dude, the new SW's game has intention to do this, AoC started months before WoW, and WoW now does it too. there are you major players in the MMO universe that i have friends still playing. the things that are in the C-store are for show and tell. they DO NOT effect the story play of this game in any way shape or form.
further more, this is not a teen or child based game, just cause mommy and daddy is paying for your suscription but wont pay for your ingame clothes is not anyone elses fault. sorry son. but this game is not a kids game, you want freebies, go back to runescape.
PS-ive heard of a record increase in people returning to STO cause of the new stuff, i included. and as long as this stuff doesnt effect the game play im happy to pay.
Wow is a bad example for the simple fact, they sell 6 items in the micro transaction store, 5 pets, one mount, and they aren't hosing you for every new set of gear with a new "look" to it.
They arent hosing you for every new mount entered into the game( though grinding for them can suck).
They are not making you pay money for each and every new ship( just an example), they are not charging you for character respecs, the list is much longer and much more in favor of the consumer that pays a monthly sub.
They are Charging 35-40 U.S, dollars for a expansion that has everything included. We pay 15 dollars every time a new ship comes out, or a new set of gear, which is only cosmetic, btw, and the list is much more slanted towards a micro transaction to get more money out of a monthly subscriber, or those that have paid for a life time membership up front.
Wow is a bad example for the simple fact, they sell 6 items in the micro transaction store, 5 pets, one mount, and they aren't hosing you for every new set of gear with a new "look" to it.
They arent hosing you for every new mount entered into the game( though grinding for them can suck).
They are not making you pay money for each and every new ship( just an example), they are not charging you for character respecs, the list is much longer and much more in favor of the consumer that pays a monthly sub.
They are Charging 35-40 U.S, dollars for a expansion that has everything included. We pay 15 dollars every time a new ship comes out, or a new set of gear, which is only cosmetic, btw, and the list is much more slanted towards a micro transaction to get more money out of a monthly subscriber, or those that have paid for a life time membership up front.
First off WOW does do it its like 60 - 200 dollars for the new expansion when it comes out and the reason the don't have more in there micro trans store is because they don't produce more. What they have made extra for the game after a expansion has gone into the micro store. and you still pay a monthly fee so your logic is flawed.
Please stop taking advantage of the Star Trek fan base and lining your own pockets!
Cryptic studios is a business, if you really want them to drop the C-store model then don't buy anything on it. However based on the number of people I see in c-store costumes, characters, and ships I doubt it will make much difference, the model has been proven and it seems like an effective additional revenue source.
My only real problem with the C-store was when the alternative ships were C-store only and now with an alternative method of ingame grinding I have little issue with mostly cosmetic items ending up on it. I suppose you can make an argument that the new species are ingame altering but based on how little traits seem to effect how my characters play I really don't think its that big of a deal.
And contrary to popular belief it only takes about a month of grinding the easy emblem sources to make enough for a ship which takes about an hour or two depending on how fast you go.
5 for Btran Daily
3 for Neutral Zone/Deferi Daily
4 for Btran Daily
3 for whatever the PVP Daily is
That is 15 easy emblems you can accomplish in a short amount of time and in an MMO 30 days of grind really isn't anything and it still baffles me that people complain about it.
Wow is a bad example for the simple fact, they sell 6 items in the micro transaction store, 5 pets, one mount, and they aren't hosing you for every new set of gear with a new "look" to it.
They arent hosing you for every new mount entered into the game( though grinding for them can suck).
They are not making you pay money for each and every new ship( just an example), they are not charging you for character respecs, the list is much longer and much more in favor of the consumer that pays a monthly sub.
