What we've been getting lately is filler at best. A minimal effort to say, "hey guys, it's not all about the lockboxes". So if lockboxes are so profitable, why has this last year not offered much of anything new? Don't answer that, because we all know the answer (NWO, yadda, yadda). I'm just trying to prove a point.
Do you remember when we were getting things like power review/updates and store costume sets every once in awhile? Even the little things have been MIA this last year. I started playing this game shortly after launch, and even though CO has had it's dry spells here and there, this last year has been flatline for the most part. That's pretty bad coming from a guy like me, who has kept playing (and loving) this game while friends and other players bailed long ago because they didn't feel the game had much to offer.
Yeah, the whole lock boxes is what supports the development team argument is total BS, and here is your proof:
Before lock boxes - Game was doing well, receiving regular updates, a fair number of people actually playing the game, a promising future etc.
Post lock boxes - Game is suffering, complete lack of updates, barely a game community to speak of, development team? What development team!?
Yeah, the whole lock boxes is what supports the development team argument is total BS, and here is your proof:
Before lock boxes - Game was doing well, receiving regular updates, a fair number of people actually playing the game, a promising future etc.
Post lock boxes - Game is suffering, complete lack of updates, barely a game community to speak of, development team? What development team!?
I rest my case.
Before Lockboxes didnt have NWO in it's final push before launch.
Cryptic North may prove to be a good addition once they have time to create something. We do not know what exactly they have been working on since they first started working with Cryptic. We do not know what they are currently working on right now.
All we can go with is what we have been told so far. Which is Lockboxes and crap events for the rest of the year.
Yeah, the whole lock boxes is what supports the development team argument is total BS, and here is your proof:
Before lock boxes - Game was doing well, receiving regular updates, a fair number of people actually playing the game, a promising future etc.
Post lock boxes - Game is suffering, complete lack of updates, barely a game community to speak of, development team? What development team!?
I rest my case.
Easy to rest your case when you don't know any of the facts. How much money was Cryptic making from Champs while we were getting all of that development? Why was Champs a ghost town before Free For All, that whole time that we had a development team and content and non-lockbox items in the C-Store? If the game were doing well, it wouldn't need lockboxes to falsely raise the price of items.
By your logic, the game should have never needed to be free-to-play because we had regular updates and apparently "doing well." You really don't think that they added lockboxes, saw that the game go down the tubes, and then said "Yeah, let's go with this! Cut the whole team, this game is now dying, just like we wanted from the start!" Come on.
You have as much proof that the game would do better without lockboxes as I have proof that the game would do better if all the characters in the game were changed to ponies.
You have as much proof that the game would do better without lockboxes as I have proof that the game would do better if all the characters in the game were changed to ponies.
Careful, man... we're treading on dangerous territory here.
Easy to rest your case when you don't know any of the facts. How much money was Cryptic making from Champs while we were getting all of that development? Why was Champs a ghost town before Free For All, that whole time that we had a development team and content and non-lockbox items in the C-Store? If the game were doing well, it wouldn't need lockboxes to falsely raise the price of items.
By your logic, the game should have never needed to be free-to-play because we had regular updates and apparently "doing well." You really don't think that they added lockboxes, saw that the game go down the tubes, and then said "Yeah, let's go with this! Cut the whole team, this game is now dying, just like we wanted from the start!" Come on.
You have as much proof that the game would do better without lockboxes as I have proof that the game would do better if all the characters in the game were changed to ponies.
No, by my logic "Free to Play" doesn't mean "Lock Boxes", since when the fook did free to play mean you automatically have to have lock boxes...
By the logic of Biffsmackwell, lock boxes equals successful free 2 play game!
I am not saying lock boxes were the cause of CO going down the tubes, I am saying they are not what the game needs to be successful, get it?!
I am done with this issue, defend your little scam boxes all you want, if it doesn't raise any red flags with you then you deserve what you preach.
Hmm now that I think about it, if they added my little ponies to the game as some sort of gimmick, and sold exceptionally well, by your logic biffsmackwell does that mean they are a great thing for Champions Online? A rhetorical question by the way.
It's all about what sells ladies and gentlemen, no matter how sly, devious or outright disgusting the means are.
When the game first went Free to Play it was booming. Plenty of people were buying into sets and becomes and archetypes. Too bad its money was siphoned into other projects. When the money stops coming back into the game there won't be new sets, archetypes/powers, and content to keep people interested in buying more.
What if they are working on a lot of stuff that was found to be very fun in the past (comic series/ cosmic alerts, etc) that most of the resources are going to?
That explains the studio not talking at all, our lite content updates, the "ambitious project" that the former lead director talked about the new lead is wanting to do before leaving to climb Kilimanjaro, and the back end stuff to get foundry going taking so long. So that major update/s they are working on is taking up so much resources to create a buffer zone of polished content. So when its out they can do what STO is doing.
I mean look at Resistance, DemonFlame, Dead Air (?), and Whiteout. They have every thing that the Co community wanted and it showed.
