I'd like to believe that the instances in which They 'fire back' individually, have more to do with Their own personal frustrations with the way things are...
Though I have no proof to back up that belief.
(* = my edit)
I hope that is indeed the case, comments of such magnitude is quite disturbing. It portrays CRYPTIC in a negative light, the studio per se.
Granted that some have spewed hate on the forums, but truth be told when changes are taking the game to an entirely different direction, is it not fair for players to express their opinions on the matter? Even if those opinions may not be entirely accepted by the Devs.
It is not fair to brand the entire community as malcontents and whiners, or even state that they're a bunch of 40yr olds living in their mother's basements. LOL, got to admit it does have some sadistic humor behind the comment.
Regardless of a Dev's level of frustration - They are suppose to be professionals, showing calm and coolness under the most extreme pressure.
I understand you're not going to please everyone, but if a good majority feel certain changes will only harm the outlook and gameplay of the game, as Dev's, they should take a hard look at all options.
I for one am not upset at the Omega marks per se, though I do not like the change. However; What I am speaking about is the new Dilithium cost and the total reverse in a promise made awhile ago.
What promise was that:
That CRYPTIC was going to work on new Ground or even space sets for the STF, while older sets were going to be moved to the Dilithium store. OK, maybe it was not a promise per se, but the idea was strongly urged by a Dev. Something I still would like to see implemented.
A word about season 7 - Its not what I expected, but I am just one person - folks may love and embrace season 7 - but the outlook in these forums about S7 is a bit sad and grim.
I will ask the DEV this question - choose to answer or not
What do you expect from us the consumer and our anticpation of future upcoming seasons?
For me: I expect from a new season new adventures, new high octane edge of your seat story telling etc... I expect some Grind, but not the focus of the entire season of Nerfs and Grinds.
Think for a moment Devs - Season 7 has introduce us to some level of changes in the grinding system, and it also introduced us to some nerfs. I am sure hard work was put into the Romulan segment, and for that I do appreciate that aspect that was implemented. Yet, the semi negative changes does not agree with me.
But then again I can only speak for myself and not the community.
Well, the good news is, the price of zen is already coming down, as players horde dil for the coming grinds and zen starts pooling.
Hopefully when the new content hits the dil from 1 Hand Over Contraband gets me a T1 ship console. Ironically, then, I'd be able to spend more on the Z-store, but not on stuff in the game. And notice how everything in the Z-store is actually WEAKER than dil-spending stuff in S7.
I see what you did there Cryptic. But that's okay, I'd much rather buy out your store than anything from a lockbox.
"Last Engage! Magical Girl Origami-san" is in print! Now with three times more rainbows.
They've been pretty much indicating a trend
toward that particular ideology, for the last three seasons...
I tend to believe it has more to do with "Orders from Upon High" than an actual desire to displease the player-base.
I also like to believe that the instances in which They 'fire back' individually, have more to do with Their own personal frustrations with the way things are...
Though I have no proof to back up that belief.
(* = my edit)
Oh no doubt.
Sure there were times we were disgruntled, but they worked with us to find that middle ground.
But since the 1000 Day Fiasco, I can't help but to think PW's really started ramping up the greed factor. They are at their limits with lockboxes, and they "offered" a new Lifetime Subscriber deal, but now seems the emphasis on making Dilithium more scarse. So scarce that people would start to buy Dilithium from the Exchange with their Zen. Zen that very much would come from real money than LT Stripeneds.
Personally, such a move makes me highly nervous. It seems like something you seen Mafia movies like the Godfather or those movies with Al Capone.
Again, that's just me. But it makes me question who Perfect World really is.
I don't think STF gear was ever promised to end up in the dilthiun st?re.
What Gozer said was, that new sets or variations will be made roughly every 3-4 months and replace the random drops. The old ones would then move to the regular STF st?re and could be bought with grind currency (EDC).
Well, we did't get new sets, because the dev responsible left (damn side projects) but the old sets are going to the grind st?re... sort of.
I just know that if an MMO ever adopts a Kickstarter inspired financing model for its content, I'll drop any and all games for that one, pretty much regardless of the IPs of the games I'd be leaving or the game I'd be running towards.
I would like to feel like I get feedback with my money.
Give me a list of projects. Let me pick which one to finance and toss me a reward for the money. The financed stuff gets made, the unfinanced doesn't.
Kickstarter, at least for comics and short films, is proving to be the most profitable way to make one. I know writers and artists who have made far better than what a publisher ever paid them and they made it all IN ADVANCE.
There have already been games on there pulling over a million in a weekend. A WEEKEND.
I think an MMO studio that tries a similar model would have happier customers, fatter wallets, and a better product.
Imagine if instead of just buying ZEN, you pledged to a game feature. You get a reward and some ZEN, based on the size of your pledge. You see a % bar for how financed the project is. The bar fills up and the project to add the feature starts. Dividends/bonuses and all that jazz get budgeted into the projects.
I just know that if an MMO ever adopts a Kickstarter inspired financing model for its content, I'll drop any and all games for that one, pretty much regardless of the IPs of the games I'd be leaving or the game I'd be running towards.
ROFL. Throwing money at projects doesn't make your wishes come true, Kickstarter or no.
I can't help but to find it ironic that they want people to act more maturely on the forums when Cryptic pulls such stunts.
And many long-term supporters pretty much are tired of acting nice and Cryptic stepping on their toes. And we shouldn't be blamed at all for going off the handle, when Cryptic is directly messing withour playstyles because it doesn't suit their tastes. So we shouldn't be scolded and "act our age" when they mistreat us.
They added the costs to the General Recruitment, hurting our progress in the Starbse system and makes it harder for us with the new Reputation system. Those that are arn't harmed are those in Large Fleets where people chip in, or the very wealthy players who can snub costs.
They completely redo the STF system, completely ignoring players who been working hard to unlock those Elite Sets, and forcing them to start over. Thent telling them if they want the sets, they have to part with 100,000 Dilithium? (Even more for [Borg] Weapons.
Then there is more grind added.
Enter the Hive, well pretty much everyone going WTF after playing it and saying, "we waited 3 years for this?" Which ends up something that appears to been thrown together at the last minute.
And they expect us to act rationally when they do this to us? It's no different than someone running over a person, backing up, running them over again, and going "oh well" as they put it into drive and run over us again one last time.
If they go ahead with these changes without anykind of negotation, it will be a powerful sign what they really think of their customers. Do they really care as they keep trying to convey, or they finally going to show their true colors and telling us to "Deal with it or get out".
(Caution: Wall of text to follow.)
