Your numbers are way off there. The STO team now has around 30 and Cryptic has always had about 100 people working for it on its various games and even non-game systems: such as Steve's job before he became the temp EP.
Was it?
I could have sworn he said the studio was only around 32. I'll go rewatch the interview to be sure I know for sure.
Have you seen our Hiring Page? We are absolutely staffing up and continue to grow. It takes time to train people on proprietary engine and toolset.
Of this I can not argue, I'm sure it does, I train my staff so I know the time it can take. That said, it may, "reassure" us out here, if we saw evidence of them. We've seen 2 devs since PWE, Bort and JJ. how about you introduce us to them. Let us know what they're working on, how they're doing things etc.
As far as not caring - nothing has been taken off the table. Schedules and priorities do change and I've been very forthcoming since I returned as EP that I would be far more cautious about talking about features that are still in design concept stage. You may still see everything that has ever appeared in an Engineering Report, but I'm only focusing on discussing what is in the immediate future - which in this case is April and May updates followed by Season 6.
If that comes across as not caring - then I apologize. The intent is not to be cagey but to be more accurate with what is going on. We are working on April/May content/event/store updates along with Season 6 which is Starbases/Level 51 content with some Foundry and PvP updates as well.
I will not argue that YOU in particular don't care. I will argue however that some of your staff definitely are suspect. Mr Rivera's comments about the Ambassador, and JJ's as well, SERIOUSLY came across wrong to many folks, and that, sir has caused YOU problems. Once you anger those of us here on this side of the screen, we have a bad habit of not forgetting.
As for things taken off the table. I'm jsut going to point out sir that is was said by someone that they wanted a full KDF. More than once. Apparently, that, is now, by my thought. Off the table.
Over all, from my perspective, You sir, have a long road ahead of you. Most of that road, was laid by you, and the team you work with. The amount of things you have said and done in the past have left many of us with little trust in your words, if for no other reason than the fact they tend to ring hollow more oft than not.
So please understand, at least with me, that my disbelief, is based in actions. Not mine, yours.
The problem is, these kinds of blatant contradictions and PR spin leave people unclear of what is really going on. When plans change, they need to come out and say it and stop beating around the bush. If there isnt some kind of NDA they should also tell us why. Just be *honest* and people will take things much better than saying one thing one day and then saying something completely different the next with no kind of explanation as to why it changed.
If only...
..The Makers of STO will never be as Black & White in Their answers, as it appears you would like Them to be, TGN...
...that particular fact became very apparent many Bars of Latinimum and multiple Lock Boxes ago.
We either learn to live with the PR Spin we get, or ignore it...
Either way, I'm just gonna play the game and enjoy it, till the servers die or I expire.
Blame all the confusion on me. A lot of what is being talked about in here is my anectodal reference to conversations that I've had with different people over the course of several months. There isn't a collective policy document that says "This is what we want" or "this is how to spend your money". So what would probably clear things up is if I were to go back to all my references and say "Joe at PW thinks this is what we should do with STO" vs the more recent "Jill thinks we should go this direction with STO." - instead of just saying I talked to PW and this is what they want. "PW" was always a 3rd party reference to my conversation with someone at PW. At the end of the day those were individual opinions from our new ownership, but Cryptic still remains independent and needs to decide how we continue to develop the game.
Ultimately, there needs to be a concensus about how we approach the KDF faction issue and I think I was pretty clear in the Gates of G podcast as to where that was at...
Do I personally want a KDF faction level 1 to 51? Yes. Will I get approval to spend manpower on doing that? Don't know, but I have to make the case for spending the money on it versus something else. At the end of the day everyone wants STO to continue to grow and succeed. Right now I'm focusing all efforts and manpower on the clear win - Level 51 content and Fleet Progression.
My god, just delete the Klingons. Just delete that entire side of the game, since it's going to be 2015 soon with the same exact complaints of half-baked unfinished factions.
Delete the dualing on Andoria, and delete the Klingon faction. It's obvious that it will never be finished, ever. You are better off just trashing the aspects of this game that you have long de-prioritized.
Or, at least let the foundry community do what your team can't do.
You may be forgetting the fact that the game is now F2P - meaning that anyone who previously was paying a subscription may switch to a Free player at any time and continue to the play the game without paying a dime. The entire principal of F2P is that some players (historically in the industry around 10%) will buy items in a F2P game and the rest will play for free. So do we need to put items in the c-store to support the growth of the team - yes! because the business model works on only a small percentage of the player base purchasing those items - but I'm sure you could go investigate F2P business models and get much better data than that...
