I knew I was quoting you . . . . obviously you know what YOU said. I might be exhausted, but I would hope that I would not make a mistake like that . . . .
I was providing my two preferred options to the rest of the rabble in here (and trying to cite my source)
The first part was supposed to be considered separate from the 2nd . . .but I guess that was not clear. Allow me to adjust/edit it for clarity.
addendum - The first thing I thought of when you called me "sweetie" was Dr. River Song. +10 Nerd score if you know who that is.
Phil, sweety, you may want to look again at who you're quoting and what you tell them.
You're quoting me and telling me about my idea and linking me my idea..
It's very funny.
ROFLOLZ!
I like your idea, its very well thought out.
Crafting should be more complex, and not complex in the 'jump through this hoop, grind this item, wait 2 days: voila' kind of way, it should be more complex in what it takes to make the item, and some video game skill to add rarity or scarcity.
If I had to use nanobots to build something, and I had to direct them, using an interface, it would be a video game inside a video game. It could be difficult to get a high 'score' and your 'score' would regulate the rarity / power of the device.
Instead of tedious, I say make it fun.
They started something so cool when they did the anomaly waveform analyzer thing, and then they stopped there.
Crafting should take some video game skills and effort. Like the claw toy machine at walmart, it should take skill to get the good stuff, not lame time modifiers or more tedium.
This is certainly one position people could take on this matter. However, absolutist rhetoric rarely advances discussion. If you truly feel that there should be ZERO dilithium in the crafting system, at all, ever, then you are beholden to explain WHY. Many other have done so already. It does no harm to reiterate those points and, perhaps, reconsider them.
Cryptic even provided the first discussion point - they want to slow down crafting. If this is a reasonable goal, then why not help them by coming up with other ways (besides dilithium) to achieve it?
If they then admit that they would like/need crafting to be a source of revenue (as many here suspect ), then why not help them come to a compromise solution? (e.g. only silver players pay dilithium for crafting).
If your position is so inflexible that you cannot even consider discussion, then perhaps you should reevaluate your thought processes.
Sorry all, haven't been around for a while - I tested Tribble F2P then walked - need I say more?
So anyway I've missed a lot, and I have to ask - has anybody at Cryptic or PW ever watched Star Trek?
What is this using dilithium in crafting NONSENSE?
Are you charlatan money-grabbers so un-Trek-savvy that you're unaware the primary construction material used in Star Trek (Federation, at any rate) is frickin' tritanium? Dilithium is used inside warp core intermix chambers - nowhere else.
Good grief.
Edit: Oh, I see there's already 70 pages of similar thoughts hahaha :rolleyes: I just heard about the "infamous dev blog #14" thread and had to find out what the crack is..
This is certainly one position people could take on this matter. However, absolutist rhetoric rarely advances discussion. If you truly feel that there should be ZERO dilithium in the crafting system, at all, ever, then you are beholden to explain WHY. Many other have done so already. It does no harm to reiterate those points and, perhaps, reconsider them.
Cryptic even provided the first discussion point - they want to slow down crafting. If this is a reasonable goal, then why not help them by coming up with other ways (besides dilithium) to achieve it?
If they then admit that they would like/need crafting to be a source of revenue (as many here suspect ), then why not help them come to a compromise solution? (e.g. only silver players pay dilithium for crafting).
If your position is so inflexible that you cannot even consider discussion, then perhaps you should reevaluate your thought processes.
It's difficult to have a discussion when you feel like you're the only one present.
The most offensive part about Dilithium being shoehorned into crafting is that it feels like you're subscribing so that someone can take something that is already "yours" (we are aware that it isn't really y), sticking another price tag on it and then trying to sell it to you again. If you want new money create new content.
The idea that would have likely made everyone happy would have been to leave the current system in place and add a feature that allows silvers, for a Dilithium fee, to create more customized equipment and golds to do the same for a minimal Dilithium fee. Allowing to specify something like a particular mix of bonuses and, most importantly, appearance might actually make people *want* to give you their money.
You know what doesn't make me feel like giving them anymore money? Premium prices charged to even Gold subs at the gaming equivalent of a yardsale.
And then having the person who dropped the bomb disappear into the woodwork and refuse to even acknowledge that they're aware of our existence.