They are Charging 35-40 U.S, dollars for a expansion that has everything included. We pay 15 dollars every time a new ship comes out, or a new set of gear, which is only cosmetic, btw, and the list is much more slanted towards a micro transaction to get more money out of a monthly subscriber, or those that have paid for a life time membership up front.
its amazing what you can do with the money from a 100 times as many subscribers. maybe if sto had 12 million subs wow reports to have they would not need to charge extra. its amazing that wow even needs to package its updates into paid expansion packs that MUST be bought. they should have the money to afford these updates for free.
maybe wow should offer a lifetime sub where after 16 months of play you effectively get the game for free. if the game is going to be around for the next decade like we all hope you will be playing the majority of that for absolutely nothing.
maybe if wow had 45 years of backstory and a million different races, ships and costumes that everybody wants yesterday it would start to offer some of them out by micro transactions.
First off WOW does do it its like 60 - 200 dollars for the new expansion when it comes out and the reason the don't have more in there micro trans store is because they don't produce more. What they have made extra for the game after a expansion has gone into the micro store. and you still pay a monthly fee so your logic is flawed.
Honestly, where do people come up with this stuff?
A wow expansion costs no more than any other. I paid £20 for Cataclysm, the same as I did for all the previous expansions. Even bveing generous and giving you a 2-1 exchange rate that doesn't come close to your numbers.
Since Cata is new, let's examine LK, and you tell me which of these patch additions went to the micro store:
Ulduar
Colliseum
ICC
Arena season set
New Tier gear
Crafting additions (probably triple per profession per expansion than STO)
I'm no doubt forgetting more stuff, but what I put serves a purpose.
I just have issues paying $25 for a vritual ship (math might be off but hey you get the point).
Also given some of the ships, I have no idea why they re there to begin with. Some of the special properties (laser lance anyone?, multi-vector assault mode, etc.) are game alterers. I was told specifically that C-Store would be cosmetic / non-game effecting items only.
Now we have game altering ships, skill boosts, special weapons, and other items that indeed do alter the game and turning this game into a Pay to win motif.
I should note, I do however buy nearly every costume and race they produce since this is non-game changing...
I just have issues paying $25 for a vritual ship (math might be off but hey you get the point).
Also given some of the ships, I have no idea why they re there to begin with. Some of the special properties (laser lance anyone?, multi-vector assault mode, etc.) are game alterers. I was told specifically that C-Store would be cosmetic / non-game effecting items only.
Now we have game altering ships, skill boosts, special weapons, and other items that indeed do alter the game and turning this game into a Pay to win motif.
I should note, I do however buy nearly every costume and race they produce since this is non-game changing...
WOW has free content updates all the time, and they are usually pretty massive, adding entire zones or new dungeons etc.
WOW 'microtransation' store has like 5 stupid pets in it, no one cares when there are hundreds of pets you can attain free ingame.
WOW HAS MORE CONTENT IN 1 ZONE THAN THE ENTIRE STO UNIVERSE.
^That is the truly sad part that the fanboys need to get a grip on.
I would also like to add, that I pretty much hate WOW. But you have to acknowledge that at NO POINT when you are playing WOW do you ever run out of quests to do or feel like you are out of content or being cheated. And it has nothing to do with how long the game has been out, it was like that at launch.
The cost or type of c-store items is not the issue here. The issue is no matter what you do with the c-store, people will feel cheated when your game is seriously lacking content.
Anyone who thinks that the C-Store does not take development away from the game is sadly mistaken.
I just have issues paying $25 for a vritual ship (math might be off but hey you get the point).
Also given some of the ships, I have no idea why they re there to begin with. Some of the special properties (laser lance anyone?, multi-vector assault mode, etc.) are game alterers. I was told specifically that C-Store would be cosmetic / non-game effecting items only.
Now we have game altering ships, skill boosts, special weapons, and other items that indeed do alter the game and turning this game into a Pay to win motif.
I should note, I do however buy nearly every costume and race they produce since this is non-game changing...
Blak
25? dude you can get 2 for that price... even thou you did say your math is off, i had to say it, cause it seems everyone is a critic and has to insult this game.
WOW has free content updates all the time, and they are usually pretty massive, adding entire zones or new dungeons etc.
