Again, Warning to those voting with their wallets.
(Maybe I should put this in my Sig?)
Boycotting STO resulting in falling profits will just get it shut down.
They don't care.
Just pay for what you want in game, you don't need everything at once.
Don't buy into NWN, that way they will keep supporting STO.
it isn't just cryptic, that's the part you're forgetting, it's also pwe, and they want to make cash, an established game with an established player base that gets ticked off because of changes,,,they're not going to dump the game. starting to think you're a shill, doom and gloom to try and scare people into staying and paying.
cheaper and easier just to modify what they're doing to keep the game alive and the players happy. cheaper how you ask? because shutting down the servers = 0 revenue, all the code, all the work comes to zero.
altering the content to something the players want = revenue.
so, huge loss shutting down the servers
big gains modifying S7
why i wonder if you work for cryptic or pwe...obvious choice is obvious yet you keep spouting doom, when no other mmo has ever done that in the face of a boycott.
and if they did? good riddance. perhaps somewhere down the road CBS will allow another company to use the star trek IP to make another mmo. whomever it would be can't do a worse job than cryptic has.
Dr. Patricia Tanis ~ "Bacon is for sycophants and products of incest."
Donate Brains, zombies in Washington DC are starving.
Yeaaaah, Cause someone is going to look at their resume and say
Well this person has exceptional skills, and is exactly what we are looking for....oh but no wait he worked for X company, and even though he is what we are looking for, and had nothing to do with what went on in X company we wont hire him...let's hire that other guy who is pretty bad at his job, and got fired at Y company for stealing , but Y company is great and we only hire from Y company no matter what.
It all depends on if some one's pal decides to be truthful and put "big time forum troll" in their job referral...
They won't shut down STO, PWE just paid 50mil for it a year or so back, currently they have 2 incomes (1 from champ 1 from STO) why would you kill off 1 income stream because some people stop paying money as they are ticked off.
What I hope happens is that people will get ticked off (i know i have) and vote by not spending money or "as much money" on STO, this will then show that people are not happy and hope things start getting better.
If people keep spending money Cryptic/PWE think they are doing the correct thing and giving people what they want (no matter what is said here).
I really don't like the changes in S7 at all, I will keep playing but I will not be spending as much time or any money on STO, I may move to another MMO where I will spend money for things I want and think are value for money.
STO is not value for money to me anymore.
When NW comes out I may have a look at it but I have seen this happen to Champs now STO so it's only a matter of time before the same thing happens to the new baby (NW) as well.
Let's just remember that if They roll out of it, we fall too.
If STO gets shut down,it's not because we 'boycotted' the game....it's dumb decisions made,not for gameplay reasons,but for sheer greed that drives people,and their money,away to other games.
And thlaylierah,that is some nerve you have for trying to guilt trip me for not wanting to spend money on this money trap they have the gaul to call game.Go stand in the corner and think about what you did.....and no supper for you!
I think it would suck that some really good people would lose their jobs. It'd be squandered potential. I'd lose my shiny virtual stuff, which is the least important of these.
But I don't think players should really concern themselves with the health of the game when supplying feedback or making decisions about whether or not to spend. Love it or leave it and let the argument fall on the devs why people should spend money or stay if they aren't feeling it.
I know a game dev who said once that he wished players didn't see themselves as investors and just treated each purchase as exactly what they were getting for exactly the price listed, with no interest in supporting the future.
Again, I'd like more of a Kickstarter model where the players actually shape development with money and where the items are "thank you" party favors. But do not mistake any existing MMO for that.
When you buy a ship here, you aren't investing in projects down the line. You're buying access to a ship. When you buy a lifetime sub, you aren't contributing to the game's survival, you are making a purchase for access and a list of goods. There is no magic happy funtime goodwill charity here. These are purchases. Make your decisions at the margins because that's how the money will be spent once they have it.
The question is here......are you getting your money's worth?
The PWE/Cryptic sweatshop...not where the game is made,but where the game is played!
Take back your home,end the grind!
Volunteer moderators policing the forums is like a mall cop trying to solve a murder.
They can always put on their next job application that they worked on the wildly popular online sensation known as Star Trek Online.
On second thought, that might do more harm than good.
Just as I can't imagine anyone actually admitting they work for Zynga. I really hate that company.
In the entertainment industry, they judge you by your references, your service history, and your portfolio.
You could work on a smash failure and if YOUR work is good and people say you're hardworking, talented, and easy to work with, it's not gonna hurt a ship artist or junior producer.
I can't think of anyone who would turn someone AWAY for working on significantly inferior games to STO.
Honestly, the folks in the worst positions if something did happen (and it won't, for a long time) would probably be Thomas, Jeremy, and Kestrel since the first two have less than five years' game experience and Kestrel would probably have pretty stable work going back to content, which she has years of background in -- but might find the writing market harsher. I think people judge writers harder and everybody tends to have a writer already in mind for their project. But she'd probably have a shot at Trek novels and TV work OR content. (I know one of the writers on Leverage and he got his start with the Strange New Worlds Trek stuff. Honestly, Kestrel's magazine pieces could be the foundation of a strong career outside gaming altogether if she had the time to focus on it.) It's just harder, I suspect, to get a good "loremaster" position.
And even in Jeremy and Thomas' cases, they have hustle and did work on a major F2P title.
So, really, I'd feel for the devs if the Cryptic Offices were destroyed in a UFO attack tomorrow but I think they'd be fine after a few hard months.
Again, I think you should put the money where the value for YOU is. Don't pretend its a charity or that you're financing some kind of worthy cause. It's a sales pitch so make them pitch you on it.
Yeaaaah, Cause someone is going to look at their resume and say
Well this person has exceptional skills, and is exactly what we are looking for....oh but no wait he worked for X company, and even though he is what we are looking for, and had nothing to do with what went on in X company we wont hire him...let's hire that other guy who is pretty bad at his job, and got fired at Y company for stealing , but Y company is great and we only hire from Y company no matter what.
So you think a possible employer doesn't look at your history in the business. I guarantee they do. Someone that worked on WoW will be looked at much more favorably than someone that worked on some TRIBBLE game that nobody's ever heard of. That may not make sense to you and it may not be fair, but that's how it is.
In no way am I saying that everyone involved in making STO is a moron. But in the end, success matters. Failure looks bad even if it isn't really your fault.
So my point was that it's in their best interest to make the game successful. Having an attitude of...'it's just a job...the consumers are losers...i don't care if you like the product or not' is indicative of someone who doesn't really care. Why would you hire someone who doesn't care about his work.
Again, I think you should put the money where the value for YOU is. Don't pretend its a charity or that you're financing some kind of worthy cause. It's a sales pitch so make them pitch you on it.
Does people make purchases based on other motives? That's weird. I can't even think acting differently than what you stated. If it's worth it I might buy it, if it's not i definitely won't.
But... There are other parameters: is it pay to win/game breaking? If the answer is yes then there's a problem and probably won't buy it because when i invest my time in a game i want it to last and won't approve that. That's what I did with the Armittage, I boycotted it because it's pay to win. Can I get it for free? If it's possible, i'll find workarounds to get it quicker, especially if it brings me a new challenge to overcome. And finally is it ethical? I know i'll never use anything else but some stipend to buy lockbox keys, and it will remain an exception. Keys are designed to use our human weaknesses to make money, and it's not ethical at all. So it's a huge 'no way' for me.
A purchase isn't only a price and an item, it's also a lot of things you have to consider, and if things are going wrong from my poinf of view you can dream to see my money in your game, even if you're putting the most desirable item everin your store. :P
I'm done with cryptic and pwe. I will continue flying what I currently have u til it can no longer compete. I never wanted to lump cryptic in with the pwe crowd and perhaps they don't want to do the things that pwe is making them do, bit that doesn't change the fact that cryptic = pwe.