It's difficult to have a discussion when you feel like you're the only one present.
The most offensive part about Dilithium being shoehorned into crafting is that it feels like you're subscribing so that someone can take something that is already "yours" (we are aware that it isn't really y), sticking another price tag on it and then trying to sell it to you again. If you want new money create new content.
The idea that would have likely made everyone happy would have been to leave the current system in place and add a feature that allows silvers, for a Dilithium fee, to create more customized equipment and golds to do the same for a minimal Dilithium fee. Allowing to specify something like a particular mix of bonuses and, most importantly, appearance might actually make people *want* to give you their money.
You know what doesn't make me feel like giving them anymore money? Premium prices charged to even Gold subs at a gaming gaming equivalent of a yardsale.
And then having the person who dropped the bomb disappear into the woodwork and refuse to even acknowledge that they're aware of our existence.
Agreed. The silence is truly deafening, and, IMO, an unwise move from the get-go. If these ideas had been run by us initially, they could have saved a lot of time and grief having to recode everything because they were too arrogant to not believe they *actually* needed to treat their paying customers with respect.
EDIT: This is proven correct because Fark, Zero, Heretic, Gozer, and Geko have all spoken to us. They earned our kudos. It's just upper managerment that seems to be in the dark about how to earn our respect and trust.
Cryptic even provided the first discussion point...
No they did not.
A discussion involves back-and-forth communication. Cryptic have said nothing to us. StormShade, the community rep, made a suggestion on a podcast. It's difficult for that not to come off like they're discussing these things behind our backs as opposed to with us. The fact of the matter is we shouldn't have to hunt down podcasts to get "their take". When it comes to this whole F2P fiasco communication on Crypic's part has been a complete and total joke.
They need to cut the garbage and just go ahead and create a lengthy post that explains exactly what the Hell it is that they're trying to accomplish across the board (and no sugar coated marketing double-speak), as it sure as Hell isn't to follow the path of Champions Online (which Dstahl was oh so sure they would with STO). The need to spell out all the changes they have planned, all the "fixes" they have planned for our concerns, and exactly how far and on what they are willing to budge from this scheme of theirs. Without this it's all just meaningless. All of our feedback is just baying at the moon when we're being, apparently intentionally, kept almost entirely in the dark.
I mean, look around, there's been any number of posts explaining why people don't want this. Where is the response? Where is Cryptic explaining to us how the issues we see will be subverted or rectified? It's been over a week and this thread and the controversy are basically being ignored.
I mean, look around, there's been any number of posts explaining why people don't want this. Where is the response? Where is Cryptic explaining to us how the issues we see will be subverted or rectified? It's been over a week and this thread and the controversy are basically being ignored.
Well, 4 things can be going on.
1. They don't want to answer (can't blame them, we're a pretty angry/frustrated bunch right now, and they might be waiting for the fire to die down a bit)
2. PW won't let them answer
3. They don't know what to answer.
4. They all quit and poor StormShade is all there is left.
I think option 3 is the likeliest answer--there are lots of ways to address this big problem (as seen by the multiple solutions in this thread alone, not to mention the others), and they just might be discussing what will be the best solution.
I just heard about the "infamous dev blog #14" thread
Old 14 may go down in history as the beginning of the end if things get worse from here.
I called it too.
I don't remember where, but in an earlier path to F2P they mentioned they'd be discussing crafting changes soon.
I then posted that they'd find a way to charge dil for crafting, time gate crafting, or both.
But that any way you sliced it they'd mess it up.
Old 14 may go down in history as the beginning of the end if things get worse from here.
I called it too.
I don't remember where, but in an earlier path to F2P they mentioned they'd be discussing crafting changes soon.
I then posted that they'd find a way to charge dil for crafting, time gate crafting, or both.
But that any way you sliced it they'd mess it up.
Sometimes I LOATHE being right.
Careful... Folks will start Loathing you..., for being right... <chuckle>
<side note>
Kinda funny that BLOG #15 has about 4900 hits...
And this one is almost up to 29,000...
You'd think that, in-and-of-itself would bring on an Official Answer...