WOW 'microtransation' store has like 5 stupid pets in it, no one cares when there are hundreds of pets you can attain free ingame.
WOW HAS MORE CONTENT IN 1 ZONE THAN THE ENTIRE STO UNIVERSE.
^That is the truly sad part that the fanboys need to get a grip on.
I would also like to add, that I pretty much hate WOW. But you have to acknowledge that at NO POINT when you are playing WOW do you ever run out of quests to do or feel like you are out of content or being cheated. And it has nothing to do with how long the game has been out, it was like that at launch.
The cost or type of c-store items is not the issue here. The issue is no matter what you do with the c-store, people will feel cheated when your game is seriously lacking content.
Anyone who thinks that the C-Store does not take development away from the game is sadly mistaken.
dude WoW only adds content on expension pacts that cost 40-60 when released.
and how long has wow been around for? how much biiger is that MMO compared to any of them? o and FYI you dont have to pay for content here... but i guess you werent paying attention.
Isle of Quel'Danas (also known as Sunwell Isle or simply Quel'Danas)? is a zone north of the Eastern Kingdoms added in patch 2.4, and is one of three areas that make up Quel'Thalas. It is the first outdoor zone added to the game via a patch, and includes many daily quests as well as the last raid and dungeon content released prior to World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.
So, one in seven years and a handful of instances or raids in the non-expansion pack years?
Maybe we'd have as many instances as WoW (without expansion packs, mind you) if all the Featured Episodes ended. Of course, that's another set of worms - since a majority of the playerbase can't beat them (either due to being low-leveled or due to lack of game proficiency).
So, one in seven years and a handful of instances or raids in the non-expansion pack years?
Maybe we'd have as many instances as WoW (without expansion packs, mind you) if all the Featured Episodes ended. Of course, that's another set of worms - since a majority of the playerbase can't beat them (either due to being low-leveled or due to lack of game proficiency).
dearly note the zone is one huge instance after instance after raids. it was added because they pushed BC out to beat another game and the x-mas rush.
thus that dont count. it was already in the coding, but just needed the final orders just like ICC.
So, one in seven years and a handful of instances or raids in the non-expansion pack years?
Maybe we'd have as many instances as WoW (without expansion packs, mind you) if all the Featured Episodes ended. Of course, that's another set of worms - since a majority of the playerbase can't beat them (either due to being low-leveled or due to lack of game proficiency).
*boggle*
Off the top of... just my head, and mind you, my memory sucks. And so does my spelling of these silly zones.
- Mauradan
- Zul Gurub
- Black Wing lair
- Ahn'Quraj / Silithus Expansion
- Naxx
In BC
- Black Temple
- Zul Aman
- Sunwell / Isle of Quel'Whatever
I mean that's just what I remember. In BC they added the bird people area as an entirely new area for dailies. Most of the patches included quest chains for the respective raids or huge updates to game balance, items, etc.
WoW's patches are often way bigger than STO's seasons. It's a much bigger team and game at this point, so that's fine. But if you're going to make comments like this, at least first have an idea about what you're commenting on.
WoW's patches are often way bigger than STO's seasons. It's a much bigger team and game at this point, so that's fine. But if you're going to make comments like this, at least first have an idea about what you're commenting on.
I do. As I said, handful of instances per year (and many require buying paid expansions to access).
I'm not grinding in Northrend on a new character because it's my first one.
Why is it that instead of using there time to improve the game content and maybe extend the game lvls Cryptic are adding more and more to the C Store...
I couldn't agree with you more. I was so disappointed to get the first email in what feels like months from STO, and all it was was more C-Store spam.
WOW has free content updates all the time, and they are usually pretty massive, adding entire zones or new dungeons etc.
WOW 'microtransation' store has like 5 stupid pets in it, no one cares when there are hundreds of pets you can attain free ingame.
WOW HAS MORE CONTENT IN 1 ZONE THAN THE ENTIRE STO UNIVERSE.
