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Why is the STO playerbase willing to accept the bar being lowered for this MMO
thedoctorbluebox
Member Posts: 749 Arc User
Hear me out, there has been a lot of discussion about this game becoming more of a grind, more of a money grab, more of a "insert complaint here." The typical response from most of the playerbase has been, well, look at other Free to Play MMO's and how grindy they are. STO is just like every other MMO in that it becomes a grind at end-game, and a money grab/gambling casino because it is free to play.
My response to this is, why should we accept that the bar is set so low on this game that it's just like every other MMO? In the beginning, it was stated from the people in charge that STO would be different, it would get away from the grind that other MMO's have. This game was supposed to be unique, different, and set itself apart. That has all changed of course, with the changing of the guard, and the move to free to play this motive has been dropped and the bar lowered and this game has become like every other MMO. Why are we so apt to accept this lowering of the bar for this game?
This is Star Trek for crying out loud, this is the one franchise that should rise up above the rest and show other MMO's how to do it right. The bar should be set higher, the grind should not be here, the money grabs, the gambling, the lack of the content, the unfinished content, the disappointment of Season 6, all of it removes us from the soul of Star Trek. This game is currently not doing the Star Trek franchise justice. It started out on the right path, but has drifted far off course. Why are we content with allowing it to do so and become 'like every other MMO.' We should be striving for better, we should want better, we should want this MMO to be unique, different, set itself apart and raise the bar on what an MMO is.
I reach out to the people working at Cryptic, bring back the passion for Star Trek that we know you all have. This game started on that passion, and the direction then was phenominal. Guys and girls, the game has drifted from this course, and is not following true to the Star Trek franchise. Don't sit there at your desks and let this happen, tell the people at PWE that this game deserves better treatment true to Star Trek. Put this game back on course and follow the passion in your hearts to what is true about Star Trek. Do this, or leave your jobs, because right now you are doing Star Trek a disservice, and I know this must pain you as true Star Trek fans. Bring this game back around to the direction it had from the beginning, to make it a unique, different kind of MMO that doesn't need to rely on grinds/money grabs/gambling to be successful. We know you have it in you, make it so.
And to the playerbase of this game, as a long time player, since open beta, I've been here from the beginning, I've seen it evolve for the worse. I ask you all to keep the pressure on, keep the bar raised, don't ever let us accept that this game is just like every other MMO, we should want better for this game! Let's keep the bar high for this game, critique, debate, and help the devs make this game worthy of the Star Trek franchise! The potential is there for greatness, let's make it happen.
Thank you all for listening.
My response to this is, why should we accept that the bar is set so low on this game that it's just like every other MMO? In the beginning, it was stated from the people in charge that STO would be different, it would get away from the grind that other MMO's have. This game was supposed to be unique, different, and set itself apart. That has all changed of course, with the changing of the guard, and the move to free to play this motive has been dropped and the bar lowered and this game has become like every other MMO. Why are we so apt to accept this lowering of the bar for this game?
This is Star Trek for crying out loud, this is the one franchise that should rise up above the rest and show other MMO's how to do it right. The bar should be set higher, the grind should not be here, the money grabs, the gambling, the lack of the content, the unfinished content, the disappointment of Season 6, all of it removes us from the soul of Star Trek. This game is currently not doing the Star Trek franchise justice. It started out on the right path, but has drifted far off course. Why are we content with allowing it to do so and become 'like every other MMO.' We should be striving for better, we should want better, we should want this MMO to be unique, different, set itself apart and raise the bar on what an MMO is.
I reach out to the people working at Cryptic, bring back the passion for Star Trek that we know you all have. This game started on that passion, and the direction then was phenominal. Guys and girls, the game has drifted from this course, and is not following true to the Star Trek franchise. Don't sit there at your desks and let this happen, tell the people at PWE that this game deserves better treatment true to Star Trek. Put this game back on course and follow the passion in your hearts to what is true about Star Trek. Do this, or leave your jobs, because right now you are doing Star Trek a disservice, and I know this must pain you as true Star Trek fans. Bring this game back around to the direction it had from the beginning, to make it a unique, different kind of MMO that doesn't need to rely on grinds/money grabs/gambling to be successful. We know you have it in you, make it so.
