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Whats wrong with "Pay to Keep Up" in a F2P game?
doubleohnine
Member Posts: 818 Arc User
I joined STO to PvP. Ive done it once. In other games like the Battlefield series, you can pay to unlock weapons. Whats wrong with I as a customer and player willing to pay to keep up? To me, I should have access to EVERY weapon type and kit in STO. The old thinking of keeping the best gear for players playing the hardest content like STFs is not business smart in a F2P game. The whole point of F2P is catering to customers with less time and more money. Holding the best gear for STF players is stupid because in PvP, no one can keep up with them. Same as joining a Battfield game late after release, you are immediately outgunned and it turns many a player off.
We know that paying customers are subsidizing the game for freeloaders. Well, why cut off the revenue stream of players who are willing to pay to keep up with the Jones'?
Cryptic mentioned a new reputation system coming. Players who want to grind STFs can earn battle experience XP and for them, they have a higher pay scale when getting rewarded fleet marks, EC, dilithium etc. But for just raw fire power, let a paying player keep up. It adds revenue to the game and may reduce the overall cost of other things like ships, etc.
In the beginning of a game, I wouldnt allow this till a time had passed for players to reach that gear playing in game, then let the payers catch up, otherwise the payers have the head start. But STO is old now.
TRIBBLE the idea of making players randomly getting the best gear lottery style. Give players X amount of STFs to play for Y gear, and put a Z price on the Buy it Now option.
You can never have healthy PvP when there is always such disparity between the haves and have nots. Who cares how someone got their gear. The fun is in using the gear to beat someone with it. More players with equal gear means more opponents and bragging rights. Id never complain about getting beat with tactics, as long as I knew I had equal gear. Forcing players to endlessly grind in a lottery STF is an oxymoron in a F2P model.
The tides have changed. Forcing lottery STF grinding hundreds of times doesnt force players to keep playing, it forces them to give up and they tell the rest of us dont bother trying. And we wont try.
Pay to Keep Up is more profitable than burning out a small few willing to try in the first place to lottery grind. It keeps players in the game and more willing to spend on vanity items.
Lock boxes can still offer unique items, but not pay for more power than anyone else, or it kills balance guaranteed. Making money in a Star Trek game is giving us a fantasy getaway to be captains of our own ship and crew, not remind us of the 9-5 work grind we just got home from.
We know that paying customers are subsidizing the game for freeloaders. Well, why cut off the revenue stream of players who are willing to pay to keep up with the Jones'?
Cryptic mentioned a new reputation system coming. Players who want to grind STFs can earn battle experience XP and for them, they have a higher pay scale when getting rewarded fleet marks, EC, dilithium etc. But for just raw fire power, let a paying player keep up. It adds revenue to the game and may reduce the overall cost of other things like ships, etc.
In the beginning of a game, I wouldnt allow this till a time had passed for players to reach that gear playing in game, then let the payers catch up, otherwise the payers have the head start. But STO is old now.
TRIBBLE the idea of making players randomly getting the best gear lottery style. Give players X amount of STFs to play for Y gear, and put a Z price on the Buy it Now option.
You can never have healthy PvP when there is always such disparity between the haves and have nots. Who cares how someone got their gear. The fun is in using the gear to beat someone with it. More players with equal gear means more opponents and bragging rights. Id never complain about getting beat with tactics, as long as I knew I had equal gear. Forcing players to endlessly grind in a lottery STF is an oxymoron in a F2P model.
The tides have changed. Forcing lottery STF grinding hundreds of times doesnt force players to keep playing, it forces them to give up and they tell the rest of us dont bother trying. And we wont try.
Pay to Keep Up is more profitable than burning out a small few willing to try in the first place to lottery grind. It keeps players in the game and more willing to spend on vanity items.
Lock boxes can still offer unique items, but not pay for more power than anyone else, or it kills balance guaranteed. Making money in a Star Trek game is giving us a fantasy getaway to be captains of our own ship and crew, not remind us of the 9-5 work grind we just got home from.
Post edited by doubleohnine on
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mk gear above mk X should only work for gold members
STFs (at all) should be Gold members only
Elite STF should be Lifers only
lets bring back some decorum
This is fair. Folks with money can buy their vanity and convenience items. Those without money can grind their way to the prestige items through skill and persistence.
There's nothing stopping the wealthy from doing the grind too. And nothing stopping the poor from grinding Dilithium to buy the vanity items.
I think there's room for both types of items.
Moreover, I think Elite STF's and PvP deserve a certain amount of bragging rights associated with them.
("See what I got? I'm that good.")
If people can just go buy those things, then the ones who actually earned them through expert gameplay are devalued.