Cryptic is now borgified ferengi to me and their purpose is not to achieve perfection, but achieve all money from those inside and outside of their collective. I will resist and resistance is NOT futile.
I AM NOT A FAN OF PWE!!!!
MEMBER SINCE JANUARY 2010
So you think a possible employer doesn't look at your history in the business. I guarantee they do. Someone that worked on WoW will be looked at much more favorably than someone that worked on some TRIBBLE game that nobody's ever heard of. That may not make sense to you and it may not be fair, but that's how it is.
In no way am I saying that everyone involved in making STO is a moron. But in the end, success matters. Failure looks bad even if it isn't really your fault.
So my point was that it's in their best interest to make the game successful. Having an attitude of...'it's just a job...the consumers are losers...i don't care if you like the product or not' is indicative of someone who doesn't really care. Why would you hire someone who doesn't care about his work.
When I hire someone i will look at their history, and compare...if I get someone who worked for a major company, and someone who worked for a small business, I look at their work. If someone who came from a small and limited place, where they did great work with a limited budget, and someone came from a multi million dollar corporation, but the same work cost more...I'm going with the guy who can work on a budget, and still give me quality.
Now if it's two CEO's bidding for a job as CEO of another company, well failure will be number one on that broads agenda.
So you think a possible employer doesn't look at your history in the business. I guarantee they do. Someone that worked on WoW will be looked at much more favorably than someone that worked on some TRIBBLE game that nobody's ever heard of. That may not make sense to you and it may not be fair, but that's how it is.
In no way am I saying that everyone involved in making STO is a moron. But in the end, success matters. Failure looks bad even if it isn't really your fault.
So my point was that it's in their best interest to make the game successful. Having an attitude of...'it's just a job...the consumers are losers...i don't care if you like the product or not' is indicative of someone who doesn't really care. Why would you hire someone who doesn't care about his work.
Cryptic's employees, outside of gaming industry newbies like Thomas and Jeremy, include some of the folks behind the Sims, Blizzard devs, WoW devs, Fallout devs.
The game industry is a high turnover field. I think there are a lot of issues to find with STO but the quality of their hiring stock isn't one of them.
Failure is NOT your fault in creative fields. The expectation is always that your boss or your customers are crazy lunatics who crashed the game. Because that happens. And if you're the boss, the assumption is always that you were saddled with high dividends and low reinvestment and your employees were corporate saboteurs who stole office supplies and put them on eBay.
Having a big project that you're attributed to as the source of its success means, well... It means that you're financially independent and probably not looking for work but starting your own company.
Everybody else runs between successes and failures and they really aren't judged by it unless they get on the 6 O'clock news being arrested for selling office supplies on eBay. Everybody quits jobs. Everybody gets fired. Everybody works on huge hits and bombs. The only sin is having a resume that's too short, lacking basic skills for your job (which may be a LOT of skills), or getting in the news for being a jerk or breaking the law. Anything else goes and nothing else sticks.
This is all creative fields. I mean... Look at Ted McGinley! Patron saint of cancelled TV shows!
Again, my point wasn't that the people working on STO are bad programmers or have inferior skills.
My point was that some of them seem to have a very bad attitude. Maybe in the programming business, it's totally normal and acceptable to think your customers are the enemy. Maybe it's normal to give off the impression that you're perfect and if nobody likes your ideas, it's because they're too stupid to understand your "vision". But I certainly don't see how that would be a helpful attitude.
Some people want to defend every aspect of STO.
But how can you defend things like spelling errors? Using a spellchecker isn't exactly difficult or time-consuming. I understand that they are pushed to get things done on a schedule. But running a spellchecker will cost them an extra 10 minutes a week. While spelling errors may not be a huge issue for most people, to me, it's indicative of a lack of effort.
One of the big complaints about S7 is that it appears to be extremely light on story content. And by light, I mean that it's non-existent. I don't consider a Defera / Tholian type zone to be story content and neither do most people. They claim that creating story missions consumes too many resources and their time is better spent on other things. If they put out 1 new mission every month, people would stop harping on that issue. And believe it or not, it shouldn't be difficult to do. This has been mentioned a million times, but the Foundry is the perfect way to accomplish that. There are countless Foundry missions that are as good as or better than the official story missions. There have been numerous threads about how the Foundry could be used to create official missions. But seemingly, that possibility is ignored. I have no idea why they choose not to take advantage of such a simple possibility. It would cost them virtually nothing and in return would gain them quite a bit of legitimate content. Content that the vast majority of players have been begging/whining/asking/pleading for. Again, I understand that this decision is not made by the lower-ranking employees. And so my annoyance, at least on this issue, is not aimed at them. I imagine the idea has already been pitched and shot down by CBS for "legal reasons".
I didn't like that game enough to keep paying for it, and I don't like that plan enough to even play it for free.
I think I was very much spoiled by (Pre-NGE) SWG...
I tried TOR for three months, I just didn't care for the mechanics of the game...
It seemed overly complicated to me...
(or perhaps my heart just wasn't in it enough, to try and figure it all out)
Granted SWG had a lot of entailed things in it also, but when I first started playing it (SWG) it didn't seem as overwhelming as TOR does.
TOR kinda just throws everything at ya at once, I guess the learning curve is a bit to much for this Old Troll.
I very much doubt I'll be trying it again, when it goes F2P.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
I think I was very much spoiled by (Pre-NGE) SWG...
I tried TOR for three months, I just didn't care for the mechanics of the game...
It seemed way to complicated to me...
(or perhaps my heart just wasn't in it enough, to try and figure it all out)
Granted SWG had a lot of entailed things in it also, but when I first started playing it (SWG) it didn't seem as overwhelming as TOR does.
TOR kinda just throws everything at ya at once, I guess the learning curve is a bit to much for this Old Troll.
I very much doubt I'll be trying when it goes F2P.
IMHO TOR's strongpoint was the storyline, everything at end-game was no different than what we are doing here in STO. Playing the same content over and over again, until the next grind.
To me, what both these MMOs lack is allowing players to do their own thing. In Everquest, ****, and SWG, there was a hundreds of locations you could spend time at. If Cryptic actually opened up the STO galaxy and let us go beyond the borders and go treking to the Gamma or Delta Quadrants, we would feel like our wings have been freed. Let us choose if we want to do PvP, or exploration, or Foundry.
Instead, they make simple maps, add some mega grind missions, and say "there's your content" and if you wanted more they point the way to the Foundry, which is their "content". (Basically they are shirking responsiblity).
...maybe it's because SWG right from the outset, felt like you were actually playing in the Universe that the movies created...
TOR on the other hand seems so far removed from that... (to me anyway)
I kinda-sorta felt outta place while playing the game...
It just didn't 'feel' right to me.
I guess I'm too old to appreciate all the stuff that's been added to that Universe since I saw the movies the first time.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Story Content in STO... clearly it's been cut from the budget in favor of Events and Event Zones. Like many, I don't consider events to be on the same level as featured episodes.
As for The Foundry making up for Story Content, people need to stop bringing it up. Why? Because The Foundry is an unfinished product (because of NeverWinter). I don't foresee Cryptic using it in a major way until all of the finalized Foundry Features from NW are ported over to STO. Plus you have to consider the good chunk of players who play for the rewards or leveling first and story second. Foundry isn't the best place for them atm.
As for The Foundry making up for Story Content, people need to stop bringing it up. Why? Because The Foundry is an unfinished product (because of NeverWinter). I don't foresee Cryptic using it in a major way until all of the finalized Foundry Features from NW are ported over to STO. Plus you have to consider the good chunk of players who play for the rewards or leveling first and story second. Foundry isn't the best place for them atm.
You obviously refering to my post.
First of all, the Foundry is a finished product and has been for a year and a half now.
