The first thing I need to say is that the C-Store is a good means of revenue for Cryptic. I have no problems with it and if I were running Cryptic I would probably have it as well. I would really like to meet the person who wouldn't do what they can do maximize the profits of their company.
With that being said, I must say that I am not seeing a lottery here. I, like others, see a "trading card" system. From my understand there are going to be many types of Duty Officers, so you won't be able to buy individual ones from the C-Store or an NPC. We'll be buying packs and they will have random Duty Officers in there. The C-Store idea will probably be a larger pack.
I'll just use random numbers here. Lets say in the game you can buy a pack of 10 random Duty Officers for 1000 EC. Maybe on the C-Store you can buy a pack of 100 random Duty Officers for 200 points. (Again I'm just making up random numbers). Now I see nothing wrong with that.
However, if we have to buy "lottery tickets" from the C-Store and the winner(s) get a whole bunch of Duty Officers, or a special duty officer, then I'll have to complain. I don't see this happening though.
I don't think it's a matter of getting the best stuff with minimal effort. The C-store in the eyes of its detractors is basically seen as a "Let's milk our fans just a little more" move.
Case and point, we pay a subscription to this game and it seems like most of the extras (uniforms, ships etc) in-game come as C-store additions.
Now, you're arguing that it's grinding only a few days or maybe weeks to get your favorite item which I will call YFI. Maybe for items requiring emblems, but what about marks of exploration? I don't believe there's another way to obtain marks of exploration in game other than that single daily. So it'd literally take 125 days or approximately 18 weeks to grind out the necessary number of marks of exploration to get YFI.
I have like 800 emblems and ~150 marks on my main char that i have no need to because i have everything i want.
It's not a matter of whether people will work hard for YFI, it's a matter of why in-game do I have to spend extra money to get YFI or grind for weeks to months to get YFI? Really, playing the same mission for the everyday for the next 18 weeks?
So, I have two questions for you or any other pro C-store person:
1) Why am I paying a subscription when it appears that most of the new items that come out need to be paid for? Or grinded for marks or emblems for disproportionate amount of time?
2) And in case, you're on the side that the C-store is improving the game by giving the developers an additional revenue source, how has the C-store directly improved the game?
I am not pro c-store in fact i havent spent a single dime on the c-store since launch, and only spent my points that came from the pre pruchas deal and the poll.
And grindig is part of the game, every mmo does it.. you spent days, weeks and sometimes months to get one certain item. C-store is the cheap way out. I am always baffelt why people complain about grind and when they play a mmo...
I also don't get it why people think they need to buy stuff from the c-store... like there is an invisble force commanding you that you have to buy the stuff... its the same stupid phenomenom in TF2.. with the hats...
In PvP, you're not going to see a massive, overwhelming advantage from this. From what we know and understand, statistical bonuses, while existent, are small, and merely add some minor capability to your ship. Not that big a deal.
Add also to this, is the fact that you don't have to devote 24/7 of your time to this. You could do this in the background, and still do... whatever it is you do in-game. So, no real grind there.
Furthermore, many of the rarer Doff's will only be obtainable in-game, from specific missions. You most likely won't get, say, a Catiian officer out of this, or some of the other rare Doff species.
This is going to be more of a 'pay to just get stuff' bit. No more, no less. It's not even going to really effect others too badly in-game, so it doesn't even deserve the pay-to-win moniker.
The current plan has duty officers being available from:
1. A starting set based on your rank (Commons and Uncommons)
2. Longer Recruitment assignments
3. Certain specialized rare assignments (White, Green, Blue, Purple qualities)
4. C-Store Packs (fixed distribution of Commons versus distribution of Uncommons or better)
5. Achieving tiers in commendation categories (Green, Blue, Purple qualities)
6. Trading and the Exchange
Other methods, such as expending other types of in-game resources, are also being considered.
While you can certainly bolster what you have available via C-Store purchases, there are several other routes to gaining even the highest quality levels of duty officers (purples); my suspicion is actually that the C-Store will mostly be a route taken by collectors who are trying to collect all-Orion or all-Vulcan crews and similar rp-themed arrangements.
The higher qualities are also currently much rarer than comparable colored items in the game - this means that the most practical way of getting Blues and Purples will be through the assignment system and achieving tiers in the various commendation categories.
