124 replies to this topic

[Fugu]

C
B
B

Also, I would really like dark purple as a colour. Like shiny damn dark purple and maybe a variety of shades of it.
Better yet, give me a colour wheel!

[Vapor Trail]

I might, had I spare budget, go for the "buy it for MC every time you switch to it" plan... if it didn't cost so much.

1,125 MC for a custom 3 color pattern... That's roughly the price of a brand new Jenner JR7-D. Three million C-bills, give or take (probably give). That's a HUGE amount of money in-universe. I'd personally say that it should cost 10-20% that at most, because the lower the price you have them, the more likely it is someone is going to say "I want to change my mech's paint today." or "I want to put a new paint job on that new mech I just bought."

Depending on what price you buy MC at, it's a minimum of $6.25 for a full custom paint scheme... At best ($100 package w/ 20% bonus) it's about $3.75 for a full custom scheme.

Durahl, on 24 November 2012 - 01:23 PM, said:

I'd prefer a System that only charges me once when it comes to MC Skins.

Like this:
"Ooohh! Phranken Skin for 750MC! Must have! NOW""

*PGI just charged you 750MC*

"Meh... Changed my Mind... That single red color costing 300'000CBills I've seen during the last match looked better!"

*PGI just charged you 300'000CBills*

"What have I done?! I want my Phranken back!"

*PGI just charged you 300'000CBills*

"Whew... Lucky me they only charge you once for MC Skins."

If it worked like this, then the real currency price equivalents make more sense.

---

In "real life" the guys doing the painting have to get paid.

Well in "real life" it would probably take a team of six guys maybe a week (5 days) to paint the mech.
Materials wouldn't cost more than a couple hundred thousand... it's <em>paint</em> for the most part. A whole heck of a LOT of it from the standpoint of someone painting (for example) a car, but paint. It's probably going to be "high durability" paint (similar to military paints today)... but if it's costing more than 150 cbills a liter someone's getting ripped off.

So lets posit half a million for materials (paint, tape and masking materials, etc) overhead. A million for equipment overhead (payments on the loans for sprayers, hoses, compressors, ladders, scaffolding, etc). Leaving us with a 1.5 mil for labor (the know-how and actual putting paint to metal).

Six guys, 8 hours a day, for 5 days, 240 man-hours. 6,250 cbills an hour for labor. And I thought my car mechanic charged through the nose.

Say the painting company takes 85% of the labor charge as gross profit. That means the 6 guys doing the painting are getting paid 156.25 Cbills an hour. If I was in-universe, think I would get a job painting Mechs for a living, and shoot for owning a company that paints Mechs... As long as there's enough business to keep me afloat.

Edited by Vapor Trail, 24 November 2012 - 02:30 PM.

[Coolant]

You don't have to spend a dime, cbill, or MC for it...doesn't give you an advantage in combat (unless we knew what map was coming)...so why complain?

[Tuhalu]

I think it would make sense to allow for "paint scheme bays" (PSB for short from now) just like we already have mech bays.

Here is an example of how that would work:
You have a single custom PSB, then buy your patterns and colors for it (all with MC). You like it a lot and would like to come back to it sometime, so you leave it there. You buy a second PSB (with MC) and then buy patterns and colors for that (with more MC). Now you can swap between those PSBs whenever you want, just like the non-custom paint schemes that are already planned. Later down the track you decide you hate the paint scheme in PSB1 now, but you have a cool idea for another scheme, so you change PSB1 instead of buying an entirely new PSB. You'd still be paying MC to change the pattern/colors in PSB1, but it wouldn't affect PSB2 at all.

[Ghogiel]

BigJim, on 24 November 2012 - 01:37 PM, said:

Bear in mind though that there's only a finite combination of skins & colours possible, and once most people have settled on one they like (using the preview pane in the pallete screen) they won't bother changing it (since that would cost MCs and threads like this make me think everyone's as tight as a duck's arse around here).

If it were perma-unlocked, you'd need far more stuff to buy in order to get half-decent money coming in, possibly gold Gauss rounds? I hear those are popular.



It's what - £1.60 for 750MCs? That's cheaper than a 300ml bottle of middle-class drinking water from a supermarket, or about one-quarter of a pint of the cheapest pi** lager in a town pub (bar).

If anyone's worrying about that, I don' know how they can afford a broadband internet connection and a PC to play this game, let alone the electricity to run it.

I'm not some consumer anti-warrior, defending the honour of these poor little companies, but seriously, some reality checking needs to go on here; Everyone on these forums like to talk on & on like they're so bloody adult, using well thought out arguments like they're some kind of grown-up, but yet seemingly can't afford the pocket-money (less than that, as a kid I'd have been offended to receive so little pocket money) to apply a silly skin in a FTP computer game?


