605 replies to this topic

[Zloj Mangoost]

I 've played f2p online games before. Dropped last one, than 1k(1000)$/week was not enough for my pk gameplay. Since than - enjoyed EVEonline...so - in my opinion, I'd prefered even 30$/month for account - it's much cheaper than f2p

And Yes - ig you got anything you can buy exclusively for$ - get ready, that there will be ppl fitted exclusively in that stuff, and they'll farm you

[LordDeathStrike]

Zloj Mangoost, on 16 April 2012 - 02:22 PM, said:

I 've played f2p online games before. Dropped last one, than 1k(1000)$/week was not enough for my pk gameplay. Since than - enjoyed EVEonline...so - in my opinion, I'd prefered even 30$/month for account - it's much cheaper than f2p

And Yes - ig you got anything you can buy exclusively for$ - get ready, that there will be ppl fitted exclusively in that stuff, and they'll farm you

who wastes 50k a year on a f2p (1k a week assuming you take a 2 week vacation since most jobs that pay that kind of money give you 2 weeks to go some where tropical)

[990Dreams]

I wouldn't mind paying for extension mechs (see the topic in Off Topic)

[SavageMind]

I mentioned this in another part of the forum. I think the inital software should be purchased for a reasonable price and the rest of the items earned like Guild Wars minus the ability to buy in game currency online. Wallet warriors always find a way to exploit the system just as hackers and glitchers do and it ruins it for the rest of us. Remove the temptation and keep it pure and you will win.

[Mechteric]

I think the recently released Blacklight Retribution will be a fairly decent view into what MWO will have. I played it for a few hours yesterday and here's my take on it, purely from the economic standpoint. I found that from a gameplay perspective its not my type of game, but I still found this aspect of it interesting and relatable enough.

• After each round, I earned enough money just by playing to purchase a 1 day weapon or attachment to see if I like it. You can also purchase for 7 days or indefinite.
  
• To permanently own said new weapon, I would have to play approximately 25 matches.
  
• To buy that weapon with cash would about $5 I think

So it would be reasonably easy to find a setup you like for free, then spend $15 or so getting it, then if you like that's all you really need to buy, unless you like to have more options. But if you can justify spending $15 on a new setup each month or so for variety perhaps, that's not so bad and similar to the standard subscription costs in other games. The advantage here being I didn't have to grind my way to my preferred setup, I just got it as soon as I knew I wanted it and then boom I'm enjoying the game more because I'm playing with what I want.

[Soraith]

My experience with FTP games has not been good.
Folks with the $ have access to power ups / items
the rest of us do not. With even level toons and
equal skill levels the dollar toon wins every time.

Hope you find a way to make it work here.

[Sassori]

It's amazing how some people think that buying an in game advantage is /ever/ a good thing. Pay to win is /not/ the way to keep a loyal player base. As costs grow higher people abandon ship because they don't want to get farmed by the pay to win crowd.

F2P /can/ work, if it's all cosmetic. Or even just slight differences. For example: I buy a hunchback, it's got a set amount of hard points. I can modify the hunch back and customize it, but, it doesn't have the 6 energy hard points needed to make a swayback. So I spend cash for that variant. It doesn't net me an in game advantage since a 50 ton mech is still a 50 ton mech regardless, but it gives me a different spread of options.

Or if I want a special skin, or heck even whole chassis, like the Goliath or Scorpion or a Banshee or whatever. As long as there are other mech's out there of the same tonnage then I am not paying for advantage, I am paying for customization. That is the key to making F2P work with MWO and I certainly hope they embrace it.

[Chaunce]

Tbh i just wanna know how to play =(

[Josh Davion]

Christopher Dayson, on 24 April 2012 - 02:48 PM, said:

F2P /can/ work, if it's all cosmetic.

That is the key to making F2P work with MWO and I certainly hope they embrace it.

I totally agree with these statements. F2P should only have micro-transactions for things that don't benefit a player tactically.

Do I need an ego boost? $5, blam! Got my custom decal. Hate everyone having a similar paint scheme? $8, boom! Custom paint job, done!

Don't have the better mech? Oh, I'm sorry. Guess you better keep working on those piloting skillz, kid.

[Jack Gallows]

Josh Davion, on 25 April 2012 - 11:35 AM, said:

Don't have the better mech? Oh, I'm sorry. Guess you better keep working on those piloting skillz, kid.

Your pants are on fire.

And I agree as well, F2P can work wonderfully and be a great way to keep MW:O going strong for a long time yet, and lets you basically hand pick the content you want. Don't give an edge in combat, just things like paint schemes or other things that make the player happy.

Like shooting Josh.

[Ursus_Spiritus]

The down side for F2P is the in game spam, from credit farmers, power leveling crap sites, or getting harrased by trolls.

Well at least I have seen that in SWTOR, SWG, EQ2 and a few other MMOs.

Ease of access to the community basically allows for all the rubbish to flow in.

Not to say it doesn't happen in Pay to Play, just much easier access in F2P.

if i am going to pay for something in game. I want to be useful, functional.

