On September 17th of last year, PGI officially took the Beta tag off of MechWarrior Online, and called it a launch.
In the last year, there have been some ups and downs, rage, anger, happiness, and well..pretty much every emotion you’d expect to see about a game that has a passionate fanbase (in part, because of the IP the game is based on). With PGI’s recent divorce from IGP, things have definitely been on the “improving all the time” path.. which is good. To continue down that path.. Russ announced their plans for the 1 year birthday today… and oh my, are we getting some goodies!
Not content to just give a single cosmetic decoration away for the big day.. PGI has a whole dropship full of free stuff headed our ways… whether you’re an active player, a Founder, a Clanner, a Phoenix purchaser… or all of the above… there is something for everyone in today’s announcement.
For everyone… we get a double XP weekend this weekend (which is good.. I’ve got a lot of ‘Mechs I still need to skill up in).
Anniversary Weekend
On September 17th 2013 we had our exciting launch event in San Francisco. So to mark this anniversary we’re celebrating this weekend with Double XP, Double XP conversion, and Mechbays for 50% off. Also during this Anniversary weekend, when you win 1 match you will earn a Cupcake Cockpit item.
For some games, that could possibly be the extent of the Anniversary goodies.. double XP, and a free cosmetic item.. PGI, keeps tacking stuff on this year though.
Active player? Currently dropping a few times a week, having fun? They’ve got you covered to:
Active Player Reward
Our 1 year Active Player Reward is for any player that has played more than 100 matches since September 17th 2013. Eligible players will receive 2,000,000 C-bills, a Mechbay, and a fun standing Cockpit item.
Players with less than 100 matches still have the potential to earn this reward, as you have until Sept 23rd at 10:00 am PDT to hit the mark! The Active Player Reward will be injected into eligible accounts on September 23rd.
I don’t know of any way to confirm if you’ve hit the 100 match requirement, but I think it’s safe to assume that anyone that’s been playing consistently since then, has got it.
(EDIT: Profile -> Stats.. add up your wins, and your losses. This is since the last reset, which I believe was March, to go with UI 2.0).
Ever bought a pre-sale package for MWO? You did? Well… look what you get:
Pre-Sale Reward
This reward is for players who have purchased any pre-sale program package. This includes any level of Founders, Phoenix, Clan Invasion Wave1 and 2 packages, or a la carte mechs. Eligible players will receive an exclusive new Atlas variant – the AS7-S – decked out with a custom paint job, along with a 30% C-bill Bonus and a free Mechbay. This custom AS7-S variant will only be available through our Pre-Sale Reward program and will be injected into eligible accounts on October 21st. You have until Sept 23rd at 10:00 am PDT to earn the Pre-Sale Reward. Standard versions of this new variant will be available for C-Bills at a future date to be determined.
That’s right..another Hero ‘Mech, just for having bought a pre-sale pack at any point, of any cost, for the game…Â Not too shabby…
Speaking of pre-sale packs… did you buy chance go ‘all-in’ and grab the Legendary Founder’s pack (I did), or the Overlord Phoenix pack, or the Masakari pack? Well.. there’s a special reward for that now too:
Top Tier Reward
This reward is for anyone who purchased a Top Tier Package in any of our pre-order programs. Eligible players will receive an exclusive new King Crab Assault Mech decked out with a custom paint job, along with a 30% C-bill Bonus and a free Mechbay. This custom King Crab variant will only be available through our Top Tier Reward program and will be injected into eligible accounts on December 16th. You have until December 16th at 10:00 am PDT to earn the Top Tier Reward. All Standard variants of this chassis will be available for MC December 16th and C-bills January 20th.
Side note.. pretty, pretty, pretty please give us Concept art for this.. please?
Original Founder, and always been a little bit bothered by the Hero ‘Mechs introduced since then having a slightly bigger…C-Bill bonus? That’s fixed now for us too:
As an additional thanks to all Founders, the C-bill bonus on all original Founders Mechs will be permanently raised from 25% to 30% starting September 17th.
And finally, did you buy into Clan pack 1? Plan on getting Clan Pack 2 (which, is supposed to be officially announced ‘soon’)? Well.. there’s a little something extra for you too:
Ultimate Clan Reward
This reward is for players who purchased a Masakari Clan Invasion package and the Wave 2 Man-o-War package. Eligible players will receive an exclusive new Invasion Mad Dog Mech with custom Invasion paint job and unique geometry, along with a 30% C-bill Bonus, 2 additional Mad Dog standard variants and 3 Mechbays .The Invasion version of this Mech will only be available through the Ultimate Clan Reward program. This Invasion Mad Dog Mech and the 2 standard variants will be available starting September 23rd for daily 4 pm injection. All Standard variants of this chassis will be available for MC December 16th and C-bills January 20th. Check out our Clan Invasion Wave 2 page for details (coming soon). The Ultimate Clan Reward program will be available for as long as the Clan Invasion Programs remain active.
So, there you have it… a huge Anniversary give-away, following several weeks of improved communication from PGI.
I’m sure some will question PGI’s motives, but, I don’t plan on looking a gift horse in the mouth…Â Thanks for the increased communication with the player base, and thanks for the free stuff!
Happy Birthday MWO!