So, even though I am just a mediocre casual player who will probably never have an elite STF set, I disagree that everything should be up for sale.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Life Time Subscription status says nothing about your ability, or lack thereof, to run an EliteSTF.
The only statement I can come remotely close to agreeing with is "lets bring back some decorum".
Bluegeek is right... I agree with the best items in the game should be prestige items... available to all players... Except, that the Mako or Omega MK XII (which I was proud to obtain), really isn't a matter of skill.. its persistence, and luck.
I'd like to see true skill based awards... maybe tied to accolades... or something along those lines. Edit: this is why I don't support Account sharing for "presitge" items...
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
Capt. Will Conquest of the U.S.S. Crusader
I have to strongly disagree here.
I have over 600 days of subscription time on my account. Many, many others have more.
But I am now a Silver account. Why is that?
Because I get more bang for my buck putting it into the C-Store. I do support the game financially. I just do it in a different way than a Lifer does/did. I might go Gold again sometime, but for now I am Silver.
Why should I be a second-class citizen in this game?
You are certainly entitled to your opinion if you believe I should be. But I disagree.
I do agree that ALL Gold players should get some unique and measurable benefits over Silver players. I'm not sure that Cryptic has gone far enough to make that distinction, and at least that's debatable.
But we should not be locked out of major parts of the game, or forced to use inferior equipment so that Golds always get the PvP advantage.
We are not freeloaders all. We have the same opportunities to enjoy the game as anyone else.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Uh, no. I've earned my MK XI and MK 12 gear, thank you. Why shouldn't I be allowed to use it?
Yeah... no. I don't know where you even got this idea.
See above.
Let's start by not trying to start fights over which players deserve what.
You can make certain shields color and pattern a certain way, but still be equal in stats to other shields available for pay or grind. Im ok with locking away LOOKS to the battle veterans, something to play for. But the power stats should be equal to a player at 700 days and a player that just made VA today for the first time on their first toon who were willing to spend to max out their VA ship the next hour.
Capt. Will Conquest of the U.S.S. Crusader
I could probably spend less money buying every item from the C-Store, than the lifetime costs.
How many lifers would still have paid for the lifetime subscription had they known the game would be free to play 2 yrs down the line and the most 'wanted' content would only be available thro an additional payment?
The answer is to actually support pvp in this game. Reward pvp. Add pvp gear to buy with this reward.
also to reduce the sheer number of recent VA's (gold and lifers only in STF does that)
As for lockboxes... if you don't like them, don't pick them up! I leave mine on the field. If I get one accidentally, I just discard or sell it. (And forcing everyone to pay won't get rid of the lockboxes anyway...)
not years of grinding #
I agree that subscription players should get some bonus for subscribing, and that the current system does not reward them quite enough.
However, there should be two paths to the best gear/stuff/bonuses.
1. Those who have more money than time, can use that money to buy items to get them faster.
2. Those who have more time than money, can grind for those same items.
Both types of players eventually get to where they want to be, and can compete against each other in PvP if they wish. It may take the F2P player a bit longer to get the gear, but they are not excluded.
As for PvP being unbalanced, there is a very easy fix. The min/max players aren't going to like it though. Any player that sits up late at night calculating every last possible bonus is really gonna hate this idea... but here it is:
Make the highest bonus of each "type" count, while ignoring all others. For example, if you have a phaser console that gives a 15% bonus and one that gives a 10% bonus, you get 15% even if you have both equipped.
That one simple change eliminates the super builds and puts everyone on a much more even playing field in PvP. That way the difference between ships might be one with a 30% bonus vs one with a 25% bonus (instead of the current system of allowing someone to conjure up a 95% bonus against a player with a 25% bonus).
Or, if you don't like that idea (which by the way I really like that idea), you could also institute a ranking system based on the stats of the ship. PvP matches ships of similar stats. That way super-maxed-out-ships only end up fighting other super-maxed-out-ships, while casual players fight casual players, etc.
Maybe have a slightly different stats on the items if you grind for them??? or maybe the same item but as a 'gold unique' rather than a purple very rare??
For me, it was just disheartening to finally get to VA, spend a few months crafting up the best stuff I could craft, and get shredded in PvP. I know, I didnt have the skill, or the team coordination, but it was still disheartening.
If there was a max DPS setting, you could still sell OP consoles, but PvPers can rest in the knowledge that the enemy may have just blasted me good with that console, but I know he had to sacrifice DPS on something else. You can still have a chess game, and not worry much about balancing new toys the devs dream up as long as there is a power cap. Obviously youd have to rank and number drain and hold powers based on their strengths, and assign them a value that counts toward the overall cap.
Capt. Will Conquest of the U.S.S. Crusader