Key sales are down. Speculation runs rampant re: Questionite Store Additions because Cryptic has more leaks than the Pentagon. Whether all the gossip is true or not is irrelevant. I share your concerns in general re: population my friend but this is off the mark. And wrong.
Cryptic Runs Double Questionite Weekend.
Various instances/adventure packs run constantly by playerbase in effort to score large quantities of Questionite Ore
New Anniversary Lockbox Released < usually causes a spike in Zen/Q exchange
Playerbase has now had time to release a large quantity of Questionite via refining.
Players want shinies from Lockbox thus need keys.
Demand for zen high, thus cheaper sales snapped up quickly - price starts to rise..
My Conclusion:
Has cryptic got a helluva eye for timing? Yes. It's called Marketing Dept i would guess.
Smart Players are holding onto their Questionite and storing their lockboxes while the market fluctuates - or are liquidating their Zen Reserves into Questionite in expectation of the Market taking a downturn once more - at which point they can convert back to Zen for a profit.
Players leaving? I dunno I see more people returning after extended breaks than i do leaving.. but thats just me.
Don't worry, guys - next is just obsessed with this idea that CO's demise is imminent, and he's willing to seize on anything he can twist to "support" his contention. It's not a new phenomenon around here - I've only been playing since F2P, but apparently it was old even then.
"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!"
Hey guys, check this out, apparently nobody ever stopped playing a game because of the fake in-game economy. Apparently, people just keep on playing a game because it's just plain fun. Apparently not everyone sits there staring at the exchange window all day long!
Sorry Next, but you're gonna have to convince people that they're not having fun if you want them to leave so your dream of CO dying can come true. The bad news? People who are having fun are too busy having fun to pay attention to you :O And the people who weren't having fun already left... so literally, the only people listening to you are the ones who already did what you want before you even started typing.
You have a difficult road ahead of you. I suggest you give up. Your "counter-marketing" ploy doesn't seem to be getting you anything other than public ridicule at this point.
Did you entirely miss the point of the Q-ZEN exchange all this while or is this something fairly recent?
Going through that sort of grind as a trade-off for avoiding spending real money to get ZEN is kinda the point.
If a player who has absolutely no intention of spending a single cent into the game leaves because they complain about exactly that, then hear me play the world's saddest song on the world's smallest violin.
Going through that sort of grind as a trade-off for avoiding spending real money to get ZEN is kinda the point.
Player's arent' doing the grind, the number of players in game is steadily in decline.
You people are insane to believe otherwise, you don't even have a single figure to back up your claims.
Players tell me they aren't going to do the grind and then they leave and this has been going on since Q was under 200 per Z.
Read it again, players TELL me they won't do the Q grind and then they leave.
I team players every day and every single day I add two or three new people to my buddy list, and every day I tell people how to grind for Q. Each time they think its great until they see the exchange and do a little mental math, none of you seem capable of, then they immediately scoff and never return.
while i understand there are probably no more than maybe 12 people working on this game, i really dislike how little incentive we have to pay... i mean play anymore. With a superhero mmo, there seems to be a problem when the only new costumes we're getting are tied to the ridiculous lockbox drop rates, and to be honest i REALLY didn't like that article about the powers. It really wasn't as informative as the title suggested, but seemed more like a poorly veiled "yeah, you're not getting any new powers for quite some time". While i appreciate that we at least have people working on the game (more than just TT doing damage control), i can't help but feel like this game really is losing.
Frankly while Cryptic North is on the right track to fixing things, i worry that it might be way too little, way too late given how long cryptic had ignored it. DCUO's next scheduled update i believe is Halls of Power, which should be their Supergroup bases. Something we should have had long ago. I really don't blame people for jumping ship at this point, or any point in the last two years, especially with how many events were terribly done minus one or two parts.
If they really want to save this game, they need to do a few things like:
1) a new full powerset - This alone would bring new people back, even if it's just to test, break and build this set.
2) Finish Cryptics Half assed antics - This sounds a bit harsh, but it's true. Cryptic is well known for releasing things before they're ready, and never finishing them. The nemesis system alone would be a great place to start this. Add more power options, more minions, more paths and personality types, and make each personality type more distinctive. My savage nemesis, shouldn't really be masterminding in their missions or dialog.
Bases are another great example. There are rooms in all of the bases, that are full of potential that we are cut off from, even though they're ALREADY FREAKIN' THERE!!! Give us access to these rooms and make any and all improvements you can, as well as giving us the ability to assign them as a supergroup base. I hate to say it, but CO could take a lot from how DCUO did their bases, in terms of real entrances in the maps, unlocking new customization pieces as mob drops, and again, allowing us to let friends and teammates use and visit them when we're not even on line. Being able to set a hideout as a supergroup base, would go a long way for supergroups.
3) Add customization to the vehicles - This was something we were promised early on and never received. It would be nice to finally get this including colors, weapon placements, and being able to switch out parts like STO gets. I know that last one is a stretch, but it would impress a lot of people who really wouldn't take much to please at this point.
