We have not made any changes to make ships unlock per character. All ships should still unlock account wide.
Stephen D'Angelo
Executive Producer
Star Trek Online
No, but you did increase the price of the Tier 5 retrofits from 1200CP to 1600CP and nearly doubled the cost of the retrain token and some other consumables.
It's nice that the price of the Rhode Island and some other unlocks were cut in half, but tacking that 400CP on to the retrofits was kind of a tacky thing to do.
One of the core problems you're facing right now with your item store is that you don't have enough cheap consumable unlocks. As a long-time Turbine player, I can tell you that the items I spend the most money on are cosmetics (costumes/uniforms), accelerators (for deeds and sometimes XP/item xp), and consumable potions.
You're going to need items like that to make an item store work.
Oh, that's easy, they lied again, and crypticspeak for "we don't have any plans to change that" means exactly the opposite to anyone that has been playing since release. I swear, they don't even know what the truth actually is anymore.
Oh, that's easy, they lied again, and crypticspeak for "we don't have any plans to change that" means exactly the opposite to anyone that has been playing since release. I swear, they don't even know what the truth actually is anymore.
It says currently. It doesn't say the won't. It doesn't say they won't try test marketing them at higher price points. It just says that they didn't, as of the FAQ's creation, have any plans.
You're missing one important point: The experience you are having on Tribble right now is the experience they are planning for GOLD players, subscribers who are already paying $15/month. Also, one of the main complaints right now is that you need to grind to get a ship, while previously you were given a ship for free on rank-up. This is a significant change, especially when coupled with the much more limited Dilithium resource needed to buy all ships.
In all fairness, I didn't "miss" that point, in fact I covered it quite extensively in the rest of my post... Y'know, the stuff you didn't quote. The stuff you quoted wasn't meant to be read in isolation, it was meant to be read with the rest of my post...
I'm not sure why you mention dilithium here though. I agree, it's a major issue for most people, and I, like you, would much rather it be changed to the current Holodeck system of ship purchase... but that's not what we're really talking about here. We're discussing the C-Store.
It says currently. It doesn't say the won't. It doesn't say they won't try test marketing them at higher price points. It just says that they didn't, as of the FAQ's creation, have any plans.
I'm inclined to agree; the language used was very specific to imply that things could very well change. The increased prices were hardly out of the blue or completely unexpected.
No, but you did increase the price of the Tier 5 retrofits from 1200CP to 1600CP and nearly doubled the cost of the retrain token and some other consumables.
It's nice that the price of the Rhode Island and some other unlocks were cut in half, but tacking that 400CP on to the retrofits was kind of a tacky thing to do.
One of the core problems you're facing right now with your item store is that you don't have enough cheap consumable unlocks. As a long-time Turbine player, I can tell you that the items I spend the most money on are cosmetics (costumes/uniforms), accelerators (for deeds and sometimes XP/item xp), and consumable potions.
You're going to need items like that to make an item store work.
I also agree quite vehemently, Turbine store consumables are typically cheap in comparison to the other stuff in their stores. I think it's quite unfair to expect people to pay huge sums of points for something they'll use once and will provide only a few hours of benefits - if even. Granted, the exp boost in the only thing that's really "consumable" in the C-Store, but something tells me that the pattern will be followed should more consumables be added.
seriously they are going free to play which means the c store will be there only source of income did you really think the prices would not go up???
why do most of the folks on here act like they live in a bubble and no dont show me a link where they said things would not go up......im not really caring things change in life get over it or just dont buy it omg
not all ships are unlocked mine still need cpoints to buy....i have a the excel on the holo deck and i dont have it on the tribble... how long untill thats fixed
not all ships are unlocked mine still need cpoints to buy....i have a the excel on the holo deck and i dont have it on the tribble... how long untill thats fixed
It probably won't be fixed, considering that I doubt that it's actually a "Bug" to begin with.
EDIT: Following is a paragraph taken from the above mentioned dev diary that more precisely addresses the issue.