A discussion involves back-and-forth communication. Cryptic have said nothing to us. StormShade, the community rep, made a suggestion on a podcast. It's difficult for that not to come off like they're discussing these things behind our backs as opposed to with us. The fact of the matter is we shouldn't have to hunt down podcasts to get "their take". When it comes to this whole F2P fiasco communication on Crypic's part has been a complete and total joke.
They need to cut the garbage and just go ahead and create a lengthy post that explains exactly what the Hell it is that they're trying to accomplish across the board (and no sugar coated marketing double-speak), as it sure as Hell isn't to follow the path of Champions Online (which Dstahl was oh so sure they would with STO). The need to spell out all the changes they have planned, all the "fixes" they have planned for our concerns, and exactly how far and on what they are willing to budge from this scheme of theirs. Without this it's all just meaningless. All of our feedback is just baying at the moon when we're being, apparently intentionally, kept almost entirely in the dark.
I mean, look around, there's been any number of posts explaining why people don't want this. Where is the response? Where is Cryptic explaining to us how the issues we see will be subverted or rectified? It's been over a week and this thread and the controversy are basically being ignored.
While I would argue that regardless of the source, the information does provide a place to start. . . that is beside the point.
You (and Erxiander and Zanshi) are all correct.
They should have come in here and posted a long an involved response. Either here or on the front page. Somewhere obvious and public. Every day that they avoid the topic (or dance around it in interviews) makes it worse.
I am, quite frankly, disappointed that an organized response has not arrived yet. I had hopes, but I don't know exactly what is happening over at Cryptic. For all I know everyone's been fired and the devs & mods we think we've been talking to are bots.
I suppose there is little else to do but:
Continue to post suggestions/alternatives
Letter writing to the people on top (CBS)
Get new people who have not voiced their opinion to do so here
Continue to prod for an organized response
Vote with your wallets
Well there seems to be a common theme here with many of the changes that are going to take place. The common theme is that us players hate most of them. The doff system is great so I can give you that but to be honest I am taking a long hiatus from this game simply because of all the ridiculous things going on. First off I dont have a HUGE issue with the dilithium conversion rate but now that you are adding it to crafting I must say i think this is one of the worst ideas I think you can have. I see a lot of people with math equations, calculating this and calculating that but here is one equation people aren't really talking about:
Greed + Ignoring player base = failure of your game and loss of 50 million dollars
In any good business model you need to put people first, your employees and customers. I love STO but I am not wasting my time playing it if its going to turn into the cryptic perfect world gauge the customerfest because right now if it does in the next 6 months from now I will be playing the new star wars MMO.....sorry but I refuse to waste hours and hours grinding for emblems and such just to be able to crafy a high end phaser array? Ridiculous....crafting is what brings fleets together, it also creates a community among players. If you take that away you destroy your community. Sorry but it is what it is and this is a good reason why I am not supporting or even playing the game until i see what changes actually take place. I can spend time doling other things than waste my time here if all you guys are going to do is try to nickel and dime everyone to death.
I understand PW paid 50 million for the company but....if they want to see their money then they need to listen to their players....simple as that. If you dont you will destroy your community and the game will die therefore inventment dead, devs without jobs......well you get the point. There isnt one person on here that likes this idea of dilithium being a part of crafting so some very simple advice to the devs......
SCRAP THE IDEA AND TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!
I would make the cost of the purple mark xi items much higher in terms of samples and in particle traces. Say 100 samples instead of 30 or maybe an extra trace or two on top of that but dont do dilithium.....just an awful idea and if the devs think this is a good idea they are drinking too much romulan ale.
Careful... Folks will start Loathing you..., for being right... <chuckle>
<side note>
Kinda funny that BLOG #15 has about 4900 hits...
And this one is almost up to 29,000...
You'd think that, in-and-of-itself would bring on an Official Answer...
...pitiful...
Sad too.
Yes, people may loathe me for being right but... can I really help being the most correct man in the world?
I don't always drink sugary drinks, but when I do I prefer to avoid the koolaid.
Stay thirsty my friends.
They must think by saying nothing, the whole problem will just go away. To that, I would like to point out this piece by Despair.com : http://www.despair.com/ap24x30prin.html
A co-worker of mine who recently joined the game finished up his 30 days and then uninstalled it. One of his main complaint was the repetitive nature of all the missions, and how anything new was going into the C-store.