Easy to rest your case when you don't know any of the facts. How much money was Cryptic making from Champs while we were getting all of that development? Why was Champs a ghost town before Free For All, that whole time that we had a development team and content and non-lockbox items in the C-Store? If the game were doing well, it wouldn't need lockboxes to falsely raise the price of items.
By your logic, the game should have never needed to be free-to-play because we had regular updates and apparently "doing well." You really don't think that they added lockboxes, saw that the game go down the tubes, and then said "Yeah, let's go with this! Cut the whole team, this game is now dying, just like we wanted from the start!" Come on.
You have as much proof that the game would do better without lockboxes as I have proof that the game would do better if all the characters in the game were changed to ponies.
Maybe. but at the same time..okay, so what if lockboxces are making them tons of money. So what?
Maybe it is making them tons of money. But the game is still essentially a ghost towen in stasis largely populated by people who stay because they have friends or guilds they enjoy being around.
Y'now why I play STO and just sorta watch CO burn from nearby? because without any actual evidence that Cryptic North, or hell, anyone at cryptic cares about CO, why should I waste my money and time on it? Maybe I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts, or maybe I'll get to experience CoH all over again. Complete with watching something I enjoy shutting down abruptly.
in short. Great, good to know lockboxes are profitable. But why the **** should that make the game more interesting to me when meanwhile STO, new liockbox comes with an entire new story arc attached (or a new expansion), or Marvel heroes where the devs communicate with us regularly and show a good faith effort to improve the game?
I mean, hell, the other day I PMed a CM on the MH forums about a loot related bug a few of us had found and he responded within a day personally to say he'd have the devteam look into it.
No, by my logic "Free to Play" doesn't mean "Lock Boxes", since when the fook did free to play mean you automatically have to have lock boxes...
No, it means that the developers still need to eat. We know that the game was going downhill before it went free to play. At this time that it was going down, they had all sorts of stuff in the C Store. And guess what? It wasn't keeping the game afloat. You have to have something more after going free to play, and it has to be something that your development team can handle.
By the logic of Biffsmackwell, lock boxes equals successful free 2 play game!
Successful? I'd look for a better choice of words if I were you.
I am not saying lock boxes were the cause of CO going down the tubes, I am saying they are not what the game needs to be successful, get it?!
Sure. What they need is a giant pile of money, to get a real development team, start listening to the customers a bit more instead of just catering to the churn-rate heroes, and develop regular permanent content and fix bugs that have been around since launch. Right? Well, until that giant magical pile of money appears, this is what we're stuck with.
I am done with this issue, defend your little scam boxes all you want, if it doesn't raise any red flags with you then you deserve what you preach.
I'm not sure if you've been reading what I've been talking about... I don't like the lockboxes.
When the game first went Free to Play it was booming. Plenty of people were buying into sets and becomes and archetypes. Too bad its money was siphoned into other projects. When the money stops coming back into the game there won't be new sets, archetypes/powers, and content to keep people interested in buying more.
Nobody knows that for a fact. It sure does seem like that, but we don't know if during all that time, Champs was in the black or in the red. People may have been buying stuff, but between bandwidth and team size, we don't know that it was enough.
Maybe. but at the same time..okay, so what if lockboxces are making them tons of money. So what?
Maybe it is making them tons of money. But the game is still essentially a ghost towen in stasis largely populated by people who stay because they have friends or guilds they enjoy being around.
It's not a ghost town compared to when the game was subscription-only.
Y'now why I play STO and just sorta watch CO burn from nearby? because without any actual evidence that Cryptic North, or hell, anyone at cryptic cares about CO, why should I waste my money and time on it? Maybe I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts, or maybe I'll get to experience CoH all over again. Complete with watching something I enjoy shutting down abruptly.
in short. Great, good to know lockboxes are profitable. But why the **** should that make the game more interesting to me when meanwhile STO, new liockbox comes with an entire new story arc attached (or a new expansion), or Marvel heroes where the devs communicate with us regularly and show a good faith effort to improve the game?
I mean, hell, the other day I PMed a CM on the MH forums about a loot related bug a few of us had found and he responded within a day personally to say he'd have the devteam look into it.
We just don't have a big enough team to support all that stuff. With the new lockboxes, we do get new content, it's just very small in comparison. It's what the team can handle.
It's not a ghost town compared to when the game was subscription-only.
Wrong again Sunshine, CO was never short on players back when it was purely a subscription-based title which is when I played it the most.
Yes the player rate shot through the roof the first few weeks of free to play which is only natural for any game going free to play, but now there are far less playing than what there was before CO went free to play, far less!
This is getting old biffsmackwell, it's a shame you have to be so blindly apologetic towards Cryptic and the asinine decisions they made which led to this horrible state.
Wrong again Sunshine, CO was never short on players back when it was purely a subscription-based title which is when I played it the most.
Yes the player rate shot through the roof the first few weeks of free to play which is only natural for any game going free to play, but now there is far less playing than what there was before CO went free to play, far less!
This is getting old biffsmackwell, it's a shame you have to be so blindly apologetic towards Cryptic and the asinine decisions they made which led to this horrible state.