First, Tribble is a special case test environment like nothing we've done before. Nothing you have unlocked on Holodeck will appear as unlocked on Tribble. Tribble is a completely closed environment. We are isolating this environment so we can see how the game looks to players who are not arriving with 20 months of purchases behind them, and to see how the game holds up.
seriously they are going free to play which means the c store will be there only source of income did you really think the prices would not go up???
why do most of the folks on here act like they live in a bubble and no dont show me a link where they said things would not go up......im not really caring things change in life get over it or just dont buy it omg
There was a post by dStahl a while back that stated the prices would not go.
Interesting to note that he bounced right before F2P, most likely because he did not want to bow to his new masters.
seriously they are going free to play which means the c store will be there only source of income did you really think the prices would not go up???
why do most of the folks on here act like they live in a bubble and no dont show me a link where they said things would not go up......im not really caring things change in life get over it or just dont buy it omg
We wouldn't have said much if they *didn't* say that prices WOULD NOT go up.
Who, I wonder, is living in a bubble? HINT: It ain't me.
We wouldn't have said much if they *didn't* say that prices WOULD NOT go up.
Who, I wonder, is living in a bubble? HINT: It ain't me.
Well now that's just the thing, isn't it? They didn't say that prices wouldn't be going up, they said there were no plans for them to do so. It may well be the lawyer in me talking, but that statement quite clearly states that we shouldn't be under the illusion that everything will absolutely stay the same.
Furthermore, I'm highly inclined to agree with Sisko - if you thought that the game going FREE to play meant that Cryptic wouldn't have to derive some income from somewhere else, and that the only place else that they could derive income from was the C-Store, then the bubble analogy seems quite accurate.
I'm by no means a Cryptic fan-boy, and have done more than my fair share of complaining in-game and, to some extent, here on the forums, but I can't see anything worth complaining about here... Unless of course you're simply a malcontent. HINT: It ain't me.
There was a post by dStahl a while back that stated the prices would not go.
Interesting to note that he bounced right before F2P, most likely because he did not want to bow to his new masters.
Wish others would have the same gumption.
The statement wasn't 'we promise we won't" is was "currently no plans to"...
And I really, really doubt he left for the reasons you've stated, heh.
It's pretty common practice when a company takes over another you get rid of the former man in charge, especially if that company is foundering even a little, and put your own in place.
Been there, done that...
Well now that's just the thing, isn't it? They didn't say that prices wouldn't be going up, they said there were no plans for them to do so. It may well be the lawyer in me talking, but that statement quite clearly states that we shouldn't be under the illusion that everything will absolutely stay the same.
Furthermore, I'm highly inclined to agree with Sisko - if you thought that the game going FREE to play meant that Cryptic wouldn't have to derive some income from somewhere else, and that the only place else that they could derive income from was the C-Store, then the bubble analogy seems quite accurate.
I'm by no means a Cryptic fan-boy, and have done more than my fair share of complaining in-game and, to some extent, here on the forums, but I can't see anything worth complaining about here... Unless of course you're simply a malcontent. HINT: It ain't me.
Supposition much?
It's not unreasonable to expect that when they say something, even if a maybe, that they actually stick to their word. And you wonder why I'm not content?
Well now that's just the thing, isn't it? They didn't say that prices wouldn't be going up, they said there were no plans for them to do so. It may well be the lawyer in me talking, but that statement quite clearly states that we shouldn't be under the illusion that everything will absolutely stay the same.
Furthermore, I'm highly inclined to agree with Sisko - if you thought that the game going FREE to play meant that Cryptic wouldn't have to derive some income from somewhere else, and that the only place else that they could derive income from was the C-Store, then the bubble analogy seems quite accurate.
I'm by no means a Cryptic fan-boy, and have done more than my fair share of complaining in-game and, to some extent, here on the forums, but I can't see anything worth complaining about here... Unless of course you're simply a malcontent. HINT: It ain't me.
Supposition much?
