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Forums > Home› Support› C-Store, ZEN, and Promotions

Zen/Cryptic Points politics

tebsutebsu Member Posts: 372 Arc User
edited February 2013 in C-Store, ZEN, and Promotions
Its coming to an end now and i think i wont play this game much longer. Its kinda sad as i am a big fan of Star Trek but i am not a millionaire.

I have a limited amount of money that i would spend for this game but all the things in the game just cost too much. If i think about how much games i could have bought with the money i spent on c-store items... The way out of this would be to make items much cheaper (about 1/3 of what they cost now). I could buy some things and would surely buy other things later on too but i cant at the moment and all the missions arent (sorry to devs, i know your job and that its not easy) that interesting if you have to play them 1000 times to actually get things from c-store that are just 1% better than what you already have. Right now, i talk about the fleet escort (dont know the full name but i am talking about the Defiant) for example. It would cost me 2000 zen.. I need at least 2 month to gain enough dilithium for this ship. 2 month without joy because i have to do the same missions over and over again (there is no dynamic in the game, its too static). I also know, that there are more ways to get dilithium but i dont want to start the game with the goal to grind dilithium. I want to start it to have some fun (that i sadly dont have anymore). The only missions i (and a lot of other players i guess too) like are the space missions. There are some very good ground maps too in the latest FE but thats not enough. All the old content isnt that good and i was always trying to finish those missions fast or was hoping for a longer space part. Now i am only grinding and grinding and grinding. Will the prices always be like that or will there be some change in the cstore?
What ? Calaway.
Post edited by tebsu on

Comments

  • defcon1776defcon1776 Member Posts: 313 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    Can I have your inventory when you quit?
    "If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid." Q
    Join the 44th Fleet. [FED and KDF] Apply Online: startrek.44thfleet.com
  • thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    C-Store prices are set as they are because of the vast amounts of in-game currency which can be earned simply by playing. You talk about needing 2 months to earn enough Dilthium to get a 2,000 Zen ship. I earn over 3,000 Zen per month just playing 2-2.5 hours per day. So it really just depends on the player.

    But even if you just play for 1 month to earn Dilithium and buy the other 1,000 Zen is it unreasonable for you to spend $10.00 a month on a fluff item you want? You can get it for 50% off the price just by playing that 1 month.

    Cryptic is in business to make money, just like every other business. It's not unreasonable for the fans to throw $5-$10.00 a month Cryptic's way for fluff items you don't even need to play the game.
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
  • bluegeekbluegeek Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    Moved thread from General... this has more to do with C-Store prices than anything else, so here's the best place for the feedback.

    btw... I'd probably buy more stuff if the prices were lower, too. Mostly though, I get what I need and they get some of my cash on a regular basis, spread out over time.

    Main thing is to set a budget and try to stick to it. Spend $X on zen per month and no more. If you blow through your zen budget that month, you're done buying till the next. If you want something really big, you save up your zen. Resist the impulse to blow $50 a month on zen.
    My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here
    Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
  • palpha2clearancepalpha2clearance Member Posts: 432 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    The grind is no fun, I play to have fun I am so sick of no new content it hurts to talk about it. My fun factor is in the gutter. I like to relax and play, the c- store was supposed to revenue boost for content and getting things in game, I think someone slipped down the slippery slope and forgot about its advertised purpose to the community. I would probably buy more if tbe prices were in the ball park of reasonable.

    Since F2p the prices have been hiked, and not the stipend, no new storyline non grind content has been put in place, so I really am not having much fun, it is unlikely I will purchase anything out of the c-store, because not much has been put in game, except more purchasable items, not the content we have been promised is coming forever.......plenty of seasons, but no episodes :(
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    palpha2clearance wrote: »
    Since F2p the prices have been hiked, and not the stipend,
    As I keep saying to you, and you keep ignoring: THERE WAS NO STIPEND BEFORE FTP! Thus they could not "hike" the Stipend when they increased the C-Store prices. The Stipend came with FTP, at the same time they increased the C-Store prices. Prior to FTP everyone paid the full price for the item in the C-Store - and there was no Dilithium system to decrease that price.

    So yes, most ships went up $5.00 with FTP, but you were given a $5.00 Stipend and a way to earn hundreds to thousands of more free Zen points every month.
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
  • tebsutebsu Member Posts: 372 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    lets say i want to spend not more than 10USD a month but my favorite ship costs 2 times that amount.. I personally am not someone who can save money for anything so my money will go into something else. Next month the same and the month after. I also think that too much content goes into c-store that should be available for free. I understand that there is this F2P thing and the company needs to make money but then add a hugh amount at a lower price. I would spend my 10USD but at the moment, there is nothing that i really require thats cheaper than 1000 zen points. (things that would change my gameplay as a new ship does)
    What ? Calaway.
  • robdmcrobdmc Member Posts: 1,619 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    There are other option besides dilithium to get what you need. In the case of the fleet ships that require Fleet Ship Modules you can but them on the exchange for 5 mil each.