Smacky is not an apologist or much of a fan of lockboxes. He's made that clear in a number of posts/threads. Stating bluntly what no one wants to hear but is nonetheless the truth does not an apologist make.
Also, the week before f2p launched we regularly had ONE instance of MC. Population was scary low.
Wrong again Sunshine, CO was never short on players back when it was purely a subscription-based title which is when I played it the most.
Yes the player rate shot through the roof the first few weeks of free to play which is only natural for any game going free to play, but now there is far less playing than what there was before CO went free to play, far less!
This is getting old biffsmackwell, it's a shame you have to be so blindly apologetic towards Cryptic and the asinine decisions they made which led to this horrible state.
You know what's getting old? You thinking that I'm being apologetic toward Cryptic about this stuff when I'm clearly disappointed with just about everything they've done in the past year. Seriously, try reading the words I type instead of flying off in a rage. I'm offering some rational suggestions as to why they might be doing what they're doing, instead of just insulting them and acting like some conspiracy theorist.
You know what's getting old? You thinking that I'm being apologetic toward Cryptic about this stuff
You are. When you are critical (and I use the term loosely) it usually comes with a "but..."
when I'm clearly disappointed with just about everything they've done in the past year.
Clearly it's not all that clear seeing as how people are calling you an apologist. Your mickey mouse critiques don't even scratch the surface of the problems with this game.
Seriously, try reading the words I type instead of flying off in a rage. I'm offering some rational suggestions as to why they might be doing what they're doing, instead of just insulting them and acting like some conspiracy theorist.
Probably not directed at me, but, there is no rage in anything I've said here, ever. I (personally) don't feel like what you said was at all rational given what we know versus what we don't and the track record we have to go by.
As much as calling someone an Apologist is meaningless, Biff is pretty negative about Champions Online.
Kinda strange to be calling someone who is overall negative about the game in most of his posts an apologist, though to be fair I don't frequent the forums as much as you guys so I may miss things.
You are. When you are critical (and I use the term loosely) it usually comes with a "but..."
Clearly it's not all that clear seeing as how people are calling you an apologist. Your mickey mouse critiques don't even scratch the surface of the problems with this game.
Probably not directed at me, but, there is no rage in anything I've said here, ever. I (personally) don't feel like what you said was at all rational given what we know versus what we don't and the track record we have to go by.
Criticism that is followed by a "but..." portion that offers some sort of perspective and/or the flip-side of the coin is usually more insightful and helpful than a purely negative critical remark that offers nothing on how to fix the problem that sparked the critical statement in the first place. If doing that makes one an apologist in your eyes then I'm sorry you feel that way.
It's a phenomenon on which I've commented before - there's a certain segment of the online population which holds that, if you're not decrying every single effort made on CO since ever, calling for its immediate demise, and telling any new arrivals to go away and play something else, you're a "fanboi" and an "apologist".
Although being called "insane" was anyway novel...
"Science teaches us to expect -- demand -- more than just eerie mysteries. What use is a puzzle that can't be solved? Patience is fine, but I'm not going to stop asking the universe to make sense!"
You are. When you are critical (and I use the term loosely) it usually comes with a "but..."
Clearly it's not all that clear seeing as how people are calling you an apologist. Your mickey mouse critiques don't even scratch the surface of the problems with this game.
No, it comes with what I think is rational thinking. This whole thing started because people were saying that the lockboxes only sell because they don't put anything else in the C Store.
I say that while I don't like lockboxes, and don't want to buy them, it's probably the only thing that's kept the game afloat. I'm not defending what they do, I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying that's probably their only option right now. Probably. It's more rational for me, to think that they have a reason to sell things the way they do, instead of just losing it and claim that Cryptic is stupid because the game was doing better when they were selling costumes straight from the C Store.
To me it's rational to think that Cryptic was making X amount of money before lockboxes. And when they introduced lockboxes, they were making Y amount of money, where Y is greater than X, otherwise they would have dropped lockboxes altogether, since there would be no reason to keep them around if revenue dropped. Further, it's rational for me to think that when only lockboxes were offered, they started making Z amount of money, where Z is greater than Y.
Now, if they'd switched to this gameplan while the game was doing great and they were getting big piles of cash, enough to constantly be expanding the team, I'd be right to be angry at them. Well in my eyes, that is. But the game didn't look like it was doing great. That's why I think that the whole lockbox thing was out of necessity. If that makes me an apologist because I think things out instead of just saying "Cryptic you so stupid," then fine, call me an apologist.
But the fact remains that I'm not happy with the way the game is going, where it's been for the last year. I think the game deserves another chance, with a real team of developers, and it's unfairly not being given this chance. Am I still an apologist? Am I an apologist if I'm not happy with how Cryptic/Perfect World is treating the game, but I understand that lockboxes are probably necessary for them right now? I'm largely indifferent on lockboxes - most of my discontent is the lack of a full development team, but I definitely lean towards the dislike side, considering my luck, and considering that they don't offer the content locked behind them as a straight purchase. Still an apologist because I can see the reason behind their methods, even if I don't like it?