And I never said Cryptic is going to use it, thats our tool to create our own missions. What I said is that Cryptic is pawning off the responsibility of making story content on us players to keep ourselves busy, while they make these boring grind missions.
...maybe it's because SWG right from the outset, felt like you were actually playing in the Universe that the movies created...
TOR on the other hand seems so far removed from that... (to me anyway)
I kinda-sorta felt outta place while playing the game...
It just didn't 'feel' right to me.
I guess I'm too old to appreciate all the stuff that's been added to that Universe since I saw the movies the first time.
Exactly my point. Older MMOs, we made our own story in huge worlds, but TOR and STO, we live in small boxes doing the things they want us to do. There is no real freedom.
If Cryptic actually opened up the Galaxy to us, things would actually be completely different. I could easily live a real Trek life with unknowns, new aliens, new worlds. My gawd, the possiblities that Cryptic could unleash with that. Instead, the want us kept in this little box....
My point was that some of them seem to have a very bad attitude. Maybe in the programming business, it's totally normal and acceptable to think your customers are the enemy. Maybe it's normal to give off the impression that you're perfect and if nobody likes your ideas, it's because they're too stupid to understand your "vision". But I certainly don't see how that would be a helpful attitude.
I had a great conversation with a friend that put everything in perspective for me. Believe me, I know how you feel, and it just about gave me a stroke on here. And it's NOT flipping out over a game. It's flipping out over feeling mistreated by people. The environment HAPPENS to be a game forum but I think you or I would have the same reaction in the supermarket or movie theater or anywhere like that. I'm a good employee by all accounts. I'm educated. So why have I flipped out here a time or two? Why do you?
Here's the deal:
What we are used to is a retail experience. Someone who acts as a salesperson. A waiter. A waitress. A lawyer. A marketer. Someone who tries to engage us, smooths off all the rough edges. Someone who makes us feel valued and ultimately has a budget to do that, whether directly or through a customer service department or manager or buyer protection plan. Someone selling us multiple products who will comp things, eat costs, and expend labor to make us feel good, to make us feel like secure consumers.
In a typical old school game purchase, that's not the game publisher. That's Best Buy. That's Wal-Mart or Target or GameStop. They all provide a level of buffer and assurance. They can do refunds and exchanges.
Now... We're dealing directly with the publisher and developer. Not just on the forums but in game and with the C-Store and with our purchases.
They have taken over retailer responsibilities but they don't act like luxury good retailers. They haven't budgeted for it. They don't know to budget for it. They may not even realize they're a retailer now. They're running things like a software development studio.
To Geko, what he's doing is what he'd do at any game studio and probably then some when it comes to communication. And he's doing extra here because he maintains a Twitter that he doesn't have to. To Jeremy, he's working his tail off.
And even as far as Brandon goes, he's DOING his job as a communication coordinator for a software development firm. Probably putting in long hours.
And what they're doing is exactly what they'd be doing if there was a retail frontend around the product so they don't see any difference.
But we do.
It's like a department store where they forgot to build a front wall. The guys back in the loading docks out back don't see any difference because their job hasn't been impacted aside from customers acting weird and wandering back there while they spend all day unloading trucks. Brandon is doing his job, relaying messages around the back of the store. And the front wall is missing. The cash registers are half gone and the customer service desk and the bathrooms are missing.
Nothing about any of the devs' jobs is different than it would be if the C-Store items were sold on retail shelves because they're used to retail handling stuff that they don't even know that retail would traditionally handle. PWE is producing the same goods it would otherwise, it's just selling them direct.
But what they didn't realize was that even the worst retailer wasn't just putting things out for sale... but was shmoozing with you as a customer. They were trying to grow your business. They were refunding and exchanging stuff. They were asking you if you needed help. They were giving you directions when you got lost looking for something. They were calling you by name and smiling at you and buttering you up.
And PWE and the development studios never really allowed for the idea that retailers were doing all that when they decided to sell products direct. They had an inkling. They'd been customers, I think. But they never placed the supreme value on the service experience that you or I do. Most of the devs, it wasn't even their job to think about. And it isn't.
But when these publishers and studios started selling things direct, they knew all about making software and even coding the storefront. But they didn't REALLy know running the store.
Now, I know the dev team has people who did retail management before but I'm guessing they never really embraced it religiously (once you get it, it is like joining a religion) or they're too tied up to apply that thought here.
And Brandon is trying to play double duty but he has a whole other job handling internal communications and marketing.
It excuses nothing but it explains everything. If you're feeling frustrated with Jeremy or Geko or Zero or whoever, take a deep breath. I think this probably does need to get directed to higher ups and PWE but the things that are missing and the stuff we're asking for, it's so far removed from what Geko does that he'd never see if we got it or not and he can't see the difference except for how cranky we are. There is an issue but the core of it isn't with rank and file devs, who give their all.
If Cryptic actually opened up the Galaxy to us, things would actually be completely different. I could easily live a real Trek life with unknowns, new aliens, new worlds. My gawd, the possiblities that Cryptic could unleash with that. Instead, the want us kept in this little box....
Even if they "opened the Galaxy" there is this little problem of No where to go..or No Where to Boldly Go
To expand on the Galaxy they would need to take down the borders that divide the sectors which if I recall they won't.
Expand each planet.
Bajor for example, should have been the first Adventure zone for one reason...Deep Space Nine. do your little grind mission on DS9 ENG would fix DS9 because its breaking down, SCI, would scan and study the Wormhole, and other sacrfice things that people bring from the Gamma Quadrant. Tac's would, secure DS9, scan ships and traffic from the worm hole, make sure contraband is not getting by pretty much what Odo did. Then for Bajor Kurtland gives you a mission take a runabout to Bajor and explore it...walk to the Fire caves where we find a cult of the Palwraths, find out True ways are hiding out in the Bajoron mountains while doing all this earning marks for whatever...and also sight see some land marks on Bajor...like the temples...and wow they did not go to Bajor much in the show ...OH!! the farms that Shakaar had. Fleet who finish the epic grind for this would get a Terok Nor Starbase as an option.
Anyhow Don't know how I got into that, but sight seeing was my main point so let me get to Earth...We have the academy already lovely place, looks pretty much what we saw. Now expand it...lets go to France visit the Federation President, while we are there lets go to the Picard vineyards in La Barre France..pick up some bottles for my Starbase...I got some extra Transporter chips lets go to England to Cambridge University, and see Data/B4 at Isaac Newton's house with a housekeeper and several cats RIP Spot...well I'm hungry at this point...Lets go to New Orleans and visit Sisko's Creole Kitchen, and have some food, Star Fleet officers eat for free of course...and it's the only place you can get tube grubs for our Ferengi officers....just watch out for the alligator. At this point I would be tired, so I'll postpone my trip to Iowa...I hear the ruins under San Francisco opened up, where a certain androids head use to be. :eek:
anywho I would love that kind of expand...but i know why we can't, but one can dream.
Sekritagent - Thank you for making me aware of this.
Badname - Thanks for posting about the dilithium DOff costs
PW - <sarcasm> Thank you for returning me to the real-world instead of enjoying a few hours of entertainment every week, these potential new changes are just dandy. </sarcasm>
I was truly looking forward to Season 7 until this morning when I read this.
PW - Shaka, when the walls fell - Season 7 will usher in the end of STO. There is a point when Greed outweighs reason and causes the demise of all profits.
Quark: The way I see it, humans used to be a lot like Ferengi: greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget....Humans used to be a lot worse than Ferengi. Season 7, Grinding, PW's STO; we have nothing in our past that approaches that kind of barbarism
General Recruitment (the basic DOff pack) - 1,000
Reassign Underperforming Officers (crunch 5 into 1 of the next higher quality)
Common - 500 (600 at race specific vendor)
Uncommon - 2500 (3000 at race specific vendor)
Rare - 5000 (6000 at race specific vendor)
Way to take an aspect of a game I really enjoyed and destroy it.