4) Emanation points - This is one of those things stretching all the way back to beta. More powers need them, and we need more options on that dropdown list. Weapons would be a great addition to that list. Breath fire, through a rifle skin would be an awesome flame thrower. Magic powers through a staff or wand would please a lot of magic users. This would allow a lot of people to do a lot of great things in terms of creating and customizing characters.
5) Return to Customization - This was and IS by far, the best and maybe only draw for this game. Even when abandoned by the dev team, this single aspect of the game keeps people coming back, even through the bugs and failings, and even to this day, stands WAY above DCUO, and many other games. STO has a lot of great options, but NW really seemed to drop this all together, which really didn't help it's launch. The more ways we can customize our heroes, the better, and frankly Cryptic has really strayed away from this one feature that was really one of their best. Going back to this would really help out a lot.
Player's arent' doing the grind, the number of players in game is steadily in decline.
You people are insane to believe otherwise, you don't even have a single figure to back up your claims.
Players tell me they aren't going to do the grind and then they leave and this has been going on since Q was under 200 per Z.
Read it again, players TELL me they won't do the Q grind and then they leave.
I team players every day and every single day I add two or three new people to my buddy list, and every day I tell people how to grind for Q. Each time they think its great until they see the exchange and do a little mental math, none of you seem capable of, then they immediately scoff and never return.
Maybe you all need screenshots of that to.
What is it you're hoping to accomplish anyway? Are you trying to make people stop playing? Are you trying to look smart? Are you trying to troll? Are you under the impression that you're spreading new information? Are you just bored and you really can't think of anything else to do with your time?
If whatever it is you're trying to do would "work"... what is the end result?
Picking up where Jaybezz left off and sabotaging the game from the inside. I don't know if nextnametaken is secretly working for one of the Plan Z projects (Jaybezz let it slip, and now he's perma-banned), or if he just wants to watch the world burn. It's a difference without distinction as far as I'm concerned.
Next, I don't know if you've actually taken a college-level statistics class or not, but I have. And dear Dr. Schlossnagel, God rest him, imparted on all of his students the importance of having your methodology correct. If that's wrong, it doesn't matter if you have a perfectly distributed sample from the largest possible data set: Your results will still be $#!^.
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
8000 Questionite at level 40 can be acquired within an hour or less depending on team. That is per toon. At the rate you specified (240Q per Zen) it would take you 3 hours on three different toons to get a key.
Yes, the system heavily favors those who spent any kind of money on this game. This includes buying Zen with money or alternatively buying more character slots to reach cap and get more dailies done a day.
The only problem is that there are plenty of other things to get aside from the Q and Zen stores. But for those who want to get the really good stuff, you need to either invest a lot of time into the game offering nothing to Cryptic directly, or you can support the game and spend real money on it.
If you want to get your time's money's worth, ask for more hours at work.
Sabotage: 1. v; Anything activity that is not brown nosing
2. v; not pretending everything is getting better because "OMG A Dev posted!"
What is it you're hoping to accomplish anyway? Are you trying to make people stop playing? Are you trying to look smart? Are you trying to troll? Are you under the impression that you're spreading new information? Are you just bored and you really can't think of anything else to do with your time?
If whatever it is you're trying to do would "work"... what is the end result?
To me it kind of looks like you're trying to loudly disagree with an assertion that nobody made.
Comments
This thread is ridiculous...
Deliciously nutritious!
Cryptic Runs Double Questionite Weekend.
Various instances/adventure packs run constantly by playerbase in effort to score large quantities of Questionite Ore
New Anniversary Lockbox Released < usually causes a spike in Zen/Q exchange
Playerbase has now had time to release a large quantity of Questionite via refining.
Players want shinies from Lockbox thus need keys.
Demand for zen high, thus cheaper sales snapped up quickly - price starts to rise..
My Conclusion:
Has cryptic got a helluva eye for timing? Yes. It's called Marketing Dept i would guess.
Smart Players are holding onto their Questionite and storing their lockboxes while the market fluctuates - or are liquidating their Zen Reserves into Questionite in expectation of the Market taking a downturn once more - at which point they can convert back to Zen for a profit.
Players leaving? I dunno I see more people returning after extended breaks than i do leaving.. but thats just me.
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Hey guys, check this out, apparently nobody ever stopped playing a game because of the fake in-game economy. Apparently, people just keep on playing a game because it's just plain fun. Apparently not everyone sits there staring at the exchange window all day long!
Sorry Next, but you're gonna have to convince people that they're not having fun if you want them to leave so your dream of CO dying can come true. The bad news? People who are having fun are too busy having fun to pay attention to you :O And the people who weren't having fun already left... so literally, the only people listening to you are the ones who already did what you want before you even started typing.
You have a difficult road ahead of you. I suggest you give up. Your "counter-marketing" ploy doesn't seem to be getting you anything other than public ridicule at this point.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
Did you entirely miss the point of the Q-ZEN exchange all this while or is this something fairly recent?
Going through that sort of grind as a trade-off for avoiding spending real money to get ZEN is kinda the point.