And to the playerbase of this game, as a long time player, since open beta, I've been here from the beginning, I've seen it evolve for the worse. I ask you all to keep the pressure on, keep the bar raised, don't ever let us accept that this game is just like every other MMO, we should want better for this game! Let's keep the bar high for this game, critique, debate, and help the devs make this game worthy of the Star Trek franchise! The potential is there for greatness, let's make it happen.
Thank you all for listening.
Brent Justice
JustGaming4US - https://www.youtube.com/user/JustGaming4Us/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Brent_Justice
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/brentjustice
JustGaming4US - https://www.youtube.com/user/JustGaming4Us/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Brent_Justice
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/brentjustice
Post edited by thedoctorbluebox on
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Comments
That said it seems pretty simple really. The game was failing. So it changed gears. If it hadn't changed gears it wouldn't be here.
I'd rather it be here in its current state then to be sitting here wondering what to play.
"Remember STO?...yeah that was a fun game wish it was still around.", etc.
But in the grand scheme of things "We" aren't the ones who ponied-up $50 million to buy Cryptic. PW did, and that gives them the right to run their game however the wish.
The real issue here is that gamers are sitting at a gaming precipice. The industry is changing, whether we like it or not. The era of Subscription-based gaming is coming to a close. Even the king of all sub-based games, WoW, just reported that they are down to 9.1 million players: That's a 25% drop in 3 years from their 12 million. I wouldn't be surprised to learn they are working on a FTP model. And we all know that SWTOR didn't even make it 1 year as a Sub-based game. The gaming world is changing, and that's really out of all of our hands.
My 2 cents on the whole thing.
It was $35m, not $50m.
Edit: I just looked it up. Euro to Dollar was 1.43 at that time. 35 million Euros would have been just over $50 million.
Actual Join Date : Feb 2010
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
As general-everyday executives, they only care about money. Cryptic telling PWE that they have to do the game their way, without all this eastern-style stuff making them a lot of money, won't really fly. And at the end of the day, regardless of any amount of standing up to them, Cryptic either has to do what they're told, or they get no paycheck (or worse, lose their jobs).
It's not as simple as waving a hand and making them do so.
My 2 cents
Been playing STO since Open Beta, and have never regarded anything as worse than 'meh', if only due to personal standards.
Welcome to reality. Star Trek is dead. DS9 corrupted its spirit, ENT wrecked its continuity and Abrams dealt it the final blow. Humanity will never be the way it is depicted in Star Trek, we're not made that way. Now pledge yourself to the grim dark future of Warhammer 40k.
Sometimes, if you want to bury the hatchet with a Klingon, it has to be in his skull. - Captain K'Tar of the USS Danu about J'mpok.
The Forums were burning every step of the F2P conversion, every C-Store item that gets released with these ridiculous pricetags brings in more and more resistance from the established Userbase (just look at the forums), then go ask in-game, nobody i ever talk to is OK with any of it... yet we are all shrugged off as "loud minority".
so we have 2 choices,
- keep playing because we love the game anyway, even with all the BS thats going on
- or abandon ship and say good riddance to all our investments over time / our fleets / friends / chars etc. etc.
those are both bad choices, so i can just aswell decide to just not pay $ anymore and play the game however i like it.
....and as stupid as it may sound, i seem to like grinding, or i wouldn't be doing it so much.
...pre F2P i was bored a lot with STO and didn't switch it on for days and weeks because there was just nothing to do but boring repetitive dailies ...alone vs. NPCs, now i don't feel as bored, sure much of it is repetetive, but what you gonna do about that?
the funny thing is that the Dev's are sitting on a gold mine and don't utilize it.
Foundry = unlimited content + no rewards
everything else = limited repetitive content + all the rewards
make something with the Foundry and the boring daily grind would suddenly turn into *explore strange new worlds and go where you never gone before*
implement the Foundry into everything from PvP to STF's to Fleetmark grinding... boom unlimited content!