(As a note to the above, realize that rarity and quality are correlated, but not rigidly linked for duty officers - rarity is Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare. Quality is White, Green, Blue, Purple. For the Federation, a Human of White quality is Common, while an Andorian of White quality is Uncommon. For the Klingons, a Klingon of White quality is Common, while an Orion of White quality is Uncommon. For assignments, quality and rarity is, however, linked, with Common always correlating to White quality, Uncommon with Green, and so on.)
As always, all of this is subject to change based on development considerations and what we observe on Tribble.
EDIT: Clarified current model of C-Store pack rarity distribution.
regarding commendations..whihc i assume means certain accolades or accolade combinations is that retroactive??
Isnt a lottery where you throw some money away in hopes of winning something?
From what I read you buying a "pack of cards" with a random set of DOFFs how is that a lottery? There are three other methods to getting more DOFFs why are people complaining about the C-store, almost every MMO uses that (yes even WoW as a limited form now)....MMOs are not charities they are here to make Money....Dont like it, good luck finding one that doesnt do that anymore....
I think the big thing is that this feels like a triple dip when it comes to the C-Store.
IMHO, it would have been better if the C-Store had always just focused on small, repeat transaction sales but the mix of those with large and high dollar items and a monthly sub weighs down people's impressions of this game and makes the game more C-Store reliant by driving off players and forcing Cryptic to hit up remaining players for more.
And I think non-repeat sales, things that people buy once are too common and fail to provide a continuing return for Cryptic, forcing development time to be spent on more C-Store assets.
For example, instead of one accountwide Amazon-style Borg BO for 240 CP as an account wide unique BO?
One non-account wide, non-unique BO with the same art assets for 80 CP a piece, available in Sci, Tactical, and Engineering flavors. More continuing sales with less dev time spent in the C-Store at a lower entry pricepoint. But more potential sales overall for alts and for people who want all three or duplicates of one.
That's a great idea for creating a steady flow of C-Store income and the price would not break the players has well.
Doff system doesn't sound like fun or very interesting. I would like to modify and specialize traits for my officers. Reading a dialog box then maybe I will get it maybe I wont. Doesn't appeal to me I want game play not Reading Rainbow online.
I definitely wont buy anything from c-store for it. I spent 3 or 5 dollars on items, in c-store and feel like I was ripped off. I wont buy any of the overpriced ships either.
And if you go to the c-store and buy a DO pack, aren't you doing so in hopes of winning something?
Actually, you are guaranteed to "win" a blue and one or two greens, which may happen or not in the ingames methods.
So it's a lottery with the odds somewhat stacked in your favor, compared to the ingame odds.
How do we know what in-game odds even are? For all we know they're not *that* hard to get in-game. The anti-C-Store argument is based on the amount of effort being monumental to get a rarer Doff, but this is pure speculation.
And if you go to the c-store and buy a DO pack, aren't you doing so in hopes of winning something?
Actually, you are guaranteed to "win" a blue and one or two greens, which may happen or not in the ingames methods.
So it's a lottery with the odds somewhat stacked in your favor, compared to the ingame odds.
What? No, please read it all again. you're way off.
The C-Store is the ONLY method that is delivering via "Packs" where you get a mixed batch of BOs (aside from your initial started crew)
The assignments aren't giving out random colors, they are static. You want a blue BO, you find a blue mission and get one. Green for green, and so on.
NOWHERE NOWHERE NOWHERE did he say that the C-Store packs have a BETTER ratio. He said a FIXED RATIO.
This is standard for ALL CCG systems, digital or printed. You can't have one buyer get 10 commons and another get 6 commons and 4 rares. The distribution WITHIN EACH PACK is standardized. THIS IS UNRELATED TO GETTING THEM IN GAME.
In short, playing the game is a BETTER way to get a collection of quality Doffs. The C-Sore packs is a convenience service, like everything else in there.
Seriously, it's like buying a booster pack for a TCG.
As long as these things are no more than say 4 bucks for an "11 man (or more) pack" with 1 rare, 2 uncommon, 8 common with a chance to get a UR instead of an R I'm fine with it. Especially as long as nothing in this pack isn't available in game...
But I didn't buy the Nebula for real money cause I had tons of stuff saved and I haven't bought much for money cause of saving...not to mention all the emblems I've got...(1050)
However, if we have to buy "lottery tickets" from the C-Store and the winner(s) get a whole bunch of Duty Officers, or a special duty officer, then I'll have to complain. I don't see this happening though.