It's a phenomenon on which I've commented before - there's a certain segment of the online population which holds that, if you're not decrying every single effort made on CO since ever, calling for its immediate demise, and telling any new arrivals to go away and play something else, you're a "fanboi" and an "apologist".
Although being called "insane" was anyway novel...
"Fanboi" and "apologist" seem to be the go-to insults for people who don't share each other's visions of the game, like how wannabe comedians try to sprinkle a few curse words to make sure the audience is paying attention or how some people refer to others as "haters" in order to make others flock to their banners even if it's not necessarily true.. They're just buzzwords. As much as I don't like the show, this is a good representation of that stuff in action.
As much as calling someone an Apologist is meaningless, Biff is pretty negative about Champions Online.
Kinda strange to be calling someone who is overall negative about the game in most of his posts an apologist, though to be fair I don't frequent the forums as much as you guys so I may miss things.
Your talking crap there Biff isnt negative about the game far from it , the dude spends hours upon hours trying to super jump onto a spike in ren cen cause its the hardest thing to do in CO >_>
The man loves his CO.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
As much as calling someone an Apologist is meaningless, Biff is pretty negative about Champions Online.
Kinda strange to be calling someone who is overall negative about the game in most of his posts an apologist, though to be fair I don't frequent the forums as much as you guys so I may miss things.
Actually, it's a good thing that you don't frequent the forums. Keep it that way, because we kinda get tired of reminding you exactly how ridiculous and disconnected from reality you are.
It's a phenomenon on which I've commented before - there's a certain segment of the online population which holds that, if you're not decrying every single effort made on CO since ever, calling for its immediate demise, and telling any new arrivals to go away and play something else, you're a "fanboi" and an "apologist".
Although being called "insane" was anyway novel...
No, those are terms used to describe someone who makes the habit of decrying any sort of reasonable criticism against the problematic aspects of the game, no matter how negative it comes as, and choose only to make sweeping praises of the game.
The person you're defending has made attacks the veterans of the game, calling them "bittervets" and have stated that the game is better off without them, and that the newer generation of players are the "future". You might want to consider that before defending him next time.
I wasn't "defending" anyone, jenny. I was commenting on the person who now holds Smacky, of all people, to be an "apologist" for Cryptic.
If someone here needs my "defense", well, they're in pretty sorry straits already, aren't they? I'm "insane", remember?
"Science teaches us to expect -- demand -- more than just eerie mysteries. What use is a puzzle that can't be solved? Patience is fine, but I'm not going to stop asking the universe to make sense!"
Choose your enemies carefully, because they will define you / Make them interesting, because in some ways they will mind you
They're not there in the beginning, but when your story ends / Gonna last with you longer than your friends
It seems more like there are people who comment on how those points are raised and those people get slammed seemingly unfairly for doing so (adding to the idea of "your ether with us or against us" mentality that seems prevalent on these boards). While there are some posts that actually raise good points, often they seem to be drowned out by unnecessary snark and noise that turns a constructive thread into yet another "Cryptic sucks" thread or some sort of name-calling contest. It seems rather tedious.
"I tried to look at that page but saw only inane comments."
While there are some posts that actually raise good points, often they seem to be drowned out by unnecessary snark and noise that turns a constructive thread into yet another "Cryptic sucks" thread or some sort of name-calling contest. It seems rather tedious.
To be fair, Cryptic hasn't been doing a good job at a lot of things of late. I don't see a problem when someone points it out.
What if they are working on a lot of stuff that was found to be very fun in the past (comic series/ cosmic alerts, etc) that most of the resources are going to?
That explains the studio not talking at all, our lite content updates, the "ambitious project" that the former lead director talked about the new lead is wanting to do before leaving to climb Kilimanjaro, and the back end stuff to get foundry going taking so long. So that major update/s they are working on is taking up so much resources to create a buffer zone of polished content. So when its out they can do what STO is doing.
I mean look at Resistance, DemonFlame, Dead Air (?), and Whiteout. They have every thing that the Co community wanted and it showed.
*Devils Advocate Hat off.*
And not only was it ignored. I was ignored base upon an argument that does not even get to the heart of the matter: "Why is there no content"?
I miss when we could have along winded discussion that actually mattered to letting the guys who review this forum for ideas and directions to go for the playerbase's benifit.
instead we get two arguments in this thread "Cryptic is mean and they don't care about this game because I don't see them talking to me" or "This game is dead because they don't have a enormous patch of stuff and they are not talking to me."
I get it you are mad about our treatment and how they don't talk to us. This thing has happened since after beta and has ridiculous ebb and flows. Hell even if some dev did come on here and talked there would be a massive flame thread about things not said that would not stop until the thread would have to be closed.
All lockboxes have had to contend against in the Z-Store are Catalysts (don't get me started on those over price pieces of a word I cannot say) and Vehicles, so of course Keys have been the best sellers. I buy them because I fuse MANY mods to help SG members with builds.
