76 replies to this topic

[Ethicus]

dymlos2003, on 20 May 2012 - 12:39 AM, said:

Has everyone forgotten about mechwarrior credits? That's the real currency in MWO and yes, you can buy mechs with it.

Actually i just like this idea better. Just pay money for credits. not pay money for mechs.

Basically if 1$ = 1,000,000 c-bills, and a centurian equals roughly 4,000,000 C-bills. Pay 4 dollars for 4,000,000 C-bills. Now you use that to buy the mech, instead of just trying to make prices for the mechs

Now you also have left over money to buy weapons for the mech you just bought.

Itll be the same with new mechs, just release em into the purchasable mechs in the mechlab. People can grind up to the amount they need. Or they can buy 5$ worth of money and add that to what they already have to get the mech.

Frankly unless its a mech i absolutely want, i have no need to buy it. and since we have limited mech slots in our mechlab, you might not be able to buy it in the first place. Which i think is a pretty cool idea as long as all the mechs are balanced.

And as long as they dont make the mech slots have to be 1 light 1 medium 1 heavy 1 assault, then im fine.

Edited by Ethicus, 20 May 2012 - 09:10 AM.

[Mechteric]

I would guess that 500 MC is roughly $5 USD. But going by a direct CBILL to $ value just doesn't hold up because of this:

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Blood_Asp

The Blood Asp is 29,416,750 C-bills and nobody is going to shell out $30 for a mech. So its gotta scale back.

[Claw55]

5-10$ plus a bit more for paint-jobs/etc is fair enough.

[Angel of Annihilation]

The wierd part about this whole topic is the game is suppose to be free-to-play. However, the game can't be free to play if you have to "buy" all the mechs to play it.

I mean I guess they could throw 1 or 2 "Free" mechs for people to play and make everyone buy all the rest of the mechs, but honestly I think that would be a reciepe for the failure of this game.

Be interesting to see though I have to admit. I have to admit there is a bit of an appeal to being able buy 2-3 of my favorite mechs for $5-$15 a piece then never having to spend real money on the game again.

[Siilk]

ChalybsUmbra, on 20 May 2012 - 01:20 AM, said:

In response to your cosmetics idea, I respectfully disagree. At least in the sense of "mech hats". It's one thing to have these silly things in a game like Team Fortress 2, which thrives on a particularly cartoony art style and humor. MWO is very serious in nature, therefore these cosmetics very much break immersion and the experience. Hula girls on the dashboard and special design patterns are fine, but hats, masks, and corny special effects like confetti for your autocannon don't belong.

Let me rephrase my thoughts a bit as I feelthat "mech hats" could be a bit misleading. What I had is mind are camos and warpaints, famous units' badges, house crests and cosmetic mech model changes that would not give any significant battle advantage. For example camos could obviously make mech harder to see if used right but that's not as much of an advantage as having a highly advanced mech available to you weeks(or even monthes) before anyone else. In-cockpit cosmetics, like the aforementioned hula girl and other decorations could also be included into cosmetics category.

ChalybsUmbra, on 20 May 2012 - 01:20 AM, said:

I think you underestimate how much an online game like MWO costs. Upkeep of servers in multiple locations and well as development costs quite a bit. Selling useless cosmetics won't even be enough to break even. I'll tell you I won't buy such things, and most others won't. Playing a mech sim is for the experience of piloting a mech, not prettying it up.

You shouldn't underestimate the thrive for outstanding visual appearance, the general population of online games have. Besides, some things, like the bedges or crests, could require a monthly subscription to keep.

ChalybsUmbra, on 20 May 2012 - 01:20 AM, said:

Even Team Fortress's items have bonuses that affect the gameplay, because it's about the FPS experience, not just the appearance of your characters.

Not the bonuses, modifiers. With the rare exceptions, boughtable TF2 weapons are not better than the original ones, they just work a bit differently or only better in some(ofter rare) cases. MWO equivalent here would be selling AC10 that fires twice as fast as the default one but has each shells deal half the damage. So for example, weapons made by different manufacturers could have such minor differences in their parameters. Again, they would not be better per se, they would simply work a little different or have some drawbacks to compensate any advantage they might have.