Does that mean that STO has a 9 million dollar a month operating cost to break even like SWTOR does? Nope. Our budget is less but we are absolutely self-sufficient and continuing to grow.
Point taken in its entirety. And I'm glad to hear that, THAT makes me feel better, seriously.
I'm sure Dan and Cryptic must also consider the practicalities of expanding their team by 100% in a very short period of time. Thats a lot of people who need to spend months catching up, building Chaffee Shuttles before digging their teeth into the meat XD. Effectively half your team could be training and not working on billable jobs. And thats a lot of extra cups as well.
Going from 20ish to 30 ish is a very big step, but keep in mind that we didn't have 20ish content devs who are now 30 ish... thats likely the whole team operating the game.. and while 10ish new people may have been hired, it doesn't really translate into more missions, but maybe 10% more mission creation time, 10% more QA etc... and 80% more Trying to make Dan laugh by dancing outside his office while hes on the phone to a podcast...
.. I really had expected things to move faster though since the purchase last year and recruitment push.
I was addressing Naga's comments about post-PWE statements. I don't care about what happened 2 years ago, nor do I care for the chicken/egg argument. I live in the moment, not the past.
I'm one of those STO players who would never make a KDF character if it were my choice. I have zero interest in that Faction - I'm all Fed as that's what I've spent my entire life watching. The only reason I did make a KDF was because some friends wanted to do one-on-one PvP so we all made a KDF to do that against each other and earn Marks. I liked the KDF Missions - I consider them to be some of the best in the game - but I had no enthusiasm nor Trek feelings while I did them.
That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see more KDF added for those who like it. I don't PvP in STO either, but I understand many do and that they want more options as well. But if the choice comes down to 5 new KDF Missions and only 1 new end-game Mission for the Feds and Klinks I'm certainly not going to vote for that. More end-game benefits everyone - and it's stupid to ignore your majority to humor the minority, IMO.
The foundation was built two years ago. Even regarding the PW acquisition, everything past, present, and future will be built on that foundation. Thus what happened pre-release and release will always be relevant. For someone who lives in the moment not the past you sure put a lot of stock in what happened in May 2011. Your latest post is diametrically opposed to your response to Nagus.
Also, you presented the chicken/egg argument in your flawed conclusion regarding the thoughts and intentions of PW. I'm not concerned as to your personal bias of faction preference. As I have already stated, Cryptic skewed the results with their design. Any data regarding whether or not "KDF will never have a major fan-base following" is unquantifiable as the presentation at release, and even more so now with the higher level gate, cannot and will not ever yield an accurate sampling. The chasm widens yet still since the conversion to F2P as more people who may not have been interested in playing a Star Trek game choose to do so now that it is in the current format as they are MMO fans but not necessarily Star Trek fans. These people are not given the choice between Federation or KDF. On this note, please refer to my previous post. When a choice is not presented, a choice cannot be taken. When a "choice' is presented later, the "choice" is not a choice.
My god, just delete the Klingons. Just delete that entire side of the game, since it's going to be 2015 soon with the same exact complaints of half-baked unfinished factions.
Delete the dualing on Andoria, and delete the Klingon faction. It's obvious that it will never be finished, ever. You are better off just trashing the aspects of this game that you have long de-prioritized.
Or, at least let the foundry community do what your team can't do.
No offense but ... I rather like my Klingon characters and their side of the game.
Yeap ... It could be better but then what in life could not be better.
And again ... My game play experience has improved these last few months.
The foundation was built two years ago. Even regarding the PW acquisition, everything past, present, and future will be built on that foundation. Thus what happened pre-release and release will always be relevant. For someone who lives in the moment not the past you sure put a lot of stock in what happened in May 2011. Your latest post is diametrically opposed to your response to Nagus.
I think you must have misread that post, as you did the one above.
I was responding to Naga's question about why PWE said two different things. Then you decided to give me a history lesson, as if that had anything to do with Naga asked. It didn't. And that's really the issue. No one cares why it happened - that's ancient history. We only care about what steps need to be taken to remedy it. The past will not fix the future.
No offense but ... I rather like my Klingon characters and their side of the game.
Yeap ... It could be better but then what in life could not be better.
And again ... My game play experience has improved these last few months.
I don't really want to see it, but this is the curse of D'stahl, yet again rearing its ugly head.
Q: "When can we expect the KDF to be finished?"
A: "That's something we'd love to see, and PW is behind the idea!"
Q: "When can we expect real exploration?"
A: "That's something we'd really love to see in the future. We've been discussing it."
Q: "When can we see the Romulan faction?"
A: "Well, we'll need to have the Klingons fleshed out first."