The last several boxes have been worth it to me. Though I dispise the new one and its rediculous drop rates. I have opened over 300 of them and no bike. So I am unhappy >:(
My real point is that I would love to see how Costume packs would sell now. It has been over a year since we got anything.
and just think of how much money they could get by simply selling new hairstyles. That is something I constantly hear people wanting both here on the forums and in the game itself.
Or that new costume for the new Decome device. That would be great too, but only if they could finish them and make the new pieces have all three textures. I am sick of this only cloth "Armor" pieces. Seriously WTF?
My real point is that I would love to see how Costume packs would sell now. It has been over a year since we got anything.
The masses have spoken, and they have told Cryptic that it's perfectly acceptable and more profitable to lock costume pieces behind gamble boxes instead of selling them in packs. I don't really expect a return of costume packs.
And not only was it ignored. I was ignored base upon an argument that does not even get to the heart of the matter: "Why is there no content"?
I miss when we could have along winded discussion that actually mattered to letting the guys who review this forum for ideas and directions to go for the playerbase's benifit.
instead we get two arguments in this thread "Cryptic is mean and they don't care about this game because I don't see them talking to me" or "This game is dead because they don't have a enormous patch of stuff and they are not talking to me."
I get it you are mad about our treatment and how they don't talk to us. This thing has happened since after beta and has ridiculous ebb and flows. Hell even if some dev did come on here and talked there would be a massive flame thread about things not said that would not stop until the thread would have to be closed.
I did skip your post, I admit, because the thing is, we do know that they're not working on any of this stuff because they actually told us, in the latest Ask Cryptic, that the future holds temporary events. A few other things on the side, but as far as playable content goes, it's these events we've had since the Lemurian one.
All lockboxes have had to contend against in the Z-Store are Catalysts (don't get me started on those over price pieces of a word I cannot say) and Vehicles, so of course Keys have been the best sellers. I buy them because I fuse MANY mods to help SG members with builds.
The last several boxes have been worth it to me. Though I dispise the new one and its rediculous drop rates. I have opened over 300 of them and no bike. So I am unhappy >:(
My real point is that I would love to see how Costume packs would sell now. It has been over a year since we got anything.
and just think of how much money they could get by simply selling new hairstyles. That is something I constantly hear people wanting both here on the forums and in the game itself.
The masses have spoken, and they have told Cryptic that it's perfectly acceptable and more profitable to lock costume pieces behind gamble boxes instead of selling them in packs. I don't really expect a return of costume packs.
There is some merit here, after so long with lockbox-only costume pieces, how a costume set would sell. I'm definitely curious. There could be a boom, but who knows if it would make a big enough splash? At this point in the game, I'd pray that it would.
Or that new costume for the new Decome device. That would be great too, but only if they could finish them and make the new pieces have all three textures. I am sick of this only cloth "Armor" pieces. Seriously WTF?
I'll tell you right now that I know from first-hand experience, that we have players in the game that are better-versed in costume editing and costume creation than the people that are on payroll.
In fact, said player has given the development team exact info on how to fix many of these costume pieces, and those fixes are now in the development pipeline. We owe that to a player, not QA.
"I get it you are mad about our treatment and how they don't talk to us. This thing has happened since after beta and has ridiculous ebb and flows. Hell even if some dev did come on here and talked there would be a massive flame thread about things not said that would not stop until the thread would have to be closed."
No. Just no. This sentiment is not based on history here.
The community usually responds in overwhelming positive fashion to any news. Also Cryptic has asked for a longer time period for a project (Aftershock) during production. Community sentiment at the time was a "take your time, whatever it takes to make it cool" type deal.
See in addition TelepathyNOW
This never please anybody ever thing is a fallacy and most certainly does not apply here.
The masses have spoken, and they have told Cryptic that it's perfectly acceptable and more profitable to lock costume pieces behind gamble boxes instead of selling them in packs. I don't really expect a return of costume packs.
"You can purchase a new outfit to go out saturday night, or..."
"You can take a random bag that maybe might come with a piece of clothing AND THE CHANCE TO WIN A NEW CAR!!!! Also, credits to spend on clothing we don't let you make any more! And things to make you fight harder!"
None of that means people liked 'Gambling for costumes'. I'm not being mean to you, my dear friend- but that's the choices. There was no fair comparison to what we wanted more.
"You can purchase a new outfit to go out saturday night, or..."
"You can take a random bag that maybe might come with a piece of clothing AND THE CHANCE TO WIN A NEW CAR!!!! Also, credits to spend on clothing we don't let you make any more! And things to make you fight harder!"
None of that means people liked 'Gambling for costumes'. I'm not being mean to you, my dear friend- but that's the choices. There was no fair comparison to what we wanted more.
If I had my way, I'd want more costume packs. Heck, I've bought like most of the current ones.
But as long as people keep showing that they're okay with Cryptic throwing them new lockboxes to gamble away their ZEN with, I'm not exactly confident that we'll see packs ever again.
Do anyone consider fact that cosmic key sales may be caused not by high demand of lockboxed goods, but by silvers using it to bypass silver account global cap?