But Azurian! Cryptic have metrics that totally defy all these baseless accusations that we childish forum goers are trying to throw a tantrum about! Why on earth would they listen to the unreasonable mob when they very clearly have their sales and analytics guys telling them their product is selling like a McDonalds' Big Mac?
...Ok, sorry. This forum has a bad habit of making me forget to take my sarcasm hat off at the door.
As honest and well-intended as your post is, if you will forgive me for saying, it's also a little naive.
Please don't take that as a personal criticism, as I find your commentary both intelligent and insightful, but therein lies the problem -
Cryptic, as a company marketing an F2P game, are not targeting intelligent players any more. That is abundantly clear in their marketing decisions of late, and it's something I see a heck of a lot at my own place of employment. I will spare the specifics of who I work for, but I will say two things:
It's a large media company.
Its principal source of revenue is from advertising.
...Both are points that my company share in common with Cryptic and Perfect World. This is the proverbial difference between Pay TV and Free to Air - the latter relies pretty much entirely on advertising revenue and the notion of 'the hard sell', and the idea that while 90% of your audience is consuming your product for free, it is paid for by the 10% of people who are actually suckered in to responding to the advertising.
Their main money-maker is the impulse buyer.
STO is no different. It's a business model that makes money, and there is nothing wrong with that.
My own own network's editorial sections are practically spammed with public commentary (just like the STO forums) that ranges from empathy to outright hate, and all for the same reasons we see here. The haters, until recently, were largely ignored, because the company has metrics telling us exactly what people are doing, how much they are doing it, all the while cross referencing it to their other browsing habits*.
In turn, the content we produce is then tailored to those browsing habits. We feed them more of what we know is rating well, and less of what we know is rating badly. Even the tone is adjusted to suit their likely moods (which you can usually work out by the day's top-rating stories...)
This is the problem with metrics. They give you phenomenally deep audience insights, but do so without any recognition of the fact that there is a person behind each and every click of the mouse, and a lot of media agencies (my own included) are beginning to understand that something as involving and interactive as online media needs to be audience-centric. The metrics give you the data on what sells, but it doesn't give you the data you need on how to handle the PR.
For our part, the way we addressed that was to simply be responsive to feedback. Shocking, I know, and simple to the point of absurdity. Involve the audience. Challenge the haters, and let them know that if their arguments are sound and logical, then we will act on their grievances. Indeed, it's not uncommon now for our editor-in-chief to individually respond to certain comments, take their feedback on board, and actually implement their requested change (so long as it is reasonable) visibly and quickly with a gentle thank you and an acknowledgement that their feedback was valuable.
On the other hand, mass-silence, or the appearance of total arrogance as we sit on-high in the Kingdom of Fornications We Do Not Give was a great way to feed simmering anger.
Cryptic have the metrics, but from everything we've seen since PWE took over, their handling of the PR has been utterly abysmal.
(I might consider continuing this conversation, and how it relates to my own profession in private should anyone wish to send PMs, but I'll not divulge much else in such public forum.)
(*The amount of things I could tell you about the sorts of information that news and media websites are farming from you and your unique I.P. address would terrify you, but this is another story...)
But since the 1000 Day Fiasco, I can't help but to think PW's really started ramping up the greed factor.
I wouldn't say that the 1,000 day Vet reward was a Fiasco or a matter of Greed. To be honest it was a very smart move on CRYPTIC's part. The game is F2P and it is a chance to offer sales to many new customers.
Besides its not like a LTS offer much, anything that is of any real value are the Playable Borg Character and the recent Chimera Class, both don't merit the 300 dollars price tag.
Not necessarily so, they still have many themes to draw from. Ships that can find themselves in the boxes are:
1) The Time ship from the Voyager episodes "Year of Hell Pt 1&2"
2) Kazon Cruiser (eeeeeeew)
3) Alien Vessel - U.S.S. Daedalus
4) Tin Man from the TNG Series
5) Breen Warship
6) Cardassian Obsidian Order keldon Class warship
7) Andorian escort
8) Canon Federation Vessels to minor for the CStore
9) Maquis Vessel
10) Bajoran Fighter and warships
11) The Fesarius from the TOS episode "The Corbomite Maneuver"
12) Romulan Theme vessels of various kind
and so on... that was to name a few / including themes
and they "offered" a new Lifetime Subscriber deal,
Again there is no real issues with the LTS deal, good move from CRYPTIC to generate LTS sales. As of date, LTS is not worth the price for what STO has become, so any sales with special offers on LTS, is a smart move.
but now seems the emphasis on making Dilithium more scarse. So scarce that people would start to buy Dilithium from the Exchange with their Zen. Zen that very much would come from real money than LT Stripeneds.
That does seem to be their agenda, though the LTS stipend is a small bone to appease, and probably something that people who are interested in buying a LTS can look at before purchasing. Not worth it IMO.
What is most disturbing is the entire shifting of the game to a more diehard grinding mechanic. I don't mind a Grind, but making it the heart and essence of STO has made it a second job for many.
When the game becomes a second job it ceases to be fun anymore, besides everything is so centered on Dilithium.
Seriously though, Mr. Rivera. If you read this, I get what you meant, but at what point did posting that to start with seem like a remotely good idea? You had to know that was going to end badly.
Ummm ... at the same point You decided to make a forum sig that lol'z (or trolls) at the fans ?
You like to "lol" and so does he .
I found it ironic that you don't recognize yourself in him .
and was the post that Archabaddon wrote, was it really that far off from how the forums are, no it was pretty much how they are, and everyone who got mad at it, are pretty much the one's that do what it says.
Perhaps , but I'm going on the assumption that "Archabaddon" is either a STO fan or a STO hater .
If a STO fan says that ... , well you know what , I'm sure he ain't alone (looking at Terilynn Shull) .
If a STO hater says that ... well , it's good that he kept his opinion on such a remote page . (how DID Al come about such a frak'n remote page ? Too busy working hard I guess .:rolleyes:)
Would you take people who just scream at you and insult you serious, i know I would not.
Perhaps , but if you look at a hater mob , do you seriously wonder who hates more ?
I know I don't .
And since Al't tweet had the unintended side effect of making him just like the rest of us ... -- he likes throwing poo too , just like "Archabaddon" (who took a looong time to write up that forum hater post BTW -- my guess is that he likes to write and he thought he was being eloquent) .
And it does not matter either that Al's made his post by a tweet , and not by coming here and posting that FU forums rant .
I did not distance him from us in the slightest . Just the opposite . He's just like us .
Yey ?
