While the OP is kind of... well, not entirely coherent about their complaints, I think that there is some basis for their unhappiness.
I have been, in general, of mixed feelings about the C-Store. I can understand the reasons we've been given about it. I've even grokked that the majority of dev work has been behind-the-scenes bug-stomping and Foundry stuff, and the Featured Episodes. But something's been bothering me lately with the C-Store. I'm not going to say that a majority of the stuff that the Devs put out has been C-Store-related, that'd be a little off. But the TOS pack, as high-quality as it was, is big, REALLY big. It's a level of quality that kind of puts to shame everything else in the game. A LOT of dev time went into it.
My question is, will everything else in the game get that same excellent attention? Will they be going back to the ship interiors to bring them up to the same quality (and scale) as the TOS interiors? Will they be revisiting the uniforms and sprucing them up? Will the ship textures be polished?
Because, really, the TOS pack is of a quality that we'd hoped for in the game from the start. I grok why that was the case; dstahl and Jackalope have admitted they messed up in STO's release as far as content and quality. Well, this is a prime opportunity to deliver on the promise of quality. Really, speaking for myself (and folks, feel free to chime in and agree or disagree) I think there's plenty enough on the C-Store at the moment. With the Foundry coming out Monday, there's loads and loads of quality fixes that can be done now across the board.
All I'm saying is that Cryptic can now, and IMHO should, focus on making this the game that they wanted it to be when it released more than a year ago. They now have the tools and the talent to do so. Step a bit away from the biweekly C-Store release schedule, and make for the game what the majority of the players can enjoy from their subscriptions.
not my problem and stop defending them, it might not bother you, and that is fine, but for us that feel spending the full price on a game, $50, and THEN a monthly subscription, ERRRRR WRONG
this is NOT cool, and not our problem, and the other guy is right, you will lose a signiificant amount of players because we'd rather spend that money on a game where we dont have to buy ships with US CURRENCY!
Indie development is far more empowered now. The fact services like Steam exist, and indie companies thrive there, is evidence. Though that's mainly a financial reasoning; traditionally it's been extremely hard for indies or garage game makers to thrive since it was very difficult to reach their intended audience. I mean, look at how iD started, mailing out floppies as "shareware." Nowadays, if you can make it through Steam's approval process, you can have your game exposed to millions of potential customers with the sales, distribution, and (to some degree) marketing all wrapped in.
As for software, collaborative development, such as HeroEngine, does empower smaller teams to produce outstanding results. The old addage, work smarter, not harder, and all that. It's a more efficient way to organize and create a game, which makes the methods of decade old games seem archaic and unimaginable.
While the OP is kind of... well, not entirely coherent about their complaints, I think that there is some basis for their unhappiness.
I have been, in general, of mixed feelings about the C-Store. I can understand the reasons we've been given about it. I've even grokked that the majority of dev work has been behind-the-scenes bug-stomping and Foundry stuff, and the Featured Episodes. But something's been bothering me lately with the C-Store. I'm not going to say that a majority of the stuff that the Devs put out has been C-Store-related, that'd be a little off. But the TOS pack, as high-quality as it was, is big, REALLY big. It's a level of quality that kind of puts to shame everything else in the game. A LOT of dev time went into it.
My question is, will everything else in the game get that same excellent attention? Will they be going back to the ship interiors to bring them up to the same quality (and scale) as the TOS interiors? Will they be revisiting the uniforms and sprucing them up? Will the ship textures be polished?
Because, really, the TOS pack is of a quality that we'd hoped for in the game from the start. I grok why that was the case; dstahl and Jackalope have admitted they messed up in STO's release as far as content and quality. Well, this is a prime opportunity to deliver on the promise of quality. Really, speaking for myself (and folks, feel free to chime in and agree or disagree) I think there's plenty enough on the C-Store at the moment. With the Foundry coming out Monday, there's loads and loads of quality fixes that can be done now across the board.
All I'm saying is that Cryptic can now, and IMHO should, focus on making this the game that they wanted it to be when it released more than a year ago. They now have the tools and the talent to do so. Step a bit away from the biweekly C-Store release schedule, and make for the game what the majority of the players can enjoy from their subscriptions.
excellent post Mr Mink,
i already expressed something similar when i was asking why they did not use all that time to work on the current flawed bridges, interiors, uniforms etc... well i think we know the answer. and i would not be surprised if a TNG, DS9 or Voyager package is coming down the road via the C store. and there s nothing we can say cause... it s pure fluff...
now i think the C store is so important because there s some money to be made...after all we are all star trek fan, This is my latest theory... they must have crunched numbers and realized that
Life-timers are an important proportion in the game and they do spend more in the C store than the basic monthly subscribers.
Have you noticed STO is one of the few games maybe the only one still offering life time subscriptions after a year?
So they cater for the people making them money....as simple as that.
It s a basic marketing thingy.... someone who spent a nice amount of money 1 year ago is more likely to buy a $25 ship than someone who already spent $15 in subscription this month...
i think there is a fundemental problem when you release with end game allready in game, it leaves either little to no room to expand or at the very least hours on end of programing to add new end game content when they expand.
As i stated before the guys who pay monthly have more money than i do, as they can pay monthly for as long as their hearts are content and give cryptic 400.00 a year.
me i chose a little more than half a years subs upfront freed me to spend the sub money on the fluff i want.
and sorry but the tos uniforms are content allready in game for the time travel missions. so why not make it available? yes i think alot of c-store items should be free to subscribers, however since it's not i pay for it. wuill they make it free in a few months or years who knows, but i want it now not late, so i spend 20 bucks on it big woop..
