15 replies to this topic

[FreeZe]

I believe MC costs are slightly out of line here, and think they should be lowered by around 25% at least. When people are looking at spending around $5 just to paint a mech with a temporary paint scheme then something is seriously out of whack.

I haven't played any micro-transaction games where visual customization purchased with real money is only temporary. People are willing to spend real money because they get something appealing, something they can change around, and something they can reuse later on down the road.

I believe most mech MC values are OK, but probably slightly high as well. Perhaps lowering the cost of each MC package at each tier would be acceptable, but currently the prices are just too high to me, and everyone I've talked with in our clan.

For instance, in League of Legends for a little less than $10 dollars I can purchase a skin that I can reuse forever. Sure some skins cost less and some more, but that's about the average.

Bottom line, I'd pay more for permanent reusable paint job, but the current prices are far too high for something that's only temporary.

[xenoglyph]

Fixed.

[Aidan McRae]

xenoglyph, on 25 November 2012 - 07:16 AM, said:

Fixed.

Dammit, was JUST about to make this joke.

[Omega Drebin]

Brilliant guys, just brilliant

[FreeZe]

Nice! Lol

[sycocys]

Where are you finding skins to purchase? I don't see an option for that in my customization's anywhere.

[FreeZe]

sycocys, on 25 November 2012 - 10:28 AM, said:

Where are you finding skins to purchase? I don't see an option for that in my customization's anywhere.

I'd suggest you go here: http://mwomercs.com/...zation-phase-1/

[sycocys]

Aha! Missed that one thanks!

Not out yet so the prices may change. If they put it out of range and per mech I suspect it won't take long to see a price change anyhow when they don't see many sales. Sometimes it's just better to let things get introduced before we start requesting changes and tweaks.

[FreeZe]

I'd rather let my voice be heard now, and I'm not particularly happy with how much money MC costs to buy either. Everyone I talk to treats it like gold and is afraid to spend it because they're saving it for something later on.

That's a clear sign it's too high to me. MC should be low enough that people want to willingly spend it on things regularly and not for only special occasions. Lower MC now means more money over the long run.

A person might not spend $50 to buy 12000 MC, but the same person might buy 12000 MC for $25 several times over. The perceived cost is lower up front which leads people to buy more of it.

It's the same concept of a department store "sale." They may offer price savings, but in reality people end up spending more money on the sale than what they would have without it. The end result is a bigger net gain for the store.

People are too cautious to spend MC currently, and that's not making PGI the money it should be.

Edited by FreeZe, 25 November 2012 - 11:09 AM.

[sycocys]

We don't have access to their sales to see if people are spending or not either. While I do agree that for me most of the costs are too high to put any realistic value on them - maybe the folks not posting on the boards frequently have a vastly different viewpoint and are actually purchasing things more often than we know about.

Being that people tend to congregate with others of similar viewpoints this is entirely possible. I respect the discussion but just ask for it to be implemented before you get too worked up about it - who knows what will change even by Tues.

[Xandralkus]

Suppose I buy $7 of MC.

That should buy me any mech in the game, without a permanent bonus to C-bill income.
Assault mechs should cost $7
Paint jobs should cost $1.
Cockpit customization should cost $1
User-made paint jobs should cost $2
User-made paint jobs with glowmaps should cost $3.
Swapping hardpoints around and building a custom mech should cost $5.
Graphically modifying the shape and model of your mech should cost $5 (per permutation).
1-month subscription should cost $14 (purchased with two $7 MC purchases).

Buying more MC up front grants you bigger discounts on top of this.

WARNING: EVERYONE STAND BACK, I AM ABOUT TO DO ECONOMICS!!!

Demand for MC is nowhere near inelastic enough to bear the current high price points. MC is a highly elastic market, so reducing prices by 1% will increase revenue by more than 1%. The only thing the devs need to do is give us LOTS of things to spend MC on, and pumping out a reasonable amount of new game content on a regular basis will more than ensure an ample stream of revenue. Learn2Economics.

Edited by Xandralkus, 25 November 2012 - 03:04 PM.

[SteelJaws]

Spending MC on things that aren't permanent is foolish, to have the Camo skins cost(what it says in the SS) 250MC for something you can't keep is a money grab. I agree with the other poster that the costs for the MC is a bit high, if your judging it off the Founders packs realize that you got more than just the MC, you got 4 mechs, and subscription time.

The only way to gain more MC is to spend RL cash, I don't know who is giving you the idea's for your pay scheme, but they are crap.

Take a look at CrimeCraft, cheesy FPS game, FTP. A Sub to it costs 9.99, in doing that you get an exp bonus, a larger bank, and every month you get 100gb (Gold Bars is their MC equivalent), and some decent items, (a Gun and some Clothes). You can use the Gold Bars to buy better clothes(Armor) or Better Guns, or just change the look of your Avatar. Any Item you buy is Permanent, they solved stagnation by having you progress in levels and having the items be a set level.

There are a lot of idea's out here, and people are willing to spend cash on this game for flavor ****, you knew this back in CB, people want to know they are getting a good deal on the MC they buy, and the MC they spend. And Spending MC for something that disappears when you change it, is crap. If you want to charge people the initial cost of the camo skin, then charge them a REDUCED price (a quarter or less of the original amount) to reapply the camo they already bought, that could be understandable. But it looks like you want to charge full price every time, then if its a custom paint job its not saved, we have to remake it from scratch every time.

Why are you making things so difficult? Clunky interface, gouging prices for MC, and bugs that should of been taken care of in CB, its almost like you are trying to drive people away.

[sycocys]

Suppose for a second they are just implementing these features to test the waters during beta testing. It's possible - it's also possible and quite likely thing will change as we move forward with the game. Please just let them implement the system before you hound them for changes for things you haven't even tested or had the chance to look at in the game yet.

[FreeZe]

sycocys,

Not to be mean, but if you don't have any suggestions then please move to another thread. People burying their heads in the sand and crying it's still beta is not helping this game.

We're simply offering advice and opinions based on other games' success with their micro-transaction shops. MWO is off the mark right now. I don't have to wait for the paint job customization feature to come out to figure that out.

Edited by FreeZe, 25 November 2012 - 07:30 PM.

[Bhael Fire]

Yeah, I think the MC prices are bit steep on a lot of things in the game.

[focuspark]

To be honest, most things (including mechs) should not be for sale via MC. Instead, players should able to sell MC to other players for CB via some kind of market or auction house. This would eliminate the problem and set a real value to MC relative to CB which would be flexible and track the game's internal market (assuming we get one).