This would have been different if he started name calling
Ahhh , the old "but he started it" .
Yep ... you've got your 5 year old maturity right there .
With all these Dilithium prices going up, the most important question I have is: Have they eliminated the 8k / day limit cap? Otherwise it's gonna be super-obnoxious. I mean, while I'm a newer player and I -love- playing the game (been playing for about 6 months now), sure, I've spent cash for c-points / now zen, and while not a lifer, I pay to play to be gold every month. However, I've always felt kinda like a scolded child that I couldn't refine more than 8k worth of dilithium / day.
Sure it's not often I grinded out that much anyways, because I knew that even if I did, I would be (and was when I did) annoyed that I couldn't get what I wanted because of some dev-imposed limitation that is a pita. For true F2P people who haven't spent any money on the game, an 8k / day limitation I can understand. But people who are gold members / lifetime members that have spent money on the game, honestly, that limitation needs to go away.
And now I've typed way more than I meant to. Anyways, my 2 creds worth on refining dilithium.
To whoever said there was a new t3 set, yes you get to cross dress in other factions old stf gear.
... AFTER your fleet, assuming you are in one, creates an embassy with those 20 k doff that cost dilithium now :cool:
And the lockboxs running out and being over, never happening. there will be lockboxes sold after the servers go dark belee dat.
If they'd simply come out and said season 7, revamp stf's and pricing on doff's since you all progressed with fleet projects too rapidly we had to do it, I wouldn't complain.
But when they decide to advertise all new content ! Ps. it's the stf gear and pps. it now costs dil I am going to complain yes.
Simply because that gear is not new.
I am working hard to get the assignments and doff's I consider useful done prior to s7. and then I will at least partially invest in hogging doff's before the patch so I can profit on others' misery.
Either way, I make it or not, I am not paying a days worth of dil. for a doff - if it comes to that I will be content with what I got.
I can only imagine how much doff veterans call pull out of this..
I pity the people who are going to try and complete doff'ing in the future just like my heart goes ou to the fleet people.
And those fleet people who haven't gotten to the doff costing projects yet, but will after season 7, are going to have to pay a lot more too bad for them.
More for less would seem to be the theme of seaon 7
But again the main thing is having to regrind for old items and trying to sell it as new is completely unacceptable.
But when they decide to advertise all new content ! Ps. it's the stf gear and pps. it now costs dil I am going to complain yes.
Simply because that gear is not new.
I am working hard to get the assignments and doff's I consider useful done prior to s7. and then I will at least partially invest in hogging doff's before the patch so I can profit on others' misery.
Either way, I make it or not, I am not paying a days worth of dil. for a doff - if it comes to that I will be content with what I got.
I can only imagine how much doff veterans call pull out of this..
I pity the people who are going to try and complete doff'ing in the future just like my heart goes ou to the fleet people.
And those fleet people who haven't gotten to the doff costing projects yet, but will after season 7, are going to have to pay a lot more too bad for them.
More for less would seem to be the theme of seaon 7
But again the main thing is having to regrind for old items and trying to sell it as new is completely unacceptable.
Well said!
They're not gonna take away the Borg sets we already possess, though, are they?! If so, I'm out of here today even!
And if doffs are going to cost dilithium as well, then I will tell PWE where... well, finishing this sentence would no doubt generate content which violates the Perfect World Entertainment Community Rules and Policies. You get the gist, though.
Ummm ... at the same point You decided to make a forum sig that lol'z (or trolls) at the fans ?
You like to "lol" and so does he .
I found it ironic that you don't recognize yourself in him .
Big difference between a yellow-name developer and a random forum-goer like me poking fun. He's a representative of the company for all intents and purposes. I'm just some guy.
Besides, anyone with the Dyson spheres to be offended at people having something they didn't "earn" while at the same time owning something they themselves didn't earn, deserves to be trolled. Naturally this doesn't apply to people who earned their Gal-X or simply never bought it.
Yeah, but wasn't that with a few malcontents, not a good majority of their customers?
Oh no doubt.
Sure there were times we were disgruntled, but they worked with us to find that middle ground.
But since the 1000 Day Fiasco, I can't help but to think PW's really started ramping up the greed factor. They are at their limits with lockboxes, and they "offered" a new Lifetime Subscriber deal, but now seems the emphasis on making Dilithium more scarse. So scarce that people would start to buy Dilithium from the Exchange with their Zen. Zen that very much would come from real money than LT Stripeneds.
Personally, such a move makes me highly nervous. It seems like something you seen Mafia movies like the Godfather or those movies with Al Capone.
Again, that's just me. But it makes me question who Perfect World really is.
Cant really say i am surprised, i wondered how long it would be till they nerf'ed the free lockbox keys from grinded dilth thing............the game now is all about shiny fluff, buying zen from your wallet, and keeping all those FTP lockbox openers who dont use the forums wanting more.
No I don't think they will lock your current stf sets I should hope not :eek:
But the whole omega rep is build on 2-year-old STF gear and there is just no way you can pass that as "new".
And no it's not new simply because you slap some other stats on it.
The stats are hilarious in themselves too though, +20 knockdown ? Is there anything I could possibly be more indifferent about ? More random shield heals whatever, don't care for it.
So why am I grinding stf in season 7 again ? Keep in mind the dil reward for completing those is still being discussed...
Way to take a worn out map and make it worse.
And recycling the tactical's ability to beam personal down is budget coding just like adding numbers to the damage in the script.
You aren't adding anything to the game there is nothing new. I heard a developer say they are working on building your own kits so I can't really be impressed with getting a cut down (non combat or consumable) budget, replica version of 1 tac. ability as an end game reward...
The end game reward is a consumable... what would I be paying for those ? Dilithium ?
Gimme a break
Meanwhile why aren't my boff's able to wear omega/honor gear ? I know it's not a clipping issue because my own alien character has no problems.
Why weren't all armors available for both factions to begin with if it's a joined venture?
Where will you get stf or borg weapons from in season 7 ?
And if the story is we are now working with the romulans why aren't their ships and armor available ?
But Azurian! Cryptic have metrics that totally defy all these baseless accusations that we childish forum goers are trying to throw a tantrum about! Why on earth would they listen to the unreasonable mob when they very clearly have their sales and analytics guys telling them their product is selling like a McDonalds' Big Mac?
...Ok, sorry. This forum has a bad habit of making me forget to take my sarcasm hat off at the door.
As honest and well-intended as your post is, if you will forgive me for saying, it's also a little naive.
