205 replies to this topic

[RickySpanish]

...In the same way as a game like League of Legends is free to play, where the statement "Free players have the same advantages as those that pay." can be made with a straight face.

For example, the recent thread about Mechbays being acquireable only through paying real money highlights the fact that MechWarrior Online's "free to play" model is more akin to a demo mode, where players can try out the game but to progress in any meaningful way, are expected to pay for it.

There seems to be a trend with recent games like MWO, Guild Wars 2 and even Deadspace 3 where micro-transactions have become... less micro. In all three cases they are still optional, and MWO has the distinct advantage of not costing the down-payment on a house to purchase AS WELL AS the "micro-transactions" that follow, nevertheless perhaps we could move away from "Free To Play" and the expectations that entails (no we can't -Finance & Marketing Dept.).

I'm not knocking MWO's payment model, although the prices do seem to verge on a little tasteless, but I reckon a lot of confusion and heartache would be avoided if people's expectations of "Free to Play" were clarified a little. For example, perhaps the game could wack a nice big glowey sign on an F2P player's client that says "You're Not Playing Till You're Paying!".

[Rofl]

Garth would like to have a word with you on that.

[Adrienne Vorton]

i am a paying customer in MWO...and i haven´t bought a SINGLE mechbay yet... so there is no need to buy mechbays, the game IS free...

if you want to collect mechs though, that is a different story...then you will have to pay the service...

there is NOTHING in the game that you NEED to buy to be able to keep on playing...

Edited by Adrienne Vorton, 15 February 2013 - 08:40 AM.

[M4NTiC0R3X]

[Tennex]

LoL *IS* free to play. all you pay for is vanity items and speeding up. you don't pay for "storage space" for more content.


MWO is not. this game content comes mainly in the form of mechs. and progression comes in the form of pilot exp.

but you'll notice as you fill your mech bays up with progression. at one point or another you are going to have to pay for mech bays. or give up the content you've acquired, to swap for more content. so your paying to be able to access more content without losing some content at that point.


at one point once your bays are filled up, you are starting to pay everytime the release content, to be able to play that content. without giving up already acquire content


but hey they gotta make money somehow. but since most people don't realize it. its actually a REALLY SMART way to charge a monthly fee essentially for content.

Edited by Tennex, 15 February 2013 - 08:49 AM.

[Lukoi Banacek]

Mechbays are not a requirement for reasonable, meaningful competitive fun in this game. Admittedly, your opinion may vary but truth be told, the ability to build a Mech every bit as powerful as anyone else's via c-bills is free to do, so your basic premise if flawed. There's no requirement for a player to have a wide variety of mechs, or the convenience of multiple mech bays....they are paying convenience and time in lieu of cash for the ability to level their Mechs, while others choose to buy Mechbays to make it easier....it's a matter of convenience, not a requirement.

[Chavette]

Enough pointless posts for today, OP.

Edited by Chavette, 15 February 2013 - 08:42 AM.

[Kooler]

Read your post and don't see any facts supporting your title. I haven't paid anything ( I won't until CW is implemented) and I'm doing just fine.

Is it a bigger grind for the Free to play players....yes, but that was always understood everytime I logged in

[Adridos]

RickySpanish, on 15 February 2013 - 08:33 AM, said:

...In the same way as a game like League of Legends is free to play, where the statement "Free players have the same advantages as those that pay." can be made with a straight face.

Feeling like nitpicking, eh?

League of Legends is not F2P. Paying players have waaaay more options in the choosing of their team composition. F2P players are basically playing chess with only pawns and horses, queen and the king. Just like a demo.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Tennex, on 15 February 2013 - 08:41 AM, said:

LoL *IS* free to play.

MWO is not. this game content comes mainly in the form of mechs. and progression comes in the form of pilot exp.

but you'll notice as you fill your mech bays up with progression. at one point or another you are going to have to pay for mech bays. so that you can have more content. so your paying for content at that point.

Flat out wrong, the game is F2P.

Make a new account, profit from cadet bonus and more free mech bays.

Elegant? No
Free? Yes

Edited by DV McKenna, 15 February 2013 - 08:43 AM.

[Sigifrid]

1. Can you get mastery on any mech chassis?
-Yes, you only need 3 mech slots

2. Can you master multiple mech chassis?
-Yes, you can sell mechs to free up slots

3. Can you later buy back your mechs when you have mastered the ones you want?
-Yes, see #2

Explain how you cannot perform these actions without paying.

Edit: You still have 4 mech slots, and when the dropship mode is added you can still participate (seeing as it will probably only allow you to select 4 mechs)

Edited by Sigifrid, 15 February 2013 - 08:46 AM.