*shrug* but no...
Being a LTS for both STO and CO I can say, CO gives far more actual perks for being gold (maybe that is because their can be far more classes (you have 3 in STO where as there are roughly 15-20, maybe even more in CO) and they actually come out with costume stuff on a semi-regular basis there. The other thing about CO is that everything (at least what I want) is a decent price and they don't shove lockboxes down your throat.
This game will always go the developers and producers way. It is their game that they make money with.
You can accept what is available and enjoy it for what it is or you go make your own or go enjoy what someone else offers.
Perhaps players that do not like STO in its current or future status should be asking themselves why they bother to continue hanging around a game that they do not like or enjoy?
Seriously, if hitting themselves in the head with a hammer causes pain, why not stop hitting themselves in the head (or at least switch to a nerf-hammer)!
CO does give more reason to sub. If it was a better game than the other Super Hero MMO not named DCUO, I would spend a little time there. And being silver is so much below gold there, if you play CO, you should sub. In STO, if you aren't LTS or silver or just gold for a month to level up, you're a sucker. Recurring subs in STO shows the saying is true about a fool and money.
"There is no problem in the universe that can't be solved with a bribe, a paid assassin, or an overpowered fighter." - Chubain from Jumpgate Evolution
The first legal duty of a corporation is to its' investors. This is not negotiable. The investors want profit and they're legally entitled to insist on it.
They do need sales to make the investors a profit and that means that they do need to put customer satisfaction really high on the list.
But that doesn't mean that they need sales to hardcore Trekkies. They just need profit. Doesn't matter if sales are being generated by flying pink elephants. The bottom line is profit.
Do they target this game at Trek fans? Absolutely. It's the reason this game is as close to the IP as it is. The departures from "Trekness" could be a heck of a lot worse, if you stop to think about it. I'm not necessarily defending those anomalies, but I understand them.
However... If their primary market for STO turned out to be leprechauns who worshipped the Rules of Acquisition, people shouldn't be surprised if the game turned into Dabo Online. Not because the game producers necessarily want it to. Because their investors demand profit.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I am not a fan of the lottery boxes, $20 for ship skins and the like. But, I understand it. Do I have to accept it... well yes... If I intend to continue to play this game (which I do). Because I do love Star Trek, and truth be told, I love the game... yes.. and God help me, I even love the grindy parts, because it allows me to escape the real world for a few hours.
So I will continue to support the game...
PWE isn't a charity, its a business, and businesses want to make money.
The ONLY way to make this change is to show/prove to PWE that there is another viable revenue stream that will not only replace, but produce more revenue than the current system. This can't be pie in the sky wishful thinking... it can't be IF's.. it would have to be more lucrative for them to switch. Backed with cold hard facts, market research, etc... not "But this is Star Trek".
I will almost guarantee you, the executives at PWE don't play this game, they don't read the forums... they get reports... number of logins, average playtime per login, how much zen purchased per login, profitability by revenue center, P&L, number of new accounts... and so on. There might be a line item for user satisfaction, but since there are no true surveys... then probably not.
None of this is malicious, its their job.. their job to earn back the 35-50 Million the paid for Cryptic, plus any money spent on this product (and it is a product), and make some money on top of that.
So while the game may be based on Star Trek.. it is not Star Trek... it is a business...
These are truths.. unpleasant as they maybe...
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
Pretty much this. PWE only looks at the Metrics and I'm sure the numbers they see in Zen sold says the game is doing fine. The only hope the players really have it to change their habbits, but considering almost every players seems to be a ship collector I don't see anything changing.
So that only leaves the Devs to argue what's best for the players and say what they will enjoy playing. Thankfully folks on the forums are Super Nice to the devs and always thank them for all their hard work and such......Oh wait no they're not so I guess you reap what you sow.
I stop by the forums a couple times a week to gauge the general direction of the game. So far nothing has even enticed me to think about patching. The bar for quality has been low from Day One. I am just no longer willing to accept excuses and apologies when new content keeps sliding under that already low bar.