Please don't take that as a personal criticism, as I find your commentary both intelligent and insightful, but therein lies the problem -
Cryptic, as a company marketing an F2P game, are not targeting intelligent players any more. That is abundantly clear in their marketing decisions of late, and it's something I see a heck of a lot at my own place of employment. I will spare the specifics of who I work for, but I will say two things:
It's a large media company.
Its principal source of revenue is from advertising.
...Both are points that my company share in common with Cryptic and Perfect World. This is the proverbial difference between Pay TV and Free to Air - the latter relies pretty much entirely on advertising revenue and the notion of 'the hard sell', and the idea that while 90% of your audience is consuming your product for free, it is paid for by the 10% of people who are actually suckered in to responding to the advertising.
Their main money-maker is the impulse buyer.
STO is no different. It's a business model that makes money, and there is nothing wrong with that.
My own own network's editorial sections are practically spammed with public commentary (just like the STO forums) that ranges from empathy to outright hate, and all for the same reasons we see here. The haters, until recently, were largely ignored, because the company has metrics telling us exactly what people are doing, how much they are doing it, all the while cross referencing it to their other browsing habits*.
In turn, the content we produce is then tailored to those browsing habits. We feed them more of what we know is rating well, and less of what we know is rating badly. Even the tone is adjusted to suit their likely moods (which you can usually work out by the day's top-rating stories...)
This is the problem with metrics. They give you phenomenally deep audience insights, but do so without any recognition of the fact that there is a person behind each and every click of the mouse, and a lot of media agencies (my own included) are beginning to understand that something as involving and interactive as online media needs to be audience-centric. The metrics give you the data on what sells, but it doesn't give you the data you need on how to handle the PR.
For our part, the way we addressed that was to simply be responsive to feedback. Shocking, I know, and simple to the point of absurdity. Involve the audience. Challenge the haters, and let them know that if their arguments are sound and logical, then we will act on their grievances. Indeed, it's not uncommon now for our editor-in-chief to individually respond to certain comments, take their feedback on board, and actually implement their requested change (so long as it is reasonable) visibly and quickly with a gentle thank you and an acknowledgement that their feedback was valuable.
On the other hand, mass-silence, or the appearance of total arrogance as we sit on-high in the Kingdom of Fornications We Do Not Give was a great way to feed simmering anger.
Cryptic have the metrics, but from everything we've seen since PWE took over, their handling of the PR has been utterly abysmal.
(I might consider continuing this conversation, and how it relates to my own profession in private should anyone wish to send PMs, but I'll not divulge much else in such public forum.)
(*The amount of things I could tell you about the sorts of information that news and media websites are farming from you and your unique I.P. address would terrify you, but this is another story...)
Yeah consumables I know, I covered that in my last post.
You grind your way to a reward which is a permission to spend dil on a non-permanent item.
I now have PERMISSION to spend dilithium, PERMISSION to spend dilithium, well hold my calls while I open champagne and take my hat off
Better go fire up some alts for that lmao
But I was actually saying storywise if I am trusted by the romulans by "reputation" how does it make sense I can't even get a pair of romulan slippers, they don't trust me right so what's the reputation for if you can't have one anyway :rolleyes:
Heheh it's not the item I am chasing it's how the "reputation" storywise doesn't make any sense, not that I care about "story" either
You have a max reputation with the romulans but they won't even allow you to buy a pair of romulan boots because evidently you can't be trusted with state secrets ableit they have no state and your "reputation" is as high as can go.
Right now this whole kerfuffle over S7 is all over the place. People complaining about so many different things, or supporting things, and everyone's off on their own logical (or illogical) tangents from the central point. The only thing most of it has in common, is that it's largely negative.
So, I've been doing some thinking about this, and more reading, and I've tried to break it down to a core complaint that we, the community, could try and get behind. If we can find a unified voice, it'd be easier for the Devs to listen to what we're saying.
Right?
Ok, so... with that in mind, here's what I've seen as the primary complaints on the forums:
- Rising Dilithium cost of Doff acquisition and upgrading.
- Addition of Dilithium to the cost of acquiring STF gear.
- Additional Dilithium used in Embassy and Reputation progress.
- Lack of 'grandfathering' of existing STF progress under the proposed conversion to Task Force Omega reputation.
That last point, I'm not going to try and address until the fabled Dev Blog that BranFlakes and others have mentioned, sees the light of day.
As for the others, they all have one big thing in common: Dilithium. And the fact that our daily limit is, well, limited. There's only so much that can go around for any single player, and increasing the amount asked of those players on a daily basis is a strain. Many high-end players already have outlets for the vast majority of their daily Dilithium acquisition, and see the addition of more and more Dilithium cost into the systems, as a nerf to their spending power.
It isn't really, but it's a perceptual thing.
It's a matter of budgeting, and I'm going to assume that most players complaining about this Dilithium crunch are at the edge of their budget. They already have outlets for their 8,000 per day, and asking them to spend more is actually asking them to give up what they've already decided they're doing with it. So instead of being able to spend it on Starbases, Zen and new Gear, they now have to spend the exact same amount on Starbases, Zen, Gear, Doffs, Embassy, and Reputations. Dividing the same lump sum into more different little pots, diminishing all of them.
Yes, players have the CHOICE of being able to ignore any of those little pots if they'd like to focus their spending. But players don't want that - they don't want to have to choose, and have artificial limits put on their experience. When something new comes out, they want to be able to experience the new thing, AND what they've already been doing, not make a choice.
It sounds selfish when I put it that way, and maybe it is a little, but it's no less true. The increase in the number and amount of Dilithium sinks in the game makes players feel as though their ability to progress in any single system is diminished by the existence of the others.
If you've read this far, then hopefully you think I'm onto something. I'm making a lot of assumptions here, but I hope I'm on the right track, because the solution I'm proposing needs solid logic to back it up in order for it to be considered.
That potential solution? Raise the daily Dilithium refinement cap.
Given the relatively low Dilithium costs associated with the Embassy and Reputations (compared to Starbases), a huge hike probably isn't necessary. Something around the order of 10,000 cap would probably allow the bulk of players to have enough extra daily spending power to participate in the new systems without having an enormous impact on their existing habits.
This doesn't completely address the issue of increased Doff prices, as the proposed price hikes are asking players to spend a very large % of their daily Dilithium potential. A cap increase would help, but I seriously feel as though these prices simply need another review. I have a feeling the prices were introduced because the comparison between Zen Doff Pack prices and Dilithium Doff Pack prices were way out of balance. But maybe there's are alternative solutions to increasing the Dilithium cost?
What about introducing Cooldown timers to the Grinder assignments?