I have been a long time player of STO, but this game is not recognizable as Star Trek Online. There's precious little Star Trek left in it aside from the theme of the ships we fly and mobs we grind. I'm close to being done with Star Trek Online entirely, only active IP or not.
Why are you doing this to us? Do you hate us or are things really that dire financially? Or are you scared of the stockpile of money you think we're sitting on with the stipends?
One minute you're telling us that everything is great and you've doubled the team, but for the past three seasons in a row now, you have given us 3 things on a consistent basis:
More Grind of mindless faceless enemies for ever more grind currencies
Higher Costs for everything including things that used to already not be cheap
Fewer Rewards for things we used to be able to feed back into the system and pay for
If it's a matter of finances, I'd much rather you just pull the damn stipends than keep jerking us around like this...
Season 4:
Lockboxes introduced at Winter Event
Season 5 - More Grind, Higher Costs, Fewer Rewards:
C-Store monthly stipends introduced for gold and lifetime players - and C-Store prices dramatically increased by about 33% across the board to compensate
All existing grind currencies converted to dilithium and it is granted to us ONLY for running STFs, Foundry Daily, and several other grindy dailies
Dilithium Exchange Introduced to convert dilithium to CP and vice versa, effectively legalizing Real Money Trading (RMT)
Defera ground Borg Invasion introduces multiple new grind currencies/objects for items
Duty Officer system introduced, creating new grind currency Commendation XP across 9-10 categories..cxp is raised, slashed, and tweaked ad nauseam
Old grind currency Diplomatic XP is converted to new Commendation XP, but rewards for diplomacy missions outside the Doff system are not scaled up
New grind mission Tour the Universe for Energy Credits, only available maybe twice a day
Reman set introduced in the Vault Shuttle Event for new grind currency Reman Datalogs
Ships went from costing Energy Credits to Dilithium, some of which is bypassed depending on your subscription type
Multiple ships moved from being purchaseable or craftable in-game to the C-Store (Excelsior, Nebula, Delta Flyer)
The T3/T5 Retrofit ships were promised to be bundled together, then reversed the decision
Multiple C-Store items moved from account unlocks to single-item, single-character unlocks in the C-Store
Crafting requires unreplicatable materials of varying grades, sourced from dilithium, on top of stacks of rare and common particle traces...discounts available at random hour of the day
Space STF loot is converted from automatic at completion to one of the 4 new STF grind currencies (random chance drops only for the best items)
Ground STF loot is added again for one of the 4 new STF grind currencies (random chance drops only for the best items)
Space and ground equipment, doffs, and a few other items added for 2 other new STF grind currencies
Lobi Crystal currency added, only available from opening Lockboxes. Paltry 20 given out per toon in a single series of FE reruns, but all the useful items cost 200+
All space sets are modified, Borg set takes a healing proc nerf while the "new" sets see a buff (but Aegis is largely untouched)
Free Odyssey and Bortas given out for Anniversary but pulled after about a week
Season 6 - More Grind, Higher Costs, Fewer Rewards:
Fleet Events are introduced for new grind currency Fleet Marks
Fleet Starbases are introduced which consume vast quantities of dilithium, Fleet Marks, and doffs to build and stock which cost geometrically more per "Tier"
Fleet Credits grind currency introduced as "rewards" for sinking your hard-earned resources into the Fleet base
Optional starbase special projects introduced which cost 200,000 dilithium to upgrade a very small aspect of your Fleet Starbase (tribbles, security officers...a table...)
Contraband-for-dilithium Doff mission costs increased by 66% and takes longer cooldown
Fleet Ships added to STO which are single-purchase, single-character unlocks
Fleet Ships made available behind five separate Fleet Starbase paywalls - a) having the base XP, b) creating the upgrade structure, c) stocking it with provisions AND ON TOP OF EVERYTHING requiring up to 4 "Fleet Ship Modules" from the C-Store AND a sum of Fleet Credits
New Ultra-Rare quality Fleet space and ground equipment available for Fleet Credits, but only behind the same Fleet Starbase paywalls, AND also cost dilithium to purchase alongside the Fleet Credits
Fleet Marks grind currency added to Foundry Daily
Odyssey and Bortas appear again behind the highest tier of the Fleet Starbase paywalls
Doff dismissal rewards slashed to 10% of what they once were
Doffs made available to us from Duty Officer at Fleet Starbase (provided it's sufficient level)
Season 7 - More Grind, Higher Costs, Fewer Rewards (this list is CONFIRMED after some edits; info here and here):
All existing STF grind currencies are eliminated and REPLACED with a different STF grind currency
Existing Reman Datalog grind currency eliminated and REPLACED with a different Romulan grind currency
People who have already completed Mk XII sets will NOT receive any progress in the new Borg STF reputation system, ever. Even though we are playing through the exact same STFs as before.
Borg set broken from 4-piece set to 3-piece and a new set available for the new STF grind currency
Space and ground STF items now cost dilithium in addition to the new STF grind currency (36000 dilithium for each Mk XII piece)
Dilithium rewards will continue to be available from running Normal and Elite STFs, and you can turn in Elite Omega Marks for additional Dilithium (Info here)
Dilithium prices for grinding Duty Officers up from one quality to the next are dramatically increased
Free Academy recruitment Duty Officer packs eliminated and replaced with one that costs dilithium
So, what I'm seeing is indeed, there will be a way to get the XII stuff besides proto drops...
Oh wait, it's a long, expensive grind and the proto drops are now removed. What happens to all my stored salvage and tech pieces from stfs?
I think people would be much, much happier if the drops still happened in S7. That way you would have 2 ways to get the set pieces. As far as weapons... I dunno, if they cost the same as fleet weapons what's the point?
I think people would be much, much happier if the drops still happened in S7. That way you would have 2 ways to get the set pieces. As far as weapons... I dunno, if they cost the same as fleet weapons what's the point?
The funny thing is, that's exactly what they said before.
I recall them stating explicitly that "When new STF sets come out, the old set XII's WILL go to EDC purchase alongside proto tech drops."
Now all of it's being removed. .
What's the point?
edit: I've said it once before ingame... Dilithium works but it's bad.
Bad because well, EVERYTHING requires it, and frankly the prices are really far up there. It honestly seems to me with dilithium you have to sit there and go "Do I want another admiral ship, c-store points, or to help with projects now?" and focus on one thing only because of the prices. I know, hardcore people can max out their characters dilithium refinement every day for all their many alts... but other people (Like me!) get bored and disinterested in doing the exact same things (deferi dailies, etc) on many characters.
Maybe this is the reason behind the Dilithium increase, as we as players will be able to farm Dilithium whilst not actually in game. Effectively increasing Dil by 100s of thousands or more and probably increasing the price of Zen in the exchange.
A Dilithium sink is needed if this happens or Dil becomes pretty much worthless.
Ive read aloot about Season 7 and tried to get the idea why everything is getting so vastly expensive ?
First of.
STF now all gear will cost dilithium insanely amounts of 38.000 per item plus the additional currencys that you need from the unknown system.
Im in my own fleet with just my own toons this is gonna cost me a fortune.
Doff Officers thats allready hard to get will get harder. it will now cost massive amounts of dilithium ? rangeing from 500-30.000 ?
what is exactly cryptic doing here ? why add dilithum to everything ?
If your not adding dilithium to all missions we do. why add the cost of it to everything ?
Dilithium is not really super easy to get unless your doing Elite Stfs wich only gives 1.100 dilithoum wich you proboly will nerfe if i know cryptic
is Startrek online in such a bad shape that you need to force players to convert zen to dilithium to play ?