If a player who has absolutely no intention of spending a single cent into the game leaves because they complain about exactly that, then hear me play the world's saddest song on the world's smallest violin.
http://www.diablofans.com/blizz-tracker/topic/269124-diablo-iii-auction-house-update/
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
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Serving since September, 2009 / 65 Characters, 63 Level 40's
Player's arent' doing the grind, the number of players in game is steadily in decline.
You people are insane to believe otherwise, you don't even have a single figure to back up your claims.
Players tell me they aren't going to do the grind and then they leave and this has been going on since Q was under 200 per Z.
Read it again, players TELL me they won't do the Q grind and then they leave.
I team players every day and every single day I add two or three new people to my buddy list, and every day I tell people how to grind for Q. Each time they think its great until they see the exchange and do a little mental math, none of you seem capable of, then they immediately scoff and never return.
Maybe you all need screenshots of that to.
How's your Dead SG doing buddy?
Remember when your SG mate bragged about thousands of players and you needed SG annexes?
Where'd those thousand players go?
Frankly while Cryptic North is on the right track to fixing things, i worry that it might be way too little, way too late given how long cryptic had ignored it. DCUO's next scheduled update i believe is Halls of Power, which should be their Supergroup bases. Something we should have had long ago. I really don't blame people for jumping ship at this point, or any point in the last two years, especially with how many events were terribly done minus one or two parts.
If they really want to save this game, they need to do a few things like:
1) a new full powerset - This alone would bring new people back, even if it's just to test, break and build this set.
2) Finish Cryptics Half assed antics - This sounds a bit harsh, but it's true. Cryptic is well known for releasing things before they're ready, and never finishing them. The nemesis system alone would be a great place to start this. Add more power options, more minions, more paths and personality types, and make each personality type more distinctive. My savage nemesis, shouldn't really be masterminding in their missions or dialog.
Bases are another great example. There are rooms in all of the bases, that are full of potential that we are cut off from, even though they're ALREADY FREAKIN' THERE!!! Give us access to these rooms and make any and all improvements you can, as well as giving us the ability to assign them as a supergroup base. I hate to say it, but CO could take a lot from how DCUO did their bases, in terms of real entrances in the maps, unlocking new customization pieces as mob drops, and again, allowing us to let friends and teammates use and visit them when we're not even on line. Being able to set a hideout as a supergroup base, would go a long way for supergroups.
3) Add customization to the vehicles - This was something we were promised early on and never received. It would be nice to finally get this including colors, weapon placements, and being able to switch out parts like STO gets. I know that last one is a stretch, but it would impress a lot of people who really wouldn't take much to please at this point.
4) Emanation points - This is one of those things stretching all the way back to beta. More powers need them, and we need more options on that dropdown list. Weapons would be a great addition to that list. Breath fire, through a rifle skin would be an awesome flame thrower. Magic powers through a staff or wand would please a lot of magic users. This would allow a lot of people to do a lot of great things in terms of creating and customizing characters.
5) Return to Customization - This was and IS by far, the best and maybe only draw for this game. Even when abandoned by the dev team, this single aspect of the game keeps people coming back, even through the bugs and failings, and even to this day, stands WAY above DCUO, and many other games. STO has a lot of great options, but NW really seemed to drop this all together, which really didn't help it's launch. The more ways we can customize our heroes, the better, and frankly Cryptic has really strayed away from this one feature that was really one of their best. Going back to this would really help out a lot.
What is it you're hoping to accomplish anyway? Are you trying to make people stop playing? Are you trying to look smart? Are you trying to troll? Are you under the impression that you're spreading new information? Are you just bored and you really can't think of anything else to do with your time?
If whatever it is you're trying to do would "work"... what is the end result?
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
Picking up where Jaybezz left off and sabotaging the game from the inside. I don't know if nextnametaken is secretly working for one of the Plan Z projects (Jaybezz let it slip, and now he's perma-banned), or if he just wants to watch the world burn. It's a difference without distinction as far as I'm concerned.
Next, I don't know if you've actually taken a college-level statistics class or not, but I have. And dear Dr. Schlossnagel, God rest him, imparted on all of his students the importance of having your methodology correct. If that's wrong, it doesn't matter if you have a perfectly distributed sample from the largest possible data set: Your results will still be $#!^.
They're not there in the beginning, but when your story ends / Gonna last with you longer than your friends
2. v; not pretending everything is getting better because "OMG A Dev posted!"
Yes, the system heavily favors those who spent any kind of money on this game. This includes buying Zen with money or alternatively buying more character slots to reach cap and get more dailies done a day.
The only problem is that there are plenty of other things to get aside from the Q and Zen stores. But for those who want to get the really good stuff, you need to either invest a lot of time into the game offering nothing to Cryptic directly, or you can support the game and spend real money on it.
If you want to get your time's money's worth, ask for more hours at work.
What is it you're hoping to accomplish anyway? Are you trying to make people stop playing? Are you trying to look smart? Are you trying to troll? Are you under the impression that you're spreading new information? Are you just bored and you really can't think of anything else to do with your time?
If whatever it is you're trying to do would "work"... what is the end result?
To me it kind of looks like you're trying to loudly disagree with an assertion that nobody made.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
If you don't offer up a solution for meaningful discussion, it looks to me like trolling.
Closed.