Maybe increase the quality of the Zen Doff Packs? Or refine them into more specific categories? (I'd pay a little extra if I knew the pack would be all Tactical, instead of a chance to be Counselors, Chefs and Nurses)
Currently, Zen Doff Packs cannot guarantee a purple, while the Doff Grinder can. Maybe that imbalance should be addressed in a way other than a price hike?
Ultimately, the message I hope that we, as a community, can start to get behind is this:
Please stop decreasing/diluting our daily spending potential, by adding too many additional Dilithium sinks.
(Sorry for the wall of text. I try to avoid these.)
Increasing the Cap is only good for those who grind Dailies and exceed that 8000 Dilithum ceiling.
Personally, I rather they reduced Dilithum costs so casual players could afford it.
I'm a casual player and cannot fathom how people are able to grind out enough dilithium for the cap to matter. It's mind-boggling to me from that perspective. So I'm like you, I'd rather the costs come down across the board. The cap wouldn't matter then, would it?
Personally, I rather they reduced Dilithum costs so casual players could afford it.
The Reputation and Embassy inputs are, from what I've seen on Tribble, very friendly to casuals as a whole. The exception to this may be some of the high-end gear prices that we've been quoted... but honestly, I'm kinda ok with that stuff being expensive enough that a casual player may take a month or two longer to obtain it than a hardcore grinder.
And anyway... it's never going to be fair, is it? A casual player chooses to spend less time in the game earning rewards. They never achieve at the same pace as a hardcore player, and really shouldn't expect the same.
That'd be like a part-time employee that only comes in 15hrs/wk demanding the same pay and benefits as a full-time 40hr/wk worker.
I'm a casual player and cannot fathom how people are able to grind out enough dilithium for the cap to matter. It's mind-boggling to me from that perspective. So I'm like you, I'd rather the costs come down across the board. The cap wouldn't matter then, would it?
It stands noting that the forums are not in any way, shape or form representative of the actual playerbase. For any game (well unless the game IS the forums, which it is not for STO). To claim so is simply a placation for those who participate in them to make themselves feel important.
What you're seeing here is the rants of highly specialized and dedicated people (some of whom claim to not even play the game anymore) with causes to champion. Right now, you're seeing rants that make it seem like "everyone" is a lifer, "everyone" is maxing out the Dilithium cap, "everyone" is at level 50. Last year about this time, people on the forums were kvetching because "everything" was going to the C-Store and you had to buy everything. Now people on the forums are kvetching that "everything" is on the Lobi store and that the C-Store is dead.
Forums always show the upset party. Contented parties don't speak up much on the forums because, well, they're content. They probably have something better to do, leading happier lives. Playing a game they enjoy.
It stands noting that the forums are not in any way, shape or form representative of the actual playerbase. For any game (well unless the game IS the forums, which it is not for STO). To claim so is simply a placation for those who participate in them to make themselves feel important.
What you're seeing here is the rants of highly specialized and dedicated people (some of whom claim to not even play the game anymore) with causes to champion. Right now, you're seeing rants that make it seem like "everyone" is a lifer, "everyone" is maxing out the Dilithium cap, "everyone" is at level 50. Last year about this time, people on the forums were kvetching because "everything" was going to the C-Store and you had to buy everything. Now people on the forums are kvetching that "everything" is on the Lobi store and that the C-Store is dead.
Forums always show the upset party. Contented parties don't speak up much on the forums because, well, they're content. They probably have something better to do, leading happier lives. Playing a game they enjoy.
People who try to minimize the concerns of others while dismissing whatever they have to say as "rants" solely designed to make themselves feel important are just another variation on the theme.
People who try to make themselves appear like the calm voice of reason simply because they don't feel that the issue being discussed is very important are not any different than the sky-is-falling gloom and doom poster.
They just feel more smug about what they are doing is all.
It stands noting that the forums are not in any way, shape or form representative of the actual playerbase. For any game (well unless the game IS the forums, which it is not for STO). To claim so is simply a placation for those who participate in them to make themselves feel important.
What you're seeing here is the rants of highly specialized and dedicated people (some of whom claim to not even play the game anymore) with causes to champion. Right now, you're seeing rants that make it seem like "everyone" is a lifer, "everyone" is maxing out the Dilithium cap, "everyone" is at level 50. Last year about this time, people on the forums were kvetching because "everything" was going to the C-Store and you had to buy everything. Now people on the forums are kvetching that "everything" is on the Lobi store and that the C-Store is dead.
Forums always show the upset party. Contented parties don't speak up much on the forums because, well, they're content. They probably have something better to do, leading happier lives. Playing a game they enjoy.
From your post I'm confused. You spend a lot of time, defending "everything" Cryptic does both on here and on the Massively site (possibly other sites too), so what's your reason for being here? I take it your not happy too with STO or you would be "playing the game you enjoy" and not posting on here.
So why do you post? Maybe you "participate to feel important" or are you also one of the "highly specialized and dedicated people" that like to rant too?
What makes me laugh is that you and the "others" always say people are "ranting" or "whining" if they say they don't like something about STO. Aren't you just being insulting to anyone who disagrees with your stance?
Straight from the mouth of one of the leaders of the CDF - "I tell you what, Haven't spent any money either - I'm a lousy freeloader" - Jonsills 17/12/2014
Comments
I hope that is indeed the case, comments of such magnitude is quite disturbing. It portrays CRYPTIC in a negative light, the studio per se.
Granted that some have spewed hate on the forums, but truth be told when changes are taking the game to an entirely different direction, is it not fair for players to express their opinions on the matter? Even if those opinions may not be entirely accepted by the Devs.
It is not fair to brand the entire community as malcontents and whiners, or even state that they're a bunch of 40yr olds living in their mother's basements. LOL, got to admit it does have some sadistic humor behind the comment.
Regardless of a Dev's level of frustration - They are suppose to be professionals, showing calm and coolness under the most extreme pressure.
I understand you're not going to please everyone, but if a good majority feel certain changes will only harm the outlook and gameplay of the game, as Dev's, they should take a hard look at all options.
I for one am not upset at the Omega marks per se, though I do not like the change. However; What I am speaking about is the new Dilithium cost and the total reverse in a promise made awhile ago.
What promise was that:
That CRYPTIC was going to work on new Ground or even space sets for the STF, while older sets were going to be moved to the Dilithium store. OK, maybe it was not a promise per se, but the idea was strongly urged by a Dev. Something I still would like to see implemented.
A word about season 7 - Its not what I expected, but I am just one person - folks may love and embrace season 7 - but the outlook in these forums about S7 is a bit sad and grim.
