21 replies to this topic

[Zylo]

With the announcement of consumables coming shortly after the addition of the Elo system does anyone else think that Elo was really added to sell more consumables?

Phase 3 finally introduced Elo. Matches are balanced a bit better but weight class matching is sometimes way off. The average player now has to work harder to win due to being matched against equal rated players. This is good for the game and balance is much better than past versions of matchmaker.

Now with phase 3 Elo matchmaker finally producing matches that are more balanced, the announcement is made that consumed items will be added. Players now have a reason to pay for an advantage over other players.

In a fight against equal rated players, those who don't buy consumable items will be at a disadvantage against those who do buy these items. The MC versions in the example HERE require only a single module slot. This allows the players running the MC versions of consumed items to have a significant advantage in terms of overall power when compared to a player running the C-bill versions due to being able to mount a larger selection of consumable items with the maximum effect from the MC version.


PGI can make some changes that would probably reduce the anger of the community:

The consumed items should follow the examples set by mech pricing. Make a single consumed item of each type with a price in MC and a price in C-bills. This works for mechs and it can work for consumed items too. Some players will choose to buy MC versions of the consumables while others will choose to buy a premium subscription for more XP as well as a higher C-bill gain to purchase these consumables with C-bills instead while running a premium sub.

[SuomiWarder]

No I don't believe there was a causal link. It was just the way they planned develpoment, Elo requires time running ti gather data and be fine tuned. Consumables can be added in or taken out whenever.

[Zylo]

SuomiWarder, on 04 March 2013 - 06:40 PM, said:

No I don't believe there was a causal link. It was just the way they planned develpoment, Elo requires time running ti gather data and be fine tuned. Consumables can be added in or taken out whenever.

I'm not saying that Elo requires consumables.

I am saying that to create demand for consumables there must first be a need for players to buy advantages. This means the average match must be balanced otherwise there is no reason to buy consumed items if you are easily stomping the enemy team 9 times out of 10. On the other side if you are being stomped every match the consumables probably wouldn't make enough of a difference to win.

[Royalewithcheese]

I think it all balances out. For instance, I'm not very good at robots and don't intend to pay/grind for coolant but drive a pretty good robot. So maybe I'll be matched against better pilots who are in bad robots, or bad pilots in bad robots with airstrikes.

[Tempered]

I think you stay awake at night wondering if the president will call you for a secret mission.

[Galathon Redd]

[Zylo]

I hope you guys aren't too surprised when future hero mechs end up with even more module slots.

[Chemie]

Your theory does not work. If you drop and always lose to those paying, your ELO drops and you get matched with players who are as good as you but dont pay.

[EmCeeMendez]

They've been planning air strikes and whatnot, as modules, since the first few dev blogs. Easily a year. The fact that they're consumable is new. This is not a ploy to get more MC sales. It's a step towards them fulfilling the promises they set for themselves with the 4 pillars of warfare.

[Zylo]

Chemie, on 04 March 2013 - 06:55 PM, said:

Your theory does not work. If you drop and always lose to those paying, your ELO drops and you get matched with players who are as good as you but dont pay.

The point is that it will encourage consumption of these items because the matches are more balanced. Those who want to win are going to be stuck in a cycle of needing to purchase either the C-bill or MC items to continue winning.

This is a direct result of Elo forcing balance.

[Vermaxx]

To start with, I don't think elo produces better matching. If I'm in a four man, we usually win hard. Anything less, we often get pubnubbed. The weight being off is also insane when you pull something like 4 Raven 3Ls on the enemy team and you got all slow heavies in return. And then two of them disconnect somehow.

But, yes, the game was always going toward sustainable sales. Hero mechs cost too much, premium time is only worth it until you are sitting on a wad of cash and xp, and buying a standard mech with MC is just really dumb. These are infrequent sales at best. PGI needs something to keep turning old players into new customers. Otherwise, the game dies since everyone only spent $60.00 in 2012.

I'm annoyed that these things are modules, and not somehow related to a command console. It is one more step AWAY from stressing group coordination and a single leader unit.