8.000 dilithium per day convertion ratio is extremly small as well.
how about makeing the limit and dilithium account bound so we dont need to LOG OUT AND type password everytime we need to switch charakter ??
if you got 6 vice admirals you should on 1 toon be able to convert 6 x 8.000 dilithum simple as that.
anyways depending on how much more this dilithium cost is going to be im guessing aloot of players will choose to play another game.
this is horrofying.
BTW did anyone remeber this line "we are cutting down on the number of currencys to make it easier for players"
That was when we had emblems merits and skill points and exploration tokens.
now we got at least TWICE the ammount of currency`s items. when will it be EASIER ?
Tbh instead of the new fleet system to get STF gear why not just make it Doff missions ?
Btw the 20 Doff missions per day Limit Is rediculus upp to to 50 at least.
and btw Gateway idea unless you can do DOFF missions inside of it. i dont see the point of it really.
sry for my angry comments but the game is getting out of hand.
If only they fix Cloaking bugg *new message BOOM decloacked.
You going to have to be more than "efficient" if you wanna clock 100 k dilithium a day... :P
Remote desktop or not
I am concerned about the increase in expense but I am greatly concerned about the lack of content.
As somone who has all the sets on all my characters (just 2 :P) and even on some of my boff's, all weapons and all space sets I am worried that there is next to no new content for me.
Albeit someone just told me there actually is a romulan armor visual assuming your fleet goes for it.
I don't know I might try and get the counter faction's rifle but is it really worth it. (assuming you can get that, I am not on tribble so no idea)
It's like they are assuming everyone is just going to continue to regrind the same stf's unlimited, because that's all we do) and then be happy when they slap a +2.5 % chance to stun on and it doesn't matter they removed all our income and trippled our expenses because everyone is just going to happily play stf over and over.
It's like they missed the point that we playing them for the rewards not because we enjoy playing the same map 900 times, there is simply nothing better to do...
... except maybe doff'ing
Then they hammershark that too where is the common sense in that.
I am at the gates of having the purples I think I need or am willing to buy and I could easily see myself just logging in to set up the for the ones that reward stuff then completely ignore all of season 7 and start hoping for season 8.. or 9.
The second I hit level 50 back in the day I jumped on elite and though I did get carried I had no problems performing my duties and beating the map: I never needed +2% stun to be in the game and so I don't need additional bonuses for a map I am already walking all over, what I need is new maps
It's not like the community is short on suggestion or not verbal enough, while not every suggestion is realistic especially my own - you have to admit that inbetween the good ones and the developers own chance for initiative there could be a lot done.
I guess they just decided that the no. 1 issue with the game right now is people earning too much free dilithium on stf
I have been a long time player of STO, but this game is not recognizable as Star Trek Online. There's precious little Star Trek left in it aside from the theme of the ships we fly and mobs we grind. I'm close to being done with Star Trek Online entirely, only active IP or not.
Why are you doing this to us? Do you hate us or are things really that dire financially? Or are you scared of the stockpile of money you think we're sitting on with the stipends?
One minute you're telling us that everything is great and you've doubled the team, but for the past three seasons in a row now, you have given us 3 things on a consistent basis:
More Grind of mindless faceless enemies for ever more grind currencies
Higher Costs for everything including things that used to already not be cheap
Fewer Rewards for things we used to be able to feed back into the system and pay for
If it's a matter of finances, I'd much rather you just pull the damn stipends than keep jerking us around like this...
Season 4:
Lockboxes introduced at Winter Event
Season 5 - More Grind, Higher Costs, Fewer Rewards:
C-Store monthly stipends introduced for gold and lifetime players - and C-Store prices dramatically increased by about 33% across the board to compensate
All existing grind currencies converted to dilithium and it is granted to us ONLY for running STFs, Foundry Daily, and several other grindy dailies
Dilithium Exchange Introduced to convert dilithium to CP and vice versa, effectively legalizing Real Money Trading (RMT)
Defera ground Borg Invasion introduces multiple new grind currencies/objects for items
Duty Officer system introduced, creating new grind currency Commendation XP across 9-10 categories..cxp is raised, slashed, and tweaked ad nauseam
Old grind currency Diplomatic XP is converted to new Commendation XP, but rewards for diplomacy missions outside the Doff system are not scaled up
New grind mission Tour the Universe for Energy Credits, only available maybe twice a day
Reman set introduced in the Vault Shuttle Event for new grind currency Reman Datalogs
Ships went from costing Energy Credits to Dilithium, some of which is bypassed depending on your subscription type
Multiple ships moved from being purchaseable or craftable in-game to the C-Store (Excelsior, Nebula, Delta Flyer)
The T3/T5 Retrofit ships were promised to be bundled together, then reversed the decision
Multiple C-Store items moved from account unlocks to single-item, single-character unlocks in the C-Store
Crafting requires unreplicatable materials of varying grades, sourced from dilithium, on top of stacks of rare and common particle traces...discounts available at random hour of the day
Space STF loot is converted from automatic at completion to one of the 4 new STF grind currencies (random chance drops only for the best items)
Ground STF loot is added again for one of the 4 new STF grind currencies (random chance drops only for the best items)
Space and ground equipment, doffs, and a few other items added for 2 other new STF grind currencies
Lobi Crystal currency added, only available from opening Lockboxes. Paltry 20 given out per toon in a single series of FE reruns, but all the useful items cost 200+
All space sets are modified, Borg set takes a healing proc nerf while the "new" sets see a buff (but Aegis is largely untouched)
Free Odyssey and Bortas given out for Anniversary but pulled after about a week
Season 6 - More Grind, Higher Costs, Fewer Rewards:
Fleet Events are introduced for new grind currency Fleet Marks
Fleet Starbases are introduced which consume vast quantities of dilithium, Fleet Marks, and doffs to build and stock which cost geometrically more per "Tier"
Fleet Credits grind currency introduced as "rewards" for sinking your hard-earned resources into the Fleet base
Optional starbase special projects introduced which cost 200,000 dilithium to upgrade a very small aspect of your Fleet Starbase (tribbles, security officers...a table...)
Contraband-for-dilithium Doff mission costs increased by 66% and takes longer cooldown
Fleet Ships added to STO which are single-purchase, single-character unlocks
Fleet Ships made available behind five separate Fleet Starbase paywalls - a) having the base XP, b) creating the upgrade structure, c) stocking it with provisions AND ON TOP OF EVERYTHING requiring up to 4 "Fleet Ship Modules" from the C-Store AND a sum of Fleet Credits
New Ultra-Rare quality Fleet space and ground equipment available for Fleet Credits, but only behind the same Fleet Starbase paywalls, AND also cost dilithium to purchase alongside the Fleet Credits
Fleet Marks grind currency added to Foundry Daily
Odyssey and Bortas appear again behind the highest tier of the Fleet Starbase paywalls
Doff dismissal rewards slashed to 10% of what they once were
Doffs made available to us from Duty Officer at Fleet Starbase (provided it's sufficient level)
Season 7 - More Grind, Higher Costs, Fewer Rewards (this list is CONFIRMED after some edits; info here and here):
All existing STF grind currencies are eliminated and REPLACED with a different STF grind currency
Existing Reman Datalog grind currency eliminated and REPLACED with a different Romulan grind currency
People who have already completed Mk XII sets will NOT receive any progress in the new Borg STF reputation system, ever. Even though we are playing through the exact same STFs as before.
Borg set broken from 4-piece set to 3-piece and a new set available for the new STF grind currency
Space and ground STF items now cost dilithium in addition to the new STF grind currency (36000 dilithium for each Mk XII piece)
Dilithium rewards will continue to be available from running Normal and Elite STFs, and you can turn in Elite Omega Marks for additional Dilithium (Info here)
Dilithium prices for grinding Duty Officers up from one quality to the next are dramatically increased
Free Academy recruitment Duty Officer packs eliminated and replaced with one that costs dilithium
I completely agree with the OP as far as the ridiculous grind that no longer resembles Star Trek Online, its not fun or relaxing, it frustrating. I have been around since 2008 AND I MISS ATARI, this is terrible, the grind is almost a second job, is not trek at all, someone has lost all perspective on tne IP. The OP is very insightful, i would not agree to give back my stipend unless we went back to all account unlocks and subscription model.