Not a waste of programming annoying CPU/GPU processing waste of a pet or "friend".

Something that makes a difference in the environment of the game.

Edited by 8100d 5p4tt3r, 01 May 2012 - 12:38 PM.

[Silver Sword]

I can see why the F2P model is gaining in the market. I know plenty of people that have been paying monthly subscriptions for years and now they are dropping them because the fees are getting to be either to much or just too much of a stretch on the budget these days. F2P gives us a way to pay for stuff when we can afford the luxury items and/or when we feel it's worth the price. I'm not a big fan of all the spam necessarily but I can put up with it. I want to be able to enjoy good games with all my friends and F2P is the right price point for each of us.

[Iulianus]

InnerSphereNews, on 04 November 2011 - 03:21 PM, said:

<p>There are those who will rumble about Pay-2-Win, which equates to the person with the biggest wallet winning. I'm not going to lie, some things can and will allow you to acquire items faster, or even instantly with real cash.</p>

<p>Foul! Foul! You said you can't buy a tactical advantage! That's a stick! That guy with the wallet is going to be able to buy the biggest, bad assed items in the game! He's going to kick my **** with his wallet.</p>

<p>Well here's some food for thought, maybe the biggest isn't always the best! To take a quote from an early MechWarrior® presentation ' This is not your father's MechWarrior®! One of our core pillars is Role Warfare and is designed to, well ' level the playing field ' another concept from our original design. We're doing away with the arms race and making BattleMechs of all shapes and sizes have a purpose and role on the battlefield. If you love scouting, grab that light mech, train and gear it up. Be that sneaky guy who relays critical information back to the rest of your lance. Maybe you're a commander type, who loves to multitask, directing fire support, air strikes, and multiple lances in a mech suitable to that role. If you play any of these roles well, and with skill, you will be rewarded.</p>

<p>So remember this, time and experience (the real kind), will always equal greater skill. Greater skill will always equal more rewards. You can't buy skill, you earn it.</p>

I'm sorry, but this actually has me a little worried. Everyone always claims that skill>gear, but there is always a little bit of edge to be had with better gear. Take two basketball players of equal skill, and make one of them wear $20 bowling shoes. I'll bet that the one in his $200 Nikes will win.
I *KNOW* that there are f2p games out there, that rely on micropurchase systems for income, and do so quite well without being pay2win. Only collectible or cosmetic type of things that do not actually affect gameplay should be kept as purchase only. The other reason for purchases would be the impatient player who wants certain items right away, instead of waiting for that random chance from in game. I can't tell you how many times I've waited months for a certain thing, then I decide to buy it, and what happens? I get two more in the first week after buying it.

Everything that actually affects gameplay, in addition to being balanced, should be available through looting or some other "drop" type of find.

Also, certain cosmetically different "limited" items will create an in game trading economy that will result in some form of purchased item becoming the defualt trade "currency" (rather than C-bills) which people will buy in order to trade those cosmetically special items. This works very well in other f2p games, especially limited edition holiday items. A regular PPC might trade straight across for a comparable weapon system. However, one decorated with Christmas (or winter holidy for you politically correct types) lights on it would trade for a premium.

Limit the in game available skins, or even make it so all 'mechs ship with the builder's paint scheme (or you're stuck with what it had during salvage), and if players want something different, they can pay.
"Colored lenses" for lasers, so that players can change the color of their lasers to match team/lance/personal color schemes. You might even make them so that lenses "break" when removed, therefor changing back, or changing to a different color and trading the previous lense isn't an option.

Rockets/missiles that create a firework style burst instead of the normal flash and smoke, as another example.

"Rainbow" pulse lasers that fire a different color with each pulse.

All examples of weapons that are functionally the same as what can be found in game, but have a cosmetic difference that collectors or just "hey that looks cool. I want one" types will pay real cash for.

Edited by Iulianus, 01 May 2012 - 04:15 PM.

[Iulianus]

A shining example of F2P with micropurchase that works: Team Fortress 2
Shining example of F2P with micropurchase P2W that fails: Evony.

I would rather pay a subscription, than have my wallet constantly getting tapped just to keep up with the Jones's. If money actually affects gameplay, someone will always come along with a bigger wallet, and you end up paying more to stay competitive than you would for a subscription game.

Don't count out the income potential of cosmetics. In another example of a subscription game that uses micropurchases: There are pay to play games, that also sell in game items that don't affect actual gameplay, as well as real world merchandise (mugs, T-shirts, miniatures, etc. that people buy in addition to their subscription fees.

Edited by Iulianus, 01 May 2012 - 04:28 PM.

[Urza Mechwalker]

Theoretically I prefer a game wher eyou pay to play. Because free games where you pay to accelerate your trianing (liek WOT) you spend 90% of time SUFFERIGN instead of having fun.. jsut to stimualte you to spend money. And to have fun most of time you need to pay FAR more than a normal MMO.