^That is the truly sad part that the fanboys need to get a grip on.
I would also like to add, that I pretty much hate WOW. But you have to acknowledge that at NO POINT when you are playing WOW do you ever run out of quests to do or feel like you are out of content or being cheated. And it has nothing to do with how long the game has been out, it was like that at launch.
The cost or type of c-store items is not the issue here. The issue is no matter what you do with the c-store, people will feel cheated when your game is seriously lacking content.
Anyone who thinks that the C-Store does not take development away from the game is sadly mistaken.
I pretty much agree with this. The amount of content in STO pales by comparison to that in WoW (even at release) - that's why it has 12 million users today. It has a rich world which is entertaining while being a good value for your money.
STO is the most 'micro-transaction heavy' MMO I've played (and I've played a lot of them). Its an expensive game if you buy from the store.
I also don't agree that everything in the store is 'cosmetic' - there are ships in there that add game play and perhaps more importantly, variety to a game that is pretty 'basic' without it.
All that said, probably nothing will change and STO will continue to put most of its content on the c-store, and people will continue to buy from there.
I don't think discussing WoW any further assists the topic. We should focus on what STO has (or has not). The C-Store continually comes up, and was honestly the reason I quit a few months back.
Now that I've exhausted all of Season 2 and 3s additions, in just under a month, I wonder why continue to pay?
More C-Store stuff comes out, and I am reminded of the pricing scheme I objected to those months ago. Here we have a major content shortage across the board, and items that could have been FE rewards or earned via in game objectives and content, are being offered for sale for yet more money. And there's no in game equivalent.
I suppose it isn't the scheme itself that bothers me; it's Cryptic not being forthcoming with it. Having worked in the industry for a number of years, I know Mr. Stahl's assertion it's stuff done "on the side" is not entirely true. If he came out and said "this is keeping us afloat right now." Okay then. I can accept that. But he doesn't. We're starving for content, C-Store stuff hits multiple times per month, and we're wondering where the real content is... and it's "here's just a little something we squeezed in, on the side."
What? That's hours and hours of manpower, that's not on the side.
I don't think discussing WoW any further assists the topic. We should focus on what STO has (or has not). The C-Store continually comes up, and was honestly the reason I quit a few months back.
Now that I've exhausted all of Season 2 and 3s additions, in just under a month, I wonder why continue to pay?
More C-Store stuff comes out, and I am reminded of the pricing scheme I objected to those months ago. Here we have a major content shortage across the board, and items that could have been FE rewards or earned via in game objectives and content, are being offered for sale for yet more money. And there's no in game equivalent.
I suppose it isn't the scheme itself that bothers me; it's Cryptic not being forthcoming with it. Having worked in the industry for a number of years, I know Mr. Stahl's assertion it's stuff done "on the side" is not entirely true. If he came out and said "this is keeping us afloat right now." Okay then. I can accept that. But he doesn't. We're starving for content, C-Store stuff hits multiple times per month, and we're wondering where the real content is... and it's "here's just a little something we squeezed in, on the side."
What? That's hours and hours of manpower, that's not on the side.
I agree. I don't mind the c-store.. I understand it has its uses but more needs to go into the core game, less needs to be done 'on the side - so its ok if we sell it to you for extra'. I know what creating content takes... these are not 'side projects' (and the devs themselves have even said their time is scheduled well in advance).
The addition of the 10 or so weekly series a year (as mentioned by Dstal in his latest engineering report) will hopefully go a long way towards balancing out the c-store to free ratio, and we'll see what becomes of the season 4 changes. Still a bit skeptical though.
More and more, STO reminds me of Voyager (I apologize to the Voyager fans out there).
When it began, it really was just horrible, then it slowly started to get better, all the while throughout there are the really bad parts that creep in and the really good parts, and then it just died over time.
More and more, the C-Store reminds me of a Brannon Braga story, there may be some good parts and some good ones, but most are either bad or only work if you don't think about it.
