Does there need to be more incentives to be a gold member?

omegasprime · September 2015

After a 1000 days there are not much reason in my opinion to be a gold member. As for the stipend, it would be cheaper to pay $5 a month for Zen after you reach a 1000 days.

thatcursedwolf · September 2015

If you're not chasing the 1000 day ships there's little benefit to being gold when you're not leveling new captains and, personally, DR made it painful to keep making new captains. Hopefully New Dawn undoes the damage DR did.

anothervisitor · September 2015

thatcursedwolf wrote: »

..., DR made it painful to keep making new captains.

Agreed. The gear mark and especially quality upgrade system is gruesome and makes it uninteresting and impractical to have more than only a few captains with each one ship.

gradii · September 2015

Not really. I'm still on a monthly sub and don't regret it.

The game would become less appealing to many players if the F2P system seemed less generous.

tigeraries · September 2015

1000 day vet ship? if your after that go for lifetime sub. 1000 days at monthly dues is 34 months... how much is the due each month? 15 or 10? at 15 it comes to $510, at 10 it's $340. Just buy the lifetime sub when it's on sale.

omegasprime · September 2015

tigeraries wrote: »

1000 day vet ship? if your after that go for lifetime sub. 1000 days at monthly dues is 34 months... how much is the due each month? 15 or 10? at 15 it comes to $510, at 10 it's $340. Just buy the lifetime sub when it's on sale.

I agree a lifetime membership would be a better option, but not everyone can put out that kind of money at once. I'm lucky to have gotten a lifetime when the game was still in beta and the Lifetime was $199.99.

gimeishadou · September 2015

after reading the benefits of being a subscriber >.> its atleast to me not worth it >.>

warpangel · September 2015

This is 2015. The only reason STO has subscriptions at all anymore is the company doesn't want to TRIBBLE off the old lifers.

mustrumridcully0 · September 2015

Sure, I am a lifer, give me more benefits! If you don't... Err...

omegasprime · September 2015

gimeishadou wrote: »

after reading the benefits of being a subscriber >.> its atleast to me not worth it >.>

I'm sure there are a lot of people who feel the same way as you.

warpangel wrote: »

This is 2015. The only reason STO has subscriptions at all anymore is the company doesn't want to TRIBBLE off the old lifers.

I'm not sure that is true nor that I agree with the comment.

mustrumridcully0 wrote: »

Sure, I am a lifer, give me more benefits! If you don't... Err...

ummm........ okayyyyyy...........

leviathan99 · September 2015

If the model they're trying with Champions works, part of how that might work is if they actually assign ship/character/environment artists to design new cosmetic perks which get released once a month.

Then the only ways to ever get that perk are to sub before that month ends or go lifetime, which gives you access to the backlog of monthly exclusives.

That's the Champs model at least and I think it's a fairly good one, similar to toy collector exclusives like you see with Transformers, G.I.Joe, Masters of the Universe, etc.

There are a number of fairly easy perks I can see in a game like STO, particularly with trait and visual unlocks that heavily use existing or NPC assets.

I also think a monthly spec point/universal upgrade claim would be a fine idea.

Maybe throw in some access to some of the "must have" DOffs and lockbox items, a choice of one a month. Maybe the odd novelty like the Antiproton Torpedo, omnis of exotic energy weapon variants, etc.

Honestly, the convention EMH stands out as a solid choice for this and Cryptic seems to have enough character likeness rights now that I could see Holo-Worf, Holo-Harry Kim, Holo-Seven of Nine, etc. as viable perks too provided the actors have signed off appropriately.

leviathan99 · September 2015

warpangel wrote: »

This is 2015. The only reason STO has subscriptions at all anymore is the company doesn't want to TRIBBLE off the old lifers.

That WAS true. The industry (and Cryptic in its other games) seems to be backpedaling towards the idea that subs and lifetimes are still a viable alternative revenue source and they seem to be doubling down on subs in NW and CO.