[Alec MacDavid]

sorry, but I have to disagree completely with every one of your reasons. I could post a point-by-point, but that would be argumentative and given your tone and the state of development, useless imo.

I'll just say this.

Other games have gotten startup funding by asking their prospective customers to fund the development up front via crowdsourcing and even pre-orders. No "new model" marketing frenzy, no massive list of justifications necessary, and no dividing line between people who want to play the game "pure mode" and people who want to buy "easier mode" gameplay.

The devs get the money they need, the customers get the game they want, and the game is now available for more customers / pickup by a publisher. And the devs can always crowdsource again for expansions, which also pays for bugfixes along the way.

So although I was very happy to hear MWO was finally on the way (you couldn't design a more perfect universe or gameplay model for an MMO), the F2P aspect is going to keep me out. I've already been a subscription-paying member of more than one MMO that went F2P, and the F2P model ruined both the fun of the game (for some of the reasons you justified in your OP) and the community of the game (because free means there's no barrier against griefers and trolls).

I will still keep a hope that you change your minds, go crowdfund / preorder mode, and lose the F2P, or at least put in a full-pay tier that masks all F2P options (including the choice to mask F2P chat and filter F2P groups/clans/invites). I'd like to see MWO succeed and expand until it's a full-fledged MMO, but I won't be an F2P player again for any game.

[PANZERBUNNY]

Roh, on 04 November 2011 - 03:45 PM, said:

Boo! No getting things instantly! Fail! For many reasons fail! I could go in detail why it is fail but no one will be listening anyway.. So I will just say Boo! Fail!!! To make myself feel better and leave.

I have a feeling that it won't matter much. So some guy picks up some weapons that take time to work through some other way...who..realy...cares...

The fact of the matter is....this game needs to bring in some income. People are happy it's free for a variety of reasons so deal with this MINOR issue or would you rather have no game at all?

I would like to see each and every item have decay.

Edited by PANZERBUNNY, 10 May 2012 - 02:35 PM.

[Lothahnus]

I am a mechwarrior fanatic but if you have to buy weapons with real money then I will not play. and I know a lot of people would be in the same boat. I have no problem with a monthly fee.

DDO does both. They have a VIP membership where you pay monthly/tri-monthly/yearly or you can be a free member and buy mission packs and gear permantly(the gear you can buy is not top of the line by any means) or you can purchace passes to obtain access to areas that are vip for a day or so. This system pleases just about everyone because everyone gets what they want. you have the option to play free and not have to pay anything ever but never get all the content or higher end things that come with that content all the way up to full game access. You decide.

If MWO ends up only pay for every little thing or you can play then it will die like so many other games that try that.

[Garth Erlam]

Christopher Dayson, on 24 April 2012 - 02:48 PM, said:

It's amazing how some people think that buying an in game advantage is /ever/ a good thing. Pay to win is /not/ the way to keep a loyal player base. As costs grow higher people abandon ship because they don't want to get farmed by the pay to win crowd.

F2P /can/ work, if it's all cosmetic. Or even just slight differences. For example: I buy a hunchback, it's got a set amount of hard points. I can modify the hunch back and customize it, but, it doesn't have the 6 energy hard points needed to make a swayback. So I spend cash for that variant. It doesn't net me an in game advantage since a 50 ton mech is still a 50 ton mech regardless, but it gives me a different spread of options.

Or if I want a special skin, or heck even whole chassis, like the Goliath or Scorpion or a Banshee or whatever. As long as there are other mech's out there of the same tonnage then I am not paying for advantage, I am paying for customization. That is the key to making F2P work with MWO and I certainly hope they embrace it.

^---

[Monky]

This game can work solely off of cosmetic, out of combat, and advancement rate increase purchases.

Gameplay affecting (even if they're comparable or sidegrade items) just lead to people bailing because they don't want to deal with it. The objective is to lure those people into spending money, not turn them off because someone has some combat option or ability they don't (even if it isn't strictly an advantage).

As an example, in WoT I've spent maybe a hundred bucks on the game over a year, comparable to WoW. I spent money on 2 main things; 1 heavy tank and 1 medium tank (premium tanks, type 59 and Lowe), and a ton of garage slots so I could have all the tanks I liked in the game. I regret spending money on the heavy tank (the biggest purchase of the group) because it is easily duplicated by other tanks in the same bracket. I don't regret the type 59 because I know how to use it to it's full advantage and can take people out other tanks couldn't while abusing its high speed and manueverability. However, this gives me a gameplay advantage and isn't fun for the OTHER guy, making him less likely to play.

To boil that down - the two biggest things I spent money on are either A; not worthwhile to me or B; unfair to other players. The garage slots so far are my best investment in the game, I can play any tank I want to at any time, because I have room for it. IMO, MWO should focus on these secondary things for money, Mech garage spots, discounts on repairs, extra C-Bills earned, extra EXP earned, quicker Loyalty points, camo options (everyone, not matter how much they deny it, loves to pimp their ride).

Edited by monky, 10 May 2012 - 06:53 PM.