stage of development, they want to cash in as much as they can. Once the game is in most parts done and main purpose is maintenance, "community management" and maybe certain updates, they may change the game to be more fun even if you don't pay. But for now, I can perfectly understand why it is as it is.
Now back to the original statement in the heading of this thread together with my personal answer: You can't prevent bad players piloting mechs "worth" of millions of c-bills (equalling hours/weeks/months of free-playing) as long as you can trade real cash for ingame cash: Buy a mech with MC, sell it for c-bills, gone are all your money-grinding days. To somewhat counter this, it is very good that XP still can only be gained from actually playing...
And one last comment on newbies/freeplay-scum: Why can't you accept that this game is still in development, in particular that balancing, looking both at the software (weapons, heat etc.) as well as the players (groups, matchmaking), is still in large parts "work in progress"? Until PGI proclaims "NOW it is finished, it is as we intend it to be", deal with the game as it is making suggestions to improve the experience rather than bashing or demands.
Maybe accept - at this stage - PUGs, bugs and thugs (i.e. impolite human beings killing the fun in the game and forum, although the last one is mainly included, because I was just looking for one more "bad" thing ending with "ugs") simply as a challenge a real seasoned and sklled player, as yourself, should have no trouble at all to overcome...
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Khobai, on 14 November 2012 - 06:00 AM, said:
And since it has the exact same slots (extra ones are irrelevant) as the D it makes an excellent exterminatlus. 
