I know this has a limited chance of getting answered here. I hope anyone doing interviews will pick this up:
In a recent interview, Geko answered some questions I had about playable species.
Basically, I asked about more species unlocks and if maybe we could see traits/species brought up more on par with ships.
Geko responded that they pulled most of the species from the C-Store and made them free because PWE prefers cash shop items to enhance your existing character rather than have you buy playable species. I got the impression that one concern was that it can break the flow for new players.
He also said bridge officers to playable Captain was the most likely way we'd see more species.
I was thinking about this and I had a spin on the idea. What if instead of BUYING playable species, there was a rotating spotlight?
As in... March features Cardassians. And for March only, you can create a Cardassian. Then in April, you can make an Iotian. Then in May, you can make an Aenar. And so on. Wait until April and Cardassians get removed from the list.
I'm thinking that having with this, you encourage slot sales. You encourage new waves of people coming in and playing. You create the feeling that people miss something by putting off joining STO. It doesn't break the flow like a standard species sale would and completists will go crazy buying slots because Fed/KDF Cardassians are POTENTIALLY a one time offering.
And you cycle through very minor species, all of which are neutral in the Fed/KDF conflict. And if your numbers are steady, you spotlight very obscure species. And when CCUs drop, you roll out something like Romulan refugees as the free-to-roll species of the month.
Y'Think that's doable? Or does it run afowl of PWE's philosophy on species unlocks?
Honestly, so much of what I want to know from the devs at this point is about their philosophy, why they do some things and not others, what their rationales for things are, etc. I want to know why we got the ranks we got, up through admiral, and why they opted to make the ship tiers chronological. Why the calendar doesn't advance and how expression of timeflow was decided on. Not as an interrogation type thing but just a deeper understanding of their philosophy than the average interview allows for.
Its kinda of an awesome idea. But I don't know if the potential for slot sales is enough for PWE to even think about doing something like this.
Its much easier to make 3 new items, re-hash 6 items then throw them in a lock box with one of the new items ultra rare.
Its all about return on investment with a F2P game. They kinda want folks to play, spend some cash then leave so they aren't a drain on server resources. I figure that's why we're only getting 2 FE this year and end game is no where to be seen. Without the need for subs you don't need give your players a reason to play every month.
Its kinda of an awesome idea. But I don't know if the potential for slot sales is enough for PWE to even think about doing something like this.
Its much easier to make 3 new items, re-hash 6 items then throw them in a lock box with one of the new items ultra rare.
Its all about return on investment with a F2P game. They kinda want folks to play, spend some cash then leave so they aren't a drain on server resources. I figure that's why we're only getting 2 FE this year and end game is no where to be seen. Without the need for subs you don't need give your players a reason to play every month.
Right. I just think if they limited it to things that could already be made with the custom alien generator for the most part, it would create a sense of purpose. A sense something is going on.
Right now, it would make sense to me to have Cardassians turn up and volunteer for service and it would promote Galor bag sales.
If you had waves of people from Arctus Baran's species crop up one month and an NPC saying that they had been displaced from a mining facility, it would feel like something is going on.
And in terms of ROI, I think it would help to focus on species who require no new art. There are probably a good dozen who look like humans.
But much like timed rewards, it suggests that you're missing something when you don't have an account or don't login. And when they get youonline, they get you for a sales pitch. It'slike those vacations where the realtors would string you along and then use high pressure sales to get you to sign a lease before you go home.
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Its much easier to make 3 new items, re-hash 6 items then throw them in a lock box with one of the new items ultra rare.
Its all about return on investment with a F2P game. They kinda want folks to play, spend some cash then leave so they aren't a drain on server resources. I figure that's why we're only getting 2 FE this year and end game is no where to be seen. Without the need for subs you don't need give your players a reason to play every month.
Right. I just think if they limited it to things that could already be made with the custom alien generator for the most part, it would create a sense of purpose. A sense something is going on.
Right now, it would make sense to me to have Cardassians turn up and volunteer for service and it would promote Galor bag sales.
If you had waves of people from Arctus Baran's species crop up one month and an NPC saying that they had been displaced from a mining facility, it would feel like something is going on.
And in terms of ROI, I think it would help to focus on species who require no new art. There are probably a good dozen who look like humans.
But much like timed rewards, it suggests that you're missing something when you don't have an account or don't login. And when they get youonline, they get you for a sales pitch. It'slike those vacations where the realtors would string you along and then use high pressure sales to get you to sign a lease before you go home.