If you want a range of colours, hell, if you want one for every day of the week, just get another mechbay for 300MC (even cheaper at 90p) and apply the new skin to that. Bish-bash-bosh, job done.

I can afford to buy a camo scheme for any mech I want. The problem is that the way the system is set up means that there is a disincentive to buy more than one camo per varient. Once you paid for one I reckon the likelihood of buying a different camo for that mech will go down.

If you could buy a camo for a varient, and then buy another and could swap around between the 2, then people would imo be more likely to collect camos. The current system doesn't allow for that and discourages impulse buying.

People might think lol, buy a pink atlas camospec, use it for a couple matches and then switch back when the mood leaves them.

Edited by Ghogiel, 24 November 2012 - 02:25 PM.

[Fugu]

Coolant, on 24 November 2012 - 02:22 PM, said:

You don't have to spend a dime, cbill, or MC for it...doesn't give you an advantage in combat (unless we knew what map was coming)...so why complain?

Because it's the money source of the game. If it sucks they won't make any. No money -> no game.
Therefore, even the free players should be interested in the game generating a profit.

[Rogue Jedi]

Sorry I cannot see any reason to change the mechs paint job unless for camoflage purposes (even that would be pointless if you do not know what map you will be on), or identifying team mates (which the HUD takes care of anyway).

However this does not mean i do not respect that people may want a custom paint job, i just do not see the point of wasting time or cbils on one which you will not see

[Fugu]

Rogue Jedi, on 24 November 2012 - 02:26 PM, said:

However this does not mean i do not respect that people may want a custom paint job, i just do not see the point of wasting time or cbils on one which you will not see

Unified custom paint for a clanwar/planet invasion. Really, just because it looks cool.

[-Kite-Man-]

I've been saving my founders MC to spend on cosmetics. My plan, originally, was to purchase every single skin and camo pattern that was available, because I love having cosmetic options.

However, because of the way this system works, I now plan on buying one skin, maybe, for my one favorite mech. Especially considering the price of these items.

I think PGI could be making a fair bit more money if they decided to go the other way with this. I realize the appeal to having people pay every time they change their paint job, I can see why it seems like a more lucrative direction to go in.

But in the end I can only imagine this actually results in less volume and fewer purchases as a result. Once our founders MC runs out, I can't really see people putting 5-10 dollars into the game just to change a paint scheme once. I could have seen people doing it for permanent paint job purchases.

Edited by Bucklar, 24 November 2012 - 02:32 PM.

[nemesis271989]

I Want back glowing eyes for my atlas.

[Vapor Trail]

nemesis271989, on 24 November 2012 - 02:49 PM, said:

I Want back glowing eyes for my atlas.

I'd like this as well.

Glowing eyes for other people's atlases that is. Makes picking out that left eye just that little bit easier

Even better if I can get them to pay for it

Edited by Vapor Trail, 24 November 2012 - 02:59 PM.

[Jonas]

To be honest when it comes to paint jobs, if I must pay for them then they should come in sets 3 variants 3 different color's and should be unlocked for all my mechs. If they go per mech per color/pattern then they better be cheap like 5 or 10 MC's because if they running 500 to 700 or worse yet 1000 MC's then it a no go since i can by a Commando for around 700 MC's I assuming the Flea to be around that much to.

[Noth]

I think they should be permanent on a per variant basis. They should max out at max 400-500 MC. As long as they keep adding mechs and variants along with camo and colors, people will keep buying them.

[Fiachdubh]

I assume my unit will choose a colour scheme and that will be it. If have to pay for it will do so but will not be buying anymore as I dont really care what my mechs paint job looks like.

[Genghis Black Death Khan]

Here's my thing with skins and why I think it's stupid: You can't see them while you're playing, so it's a waste of money. So what's the point in buying them if you can't enjoy them?

[Oy of MidWorld]

Cleverbird, on 24 November 2012 - 01:06 PM, said:

I don't get it why I would even want to buy camo in the first place... I'm inside the cockpit, its not like I get to enjoy it I'm sure as hell not going to pay to let others enjoy my shiny mech. But I will admit that this system seems like a pretty big scam just to make people pay more.

You do realize that people want to get paid for developing games, right? Devs stated that they want to charge for visual customisation in the very beginning, so exactly how is this a scam? It is way better than charging for a better type of ammunition that can only be aquired by spending real money... Like some other game does.

I agree that "unlocking" colors and schemes for a chassis would be the better option and look better, still, you get what you pay for and you don't have to, so this is not a scam. You people really need to stop insulting the devs!