Considering we already have the equivalent of C3 function out of basic gameplay, there will probably never be a reason to be in a "command" mech.

[anonymous175]

I thought it was for matchmaking.

[Matt Minus]

Zylo, on 04 March 2013 - 06:34 PM, said:

The consumed items should follow the examples set by mech pricing. Make a single consumed item of each type with a price in MC and a price in C-bills. This works for mechs and it can work for consumed items too. Some players will choose to buy MC versions of the consumables while others will choose to buy a premium subscription for more XP as well as a higher C-bill gain to purchase these consumables with C-bills instead while running a premium sub.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that their data shows them that almost no one buys mechs for MC when it's trivially easy to buy them for cbills.

[Zylo]

Zeno Scarborough, on 04 March 2013 - 07:07 PM, said:

I thought it was for matchmaking.

Elo is used for more balanced matchmaking but is that really the reason Elo was added?

Balanced matches create demand for items that will give players advantages. Players who want these advantages will now be spending C-bills and MC to increase their chance of winning in a balanced match.

[anonymous175]

They go to the laundromat for that.

[Signal27]

I was actually thinking about that a while ago. But I figured that the Elo matchmaker would actually keep consumables in check. For example:

If two players are of equal skill, and one uses consumables while the other doesn't, the player who has the advantage will eventually be elevated into another Elo bracket, so the player who doesn't use consumables doesn't have to worry about him as much.

If there is one player of higher skill who doesn't use consumables, and one player of lower skill who uses consumables, then it puts the player of lower skill on more even footing with the player of higher skill.

If there is a highly skilled player who uses consumables, and a lower skilled player who doesn't use consumables, then there isn't a very good chance that the Elo matchmaker will have them face each other.

At least, that's how I hope it shakes out.

[INSEkT L0GIC]

ELO was implemented as another step toward CW. Frankly, I didn't expect consumables to hit until CW was introduced.

[Artgathan]

Signal27, on 04 March 2013 - 07:13 PM, said:

I was actually thinking about that a while ago. But I figured that the Elo matchmaker would actually keep consumables in check. For example:

If two players are of equal skill, and one uses consumables while the other doesn't, the player who has the advantage will eventually be elevated into another Elo bracket, so the player who doesn't use consumables doesn't have to worry about him as much.

If there is one player of higher skill who doesn't use consumables, and one player of lower skill who uses consumables, then it puts the player of lower skill on more even footing with the player of higher skill.

If there is a highly skilled player who uses consumables, and a lower skilled player who doesn't use consumables, then there isn't a very good chance that the Elo matchmaker will have them face each other.

At least, that's how I hope it shakes out.

This. This invalidates the OP's theory. There is definitely no link between Elo and Consumables. Basically Elo can't drive consumable sales because anyone who uses consumables to gain an advantage simply gets put into a higher bracket. In the higher bracket they face either:

1) Pilots of their caliber also using consumables to boost themselves up a bit
2) Pilots who are better than them without consumables

Ultimately it just makes the use of consumables balance itself out. Personally I'll be improving my skills as a pilot and not relying on coolant flushes and airstrikes to win my battles.

[Zylo]

Artgathan, on 04 March 2013 - 07:28 PM, said:

This. This invalidates the OP's theory. There is definitely no link between Elo and Consumables. Basically Elo can't drive consumable sales because anyone who uses consumables to gain an advantage simply gets put into a higher bracket. In the higher bracket they face either:

1) Pilots of their caliber also using consumables to boost themselves up a bit
2) Pilots who are better than them without consumables

Ultimately it just makes the use of consumables balance itself out. Personally I'll be improving my skills as a pilot and not relying on coolant flushes and airstrikes to win my battles.

Without Elo there would be no reason for the players doing the 8-0 stomps to buy consumables. The consumables probably wouldn't help those who were getting stomped before.

There would have been NO incentive to buy consumables without Elo. Now with balanced matches there is at least some incentive to buy consumables. This does not mean every player is going to buy consumables but the balanced matches do create more demand for players to buy these consumable advantages.

[BertyBargo]

In b4 thread deleted.