My F2P character is stuck where he is at crafting because I REFUSE to spend what little Dilithium I have on crafting.
And I won't in the future. I'm even considering just stopping the beta test.
/shrug
The phone in the link above sure is beginning to reflect how I feel about Cryptic in general.
You'd think that, in-and-of-itself would bring on an Official Answer...
...pitiful...
We got the official answer, nothing.... Nothing they say is going to calm this. Nothing they do is going stop the flaming over it.
And since they have to tie dilithium into crafting to hit the c-store exchange for the company to survive under the F2P model, nothing will change in this decision.
My best guess is they are hoping to give us enough time to come to terms with it. Once that happens, they can continue the Dev Blogs about additional changes. Why else would the communications come to a complete and abrupt stop after Blog #15 turned into a flame-fest over Blog #14?
Just my thoughts, but I for one refuse to drink the Kool-aid....
My best guess is they are hoping to give us enough time to come to terms with it. Once that happens, they can continue the Dev Blogs about additional changes. Why else would the communications come to a complete and abrupt stop after Blog #15 turned into a flame-fest over Blog #14?
I just wish they'd see the other option in all this; actually taking feedback and acting on it.
If PWE is preventing them for doing that they can always go to CBS, the license holder, for help right?
Of course that makes the enormous assumption that they even care, which I'm beginning to doubt.
We got the official answer, nothing.... Nothing they say is going to calm this. Nothing they do is going stop the flaming over it.
And since they have to tie dilithium into crafting to hit the c-store exchange for the company to survive under the F2P model, nothing will change in this decision.
My best guess is they are hoping to give us enough time to come to terms with it. Once that happens, they can continue the Dev Blogs about additional changes. Why else would the communications come to a complete and abrupt stop after Blog #15 turned into a flame-fest over Blog #14?
Just my thoughts, but I for one refuse to drink the Kool-aid....
Hearing StormShade on Priority One made some things clear to me though.....
1. They expected this kind of rage on the forums.
2. They think we are overreacting to the changes.
3. The changes we want are not going to happen. ("We can't make everyone happy")
Hearing StormShade on Priority One made some things clear to me though.....
1. They expected this kind of rage on the forums.
2. They think we are overreacting to the changes.
3. The changes we want are not going to happen. ("We can't make everyone happy")
So,why are we on Tribble again?
That podcast was hilariously lame. Whipping post? Fluffy Massive Understatement Post is a better description.
"We can't make everyone happy."
Well they need to try and make someone happy. And I'm not referring to the tiny minority that thinks this TRIBBLE is just super.
Hearing StormShade on Priority One made some things clear to me though.....
1. They expected this kind of rage on the forums.
2. They think we are overreacting to the changes.
3. The changes we want are not going to happen. ("We can't make everyone happy")
So,why are we on Tribble again?
Why? Bug testing. We're there to find where the system they want doesn't work as they'd expect.
You didn't think this was about us and what we want, did you?
Well, 4 things can be going on.
1. They don't want to answer (can't blame them, we're a pretty angry/frustrated bunch right now, and they might be waiting for the fire to die down a bit)
2. PW won't let them answer
3. They don't know what to answer.
4. They all quit and poor StormShade is all there is left.
I think option 3 is the likeliest answer--there are lots of ways to address this big problem (as seen by the multiple solutions in this thread alone, not to mention the others), and they just might be discussing what will be the best solution.
Yeah gotta go with option 3 too. They spend all this time developing the new crafting (and somehow it occurred to no one important enough to change it that it sucked) and the community hates it on a level unseen. Oh sure they can say how they expected it, and how they aren't going to make everyone happy, but the thing is they aren't making anyone happy with this change. Not even there pocket book is going to be very happy if crafting stays the way it is now.
But regardless they're kinda left with a "What do we do now?" situation. They got to scramble to find a fix for this because for some reason they can't just leave crafting alone.
Might be option 1, but if they're expecting things to calm down by releasing a gekli, and doing a holiday sale, they appear to be sadly mistaken. And if it hits the holodeck the way it is now it'll be far worse. I think you can count on that silent majority they assume exists in game but never visits the forum to complain to do a lot of complaining.
