39 replies to this topic

[TexAce]

Hi,

first this is no "why do they get the shiny stuff and we not // P2W blabla post"!

It's just that I know some other games which have a completely different approach of financing themselves.

In MWO you have MCs, the payers currency. With MCs you can buy stuff, which non-payers can't
get access to at all. While this IS a way to finance a game, there is also another one which is:

Give everyone access to everything but let the paying players get everything much much faster.
This approach works for many online games and I think it is actually the better one, since you can attract more people to play the game when they see how much stuff they can get IF they play.

Ways to earn MCs as a free player:

- Log in every day to play the game, you get xx amount of MCs after the 7th day.
- 1 MC for every kill.
- 1 MC for the first in the matchrank.
- 1 MC for the highest damage at the day
- 1-5 MC for highest summed up damage in the month.
- 1-5 MC for the highest XP gain summed up in a month
- 20-50 MC as a birthday present

That's slow, yes, you need to kill 300 times to get one mech bay, but its at least something and it really changes the way people play and how much they play. I witnessed this a lot of times in other online games and it works very good there.

This, while it sounds really stupid, binds the people to the game much more, because they have another currency which they can earn and pushes them to play more.

Publish tables with top-xp gain and top-damage every month. People will want to be on the top there and even buy more MCs. You really have to play with the psychology of gamers here.

More players = healthier game.
The XP grind is the most negative thing you can give non paying customers and no, it does not make them purchase MCs, it makes them leave the game, since you are seperating the players into two groups, one feeling inferior.

Don't give free players the XP and C-Bill boosts which you get as a founder or when you buy a hero mech, but let them at least have a chance to get the mechs (or mech bays), even if it takes months of play.

It's just an idea, but I think its a major flaw of this game to seperate people into two groups. Even if the differences are not that big. It would definately boost the player base (I had 4 games yesterday which were not filled with 8 people on either side which really got me thinking) because you are giving them something to long for even if they don't have money/ a credit card or whatsoever.

Please like if you agree.

Edited by TexAss, 06 January 2013 - 08:25 AM.

[Roughneck45]

They will never give you free MC routinely. They can already get the mechs with months of play. The garages are a small cost if you want to expand your mech collection.

What they should do, is have a first win of the day bonus on your c-bills. That is something that keeps people coming back, even if its only for a game a day.

Edited by Roughneck45, 06 January 2013 - 07:44 AM.

[neviu]

agree whit that double the first win of the day whit everymech.

[TexAce]

Roughneck45, on 06 January 2013 - 07:39 AM, said:

They will never give you free MC routinely. They can already get the mechs with months of play. The garages are a small cost if you want to expand your mech collection.

What they should do, is have a first win of the day bonus on your c-bills. That is something that keeps people coming back, even if its only for a game a day.

Not daily, weekly. Your approach is even much more a grind and leaves you with c-bills only at the end, which at some point you have more than you need. You only have 4 mech bays, what do you want to do when you bought everything you can and all mech bays are full? We already have players who don't know what to do with all their c-bills.

Edited by TexAss, 06 January 2013 - 07:49 AM.

[FrostPaw]

MC is their life blood, if you aren't buying it with money, they aren't sustaining the game. If they're giving it away, you aren't buying it.

[TexAce]

FrostPaw, on 06 January 2013 - 07:47 AM, said:

MC is their life blood, if you aren't buying it with money, they aren't sustaining the game. If they're giving it away, you aren't buying it.

This is clearly wrong. A lot of games are an example for that. It solely depends on the AMOUNT you are giving out for free. If you hit the right spot, it will make people buy even more!

Edited by TexAss, 06 January 2013 - 07:53 AM.

[PANZERBUNNY]

300 MC on your Birthday!

No wait! That's not a joke...it's called customer retention policies and little fun things that REALLY cost you nothing, but lets the customer think you actually give a damn about them.

There are a few more.

[TexAce]

PANZERBUNNY, on 06 January 2013 - 07:55 AM, said:

300 MC on your Birthday!

No wait! That's not a joke...it's called customer retention policies and little fun things that REALLY cost you nothing, but lets the customer think you actually give a damn about them.

