27 replies to this topic

[Stringburka]

Praeses, on 01 February 2013 - 07:19 AM, said:

I'm not discussing if the prices are right or wrong (I would loose that discussion even with all the right arguments) I just don't understand how people can get so much Cbills (without using any boost that is)

Now, I had maybe a million before now that I think about it, and the cost might have been slightly lower due to selling of stuff, so maybe it was 7 millions or so. Not sure. But generally:
Say I play a match every 10 minutes (average match time is probably shorter, but I tend to drift into doing other stuff). I play with a light TAG mech and tend to get a lot of assists, so losses give me about 80k and wins about 140k I think. If I win/lose equally that's 110k/10 minutes, 660k/hour, and I tend to play a lot when I play so maybe 9 hours one day and it was probably around 6 the other day. 15*660=9900k. These are very round numbers, might be off by several percent here and there but it ends up a lot of money over a day anyway.

EDIT: It should be noted this is without any bonus at all, no premium account, no hero mech or similar.

Edited by Stringburka, 01 February 2013 - 08:53 AM.

[Theobald Hauser]

Quote

At some points i aggree with you, some prices are a bit off, to equip a Mech with 2-3moduls which moderate benefits, you pay a furtune. I know, its the last polish of your Mech, but therefore, if i change it, the money is lost, its a bit harsh.

Huh, no. They're like other equipments.

[Praeses]

Stringburka, on 01 February 2013 - 08:38 AM, said:

Now, I had maybe a million before now that I think about it, and the cost might have been slightly lower due to selling of stuff, so maybe it was 7 millions or so. Not sure. But generally:
Say I play a match every 10 minutes (average match time is probably shorter, but I tend to drift into doing other stuff). I play with a light TAG mech and tend to get a lot of assists, so losses give me about 80k and wins about 140k I think. If I win/lose equally that's 110k/10 minutes, 660k/hour, and I tend to play a lot when I play so maybe 9 hours one day and it was probably around 6 the other day. 15*660=9900k. These are very round numbers, might be off by several percent here and there but it ends up a lot of money over a day anyway.

EDIT: It should be noted this is without any bonus at all, no premium account, no hero mech or similar.

I'm usually get 4 assists as a minimum and like 5-6 average, to make more than 100k I have to be in the winning team and done some serious damage.

I grinded like 3 times now, first one was with trials (when they earn less) and was to buy a 1-2M commando, next time was in that commando to buy another variant, I couldn't get all the money before the server reset, I started again with trials (but this time there was the cadet bonus and I could buy my cataphract and then after I had that one customized as I wanted and had all the basic skills unlocked started to grind for another variant.

The two (the first one and the last) times I have to grind it took me several days (the first time was really awful because trials earned a lot less) and the second time seems like an eternity (considering that after I managed to buy the other variant I had to start to grind again as to buy weapons and upgrades) I finally said "f** it.. I'll wait until they make several changes".

I'm not a very good player but I'm not a bad one (just average) but getting 100k+ CB on a match is like christmas for me

Edited by Praeses, 01 February 2013 - 09:35 AM.

[Stringburka]

Praeses, on 01 February 2013 - 09:32 AM, said:

I'm usually get 4 assists as a minimum and like 5-6 average, to make more than 100k I have to be in the winning team and done some serious damage.

Might have been a bit high there, one tends to notice when it goes well more than when it goes badly. But TAG/spotting adds a lot, especially in Assault. I can usually get around 10k from each, and around 30k in assists. That's 50k just from those. Being in a light seems very effective for getting C-bills at least, though I don't get that many component destruction bonuses.

Still, the MWO wiki notes around 700k/hour of active play so I'm not that far of from what others think, at least.

[MWHawke]

Aesthir, on 31 January 2013 - 03:13 PM, said:

So take some cues from more successful free-to-play games like Team Fortress 2. Specifically this one cue:
All aspects of the game should be available to all players at all times, regardless of who pays.
Yes, in some cases it should require more time put into it, such as how most free-to-play games have a system where you can convert dropped currency into game currency, but overall you should try to stick to that maxim as close as possible. TF2 has been completely free for quite a while now and players still sink incredible amounts of money into hat-buying and other cosmetic items. People with money get the things they want, and everyone gets the same playing experience.

Maybe you can share what aspects of the game are not available to players?

Aesthir, on 31 January 2013 - 03:13 PM, said:

In the end, that's the most important part. Everyone gets the same experience. Getting hammered over and over by players with bottomless wallets who can just buy their way into the game isn't fun. Right now, that's literally all that the free players can do. They can't even customize their own mech, which is three-quarters of what Mechwarrior is all about!

I have farmed all my CB and bought my Mechs and weapons with CB. How is this game a game where non-paying players are "Getting hammered over and over by players with bottomless wallets"? What have they bought that allows them to do this?

And you CAN customize your own Mech. It's just that you have to work at it to get your own Mech. That option is available to everyone.

[blinkin]

Adridos, on 01 February 2013 - 02:48 AM, said:

You're forgetting the new cadet bonus system. My brother joined the game and had his fully kitted-out 4SP in 5 matches.

Compared to almost every F2P game out there, it's really a merciful grind. And don't remind me, I've been through it afew times in closed beta and also had to grind at the start of OB.

yes it is much better than most games, BUT that word "grind" is still there and still applies.

i am of the opinion that if grinding is an important part of your game at any point then you have done something wrong.

i am fully aware of the cadet bonus. it is a bandage that has been applied to the larger problem.

Edited by blinkin, 01 February 2013 - 11:14 AM.

[focuspark]

blinkin, on 01 February 2013 - 11:12 AM, said:

yes it is much better than most games, BUT that word "grind" is still there and still applies.

i am of the opinion that if grinding is an important part of your game at any point then you have done something wrong.

i am fully aware of the cadet bonus. it is a bandage that has been applied to the larger problem.

While I agree for retail games and P2P MMO, grind is a bad thing. However with F2P MMO you need an incentive for people to pay cash for something. Digital novelty items and paint jobs aren't going to a company in business very long, so they add a grind factor into the F2P side of things which P2P players can remove - thus giving players the option of playing the grind free P2P or the F2P version of the game.

Actually, it's because of this dynamic that I find P2P version of most F2P game to be less grind centric than standard P2P MMO.

[Stringburka]

blinkin, on 01 February 2013 - 11:12 AM, said:

yes it is much better than most games, BUT that word "grind" is still there and still applies.

i am of the opinion that if grinding is an important part of your game at any point then you have done something wrong.

You can hardly find any game where there isn't something resembling "grind". The first levels on tetris included.
Any multiplayer game made for replayability will have some repetitive components. The issue is when the "grind" is boring. Whether it's boring or not depends of course on taste, but there are some specifics to the MWO system that must be taken into account:
- The time before you get a mech you enjoy. This differs from player to player and month to month depending on starter mechs. Personally I think the trial mechs should be more well-built than now - not optimized, but good. An experienced player should be able to get good results using one. A performance about 90% of top of the line mechs would be fitting (of course not including xp)
- The XP system and requirement of leveling three mechs of the same type. Here it's important that there are always at least three variants people will enjoy, and thus is largely based on balance.

On the other hand, MWO doesn't have to suffer from what a lot of MMORPG's suffer from - the most effective grind being against basically the same easy opponents all the time. Time in game in MWO is often different and you always have to keep on your toes. This is a big difference from, for example, WoW.

I think MWO does quite well at avoiding The Big Grind, but could do better.