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Forums > Home› Support› C-Store, ZEN, and Promotions

New Launcher and the C-Store Marketing

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited July 2011 in C-Store, ZEN, and Promotions

  • I understand that the Store is a good source of revenue.
  • I understand that for a product to be bought, it needs to be advertised.
  • I understand that people need to have their shopping experience as easy and painless as possible.


What I do not appreciate however is the recent, insidious branding of every pixel in this game with the Store.
The new launcher tells me how many points I have now? New adverts saying what's new in the store and not what's new in the game as the headline?

Really Cryptic, I *know* how many points I have. What are you going to do next? have a little "BUY POINTS" graphic attached to the mouse pointer? Are there going to be adverts on wall consoles on my bridge?

You are reaching your limit of my patience with this marketing push. If you are going F2P, then go already. Stop. Branding. Everything. Please. It's enough now.

~As with everything, this post is IMO and YMMV.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    This looks now identical to the CO launcher that they've had for awhile. Probably makes a lot of sense to have them both the same with minor graphical changes. Easier to update both.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    To adlib Quark, "Comes to C-Store,..C-Store's fun...come to C-Store, don't walk....run!!!!!!!!" lol.:D Now I guess I'll wait for the next ship in C-store to bust out the old credit card...heh.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    i think ive bought everything from c-store...kinda feels like they havent got enough in there really....
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    KappaTau wrote:
    • I understand that the Store is a good source of revenue.
    • I understand that for a product to be bought, it needs to be advertised.
    • I understand that people need to have their shopping experience as easy and painless as possible.


    What I do not appreciate however is the recent, insidious branding of every pixel in this game with the Store.
    The new launcher tells me how many points I have now? New adverts saying what's new in the store and not what's new in the game as the headline?

    Really Cryptic, I *know* how many points I have. What are you going to do next? have a little "BUY POINTS" graphic attached to the mouse pointer? Are there going to be adverts on wall consoles on my bridge?

    You are reaching your limit of my patience with this marketing push. If you are going F2P, then go already. Stop. Branding. Everything. Please. It's enough now.

    ~As with everything, this post is IMO and YMMV.

    I am hoping that I can sell ad space on the side of my ship hull. Welcome aboard the USS Drink Pepsi


    Branding, it's the future*

    (*this future brought to you by Ford Motors. )
    (Alternate futures are available for purchase at the C-Store.)
    (Cryptic or its parent company are not responsible for any time paradoxes you may encounter by purchases of alternate futures.)
    (Mileage may vary.)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    I have to admit, I don't mind the C-Store advertising in the launcher, but I preferred having server news/latest patch notes up there where I can check them as I log on and patch up.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    Askray wrote: »
    This looks now identical to the CO launcher that they've had for awhile. Probably makes a lot of sense to have them both the same with minor graphical changes. Easier to update both.

    CO is also an f2p game. STO requires a subscription for the privelige of paying for content.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    ACES_HIGH wrote: »
    I have to admit, I don't mind the C-Store advertising in the launcher, but I preferred having server news/latest patch notes up there where I can check them as I log on and patch up.

    I agree, they need to add latest news and patch info back.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    squidheadjax wrote: »
    CO is also an f2p game. STO requires a subscription for the privelige of paying for content.

    STO needs to just go F2P, they're already pushing the store hard. next update'll proably replace loading screens with c-store advertisements
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    I quite agree. I actually have a thread going on a very similar subject, though my critique is more on my disappointment that C-Store functionality - the text window that allowed you to glimpse at current server info and with release notes being a click-on-a-tab away. Right here:

    Before, we had the lefhand image, and the small banner on the upper-right being giving out information of promotions. And with the latest update, we lost launcher functionality in favor of even more advertising space (something which already had more than adequate display before). The textwindow replacement to the latest promotion with a big 'VISIT THE C-STORE' button is simply redundant.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    Whaaaat? Too much C-Store?
    Give us more, i say
    Edit- feel free to borrow my signature banner to show how you feel about the in your face advertising
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    amidoinitright wrote: »
    Whaaaat? Too much C-Store?
    Give us more, i say

    ROFL. Well said :) (At least with the linkie XD)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    squidheadjax wrote: »
    CO is also an f2p game. STO requires a subscription for the privelige of paying for content.
    So did CO, before it went F2P. Did everyone suddenly forget that the C-Store existed well before CO converted to F2P? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills :p
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    *stares at the launcher*

    Wow, that's obnoxious.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    Obsidius wrote: »
    So did CO, before it went F2P. Did everyone suddenly forget that the C-Store existed well before CO converted to F2P? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills :p

    CO's pre-f2p C-store was a vastly different beast. The assurances the devs gave were actually followed until the business model completely changed. And then subscribers were given the monthly stipend to make up for that.

    There were respecs (available in-game since beta, long before the C-store respec token was even coded), costumes, cosmetic pets, costume slots (per-account), and extra character slots before f2p. That was it. Extra bank space used to be only purchasable with in-game currency.

    STO has continually pumped more and more gameplay-altering items into its C-store while assurances are repeatedly made and broken to the contrary. The business model I supported Cryptic for following - the cosmetic-only C-store - has thoroughly morphed into pay-for-powers, which I do not support. Had they not made the assurances that they later broke, I would not have felt comfortable investing in a LTS.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    squidheadjax wrote: »
    CO's pre-f2p C-store was a vastly different beast. The assurances the devs gave were actually followed until the business model completely changed. And then subscribers were given the monthly stipend to make up for that.

    There were respecs (available in-game since beta, long before the C-store respec token was even coded), costumes, cosmetic pets, costume slots (per-account), and extra character slots before f2p. That was it. Extra bank space used to be only purchasable with in-game currency.