In the end, nothing comes of this wishful thinking, beyond a temporary survival of hope for a better future, with the pvpers, foundry authors, and everyone else grasping at straws of hope for a better future. Meanwhile, the EP, when he actually thinks like an EP (unlike in interviews), makes tough decisions about how to prioritize resources, realizing that only 1 or 2 things can actually be done, half-baked in the end anyways.
But hey, "Yes. We are very excited about PW's support for X, Y, or Z. It's something we are debating."
Meanwhile, behind the scenes is actually, "So, what can this small team actually do by this date?" "Man, I wish I had the manpower of my local Starbucks."
Stop the wishful thinking and be honest. "We've decided that the KDF is simply not worth it, and there is nothing we can do about that. Maybe we'll throw them a few bones, but otherwise expect us to focus on THIS instead." That would be the honest and realistic answer from an EP who is fully aware of what his team is capable and incapable of doing.
Blame all the confusion on me. A lot of what is being talked about in here is my anectodal reference to conversations that I've had with different people over the course of several months. There isn't a collective policy document that says "This is what we want" or "this is how to spend your money". So what would probably clear things up is if I were to go back to all my references and say "Joe at PW thinks this is what we should do with STO" vs the more recent "Jill thinks we should go this direction with STO." - instead of just saying I talked to PW and this is what they want. "PW" was always a 3rd party reference to my conversation with someone at PW. At the end of the day those were individual opinions from our new ownership, but Cryptic still remains independent and needs to decide how we continue to develop the game.
I really do appreciate your responses in this thread. But I have to echo my previous post: If it was really just a case of Joe from PW saying one thing and Jill from PW saying another, then why did you guys repeatedly tell us only what Joe was saying up to this point when you suddenly start saying something different? You guys repeatedly told us over and over after the PW sale that "they" want a full KDF faction, but now its suddenly just end game and PvP. So why did you only tell us the one side of the story up until now?
Yeah, I'm at the depressed point where I'd see a declaration that the Romulans were going to be added as a "monster play" "micro-faction" as good news because then I'd think it could actually get done.
Yeah, I'm at the depressed point where I'd see a declaration that the Romulans were going to be added as a "monster play" "micro-faction" as good news because then I'd think it could actually get done.
10 percent play kdf now and look at the attention they get
imagine what attention the romulans would get when their population is now at 0?
you don't want cryptic to touch them.
I really do appreciate your responses in this thread. But I have to echo my previous post: If it was really just a case of Joe from PW saying one thing and Jill from PW saying another, then why did you guys repeatedly tell us only what Joe was saying up to this point when you suddenly start saying something different? You guys repeatedly told us over and over after the PW sale that "they" want a full KDF faction, but not its suddenly just end game and PvP. So why did you only tell us the one side of the story up until now?
The talk about PWE wanting "two healthy factions", that "this was their investment", that "PWE was willing to spend money to make money" were actually PR statements. Dan was leaving at the time and was doing his part to make us feel better about the transition from Atari to PWE. And the investment talk was true but it actually referred to PWE investing in Cryptic as a whole instead of them investing specifically in developing the KDF Faction.
Now that he is back, he's taken some cues from D'Angelo and is trying to be more factual. He has admitted Cryptic either does not have the resources to make a full KDF faction or is unwilling to risk the financial investment it would require. At the same time, he is requesting more resources but that is as far as he can go. Because they are still watching how F2P is doing and are being cautious about how they spend their resources.
This has left me as disappointed as you and others. But I'd rather be told straight up that Cryptic has no immediate plans for the KDF than be led on by these positive spin statements that attempt to give us hope and endurance to wait longer.
We are talking about this... it might happen. Also, had some more discussions with Perfect World today about Klingon Play and they want to invest to ensure that the Klingon Faction gets up to par with the Feds as soon as we can staff up and do it, with the emphasis on Fed vs Kdf gameplay (pvp, pve). This is good news and I'm working on the long term schedule for how we are going to get there.
1) We all know that the KDF is suffering from a lack of content right now. We at Cryptic have honestly wanted to put more time, and money into this for some time now. It wasn't possible under previous ownership.
2) PWE's games all feature a very good amount of PvP in them. They're not happy with the current state of the Klingon Empire, much like you aren't. They WANT to fix this and make the Klingons a full fledged faction.
3) The current unlock plan for the KDF is still open to change, much like the rest of our free-to-play plans. However, we feel that by locking Klingon Gameplay until after a player reached level 25 has several benefits for the Empire right now:
Players who join the Empire will already have a good understanding of how to play.