F2P WAS the trend in 2013. In 2015, the trend seems to be towards true F2P/Premium hybrid.

wylonus · September 2015

i am lifer too, wait for "end of the year sale", it is one time a year for lifestime discount.
it been 5 yrs.
it need few new "stipends"

500 zen is just fine for each month, so we dont need more, it was just enough, if you need more zen, just buy it.

what we might need if they revised or add new stipends.

list of ideas here.
1. similar version of Neverwinter's VIP, R&D program.
2. one key a week
3. 5-10 free lobi a month
4. 1 random "blueprint" a month, for console, weapons/shield crafting booster
5. few random blue/purple materials for R&D.

got better ideas? go ahead list some few.

bobbydazlers · September 2015

I voted no as I believe that once a player has subscribed for 1000 days they should automatically get elevated to a lifetime account thus incurring no more charges beyond that point so no reason to give any incentives for players to subscribe beyond the 1000 day threshold.

I think the financial losses cryptic would see would see if this was implemented would be minimal as the vast majority of players will probably stop subscribing beyond 1000 days in any case, I also think the financial gains for cryptic would be substantial as many players who may have let their subscription lapse would likely resume their subscription to complete the 1000 day limit with the best carrot on a stick they could ever hope for, the reward of lifetime status.

I also think that many players who might not be able to afford the outright cost of lifetime subscription but would not currently choose to subscribe monthly might be tempted to pay for monthly subscription with the added promise of lifetime once the 1000 day mark was reached, therefore the gains for cryptic would vastly outweigh any losses they might see.

when you consider that players who have subscribed monthly up to the 1000 day mark have contributed far in excess of the full price for a lifetime subscription I just cant see how cryptic could loose out on this deal.

nikephorus · September 2015

I r want moar stuffs...you give me now! Rawr!

dracounguis · September 2015

Paying monthly is silly for what you get. Subscribe while leveling toons, you get bonuses that stay after you go F2P. Or go full LTS when there's a sale and you'll get your 'money back' in 40 months via the stipend. Personally, I think you'd be better buying $200 in Zen if you were so inclined... do it during Zen sale time and you'd get 24,200 Zen. That would take you 49 months of stipends to equal.

johnnymo1 · September 2015

I'll take more stuff if its given, but I'm pretty happy with my lifetime sub

apulse · September 2015

Lifetimer is good when you are on a break from the game. I was away for a few months, cameback with 2000 zen in the bag. Disco TRIBBLE!

omegasprime · September 2015

This thread is about being a gold member not a lifetime member. I am also looking at it as way for PWE/Cryptic to bring in money to help create more needed content and bug fixes. Like I stated there is no real benefits in keeping a Gold Member ship after 1000 days. As many have pointed out before, after Delta Rising making alts are less fun.

I do believe gold membership need more incentives.

how can PWE make the gold membership worth subscribing to?

happyhappyj0yj0y · September 2015

repetitiveepic wrote: »

Should more stuff be behind a paywall you mean?

No.

Sto has the best f2p model in the business, don't fix what ain't broken.

Uh, whether they add more stuff to Gold, or to Lockboxes, or the C-Store there will always be more stuff put behind a paywall...

thatcursedwolf · September 2015

repetitiveepic wrote: »

Should more stuff be behind a paywall you mean?

No.

Sto has the best f2p model in the business, don't fix what ain't broken.

What they add to the benefits of a subscription does not have to be exclusive to the subscription.

A weekly box like the FE reward with a spec point or tech upgrade for example.

baudl · September 2015

although I'm not a paying STO player anymore, I do think that there should be a larger benefit for people who pay the bill.
To be specific, I think a 100% XP (probably even more) boost for spcialisation xp should be included.
The delta recruit goody bags (or something of that kind) are also something that I think should be given to anybody who is a lifetimer or subscriber. That way, new players have an incentive to subscribe for a month.
I think these ideas are only conveniance measures. I think STO has one of the best F2P models out there, and giving endgame stuff away for a subscription fee is not the way to go. However spending only half the time grinding for specialisation points is not gamebreaking.

omegasprime · September 2015

repetitiveepic wrote: »

You can only get a subscription for money.