For me the option has becoem, stop playing. With the way the game is going there's absolutely no reason to play anymore.
I'm sure that STO is losing real players left right and centre with the new direction they have taken it.
For the 'whales' who are remaining just remember that PWE are out to strip you of every bit of blubber you have while returning the absolute minimum effort required to do so.
I used to have an Orion slave girl, then PWE 'perfected' her, now all I have is this lousy signature
Comments
it isn't just cryptic, that's the part you're forgetting, it's also pwe, and they want to make cash, an established game with an established player base that gets ticked off because of changes,,,they're not going to dump the game. starting to think you're a shill, doom and gloom to try and scare people into staying and paying.
cheaper and easier just to modify what they're doing to keep the game alive and the players happy. cheaper how you ask? because shutting down the servers = 0 revenue, all the code, all the work comes to zero.
altering the content to something the players want = revenue.
so, huge loss shutting down the servers
big gains modifying S7
why i wonder if you work for cryptic or pwe...obvious choice is obvious yet you keep spouting doom, when no other mmo has ever done that in the face of a boycott.
and if they did? good riddance. perhaps somewhere down the road CBS will allow another company to use the star trek IP to make another mmo. whomever it would be can't do a worse job than cryptic has.
Donate Brains, zombies in Washington DC are starving.
It all depends on if some one's pal decides to be truthful and put "big time forum troll" in their job referral...
Why not, it shows initiative.
What I hope happens is that people will get ticked off (i know i have) and vote by not spending money or "as much money" on STO, this will then show that people are not happy and hope things start getting better.
If people keep spending money Cryptic/PWE think they are doing the correct thing and giving people what they want (no matter what is said here).
I really don't like the changes in S7 at all, I will keep playing but I will not be spending as much time or any money on STO, I may move to another MMO where I will spend money for things I want and think are value for money.
STO is not value for money to me anymore.
When NW comes out I may have a look at it but I have seen this happen to Champs now STO so it's only a matter of time before the same thing happens to the new baby (NW) as well.
If STO gets shut down,it's not because we 'boycotted' the game....it's dumb decisions made,not for gameplay reasons,but for sheer greed that drives people,and their money,away to other games.
And thlaylierah,that is some nerve you have for trying to guilt trip me for not wanting to spend money on this money trap they have the gaul to call game.Go stand in the corner and think about what you did.....and no supper for you!
The question is here......are you getting your money's worth?
Take back your home,end the grind!
Volunteer moderators policing the forums is like a mall cop trying to solve a murder.
In the entertainment industry, they judge you by your references, your service history, and your portfolio.
You could work on a smash failure and if YOUR work is good and people say you're hardworking, talented, and easy to work with, it's not gonna hurt a ship artist or junior producer.
I can't think of anyone who would turn someone AWAY for working on significantly inferior games to STO.
Honestly, the folks in the worst positions if something did happen (and it won't, for a long time) would probably be Thomas, Jeremy, and Kestrel since the first two have less than five years' game experience and Kestrel would probably have pretty stable work going back to content, which she has years of background in -- but might find the writing market harsher. I think people judge writers harder and everybody tends to have a writer already in mind for their project. But she'd probably have a shot at Trek novels and TV work OR content. (I know one of the writers on Leverage and he got his start with the Strange New Worlds Trek stuff. Honestly, Kestrel's magazine pieces could be the foundation of a strong career outside gaming altogether if she had the time to focus on it.) It's just harder, I suspect, to get a good "loremaster" position.
And even in Jeremy and Thomas' cases, they have hustle and did work on a major F2P title.
So, really, I'd feel for the devs if the Cryptic Offices were destroyed in a UFO attack tomorrow but I think they'd be fine after a few hard months.
Again, I think you should put the money where the value for YOU is. Don't pretend its a charity or that you're financing some kind of worthy cause. It's a sales pitch so make them pitch you on it.
So you think a possible employer doesn't look at your history in the business. I guarantee they do. Someone that worked on WoW will be looked at much more favorably than someone that worked on some TRIBBLE game that nobody's ever heard of. That may not make sense to you and it may not be fair, but that's how it is.
In no way am I saying that everyone involved in making STO is a moron. But in the end, success matters. Failure looks bad even if it isn't really your fault.
So my point was that it's in their best interest to make the game successful. Having an attitude of...'it's just a job...the consumers are losers...i don't care if you like the product or not' is indicative of someone who doesn't really care. Why would you hire someone who doesn't care about his work.
Does people make purchases based on other motives? That's weird. I can't even think acting differently than what you stated. If it's worth it I might buy it, if it's not i definitely won't.
But... There are other parameters: is it pay to win/game breaking? If the answer is yes then there's a problem and probably won't buy it because when i invest my time in a game i want it to last and won't approve that. That's what I did with the Armittage, I boycotted it because it's pay to win. Can I get it for free? If it's possible, i'll find workarounds to get it quicker, especially if it brings me a new challenge to overcome. And finally is it ethical? I know i'll never use anything else but some stipend to buy lockbox keys, and it will remain an exception. Keys are designed to use our human weaknesses to make money, and it's not ethical at all. So it's a huge 'no way' for me.
A purchase isn't only a price and an item, it's also a lot of things you have to consider, and if things are going wrong from my poinf of view you can dream to see my money in your game, even if you're putting the most desirable item everin your store. :P
God, lvl 60 CW. 17k.
Cryptic is now borgified ferengi to me and their purpose is not to achieve perfection, but achieve all money from those inside and outside of their collective. I will resist and resistance is NOT futile.
I AM NOT A FAN OF PWE!!!!
MEMBER SINCE JANUARY 2010
When I hire someone i will look at their history, and compare...if I get someone who worked for a major company, and someone who worked for a small business, I look at their work. If someone who came from a small and limited place, where they did great work with a limited budget, and someone came from a multi million dollar corporation, but the same work cost more...I'm going with the guy who can work on a budget, and still give me quality.
Now if it's two CEO's bidding for a job as CEO of another company, well failure will be number one on that broads agenda.
Cryptic's employees, outside of gaming industry newbies like Thomas and Jeremy, include some of the folks behind the Sims, Blizzard devs, WoW devs, Fallout devs.
The game industry is a high turnover field. I think there are a lot of issues to find with STO but the quality of their hiring stock isn't one of them.
Failure is NOT your fault in creative fields. The expectation is always that your boss or your customers are crazy lunatics who crashed the game. Because that happens. And if you're the boss, the assumption is always that you were saddled with high dividends and low reinvestment and your employees were corporate saboteurs who stole office supplies and put them on eBay.
Having a big project that you're attributed to as the source of its success means, well... It means that you're financially independent and probably not looking for work but starting your own company.
Everybody else runs between successes and failures and they really aren't judged by it unless they get on the 6 O'clock news being arrested for selling office supplies on eBay. Everybody quits jobs. Everybody gets fired. Everybody works on huge hits and bombs. The only sin is having a resume that's too short, lacking basic skills for your job (which may be a LOT of skills), or getting in the news for being a jerk or breaking the law. Anything else goes and nothing else sticks.
This is all creative fields. I mean... Look at Ted McGinley! Patron saint of cancelled TV shows!
My point was that some of them seem to have a very bad attitude. Maybe in the programming business, it's totally normal and acceptable to think your customers are the enemy. Maybe it's normal to give off the impression that you're perfect and if nobody likes your ideas, it's because they're too stupid to understand your "vision". But I certainly don't see how that would be a helpful attitude.