The lack of content can now be made the "correct" amount of content, for leveling a new KDF Character, without having to resort to waiting in long PvP Queues, or grinding endlessly.
We really do want to make 25 levels of new content for the Klingon Empire, and it's easier to start at the beginning.
I know it's hard to see, and I can understand why it's difficult to see. The KDF has been through the ringer for awhile now. We want to make this better for you.
For now, once we make the transition to free-to-play, the plan is that new players will need to spend 25 levels as a federation player first, which we admit is going to be rough on the Klingons. However, once we have finished the KDF side of the game, we think that great things will happen for The Empire. We just have to get there first.
As always, thanks for your patience, and understanding.
We're actually increasing our development team's size in order to be able to make more new content. This means more Featured Episodes, more regular new content, and possibly even more new STFs.
On top of this, we plan on putting quite a bit of work into the Klingon side of the game in order to bring them up to par with what the Federation experience is.
No. If anything, this means that the Klingon Faction has a very large update coming to it later on down the line so that it can finally be a full fledged faction, as The Empire was always meant to be.
Actually, we've been saying for sometime now that it was not possible to bring the KDF up to par with the Federation.
Only recently have we changed that tune, and began to say that we intend to bring the KDF up to par with the Federation.
This is the difference that last month or so has brought us, and I think it's a great thing for the KDF!
However, as you not above, it's going to take us some time to get there. We understand that our Klingon Players have been through the rough. We get to fix this now, but it's going to take us some time. I know it's difficult, but please, remember that this is some of the best news, if not the best news for the KDF, in a very long time.
We've actually already outlined the basics of this:
KDF gameplay will temporarily be "unlocked" by reaching level 25 on the Federation side.
Once unlocked, new Klingon Players will start at roughly level 18, and rapidly advance to level 21 or so. (As outlined in the Ask Cryptic).
Current KDF content will be touched up in order to provide for a better, current KDF experience.
Meanwhile, the development team has begun work on new content for the KDF, which, once completed, will allow new players to start at level 1, as a Klingon Player, experiencing the faction as a full, and complete faction, the way that both us at Cryptic, and our Players, have always wanted it to be.
I really do acknowledge the shape The Empire is in, as does the rest of Cryptic and PWE. We also really are working on remedying this situation.
I'm really looking forward to the release of the big KDF content patch, when I can hopefully post something along the lines of:
"Yeah... that pizza you thought we would never deliver in the form of KDF content. We might not be Domino's, but we do deliver."
Only, much less confrontational than that, so I'll probably just post some patch notes and revel in the glory of battle with you all on my KDF character.
geeze nagus,
those are just "facts" and "statements". you should read between the lines to get what he actually means. \
Don't just read the words. "Be" the words.
Read the sentences like you where typing them in Dan's mind. Been through all he has been through. Forget everything you know, and just read them like Dan thinks. Not in facts, but in parables and fables. Maybe an irish sea chanty or two.
I guess whenever anyone from cryptic types something, we need some sort of translation device to tell us what it actually means.
Other companies don't have this problem.
Right after the PW sale we were told that PW wanted the KDF to be a full fledged faction and that a big KDF PvE update was in the works. However in the most recent interview with Dan he says that PW would have preferred the KDF remain "monster play" and that they mainly focus on end game PvP content. So which is it?
After seeing how the c-store system has been setup, I do not think "Star Trek: Online" is making enough money. Since they need to rely on overpriced items and micro transactions, Cryptic could very well be losing game revenue. "Star Wars: The Old Republic" has more customers due to quality customer service, extensive content, and low prices. Comparing both games is only logical, for they are catering to the same fan-base. If Cryptic or Perfect World has changed agenda, I am willing to bet there is a revenue problem.
Some of the latest changes that signal revenue trouble include: overpriced content (single digital items costing $25 - 2,000 c-points), reducing everyone's ability to intake large quantities of dilithium (low dilithium mining rewards, Karret being closed, etc...), removing twelve hours of daily events, the removal of certain items off the release calendar (found on the homepage), practically empty area maps in dailies, and the lack of a substantial expansion.
Expanding the game to the UK may help a little; however, I don't see people staying around due to the latest changes.
When your competitor ("Star Wars: The Old Republic") has (8) eight full factions, while you only have one, the reality is that you should be closing your doors tomorrow. Unless Perfect World changes gears fast, "Star Trek: Online" is going to be left in the dust. As a passionate "Star Trek" fan, I would not want to see "Star Trek: Online's" passing.
"Star Trek: Online" is a fantastic game, but it also needs some major overhaul and help.