Yes, you can spend hour after hour in-game grinding for emblems. Or you can spend two or three hours at a job and use that money to buy the thing you want. For most people, the second actually makes much more practical/economic sense.
Of course, if you're opposed to giving them more money than your monthly subscription as a matter of principle... just remember that while you're grinding, you're also giving them more money, in the extra time that you have to play to grind.
Why is it that instead of using there time to improve the game content and maybe extend the game lvls Cryptic are adding more and more to the C Store... Oh yes to make more money.
I have to say Cryptic i find this disgusting... I pay a monthly subscription like most people and i cant see why i should have to pay additional money to use an in game item ie a new ship. when in my opinion things like new ships and costumes should be included in normal patches... like most online games do!
Please stop taking advantage of the Star Trek fan base and lining your own pockets!
I have a feeling if this system continues you will loose a good deal of your community to games such as Star Wars The Old Republic and the upcoming Star Trek Game Star Trek Infinite Space
This is how they make the extra money. Sad that they can't run this game on the sub price alone like other MMOs, but it will eventually lead to this game going F2P like Champions did or worse. A lot of people hate the c-store, me included, but whenever people complain about it all they say is that there is nothing in the c-store that you can't get ingame via emblems. Which is complete bull. You can't get those new costumes or ship costumes in game. And grinding 500 emblems to unlock a ship on 1 character vs buying it in the c-store to unlock it account wide seems a liitle off to me. It's like they know that you'll fork out the money for the c-store just to get it unlocked account wide.
im begining to lose faith in cryptic more and more for each day...
ither make the game f2p and continue your c-store teams.
or get the people from c-store team to the content team.
Well look at the lifers out there. Sometiems I wonder if buying a LTS was the wrong approach..
Cryptic: "Lets offer a LTS and gert some capital. Would help us recoup the development costs."
Then the LTS's are sold...
Cryptic: "Oh crud. We just trashed our cash flow model... what else can we do? We thought we'd sell a few, but not THIS many..."
Once I hit 17 months, I guess I 'could' start buying $15 in atari points each month for goodies, but that kind of defeats the point of having a LTS.
My main objection is how the C-Store is presented. As people said, for stuff that is 'on the side' it seems to be alot of 'on the side' items. To me, on the side is if I was to develop somethign over the weekend b/c I was bored and it actually looks okay. But my understanding is Cryptic has content developers for bridges, races, etc. of which they have redirected to straight to C-store vs free content releases. As someone said, if Cryptic would come out with "this keeps us from having to cut content development or adds an addtional "X" number of developers (and then actually showed the development) or mentioned this was developed with the use of C-Store revenue, then I could accept it. Hell I would appauld it.
Afterall, ST is a multi-billion dollar franchise. Just think the timing might have been 'off'.
But right now, seems like Atari is using the money to stay afloat.
there are good points on both sides of the argument. I will give Cryptic credit in that for a lot of the releases from the past month or two have also included the ability to get the item in-game, especially for the ship retrofits.
To play devil's advocate, although (currently), few and far between, featured episodes give unique rewards that are not included in the c-store.
additionally, Craig once said in regards to that "we have an artist team that can create fantastic content on a rapid schedule. enabling new game features, stories etc, could take weeks to be created and tested properly. What am i supposed to tell the artist team - stop working? Go home? they have to do something during the down-time when their created content is being worked on by the software and effects team, but a new project has not started. the c-store content helps them bridge the gap "in-between".
- that is heavily ad-libbing, and once i find a link to the interview, i will post it.
G
We all want interirors that are appropriately sized, right?
Then, a question: Why do I have to buy an appropriately sized ship interiror (with accurate lcars) from the c-store? I don't really care about whether it is TOS. I care about whether it is accruately scaled and such.
On a related note...I think for series ultra rewards that expire... they should be put into the c-store after a certain time frame, so that way they can earn money off of the rewards AND have claimed to have had a way in game to get them.
