I think people overlook the bigger picture here...
..if STO collapses or fails to produce as a major player in the niche market of MMORPGS, then it will be the second of a major genre title to collapse. It will also be one of many MMORPG's that has burned the long term game player in a 12 to 13 year time period.
I think if STO collapses with all these changes it is going to be a turning point in the game industry from the player/buyer perspective. It is easy for developers or employees of video game producers to think of players as mindless people who will do anything to play a game. I think this is a mistake.
Developers and employees in many of these games have a tendency to think they know all and know what is best. However, these folks fail to understand the player of game or buyers of games. The economy around the world is slowing down big time. People are going to start to think long and hard about the real value they get out of playing games.
I think the game industry as a whole is going to learn very quickly that the market is going to turn at some point and correct itself. The companies that have reputations for burning the long term players are not going to survive.
With the advent of portable devices taking off, I think there is a real economic threat to large Scale Online gaming.
If Cryptic Studios remains to follow blindly down a path where they think people are just going to play the game to get their 5 minute thrill. I think this is a mistake.
As much as I have a high opinion of Cryptic Studios...I am slowly losing patients with the company as a whole no matter how right they think these 'gimmick' plans are.
There are some good things coming out of free to play for this game, but I think as a whole...the developers are determine to drive off the current subscription base.
There are some good things coming out of free to play for this game, but I think as a whole...the developers are determine to drive off the current subscription base.
Can you please list some? I objectively looked at the changes the other day, and can honestly find no aspects of the F2P transition that are beneficial to me as a player. None. Every single change either makes the game slower, more repetitive, or less fun. Every single change in the C-store is geared towards me having to pay more money for the same thing. This nullifies the closest thing I could identify as a benefit, the 400pt stipend, because incidentally many of the c-store items have increased in price by 400pts. There simply are no benefits from my view to the game going F2P.
And I know someone will probably state the DOFF system as one, but remember, the DOFF system was not added because the game went F2P- it was in development long before the F2P changes were announced. In fact it is now quite clear that the DOFF system was withheld from the Season 4 release in order to roll it in with F2P changes. The same could be said of any new FE content (of which there have been conspicuously no official announcements) that may or may not appear in the future.
So please, back up this statement because I would honestly like to know.
I'm not trying to single you out on this, but I see this sentiment in a lot of posts here but from my perspective, I genuinely feel that there has not been a single positive change in the game as a result of moving to F2P.
Actually, in a way, you've made a point to support a Free To Play model more so than a subscription based. That being the economy. You are correct that people don't have the money for luxuries or entertainment that they may have had 10 years ago. So a casual gamer that might have been able to afford 2 or 3 game subscriptions may find themselves not able to do that in the present economic state. A Free To Play model opens the door for players to be able to play a number of games, and not have to worry about maintaining a monthly subscription. Buy a micro-transaction item, and it should still be there if the player decides to take a few months off, without being saddled with a subscription fee.
Free To Play also is a good way for game creators to get people to 'try' before they buy. Sort of like the old 'trial' versions of games, except on steroids. As above, people aren't going to put down $50 for a game they "might" like, just to find out it was not to their liking if money is tight. Instead they're going to skip it and probably never play it. A Free To Play model lets people try the game out, and no risk, with an option to spend money if they evaluate the game and it is to their liking. And, it allows them to pick and choose how they want to spend their money in an ala carte fashion.
Sort of like how NetFlix is gaining popularity over the Cable companies forcing their super "bundled" solutions. For how long did the cable companies proclaim ala carte was impossible to do, financially impractical, etc...? And along comes NetFlix and suddenly they're gaining ground fast.
With a Free to Play model, if a player doesn't think they are getting value for paying a "premium" (or whatever the company calls it) monthly subscription, they can always move to a mode of no monthly subscription, and still have access to the game.
All I saw was "blah blah blah cryptic is being stupid." Please, enlighten us. As far as I can see, Cryptic has actually begun to listen to our feedback and is seriously concerned with our issues
I posted about this a while back, going free to play just isn't the incentive to play a game anymore...because everyone is free to play.
In order to thrive in the post TOR launch world any free to play MMO needs to have niche gameplay mechanics, it has to really set itself apart.