Yeah, all positive PR talk. Plenty more linked to my sig as I'm sure you're aware. Tired of it. Rather have what Dan told us today - it's a no go because they aren't willing to invest the resources it would require.
Now they need to do the same with the Romulan Faction and tell them it's a no go too. Let's not lead your customers on any longer about things that may never happen. I'm glad to see Dan has stopped all discussions about future game developments except the things that WILL be out soon.
You may be forgetting the fact that the game is now F2P - meaning that anyone who previously was paying a subscription may switch to a Free player at any time and continue to the play the game without paying a dime. The entire principal of F2P is that some players (historically in the industry around 10%) will buy items in a F2P game and the rest will play for free. So do we need to put items in the c-store to support the growth of the team - yes! because the business model works on only a small percentage of the player base purchasing those items - but I'm sure you could go investigate F2P business models and get much better data than that...
Does that mean that STO has a 9 million dollar a month operating cost to break even like SWTOR does? Nope. Our budget is less but we are absolutely self-sufficient and continuing to grow.
There are reasons that this 10% may or may not be the ones who buy these items. The flagship for starters is an example which declines that 90% from paying real money for it they will either wait 10 months for a stipend or peddle along until they reach 1 mil dilithium to trade for such an item (this is obviously something that not a lot of people will be able to budget for or be declined based on value that is instilled in it). However though with a stipend per say you have things like duty officer packs and yeah i could do a mission just once a month and pop out 2 doff packs and possibly might encourage me to spend an extra 5 bucks or so to get a 3rd (This isn't a problem makes money). It's like that computer gave every school had in the 80's with the hot dog stand you had a bunch of kids putting in 1,000,000 dollars or dilithium for a hot dog and you got this kid selling them for 50 cents a piece and wonder why the kid with the 50 cent hot dogs is making money where as the wannabe millionaires are sitting around broke with moldy virtual hot dogs. Anyways same works for economies like this and even in game things like STF drops if you have items for sale and in-game that seem attainable without burning yourself out trying to get them thats where you deliver and make more money.
Anyways though lets say because 50 bucks for a ship pack is definately not in my budget as well as compared to the gain vs other ships I already have I cannot see a 50 dollar value in them. Lets go ahead and say I grind out this 1 million or so dilithium and for sake of whatever throw in some stipends here and there. I hope you do realize since the doff system doesn't reward anything for your time per say than playable missions that you would be so sick of STO by the time you grinded it that you more than likely would not even bother spending that said dilithium and become the void of the 90%.
Just some things to think about quality items at decent prices as well as not burning out your players will be more successful in the long run than spitting out million dollar hot dogs.
I almost want to just beg Cryptic to make the KDF 'monster play' for reals. It's frankly painful seeing the KDF players being put through this! At least if Cryptic just up and said that they're a mini-faction now then at least that'll bring some sort of closure to this. It won't be ideal, it won't even be 'great,' or possibly even 'good' but at least you won't have 10-20% of the playerbase hoping against hope that they'll get a full faction's worth of content. It'll be better than seeing this go on.
No matter what, though... I'm keeping the Gowron Simmons avatar.
Yeah, all positive PR talk. Plenty more linked to my sig as I'm sure you're aware. Tired of it. Rather have what Dan told us today - it's a no go because they aren't willing to invest the resources it would require.
Now they need to do the same with the Romulan Faction and tell them it's a no go too. Let's not lead your customers on any longer about things that may never happen. I'm glad to see Dan has stopped all discussions about future game developments except the things that WILL be out soon.
The first part of your statement above is going beyond what I said. I have not ruled out anything when it comes to the KDF and I continue to investigate all opportunities, with discussions ongoing. What I am doing is focusing on the immediate future content which is going live over the next three months.
The first part of your statement above is going beyond what I said.
Getting back to what you actually, said: If it was really just a case of Joe from PW saying one thing and Jill from PW saying another, then why did you guys repeatedly tell us only what Joe was saying up to this point when you suddenly start saying something different? You guys repeatedly told us over and over after the PW sale that "they" want a full KDF faction, but now its suddenly just end game and PvP. So why did you only tell us the one side of the story up until now?
The first part of your statement above is going beyond what I said. I have not ruled out anything when it comes to the KDF and I continue to investigate all opportunities, with discussions ongoing. What I am doing is focusing on the immediate future content which is going live over the next three months.
unfortunately sir, most of us, don't think so. Most of us are soured on the promises, statements, facts, or anything else that comes from cryptic, because most of us have come to realize, that its iffy at best to believe them. We didn't just instantly become this way, we were made this way.
If you've not ruled anything out then prove it. MAKE another KDF mission, MAKE another PVP map, Make another STF. SHOW US, don't tell us.
