Just curious, I honestly do not know, can you cross faction a private Fleet Action match? Was going to go test this... but currently we are still down.
You cannot cross-faction a Fleet Action. This is why there are so few FAs on the KDF side.
With STFs you can cross faction, which lets KDF players play with anyone. However, if FAs are now supposed to be the main source of Dilithium, KDF are disadvantaged.
Wow, 71 pages. Back when I played another game, we called this a threadnaught. Let the tradition live on.
I was going to write a long bit about how I think this is still not a fair trade, but I lost interest about half way through, so I'll try the short version.
I'm taking the three different rewards the current STF process has and comparing them to how they will be in the future.
First, EDC, Tech and Salvage, which all turn into marks or Borg Processors (former elite marks). I find this trade off fair, as far as it goes here. You are trading a a chance to get mark XII gear and instant gratification if you do, for a building up process of collecting marks and running projects (again only looking at marks here) for a promise that once you have finished, you can get it.
Next, Dilithium. I do not have an objection to having the borg sets and weapons cost some ammount of dilithium. It is fair as the fleet weapons, their only real compotition, also cost dilithium, though I would prefer both to cost less than they do right now. What I find as an unfair trade off is the reduction of dilithium as rewards from STFs, while adding it to the requirements of leveling up in order to get the gear. Before, any reward you could get from the STFs you got playing the STFs. With this change, you must either work harder at the STFs to get the same reward, or play other content to get the STFs. From the comment earlier, I guess that is by design, that you are dangling a carrot in front of us to play fleet events, though I am honestly lost as to why you feel the need to do this. I will note this is based on the current tribble build and what has been said earlier where one normal STF gives you more than enough marks to start a project, but you would need to run about 4 to get the amount of dilithium you need.
And finally, the "trash" the shields and deflectors we get. Based on what is said, I assume these are going away, however this add to the issue with having to go out of our way to get items that are not in the STFs for the end game gear. I know tha tshields and such do not appear to be an imput to the projects, but they coudl have been sold to cover the costs of the provisions and other replicatable things that the project seems to call for.
Honestly, and moving on from STF feedback to slightly more general feedback, I do not believe that Dilithium should be in the game as something that is used directly to purchase something or to be directly donated to a project. I believed it was a good idea at first, but now I think it just adds an extra level of complexity to the whole process. I believe that it would be better to just have one in game currency to buy stuff with and/or donate to projects, combining both EC and dilithium, and have one interface that would transfer zen to this currency. This would make a currency that is truely time based, so that no matter what you did in game, missions, STFs, fleet stuff, you would always be rewarded for your time, and you could take that reward and spend it as you wished on anything in the game, or transfer it into zen. This would take a lot of the pain out of trying to transfer zen or dilithium into something to sell for EC, and would make possible the opposite. Of course, this would mean another transition, and it would probably be painful, but after the dust setteled, I think things would be better.
Since most of us are upset regarding the changes that are upcoming, let me propose an idea.
Known: PWE has Cryptic by the proverbial test@#&lar tight twist for more funds. One must always make more money for the Parent Company.
Known: People/Players are not too happy about some of the issues---increased Dil needed, no increase on Dil processing cap, excessive regrinding of STFs that have max accolades, etc
Idea: More of a challenge to the player base. All of this is being done hoping the players will utilize the Micro transactions...DON'T
See how far you can take everything without buying anything from the Zen Store. No purchases utilizing Real Money.
EXCEPTION: If you buy Zen with Dil or use your stipend from the Parent Company that"s ok.
This is a passive non threatening way to challenge the Parent Company/Developers and sooner or later (if enough go thru with this) they will have 2 options: Make Changes or Close the game. I do not believe they will do #2 as this game makes this a pretty penny or pence for the Parent Company.
Just my 2 Dil worth.
(feel free to set the Targs and Hortas on this not to mention the Players)
Honestly I'm already doing this, Bought the KDF destroyer with the power syphon from a combo of stipend and dilithium to zen. But it doesn't quite work, since teh zen you buy with dilithium doesn't come out of nowhere. Someone had to buy that, and I doubt all of in on the exchange comes from stipends.