I will ask the DEV this question - choose to answer or not
What do you expect from us the consumer and our anticpation of future upcoming seasons?
For me: I expect from a new season new adventures, new high octane edge of your seat story telling etc... I expect some Grind, but not the focus of the entire season of Nerfs and Grinds.
Think for a moment Devs - Season 7 has introduce us to some level of changes in the grinding system, and it also introduced us to some nerfs. I am sure hard work was put into the Romulan segment, and for that I do appreciate that aspect that was implemented. Yet, the semi negative changes does not agree with me.
But then again I can only speak for myself and not the community.
Hopefully when the new content hits the dil from 1 Hand Over Contraband gets me a T1 ship console. Ironically, then, I'd be able to spend more on the Z-store, but not on stuff in the game. And notice how everything in the Z-store is actually WEAKER than dil-spending stuff in S7.
I see what you did there Cryptic. But that's okay, I'd much rather buy out your store than anything from a lockbox.
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Yeah, but wasn't that with a few malcontents, not a good majority of their customers?
Oh no doubt.
Sure there were times we were disgruntled, but they worked with us to find that middle ground.
But since the 1000 Day Fiasco, I can't help but to think PW's really started ramping up the greed factor. They are at their limits with lockboxes, and they "offered" a new Lifetime Subscriber deal, but now seems the emphasis on making Dilithium more scarse. So scarce that people would start to buy Dilithium from the Exchange with their Zen. Zen that very much would come from real money than LT Stripeneds.
Personally, such a move makes me highly nervous. It seems like something you seen Mafia movies like the Godfather or those movies with Al Capone.
Again, that's just me. But it makes me question who Perfect World really is.
What Gozer said was, that new sets or variations will be made roughly every 3-4 months and replace the random drops. The old ones would then move to the regular STF st?re and could be bought with grind currency (EDC).
Well, we did't get new sets, because the dev responsible left (damn side projects) but the old sets are going to the grind st?re... sort of.
I would like to feel like I get feedback with my money.
Give me a list of projects. Let me pick which one to finance and toss me a reward for the money. The financed stuff gets made, the unfinanced doesn't.
Kickstarter, at least for comics and short films, is proving to be the most profitable way to make one. I know writers and artists who have made far better than what a publisher ever paid them and they made it all IN ADVANCE.
There have already been games on there pulling over a million in a weekend. A WEEKEND.
I think an MMO studio that tries a similar model would have happier customers, fatter wallets, and a better product.
Imagine if instead of just buying ZEN, you pledged to a game feature. You get a reward and some ZEN, based on the size of your pledge. You see a % bar for how financed the project is. The bar fills up and the project to add the feature starts. Dividends/bonuses and all that jazz get budgeted into the projects.
ROFL. Throwing money at projects doesn't make your wishes come true, Kickstarter or no.
Raptr profile
(Caution: Wall of text to follow.)
But Azurian! Cryptic have metrics that totally defy all these baseless accusations that we childish forum goers are trying to throw a tantrum about! Why on earth would they listen to the unreasonable mob when they very clearly have their sales and analytics guys telling them their product is selling like a McDonalds' Big Mac?
...Ok, sorry. This forum has a bad habit of making me forget to take my sarcasm hat off at the door.
As honest and well-intended as your post is, if you will forgive me for saying, it's also a little naive.
Please don't take that as a personal criticism, as I find your commentary both intelligent and insightful, but therein lies the problem -
Cryptic, as a company marketing an F2P game, are not targeting intelligent players any more. That is abundantly clear in their marketing decisions of late, and it's something I see a heck of a lot at my own place of employment. I will spare the specifics of who I work for, but I will say two things:
It's a large media company.
Its principal source of revenue is from advertising.
...Both are points that my company share in common with Cryptic and Perfect World. This is the proverbial difference between Pay TV and Free to Air - the latter relies pretty much entirely on advertising revenue and the notion of 'the hard sell', and the idea that while 90% of your audience is consuming your product for free, it is paid for by the 10% of people who are actually suckered in to responding to the advertising.
Their main money-maker is the impulse buyer.
STO is no different. It's a business model that makes money, and there is nothing wrong with that.
My own own network's editorial sections are practically spammed with public commentary (just like the STO forums) that ranges from empathy to outright hate, and all for the same reasons we see here. The haters, until recently, were largely ignored, because the company has metrics telling us exactly what people are doing, how much they are doing it, all the while cross referencing it to their other browsing habits*.
In turn, the content we produce is then tailored to those browsing habits. We feed them more of what we know is rating well, and less of what we know is rating badly. Even the tone is adjusted to suit their likely moods (which you can usually work out by the day's top-rating stories...)
This is the problem with metrics. They give you phenomenally deep audience insights, but do so without any recognition of the fact that there is a person behind each and every click of the mouse, and a lot of media agencies (my own included) are beginning to understand that something as involving and interactive as online media needs to be audience-centric. The metrics give you the data on what sells, but it doesn't give you the data you need on how to handle the PR.
For our part, the way we addressed that was to simply be responsive to feedback. Shocking, I know, and simple to the point of absurdity. Involve the audience. Challenge the haters, and let them know that if their arguments are sound and logical, then we will act on their grievances. Indeed, it's not uncommon now for our editor-in-chief to individually respond to certain comments, take their feedback on board, and actually implement their requested change (so long as it is reasonable) visibly and quickly with a gentle thank you and an acknowledgement that their feedback was valuable.
On the other hand, mass-silence, or the appearance of total arrogance as we sit on-high in the Kingdom of Fornications We Do Not Give was a great way to feed simmering anger.
Cryptic have the metrics, but from everything we've seen since PWE took over, their handling of the PR has been utterly abysmal.
(I might consider continuing this conversation, and how it relates to my own profession in private should anyone wish to send PMs, but I'll not divulge much else in such public forum.)
(*The amount of things I could tell you about the sorts of information that news and media websites are farming from you and your unique I.P. address would terrify you, but this is another story...)
I wouldn't say that the 1,000 day Vet reward was a Fiasco or a matter of Greed. To be honest it was a very smart move on CRYPTIC's part. The game is F2P and it is a chance to offer sales to many new customers.
Besides its not like a LTS offer much, anything that is of any real value are the Playable Borg Character and the recent Chimera Class, both don't merit the 300 dollars price tag.