Seems to me like a lot of people are confusing the short term plan of end game and improved PvP with the long term goals that wont be specified till they become the short term plan.
Seems to me like a lot of people are confusing the short term plan of end game and improved PvP with the long term goals that wont be specified till they become the short term plan.
Seems that way to me as well.
By the way, isn't there a brand new KDF only mission on tribble right now? I thought I read that somewhere recently, but I could have been mistaken.
By the way, isn't there a brand new KDF only mission on tribble right now? I thought I read that somewhere recently, but I could have been mistaken.
They do have a mission coming in the morning and they get a rifle as a KDF exclusive reward for that mission thats going to make all my Fed toons jealous.
Now to anyone who wants to see a fully fledged KDF faction before end game/PvP is addressed-
Why should Cryptic focus on the Level 0-50 content when the game census shows the majority of players at level 50?
Beyond that how can you consider either faction complete with the very limited endgame we currently have?
Comments
Was it?
I could have sworn he said the studio was only around 32. I'll go rewatch the interview to be sure I know for sure.
I will not argue that YOU in particular don't care. I will argue however that some of your staff definitely are suspect. Mr Rivera's comments about the Ambassador, and JJ's as well, SERIOUSLY came across wrong to many folks, and that, sir has caused YOU problems. Once you anger those of us here on this side of the screen, we have a bad habit of not forgetting.
As for things taken off the table. I'm jsut going to point out sir that is was said by someone that they wanted a full KDF. More than once. Apparently, that, is now, by my thought. Off the table.
Over all, from my perspective, You sir, have a long road ahead of you. Most of that road, was laid by you, and the team you work with. The amount of things you have said and done in the past have left many of us with little trust in your words, if for no other reason than the fact they tend to ring hollow more oft than not.
So please understand, at least with me, that my disbelief, is based in actions. Not mine, yours.
If only...
..The Makers of STO will never be as Black & White in Their answers, as it appears you would like Them to be, TGN...
...that particular fact became very apparent many Bars of Latinimum and multiple Lock Boxes ago.
We either learn to live with the PR Spin we get, or ignore it...
Either way, I'm just gonna play the game and enjoy it, till the servers die or I expire.
<shrug>
My god, just delete the Klingons. Just delete that entire side of the game, since it's going to be 2015 soon with the same exact complaints of half-baked unfinished factions.
Delete the dualing on Andoria, and delete the Klingon faction. It's obvious that it will never be finished, ever. You are better off just trashing the aspects of this game that you have long de-prioritized.
Or, at least let the foundry community do what your team can't do.
Point taken in its entirety. And I'm glad to hear that, THAT makes me feel better, seriously.
Going from 20ish to 30 ish is a very big step, but keep in mind that we didn't have 20ish content devs who are now 30 ish... thats likely the whole team operating the game.. and while 10ish new people may have been hired, it doesn't really translate into more missions, but maybe 10% more mission creation time, 10% more QA etc... and 80% more Trying to make Dan laugh by dancing outside his office while hes on the phone to a podcast...
.. I really had expected things to move faster though since the purchase last year and recruitment push.
I'm going off topic, so will stop posting.
The foundation was built two years ago. Even regarding the PW acquisition, everything past, present, and future will be built on that foundation. Thus what happened pre-release and release will always be relevant. For someone who lives in the moment not the past you sure put a lot of stock in what happened in May 2011. Your latest post is diametrically opposed to your response to Nagus.
Also, you presented the chicken/egg argument in your flawed conclusion regarding the thoughts and intentions of PW. I'm not concerned as to your personal bias of faction preference. As I have already stated, Cryptic skewed the results with their design. Any data regarding whether or not "KDF will never have a major fan-base following" is unquantifiable as the presentation at release, and even more so now with the higher level gate, cannot and will not ever yield an accurate sampling. The chasm widens yet still since the conversion to F2P as more people who may not have been interested in playing a Star Trek game choose to do so now that it is in the current format as they are MMO fans but not necessarily Star Trek fans. These people are not given the choice between Federation or KDF. On this note, please refer to my previous post. When a choice is not presented, a choice cannot be taken. When a "choice' is presented later, the "choice" is not a choice.
No offense but ... I rather like my Klingon characters and their side of the game.
Yeap ... It could be better but then what in life could not be better.
And again ... My game play experience has improved these last few months.
I was responding to Naga's question about why PWE said two different things. Then you decided to give me a history lesson, as if that had anything to do with Naga asked. It didn't. And that's really the issue. No one cares why it happened - that's ancient history. We only care about what steps need to be taken to remedy it. The past will not fix the future.