You cannot cross-faction a Fleet Action. This is why there are so few FAs on the KDF side.
With STFs you can cross faction, which lets KDF players play with anyone. However, if FAs are now supposed to be the main source of Dilithium, KDF are disadvantaged.
Yeah, then I have to agree here.. this is a disadvantage to the KDF, heck even the Fleet Action Queues (especially the older ones) on the Fed side take time to fill up. I can only imagine the Klingon wait.
That being said, you may see the queues pick up a little because this will become a primary source of dilithium... but still, smaller player base will still have extended waits.
Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of diversifying the game play.. that promotes other avenues of obtaining needed items, I personally like the choices with S6 & coming with S7.
Since dilithium is a global currency in STO... then all the various missions should award the same amount of dilithium (based on average time committment (longer missions = bigger rewards).
Visuals of the Ground Set will be an entirely new variant of the existing Mk XII MACO Ground Armor
Visuals of the Ground Set will be an entirely new variant of the existing Mk XII Klingon Honor Guard Ground Armor
Does this mean that the existing MACO and KHG artwork will no longer be available, and reserved only for people who have already unlocked it? Or are the existing MACO and KHG sets still possible in the new system??
Omega Fleet (Reputation System)
Help fight the Borg and earn new Captain powers as well as the original MACO/Honor Guard/Omega sets along with new variants. Unlock new stores that offer new Borg related gear.
Wampaq@Jnoh, Fleet Leader: ..Bloodbath and Beyond[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]'Iw HaH je Hoch! ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3 A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome. Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
Once the conversion code is in place, you can even log into Tribble and see how many Omega Marks and Borg Neural Processors and Dilithiium you'll get if you don't so that you are well informed before you make that decision.
I don't log on to Tribble, ever. Will I be able see the conversion in some other way? Will you publicize the conversion rate for people not on Tribble?
It is true that if you don't spend your existing currencies before Season 7, you will not be able to buy the same gear until you level up the Omega Reputation. But you don't have to wait for that. You can spend it right now on Holodeck.
If you choose to wait and not spend it, then we will convert it in our best attempt to be fair and equitable to give you similar purchasing power in the new system, but only after you have obtained the proper rank.
...the new Reputation system (60-90 days) than you are of getting it as a random drop in that same amount of time.
I still don't think it's right or fair that I have to grind through a new reputation system for 2-3 months before I use things I ALREADY OWN. That's like going to another country, exchanging currency, and being told you have to wait until you've passed citizenship tests to spend their money. It's absurd.
I assume the rewards at the max tier will be better than those at the lower tiers. If I want to spend stuff I currently have on lower tier rewards, shouldn't that be my prerogative?
While I went into an explaination of our view on Dilithium earlier in the thread, the gist of it is that Dilithium is designed to benefit players who have time to play but don't have that much money.
What about people that don't have time OR money? How are they benefited?
How about giving a headstart for those of us with hundreds of runs under our belt? You Cryptic actually have the data of how many stfs the individual player have run. They are called accolades. This is what I'd do
GREAT IDEA!!! at least we get something for all of our trouble!!! I know that I already have all of the accolades
I AM NOT A FAN OF PWE!!!!
MEMBER SINCE JANUARY 2010
I had prepared a rather lengthy response, but I fear it would have been ignored by rule of TLDR, so I will instead simply make the three most valid points.
1. Dilithium is not a time-based reward currency. It may have been desired to be, but it is not and will not be until quite a few changes are made to other systems within the game. If you wish to use Dilithium as a time-rewarded currency within a system, then you must first make it what it was designed to be. Currently, Dilithium is the monotonous grinder's currency and is thusly no different than EC except in value.
2. The addition of fleet starbase projects caused mass price-fixing of project-required items in the exchange by players who are already very wealthy. Adding individual projects requiring the same resources will only compound the issue. The exchange needs to be adjusted so that it can have its prices be set by supply and demand and not the greed of very wealthy players. I'll leave the method to you, but my own thought would be to impose a 7-day cooldown on any item purchased through the exchange that prevents it from being re-posted until the cooldown expires.