That's exactly what the system is. It's a lottery as to whether you get a useful one.
The assignments aren't giving out random colors, they are static. You want a blue BO, you find a blue mission and get one. Green for green, and so on.
However, the assignment availability is itself described as 'rare'. While that suggests that they do intend to make getting non-trivial DOffs akin to pulling teeth, that's beside the point.
No matter how much or little you grind the system, buying the packs will get you more faster, and to top it off, not even guarantee anything useful, just more lotto draws for something useful.
We're starting to ascend past double-charging, here.
That's exactly what the system is. It's a lottery as to whether you get a useful one.
However, the assignment availability is itself described as 'rare'. While that suggests that they do intend to make getting non-trivial DOffs akin to pulling teeth, that's beside the point.
No matter how much or little you grind the system, buying the packs will get you more faster, and to top it off, not even guarantee anything useful, just more lotto draws for something useful.
We're starting to ascend past double-charging, here.
This is just me always being glad for what we have because there's something worse, but should we at least agree that a fixed common distribution in these packs nerfs it to an appropriate card-game level booster? They could have made it completely random, which I would have agreed to be unfair. They are taking steps to limit the amount of rare doffs available in the packs, to balance it with the in-game methods.
People don't seem ( or don't want ) to understand that those childhood trading card games ARE a lottery, only that instead of giving cash, give things that children ( and not so children ) value more than cash.
Yes, in game, you can get the DO mission, check the reward ( will they allow this? ) and drop it if you don't want the reward. More likely, though you will do the mission, and then they will show you reward for doing the mission, and you are forced to keep what you get, because it is ONE DO, keep it or drop it.
In either case, you will waste lots of time just cancelling and re-requesting the mission (if they allow it), or waste lots of time and effort before even letting you know if your efforts were worth the reward.
In the C-store, you go, pay, and are guaranteed blues and greens, and a varied selection of whites you might or might not like.
Several people in this thread have complained about the supposed play to win aspects of the C-Store especially when it comes to ships being available for sale. I have to comment that I find their arguments less than persuasive. I end up with 500 emblems without even trying just as a part of finding something to do on my main character each day.
If you do the present dailies, B'Tran, the Deferi, and that random one out in Eta Eridani and you get something around 10-12 emblems a day not counting potential emblem rewards from FE reruns or remastered episodes. Which means that in a maximum of 50 days or 1.5 months roughly you could have any of those ships. Personally I run the Deferi missions and the B'Tran cluster missions each day so I end up with ten emblems. On my science character that takes me about an hour and a half depending on difficulty setting. I don't think a month and a half of dailies is too much to ask for a emblem ship.
As for the ship being available to only one character I know that a great many people like to hybridize but realistically which of those ships are you going to want on all your characters? You start the game with three character slots so assuming you make one of each it really isn't unreasonable to expect that you could grind out your emblems for a T-5 ship for each.
Personally I have more emblems than I know what to do with, I'm currently outfitting my Bridge Officers with emblem and Mark of Victory gear because I have to do something with it right?
TL;DR
The emblem costs on c-store ships is reasonable and doesn't take long to acquire.
That's exactly what the system is. It's a lottery as to whether you get a useful one.
In all likelyhood no less of a lottery than sending of a DOff on a recruitment assignment and having her come back with a bunch of redshirts rather than Dobbin the Wonder Ensign.
However, the assignment availability is itself described as 'rare'. While that suggests that they do intend to make getting non-trivial DOffs akin to pulling teeth, that's beside the point.
No matter how much or little you grind the system, buying the packs will get you more faster, and to top it off, not even guarantee anything useful, just more lotto draws for something useful.
That's the thing really you appear to be arguing that it's wrong that we could use the C-Store to by DOffs, and that it's wrong that the ones we could buy may not be useful. That seems to be at cross purposes to me.
In all likelyhood no less of a lottery than sending of a DOff on a recruitment assignment and having her come back with a bunch of redshirts rather than Dobbin the Wonder Ensign.
As I reply above (and again and again) it's more plays of the lottery for paying more. It's more, period, though how much more is unreliable.
That's the thing really you appear to be arguing that it's wrong that we could use the C-Store to by DOffs, and that it's wrong that the ones we could buy may not be useful. That seems to be at cross purposes to me.