I don't really want to see it, but this is the curse of D'stahl, yet again rearing its ugly head.
Q: "When can we expect the KDF to be finished?"
A: "That's something we'd love to see, and PW is behind the idea!"
Q: "When can we expect real exploration?"
A: "That's something we'd really love to see in the future. We've been discussing it."
Q: "When can we see the Romulan faction?"
A: "Well, we'll need to have the Klingons fleshed out first."
In the end, nothing comes of this wishful thinking, beyond a temporary survival of hope for a better future, with the pvpers, foundry authors, and everyone else grasping at straws of hope for a better future. Meanwhile, the EP, when he actually thinks like an EP (unlike in interviews), makes tough decisions about how to prioritize resources, realizing that only 1 or 2 things can actually be done, half-baked in the end anyways.
But hey, "Yes. We are very excited about PW's support for X, Y, or Z. It's something we are debating."
Meanwhile, behind the scenes is actually, "So, what can this small team actually do by this date?" "Man, I wish I had the manpower of my local Starbucks."
Stop the wishful thinking and be honest. "We've decided that the KDF is simply not worth it, and there is nothing we can do about that. Maybe we'll throw them a few bones, but otherwise expect us to focus on THIS instead." That would be the honest and realistic answer from an EP who is fully aware of what his team is capable and incapable of doing.
Romulan faction? Hah. That's not going to happen.
I really do appreciate your responses in this thread. But I have to echo my previous post: If it was really just a case of Joe from PW saying one thing and Jill from PW saying another, then why did you guys repeatedly tell us only what Joe was saying up to this point when you suddenly start saying something different? You guys repeatedly told us over and over after the PW sale that "they" want a full KDF faction, but now its suddenly just end game and PvP. So why did you only tell us the one side of the story up until now?
Yeah, I'm at the depressed point where I'd see a declaration that the Romulans were going to be added as a "monster play" "micro-faction" as good news because then I'd think it could actually get done.
10 percent play kdf now and look at the attention they get
imagine what attention the romulans would get when their population is now at 0?
you don't want cryptic to touch them.
I think you're referring to this post from DStahl before his Zygna hiatus?
The talk about PWE wanting "two healthy factions", that "this was their investment", that "PWE was willing to spend money to make money" were actually PR statements. Dan was leaving at the time and was doing his part to make us feel better about the transition from Atari to PWE. And the investment talk was true but it actually referred to PWE investing in Cryptic as a whole instead of them investing specifically in developing the KDF Faction.
Now that he is back, he's taken some cues from D'Angelo and is trying to be more factual. He has admitted Cryptic either does not have the resources to make a full KDF faction or is unwilling to risk the financial investment it would require. At the same time, he is requesting more resources but that is as far as he can go. Because they are still watching how F2P is doing and are being cautious about how they spend their resources.
This has left me as disappointed as you and others. But I'd rather be told straight up that Cryptic has no immediate plans for the KDF than be led on by these positive spin statements that attempt to give us hope and endurance to wait longer.
And this one:
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?p=3715871#post3715871
And all of these:
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?p=3740402#post3740402
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?p=3740435#post3740435
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?p=3740506#post3740506
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?p=3753196#post3753196
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?p=3753677#post3753677
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?p=3755422#post3755422
those are just "facts" and "statements". you should read between the lines to get what he actually means. \
Don't just read the words. "Be" the words.
Read the sentences like you where typing them in Dan's mind. Been through all he has been through. Forget everything you know, and just read them like Dan thinks. Not in facts, but in parables and fables. Maybe an irish sea chanty or two.
I guess whenever anyone from cryptic types something, we need some sort of translation device to tell us what it actually means.
Other companies don't have this problem.
Some of the latest changes that signal revenue trouble include: overpriced content (single digital items costing $25 - 2,000 c-points), reducing everyone's ability to intake large quantities of dilithium (low dilithium mining rewards, Karret being closed, etc...), removing twelve hours of daily events, the removal of certain items off the release calendar (found on the homepage), practically empty area maps in dailies, and the lack of a substantial expansion.
Expanding the game to the UK may help a little; however, I don't see people staying around due to the latest changes.
When your competitor ("Star Wars: The Old Republic") has (8) eight full factions, while you only have one, the reality is that you should be closing your doors tomorrow. Unless Perfect World changes gears fast, "Star Trek: Online" is going to be left in the dust. As a passionate "Star Trek" fan, I would not want to see "Star Trek: Online's" passing.
"Star Trek: Online" is a fantastic game, but it also needs some major overhaul and help.