MY concern for STO has been and remains the lack of player driven sandbox elements at the endgame. The problem with a small dev team is they can never stay ahead of the curve in delivering new content at a pace that will keep players around.
In this type of environment, it's much wiser for the team to focus on player driven endgame elements, stuff like territory control, epic crafting, and designing and implementing exploration systems that are varied and engaging. (think wormholes in eve online)
without these mechanics in place a player then has no choice but to compare your instances vs another games instances...the old thempark method of content delivery is impossible to compete in when massive games can pour money into the develpoment and testing of raids and instances at a pace no small team could hope to match.
If I could wave a magic wand my list of priorities in STO would be
1.get doff system, stf's and crafting in order
2. rework the UI to be less fugly, there is a beautiful game under that super bright chunky beast!
3. launch free to play
4. release any featured episodes in the bag
5. refocus like madmen to design and launch a territory control/exploration revamp that adds player driven persistent elements into the game and includes fleet starbases. I'm not talking EVE, I'm talking elements of persistance and social interaction driving the endgame, not relying on missions, but player actions that effect crafting end game equipment.
6. after the system is working and in place, resume feature episodes
Comments
Can you please list some? I objectively looked at the changes the other day, and can honestly find no aspects of the F2P transition that are beneficial to me as a player. None. Every single change either makes the game slower, more repetitive, or less fun. Every single change in the C-store is geared towards me having to pay more money for the same thing. This nullifies the closest thing I could identify as a benefit, the 400pt stipend, because incidentally many of the c-store items have increased in price by 400pts. There simply are no benefits from my view to the game going F2P.
And I know someone will probably state the DOFF system as one, but remember, the DOFF system was not added because the game went F2P- it was in development long before the F2P changes were announced. In fact it is now quite clear that the DOFF system was withheld from the Season 4 release in order to roll it in with F2P changes. The same could be said of any new FE content (of which there have been conspicuously no official announcements) that may or may not appear in the future.
So please, back up this statement because I would honestly like to know.
I'm not trying to single you out on this, but I see this sentiment in a lot of posts here but from my perspective, I genuinely feel that there has not been a single positive change in the game as a result of moving to F2P.
Free To Play also is a good way for game creators to get people to 'try' before they buy. Sort of like the old 'trial' versions of games, except on steroids. As above, people aren't going to put down $50 for a game they "might" like, just to find out it was not to their liking if money is tight. Instead they're going to skip it and probably never play it. A Free To Play model lets people try the game out, and no risk, with an option to spend money if they evaluate the game and it is to their liking. And, it allows them to pick and choose how they want to spend their money in an ala carte fashion.
Sort of like how NetFlix is gaining popularity over the Cable companies forcing their super "bundled" solutions. For how long did the cable companies proclaim ala carte was impossible to do, financially impractical, etc...? And along comes NetFlix and suddenly they're gaining ground fast.
With a Free to Play model, if a player doesn't think they are getting value for paying a "premium" (or whatever the company calls it) monthly subscription, they can always move to a mode of no monthly subscription, and still have access to the game.
In order to thrive in the post TOR launch world any free to play MMO needs to have niche gameplay mechanics, it has to really set itself apart.
MY concern for STO has been and remains the lack of player driven sandbox elements at the endgame. The problem with a small dev team is they can never stay ahead of the curve in delivering new content at a pace that will keep players around.
In this type of environment, it's much wiser for the team to focus on player driven endgame elements, stuff like territory control, epic crafting, and designing and implementing exploration systems that are varied and engaging. (think wormholes in eve online)
without these mechanics in place a player then has no choice but to compare your instances vs another games instances...the old thempark method of content delivery is impossible to compete in when massive games can pour money into the develpoment and testing of raids and instances at a pace no small team could hope to match.
If I could wave a magic wand my list of priorities in STO would be
1.get doff system, stf's and crafting in order
2. rework the UI to be less fugly, there is a beautiful game under that super bright chunky beast!
3. launch free to play
4. release any featured episodes in the bag
5. refocus like madmen to design and launch a territory control/exploration revamp that adds player driven persistent elements into the game and includes fleet starbases. I'm not talking EVE, I'm talking elements of persistance and social interaction driving the endgame, not relying on missions, but player actions that effect crafting end game equipment.
6. after the system is working and in place, resume feature episodes