It's not unreasonable to expect that when they say something, even if a maybe, that they actually stick to their word or explain in detail why they are doing the opposite. And you wonder why I'm not content? Really?
EDIT: There are also no plans to wipe our toons on Holodeck. Do you also think it unreasonable to be mad if they *did* wipe them?
I think the more pressing concern on most of our minds is the 33% increase on nearly every item in the C-store when we were previously promised either no change or reduced prices. Ships were previously over priced, now they are ridiculously over priced. Previously EC ships (Excelsior at T3) are now C-store ships. This is what we want addressed on top of the Test Points being removed.
I'm really concerned with the prices of ships going up FURTHER along with the recent trend to include special ability consoles with them. Mainly because, some of these consoles are causing balancing issues in PVP, (the antimatter spread console in particular) and there are calls for the elimination or change to that console.
( http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=233729 )
Now I'm not debating whether the asked for change is warranted or not, cause I happen to see the PVP communities concerns.
BUT -
If I buy a ship, with a said console/special ability, I don't want that console changed into something useless, AFTER you have my money .
I've even read some concerns voiced over the DOFF system changing the balance of PVP already.
I also have an issue with the quality of some of these ship models. The most recent ships have been great. BUT the Intrepid retrofit ship, I purchased from the C store a while ago, could use some major improvement quality wise STILL. Especially on the underside of the saucer, which is completely wrong, has missing running lights and is in serious need of some smoothing.
This has to be improved if you want top dollar for these ships.
I don't feel the quality on that particular model, justifies an increase, sorry. I understand that CaptnLogan's very busy, but if you're considering increasing the price on this model that's had addressable quality issues, for over a year now, that's not giving players value for their hard earned money.
( http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=163481 )
If this is the way the game's headed, fine, but these issues should be addressed.
I don't mean this as a negative attack. I'm a very good C store customer providing personal feedback on a few concerns I have with some of your products.
btw. i'd like to know when we get the 2nd stipend, so i can finally get my hands on a Tier 5 ship...
my VA1 is sitting in a Galaxy and isn't able to get a Tier 5 at all right now ;P
not that i would really care, i got my Holodeck goodies secured already ;P
Here's a question: Why are we required to use points on a Test server at all? Champions Online's test server has everything from the C-Store for free.
So does Redshirt here. They are pretty much testing how popular the new CStore pricing is. I' fell victim to wanting Duty Officers... not expensive for the amount you get, though.
So does Redshirt here. They are pretty much testing how popular the new CStore pricing is. I' fell victim to wanting Duty Officers... not expensive for the amount you get, though.
You can get the same reward for doing one of the Tier 0 Duty Officer assignments.
Unless they change the Duty Officers in the pack or the assignment, it's not worth the cryptic points.
Furthermore, I'm highly inclined to agree with Sisko - if you thought that the game going FREE to play meant that Cryptic wouldn't have to derive some income from somewhere else, and that the only place else that they could derive income from was the C-Store, then the bubble analogy seems quite accurate.
If you've actually been playing on Tribble during this beta, then you would realize that STO will be anything but free.
Technically possible? Yes.
If you're willing grind multiple ranks without replacing your ship
If you're willing to forego any new ships after T4 (T5s are not available for dilithium at all)
*If you're willing to largely forego rare very-rare equipment
And it's important to note that all of the above applies to Gold subscribers just as much as silvers. Take a look at the new C-Store pricing, and you'll realize how insignificant that stipend really is (you'll be waiting 4 months of stipend for your T5).
For most of us, this doesn't matter so much, since we're already VAs and have our ships and equipment. But it's not the experience that any of us enjoyed during level-up. We should be asking ourselves if we would recommend the new game to friends that we care about, and putting the "Free"-tinted-glasses away when we do that. Are you comfortable encouraging a friend to join and play (and maybe subscribe) when you know that they'll be expected to out-of-pocket at ship-promotion-time, when you never had to experience this yourself? Are you ok with watching them get nickel-and-dimed when those nickels and dimes are $10 and $20-dollar bills? Will you tell them that they're paying about 33-40% more than you did for what they end up buying?