[Penance]

Sigifrid, on 15 February 2013 - 08:43 AM, said:

1. Can you get mastery on any mech chassis?
-Yes, you only need 3 mech slots
2. Can you master multiple mech chassis? -Yes, you can sell mechs to free up slots
3. Can you later buy back your mechs when you have mastered the ones you want? -Yes, see #2

4. you do not lose what you have already unlocked on sold chassis...you can buy them back and still have the same skills unlocked.

[Tickdoff Tank]

Chavette, on 15 February 2013 - 08:41 AM, said:

Enough pointless posts for today, OP.

Based on my time on various forums: There is always more time for pointless posts, this post included. (which proves my point:) )

[Galland]

I can download the game client for free. I can select a trial 'Mech and launch for free. I get virtual currency after playing towards buying a 'Mech of my own. It's F2P. Everything else, extra 'Mech Bays, Hero 'Mechs, camo, that's all gravy.

[Roland]

Without spending any money, you can build any mech in the game, with the exception of the hero mechs, none of which are exceptionally competitive compared to normal mechs.

[hammerreborn]

RickySpanish, on 15 February 2013 - 08:33 AM, said:

...In the same way as a game like League of Legends is free to play, where the statement "Free players have the same advantages as those that pay." can be made with a straight face.

For example, the recent thread about Mechbays being acquireable only through paying real money highlights the fact that MechWarrior Online's "free to play" model is more akin to a demo mode, where players can try out the game but to progress in any meaningful way, are expected to pay for it.

There seems to be a trend with recent games like MWO, Guild Wars 2 and even Deadspace 3 where micro-transactions have become... less micro. In all three cases they are still optional, and MWO has the distinct advantage of not costing the down-payment on a house to purchase AS WELL AS the "micro-transactions" that follow, nevertheless perhaps we could move away from "Free To Play" and the expectations that entails (no we can't -Finance & Marketing Dept.).

I'm not knocking MWO's payment model, although the prices do seem to verge on a little tasteless, but I reckon a lot of confusion and heartache would be avoided if people's expectations of "Free to Play" were clarified a little. For example, perhaps the game could wack a nice big glowey sign on an F2P player's client that says "You're Not Playing Till You're Paying!".

My head hurts from this post.

LoL is F2P because they give you demo heroes. MWO is not F2P because they give you trial mechs.

LoL is F2P because you can buy heroes with in game currency or real money. MWO is not F2P because you can buy mechs with in game currency or real money

Edited by hammerreborn, 15 February 2013 - 08:46 AM.

[Protoculture]

They copied World of Tanks verbatim; but, the instant they have Gold LRMs or whatever I'm gone. They have already hinted at "consumable" commander items... I hope it's not going this route.

[Vasces Diablo]

A few years ago, this game would have cost you $50, wouldn't have been published yet, and would charge you $13 a month to play.

So now you're getting a game that (while not finished yet) is already good quality, intersects with the player base, and is adding content and features on a regular, predictable basis. The vast majority of that content is available to you for free. With no "gold ammo" But you deserve access to all of their hard work why? Because they're great people sinking a bunch of money into this just for the joy of it. You want to gripe over a couple micro transaction items that aren't required to play the game at a high level?

Quit your griping and be thankful for what you've been given.

Edit: fixed errors that occurred while rage posting from a phone.

Edited by Vasces Diablo, 15 February 2013 - 08:53 AM.

[FrDrake]

Yea I played LoL for a long time and still only had 4 rune pages, this limited what I was able to deploy but I never spent a dime on LoL so I took my lumps and just jungled/topped. With more rune pages I would have been able to better fill any niche the team needed. I compare mechbays to rune pages moreso than champions, because that's the closest equivalent in LoL.

MWO is F2Play, anyone naysaying that is mech lazy and doesn't want to pay for it either.

[Mackman]

As a free player, can you play at the same competitive level as a paying player? Of course. The fact that it is, to a degree, more difficult, doesn't change that at all. Therefore your argument is invalidated at the very beginning. You're trying to equate "playing the game" to "collecting ALL THE CONTENTS!!!!!!!", and that just doesn't hold water in any F2P game.

"But, but, but.... mah meeeechs," you say, the words catching in your throat as you incoherently struggle to explain why you shouldn't have to shell out the cost of a gas station taco to unlock another mech. The reason other people's arguments seem unsatisfactory to you is that you haven't fully developed any satisfactory arguments yourself. And really, at the end of the day, if you really want to be seen as a rational, non-entitled human being, you have to set aside labels and just ask yourself: Is this game worth $7? And if you've played enough to fill up all four mechbays, then the answer is a blatantly obvious yes.

Edited by Mackman, 15 February 2013 - 08:51 AM.