Which also expain why CO do not have to this time money limit increase in Z-store, unlike STO - because it's beneficial for Cryptic. It's not like this company cares about any players, no matter account type. :rolleyes:
Do anyone consider fact that cosmic key sales may be caused not by high demand of lockboxed goods, but by silvers using it to bypass silver account global cap?
Which also expain why CO do not have to this time money limit increase in Z-store, unlike STO - because it's beneficial for Cryptic. It's not like this company cares about any players, no matter account type. :rolleyes:
At the end of the day, someone's still opening a box with that key, because they're in high demand.
Comments
Yeah, the whole lock boxes is what supports the development team argument is total BS, and here is your proof:
Before lock boxes - Game was doing well, receiving regular updates, a fair number of people actually playing the game, a promising future etc.
Post lock boxes - Game is suffering, complete lack of updates, barely a game community to speak of, development team? What development team!?
I rest my case.
Before Lockboxes didnt have NWO in it's final push before launch.
Cryptic North may prove to be a good addition once they have time to create something. We do not know what exactly they have been working on since they first started working with Cryptic. We do not know what they are currently working on right now.
All we can go with is what we have been told so far. Which is Lockboxes and crap events for the rest of the year.
Easy to rest your case when you don't know any of the facts. How much money was Cryptic making from Champs while we were getting all of that development? Why was Champs a ghost town before Free For All, that whole time that we had a development team and content and non-lockbox items in the C-Store? If the game were doing well, it wouldn't need lockboxes to falsely raise the price of items.
By your logic, the game should have never needed to be free-to-play because we had regular updates and apparently "doing well." You really don't think that they added lockboxes, saw that the game go down the tubes, and then said "Yeah, let's go with this! Cut the whole team, this game is now dying, just like we wanted from the start!" Come on.
You have as much proof that the game would do better without lockboxes as I have proof that the game would do better if all the characters in the game were changed to ponies.
Careful, man... we're treading on dangerous territory here.
And like searching My Little Pony on DeviantART, you have to prepare for the worst.
No, by my logic "Free to Play" doesn't mean "Lock Boxes", since when the fook did free to play mean you automatically have to have lock boxes...
By the logic of Biffsmackwell, lock boxes equals successful free 2 play game!
I am not saying lock boxes were the cause of CO going down the tubes, I am saying they are not what the game needs to be successful, get it?!
I am done with this issue, defend your little scam boxes all you want, if it doesn't raise any red flags with you then you deserve what you preach.
Hmm now that I think about it, if they added my little ponies to the game as some sort of gimmick, and sold exceptionally well, by your logic biffsmackwell does that mean they are a great thing for Champions Online? A rhetorical question by the way.
It's all about what sells ladies and gentlemen, no matter how sly, devious or outright disgusting the means are.
What if they are working on a lot of stuff that was found to be very fun in the past (comic series/ cosmic alerts, etc) that most of the resources are going to?
That explains the studio not talking at all, our lite content updates, the "ambitious project" that the former lead director talked about the new lead is wanting to do before leaving to climb Kilimanjaro, and the back end stuff to get foundry going taking so long. So that major update/s they are working on is taking up so much resources to create a buffer zone of polished content. So when its out they can do what STO is doing.
I mean look at Resistance, DemonFlame, Dead Air (?), and Whiteout. They have every thing that the Co community wanted and it showed.
*Devils Advocate Hat off.*
Maybe. but at the same time..okay, so what if lockboxces are making them tons of money. So what?
Maybe it is making them tons of money. But the game is still essentially a ghost towen in stasis largely populated by people who stay because they have friends or guilds they enjoy being around.
Y'now why I play STO and just sorta watch CO burn from nearby? because without any actual evidence that Cryptic North, or hell, anyone at cryptic cares about CO, why should I waste my money and time on it? Maybe I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts, or maybe I'll get to experience CoH all over again. Complete with watching something I enjoy shutting down abruptly.
in short. Great, good to know lockboxes are profitable. But why the **** should that make the game more interesting to me when meanwhile STO, new liockbox comes with an entire new story arc attached (or a new expansion), or Marvel heroes where the devs communicate with us regularly and show a good faith effort to improve the game?
I mean, hell, the other day I PMed a CM on the MH forums about a loot related bug a few of us had found and he responded within a day personally to say he'd have the devteam look into it.
No, it means that the developers still need to eat. We know that the game was going downhill before it went free to play. At this time that it was going down, they had all sorts of stuff in the C Store. And guess what? It wasn't keeping the game afloat. You have to have something more after going free to play, and it has to be something that your development team can handle.
Successful? I'd look for a better choice of words if I were you.
Sure. What they need is a giant pile of money, to get a real development team, start listening to the customers a bit more instead of just catering to the churn-rate heroes, and develop regular permanent content and fix bugs that have been around since launch. Right? Well, until that giant magical pile of money appears, this is what we're stuck with.
I'm not sure if you've been reading what I've been talking about... I don't like the lockboxes.
Nobody knows that for a fact. It sure does seem like that, but we don't know if during all that time, Champs was in the black or in the red. People may have been buying stuff, but between bandwidth and team size, we don't know that it was enough.
It's not a ghost town compared to when the game was subscription-only.