You can get everything else by playing the game. Neither lockboxes nor the c-store are behind a paywall. Only vet/lifer rewards and the steamrunner.

Sto has far and away the best f2p model in MMOs. Don't wreck it.

I'm not sure that I agree with your comment. All F2P MMOs offer subscriptions as a way to bring in continuous money. Most of the stuff Veterans get are available via Zen store anyways. Outfit Veterans get don't affect game game play. I'm not really sure anything in the Zen Store, Member's perks or Veterans rewards affect game play. There are free ships at each Winter and Summer event for those who wish not to put money into this game for what ever reason they have.

thatcursedwolf · September 2015

repetitiveepic wrote: »

You can only get a subscription for money.

You can get everything else by playing the game. Neither lockboxes nor the c-store are behind a paywall. Only vet/lifer rewards and the steamrunner.

Sto has far and away the best f2p model in MMOs. Don't wreck it.

As a Ferengi, does the subscription give enough to be worth its cost?

thegrandnagus1 · September 2015

I've been a LTS since before launch, so I honestly have no idea what it's like to play without the gold perks, and therefore no idea whether there needs to be more incentive. That said, it's completely possible that Cryptic doesn't WANT people to sub. They might prefer people play for "free" and have to buy extra character/ship slots and more inventory space. That might actually be more profitable for them, in which case they would have no reason to give more incentives to sub. And to be clear, that's not a knock against Cryptic if they feel that way, because making money is the entire point of this game.

thenoname711 · September 2015

100% yes, right now it is just either go lifetime or pay for one month while are you leveling a new character and then turn it off.

thatcursedwolf · September 2015

The only thing I miss is when I didn't bother to get a cheap timecard when leveling a new captain and even then since I've found a good general purpose skill layout that should work for my one remaining captain that needs leveling, I haven't missed that perk lately either.

The new boff system has made extra boff slots mostly pointless and now I can reclaim my event ships so my need for more ship slots went away as I don't do lockbox or lobi ships so I can dismiss and reclaim, pretty much aside from the Obelisk mission ship, all my ships as I need. The materials tab cleared up my inventory issues so no problems there either.

With the timecards I did purchase for leveling purposes I managed to get the vet respec token so I'm in a good spot for not feeling the need to give Cryptic money. (Once New Dawn is out I'll see about revising my no-money-to-Crytpic-for-STO policy if there happens to be any ships I like by then. DR locked and welded the wallet shut. I do like to support games I like but I don't want to encourage more DR shenanigans.)

salazarraze · September 2015

Even though I voted "yes" there's a problem with this. Adding additional rewards costs money since the devs will need to actually work on it. Any new additions will either be LTS only or 1000 day rewards. The vast majority of accounts that will benefit from more Gold Privileges are either already LTS or completely inactive LTS. So it's questionable that any money that they spend adding more stuff will actually make them money.

That said, I'd like to see some LTS/Gold additions similar to the following.

- 5% unrefined dilithium bonus (instead of 720 for CCA, LTS gets 756)
- 5% bonus marks acquired at all times
- More playable races exclusive to LTS
- Maybe some LTS/Gold only players weekend events
- Piggybacking on the last idea instead do double veteran bonuses for Gold/LTS players for regular weekend events (meaning the vet bonus 5% xp is doubled to 10% on xp weekends however not the team xp bonus. On dil weekends the bonus 5% unrefined dil is doubled to 10% etc.)

Keep in mind that I am not Gold or LTS.

Does there need to be more incentives to be a gold member?

Does there need to be more incentives to be a gold member? 95 votes

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