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Would you buy expansions?
dlmc85
Member Posts: 145 Arc User
Hi guys, want to ask you about how would you feel about a more direct form of buisness for STO. At the current state ship sales (via zen or lockboxes) is what drives the game but while the stuff is amazing (i loved A LOT of the latest designs and even when i didn't i foud amazing the work on the models). So, if STO team started to expand/solve gameplay via payed expansions (one-time ones, not subscriptions and not necessarely dumping on the ship driven incomes) would you support it? Personally i would be ok with purchasing an expansion/season/upgrade addressing issues and expanding mechanics like a revamp of ship interiors with introduction of customization and stuff to do on ship; a revamp for BOFFs; a total rework of skills and abilities like abolishing the tac/eng/sci for captains; an exploration system in the range of 30/40€ (obviously i'm just listing stuff i'd like, not putting a price on what i've written), i know that in some way they attempted that with LoR and DR with their pack but they were WAY too expansive (i bought DR one with dil) and not directly linked with the improvements/change to the game.
Would you buy expansions? 95 votes
I would and will because it would give resources to devolping more areas of the game than new ships. (i'm not talkng about buying blindly even a Holo-emitter based exp)
20%
19 votes
Depends on the content of the pack/expansion (to be clear, i'm talking about tastes supposing a good content/price ratio)
17%
17 votes
I support the current model, it gives me the feeling of not being bound to buy stuff to access areas/mechanics of the game.
62%
59 votes
0
Comments
They won't change from the current business model, so it makes no difference what we want/ask for and the majority, last this was asked, said no anyway.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
If others want to toss $20's out the window while driving down the street, more power to them.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
Delta Rising was very kind to my wallet.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
Bad news for you: if you aren't voting or discussing the topic of the thread, your post is off topic.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
A pack of 9 ships costs $120. An expansion would offer significantly more content than 9 ships. So that expansion would cost... what, a hundred bajillion dollars!? Wow... where do I sign up?
You know what this poll needs? An option where we can point out how we aren't happy with what Cryptic is doing with the current model, and we know full well they'd just abuse the new model as well and layer it onto of the old model making things simultaneously worse and more expensive, while dividing the player base. All while still offering a subscription that offers little of worth and nothing near worth the price tag, ON TOP of ship sales, lockbox sales, dilithium price tags on pretty much all in-game gear and upgrades (and that dilithium can be bought off of people with real money) thus essentially attaching a real money price tag to pretty much every item in the game... oh, and then expansion sales to boot if you get your wish.
Awesome. Just awesome.
Now you should recommend that they charge people hourly for using their bandwidth too. Imagine how awesome that'll make the game...
SWTOR charged even subscribers $20 for expansions, STO charges for ships instead. I prefer the ships model since I only buy the ships I want and never miss out on story content.
Or charge per login, which wouldn't surprise me, either.
Because... you know, it makes the game "better"...
...and stuff.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
The F2P model works fine for me as I can choose to buy a ship or grind it out with hard work. I can decide how I want to spend my money without being limited to certain areas and kept out of others.
I probably spend more money per year than a subscription would cost, but I can decide when to pay and how much, it puts me in control.
And there's always whales out there who will spend thousands of $'s buying every ship plus hundreds of keys to get lockbox & lobi items, they pour more money into the game than a whole heap of subscriptions would ever supply.
While I do actually like STO's F2P model on the whole, it doesn't actually promote rapid mission content development. Why? Quite simply, whatever a game is selling, that is what it makes most often. To explain:
By selling ships, that only guarantees they make more ships. Since the ships are what they are actually selling, they will keep making them as often as possible. Yes, they will put out new content every now and then, but only often enough to keep players around...to buy more ships.
By selling expansions, that guarantees they make more expansions. Since the expansions are actually what they are selling, they will keep making them as often as possible, because...money.
So, while the current F2P model does "work for me", I would actually prefer getting more expansions, more often, even if it meant I bought them. All the new ships in the world don't mean that much, to me, if I don't have new things to do with them on a regular basis. That said, STO puts out new content just often enough to keep me around. But just keeping me around isn't as often as I would prefer.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
They still aren't going to prioritize content.
It's more work to make content than it is to pump out a ship, and the ships alone cost an arm and a leg. In order to make content for money seem attractive they'd need it to have a comparable or better ROI. That means they'd have to charge... well, an ungodly sum for it. Hundreds of dollars. More than any sane person would pay. If they don't they end up in the situation where we are now... where making ships is still what's getting them the best ROI, it's still their money maker, and thus it is still prioritized and where the bulk of the work goes.
