100 signatures reached
To: Plarium Global Ltd.
Protect Our Rights: Preserve Free Implant Removals in Mech Arena
***IMPORTANT***
Under "First Name" enter your Mech Arena Username
Under "Last Name" enter your Mech Arena ID number
We, the concerned Mech Arena community, insist that the right to free implant removals and the retention of all acquired implant parts be safeguarded. This petition aims to address growing large-scale concern among the Mech Arena community regarding the decision made by Plarium Global Ltd to take away free implant removals beginning on August 28th, 2023.
This upcoming change was sprung on the Mech Arena community after it was announced by Plarium on April 14th, 2023 (on multiple platforms in posts that are still live as of August 25th, 2023) that "We've decided to KEEP Free Implant Removal available". This language states very clearly that Free Implant Removal was going to be kept in the game, much to the appreciation of Mech Arena players. Furthermore, this language is supported by numerous conversations (who have supporting screenshots) between many users in the community and Plarium support staff and devs where it was stated frequently that "Plarium has no future plans to take away Free Implant Removals."
Based on the large numbers of conversations on this topic in the past 2 weeks, it is clear that this upcoming change has upset a large number of players in the Mech Arena community and will definitely result in LESS spending in Mech Arena and Plarium products generally. To this end, the following actions by the Mech Arena community have either already begun or are planning to begin starting August 28th, 2023...
The planned actions include but are not limited to:
1) A boycott in the form of reduced or zero playtime of Mech Arena and all other Plarium products.
2) A boycott of in-game spending on Mech Arena and all other Plarium products.
3) Limited, decreased or zero promotion of Mech Arena and all other Plarium products.
4) A coordinated effort to shift the community to other games until the change is reversed.
5) Negative reviews in a players' respective App Store.
Plarium and Mech Arena developers, we urge you, PLEASE DO NOT undo one of the few good decisions that you have made which benefited the Mech Arena community, but also has increased player satisfaction and build diversity. Surely some of you actually play this game and can understand that the free implant removal is an essential need of every player in the game, regardless of their ability to purchase new content.
As a suggestion, it doesn't need to be an all or nothing reversal. For example, perhaps for the 1st week of every month, you allow free implant removals. Another option could look like including Free Implant Removals throughout the duration of a season as part of purchasing the Gold Battle Pass. Granted this still requires purchase, but becomes much more attainable for players with limited resources. The latter example would keep player satisfaction high, while also likely increasing the volume of Gold Battle passes purchased, meaning increased revenue.
Fellow players, please join us in this action so our collective voices may be heard. Let's make sure our voices are heard through this petition, the planned boycotts, and with our wallets. Thank you in advance for supporting this community driven effort to be heard!
Why is this important?
It is widely agreed that the discontinuation of Free Implant Removals is a betrayal of the Mech Arena community and is widely accepted that this has the appearance of being a money-grab scheme first and foremost, regardless of the negative impacts this decision will undoubtedly have on the gameplay or the community. Plarium has recently changed their language and asserted that the upcoming change is intended to balance matchmaking. However, the overwhelming experience by players in the Mech Arena community is that not only will this not help to improve or balance matchmaking, it will greatly contribute to a further imbalance. Throughout recent months, almost every in-game update has been for something that (1) did NOT improve the quality of the game and (2) was for something players did not ask for. That said, the ONE change made within the game that was widely popular and VASTLY improved the game was when Implant Removals became free. It makes no sense to undo one of the best changes implemented to Mech Arena in the 2 years of it's existence. Below are just SOME of the logical reasons why Free Implant Removals should remain:
1) First and foremost, players should NOT be forced to purchase the same item over and over again because they are subjected to the equivalent of in-game penalties or paywalls. Removing ONE Legendary implant results in forefeiture of up to 44,100 implant parts costing over $30 US to replace. That means to remove 4 implants from a Legendary pilot has a real-world cost of over $120 US in the form of implant parts or ACOINS. Players who have spent money on decent hangars are basically being extorted with this action. Continue to play with these forced penalties and paywalls, or discontinue playing and have your investment be for nothing.
2) Imposing these costs on players means that they not only have less money to spend on purchasing new mechs and weapons, they also have less incentive to purchase new items when there is a large penalty or paywall just to use their new items with the appropriate pilots and implants which is inherent to deploying new mechs or weapons in their hangars.
3) Many players will find the cost of changing their hangar too great and will be forced to maintain a static hangar. Static hangars will not only make the game less fun, but will greatly contribute to the widening of gap between F2P (Free to Play) and P2W (Pay to Win) players. Players with disposable income and/or the means to purchase implant parts as-needed will inevitably have a far greater advantage over F2P players during events and tournaments due to their ability to customize their hangars on the fly without fear or concern of losing something they have already paid for.
4) Outside of purchasing them, Implant Parts are incredibly difficult to come by and are not widely enough available in the large quantities needed to be competitve.
5) Completing mech and weapon achievements will become very unattainable for players that cannot afford to match pilots and implants with the weapons and mechs that have remaining achievements left to complete.