    In the c-store they are 500 Zen. With the current market crash that is about 83000 Dilithium or about 10 days of grinding and refining.

    To craft an aegis set you need 54450 dilithium or about 45000 during a crafting event. You will also need to spend about an hour or 2 in b'tran. You can refine that in 6 days and sell the aegis set for about the 5 mil depending on market value. That is just aegis.

    If you already purchased a c-store retrofit ship that means you only need one module to get the fleet version. by that math alone there are mk xii purple consoles that are worth more then a fleet ship in game.

    While it may take you a long time to earn money to spend on zen there are a lot of c-store item you can get on the exchange if you know how to make money. You could do it in under a week. Just do the research and you will be fine.
  • thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    tebsu wrote: »
    lets say i want to spend not more than 10USD a month but my favorite ship costs 2 times that amount.. I personally am not someone who can save money for anything so my money will go into something else. Next month the same and the month after. I also think that too much content goes into c-store that should be available for free. I understand that there is this F2P thing and the company needs to make money but then add a hugh amount at a lower price. I would spend my 10USD but at the moment, there is nothing that i really require thats cheaper than 1000 zen points. (things that would change my gameplay as a new ship does)

    Well, I can't argue that the game doesn't need more Mission Content, because it does. But I can say that I subscribe to 7 different MMOs, and play several more FTP games, and they all need more Mission Content. Needing more Mission Content is a universal truth in MMOs. :)

    Of course I can also ask you how many Foundry Missions have you played? There are thousands of Missions in there, and many of them are as good, if not better, then the Missions in the regular game. So if it's just Mission Content you want the Foundry can probably keep you busy for years. Cryptic highlights a new Foundry Spotlight Mission each week. You can find the list here: http://sto.perfectworld.com/about/foundry/foundry-spotlight That can get you started.

    As for not being able to save your Zen, that's really a personal issue that only you can deal with. I currently have over 16,000 Zen on my account and have no problem saving it and using it on things I want.
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
  • kobayashlmarukobayashlmaru Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    thecosmic1 wrote: »
    As I keep saying to you, and you keep ignoring: THERE WAS NO STIPEND BEFORE FTP! Thus they could not "hike" the Stipend when they increased the C-Store prices. The Stipend came with FTP, at the same time they increased the C-Store prices. Prior to FTP everyone paid the full price for the item in the C-Store - and there was no Dilithium system to decrease that price.

    So yes, most ships went up $5.00 with FTP, but you were given a $5.00 Stipend and a way to earn hundreds to thousands of more free Zen points every month.

    Some prices have also increased since F2P such as the mainstay T5.5 ships now cost $25 instead of $20. And as someone will eventually point out, $7 per character armor.
    Kobayashi Maru
    Join Date: Sept 2008

    "Holographic tissue paper for the holographic runny nose. Don't give them to patients." - The Doctor
  • thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    kobayashlmaru wrote: »
    Some prices have also increased since F2P such as the mainstay T5.5 ships now cost $25 instead of $20. And as someone will eventually point out, $7 per character armor.
    I'm not really sure that was an unexpected increase, though. Weren't the Galaxy X and Garumba both increased from $20 to $25 with FTP? So it seems they were setting the precedent for new T5 ships from that. Every T5 Fed ship that has come out since FTP has been $25.00.
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
  • robdmcrobdmc Member Posts: 1,619 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    The Mvam is also $25. The only va ships that are not $25 are the Vet reward ships at $20.

    There was a change in the c-store before f2p and cryptic made no secret about that either. All you had to do was look at tribble. They even held a last chance sale which ended January 5th 2012 two weeks before f2p went like January 17th. All anyone had to do was log onto tribble to see the prices. Fortunately someone AKA Archived Post logged the info and put it in a spreadsheet.

    the biggest changes to to the c-store were to the prices of the lower tier ships to make them more uniform, the cost of service items and the biggest were the change of account wide tribbles and Borg boffs to per character.