So, here is just a tiny little bit of evidence to the contrary:
https://www.dcuniverseonline.com/shop/episodes?locale=en_US
Note that while those are called "episodes", they are actually mission packs, kind of like our featured episode series, and also come with powers and gear. But I'm sure you will find some way to say that doesn't apply, since it kind of contradicts your position
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
Hell, I've been LTS since beta, and I'm STILL waiting for my Borg Characters to get full body skins. To be honest, this game and the company seem to be the exact opposite of what Star Trek stood for, so no, no I wouldn't pay for an expansion. There really is not faith left in the company, let alone enough for me to take any steps like that.
The current business model also seems to be pretty TRIBBLE, though it is nice that they do the giveaways and let you buy store currency from an ingame resource, again, I find that aside from the LTS, there really isn't anything in the store at a quality level that would be deserving of the prices being asked. And that includes bundles.
Except it doesn't contradict my position. That doesn't even really address my position.
My position is that:
1) Content takes more investment than simply developing a ship.
(You'd concur, no?)
2) That Cryptic charges a large amount for simple ships. $30 at the highest (now standard) tier... which is pretty much all they develop now to boot.
(You'd say this correct, yes?)
3) Companies thrive on... making money. That means ROI, as little money in and as much out as possible. That's how you make a profit.
(Pretty obvious, right?)
Thus, in conclusion, in order to make developing content for money to seem attractive, considering point #1, and considering how much they charge for ships (point #2) they'd have to charge an epic buttload of money to match the ROI of ships (point #3) and thus have them prioritize this over ship making since, again, ROI is how you make a profit (point #3 again).
A link to DCUO selling content doesn't refute point 1, 2 nor 3. It also doesn't logically address alternatives to them, nor finding another logical conclusion than my own. It... actually doesn't do a single thing.
Someone else doing something (and that someone just consolidated all of their platforms due to waning numbers) doesn't mean it's ROI is better than ship/lockbox sales. I could point out that the Museum of Modern Art is a non-profit organization... that doesn't mean it would be an awesome business model for STO and that Cryptic would be more successful if they went in that direction...
To be clear Nagus, ALL of those episodes combined add up to about $120. A nine pack of ships in STO adds up to about the same. Which do you think is likely to see a better return on the investment made?
not off topic at all, in any democracy you are allowed to withhold your vote for whatever reason.
like the fact that this thread is asking for a vote on a free to play game where the representatives of sto have stated categorically they will never charge money for access to an expansion.
therefore doesn't even deserve a vote.
its not my problem if the OP failed to put a abstain vote option.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
The content provided by the numbered seasons (S7, S11, etc) and expansions (Legacy of Romulus, Delta Rising) are free. You can take your existing ships, gear, characters, BOFFs, etc, and play them. There is no need to "Buy In" to play the content.
The game makes its money off ships and lockboxes. There are players already that feed into that big time. I do not want to see playable content to now have cost added onto it just to play it.
The ONLY way I would support Paid For Expansion is if it's like an Old School MMO Style: You buy the Expansion, you have immediate, unlimited access to what it offers. With no Lockbox style RNG involved anywhere. You pay and get exactly what you pay for.
No, you missed the point. I said if you aren't voting *OR* discussing the topic of the thread, then your comment is off topic.
See, now you are at least *barely* discussing the topic of the thread. That is more than your earlier post was doing.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
You said that charging for expansions wouldn't cause them to prioritize content. I gave you an example of a game that is charging for expansions and is clearly prioritizing content. But like I said, I knew you would find some way to say that didn't apply
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
I am not discussing anything, a vote for something that cant be changed is no vote at all so whats the point in voting.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
Everything is subject to change. Not that this thread will *cause* any change, but it is at least intended to discuss the topic. So if you aren't interested in discussing the topic, then your options are to not click on it, or to post off topic comments.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
Of course I would say that, because it doesn't. And the fact that you'd snip out that part and dodge trying to actually, you know, make a valid point that actually addresses the issue is kind of telling. And I actually didn't know you'd do that, mainly because I thought better of you. Guess I shouldn't have.
I think we are talking about 2 different things:
1) I am comparing 2 different types of business models. The model that charges for content *does* produce more content, more often.
2) You are saying STO would never adopt that model at this point, because they are already making too much money from selling ships.
I don't disagree with your point. But simply comparing the 2 models, the model that sells expansions *does* produce more expansions, more often.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008