Not necessarily so, they still have many themes to draw from. Ships that can find themselves in the boxes are:
1) The Time ship from the Voyager episodes "Year of Hell Pt 1&2"
2) Kazon Cruiser (eeeeeeew)
3) Alien Vessel - U.S.S. Daedalus
4) Tin Man from the TNG Series
5) Breen Warship
6) Cardassian Obsidian Order keldon Class warship
7) Andorian escort
8) Canon Federation Vessels to minor for the CStore
9) Maquis Vessel
10) Bajoran Fighter and warships
11) The Fesarius from the TOS episode "The Corbomite Maneuver"
12) Romulan Theme vessels of various kind
and so on... that was to name a few / including themes
Again there is no real issues with the LTS deal, good move from CRYPTIC to generate LTS sales. As of date, LTS is not worth the price for what STO has become, so any sales with special offers on LTS, is a smart move.
That does seem to be their agenda, though the LTS stipend is a small bone to appease, and probably something that people who are interested in buying a LTS can look at before purchasing. Not worth it IMO.
What is most disturbing is the entire shifting of the game to a more diehard grinding mechanic. I don't mind a Grind, but making it the heart and essence of STO has made it a second job for many.
When the game becomes a second job it ceases to be fun anymore, besides everything is so centered on Dilithium.
Ummm ... at the same point You decided to make a forum sig that lol'z (or trolls) at the fans ?
You like to "lol" and so does he .
I found it ironic that you don't recognize yourself in him .
Perhaps , but I'm going on the assumption that "Archabaddon" is either a STO fan or a STO hater .
If a STO fan says that ... , well you know what , I'm sure he ain't alone (looking at Terilynn Shull) .
If a STO hater says that ... well , it's good that he kept his opinion on such a remote page . (how DID Al come about such a frak'n remote page ? Too busy working hard I guess .:rolleyes:)
Perhaps , but if you look at a hater mob , do you seriously wonder who hates more ?
I know I don't .
And since Al't tweet had the unintended side effect of making him just like the rest of us ... -- he likes throwing poo too , just like "Archabaddon" (who took a looong time to write up that forum hater post BTW -- my guess is that he likes to write and he thought he was being eloquent) .
And it does not matter either that Al's made his post by a tweet , and not by coming here and posting that FU forums rant .
I did not distance him from us in the slightest . Just the opposite . He's just like us .
Yey ?
Ahhh , the old "but he started it" .
Yep ... you've got your 5 year old maturity right there .
All of this has happened before; and all of this will happen again. From a mock interview with CCP (EVE Online):
"It sounds like your values have changed."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"We're a company. Our core value is to have no values."
Sure it's not often I grinded out that much anyways, because I knew that even if I did, I would be (and was when I did) annoyed that I couldn't get what I wanted because of some dev-imposed limitation that is a pita. For true F2P people who haven't spent any money on the game, an 8k / day limitation I can understand. But people who are gold members / lifetime members that have spent money on the game, honestly, that limitation needs to go away.
And now I've typed way more than I meant to. Anyways, my 2 creds worth on refining dilithium.
... AFTER your fleet, assuming you are in one, creates an embassy with those 20 k doff that cost dilithium now :cool:
And the lockboxs running out and being over, never happening. there will be lockboxes sold after the servers go dark belee dat.
If they'd simply come out and said season 7, revamp stf's and pricing on doff's since you all progressed with fleet projects too rapidly we had to do it, I wouldn't complain.
But when they decide to advertise all new content ! Ps. it's the stf gear and pps. it now costs dil I am going to complain yes.
Simply because that gear is not new.
I am working hard to get the assignments and doff's I consider useful done prior to s7. and then I will at least partially invest in hogging doff's before the patch so I can profit on others' misery.
Either way, I make it or not, I am not paying a days worth of dil. for a doff - if it comes to that I will be content with what I got.
I can only imagine how much doff veterans call pull out of this..
I pity the people who are going to try and complete doff'ing in the future just like my heart goes ou to the fleet people.
And those fleet people who haven't gotten to the doff costing projects yet, but will after season 7, are going to have to pay a lot more too bad for them.
More for less would seem to be the theme of seaon 7
But again the main thing is having to regrind for old items and trying to sell it as new is completely unacceptable.
Well said!
They're not gonna take away the Borg sets we already possess, though, are they?! If so, I'm out of here today even!
And if doffs are going to cost dilithium as well, then I will tell PWE where... well, finishing this sentence would no doubt generate content which violates the Perfect World Entertainment Community Rules and Policies. You get the gist, though.
Big difference between a yellow-name developer and a random forum-goer like me poking fun. He's a representative of the company for all intents and purposes. I'm just some guy.
Besides, anyone with the Dyson spheres to be offended at people having something they didn't "earn" while at the same time owning something they themselves didn't earn, deserves to be trolled. Naturally this doesn't apply to people who earned their Gal-X or simply never bought it.
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Cant really say i am surprised, i wondered how long it would be till they nerf'ed the free lockbox keys from grinded dilth thing............the game now is all about shiny fluff, buying zen from your wallet, and keeping all those FTP lockbox openers who dont use the forums wanting more.
Max profit for min effort. lol
No I don't think they will lock your current stf sets I should hope not :eek:
But the whole omega rep is build on 2-year-old STF gear and there is just no way you can pass that as "new".
And no it's not new simply because you slap some other stats on it.
The stats are hilarious in themselves too though, +20 knockdown ? Is there anything I could possibly be more indifferent about ? More random shield heals whatever, don't care for it.
So why am I grinding stf in season 7 again ? Keep in mind the dil reward for completing those is still being discussed...
Way to take a worn out map and make it worse.
And recycling the tactical's ability to beam personal down is budget coding just like adding numbers to the damage in the script.
You aren't adding anything to the game there is nothing new. I heard a developer say they are working on building your own kits so I can't really be impressed with getting a cut down (non combat or consumable) budget, replica version of 1 tac. ability as an end game reward...
The end game reward is a consumable... what would I be paying for those ? Dilithium ?
Gimme a break
Meanwhile why aren't my boff's able to wear omega/honor gear ? I know it's not a clipping issue because my own alien character has no problems.
Why weren't all armors available for both factions to begin with if it's a joined venture?
Where will you get stf or borg weapons from in season 7 ?
And if the story is we are now working with the romulans why aren't their ships and armor available ?
You can call in Romulan ships now as operational Assets thanks to the fleet embassy....
You. For president. Today.
You grind your way to a reward which is a permission to spend dil on a non-permanent item.