ChalybsUmbra, on 20 May 2012 - 01:20 AM, said:

So don't worry about, you won't be seeing anyone buying any mech you can't get yourself in a reasonable amount of time for free.

Again, you think having access to better mechs, weapons and equipment way before anyone else is not an advantage? Of course, "better tech would not substitute for a complete lack of skill", but it would be a decisive factor if the skill of both parties involved is the same.

ChalybsUmbra, on 20 May 2012 - 01:20 AM, said:

And it's "cash" not "cache", they're very different in definition. Also we use the present tense of words when we stick "-able" at the end of them, so it's "buyable" not "boughtable". Just so you know for future reference, no offense intended.

If you mean no offense, stop trying to offend me with that. This is not an english class, keep your precious pearls of wisdom to yourself.

[Abrahms]

Uh, $10+ per mech would mean you can buy 6 mechs and then youre over the cost of a AAA game....

Sounds like a terrible idea

[Kanatta Jing]

Abrahms, on 20 May 2012 - 12:16 PM, said:

Uh, $10+ per mech would mean you can buy 6 mechs and then youre over the cost of a AAA game....

Sounds like a terrible idea

Well you don't really want most people to buy all available mechs. You have to leave them something to work for.

And the point of Free to Play is that some people that can or want to, will pay more then they would for a AAA game.

[Morashtak]

Viktor Drake, on 20 May 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

The wierd part about this whole topic is the game is suppose to be free-to-play. However, the game can't be free to play if you have to "buy" all the mechs to play it.

You will not have to hand over dollar one - Grind away with all the free time you have and buy it all (excepting maybe a paint job or other non-power item) with C-Bills.

Some of us see this as not worth our time due to RL commitments. We earn our RL monies with RL activities. This feature allows us to buy our Mechs with MCs and have a few more options to choose from prior to drop. After drop we will all be piloting one Mech each with the same equipment that is available to all.

[ChalybsUmbra]

Siilk, on 20 May 2012 - 11:30 AM, said:

If you mean no offense, stop trying to offend me with that. This is not an english class, keep your precious pearls of wisdom to yourself.

I'm not trying to offend you man, I apologized already. I'm only telling you these things because it was the lack of coherency in your post that led me to discredit your post as trolling. I'm not trying to be condescending here. I didn't know you were so vehemently opposed to improving your English.

Siilk, on 20 May 2012 - 11:30 AM, said:

You shouldn't underestimate the thrive for outstanding visual appearance, the general population of online games have. Besides, some things, like the bedges or crests, could require a monthly subscription to keep.

If you can name one successful game that only sells cosmetic items, then I'll consider it a possibility. I remain very skeptical of such a business model with a game that demands so many resources and a development team so large. And subscription based cosmetics will not sell, even for mercenary groups. That will suppress individuality more than encourage it.

Siilk, on 20 May 2012 - 11:30 AM, said:

Not the bonuses, modifiers. With the rare exceptions, boughtable TF2 weapons are not better than the original ones, they just work a bit differently or only better in some(ofter rare) cases. MWO equivalent here would be selling AC10 that fires twice as fast as the default one but has each shells deal half the damage. So for example, weapons made by different manufacturers could have such minor differences in their parameters. Again, they would not be better per se, they would simply work a little different or have some drawbacks to compensate any advantage they might have.

Sounds like an AC5 to me, except the AC5 has less weight, less hardpoints, more range, and less heat. These modifiers you propose are already built into the system. PGI already said they're not taking into consideration the manufacturers, and I think it's a good thing. Battletech's system is balanced as it is, but introducing these new nuances could disrupt it.

Siilk, on 20 May 2012 - 11:30 AM, said:

Again, you think having access to better mechs, weapons and equipment way before anyone else is not an advantage? Of course, "better tech would not substitute for a complete lack of skill", but it would be a decisive factor if the skill of both parties involved is the same.