I haven't read this whole thread....25 pages I'm not sure I have the time...but I thought I'd stick my oar in.
The C-Store exists to fund things that would not otherwise be in the game. I like this...because ti gives me the option of having something that might only otherwise be worked on if there was no content being worked on. I like my TOS uniforms, I like my TOS Bridge, my extra ship slots, my TOS shuttle etc. etc. etc.
Are there things in the store I think are a bit pricey and things I'd rather not have? Yes, there are. My solution was to not buy them. And that's really the point. You pay for the game, you pay for the continuous development of content and existence of services, and then if there's specific things above that you want then there's a small extra fee on top...it's entirely optional and in 99.9999% of cases only adds convenience or looks....not functionality.
Another thing to realize is this project got put on hold to many times so when the deadline hit they said whoops, get it out so we can keep our licenses and fix it on the way.
wich is not new Microsoft with nobody saying release windows Version X by such and such date or lose licensing and man hours allready spent, pushes out crud like ME and Vista. Then garner what info you like and what you hate then luanch 7 but still has bugs and missing promised features.
Even auto makers get rushed to produce their production models cuase folks are tired of waiting or have to have the 2012 Charger by june 1st 2011 or it'll be a 2013. So it goes out and has any problem and now well they should never have released is heard.
guess we shouldn't have had radio before black and white tv, and never shoulda had B&W Before color.
Comments
I have been, in general, of mixed feelings about the C-Store. I can understand the reasons we've been given about it. I've even grokked that the majority of dev work has been behind-the-scenes bug-stomping and Foundry stuff, and the Featured Episodes. But something's been bothering me lately with the C-Store. I'm not going to say that a majority of the stuff that the Devs put out has been C-Store-related, that'd be a little off. But the TOS pack, as high-quality as it was, is big, REALLY big. It's a level of quality that kind of puts to shame everything else in the game. A LOT of dev time went into it.
My question is, will everything else in the game get that same excellent attention? Will they be going back to the ship interiors to bring them up to the same quality (and scale) as the TOS interiors? Will they be revisiting the uniforms and sprucing them up? Will the ship textures be polished?
Because, really, the TOS pack is of a quality that we'd hoped for in the game from the start. I grok why that was the case; dstahl and Jackalope have admitted they messed up in STO's release as far as content and quality. Well, this is a prime opportunity to deliver on the promise of quality. Really, speaking for myself (and folks, feel free to chime in and agree or disagree) I think there's plenty enough on the C-Store at the moment. With the Foundry coming out Monday, there's loads and loads of quality fixes that can be done now across the board.
All I'm saying is that Cryptic can now, and IMHO should, focus on making this the game that they wanted it to be when it released more than a year ago. They now have the tools and the talent to do so. Step a bit away from the biweekly C-Store release schedule, and make for the game what the majority of the players can enjoy from their subscriptions.
This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Cryptic Studios Forum Usage Guidelines and Cryptic Studios Infraction Policy ~WishStone
As for software, collaborative development, such as HeroEngine, does empower smaller teams to produce outstanding results. The old addage, work smarter, not harder, and all that. It's a more efficient way to organize and create a game, which makes the methods of decade old games seem archaic and unimaginable.
excellent post Mr Mink,
i already expressed something similar when i was asking why they did not use all that time to work on the current flawed bridges, interiors, uniforms etc... well i think we know the answer. and i would not be surprised if a TNG, DS9 or Voyager package is coming down the road via the C store. and there s nothing we can say cause... it s pure fluff...
now i think the C store is so important because there s some money to be made...after all we are all star trek fan, This is my latest theory... they must have crunched numbers and realized that
Life-timers are an important proportion in the game and they do spend more in the C store than the basic monthly subscribers.
Have you noticed STO is one of the few games maybe the only one still offering life time subscriptions after a year?
So they cater for the people making them money....as simple as that.
It s a basic marketing thingy.... someone who spent a nice amount of money 1 year ago is more likely to buy a $25 ship than someone who already spent $15 in subscription this month...
As i stated before the guys who pay monthly have more money than i do, as they can pay monthly for as long as their hearts are content and give cryptic 400.00 a year.
me i chose a little more than half a years subs upfront freed me to spend the sub money on the fluff i want.
and sorry but the tos uniforms are content allready in game for the time travel missions. so why not make it available? yes i think alot of c-store items should be free to subscribers, however since it's not i pay for it. wuill they make it free in a few months or years who knows, but i want it now not late, so i spend 20 bucks on it big woop..
The C-Store exists to fund things that would not otherwise be in the game. I like this...because ti gives me the option of having something that might only otherwise be worked on if there was no content being worked on. I like my TOS uniforms, I like my TOS Bridge, my extra ship slots, my TOS shuttle etc. etc. etc.
Are there things in the store I think are a bit pricey and things I'd rather not have? Yes, there are. My solution was to not buy them. And that's really the point. You pay for the game, you pay for the continuous development of content and existence of services, and then if there's specific things above that you want then there's a small extra fee on top...it's entirely optional and in 99.9999% of cases only adds convenience or looks....not functionality.
wich is not new Microsoft with nobody saying release windows Version X by such and such date or lose licensing and man hours allready spent, pushes out crud like ME and Vista. Then garner what info you like and what you hate then luanch 7 but still has bugs and missing promised features.
Even auto makers get rushed to produce their production models cuase folks are tired of waiting or have to have the 2012 Charger by june 1st 2011 or it'll be a 2013. So it goes out and has any problem and now well they should never have released is heard.
guess we shouldn't have had radio before black and white tv, and never shoulda had B&W Before color.