3. The game is supported by subscriptions and zen transactions. As the reasons to subscribe or buy zen over just playing free diminish, so too does the game's ability to support itself. When a major update such as this is added, most of your subscribers and veteran players should be thinking to themselves 'Wow, I'm glad I subscribe and support this game.'
Implementing new systems without new content to support them and requiring a recycle of old content does not give the 'I'm glad I support this game' feeling. You have at your fingertips an infinite source of creative new content that no other MMO (as far as I know) has, called the Foundry: utilize the creativity of your players more and expand on this feature and it can become the source of new content you need to support your efforts into other things, such as these STF changes. I have many ideas on how this can be better utilized, but firstly it needs better multi-creator support and an automated system of rating, review, CBS review, and game implementation. Just think how much new content would be available if players could build their own STFs that could become part of official content.
----
A note on player reaction:
People like getting things, not having things taken away. That means if you start with giving 3, then give 1 and 1 they will be happy and end with 5. If you start with giving 3, give them 3 more, and take away 1 then they will be angry and end with 5. This is a universal fact in everything from politics to games, so please keep it in mind when trying to come up with major system changes and conversion processes.
----
On Zen and Dilithium:
I can only imagine that all of these new Dilithium sink holes are designed to reduce the amount of Zen a player makes that can be used to buy the more elite items and services for the game. While this method is not completely ineffective, it is not a very good choice for promoting the game and maintaining general player satisfaction. Find a better way: whether it's item stats, enemy difficulty, currency conversion, or resource sinks; escalation is never a means to an end, but rather a band-aid that leads to more problems later on.
I have to agree. It's an MMO. It's just logical to spend more time on things people will play more often. Why do people play "City on the Edge of Never"? The item in the mission reward, or because they want to see the story. Which means most people will only play it once.
I think you can have repeatable story content.
But I think it looks different. The Invasion Zones are a form of this and Romulan Adventure Zone continues it.
I see a lot of "Rom and Fleet Marks" in the other new systems and missions coming to S7. Will we also finally see "Fleet and Omega Marks" on STFs?
Wampaq@Jnoh, Fleet Leader: ..Bloodbath and Beyond[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]'Iw HaH je Hoch! ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3 A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome. Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
IMHO, Cryptic needs to make the base Dilithium Rewards the same as the Fleet Actions, so players have a choice.
Have Normal STFs have the 900-1000 Dilithium per mission with a rare chance to score a bonus that could be used for Dilithum or for Omega Marks.
Have Elite STFs have the current Dilithum reward of 1400 with a rare chance for a bonus to be turned in for Dilithum or for Omega marks.
Have Fleet Actions have that 960 Dilithium reward for playing with players striving for a chance to get bonuses by doing getting one of the top three spots.
It's only fair, since Klingons can't group with Federation for Fleet Actions, and Fleet Actions has always been infamous for AFKers and people in Escorts almost always getting First Place.
Adding a way to buy Mk12 gear with EDC is all that the majority of the playerbase ever wanted.
EXACTLY.. we only asked to be able to buy the mk xii gear with 80 or 120 EDCs so at least we had a clear objective to earn that wasn't based on lottery. We sure didn't ask for this whole new system!!!
Additionally, if they are going to go through with this system, I concur with another poster's comments that tiers should be opened according to accolades so that it is not as painful.
I AM NOT A FAN OF PWE!!!!
MEMBER SINCE JANUARY 2010
Appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback in this Threadnaught.
I'm concerned about the new precedent being set for the use of Dilithium and Marks in the upcoming reputation system. It almost feels like we are being "double-dipped" for lack of a better description.
Current item costs:
Most non-set items = dilithium (time)
Set Items = marks of some sort (time)
Proposed Season 7 item costs:
Most non-set items = dilithium (time)
Set Items = marks of some sort (time) + dilithium (time)
See the double-dip of time in Season 7?