There was a Q&A where someone asked how something bigger is better or along the lines of that. The dev replied that it is not necessarily true. There are drawbacks like tonnage, hardpoints, and heat to consider. It's not like there are double heat sinks that are like $2 each or something. If you look at the mech lineup, can you point to where exactly there exists a mech decisively better than another? Is a large laser necessarily better than 2 medium lasers? Is an Atlas necessarily better than a Jenner? Role warfare also goes a long way to negating the problem of bigger=better. What I'm basically saying is that being more expensive is not the same as being better. Sure, skill being equal, victory favors money, that was true in Team Fortress 2 as well. But time=money, you put in enough time, you get what you want. If you can't do that, put in the money. The playing field is equaled eventually. You need to accept that playing for free means you have to put in time to get what you want. Simple as that.

Edited by ChalybsUmbra, 20 May 2012 - 07:15 PM.

[Forscythe]

So this is a free to play game if someone wants to play would they just be suject to stock loadouts with no mechlab capabilities? Or you have to buy c bills to play after you have run out.

[Volthorne]

ChalybsUmbra, on 20 May 2012 - 03:52 PM, said:

If you can name one successful game that only sells cosmetic items, then I'll consider it a possibility. I remain very skeptical of such a business model with a game that demands so many resources and a development team so large. And subscription based cosmetics will not sell, even for mercenary groups. That will suppress individuality more than encourage it.

For cosmetic-only cash items, I direct your attention to League of Legends. 90% of the money Riot makes is from the Skins they offer for the different Champions. For subscription-based (or there-abouts) cosmetics, I direct your attention to MapleStory, or any other game developed by Nexon. The nature of cosmetics that can expire forces those who want to keep their fancy looks to keep re-buying the cosmetics they want.

ChalybsUmbra, on 20 May 2012 - 03:52 PM, said:

Sounds like an AC5 to me, except with less weight, less hardpoints, more range, and less heat.

You got the suggested stats all backwards.

Edited by Volthorne, 20 May 2012 - 06:46 PM.

[ChalybsUmbra]

Volthorne, on 20 May 2012 - 06:45 PM, said:

For cosmetic-only cash items, I direct your attention to League of Legends. 90% of the money Riot makes is from the Skins they offer for the different Champions. For subscription-based (or there-abouts) cosmetics, I direct your attention to MapleStory, or any other game developed by Nexon. The nature of cosmetics that can expire forces those who want to keep their fancy looks to keep re-buying the cosmetics they want.

Interesting. I've tried to look very hard for their profit margins, but all I can find out is Riot Game's revenue per year at $25-50 million. I don't know where you got that 90%, but if that's true then that's very impressive. I don't play LoL, but can't you buy characters or their in-game currency as well? Maplestory is obviously very profitable, but I don't agree with subscribing to an appearance, on just the basis of philosophy.

Volthorne, on 20 May 2012 - 06:45 PM, said:

You got the suggested stats all backwards.

I meant that the AC5 had the stats I was saying. Yeah, that sentence needs a few more words.

[CloudCobra]

I pay 15$ a month to play SWTOR if i can't buy a few things a month with that kind of money i think it's too much. So like a mech or two and/or a good amount of c-bills like enough to buy a couple mechs for 15$ is priced right in my mind.

[Volthorne]

ChalybsUmbra, on 20 May 2012 - 07:14 PM, said:

I don't play LoL, but can't you buy characters or their in-game currency as well?

Yes, you can. But they don't sell for near as much as the skins do, most of the time, and they're also available with soft-currency. AFAIK, most people don't buy Champions with hard-currency, except for people who only can play a couple matches a week.

[Carebear]

Im willing to give 20 a month, but beyond that its really consideration.

[Redshift2k5]

Forscythe, on 20 May 2012 - 06:26 PM, said:

So this is a free to play game if someone wants to play would they just be suject to stock loadouts with no mechlab capabilities? Or you have to buy c bills to play after you have run out.