There are a few more.

While I think 300 is way too much, this is also a way. I'm only talking about psychology here and it is very important in every business.

if you don't mind, I will add it into my list, although with 20-50MCs

[topgun505]

They should hold regular events (maybe 1 a week?) and give out small MC awards for certain random variables which are unknown at the start of each event.

Example. First Friday of the month there are MC events for solo pug matches only. Second Friday of the month they are for those dropping in 4-man teams. Third would be for 8-mans. Last week would be a random one.

The system keeps track of how many games you play and you can play ONCE in the special event during the event window (which may be for the entire day), after you've done your event game you can play regular matches the rest of the day of course. During the event you don't know what the MC prize condition is until the game starts ... and it is potentially different in every game.

Categories could include:

Most damage in the game
Most kills in the game ( + assists and/or damage for breaking ties)
Most assists in the game

I'm sure we could come up with some other categories as well.

This encourages players to play more often (granted only a little since they only play once) but still, having one day a week where the population surges and more games a played isn't a bad thing. It doesn't encourage Atlas-boating since you don't know the win condition. For all you know you might be better off with a scout. But then again if it's the most damage yer better off with a fatty. So it doesn't encourage any particular mech or play-style. And you can only earn 100 MC out of the event. Period. Which isn't such a huge reward that it should massively cut into PGI's profits, but it is big enough to still encourage people to play. If you play and win one event each week you would have enough for 1 new mech bay or a couple of paint colors by the end of a month.

Thoughts?

Edited by topgun505, 06 January 2013 - 08:01 AM.

[TexAce]

topgun505, on 06 January 2013 - 07:58 AM, said:

Yes, also fine. PGI really doesn't get this. Their business model is totally out of date. This is not the way to bind people to their game and it could result in less and less players.

[Livewyr]

I wouldn't mind tiny MC injections..would let players demo the product...even I'd its just to get a garage slot after a month. (maybe even give a player 500 MC after 25 matches so they can buy a garage slot and convert xp for a taste)

[Throat Punch]

I think that you should get free ilevel 489 epics and a legendary when you log in. Damn game catering to casuals.

[TexAce]

Morsdraco, on 06 January 2013 - 08:15 AM, said:

I think that you should get free ilevel 489 epics and a legendary when you log in. Damn game catering to casuals.

Most percentage of players are 'casuals', nearly everyone who starts a game is first a 'casual'. Without them, online games can't exist. It's what most are not getting, especially PGI (see trial mechs).

Edited by TexAss, 06 January 2013 - 08:18 AM.

[Throat Punch]

TexAss, on 06 January 2013 - 08:18 AM, said:

Most percentage of players are 'casuals', nearly everyone who starts a game is first a 'casual'. Without them, online games can't exist. It's what most are not getting, especially PGI (see trial mechs).

[Bors Mistral]

Handing out minor amounts of MC for accomplishing certain tasks in game, ergo "achievements", something that is already coming, is a perfectly sound business decision. People are much more likely to spend real money if they already have some amount of the Magic Currency on their accounts.

It doesn't even have to be enough to actually buy a mech per year, unless you're a crazy dedicated player or something. It's just a carrot in the end, to make you feel good. That, and a free mech bay slot for your birthday.

[Sam Slade]

Really good idea. Nothing else to say.

[Bguk]

I'd rather they just go with a monthly sub as the f2p model ****** people off when they can't get certain items for free. Granted, some people will still be pissed off but at least the perception of the f2p model will be taken away.

[Scandinavian Jawbreaker]

What the heck? MC is the real money currency in game. Why should they give us real money for playing? I wouldn't give money away to any one of you.

[Mycrus]

Mc rewards for damage? all kinds of farmers will delight.

Its a good idea but in this game you need to think of how it will get intentionally abused...

[Kelb]

Try thinking about what you are suggesting before you post it. Or do you just want this game to go away so you can go back to WOW?