Two wrongs don't make a right. They stack, like some buffs.
They are actually going to try and sell parts to a mini game now. Sad part is some will probably buy that TRIBBLE. What's next energy cells for weapons? Dilithium for your ships warp cores? I have never seen a company try to nickel and dime their customers so much.
They are actually going to try and sell parts to a mini game now. Sad part is some will probably buy that TRIBBLE. What's next energy cells for weapons? Dilithium for your ships warp cores? I have never seen a company try to nickel and dime their customers so much.
This is my first cash shop though.
The C-Store provides nice extras but people go overboard with deriding it. It is never essential, it is never content, and it is always made up mostly of fluff items or alternate acquisition routes for those unwilling to use the in game routes. I don't feel nickel and dime'd at all.
I buy lots of things from the c-store: uniform packs, a bridges, alternate ship skins, even very rarely a ship or shuttle. Never have I felt like I needed to use the c-store to compete nor did I feel like cryptic was forcing me to spend to play.
All of my content comes included (Featured Episodes, remasters, etc.) with my subscription that I pay in order to play. I think the entire issue is being exaggerated.
...no, that's paying for more chances to get something good (and a pile of trash that doesn't matter).
As I reply above (and again and again) it's more plays of the lottery for paying more. It's more, period, though how much more is unreliable.
Two wrongs don't make a right. They stack, like some buffs.
But I'm failing to see where the "wrong" is here. It's little different from me hypothetically buying batches for Phaser DHCs from the C-Store on the chance I might get a MkX purple [Acc][Dmg] one. I could just take the time to gather a few anomalies and make a full set for my ship at a crafting station.
If someone wants to play games of chance with real money that's their lookout. In game is, by all accounts, more than capable of providing better results for no additional real life costs. Consequently I suspect the only thing stacking in this thread is a mass confusion debuff.
The C-Store provides nice extras but people go overboard with deriding it. It is never essential, it is never content, and it is always made up mostly of fluff items or alternate acquisition routes for those unwilling to use the in game routes. I don't feel nickel and dime'd at all.
I buy lots of things from the c-store: uniform packs, a bridges, alternate ship skins, even very rarely a ship or shuttle. Never have I felt like I needed to use the c-store to compete nor did I feel like cryptic was forcing me to spend to play.
All of my content comes included (Featured Episodes, remasters, etc.) with my subscription that I pay in order to play. I think the entire issue is being exaggerated.
You see them as nice extras I see them as overpriced nonsense. I see it as milking hundreds form their subscribers. I can't believe people will actually pay that much for the stuff that's in c-store. I bought a few races in c-store and feel ripped off.
But I'm failing to see where the "wrong" is here. It's little different from me hypothetically buying batches for Phaser DHCs from the C-Store on the chance I might get a MkX purple [Acc][Dmg] one. I could just take the time to gather a few anomalies and make a full set for my ship at a crafting station.
If someone wants to play games of chance with real money that's their lookout. In game is, by all accounts, more than capable of providing better results for no additional real life costs. Consequently I suspect the only thing stacking in this thread is a mass confusion debuff.
I would be equally opposed to this outrageous method of weapons acquisition.
You see, from my point of view, the c-store is an "allowance", a "necessary evil" to compensate for the low number of players. It should provide fluff and nothing else.
So, the MVAM, the Excel and all c-store ships should not be there. No T5 ship should. Bridges and uniforms, as vanity items, are OK. NX and Constitution, as Tier 1 ships are also OK.
Ship and character slots are also OK. I have an issue with the XP packs, but I do see the need for some people to compensate their lack of time by increasing their "XP intake" per mission.
Comments
With that being said, I must say that I am not seeing a lottery here. I, like others, see a "trading card" system. From my understand there are going to be many types of Duty Officers, so you won't be able to buy individual ones from the C-Store or an NPC. We'll be buying packs and they will have random Duty Officers in there. The C-Store idea will probably be a larger pack.
I'll just use random numbers here. Lets say in the game you can buy a pack of 10 random Duty Officers for 1000 EC. Maybe on the C-Store you can buy a pack of 100 random Duty Officers for 200 points. (Again I'm just making up random numbers). Now I see nothing wrong with that.
However, if we have to buy "lottery tickets" from the C-Store and the winner(s) get a whole bunch of Duty Officers, or a special duty officer, then I'll have to complain. I don't see this happening though.