Free players will be able to have any mech, any weapons, any equipment as anyone else. It might take you longer to earn new mechs, but anything that affects gameplay will be available to all players, free and paying. Cash-only items will mostly be cosmetic ( paint, logos, etc)

[Darq]

Viktor Drake, on 20 May 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

The wierd part about this whole topic is the game is suppose to be free-to-play. However, the game can't be free to play if you have to "buy" all the mechs to play it.

I mean I guess they could throw 1 or 2 "Free" mechs for people to play and make everyone buy all the rest of the mechs, but honestly I think that would be a reciepe for the failure of this game.

Be interesting to see though I have to admit. I have to admit there is a bit of an appeal to being able buy 2-3 of my favorite mechs for $5-$15 a piece then never having to spend real money on the game again.

You don't have to pay to buy the Mechs, you can earn the C-bills in game and buy it that way - you CAN (not have to) buy them with real money (well actually you can buy C-bills which equates tot he same thing).

[trycksh0t]

Eh, just slap an extra "0" to the end of the tonnage, put a dollar sign in-front, and that's your price.

So a 25 tonner, like the Commando, is $2.50, 35 tonners (Jenner) would be $3.50, Centurion and Hunchie would be $5.00, maxing out at $10.00 for an Atlas.


Edit - Somehow, when I think Centurion, my hands want to type Commando...what is that about?

Edited by trycksh0t, 29 June 2012 - 07:47 PM.

[Glythe]

If you stop and think about it for a minute you can figure out how much a mech is going to cost. Might I direct your attention here : http://mwomercs.com/founders

Notice that for 60$ you're getting a $115 value. That breaks down to $80 in game currency, 2 months premium ($20) and that leaves you with $15 left over for one mech of your choice.

So I'm guessing mechs will cost around $15.

Edited by Glythe, 29 June 2012 - 08:54 PM.

[trycksh0t]

Glythe, on 29 June 2012 - 08:54 PM, said:

If you stop and think about it for a minute you can figure out how much a mech is going to cost. Might I direct your attention here : http://mwomercs.com/founders

Notice that for 60$ you're getting a $115 value. That breaks down to $80 in game currency, 2 months premium ($20) and that leaves you with $15 left over for one mech of your choice.

So I'm guessing mechs will cost around $15.

Not quite, at least according to the current plans according to Russ:

Russ Bullock, on 19 June 2012 - 09:56 AM, said:

People saying this just arent realizing the value of the mechs. If you buy legendary you will have 4 prime variant mechs which means you already have the start on all 4 mech trees they are a part of.

The lifetime C-Bill booster on all 4 mechs means when your grinding C-Bills you will never not have a mech out of combat you can jump in with.

In short the values are like this

10$ a month on premium accounts and around 15$ value at least on the Founders Mech's which is 170$ value for the 120$

If the mech's dont mean this much to you then perhaps Elite is a better option for you.

Russ Bullock, on 19 June 2012 - 10:10 AM, said:

Okay a couple questions I see a lot of:

The C-Biill booster amount was stated somewhere I think the print below the different packages. It is 25% on all the Mech's

As to the Value of the MC...most people asking what that would buy in game.

The best I can do for you now would be to equate that to Buying Mechs

It is quite a bit, off the top of my head and SUBJECT TO CHANGE DISCLAIMER

You could likely buy somewhere between 8-10 Medium class Battlemechs at current tentative plans. More lights of course and less of the heaviest mech's in the game.

This can and probably will change before launch to some degree but I think it does show everyone, that in game currency will go a long ways to building your Mech Bay up with your favorite Chassis.

Those are from the Founder's Q&A. Apparently, at the current pricing setup they're looking at (Which is obviously subject to change, but this is the best we've got right now), the 4 'Mechs that come with Legendary Packs would total $15. It also appears that $80 worth of MechCreds can net you between 8-10 Medium 'Mechs (Putting 'em around...$8-10 a piece).