Comments
Wow is a bad example for the simple fact, they sell 6 items in the micro transaction store, 5 pets, one mount, and they aren't hosing you for every new set of gear with a new "look" to it.
They arent hosing you for every new mount entered into the game( though grinding for them can suck).
They are not making you pay money for each and every new ship( just an example), they are not charging you for character respecs, the list is much longer and much more in favor of the consumer that pays a monthly sub.
They are Charging 35-40 U.S, dollars for a expansion that has everything included. We pay 15 dollars every time a new ship comes out, or a new set of gear, which is only cosmetic, btw, and the list is much more slanted towards a micro transaction to get more money out of a monthly subscriber, or those that have paid for a life time membership up front.
neither does STO
First off WOW does do it its like 60 - 200 dollars for the new expansion when it comes out and the reason the don't have more in there micro trans store is because they don't produce more. What they have made extra for the game after a expansion has gone into the micro store. and you still pay a monthly fee so your logic is flawed.
Cryptic studios is a business, if you really want them to drop the C-store model then don't buy anything on it. However based on the number of people I see in c-store costumes, characters, and ships I doubt it will make much difference, the model has been proven and it seems like an effective additional revenue source.
My only real problem with the C-store was when the alternative ships were C-store only and now with an alternative method of ingame grinding I have little issue with mostly cosmetic items ending up on it. I suppose you can make an argument that the new species are ingame altering but based on how little traits seem to effect how my characters play I really don't think its that big of a deal.
And contrary to popular belief it only takes about a month of grinding the easy emblem sources to make enough for a ship which takes about an hour or two depending on how fast you go.
That is 15 easy emblems you can accomplish in a short amount of time and in an MMO 30 days of grind really isn't anything and it still baffles me that people complain about it.
its amazing what you can do with the money from a 100 times as many subscribers. maybe if sto had 12 million subs wow reports to have they would not need to charge extra. its amazing that wow even needs to package its updates into paid expansion packs that MUST be bought. they should have the money to afford these updates for free.
maybe wow should offer a lifetime sub where after 16 months of play you effectively get the game for free. if the game is going to be around for the next decade like we all hope you will be playing the majority of that for absolutely nothing.
maybe if wow had 45 years of backstory and a million different races, ships and costumes that everybody wants yesterday it would start to offer some of them out by micro transactions.
Oh... the irony.
Honestly, where do people come up with this stuff?
A wow expansion costs no more than any other. I paid £20 for Cataclysm, the same as I did for all the previous expansions. Even bveing generous and giving you a 2-1 exchange rate that doesn't come close to your numbers.
Since Cata is new, let's examine LK, and you tell me which of these patch additions went to the micro store:
Ulduar
Colliseum
ICC
Arena season set
New Tier gear
Crafting additions (probably triple per profession per expansion than STO)
I'm no doubt forgetting more stuff, but what I put serves a purpose.
Also given some of the ships, I have no idea why they re there to begin with. Some of the special properties (laser lance anyone?, multi-vector assault mode, etc.) are game alterers. I was told specifically that C-Store would be cosmetic / non-game effecting items only.
Now we have game altering ships, skill boosts, special weapons, and other items that indeed do alter the game and turning this game into a Pay to win motif.
I should note, I do however buy nearly every costume and race they produce since this is non-game changing...
Blak
This post has been edited to remove content which violates the [URL=" http://forums.startrekonline.com/announcement.php?f=70&a=2"]Cryptic Studios Forum Usage Guidelines[/URL] GMMeeko
WOW has free content updates all the time, and they are usually pretty massive, adding entire zones or new dungeons etc.
WOW 'microtransation' store has like 5 stupid pets in it, no one cares when there are hundreds of pets you can attain free ingame.
WOW HAS MORE CONTENT IN 1 ZONE THAN THE ENTIRE STO UNIVERSE.
^That is the truly sad part that the fanboys need to get a grip on.