* Asterisking this for now, as SDangelo has said that the crafting system currently on Tribble has been accidentally bugged... no word on what the "additional cost" that he mentioned is for even-levelled equipment.
That's pretty cynical, even for me. Though given the prices of the ships, it's highly probable.
Not being cynical, just being realistic. Most people that I know used the first stipend of T-points to buy Doff packs. With the odd 1 or 3 buying ships because Cryptic fubar'd the Fed side leveling.
So it only stands to reason that Cryptic will increase the prices on those items that sold well (ergo Doff Packs), and reduce prices (possibly) on those that didn't.
Whilst it's almost Ferengi like in practice, it really does shaft the consumer no end. Especially when the Gold/LTS stipend is 400 points and the Doff packs are 220 each.. Hence why I'd like to see a gold/LTS C-Store discount introduced when F2P happens.. but I'm not holding my breath.
I just wish Cryptic could take a leaf out of Turbine's F2P model. If you sub (or LTS), then you get some decent perks over silver, and they actually regularly reduce prices (and I mean weekly, not once in a blue moon), a variety of items in their online store.
Instead we have very little if any advantage to sub/LTS, and most prices going UP in the C-Store, not down.
I'm really concerned with the prices of ships going up FURTHER along with the recent trend to include special ability consoles with them. Mainly because, some of these consoles are causing balancing issues in PVP, (the antimatter spread console in particular) and there are calls for the elimination or change to that console.
( http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=233729 )
Now I'm not debating whether the asked for change is warranted or not, cause I happen to see the PVP communities concerns.
BUT -
If I buy a ship, with a said console/special ability, I don't want that console changed into something useless, AFTER you have my money .
I've even read some concerns voiced over the DOFF system changing the balance of PVP already.
I also have an issue with the quality of some of these ship models. The most recent ships have been great. BUT the Intrepid retrofit ship, I purchased from the C store a while ago, could use some major improvement quality wise STILL. Especially on the underside of the saucer, which is completely wrong, has missing running lights and is in serious need of some smoothing.
This has to be improved if you want top dollar for these ships.
I don't feel the quality on that particular model, justifies an increase, sorry. I understand that CaptnLogan's very busy, but if you're considering increasing the price on this model that's had addressable quality issues, for over a year now, that's not giving players value for their hard earned money.
( http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=163481 )
If this is the way the game's headed, fine, but these issues should be addressed.
I don't mean this as a negative attack. I'm a very good C store customer providing personal feedback on a few concerns I have with some of your products.
+1 to this post, in its entirety. I am very unhappy with the state of the Intrepid class (I actually purchased this from the C-Store during that 50% sale). I'm hoping we don't have to wait for a reskin of it like the Venture and Sao Paolo - guessing this one will be Bellerophon class - to get this addressed.
I have declined to spend any of my "free" points. Not because I don't want things but because I don't wish to encourage the overreliance on the cstore for everything imaginable. This whole conversion is taking a turn that concerns me tremendously and I feel that any negative feedback is dismissed out of hand by claims that the silent majority has the last word.
We subscribers are paying for this conversion to the F2P system and we should be listened to quite a lot more than we are now. The "free" 400cp is a pittance with the increases coming in the CStore, even without the price increase, the stipend would be a bit of a joke.
I wouldn't even mind the pittance quite so much if I felt that we were being listened too, this is our game as well as Cryptics, probably moreso since we play it far more frequently and we paid to play.
If you've actually been playing on Tribble during this beta, then you would realize that STO will be anything but free.
Technically possible? Yes.
If you're willing grind multiple ranks without replacing your ship
If you're willing to forego any new ships after T4 (T5s are not available for dilithium at all)
*If you're willing to largely forego rare very-rare equipment
And it's important to note that all of the above applies to Gold subscribers just as much as silvers. Take a look at the new C-Store pricing, and you'll realize how insignificant that stipend really is (you'll be waiting 4 months of stipend for your T5).