We just don't have a big enough team to support all that stuff. With the new lockboxes, we do get new content, it's just very small in comparison. It's what the team can handle.
Wrong again Sunshine, CO was never short on players back when it was purely a subscription-based title which is when I played it the most.
Yes the player rate shot through the roof the first few weeks of free to play which is only natural for any game going free to play, but now there are far less playing than what there was before CO went free to play, far less!
This is getting old biffsmackwell, it's a shame you have to be so blindly apologetic towards Cryptic and the asinine decisions they made which led to this horrible state.
Smacky is not an apologist or much of a fan of lockboxes. He's made that clear in a number of posts/threads. Stating bluntly what no one wants to hear but is nonetheless the truth does not an apologist make.
Also, the week before f2p launched we regularly had ONE instance of MC. Population was scary low.
You are mistaken.
'Caine, miss you bud. Fly high.
You know what's getting old? You thinking that I'm being apologetic toward Cryptic about this stuff when I'm clearly disappointed with just about everything they've done in the past year. Seriously, try reading the words I type instead of flying off in a rage. I'm offering some rational suggestions as to why they might be doing what they're doing, instead of just insulting them and acting like some conspiracy theorist.
Don't listen to your negative nancy contingent Cryptic, your fans love what you bring us!
I found the real apologist.
I'm sorry you think that...
Part of the problem since December, 2012.
Hocofaisen has the rosiest glasses that rose glass manufacturers ever did wrought. You shouldn't be sorry about anything.
You are. When you are critical (and I use the term loosely) it usually comes with a "but..."
Clearly it's not all that clear seeing as how people are calling you an apologist. Your mickey mouse critiques don't even scratch the surface of the problems with this game.
Probably not directed at me, but, there is no rage in anything I've said here, ever. I (personally) don't feel like what you said was at all rational given what we know versus what we don't and the track record we have to go by.
Kinda strange to be calling someone who is overall negative about the game in most of his posts an apologist, though to be fair I don't frequent the forums as much as you guys so I may miss things.
Criticism that is followed by a "but..." portion that offers some sort of perspective and/or the flip-side of the coin is usually more insightful and helpful than a purely negative critical remark that offers nothing on how to fix the problem that sparked the critical statement in the first place. If doing that makes one an apologist in your eyes then I'm sorry you feel that way.
Although being called "insane" was anyway novel...
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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Apparently, irony and dry wit are meaningless without a winkyface.
Part of the problem since December, 2012.
No, it comes with what I think is rational thinking. This whole thing started because people were saying that the lockboxes only sell because they don't put anything else in the C Store.
I say that while I don't like lockboxes, and don't want to buy them, it's probably the only thing that's kept the game afloat. I'm not defending what they do, I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying that's probably their only option right now. Probably. It's more rational for me, to think that they have a reason to sell things the way they do, instead of just losing it and claim that Cryptic is stupid because the game was doing better when they were selling costumes straight from the C Store.
To me it's rational to think that Cryptic was making X amount of money before lockboxes. And when they introduced lockboxes, they were making Y amount of money, where Y is greater than X, otherwise they would have dropped lockboxes altogether, since there would be no reason to keep them around if revenue dropped. Further, it's rational for me to think that when only lockboxes were offered, they started making Z amount of money, where Z is greater than Y.
Now, if they'd switched to this gameplan while the game was doing great and they were getting big piles of cash, enough to constantly be expanding the team, I'd be right to be angry at them. Well in my eyes, that is. But the game didn't look like it was doing great. That's why I think that the whole lockbox thing was out of necessity. If that makes me an apologist because I think things out instead of just saying "Cryptic you so stupid," then fine, call me an apologist.
But the fact remains that I'm not happy with the way the game is going, where it's been for the last year. I think the game deserves another chance, with a real team of developers, and it's unfairly not being given this chance. Am I still an apologist? Am I an apologist if I'm not happy with how Cryptic/Perfect World is treating the game, but I understand that lockboxes are probably necessary for them right now? I'm largely indifferent on lockboxes - most of my discontent is the lack of a full development team, but I definitely lean towards the dislike side, considering my luck, and considering that they don't offer the content locked behind them as a straight purchase. Still an apologist because I can see the reason behind their methods, even if I don't like it?
Okay.
"Fanboi" and "apologist" seem to be the go-to insults for people who don't share each other's visions of the game, like how wannabe comedians try to sprinkle a few curse words to make sure the audience is paying attention or how some people refer to others as "haters" in order to make others flock to their banners even if it's not necessarily true.. They're just buzzwords. As much as I don't like the show, this is a good representation of that stuff in action.
Your talking crap there Biff isnt negative about the game far from it , the dude spends hours upon hours trying to super jump onto a spike in ren cen cause its the hardest thing to do in CO >_>
The man loves his CO.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
Not long they outsource to a company in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Good news! I think they've been following your suggestion for quite some time now
...oh wow, I think I just found that suggestion that was made in the forums that the devs actually implemented!
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
Actually, it's a good thing that you don't frequent the forums. Keep it that way, because we kinda get tired of reminding you exactly how ridiculous and disconnected from reality you are.