I would also like to add, that I pretty much hate WOW. But you have to acknowledge that at NO POINT when you are playing WOW do you ever run out of quests to do or feel like you are out of content or being cheated. And it has nothing to do with how long the game has been out, it was like that at launch.
The cost or type of c-store items is not the issue here. The issue is no matter what you do with the c-store, people will feel cheated when your game is seriously lacking content.
Anyone who thinks that the C-Store does not take development away from the game is sadly mistaken.
25? dude you can get 2 for that price... even thou you did say your math is off, i had to say it, cause it seems everyone is a critic and has to insult this game.
again dont need to buy the ship to play the game.
When has WoW ever added an entire zone for free?
The most I remember are a handful of dungeons per year - that's it.
dude WoW only adds content on expension pacts that cost 40-60 when released.
and how long has wow been around for? how much biiger is that MMO compared to any of them? o and FYI you dont have to pay for content here... but i guess you werent paying attention.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Isle_of_Quel%27Danas
So, one in seven years and a handful of instances or raids in the non-expansion pack years?
Maybe we'd have as many instances as WoW (without expansion packs, mind you) if all the Featured Episodes ended. Of course, that's another set of worms - since a majority of the playerbase can't beat them (either due to being low-leveled or due to lack of game proficiency).
dearly note the zone is one huge instance after instance after raids. it was added because they pushed BC out to beat another game and the x-mas rush.
thus that dont count. it was already in the coding, but just needed the final orders just like ICC.
*boggle*
Off the top of... just my head, and mind you, my memory sucks. And so does my spelling of these silly zones.
- Mauradan
- Zul Gurub
- Black Wing lair
- Ahn'Quraj / Silithus Expansion
- Naxx
In BC
- Black Temple
- Zul Aman
- Sunwell / Isle of Quel'Whatever
In LK
- Ulduar
- Crusade quests
- Crusade dailies
- ICC 5 mans
- ICC raids
I mean that's just what I remember. In BC they added the bird people area as an entirely new area for dailies. Most of the patches included quest chains for the respective raids or huge updates to game balance, items, etc.
WoW's patches are often way bigger than STO's seasons. It's a much bigger team and game at this point, so that's fine. But if you're going to make comments like this, at least first have an idea about what you're commenting on.
I do. As I said, handful of instances per year (and many require buying paid expansions to access).
I'm not grinding in Northrend on a new character because it's my first one.
I couldn't agree with you more. I was so disappointed to get the first email in what feels like months from STO, and all it was was more C-Store spam.
I would like to point out that I can get WoW and all its expansions for $100 or less. It's store $125 Pets (several of which have physical plushes)
That is $225 total
To get STO is roughly $10 and to buy everything in the C-Store (on sale, via bundles, and no services) is $300.
That is $310 total.
I'm just saying that is not a fair comparison.
I pretty much agree with this. The amount of content in STO pales by comparison to that in WoW (even at release) - that's why it has 12 million users today. It has a rich world which is entertaining while being a good value for your money.
STO is the most 'micro-transaction heavy' MMO I've played (and I've played a lot of them). Its an expensive game if you buy from the store.
I also don't agree that everything in the store is 'cosmetic' - there are ships in there that add game play and perhaps more importantly, variety to a game that is pretty 'basic' without it.
All that said, probably nothing will change and STO will continue to put most of its content on the c-store, and people will continue to buy from there.
-- Z
Now that I've exhausted all of Season 2 and 3s additions, in just under a month, I wonder why continue to pay?
More C-Store stuff comes out, and I am reminded of the pricing scheme I objected to those months ago. Here we have a major content shortage across the board, and items that could have been FE rewards or earned via in game objectives and content, are being offered for sale for yet more money. And there's no in game equivalent.