StormShade is correct--Cryptic can't make everyone happy. Someone is always going to hate any given change that the devs make. However, when you have this many people who are UNHAPPY and even blatantly angry with the crafting change, and who bring up completely legitimate reasons, and not whiny excuses why they are unhappy (this kills fleet crafting and crafting for alts and friends), Cryptic needs to stop and take a look at it.
I don't waste time "over-reacting" about game changes. I'm a doctor. I've watched people die. You stop worrying about pixel changes when a good friend tries to die in front of you from a bee sting anaphylaxis. I do take the time to explain why a change is bad and the effects it's going to have because I enjoy playing this game with my friends. I want to keep playing this game with my friends and enjoying it. I won't be able to craft for my friends and my alts in any meaningful way if you institute the dilithium change as it currently exists on Tribble.
I am not naive, either. I understand PW wants Cryptic to monetize this game as much as possible. Businesses have to make a profit to stay in business. I've even offered a couple alternative ways to monetize crafting besides dilithium. Several other people have made some wonderful, very viable suggestions as well.
You are correct, Stormshade. You cannot make everyone happy. However, you can make people unhappy enough that they leave the game. You have reached a critical mass of unhappy people in this thread. You have also created some extremely angry ones. There is a business adage that unhappy customers tell 13 others about a bad experience, while a happy customer will only tell 1 or 2 others. I'll make the assumption that since Atari sold Cryptic off that it was not one of the bigger profit-generating centers. From that, I can extrapolate that Cryptic really can't afford to lose customers. This company absolutely cannot afford an NGE-style disaster that generates so much negative press that it cannot gain enough new customers to replace the ones that all games inevitably lose over time.
Cryptic, you hit the jugular vein with this crafting change. You can easily stop the bleeding now before it hits the holodeck server by making some changes. Or you can leave the wound wide open, do nothing, and hemorrhage players once this change goes live.
If cryptic allowed Fleet members to exchange Dilithium, would that "solve" the concern over fleet crafting?
No idea if that would break the economy or not?
Allowing only fleet crafters to exchange Dilithium would create a segregation within the player base. Although it would force players into joining fleets, joinging a fleet just for the crafting and exchanging dilithium isn't the way to go.
It would also break Cryptics proposed economy because it would allow players to bypass the 'currency exchange'.
Adding the ability to store dilithium in a fleet bank would be a bad move, because it would make fleet banks an even bigger target for bank thieves. Especially given the 'currency exchange' would allow them to launder the stolen dilithium.
Agreed that allowing only fleet members to exchange dilithium would encourage bank thieving and 'c-point laundering', and plain c-point (via dilithium) theft. It also does not allow individuals outside of fleets to craft for their own alts.
The problem sto is fixing is the fact that maxing out the game is to easy. I have read many posts none have addressed this. Therefore sto is gonna make it much harder for you. This is why DL is being inserted into the game. Also you must realize that CRYPTIC was aquired by PWI forsome 40 million and want some return on there investment asap. PWI wants your money so if you love sto youl have to pay, sorry
The problem sto is fixing is the fact that maxing out the game is to easy. I have read many posts none have addressed this. Therefore sto is gonna make it much harder for you. This is why DL is being inserted into the game. Also you must realize that CRYPTIC was aquired by PWI forsome 40 million and want some return on there investment asap. PWI wants your money so if you love sto youl have to pay, sorry
There's making money in the long term because the seller made something people value, and then there's making money in the short term despite the seller ignoring what their customers see as a value for their money.
Which makes more sense and gains oodles of profits?
Now, which is option is Cryptic going with?
IMO, it certainly isn't making a product that people value anymore.
Comments
I knew I was quoting you . . . . obviously you know what YOU said.
I was providing my two preferred options to the rest of the rabble in here (and trying to cite my source)
The first part was supposed to be considered separate from the 2nd . . .but I guess that was not clear. Allow me to adjust/edit it for clarity.
addendum - The first thing I thought of when you called me "sweetie" was Dr. River Song. +10 Nerd score if you know who that is.
ROFLOLZ!
I like your idea, its very well thought out.