    STO has continually pumped more and more gameplay-altering items into its C-store while assurances are repeatedly made and broken to the contrary. The business model I supported Cryptic for following - the cosmetic-only C-store - has thoroughly morphed into pay-for-powers, which I do not support. Had they not made the assurances that they later broke, I would not have felt comfortable investing in a LTS.

    Have to agree. I've watched it changes into Pay-To Win. Was only a matter of time. Happens to all MMO's.
    But you can win with out using a credit store. Just takes some thinking and working out. I do it all the time.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    KappaTau wrote:
    [*]I understand that the Store is a good source of revenue.
    [*]I understand that for a product to be bought, it needs to be advertised.
    [*]I understand that people need to have their shopping experience as easy and painless as possible.

    If you understand, stop complaining.
    STO is business after all. Not ONLY made to pleasure you.
    I like the new launcher. Doesn't bother me at all. I can click "Engage" .. makes me happy :D
    - Even though i would like the release notes back in, instead of browser opening
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    Thiil wrote:
    If you understand, stop complaining.
    STO is business after all. Not ONLY made to pleasure you.
    I like the new launcher. Doesn't bother me at all. I can click "Engage" .. makes me happy :D
    - Even though i would like the release notes back in, instead of browser opening

    Thanks for your input, however I was exercising my opinion on something I find distasteful.
    You don't and that's grand. More power to you.

    If you would like to direct your "I like this change so ignore the dissent voices" comments towards Cryptic itself and not me personally that would be even better.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    Bad form Cryptic, bad form. Take some pride in the fact that you're game developers, not salesmen. You should be focused on making a good game, not on finding new and creative ways to ram microtransactions down our throats at the expense of user experience. The old launcher was better, plain and simple. Replacing patch notes with a giant C-store button is pathetic and sad.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    If STO went F2P then it would be a gimmick and many would just leave as cryptic has failed as a gaming company and become more of a marketing scheme. I said it a year ago that this c-store TRIBBLE would be the death of STO.

    No new content, broken attributes in the game, new call of duty style of playing without the call or duty. new junk in a store that people complain about constantly.

    just say it. you dont give a TRIBBLE about this game ur just in it for the money. Dont give me that bull TRIBBLE about of the c-store is a seperate entity because we all know its another lie. everything you say you are creating for the game is coming out on that dam store. yet no new content. what will that be on the store next month.

    new content for 600 credits in august. Ill tell you right now. The day you try that scheme is the day i walk and i am sure many other will see this company for the shame its becoming. The right hand doesnt know what the left hand is doing and its turning out to be a pokemon, digimon, heart of the cards gimmick game that wants to be like star trek.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    squidheadjax wrote: »
    CO's pre-f2p C-store was a vastly different beast. The assurances the devs gave were actually followed until the business model completely changed. And then subscribers were given the monthly stipend to make up for that.

    Indeed. There was nothing functional in the store with the exception of respecs.

    STO isn't mirroring CO's model pre-F2P, it's modelling CO's model post-F2P... minus the free part... and the stipend... and basically anything that was beneficial and worked to the advantage of the consumer.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    squidheadjax wrote: »
    CO's pre-f2p C-store was a vastly different beast. The assurances the devs gave were actually followed until the business model completely changed. And then subscribers were given the monthly stipend to make up for that.

    There were respecs (available in-game since beta, long before the C-store respec token was even coded), costumes, cosmetic pets, costume slots (per-account), and extra character slots before f2p. That was it. Extra bank space used to be only purchasable with in-game currency.

    STO has continually pumped more and more gameplay-altering items into its C-store while assurances are repeatedly made and broken to the contrary. The business model I supported Cryptic for following - the cosmetic-only C-store - has thoroughly morphed into pay-for-powers, which I do not support. Had they not made the assurances that they later broke, I would not have felt comfortable investing in a LTS.
    Like you, I don't personally agree with some of the items in the C-Store, such as the temp skill point boosts and such. There are certainly some ships that are a ton of fun to play, like the Prometheus or the Gurumba Siege Destroyer; there are some cool bridge officers in the C-Store too; but I don't personally believe these are "game changers". I can get some cool bridge officers and ships in the game, through regular content, Featured Episodes, or with Merits.

    But in my completely honest opinion, and not to be overly callous, taking anything a developer says at face value or as a solemn oath is unwise. At the end of the day, the people who make many of the decisions about free content or paid content are the Marketing and Accounting people. Devs always have the best intentions, and people like dstahl or CapnLogan would give players the universe if they could, but funding and making money will always curtail their aspirations to create or to give players anything at face value; Marketing will always cut them off at the pass in order to (attempt to) get more money out of the players. It was as true in EQ (boxed expansions), DAoC (boxed expansions), and pre-F2P CoH (boxed expansions / costume packs) as it is here.

    I've been in MMOs for years, and I've seen a lot of "promises*" and statements from devs that, in the end, don't amount to much. Perhaps I've just become callous or a pessimist in my older years, but I don't believe in anything that anyone says (in an MMO) until it's being tested on Tribble or sitting in the C-Store. Anyone who does otherwise is just setting themselves up for disappointment.

    (* Devs never make promises implicitly)

    That being said, if I can find the right image, I might change my forum avatar to something sarcastically comical, since I think the new launcher button is unnecessary and comically oversized ;)

    Edit: There it is! Thanks AmIdoinitright :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2011
    Obsidius wrote: »
    (* Devs never make promises implicitly)

    http://forums.startrekonline.com/showpost.php?p=641413&postcount=1

    Now tell me how any of that is "implicit".

    That's also not an STO dev. That's the CEO.
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