This is actually a very useful poll and the devs should have a good look at it!

Furthermore I think collisions must be back in the game.

Edited by Oy of MidWorld, 24 November 2012 - 04:50 PM.

[PYR0MANCER]

Part of the f2p model is that people don't realize how much money they are spending on a game... There is a suspension of the actual value of the ingame item by listing the real world money by a some abstact name and point value... Knowing that the bought item will disappear once you buy another one is a big fat slap in the face back to the reality of how much it cost...


F2P makes more money because there is no monthly bill constantly reminding you the real world money you are spending... Knowing you will lose the item if you buy another one is also a reminder of the real world value of said item and will make people buy much less, only one, or none at all...


Take this example PGI..:


There are only two useless item stores left in the entire world (If I use a useful item such as clothing the example fails)... Both stores sell items that will never wear out, the colors will never fade, and they will last until the end of the world...

Store 'A' sells each item for $100 US dollars and you can buy and keep as many as you want...

Store 'B' sells each item for $25 US dollars but when you buy a new item you have to return the previous one you bought...

Which store will make more money..?



We all like to save money so why wouldn't everyone go to store 'B'..? You can get four items for the price of one right..? Yes but you can only own one of those pieces and from the point of view of the consumer you feel like you don't own it at all because in order to get another one (even if its just another of the exact same item with a different color) you have to return the previous one... It's more like a rental...

The prices that are being speculated on (from your own screenshot) are the sort of prices people would gladly pay to fully own the paint scheme and re-use it any time they felt like it... You would have to drastically reduce pricing if you want people to "rent" a paint job from you...

Some have mentioned the realism of it all and that your old paint is gone just like in the real world... Ok, you wanna go that route..? PGI please make it so that I have to re-paint my mech after every battle because all the damage ruined my paint job... Reality doesn't sound so pleasing now does it..?

Take those other games that sell hats and clothing items... Do you think they would sell as many if people knew that buying a new hat would delete thier old one..? Not when it cost real money they won't and you know they would keep track of the price of every single hat and every piece of clothing in the game... People would make charts to show how much real world cash each thing cost and when that starts to happen you may as well just charge a monthly fee because you just reminded everyone in your game how much real world money it takes to buy pixels... Once you start reminding people of the real world investment you start making less money, especially on items that you state will definitely be taken away if you buy another one...

Genghis Black Death Khan, on 24 November 2012 - 04:13 PM, said:

Here's my thing with skins and why I think it's stupid: You can't see them while you're playing, so it's a waste of money. So what's the point in buying them if you can't enjoy them?

This is the entire reason for 3rd person, not for the fake reason that they have recieved countless emails asking for it... I mean c'mon, where do people go when they want something added or want to complain they don't know which way the legs are facing... The forums... Has anyone ever seen a forum thread complaining that they want 3rd person view before it was "accidentally" mentioned...


TL:DR..: Yes PGI needs money but they are making a decision here that will make them LESS money not more... Let us keep the paint schemes that we buy and we will gladly buy more and more and more of them... Take them away each time we buy a new one and we will be sure to purchase less of them and at slower intervals... It's really simple common sense...

Edited by Tyros the Pyromancer, 24 November 2012 - 05:11 PM.

[Imagine Dragons]

First off, do you care what color your car is painted? I mean its not like you can admire your car's paint job when you're driving it, right?

What is the point in painting a vehicle that you will spend most of your time unable to see the paint? Its because its a statement to other players, not just you.

Sheesh, the perceptional dissonace here is amazing (<--- I have idea what I said there)

Secondly, this just happens... to be another feature from WoT, same idea, permament camo's cost hard currency and stuff you bought is lost if you decide to repaint the tank.

It wasn't very popular at first in WoT, nobody wanted to spend money on paint, just to have to buy it again, for every tank none-the-less, and you were not allowed to have multiple tanks unlike here in MWO...

Except, WoT then added gameplay improvements if you painted your tank, a small reduction in your tank's visibilty rating. Now almost every tank you see is painted.

I wonder what might happen in MWO...

[ManDaisy]

Something PGI is missing is the idea that people buy to own and not to rent.

[Undercover Brother]

My issue is this: If we will eventually be able to see which map we will be able to play on BEFORE the match starts, then actual CAMOFLAGE should NOT be available... Its an affront to those who are here to enjoy a FTP game.

If there are 100 paint schemes to chose from, and your team/clan/group all decide to sport one paint-job, thats a completely different story. If I run around with thirty other guys calling ourselves the Saint Louis Strikers (how ******** is THAT name?) and we want to buy matching paint schemes, then yes, we should choose, and then commit to paying for it.