I suppose it isn't the scheme itself that bothers me; it's Cryptic not being forthcoming with it. Having worked in the industry for a number of years, I know Mr. Stahl's assertion it's stuff done "on the side" is not entirely true. If he came out and said "this is keeping us afloat right now." Okay then. I can accept that. But he doesn't. We're starving for content, C-Store stuff hits multiple times per month, and we're wondering where the real content is... and it's "here's just a little something we squeezed in, on the side."
What? That's hours and hours of manpower, that's not on the side.
I agree. I don't mind the c-store.. I understand it has its uses but more needs to go into the core game, less needs to be done 'on the side - so its ok if we sell it to you for extra'. I know what creating content takes... these are not 'side projects' (and the devs themselves have even said their time is scheduled well in advance).
The addition of the 10 or so weekly series a year (as mentioned by Dstal in his latest engineering report) will hopefully go a long way towards balancing out the c-store to free ratio, and we'll see what becomes of the season 4 changes. Still a bit skeptical though.
-- Z
When it began, it really was just horrible, then it slowly started to get better, all the while throughout there are the really bad parts that creep in and the really good parts, and then it just died over time.
More and more, the C-Store reminds me of a Brannon Braga story, there may be some good parts and some good ones, but most are either bad or only work if you don't think about it.
I hope STO can learn from Voyager.
Of course, if you're opposed to giving them more money than your monthly subscription as a matter of principle... just remember that while you're grinding, you're also giving them more money, in the extra time that you have to play to grind.
This is how they make the extra money. Sad that they can't run this game on the sub price alone like other MMOs, but it will eventually lead to this game going F2P like Champions did or worse. A lot of people hate the c-store, me included, but whenever people complain about it all they say is that there is nothing in the c-store that you can't get ingame via emblems. Which is complete bull. You can't get those new costumes or ship costumes in game. And grinding 500 emblems to unlock a ship on 1 character vs buying it in the c-store to unlock it account wide seems a liitle off to me. It's like they know that you'll fork out the money for the c-store just to get it unlocked account wide.
ither make the game f2p and continue your c-store teams.
or get the people from c-store team to the content team.
Cryptic: "Lets offer a LTS and gert some capital. Would help us recoup the development costs."
Then the LTS's are sold...
Cryptic: "Oh crud. We just trashed our cash flow model... what else can we do? We thought we'd sell a few, but not THIS many..."
Once I hit 17 months, I guess I 'could' start buying $15 in atari points each month for goodies, but that kind of defeats the point of having a LTS.
My main objection is how the C-Store is presented. As people said, for stuff that is 'on the side' it seems to be alot of 'on the side' items. To me, on the side is if I was to develop somethign over the weekend b/c I was bored and it actually looks okay. But my understanding is Cryptic has content developers for bridges, races, etc. of which they have redirected to straight to C-store vs free content releases. As someone said, if Cryptic would come out with "this keeps us from having to cut content development or adds an addtional "X" number of developers (and then actually showed the development) or mentioned this was developed with the use of C-Store revenue, then I could accept it. Hell I would appauld it.
Afterall, ST is a multi-billion dollar franchise. Just think the timing might have been 'off'.
But right now, seems like Atari is using the money to stay afloat.
Blak
To play devil's advocate, although (currently), few and far between, featured episodes give unique rewards that are not included in the c-store.
additionally, Craig once said in regards to that "we have an artist team that can create fantastic content on a rapid schedule. enabling new game features, stories etc, could take weeks to be created and tested properly. What am i supposed to tell the artist team - stop working? Go home? they have to do something during the down-time when their created content is being worked on by the software and effects team, but a new project has not started. the c-store content helps them bridge the gap "in-between".
- that is heavily ad-libbing, and once i find a link to the interview, i will post it.
G
Then, a question: Why do I have to buy an appropriately sized ship interiror (with accurate lcars) from the c-store? I don't really care about whether it is TOS. I care about whether it is accruately scaled and such.
On a related note...I think for series ultra rewards that expire... they should be put into the c-store after a certain time frame, so that way they can earn money off of the rewards AND have claimed to have had a way in game to get them.