I have like 800 emblems and ~150 marks on my main char that i have no need to because i have everything i want.
I am not pro c-store in fact i havent spent a single dime on the c-store since launch, and only spent my points that came from the pre pruchas deal and the poll.
And grindig is part of the game, every mmo does it.. you spent days, weeks and sometimes months to get one certain item. C-store is the cheap way out. I am always baffelt why people complain about grind and when they play a mmo...
I also don't get it why people think they need to buy stuff from the c-store... like there is an invisble force commanding you that you have to buy the stuff... its the same stupid phenomenom in TF2.. with the hats...
This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Atari Community Rules and Policies ~GM Tiyshen
In PvP, you're not going to see a massive, overwhelming advantage from this. From what we know and understand, statistical bonuses, while existent, are small, and merely add some minor capability to your ship. Not that big a deal.
Add also to this, is the fact that you don't have to devote 24/7 of your time to this. You could do this in the background, and still do... whatever it is you do in-game. So, no real grind there.
Furthermore, many of the rarer Doff's will only be obtainable in-game, from specific missions. You most likely won't get, say, a Catiian officer out of this, or some of the other rare Doff species.
This is going to be more of a 'pay to just get stuff' bit. No more, no less. It's not even going to really effect others too badly in-game, so it doesn't even deserve the pay-to-win moniker.
A big adieu about nothing, really.
regarding commendations..whihc i assume means certain accolades or accolade combinations is that retroactive??
Isnt a lottery where you throw some money away in hopes of winning something?
From what I read you buying a "pack of cards" with a random set of DOFFs how is that a lottery? There are three other methods to getting more DOFFs why are people complaining about the C-store, almost every MMO uses that (yes even WoW as a limited form now)....MMOs are not charities they are here to make Money....Dont like it, good luck finding one that doesnt do that anymore....
That's a great idea for creating a steady flow of C-Store income and the price would not break the players has well.
And if you go to the c-store and buy a DO pack, aren't you doing so in hopes of winning something?
Actually, you are guaranteed to "win" a blue and one or two greens, which may happen or not in the ingames methods.
So it's a lottery with the odds somewhat stacked in your favor, compared to the ingame odds.
I definitely wont buy anything from c-store for it. I spent 3 or 5 dollars on items, in c-store and feel like I was ripped off. I wont buy any of the overpriced ships either.
Haha! I have one too! from the very first box of B5 TCG packs I bought.
Then I have a couple of Walter Koenig signed Bester cards that he signed when I met him at a con..
How do we know what in-game odds even are? For all we know they're not *that* hard to get in-game. The anti-C-Store argument is based on the amount of effort being monumental to get a rarer Doff, but this is pure speculation.
What? No, please read it all again. you're way off.
The C-Store is the ONLY method that is delivering via "Packs" where you get a mixed batch of BOs (aside from your initial started crew)
The assignments aren't giving out random colors, they are static. You want a blue BO, you find a blue mission and get one. Green for green, and so on.
NOWHERE NOWHERE NOWHERE did he say that the C-Store packs have a BETTER ratio. He said a FIXED RATIO.
This is standard for ALL CCG systems, digital or printed. You can't have one buyer get 10 commons and another get 6 commons and 4 rares. The distribution WITHIN EACH PACK is standardized. THIS IS UNRELATED TO GETTING THEM IN GAME.
In short, playing the game is a BETTER way to get a collection of quality Doffs. The C-Sore packs is a convenience service, like everything else in there.
i dont pay for rewards of said game
or i have no reason to play the game in the first place
so please put more stuff like that into the C-Store, only saves me money because i am NOT BUYING
As long as these things are no more than say 4 bucks for an "11 man (or more) pack" with 1 rare, 2 uncommon, 8 common with a chance to get a UR instead of an R I'm fine with it. Especially as long as nothing in this pack isn't available in game...
But I didn't buy the Nebula for real money cause I had tons of stuff saved and I haven't bought much for money cause of saving...not to mention all the emblems I've got...(1050)
That's exactly what the system is. It's a lottery as to whether you get a useful one.
However, the assignment availability is itself described as 'rare'. While that suggests that they do intend to make getting non-trivial DOffs akin to pulling teeth, that's beside the point.
No matter how much or little you grind the system, buying the packs will get you more faster, and to top it off, not even guarantee anything useful, just more lotto draws for something useful.