I now have PERMISSION to spend dilithium, PERMISSION to spend dilithium, well hold my calls while I open champagne and take my hat off
Better go fire up some alts for that lmao
But I was actually saying storywise if I am trusted by the romulans by "reputation" how does it make sense I can't even get a pair of romulan slippers, they don't trust me right so what's the reputation for if you can't have one anyway :rolleyes:
Give it time, my sources indicate a Romulan lockbox is on the horizon. :rolleyes:
You have a max reputation with the romulans but they won't even allow you to buy a pair of romulan boots because evidently you can't be trusted with state secrets ableit they have no state and your "reputation" is as high as can go.
So, I've been doing some thinking about this, and more reading, and I've tried to break it down to a core complaint that we, the community, could try and get behind. If we can find a unified voice, it'd be easier for the Devs to listen to what we're saying.
Right?
Ok, so... with that in mind, here's what I've seen as the primary complaints on the forums:
- Rising Dilithium cost of Doff acquisition and upgrading.
- Addition of Dilithium to the cost of acquiring STF gear.
- Additional Dilithium used in Embassy and Reputation progress.
- Lack of 'grandfathering' of existing STF progress under the proposed conversion to Task Force Omega reputation.
That last point, I'm not going to try and address until the fabled Dev Blog that BranFlakes and others have mentioned, sees the light of day.
As for the others, they all have one big thing in common: Dilithium. And the fact that our daily limit is, well, limited. There's only so much that can go around for any single player, and increasing the amount asked of those players on a daily basis is a strain. Many high-end players already have outlets for the vast majority of their daily Dilithium acquisition, and see the addition of more and more Dilithium cost into the systems, as a nerf to their spending power.
It isn't really, but it's a perceptual thing.
It's a matter of budgeting, and I'm going to assume that most players complaining about this Dilithium crunch are at the edge of their budget. They already have outlets for their 8,000 per day, and asking them to spend more is actually asking them to give up what they've already decided they're doing with it. So instead of being able to spend it on Starbases, Zen and new Gear, they now have to spend the exact same amount on Starbases, Zen, Gear, Doffs, Embassy, and Reputations. Dividing the same lump sum into more different little pots, diminishing all of them.
Yes, players have the CHOICE of being able to ignore any of those little pots if they'd like to focus their spending. But players don't want that - they don't want to have to choose, and have artificial limits put on their experience. When something new comes out, they want to be able to experience the new thing, AND what they've already been doing, not make a choice.
It sounds selfish when I put it that way, and maybe it is a little, but it's no less true. The increase in the number and amount of Dilithium sinks in the game makes players feel as though their ability to progress in any single system is diminished by the existence of the others.
If you've read this far, then hopefully you think I'm onto something. I'm making a lot of assumptions here, but I hope I'm on the right track, because the solution I'm proposing needs solid logic to back it up in order for it to be considered.
That potential solution? Raise the daily Dilithium refinement cap.
Given the relatively low Dilithium costs associated with the Embassy and Reputations (compared to Starbases), a huge hike probably isn't necessary. Something around the order of 10,000 cap would probably allow the bulk of players to have enough extra daily spending power to participate in the new systems without having an enormous impact on their existing habits.
This doesn't completely address the issue of increased Doff prices, as the proposed price hikes are asking players to spend a very large % of their daily Dilithium potential. A cap increase would help, but I seriously feel as though these prices simply need another review. I have a feeling the prices were introduced because the comparison between Zen Doff Pack prices and Dilithium Doff Pack prices were way out of balance. But maybe there's are alternative solutions to increasing the Dilithium cost?
What about introducing Cooldown timers to the Grinder assignments?
Maybe increase the quality of the Zen Doff Packs? Or refine them into more specific categories? (I'd pay a little extra if I knew the pack would be all Tactical, instead of a chance to be Counselors, Chefs and Nurses)
Currently, Zen Doff Packs cannot guarantee a purple, while the Doff Grinder can. Maybe that imbalance should be addressed in a way other than a price hike?
Ultimately, the message I hope that we, as a community, can start to get behind is this:
Please stop decreasing/diluting our daily spending potential, by adding too many additional Dilithium sinks.
(Sorry for the wall of text. I try to avoid these.)
Personally, I rather they reduced Dilithum costs so casual players could afford it.
I'm a casual player and cannot fathom how people are able to grind out enough dilithium for the cap to matter. It's mind-boggling to me from that perspective. So I'm like you, I'd rather the costs come down across the board. The cap wouldn't matter then, would it?
The Reputation and Embassy inputs are, from what I've seen on Tribble, very friendly to casuals as a whole. The exception to this may be some of the high-end gear prices that we've been quoted... but honestly, I'm kinda ok with that stuff being expensive enough that a casual player may take a month or two longer to obtain it than a hardcore grinder.
And anyway... it's never going to be fair, is it? A casual player chooses to spend less time in the game earning rewards. They never achieve at the same pace as a hardcore player, and really shouldn't expect the same.
That'd be like a part-time employee that only comes in 15hrs/wk demanding the same pay and benefits as a full-time 40hr/wk worker.
^This, rather than them setting the bar a tad higher and us trying to reach it.
It stands noting that the forums are not in any way, shape or form representative of the actual playerbase. For any game (well unless the game IS the forums, which it is not for STO). To claim so is simply a placation for those who participate in them to make themselves feel important.
What you're seeing here is the rants of highly specialized and dedicated people (some of whom claim to not even play the game anymore) with causes to champion. Right now, you're seeing rants that make it seem like "everyone" is a lifer, "everyone" is maxing out the Dilithium cap, "everyone" is at level 50. Last year about this time, people on the forums were kvetching because "everything" was going to the C-Store and you had to buy everything. Now people on the forums are kvetching that "everything" is on the Lobi store and that the C-Store is dead.
Forums always show the upset party. Contented parties don't speak up much on the forums because, well, they're content. They probably have something better to do, leading happier lives. Playing a game they enjoy.
Raptr profile
People who try to minimize the concerns of others while dismissing whatever they have to say as "rants" solely designed to make themselves feel important are just another variation on the theme.
People who try to make themselves appear like the calm voice of reason simply because they don't feel that the issue being discussed is very important are not any different than the sky-is-falling gloom and doom poster.
They just feel more smug about what they are doing is all.
From your post I'm confused. You spend a lot of time, defending "everything" Cryptic does both on here and on the Massively site (possibly other sites too), so what's your reason for being here? I take it your not happy too with STO or you would be "playing the game you enjoy" and not posting on here.
So why do you post? Maybe you "participate to feel important" or are you also one of the "highly specialized and dedicated people" that like to rant too?
What makes me laugh is that you and the "others" always say people are "ranting" or "whining" if they say they don't like something about STO. Aren't you just being insulting to anyone who disagrees with your stance?