There are some that enjoy the game. Good on them. I wish to take nothing away from that crowd.
Lock Boxes: The true value - (thread link)
Jem'Hadar Bug Odds - (thread link)
Galor Creation Rate - (thread link)
Find me in TSW - TSW Chronicle Profile
Honestly, I don't think that the forums are a good indication of how the game is going. A very low % of players actually utilize the forums, and... people (by human nature) are more likely to complain than they are to praise.
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
www.aqworlds.com
This sig dedicated to the many random objects the Mythbusters crew has blow to smitherines
And adding onto that last part, when they have a way to freely express those complainst without being judged on their real selves, just their virtual selves... they'll most likely jump on it.
I say try the game yourself to see what's it like, dunnlang. Judging it without any in-game experience is only a shallow judgement, and a poor one at that.
Been playing STO since Open Beta, and have never regarded anything as worse than 'meh', if only due to personal standards.
I want to point out 2 comments that illustrate the difference in mentality of the STO player and the PWE investor.
1) theapparatus who I believe posts in these forums is the lone STO player trying to point out the problems of STO
2) The author of the article who is long PWRD, Omer Altay
I like STO, but honestly that's how STO really is in the grand scheme of things. Which is why people who write on these forums as if PWE management will read it, are delusional.
STO took a retail box style single player game online, attached a monthly sub for it, and lost a bunch of money.
Everything since F2P is a cash grab to make up for it.
As an investor, I certainly do not blame them for embracing a business model that makes them money, they're even somewhat working with the players to make cough syrup that can be taken. $2 dividends is stupid though, they're not blue chip enough for that, they should be reinvesting into the company, especially since they're tech oriented. Maybe the taboo of being a Chinese held company needs a hook though.
As a player, I definitely think they're pushing the boundaries of what a sane person's wallet will take, but apparently enough insane people are making it viable. And the grind and lack of content is boring. It's the norm to take multiple breaks from STO to see what new seasons bring.
Hopefully there is enough inflow of cash to take them out of red alert need money mode, and balance being a game that is on more solid footing that can make money and be fun.
Maybe Pre F2P was S1 of TNG, F2P was S2 TNG, and now we're waiting for our Best of Both Worlds moment.
S7, all eyes are on you.
Couldn't agree more.
They have a willing and able community churning out extremely good STAR TREK content - - for free no less. If PWE were as clever using this mountain of ever-growing material as they were with lock boxes and other revenue generating streams - there would be absolutely no grind.
As you put it so well, 'exploring strange new worlds' would be the path to paying PWE and their investors big time.
The really tough part would be making it exploit free.
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1203368/pve-content-a-list-of-gamewide-polishing-pass-suggestions
I'm playing this game because the one redeeming quality is the space combat, very few MMOs can offer that kind of active and action gameplay. Right now I'm just waiting on the next sci-fi MMO to come out that offers the same or better level action with space ships. Till then I'm stuck here till a triple-a company like Blizzard or NCSoft step up to the plate and make something for sci-fi ship fans.
JustGaming4US - https://www.youtube.com/user/JustGaming4Us/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Brent_Justice
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/brentjustice
This is pretty much how I feel. It's the only Trek fix I can find in the MMO universe, I can create a character and interact in the Trek world! Far from perfect, but I'll take it over nothing at all. And yes, at the end of the day, it's a business. They're not doing this for love of Trek, but for love of $$$. Nothing worng with that.
I just hope any profits posted in turn go back towards future development of the game.
I am not swayed by xenophobic rants on the forums any more than I am swayed by attempts to minimize the honest complaints of forum goers.
Lock boxes still exist in STO. The odds are still secret.
Significant game balance bugs in skills and abilities still hamstring PvP.
Interior design/art is still very poor.
Previously released C-Store content, that has art issues, pathing bugs, etc. never gets fixed.
I don't need to continue logging in to see that the issues I have had with the game persist and are likely to remain unchanged.
Lock Boxes: The true value - (thread link)
Jem'Hadar Bug Odds - (thread link)
Galor Creation Rate - (thread link)
Find me in TSW - TSW Chronicle Profile