The requirement for spending dilithium AND marks for reputation rewards seems to represent a fundamental departure from the use of dilithium and marks up to this point, and I'm interested in the reasoning behind this decision.
If they want to make "Fleet Actions" the go-to activity to get the most Dilithium from a single activity, they need to unlock "cross-faction teams" for all the Fleet Actions.
It's been 3 years since the start of the Federation-Klingon War. Don't you think it's about time to put that to rest, and show the factions cooperating more fully again? There may in fact be "bigger threats" out there, than has yet to be revealed.
Time to cash in all those extra chips, salvages, and tech.
I think I'll be purchasing more MK XII weapons before Season 7 just in case I decide to switch to a different weapon type post S7. The rest gets turned in for dilithium. Now to grind for that prototype engine tech...
1. This is a long thread: people care, they are not happy about all aspects of these changes, listen to what is being said.
2. Taking away our stuff: you don't make your players happy when you take away the things they earn and put them behind a wall. In some countries that's called stealing, and while we don't actually "own" any of it, we both benefit by our shared fantasy. If you have tech drops, you should immediately be able to get and use the new gear. Players who have played hundreds of STF's (and you know who they are b/c you count them) should not be penalized by months of waiting to use their stuff. It is neither just nor fair.
3. Invalidating achievements: We have done hundreds of STFs. We have earned a higher position in line b/c we have done the work. This is not like the starbases where everyone started at the same point. I have several prototype techs that I have been saving b/c I heard new sets were on the way. Now I have to wait months to use them? Will they be worth the same? Is that really worth it to me? Could I not spend time and money playing some other game that isn't going to put me back down at the bottom of the mountain I just spent all that time climbing? I don't mind working for a reward, but once I've earned it, I want to keep it.
4. Dilithium/doffs: what are the requirements for these tiers? Those of us building starbases are getting drained already - now our members are going to have what amounts to their own private starbase projects to be able to use stf gear? This is getting closer and closer to a job.
5. Cooldowns: with the rewards cut so drastically, I hope you plan on changing the cooldowns. 1 hour made some sense with the old system...now it would just be onerous.
6. Guaranteed rewards: I think everyone really likes the basic idea you and the team have come up with. I gave up on trying to get ground tech b/c two of the missions took so long and were really buggy (and no one has spent time fixing them). I now have a way to get the Mark XII gear. I don't mind working for a reward.
66 pages of Ideas and suggestions to help turn Season 7 into something worth while, beyond what we all see here at this point of 71 pages. I hope you see this as a poll of people saying what we see and have been told and whats on tribble at the moment is not making the majority happy no matter how you look at it. Im a life time member because I support this game. There is a ton of Logic here, Please take some of this into consideration before its too late, or is it to late already?
There wouldn't be anywhere near this number of pages if they weren't introducing these ridiculous added dilithium sinks, simple as that, as of yet we've received no explanation as to why, just evasion.
With STF's if they wanted to add a resource sink, why not use Experience Points, after all it is Experience with fighting the borg that counts. It just doesn't make sense and they've not told us why they assumed it would be even a remotely good idea, the doff grinder is even worse, 5000/6000 Dilithium to change 5 Blue to 1 Purple, again no rational explanation for this has been given.
I can only imagine that all of these new Dilithium sink holes are designed to reduce the amount of Zen a player makes that can be used to buy the more elite items and services for the game. While this method is not completely ineffective, it is not a very good choice for promoting the game and maintaining general player satisfaction. Find a better way: whether it's item stats, enemy difficulty, currency conversion, or resource sinks; escalation is never a means to an end, but rather a band-aid that leads to more problems later on.
Not only that but it's hugely unpopular it is the number 1. gripe for the majority of us.
2. The addition of fleet starbase projects caused mass price-fixing of project-required items in the exchange by players who are already very wealthy. Adding individual projects requiring the same resources will only compound the issue. The exchange needs to be adjusted so that it can have its prices be set by supply and demand and not the greed of very wealthy players. I'll leave the method to you, but my own thought would be to impose a 7-day cooldown on any item purchased through the exchange that prevents it from being re-posted until the cooldown expires.