Yeah, all positive PR talk. Plenty more linked to my sig as I'm sure you're aware. Tired of it. Rather have what Dan told us today - it's a no go because they aren't willing to invest the resources it would require.
Now they need to do the same with the Romulan Faction and tell them it's a no go too. Let's not lead your customers on any longer about things that may never happen. I'm glad to see Dan has stopped all discussions about future game developments except the things that WILL be out soon.
There are reasons that this 10% may or may not be the ones who buy these items. The flagship for starters is an example which declines that 90% from paying real money for it they will either wait 10 months for a stipend or peddle along until they reach 1 mil dilithium to trade for such an item (this is obviously something that not a lot of people will be able to budget for or be declined based on value that is instilled in it). However though with a stipend per say you have things like duty officer packs and yeah i could do a mission just once a month and pop out 2 doff packs and possibly might encourage me to spend an extra 5 bucks or so to get a 3rd (This isn't a problem makes money). It's like that computer gave every school had in the 80's with the hot dog stand you had a bunch of kids putting in 1,000,000 dollars or dilithium for a hot dog and you got this kid selling them for 50 cents a piece and wonder why the kid with the 50 cent hot dogs is making money where as the wannabe millionaires are sitting around broke with moldy virtual hot dogs. Anyways same works for economies like this and even in game things like STF drops if you have items for sale and in-game that seem attainable without burning yourself out trying to get them thats where you deliver and make more money.
Anyways though lets say because 50 bucks for a ship pack is definately not in my budget as well as compared to the gain vs other ships I already have I cannot see a 50 dollar value in them. Lets go ahead and say I grind out this 1 million or so dilithium and for sake of whatever throw in some stipends here and there. I hope you do realize since the doff system doesn't reward anything for your time per say than playable missions that you would be so sick of STO by the time you grinded it that you more than likely would not even bother spending that said dilithium and become the void of the 90%.
Just some things to think about quality items at decent prices as well as not burning out your players will be more successful in the long run than spitting out million dollar hot dogs.
I almost want to just beg Cryptic to make the KDF 'monster play' for reals. It's frankly painful seeing the KDF players being put through this! At least if Cryptic just up and said that they're a mini-faction now then at least that'll bring some sort of closure to this. It won't be ideal, it won't even be 'great,' or possibly even 'good' but at least you won't have 10-20% of the playerbase hoping against hope that they'll get a full faction's worth of content. It'll be better than seeing this go on.
No matter what, though... I'm keeping the Gowron Simmons avatar.
Happy Klingon Awareness Week, everyone.
The first part of your statement above is going beyond what I said. I have not ruled out anything when it comes to the KDF and I continue to investigate all opportunities, with discussions ongoing. What I am doing is focusing on the immediate future content which is going live over the next three months.
Getting back to what you actually, said: If it was really just a case of Joe from PW saying one thing and Jill from PW saying another, then why did you guys repeatedly tell us only what Joe was saying up to this point when you suddenly start saying something different? You guys repeatedly told us over and over after the PW sale that "they" want a full KDF faction, but now its suddenly just end game and PvP. So why did you only tell us the one side of the story up until now?
unfortunately sir, most of us, don't think so. Most of us are soured on the promises, statements, facts, or anything else that comes from cryptic, because most of us have come to realize, that its iffy at best to believe them. We didn't just instantly become this way, we were made this way.
If you've not ruled anything out then prove it. MAKE another KDF mission, MAKE another PVP map, Make another STF. SHOW US, don't tell us.
Once again I fall back to this
Actions... speak. Words.... do not.
Seems that way to me as well.
By the way, isn't there a brand new KDF only mission on tribble right now? I thought I read that somewhere recently, but I could have been mistaken.
They do have a mission coming in the morning and they get a rifle as a KDF exclusive reward for that mission thats going to make all my Fed toons jealous.
Now to anyone who wants to see a fully fledged KDF faction before end game/PvP is addressed-
Why should Cryptic focus on the Level 0-50 content when the game census shows the majority of players at level 50?
Beyond that how can you consider either faction complete with the very limited endgame we currently have?
Hmm. An interesting theory.
I'll test it.
I am in one room of my house and my wife is currently in a different room.
Test 1: Wave my hand to get her attention.
Result: she didn't respond.
Test 2: Wave whole arm to get her attention.
Result: I did not get her attention
Test 3: Wave both arms to get her attention.
Result: I did not get her attention.
Test 4: Call out to her by saying "hey Honey".
Result: She responded by saying in reply, "Ya?" I responded by saying "Nevermind". She said, "Ok".
Conclusion: Words speak louder than actions, literally.