No, those are terms used to describe someone who makes the habit of decrying any sort of reasonable criticism against the problematic aspects of the game, no matter how negative it comes as, and choose only to make sweeping praises of the game.
The person you're defending has made attacks the veterans of the game, calling them "bittervets" and have stated that the game is better off without them, and that the newer generation of players are the "future". You might want to consider that before defending him next time.
If someone here needs my "defense", well, they're in pretty sorry straits already, aren't they? I'm "insane", remember?
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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I do agree that Smacky is far from being an apologist. Then again this is Hocofaisan who's making the accusation.
I pointed out that calling someone who is down on CO an apologist is nonsensical.
Maybe re-examine the thread a tad?
I get you dislike people who still enjoy the game, but come on, be fair.
And I sincerely apologize for that too.
I don't dislike people who still enjoy the game. You know exactly the reason for the dislike, so do stop pretending that it's something else.
We don't dislike people who still enjoy the game.
We dislike people who tell us to stop raising the very legitimate concerns we have about this game because we're all supposed to think happy thoughts.
They're not there in the beginning, but when your story ends / Gonna last with you longer than your friends
Pretty much. It's just downright obnoxious.
It seems more like there are people who comment on how those points are raised and those people get slammed seemingly unfairly for doing so (adding to the idea of "your ether with us or against us" mentality that seems prevalent on these boards). While there are some posts that actually raise good points, often they seem to be drowned out by unnecessary snark and noise that turns a constructive thread into yet another "Cryptic sucks" thread or some sort of name-calling contest. It seems rather tedious.
To be fair, Cryptic hasn't been doing a good job at a lot of things of late. I don't see a problem when someone points it out.
And not only was it ignored. I was ignored base upon an argument that does not even get to the heart of the matter: "Why is there no content"?
I miss when we could have along winded discussion that actually mattered to letting the guys who review this forum for ideas and directions to go for the playerbase's benifit.
instead we get two arguments in this thread "Cryptic is mean and they don't care about this game because I don't see them talking to me" or "This game is dead because they don't have a enormous patch of stuff and they are not talking to me."
I get it you are mad about our treatment and how they don't talk to us. This thing has happened since after beta and has ridiculous ebb and flows. Hell even if some dev did come on here and talked there would be a massive flame thread about things not said that would not stop until the thread would have to be closed.
The last several boxes have been worth it to me. Though I dispise the new one and its rediculous drop rates. I have opened over 300 of them and no bike. So I am unhappy >:(
My real point is that I would love to see how Costume packs would sell now. It has been over a year since we got anything.
and just think of how much money they could get by simply selling new hairstyles. That is something I constantly hear people wanting both here on the forums and in the game itself.
Or that new costume for the new Decome device. That would be great too, but only if they could finish them and make the new pieces have all three textures. I am sick of this only cloth "Armor" pieces. Seriously WTF?
The masses have spoken, and they have told Cryptic that it's perfectly acceptable and more profitable to lock costume pieces behind gamble boxes instead of selling them in packs. I don't really expect a return of costume packs.
I did skip your post, I admit, because the thing is, we do know that they're not working on any of this stuff because they actually told us, in the latest Ask Cryptic, that the future holds temporary events. A few other things on the side, but as far as playable content goes, it's these events we've had since the Lemurian one.
There is some merit here, after so long with lockbox-only costume pieces, how a costume set would sell. I'm definitely curious. There could be a boom, but who knows if it would make a big enough splash? At this point in the game, I'd pray that it would.
I'll tell you right now that I know from first-hand experience, that we have players in the game that are better-versed in costume editing and costume creation than the people that are on payroll.
In fact, said player has given the development team exact info on how to fix many of these costume pieces, and those fixes are now in the development pipeline. We owe that to a player, not QA.
No. Just no. This sentiment is not based on history here.
The community usually responds in overwhelming positive fashion to any news. Also Cryptic has asked for a longer time period for a project (Aftershock) during production. Community sentiment at the time was a "take your time, whatever it takes to make it cool" type deal.
See in addition TelepathyNOW
This never please anybody ever thing is a fallacy and most certainly does not apply here.
"You can purchase a new outfit to go out saturday night, or..."
"You can take a random bag that maybe might come with a piece of clothing AND THE CHANCE TO WIN A NEW CAR!!!! Also, credits to spend on clothing we don't let you make any more! And things to make you fight harder!"
None of that means people liked 'Gambling for costumes'. I'm not being mean to you, my dear friend- but that's the choices. There was no fair comparison to what we wanted more.
If I had my way, I'd want more costume packs. Heck, I've bought like most of the current ones.
But as long as people keep showing that they're okay with Cryptic throwing them new lockboxes to gamble away their ZEN with, I'm not exactly confident that we'll see packs ever again.
Which also expain why CO do not have to this time money limit increase in Z-store, unlike STO - because it's beneficial for Cryptic. It's not like this company cares about any players, no matter account type. :rolleyes:
At the end of the day, someone's still opening a box with that key, because they're in high demand.