59 replies to this topic

[Red squirrel]

I guess everyone with a minimum of logical thinking will understand that there is a point when if you increase the price of a product you will earn less since people stop buying.
That's what they call the "Law of Diminishing Returns" (Fig. 1)
In the figure just exchange "time" with "MC" and "Returns" with "PGI profit".

Ideally pricing should be near that big blue X.
But for me it is more at the point saying "Where most people realize they should stop!"
I for one would invest way more money (as I already did) into this game if I did not feel ripped, which I currently do (see examples below).

I mean I understand that after founders have just payed 5.2 million $ they are now waiting for content and fair prices to spend their MC. In the meanwhile PGIs income is drastically reduced. So they need new players to pay. But then the game is probably still too buggy to bind many non Hardcore BT gamers. So PGI increases the prices in hopes of increasing returns...and here we are.



Fig. 1: Law of Diminishing Returns



Here are some examples of what makes me feel ripped:

1) Mhh nice let's paint that mech red (pay MC). Oh no blue would actually be nicer (pay MC). Ah I should have sticked with red (pay MC).

2) Cool let's try Artemis (pay MC). Ah no I rather got that extra ton so let's put it back (pay MC)

3) Cool I just won and I killed 3 mechs! Hooray (repair bill eating 75% of my income)

4) Mhh I'd really like to buy that 350XL Engine. OK let's buy that 6 million C-Bill mech with MC
and sell it (for maybe 3 million C-Bills).

5) OMG I just spend 25 bugs on a frickin mech in an online F2P game!? WTF?
While I could buy an AAA title for maybe 50$

Edited by Red squirrel, 27 November 2012 - 03:59 PM.

[Axeman1]

-To paint 3 basic colours requires almost 1 million c-bills, for colours you don't just get to keep.

-MC to purchase a mech are unreasonable at current prices.

-Founders and hero mechs quantify grinding immensely.

[Moonsavage]

Spent £36 so far (wasn't in the founders thing) but unlikely to spend more for a while since everything's so damned pricey - YLW is like £16 in real money... jeez

Edited by Moonsavage, 27 November 2012 - 03:59 PM.

[MorbidGamer]

They are to high... I have not spent 1 MC on anything with 20,000 MC founders package yet.

Would Like to get some bay slots because I'm full... But I'm not going to pay 300 MC for each one. I'll just wait for some kind of bay slot sale then get one. I can see me blowing all my MC on slots if they were 150 each.

[cinder]

Red squirrel, on 27 November 2012 - 03:52 PM, said:

I guess everyone with a minimum of logical thinking will understand that there is a point when if you increase the price of a product you will earn less since people stop buying.
That's what they call the "Law of Diminishing Returns" (Fig. 1)

No, it's what is referred to as the free pricing method. In a free consumer market, manufacturers will adjust the price of their products to find a balance between demand and optimized profits. Price too high and people buy less; price too low and you cut into your margin. In that sense the price of goods "sets itself".

The chart you show is a very generalized chart that explains the concept of diminishing returns and really has nothing to do with pricing. A good example of diminishing returns is a "buy one get one free" scenario where you buy three things. If you had bought two, you would get more for your dollar. The more things you buy, the more expensive they become per item based on the total you spent.

[Pugastrius]

Everything is much pricier than it should be. Typically "FTP" games "nickle and dime" to get their money. This is more like asking people to spend Jacksons and Grants.

The biggest issue is not being able to add mech bays with C-Bills (and at 300 MCs each, they are pretty pricy).

[Leroy Jenkens]

Now I understand how Kmart was able to kick Wal-Mart into the dirt.

Lets charge higher prices for the same stuff and not have as good of a selection. The people will surely come.

Srsly though. Prices are way too high for everything. If this game was PS2 with stompy robots then sure. Heck I'd pay 25% more.

But in reality this game is only team deathmatch with 4.1 maps. and only 8v8 battles. The only rational for the pricing and economy I can think of is to stretch out the content we have available now Because if we give them a value and they buy lots of shineys then they'll be bored with our limited content because we're failing at introducing new stuff fast enough to keep feeding them and keep them paying and playing.

TBH with it's current progression I don't see this game growing anymore than it is now. The only ace up its sleeve will be community warfare. If it's like WOT clan wars then it will fail. If it's like PS2 then it should take off like gangbusters. Only time will tell.

[BoomDog]

I'll pay for things that give permanent returns. The system currently tries to force you to buy mechs that you don't need just to avoid the grind.

Here's a system I would blow some serious money for:

http://mwomercs.com/...ving-the-grind/

[MorbidGamer]

Pugastrius, on 27 November 2012 - 04:25 PM, said:

Everything is much pricier than it should be. Typically "FTP" games "nickle and dime" to get their money. This is more like asking people to spend Jacksons and Grants.