We're starting to ascend past double-charging, here.
This is just me always being glad for what we have because there's something worse, but should we at least agree that a fixed common distribution in these packs nerfs it to an appropriate card-game level booster? They could have made it completely random, which I would have agreed to be unfair. They are taking steps to limit the amount of rare doffs available in the packs, to balance it with the in-game methods.
Yes, in game, you can get the DO mission, check the reward ( will they allow this? ) and drop it if you don't want the reward. More likely, though you will do the mission, and then they will show you reward for doing the mission, and you are forced to keep what you get, because it is ONE DO, keep it or drop it.
In either case, you will waste lots of time just cancelling and re-requesting the mission (if they allow it), or waste lots of time and effort before even letting you know if your efforts were worth the reward.
In the C-store, you go, pay, and are guaranteed blues and greens, and a varied selection of whites you might or might not like.
If you do the present dailies, B'Tran, the Deferi, and that random one out in Eta Eridani and you get something around 10-12 emblems a day not counting potential emblem rewards from FE reruns or remastered episodes. Which means that in a maximum of 50 days or 1.5 months roughly you could have any of those ships. Personally I run the Deferi missions and the B'Tran cluster missions each day so I end up with ten emblems. On my science character that takes me about an hour and a half depending on difficulty setting. I don't think a month and a half of dailies is too much to ask for a emblem ship.
As for the ship being available to only one character I know that a great many people like to hybridize but realistically which of those ships are you going to want on all your characters? You start the game with three character slots so assuming you make one of each it really isn't unreasonable to expect that you could grind out your emblems for a T-5 ship for each.
Personally I have more emblems than I know what to do with, I'm currently outfitting my Bridge Officers with emblem and Mark of Victory gear because I have to do something with it right?
TL;DR
The emblem costs on c-store ships is reasonable and doesn't take long to acquire.
That's the thing really you appear to be arguing that it's wrong that we could use the C-Store to by DOffs, and that it's wrong that the ones we could buy may not be useful. That seems to be at cross purposes to me.
...no, that's paying for more chances to get something good (and a pile of trash that doesn't matter).
As I reply above (and again and again) it's more plays of the lottery for paying more. It's more, period, though how much more is unreliable.
Two wrongs don't make a right. They stack, like some buffs.
This is my first cash shop though.
The C-Store provides nice extras but people go overboard with deriding it. It is never essential, it is never content, and it is always made up mostly of fluff items or alternate acquisition routes for those unwilling to use the in game routes. I don't feel nickel and dime'd at all.
I buy lots of things from the c-store: uniform packs, a bridges, alternate ship skins, even very rarely a ship or shuttle. Never have I felt like I needed to use the c-store to compete nor did I feel like cryptic was forcing me to spend to play.
All of my content comes included (Featured Episodes, remasters, etc.) with my subscription that I pay in order to play. I think the entire issue is being exaggerated.
because their species is dying out, while humans are like rabbits.:p
But I'm failing to see where the "wrong" is here. It's little different from me hypothetically buying batches for Phaser DHCs from the C-Store on the chance I might get a MkX purple [Acc][Dmg] one. I could just take the time to gather a few anomalies and make a full set for my ship at a crafting station.
If someone wants to play games of chance with real money that's their lookout. In game is, by all accounts, more than capable of providing better results for no additional real life costs. Consequently I suspect the only thing stacking in this thread is a mass confusion debuff.
How many Andorians have you seen in the entire Star Trek run of series?
If paying for a batch of common DOffs is too gamebreaking... I mean these things scale up to purple, right?
Paying for common DOffs isn't a leg-up.
You see them as nice extras I see them as overpriced nonsense. I see it as milking hundreds form their subscribers. I can't believe people will actually pay that much for the stuff that's in c-store. I bought a few races in c-store and feel ripped off.
I would be equally opposed to this outrageous method of weapons acquisition.
You see, from my point of view, the c-store is an "allowance", a "necessary evil" to compensate for the low number of players. It should provide fluff and nothing else.
So, the MVAM, the Excel and all c-store ships should not be there. No T5 ship should. Bridges and uniforms, as vanity items, are OK. NX and Constitution, as Tier 1 ships are also OK.
Ship and character slots are also OK. I have an issue with the XP packs, but I do see the need for some people to compensate their lack of time by increasing their "XP intake" per mission.