Some people want to defend every aspect of STO.
But how can you defend things like spelling errors? Using a spellchecker isn't exactly difficult or time-consuming. I understand that they are pushed to get things done on a schedule. But running a spellchecker will cost them an extra 10 minutes a week. While spelling errors may not be a huge issue for most people, to me, it's indicative of a lack of effort.
One of the big complaints about S7 is that it appears to be extremely light on story content. And by light, I mean that it's non-existent. I don't consider a Defera / Tholian type zone to be story content and neither do most people. They claim that creating story missions consumes too many resources and their time is better spent on other things. If they put out 1 new mission every month, people would stop harping on that issue. And believe it or not, it shouldn't be difficult to do. This has been mentioned a million times, but the Foundry is the perfect way to accomplish that. There are countless Foundry missions that are as good as or better than the official story missions. There have been numerous threads about how the Foundry could be used to create official missions. But seemingly, that possibility is ignored. I have no idea why they choose not to take advantage of such a simple possibility. It would cost them virtually nothing and in return would gain them quite a bit of legitimate content. Content that the vast majority of players have been begging/whining/asking/pleading for. Again, I understand that this decision is not made by the lower-ranking employees. And so my annoyance, at least on this issue, is not aimed at them. I imagine the idea has already been pitched and shot down by CBS for "legal reasons".
I think I was very much spoiled by (Pre-NGE) SWG...
I tried TOR for three months, I just didn't care for the mechanics of the game...
It seemed overly complicated to me...
(or perhaps my heart just wasn't in it enough, to try and figure it all out)
Granted SWG had a lot of entailed things in it also, but when I first started playing it (SWG) it didn't seem as overwhelming as TOR does.
TOR kinda just throws everything at ya at once, I guess the learning curve is a bit to much for this Old Troll.
I very much doubt I'll be trying it again, when it goes F2P.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
IMHO TOR's strongpoint was the storyline, everything at end-game was no different than what we are doing here in STO. Playing the same content over and over again, until the next grind.
To me, what both these MMOs lack is allowing players to do their own thing. In Everquest, ****, and SWG, there was a hundreds of locations you could spend time at. If Cryptic actually opened up the STO galaxy and let us go beyond the borders and go treking to the Gamma or Delta Quadrants, we would feel like our wings have been freed. Let us choose if we want to do PvP, or exploration, or Foundry.
Instead, they make simple maps, add some mega grind missions, and say "there's your content" and if you wanted more they point the way to the Foundry, which is their "content". (Basically they are shirking responsiblity).
TOR on the other hand seems so far removed from that... (to me anyway)
I kinda-sorta felt outta place while playing the game...
It just didn't 'feel' right to me.
I guess I'm too old to appreciate all the stuff that's been added to that Universe since I saw the movies the first time.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Awwww, I miss SWG.
I had more fun in that game sight seeing then playing
Wish this game had more POI places it has some, but not as much.
or Characters...I miss Picard, use some lock box money and get Stewart ...The man is all over the place using his voice, he might want extra cash.
As for The Foundry making up for Story Content, people need to stop bringing it up. Why? Because The Foundry is an unfinished product (because of NeverWinter). I don't foresee Cryptic using it in a major way until all of the finalized Foundry Features from NW are ported over to STO. Plus you have to consider the good chunk of players who play for the rewards or leveling first and story second. Foundry isn't the best place for them atm.
Me too. I haven't tried it yet but when I saw Sith Pureblood I was like HUH? All I wanted was to play a Wookie which you can't.
You obviously refering to my post.
First of all, the Foundry is a finished product and has been for a year and a half now.
And I never said Cryptic is going to use it, thats our tool to create our own missions. What I said is that Cryptic is pawning off the responsibility of making story content on us players to keep ourselves busy, while they make these boring grind missions.
Exactly my point. Older MMOs, we made our own story in huge worlds, but TOR and STO, we live in small boxes doing the things they want us to do. There is no real freedom.
If Cryptic actually opened up the Galaxy to us, things would actually be completely different. I could easily live a real Trek life with unknowns, new aliens, new worlds. My gawd, the possiblities that Cryptic could unleash with that. Instead, the want us kept in this little box....
I had a great conversation with a friend that put everything in perspective for me. Believe me, I know how you feel, and it just about gave me a stroke on here. And it's NOT flipping out over a game. It's flipping out over feeling mistreated by people. The environment HAPPENS to be a game forum but I think you or I would have the same reaction in the supermarket or movie theater or anywhere like that. I'm a good employee by all accounts. I'm educated. So why have I flipped out here a time or two? Why do you?
Here's the deal:
What we are used to is a retail experience. Someone who acts as a salesperson. A waiter. A waitress. A lawyer. A marketer. Someone who tries to engage us, smooths off all the rough edges. Someone who makes us feel valued and ultimately has a budget to do that, whether directly or through a customer service department or manager or buyer protection plan. Someone selling us multiple products who will comp things, eat costs, and expend labor to make us feel good, to make us feel like secure consumers.
In a typical old school game purchase, that's not the game publisher. That's Best Buy. That's Wal-Mart or Target or GameStop. They all provide a level of buffer and assurance. They can do refunds and exchanges.
Now... We're dealing directly with the publisher and developer. Not just on the forums but in game and with the C-Store and with our purchases.
They have taken over retailer responsibilities but they don't act like luxury good retailers. They haven't budgeted for it. They don't know to budget for it. They may not even realize they're a retailer now. They're running things like a software development studio.
To Geko, what he's doing is what he'd do at any game studio and probably then some when it comes to communication. And he's doing extra here because he maintains a Twitter that he doesn't have to. To Jeremy, he's working his tail off.
And even as far as Brandon goes, he's DOING his job as a communication coordinator for a software development firm. Probably putting in long hours.
And what they're doing is exactly what they'd be doing if there was a retail frontend around the product so they don't see any difference.
But we do.
It's like a department store where they forgot to build a front wall. The guys back in the loading docks out back don't see any difference because their job hasn't been impacted aside from customers acting weird and wandering back there while they spend all day unloading trucks. Brandon is doing his job, relaying messages around the back of the store. And the front wall is missing. The cash registers are half gone and the customer service desk and the bathrooms are missing.
Nothing about any of the devs' jobs is different than it would be if the C-Store items were sold on retail shelves because they're used to retail handling stuff that they don't even know that retail would traditionally handle. PWE is producing the same goods it would otherwise, it's just selling them direct.
But what they didn't realize was that even the worst retailer wasn't just putting things out for sale... but was shmoozing with you as a customer. They were trying to grow your business. They were refunding and exchanging stuff. They were asking you if you needed help. They were giving you directions when you got lost looking for something. They were calling you by name and smiling at you and buttering you up.
And PWE and the development studios never really allowed for the idea that retailers were doing all that when they decided to sell products direct. They had an inkling. They'd been customers, I think. But they never placed the supreme value on the service experience that you or I do. Most of the devs, it wasn't even their job to think about. And it isn't.
But when these publishers and studios started selling things direct, they knew all about making software and even coding the storefront. But they didn't REALLy know running the store.
Now, I know the dev team has people who did retail management before but I'm guessing they never really embraced it religiously (once you get it, it is like joining a religion) or they're too tied up to apply that thought here.
And Brandon is trying to play double duty but he has a whole other job handling internal communications and marketing.
It excuses nothing but it explains everything. If you're feeling frustrated with Jeremy or Geko or Zero or whoever, take a deep breath. I think this probably does need to get directed to higher ups and PWE but the things that are missing and the stuff we're asking for, it's so far removed from what Geko does that he'd never see if we got it or not and he can't see the difference except for how cranky we are. There is an issue but the core of it isn't with rank and file devs, who give their all.
Does that help?