Crafting should be more complex, and not complex in the 'jump through this hoop, grind this item, wait 2 days: voila' kind of way, it should be more complex in what it takes to make the item, and some video game skill to add rarity or scarcity.
If I had to use nanobots to build something, and I had to direct them, using an interface, it would be a video game inside a video game. It could be difficult to get a high 'score' and your 'score' would regulate the rarity / power of the device.
Instead of tedious, I say make it fun.
They started something so cool when they did the anomaly waveform analyzer thing, and then they stopped there.
Crafting should take some video game skills and effort. Like the claw toy machine at walmart, it should take skill to get the good stuff, not lame time modifiers or more tedium.
This is certainly one position people could take on this matter. However, absolutist rhetoric rarely advances discussion. If you truly feel that there should be ZERO dilithium in the crafting system, at all, ever, then you are beholden to explain WHY. Many other have done so already. It does no harm to reiterate those points and, perhaps, reconsider them.
Cryptic even provided the first discussion point - they want to slow down crafting. If this is a reasonable goal, then why not help them by coming up with other ways (besides dilithium) to achieve it?
If they then admit that they would like/need crafting to be a source of revenue (as many here suspect
If your position is so inflexible that you cannot even consider discussion, then perhaps you should reevaluate your thought processes.
So anyway I've missed a lot, and I have to ask - has anybody at Cryptic or PW ever watched Star Trek?
What is this using dilithium in crafting NONSENSE?
Are you charlatan money-grabbers so un-Trek-savvy that you're unaware the primary construction material used in Star Trek (Federation, at any rate) is frickin' tritanium? Dilithium is used inside warp core intermix chambers - nowhere else.
Good grief.
Edit: Oh, I see there's already 70 pages of similar thoughts hahaha :rolleyes: I just heard about the "infamous dev blog #14" thread and had to find out what the crack is..
It's difficult to have a discussion when you feel like you're the only one present.
The most offensive part about Dilithium being shoehorned into crafting is that it feels like you're subscribing so that someone can take something that is already "yours" (we are aware that it isn't really y), sticking another price tag on it and then trying to sell it to you again. If you want new money create new content.
The idea that would have likely made everyone happy would have been to leave the current system in place and add a feature that allows silvers, for a Dilithium fee, to create more customized equipment and golds to do the same for a minimal Dilithium fee. Allowing to specify something like a particular mix of bonuses and, most importantly, appearance might actually make people *want* to give you their money.
You know what doesn't make me feel like giving them anymore money? Premium prices charged to even Gold subs at the gaming equivalent of a yardsale.
And then having the person who dropped the bomb disappear into the woodwork and refuse to even acknowledge that they're aware of our existence.
Agreed. The silence is truly deafening, and, IMO, an unwise move from the get-go. If these ideas had been run by us initially, they could have saved a lot of time and grief having to recode everything because they were too arrogant to not believe they *actually* needed to treat their paying customers with respect.
EDIT: This is proven correct because Fark, Zero, Heretic, Gozer, and Geko have all spoken to us. They earned our kudos. It's just upper managerment that seems to be in the dark about how to earn our respect and trust.
No they did not.
A discussion involves back-and-forth communication. Cryptic have said nothing to us. StormShade, the community rep, made a suggestion on a podcast. It's difficult for that not to come off like they're discussing these things behind our backs as opposed to with us. The fact of the matter is we shouldn't have to hunt down podcasts to get "their take". When it comes to this whole F2P fiasco communication on Crypic's part has been a complete and total joke.
They need to cut the garbage and just go ahead and create a lengthy post that explains exactly what the Hell it is that they're trying to accomplish across the board (and no sugar coated marketing double-speak), as it sure as Hell isn't to follow the path of Champions Online (which Dstahl was oh so sure they would with STO). The need to spell out all the changes they have planned, all the "fixes" they have planned for our concerns, and exactly how far and on what they are willing to budge from this scheme of theirs. Without this it's all just meaningless. All of our feedback is just baying at the moon when we're being, apparently intentionally, kept almost entirely in the dark.
I mean, look around, there's been any number of posts explaining why people don't want this. Where is the response? Where is Cryptic explaining to us how the issues we see will be subverted or rectified? It's been over a week and this thread and the controversy are basically being ignored.