For most of us, this doesn't matter so much, since we're already VAs and have our ships and equipment. But it's not the experience that any of us enjoyed during level-up. We should be asking ourselves if we would recommend the new game to friends that we care about, and putting the "Free"-tinted-glasses away when we do that. Are you comfortable encouraging a friend to join and play (and maybe subscribe) when you know that they'll be expected to out-of-pocket at ship-promotion-time, when you never had to experience this yourself? Are you ok with watching them get nickel-and-dimed when those nickels and dimes are $10 and $20-dollar bills? Will you tell them that they're paying about 33-40% more than you did for what they end up buying?
* Asterisking this for now, as SDangelo has said that the crafting system currently on Tribble has been accidentally bugged... no word on what the "additional cost" that he mentioned is for even-levelled equipment.
I'm not going to defend the increase in price in the T5 ships. But, did you even look at the prices of the lower classed ships? T1 variants are only 240. Down from 800. Before the change, a gold would have to wait for 'two months of stipend' to get a T1 ship. Now, you can almost buy two for one month's worth. The T2 seems to have come down as well (IIRC).
Nothing that I've read has said that the T5 prices are 'set in stone' yet. Will they change? who knows. But this is the *first* week of testing with the C-store, so yeah, making our voices heard that we think the prices are too high is fine. Acting as if this is now live is just jumping the gun a little bit.
I'm not going to defend the increase in price in the T5 ships. But, did you even look at the prices of the lower classed ships? T1 variants are only 240. Down from 800. Before the change, a gold would have to wait for 'two months of stipend' to get a T1 ship. Now, you can almost buy two for one month's worth. The T2 seems to have come down as well (IIRC).
Nothing that I've read has said that the T5 prices are 'set in stone' yet. Will they change? who knows. But this is the *first* week of testing with the C-store, so yeah, making our voices heard that we think the prices are too high is fine. Acting as if this is now live is just jumping the gun a little bit.
The MVAM version of the Advanced Escort was bumped up to 2000 C-Store points. That's two months of stipend points added onto its perceived value. In addition to this, all costumes, bridges, etc. have jumped by 33% as well.
Dropping the Rhode Island by little bit is a very thin lining on a very bleak cloud.
Comments
No, but you did increase the price of the Tier 5 retrofits from 1200CP to 1600CP and nearly doubled the cost of the retrain token and some other consumables.
It's nice that the price of the Rhode Island and some other unlocks were cut in half, but tacking that 400CP on to the retrofits was kind of a tacky thing to do.
One of the core problems you're facing right now with your item store is that you don't have enough cheap consumable unlocks. As a long-time Turbine player, I can tell you that the items I spend the most money on are cosmetics (costumes/uniforms), accelerators (for deeds and sometimes XP/item xp), and consumable potions.
You're going to need items like that to make an item store work.
Oh, that's easy, they lied again, and crypticspeak for "we don't have any plans to change that" means exactly the opposite to anyone that has been playing since release. I swear, they don't even know what the truth actually is anymore.
It says currently. It doesn't say the won't. It doesn't say they won't try test marketing them at higher price points. It just says that they didn't, as of the FAQ's creation, have any plans.
In all fairness, I didn't "miss" that point, in fact I covered it quite extensively in the rest of my post... Y'know, the stuff you didn't quote. The stuff you quoted wasn't meant to be read in isolation, it was meant to be read with the rest of my post...
I'm not sure why you mention dilithium here though. I agree, it's a major issue for most people, and I, like you, would much rather it be changed to the current Holodeck system of ship purchase... but that's not what we're really talking about here. We're discussing the C-Store.
I'm inclined to agree; the language used was very specific to imply that things could very well change. The increased prices were hardly out of the blue or completely unexpected.