Even if they "opened the Galaxy" there is this little problem of No where to go..or No Where to Boldly Go
To expand on the Galaxy they would need to take down the borders that divide the sectors which if I recall they won't.
Expand each planet.
Bajor for example, should have been the first Adventure zone for one reason...Deep Space Nine. do your little grind mission on DS9 ENG would fix DS9 because its breaking down, SCI, would scan and study the Wormhole, and other sacrfice things that people bring from the Gamma Quadrant. Tac's would, secure DS9, scan ships and traffic from the worm hole, make sure contraband is not getting by pretty much what Odo did. Then for Bajor Kurtland gives you a mission take a runabout to Bajor and explore it...walk to the Fire caves where we find a cult of the Palwraths, find out True ways are hiding out in the Bajoron mountains while doing all this earning marks for whatever...and also sight see some land marks on Bajor...like the temples...and wow they did not go to Bajor much in the show ...OH!! the farms that Shakaar had. Fleet who finish the epic grind for this would get a Terok Nor Starbase as an option.
Anyhow Don't know how I got into that, but sight seeing was my main point so let me get to Earth...We have the academy already lovely place, looks pretty much what we saw. Now expand it...lets go to France visit the Federation President, while we are there lets go to the Picard vineyards in La Barre France..pick up some bottles for my Starbase...I got some extra Transporter chips lets go to England to Cambridge University, and see Data/B4 at Isaac Newton's house with a housekeeper and several cats RIP Spot...well I'm hungry at this point...Lets go to New Orleans and visit Sisko's Creole Kitchen, and have some food, Star Fleet officers eat for free of course...and it's the only place you can get tube grubs for our Ferengi officers....just watch out for the alligator. At this point I would be tired, so I'll postpone my trip to Iowa...I hear the ruins under San Francisco opened up, where a certain androids head use to be. :eek:
anywho I would love that kind of expand...but i know why we can't, but one can dream.
Now back to work for me....so bored
Badname - Thanks for posting about the dilithium DOff costs
PW - <sarcasm> Thank you for returning me to the real-world instead of enjoying a few hours of entertainment every week, these potential new changes are just dandy. </sarcasm>
I was truly looking forward to Season 7 until this morning when I read this.
PW - Shaka, when the walls fell - Season 7 will usher in the end of STO. There is a point when Greed outweighs reason and causes the demise of all profits.
Quark: The way I see it, humans used to be a lot like Ferengi: greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget....Humans used to be a lot worse than Ferengi. Season 7, Grinding, PW's STO; we have nothing in our past that approaches that kind of barbarism
Way to take an aspect of a game I really enjoyed and destroy it.
Fleet: 1st Order of Role-Players' Guild - gaming together since 2004
Oh wait, it's a long, expensive grind and the proto drops are now removed. What happens to all my stored salvage and tech pieces from stfs?
I think people would be much, much happier if the drops still happened in S7. That way you would have 2 ways to get the set pieces. As far as weapons... I dunno, if they cost the same as fleet weapons what's the point?
The funny thing is, that's exactly what they said before.
I recall them stating explicitly that "When new STF sets come out, the old set XII's WILL go to EDC purchase alongside proto tech drops."
Now all of it's being removed.
edit: I've said it once before ingame... Dilithium works but it's bad.
Bad because well, EVERYTHING requires it, and frankly the prices are really far up there. It honestly seems to me with dilithium you have to sit there and go "Do I want another admiral ship, c-store points, or to help with projects now?" and focus on one thing only because of the prices. I know, hardcore people can max out their characters dilithium refinement every day for all their many alts... but other people (Like me!) get bored and disinterested in doing the exact same things (deferi dailies, etc) on many characters.
Maybe this is the reason behind the Dilithium increase, as we as players will be able to farm Dilithium whilst not actually in game. Effectively increasing Dil by 100s of thousands or more and probably increasing the price of Zen in the exchange.
A Dilithium sink is needed if this happens or Dil becomes pretty much worthless.
(When the Doff missions get put in anyway)
Disclaimer: I could be wrong
Ive read aloot about Season 7 and tried to get the idea why everything is getting so vastly expensive ?
First of.
STF now all gear will cost dilithium insanely amounts of 38.000 per item plus the additional currencys that you need from the unknown system.
Im in my own fleet with just my own toons this is gonna cost me a fortune.
Doff Officers thats allready hard to get will get harder. it will now cost massive amounts of dilithium ? rangeing from 500-30.000 ?
what is exactly cryptic doing here ? why add dilithum to everything ?
If your not adding dilithium to all missions we do. why add the cost of it to everything ?
Dilithium is not really super easy to get unless your doing Elite Stfs wich only gives 1.100 dilithoum wich you proboly will nerfe if i know cryptic
is Startrek online in such a bad shape that you need to force players to convert zen to dilithium to play ?
8.000 dilithium per day convertion ratio is extremly small as well.
how about makeing the limit and dilithium account bound so we dont need to LOG OUT AND type password everytime we need to switch charakter ??
if you got 6 vice admirals you should on 1 toon be able to convert 6 x 8.000 dilithum simple as that.
anyways depending on how much more this dilithium cost is going to be im guessing aloot of players will choose to play another game.
this is horrofying.
BTW did anyone remeber this line "we are cutting down on the number of currencys to make it easier for players"
That was when we had emblems merits and skill points and exploration tokens.
now we got at least TWICE the ammount of currency`s items. when will it be EASIER ?
Tbh instead of the new fleet system to get STF gear why not just make it Doff missions ?
Btw the 20 Doff missions per day Limit Is rediculus upp to to 50 at least.
and btw Gateway idea unless you can do DOFF missions inside of it. i dont see the point of it really.
sry for my angry comments but the game is getting out of hand.
Remote desktop or not
I am concerned about the increase in expense but I am greatly concerned about the lack of content.
As somone who has all the sets on all my characters (just 2 :P) and even on some of my boff's, all weapons and all space sets I am worried that there is next to no new content for me.
Albeit someone just told me there actually is a romulan armor visual assuming your fleet goes for it.
I don't know I might try and get the counter faction's rifle but is it really worth it. (assuming you can get that, I am not on tribble so no idea)
It's like they are assuming everyone is just going to continue to regrind the same stf's unlimited, because that's all we do) and then be happy when they slap a +2.5 % chance to stun on and it doesn't matter they removed all our income and trippled our expenses because everyone is just going to happily play stf over and over.
It's like they missed the point that we playing them for the rewards not because we enjoy playing the same map 900 times, there is simply nothing better to do...
... except maybe doff'ing
Then they hammershark that too where is the common sense in that.
I am at the gates of having the purples I think I need or am willing to buy and I could easily see myself just logging in to set up the for the ones that reward stuff then completely ignore all of season 7 and start hoping for season 8.. or 9.
The second I hit level 50 back in the day I jumped on elite and though I did get carried I had no problems performing my duties and beating the map: I never needed +2% stun to be in the game and so I don't need additional bonuses for a map I am already walking all over, what I need is new maps
It's not like the community is short on suggestion or not verbal enough, while not every suggestion is realistic especially my own - you have to admit that inbetween the good ones and the developers own chance for initiative there could be a lot done.
I guess they just decided that the no. 1 issue with the game right now is people earning too much free dilithium on stf
I completely agree with the OP as far as the ridiculous grind that no longer resembles Star Trek Online, its not fun or relaxing, it frustrating. I have been around since 2008 AND I MISS ATARI, this is terrible, the grind is almost a second job, is not trek at all, someone has lost all perspective on tne IP. The OP is very insightful, i would not agree to give back my stipend unless we went back to all account unlocks and subscription model.
I'm sure that STO is losing real players left right and centre with the new direction they have taken it.
For the 'whales' who are remaining just remember that PWE are out to strip you of every bit of blubber you have while returning the absolute minimum effort required to do so.