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what do you think of the move to F2p?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited January 2012 in Ten Forward
I'm an original player, and have been playing since launch. I bought the collectors edition, played in beta, etc. So I have watched as STO has transformed for better or worse.

Personally I like the fact that I'm not obligated to pay a subscription fee. But if I don't play my sub. I can still play the game without some BS restrictions.

How do the rest of you in the STO community feel?
(Both subs.players & new F2P players)

P.S Sorry if their are typos and such, Im using a tablet to post. Not a PC.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    I think it's great. it just might bring a lot of new trekkers who, for whatever reason, couldn't spring for a sub into STO, and in my case when gamestop ceased carrying time cards last year, along with a lot of others resuming their accounts. I can also see a lot of lifers viewing us returnees as trailer trash. I have the CE and did open beta
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Ya I never purchased a lifetime sub. But I really should have or still should. I would get my moneies worth without a dount. As for being viewed as trailer trash, I can agree. People will see the return players as trash. like "Oh STO wasn't good enough before, but is now for F2P?" At least thats the way a few fleet members feel, that are life subs. They feek returners and F2Players are responsible for the game being in the state it is now. Which obviously they feel it is in a bad state.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    I think, it is great. It encouraged me to start playing after all...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Well I welcome new and old players personally. And STO is the only game I will pau a sun. for anymore. While I have played the new Star Wars game, I won't go out and buy and play it.

    This game has everything I want so, and the F2P makes it a no obligation gamw. As in I don't go, "Oh I paued $15 for my sub. I need to get my monies worth." Not to sound like the game is my life. But any sub. knows what I mean.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    as a lifer it does not affect me, but i think its great to allow people the choice and its cool to see a lot of new players.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    It will, like other F2P's int eh past go one of two ways, either it will slowly, but surely die out and PWI will close it down... OR, PWI will push it with masses of advertising like they do for other games they have and it will grow, never huge, but it will grow, but will change to something none of us recognise
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    It's good to see an influx of new players, but it would have been nice if Cryptic/PW had bothered to update their hardware to handle the load.

    I think that is going to be the main reason we see people leaving now. Well, that and the fact that the game is pretty C-Store dependant now if you want the best shinies in the game.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    I'm a lifer and it does not bother me, it is good to see new blood enter the game. After a while we will have the normal fallout of those just are window shopping and the Trek minded will party on and continue the game! ;) And BTW - I never judge folks as trailer trash - unless they prove themselves to be! :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Well F2P got my attention back to the game having played for a while when it first started seems there is lots of new content, although PvP is a lot harder than i remember it being.

    I think its a great idea! Go Cryptic!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    I like it!

    >_> <_<

    wut?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    In terms of keeping STO alive and well, i think it's a great move especially since there's growing evidence to support the idea that F2P is more beneficial than P2P. At the very least, I don't see it hurting the number of players at all. I know alot of people who just dont get into MMOs simply because they don't want to pay to play a game they already dropped 60 bucks on.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    The_Dogman wrote:
    I know alot of people who just dont get into MMOs simply because they don't want to pay to play a game they already dropped 60 bucks on.

    I can tell you that's why I didn't play WoW for the first three years it was out.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    WhiteRook wrote: »
    And BTW - I never judge folks as trailer trash - unless they prove themselves to be! :D

    Indeed, as a guild leader I always remind guildies there are two types of new players...

    Newbs, those that are new and are willing and able to learn

    and

    Noobs, those that will never learn and think they know it all and TRIBBLE it up for others or grief it on purpose... generally an ***
    Tumerboy wrote: »
    I like it!

    >_> <_<

    wut?

    Ooooh.. Dance Party!!!

    \\o \o/ o//

    I'm in, PARTY!!!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    I'm glad there was a switch! This game was in need of an injection of new life. I suspect the forums will be quite busty as the new f2p crowd gets up to the 20 hour mark so they can post.

    edit: LOL! I meant "busy", but I'll leave it like that. :p
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    I think it's probably a brilliant move-- in the opinion of the bean-counters at PWE/Cryptic.

    As for whether or not it will encourage the people with the real power, the ones calling the shots, to actually make the game better, with more content, more storyline PvE, better PvP, with more non-daily ways to get Dilithium (or better yet, removing Dilithium entirely).. I doubt it.

    What we're going to see is them pumping out more Grab-Bags with big Items with low drop rates, we're going to see more dailies, not new storyline PvE, new dailies, for us to repeat ad nauseam, we're going to see more +1 ships, then +1.5 ships, we're going to see the KDF get shafted even harder because most of the F2Pers don't bother wasting their precious character slots on a Faction in shambles and the bean counters will be too mired in their short term projections to see the long-term benefit of investing in the KDF.

    Everything that's come down the pipe that was planned and begun since PWE took over, the +1 ships, the grab-bags, the skill system revamp and UI changes in preparation for the switch to F2P, the switch itself, Dilithium, each and every one can be chalked up to their desire for short term profit increases via microtransactions, for greed.

    Not a single one of them can be pointed to as a long-term effort to improve the quality of actual game-play or to give actual players more things to do in-game (repeating the same content is not "more things to do", sorry) in order to attract paying subscribers.

    What we're going to see is a spike in players as F2P gets into full swing, as the word gradually filters out over the next two weeks, there's going to be a rush of cheap trekkers into the game and a few Casual Gamers who think "Eh, why not? It's free.."

    Then as those players hit Commander, and suddenly need to grind Dilithium for their Commander level ship, the numbers are going to start falling. People who haven't paid into the game, who haven't spent dozens of hours with their crews, have little to no investment in continuing to play when it necessitates them to grind or pay.

    So they won't. They won't log in, they won't grind, they won't pay, and they won't play.

    The revenue model the Bean-Counters are betting on will fail, and there will be a mad scramble to;
    1. Find and punish (fire) the bean-counter(s) who pushed for it, and..
    2. Try and salvage whatever they can of the game.

    I'm not optimistic. But I'm hoping against hope.. I'm hoping that I will be surprised. I'm hoping that the things done so far for greed is all that will be done for greed, and that from here on out we'll see a different side of PWE management. I'm hoping that instead of a constant stream of C-Store items we'll see regular content updates. I'm hoping that instead of more ways to grind we'll get more maps and modes for PvP. I'm hoping that instead of homages to other sci-fi IPs, we get changes to the UI, to Crafting, to the continuing story of the game that will be more in line with Star Trek.

    I'm waiting, with bated breath, aching to be wrong.

    Prove me wrong.
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