I also agree quite vehemently, Turbine store consumables are typically cheap in comparison to the other stuff in their stores. I think it's quite unfair to expect people to pay huge sums of points for something they'll use once and will provide only a few hours of benefits - if even. Granted, the exp boost in the only thing that's really "consumable" in the C-Store, but something tells me that the pattern will be followed should more consumables be added.
seriously they are going free to play which means the c store will be there only source of income did you really think the prices would not go up???
why do most of the folks on here act like they live in a bubble and no dont show me a link where they said things would not go up......im not really caring things change in life get over it or just dont buy it omg
I quote from the 5th dev diary when I say "we want to find out what C-Store items you value most". It would be hard for them to do that if you already have all of the C-Store purchases in the first place.
EDIT: Following is a paragraph taken from the above mentioned dev diary that more precisely addresses the issue.
My! How convenient! Too bad for them they put in writing that prices would not go up.
There was a post by dStahl a while back that stated the prices would not go.
Interesting to note that he bounced right before F2P, most likely because he did not want to bow to his new masters.
Wish others would have the same gumption.
We wouldn't have said much if they *didn't* say that prices WOULD NOT go up.
Who, I wonder, is living in a bubble? HINT: It ain't me.
Furthermore, I'm highly inclined to agree with Sisko - if you thought that the game going FREE to play meant that Cryptic wouldn't have to derive some income from somewhere else, and that the only place else that they could derive income from was the C-Store, then the bubble analogy seems quite accurate.
I'm by no means a Cryptic fan-boy, and have done more than my fair share of complaining in-game and, to some extent, here on the forums, but I can't see anything worth complaining about here... Unless of course you're simply a malcontent. HINT: It ain't me.
Supposition much?
The statement wasn't 'we promise we won't" is was "currently no plans to"...
And I really, really doubt he left for the reasons you've stated, heh.
It's pretty common practice when a company takes over another you get rid of the former man in charge, especially if that company is foundering even a little, and put your own in place.
Been there, done that...
It's not unreasonable to expect that when they say something, even if a maybe, that they actually stick to their word. And you wonder why I'm not content?
It's not unreasonable to expect that when they say something, even if a maybe, that they actually stick to their word or explain in detail why they are doing the opposite. And you wonder why I'm not content? Really?
EDIT: There are also no plans to wipe our toons on Holodeck. Do you also think it unreasonable to be mad if they *did* wipe them?
I'm really concerned with the prices of ships going up FURTHER along with the recent trend to include special ability consoles with them. Mainly because, some of these consoles are causing balancing issues in PVP, (the antimatter spread console in particular) and there are calls for the elimination or change to that console.
( http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=233729 )
Now I'm not debating whether the asked for change is warranted or not, cause I happen to see the PVP communities concerns.
BUT -
If I buy a ship, with a said console/special ability, I don't want that console changed into something useless, AFTER you have my money .
I've even read some concerns voiced over the DOFF system changing the balance of PVP already.
I also have an issue with the quality of some of these ship models. The most recent ships have been great. BUT the Intrepid retrofit ship, I purchased from the C store a while ago, could use some major improvement quality wise STILL. Especially on the underside of the saucer, which is completely wrong, has missing running lights and is in serious need of some smoothing.
This has to be improved if you want top dollar for these ships.
I don't feel the quality on that particular model, justifies an increase, sorry. I understand that CaptnLogan's very busy, but if you're considering increasing the price on this model that's had addressable quality issues, for over a year now, that's not giving players value for their hard earned money.
( http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=163481 )
If this is the way the game's headed, fine, but these issues should be addressed.
I don't mean this as a negative attack. I'm a very good C store customer providing personal feedback on a few concerns I have with some of your products.
my VA1 is sitting in a Galaxy and isn't able to get a Tier 5 at all right now ;P
not that i would really care, i got my Holodeck goodies secured already ;P
So does Redshirt here. They are pretty much testing how popular the new CStore pricing is. I' fell victim to wanting Duty Officers... not expensive for the amount you get, though.
You can get the same reward for doing one of the Tier 0 Duty Officer assignments.
Unless they change the Duty Officers in the pack or the assignment, it's not worth the cryptic points.