The biggest issue is not being able to add mech bays with C-Bills (and at 300 MCs each, they are pretty pricy).

A $1.20 is alot for a slot. Would be more or less depending on the MC package you buy.

[dF0X]

The thing keeping me from spending more is the buggy and incomplete state of the game. Until PGI shows me they can deliver, my $30 will have to do.

[HlynkaCG]

I actually think the price for mech bays is quite reasonable and one of the few things actuall worth purchasing. Now the paint jobs on the other hand...

Look I got no problem shelling out 2 - 4 bucks to unlock a custom paint job, but 2 - 4 bucks PER VARIENT that adds up quick and is a bit more than this broke college student can afford.

[Leroy Jenkens]

The lowest amount of MC I see for sale is $6.95 This means you won't be buying anything unless you spend at least $6.95 to get it. You can buy other stuff with the leftover but this is the minimum investment they allow, that I know of.

[Red squirrel]

It only really makes sense to buy MC for 100$.

Edited by Red squirrel, 29 November 2012 - 01:57 PM.

[Team Leader]

If anyone reads my posts they would know that I think Mc is basically worthless yet costs too much to buy at the same time. I would actually spend more if the prices actually made sense to me... Until then I won't be using any founders MC. They already have my money, I just want to be able to use it with a clear conscience!

[xxx WreckinBallRaj xxx]

MC costs too much and they lied about their advertisement. They said 10$/month but that isn't the case unless you buy 100$ worth of MC all at one time. Why can't a user just drop 10$ and get a month's worth just like that? Or 30$ for 3 months? They can't do this because you have to use MC for it and the MC offers are all horribly overpriced except the top choice. The top one is 250 per 1$, which is good. They should ALL be like that. If I were to correct the chart to put it where it should logically be, it would be:
25,000-100$
12,000- Reduced to 48$
6,500-Reduced to 26$
3,000-Reduced to 12$
1250-Reduced to 5$
^ This chart keeps an even value per MC bought across the board. The current chart does not. If you pick anything below 100$, then you are spending more than 1$ per 250 points of MC. But MC needs to be 250 or less per 1$ in order for the 30 day Premium option to be 10$/month.

Of course they could solve the problem and just let you buy Premium directly instead of having to pick up MC for it then spend MC on it.

[aspect]

"Way too high"?

"I don't care because I'm rich / mommy pays"?

How entitled are some of you people? Most games cost $60+tax. Yeesh.

[Lonestar1771]

aspect, on 27 November 2012 - 07:45 PM, said:

"Way too high"?

"I don't care because I'm rich / mommy pays"?

How entitled are some of you people? Most games cost $60+tax. Yeesh.

True but you only pay for it ONCE.

[Red squirrel]

Bluten, on 27 November 2012 - 07:40 PM, said:

[...]The top one is 250 per 1$, which is good. They should ALL be like that. If I were to correct the chart to put it where it should logically be, it would be:</p>[...]

I think I remember the devs saying a mechbay slot is supposed to be 1$.
Right now we are between 1,20 and 1,75.And about the comparison to AAA titles (despite the fact that you pay only once)I would say 50$ is a good average value for that. Mc wise this would be 12000MC.

So you can get about 3 mechs for that. (1 Light, 1 Medium and 1 Assault).But then MC is mainly for people that do not play all day and still want to buy stuff.So you also need C-Bills since you might want a big XL enigne or DHS / ES / FF / Artemis(OK who wants FF?)

Let me give you an example:I want a Centurion 9D with the biggest XL Engine, DHS and ES and a Gauss Cannon.So I need about 10 million C-Bills for that. And to get 10 million C-Bills you need to buy mechsfor 20 millions. This would be around 2 AWS-9M which are almost 12000MC.So basically getting just one high end mech is already more expensive than 50$.</p>

Edited by Red squirrel, 28 November 2012 - 05:20 AM.

[Red squirrel]

.

[Goose Igaly]

Not sure where you get the idea that Artemis requires MC to purchase. Artemis is a C-Bill upgrade. Additionally, if you are buying MC mechs and selling them to get C-Bills, you're doing it wrong and wasting your money. Play matches and enjoy the game. C-Bills come with time. And if you're going to cry foul on that statement due to what you believe to be imbalances in the system (yes, I have my own thoughts about balance), either learn to keep your inner nerd's rage in check or quit playing until the game goes full launch.

Your analysis of "Diminishing Returns" has no application in this environment as what you are truly at is a Supply/Demand curve. Economics 135....I think...in any case, Macroeconomics.

And as a courtesy, please don't bump your posts with a "." If your thread is not receiving any more attention, it means enough has been said.