1. They don't want to answer (can't blame them, we're a pretty angry/frustrated bunch right now, and they might be waiting for the fire to die down a bit)
2. PW won't let them answer
3. They don't know what to answer.
4. They all quit and poor StormShade is all there is left.
I think option 3 is the likeliest answer--there are lots of ways to address this big problem (as seen by the multiple solutions in this thread alone, not to mention the others), and they just might be discussing what will be the best solution.
Old 14 may go down in history as the beginning of the end if things get worse from here.
I called it too.
I don't remember where, but in an earlier path to F2P they mentioned they'd be discussing crafting changes soon.
I then posted that they'd find a way to charge dil for crafting, time gate crafting, or both.
But that any way you sliced it they'd mess it up.
Sometimes I LOATHE being right.
Careful... Folks will start Loathing you..., for being right... <chuckle>
<side note>
Kinda funny that BLOG #15 has about 4900 hits...
And this one is almost up to 29,000...
You'd think that, in-and-of-itself would bring on an Official Answer...
...pitiful...
While I would argue that regardless of the source, the information does provide a place to start. . . that is beside the point.
You (and Erxiander and Zanshi) are all correct.
They should have come in here and posted a long an involved response. Either here or on the front page. Somewhere obvious and public. Every day that they avoid the topic (or dance around it in interviews) makes it worse.
I am, quite frankly, disappointed that an organized response has not arrived yet.
I suppose there is little else to do but:
Continue to post suggestions/alternatives
Letter writing to the people on top (CBS)
Get new people who have not voiced their opinion to do so here
Continue to prod for an organized response
Vote with your wallets
Any that I missed?
Greed + Ignoring player base = failure of your game and loss of 50 million dollars
In any good business model you need to put people first, your employees and customers. I love STO but I am not wasting my time playing it if its going to turn into the cryptic perfect world gauge the customerfest because right now if it does in the next 6 months from now I will be playing the new star wars MMO.....sorry but I refuse to waste hours and hours grinding for emblems and such just to be able to crafy a high end phaser array? Ridiculous....crafting is what brings fleets together, it also creates a community among players. If you take that away you destroy your community. Sorry but it is what it is and this is a good reason why I am not supporting or even playing the game until i see what changes actually take place. I can spend time doling other things than waste my time here if all you guys are going to do is try to nickel and dime everyone to death.
I understand PW paid 50 million for the company but....if they want to see their money then they need to listen to their players....simple as that. If you dont you will destroy your community and the game will die therefore inventment dead, devs without jobs......well you get the point. There isnt one person on here that likes this idea of dilithium being a part of crafting so some very simple advice to the devs......
SCRAP THE IDEA AND TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!
I would make the cost of the purple mark xi items much higher in terms of samples and in particle traces. Say 100 samples instead of 30 or maybe an extra trace or two on top of that but dont do dilithium.....just an awful idea and if the devs think this is a good idea they are drinking too much romulan ale.
-Tony
Sad too.
Yes, people may loathe me for being right but... can I really help being the most correct man in the world?
I don't always drink sugary drinks, but when I do I prefer to avoid the koolaid.
Stay thirsty my friends.
They must think by saying nothing, the whole problem will just go away. To that, I would like to point out this piece by Despair.com : http://www.despair.com/ap24x30prin.html
A co-worker of mine who recently joined the game finished up his 30 days and then uninstalled it. One of his main complaint was the repetitive nature of all the missions, and how anything new was going into the C-store.
My F2P character is stuck where he is at crafting because I REFUSE to spend what little Dilithium I have on crafting.
And I won't in the future. I'm even considering just stopping the beta test.
/shrug
The phone in the link above sure is beginning to reflect how I feel about Cryptic in general.
We got the official answer, nothing....
Nothing they say is going to calm this.
Nothing they do is going stop the flaming over it.
And since they have to tie dilithium into crafting to hit the c-store exchange for the company to survive under the F2P model, nothing will change in this decision.
My best guess is they are hoping to give us enough time to come to terms with it. Once that happens, they can continue the Dev Blogs about additional changes. Why else would the communications come to a complete and abrupt stop after Blog #15 turned into a flame-fest over Blog #14?