    The Dreadnaught ws still 2000 cp then (equals 2500 zen or $25). I'm just not sure why this price change info needs to be brought up since everyone had a chance and has no baring on f2p people. Cryptic has a right to set prices and we have the right to choose whether we pay them or not.
  • lazarus51166lazarus51166 Member Posts: 646 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    As I keep saying to you, and you keep ignoring: THERE WAS NO STIPEND BEFORE FTP! Thus they could not "hike" the Stipend when they increased the C-Store prices. The Stipend came with FTP, at the same time they increased the C-Store prices. Prior to FTP everyone paid the full price for the item in the C-Store - and there was no Dilithium system to decrease that price.

    you're missing the point. the prices went up with free to play (despite the fact we were were told the exact opposite would happen by dan 'i'm going to jump ship before I get called on everything' stahl) the stipend is neither a bonus nor a discount. all it does is make you pay roughly what you were before for a ship or whatever else you are buying. since you don't get anything else worth mentioning out of a gold account, you are essentially paying $15 for nothing
  • robdmcrobdmc Member Posts: 1,619 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    lazarus51166 wrote: »
    you're missing the point. the prices went up with free to play (despite the fact we were were told the exact opposite would happen by dan 'i'm going to jump ship before I get called on everything' stahl) the stipend is neither a bonus nor a discount. all it does is make you pay roughly what you were before for a ship or whatever else you are buying. since you don't get anything else worth mentioning out of a gold account, you are essentially paying $15 for nothing

    The prices may have gone up but that is more of a comparative with new items. If you took advantage of c-store back when they warned people of the change then you should still have those items. New Items since free to play have not had their price raised. They are the same price as they were when they released them.

    If you are referring to price increase in items like respec tokens then this is where the gold membership makes a difference. If you don't think gold is worth it then don't get it.
  • thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    lazarus51166 wrote: »
    you're missing the point.
    Actually no, I'm not missing the point at all. His complaint was that they raised the prices and did not raise the Stipend as well. There was no Stipend to raise. They gave you the Stipend to help offset the price increases.

    And, of course, I'll also point out that some ships prices were decreased with FTP. All the T1 ships were decreased from 800 CP to 400 CP - currently 500 Zen.

    And as I also stated above, prior to FTP there was no way to earn any in-game currency to help with the cost of C-Store items. If you purchased a 1,200 CP ship you paid full price for that ship out of your pocket - above and beyond your $15.00 monthly Subscription. Today you can convert Dilthium to Zen and get that ship for zero dollars out of your own pocket; and yes, I do it every single month. I routinely average around 3,000 Zen per month - this month I'll average over 4,000 Zen. I have not purchased any CP/Zen from Cryptic in over 7 months now and own every Fed item that has been released to the game.

    Complaining about price increases when you can just play the game and get anywhere from a 10% to 100% discount on the C-Store just seems foolish to me - especially when you don't need to pay a Subscription. YMMV
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
  • tebsutebsu Member Posts: 372 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    thecosmic1 wrote: »
    All the T1 ships were decreased from 800 CP to 400 CP - currently 500 Zen.

    i think thats because no one would put money into a game he just started to play, therefor, the sells for those ship were not as expected and the price got lowered.
    What ? Calaway.
  • thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    tebsu wrote: »
    i think thats because no one would put money into a game he just started to play, therefor, the sells for those ship were not as expected and the price got lowered.
    The TOS Connie is easily one of the most popular ships in the game. It spawns countless threads from people bemoaning the fact that they can't use it at end-game.
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
  • robdmcrobdmc Member Posts: 1,619 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    tebsu wrote: »
    i think thats because no one would put money into a game he just started to play, therefor, the sells for those ship were not as expected and the price got lowered.

    Most people baught them for the consoles. The exeter has the Ionized Gas Sensor to shoot torps at cloaked ships. The Thunder child was bought for the Point Defence System. People still use the NX Grappler and the Impulse Capacitance Cell.

    There are all low tier ships and a lot of those consoles from those ships are still used on va builds today.
  • ozymandius1ozymandius1 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    How about $5for a borg eye piece that does nothing? Or a Bajoran belt? Wth is that? Everything small is $5-7.50(and yeah, I put it in terms of dollars, instead of 500-750 zen, which is what it really is), and anything worth more than a laugh or novelty is 20-25. I'm guilty of buying two ships, despite my wth factor. Lol. I figured also that, as the game is free, maybe this extra money goes towards content for the game. That i can live with, alebeit with a cringe as I open m wallet.
  • ericsonxxericsonxx Member Posts: 253 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    Grinding DIll, etc, may be simple but boring, but what about if we'd like to collect dill, while, oh, DOING STORY MISSIONS? I have tons to work on even at level 50, hell, none of them has even hit the Borg section of Episodes yet, so I can either do story missions which I'd like to do, and maybe earn some EC, or grind dill towards the new ship I want to get. It would be nice to get dill in story missions, hell, you can only refine 8K a day, so, why not?
  • kruge41kruge41 Member Posts: 11 Arc User
    edited February 2013
    hi just need bit info ,total cost to buy 2000 zen in order to buy klingon bird of pray refit ,in c-store .thanks,,post 2013:D

    EDIT: Closed for necroing an old thread. Remember, if a thread has been inactive for 30 days, you should not post to it. Feel free to create a new thread on the subject if you would like to discuss further :) ~BranFlakes
This discussion has been closed.