At the moment, they're not expensive.. I'll lay a bet that Doff Packs will be more expensive when F2P goes live.
That's pretty cynical, even for me. Though given the prices of the ships, it's highly probable.
TBH, I don't know what would qualify in getting you more Doffs.
*waves good bye to STO*
If you've actually been playing on Tribble during this beta, then you would realize that STO will be anything but free.
Technically possible? Yes.
If you're willing grind multiple ranks without replacing your ship
If you're willing to forego any new ships after T4 (T5s are not available for dilithium at all)
*If you're willing to largely forego rare very-rare equipment
And it's important to note that all of the above applies to Gold subscribers just as much as silvers. Take a look at the new C-Store pricing, and you'll realize how insignificant that stipend really is (you'll be waiting 4 months of stipend for your T5).
For most of us, this doesn't matter so much, since we're already VAs and have our ships and equipment. But it's not the experience that any of us enjoyed during level-up. We should be asking ourselves if we would recommend the new game to friends that we care about, and putting the "Free"-tinted-glasses away when we do that. Are you comfortable encouraging a friend to join and play (and maybe subscribe) when you know that they'll be expected to out-of-pocket at ship-promotion-time, when you never had to experience this yourself? Are you ok with watching them get nickel-and-dimed when those nickels and dimes are $10 and $20-dollar bills? Will you tell them that they're paying about 33-40% more than you did for what they end up buying?
* Asterisking this for now, as SDangelo has said that the crafting system currently on Tribble has been accidentally bugged... no word on what the "additional cost" that he mentioned is for even-levelled equipment.
Not being cynical, just being realistic. Most people that I know used the first stipend of T-points to buy Doff packs. With the odd 1 or 3 buying ships because Cryptic fubar'd the Fed side leveling.
So it only stands to reason that Cryptic will increase the prices on those items that sold well (ergo Doff Packs), and reduce prices (possibly) on those that didn't.
Whilst it's almost Ferengi like in practice, it really does shaft the consumer no end. Especially when the Gold/LTS stipend is 400 points and the Doff packs are 220 each.. Hence why I'd like to see a gold/LTS C-Store discount introduced when F2P happens.. but I'm not holding my breath.
I just wish Cryptic could take a leaf out of Turbine's F2P model. If you sub (or LTS), then you get some decent perks over silver, and they actually regularly reduce prices (and I mean weekly, not once in a blue moon), a variety of items in their online store.
Instead we have very little if any advantage to sub/LTS, and most prices going UP in the C-Store, not down.
+1 to this post, in its entirety. I am very unhappy with the state of the Intrepid class (I actually purchased this from the C-Store during that 50% sale). I'm hoping we don't have to wait for a reskin of it like the Venture and Sao Paolo - guessing this one will be Bellerophon class - to get this addressed.
We subscribers are paying for this conversion to the F2P system and we should be listened to quite a lot more than we are now. The "free" 400cp is a pittance with the increases coming in the CStore, even without the price increase, the stipend would be a bit of a joke.
I wouldn't even mind the pittance quite so much if I felt that we were being listened too, this is our game as well as Cryptics, probably moreso since we play it far more frequently and we paid to play.
I'm not going to defend the increase in price in the T5 ships. But, did you even look at the prices of the lower classed ships? T1 variants are only 240. Down from 800. Before the change, a gold would have to wait for 'two months of stipend' to get a T1 ship. Now, you can almost buy two for one month's worth. The T2 seems to have come down as well (IIRC).
Nothing that I've read has said that the T5 prices are 'set in stone' yet. Will they change? who knows. But this is the *first* week of testing with the C-store, so yeah, making our voices heard that we think the prices are too high is fine. Acting as if this is now live is just jumping the gun a little bit.
The MVAM version of the Advanced Escort was bumped up to 2000 C-Store points. That's two months of stipend points added onto its perceived value. In addition to this, all costumes, bridges, etc. have jumped by 33% as well.
Dropping the Rhode Island by little bit is a very thin lining on a very bleak cloud.