Just my thoughts, but I for one refuse to drink the Kool-aid....
I just wish they'd see the other option in all this; actually taking feedback and acting on it.
If PWE is preventing them for doing that they can always go to CBS, the license holder, for help right?
Of course that makes the enormous assumption that they even care, which I'm beginning to doubt.
Hearing StormShade on Priority One made some things clear to me though.....
1. They expected this kind of rage on the forums.
2. They think we are overreacting to the changes.
3. The changes we want are not going to happen. ("We can't make everyone happy")
So,why are we on Tribble again?
I guess because....
Well no maybe if...
But surely....
....I got nothin.
Which is exactly what I'm giving Cryptic until they sort out this mess or toss it on Holodeck without listening to us...NOTHING.
That podcast was hilariously lame. Whipping post? Fluffy Massive Understatement Post is a better description.
"We can't make everyone happy."
Well they need to try and make someone happy. And I'm not referring to the tiny minority that thinks this TRIBBLE is just super.
Why? Bug testing. We're there to find where the system they want doesn't work as they'd expect.
You didn't think this was about us and what we want, did you?
Yeah gotta go with option 3 too. They spend all this time developing the new crafting (and somehow it occurred to no one important enough to change it that it sucked) and the community hates it on a level unseen. Oh sure they can say how they expected it, and how they aren't going to make everyone happy, but the thing is they aren't making anyone happy with this change. Not even there pocket book is going to be very happy if crafting stays the way it is now.
But regardless they're kinda left with a "What do we do now?" situation. They got to scramble to find a fix for this because for some reason they can't just leave crafting alone.
Might be option 1, but if they're expecting things to calm down by releasing a gekli, and doing a holiday sale, they appear to be sadly mistaken. And if it hits the holodeck the way it is now it'll be far worse. I think you can count on that silent majority they assume exists in game but never visits the forum to complain to do a lot of complaining.
I don't waste time "over-reacting" about game changes. I'm a doctor. I've watched people die. You stop worrying about pixel changes when a good friend tries to die in front of you from a bee sting anaphylaxis. I do take the time to explain why a change is bad and the effects it's going to have because I enjoy playing this game with my friends. I want to keep playing this game with my friends and enjoying it. I won't be able to craft for my friends and my alts in any meaningful way if you institute the dilithium change as it currently exists on Tribble.
I am not naive, either. I understand PW wants Cryptic to monetize this game as much as possible. Businesses have to make a profit to stay in business. I've even offered a couple alternative ways to monetize crafting besides dilithium. Several other people have made some wonderful, very viable suggestions as well.
You are correct, Stormshade. You cannot make everyone happy. However, you can make people unhappy enough that they leave the game. You have reached a critical mass of unhappy people in this thread. You have also created some extremely angry ones. There is a business adage that unhappy customers tell 13 others about a bad experience, while a happy customer will only tell 1 or 2 others. I'll make the assumption that since Atari sold Cryptic off that it was not one of the bigger profit-generating centers. From that, I can extrapolate that Cryptic really can't afford to lose customers. This company absolutely cannot afford an NGE-style disaster that generates so much negative press that it cannot gain enough new customers to replace the ones that all games inevitably lose over time.
Cryptic, you hit the jugular vein with this crafting change. You can easily stop the bleeding now before it hits the holodeck server by making some changes. Or you can leave the wound wide open, do nothing, and hemorrhage players once this change goes live.
Yoda has some advice for Cryptic..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLrpBLDWyCI
Allowing only fleet crafters to exchange Dilithium would create a segregation within the player base. Although it would force players into joining fleets, joinging a fleet just for the crafting and exchanging dilithium isn't the way to go.
It would also break Cryptics proposed economy because it would allow players to bypass the 'currency exchange'.
Adding the ability to store dilithium in a fleet bank would be a bad move, because it would make fleet banks an even bigger target for bank thieves. Especially given the 'currency exchange' would allow them to launder the stolen dilithium.
There's making money in the long term because the seller made something people value, and then there's making money in the short term despite the seller ignoring what their customers see as a value for their money.
Which makes more sense and gains oodles of profits?
Now, which is option is Cryptic going with?
IMO, it certainly isn't making a product that people value anymore.