Rest of the post was good, but this jumped out at me. Please give us a buy window where we can say I will buy X amount of Y item for Z price, and let it be so that other people can fill orders with as many or as few items as they want.
Heh, I'm gonna enjoy getting guaranteed mk12 gear in my T3 ship. I've never wanted the gear, but since I'm forced to unlock T5 to get my current rewards back might as well push some boundries. You want me to play Dan, I'll play.
I don't log on to Tribble, ever. Will I be able see the conversion in some other way? Will you publicize the conversion rate for people not on Tribble?
Don't worry. Some friendly forum poster will be glad to do the math and post it. Probably within 10 minutes of the conversion going live on tribble.
And then the pitchforks and torches will be issued...
So, nobody is going to get any kind of set peices in a while, thats what they are saying right? Until we hit tier 5?
Ok new players: If you haven't got the pieces by november, you will be at a direct disadvantage against older players with their sets all collected.
PVP: New players will be cannon fodder until they hit tier 5, and stay out of Ker'Rat as well.
Eveything will cost dilithium, meaing that people will be less prone to donate to their fleets, and the demand for dilithium in the dilithium store will increase = Less dilithium per Zen right?
If you are going to buy dilithium with Zen, do it now before season 7;) And if you have alot of dilithium, wait until s7 to buy Zen;)
A contract is a contract...(but only between Ferengi).
Thank you to those providing constructive feedback. The design team has been reviewing the discussions and we are planning on making several changes versus what was discussed in this threadd as we progress on Tribble closer to Season 7. The first set of changes will most likely hit TRIBBLE this weekend.
Btw... Fleet Action scoring is set up differently in every Fleet Action and is not entirely based on DPS, but rather objective scoring.
I've asked the team to come up with a scoring chart so that you can see what different objectives mean from a score perspective (for example in some fleet actions interactions are worth a lot of points and that has nothing to do with DPS). A lot of the Fleet Actions do value "Kills" in scoring, but we are reviewing that as well.
In addition, we have decided to nix the X2 Dilithium bonus for Gold and instead provide a x2 Purple gear and keep the Dilithium consistent across all players.
So, nobody is going to get any kind of set peices in a while, thats what they are saying right? Until we hit tier 5?
Ok new players: If you haven't got the pieces by november, you will be at a direct disadvantage against older players with their sets all collected.
PVP: New players will be cannon fodder until they hit tier 5, and stay out of Ker'Rat as well.
Eveything will cost dilithium, meaing that people will be less prone to donate to their fleets, and the demand for dilithium in the dilithium store will increase = Less dilithium per Zen right?
If you are going to buy dilithium with Zen, do it now before season 7;) And if you have alot of dilithium, wait until s7 to buy Zen;)
Not exactly... You will unlock pieces as you tier in the reputation system... Tier 1 = Mk X Ground, Tier 2 Mark X Space, Tier 3 Mark XI Ground, Tier 4 Mark XI Space, Tier 5 Mk XII. Based on the costs I see to get to T1 ERputation (essentially 3 days and cost is negligible), Tier 2... 3 - 4 days?
If you have a partial set of tech, (IMO) your best bet is to trade it in now for the equipment, and jjust put it in your bank. We dont lose any pieces (i.e. Mako Mk Xii Shield) we currently have... but will lose the Tech (i.e. Rare Shield Tech)/Salvage/EDC until you reach Tier 5.
If you allow the conversion to convert your Rare Tech, you wont be able to gain access to its "value" until you are tiered to 5 (at which point Mk XII is available).
Comments
You cannot cross-faction a Fleet Action. This is why there are so few FAs on the KDF side.
With STFs you can cross faction, which lets KDF players play with anyone. However, if FAs are now supposed to be the main source of Dilithium, KDF are disadvantaged.
I was going to write a long bit about how I think this is still not a fair trade, but I lost interest about half way through, so I'll try the short version.
I'm taking the three different rewards the current STF process has and comparing them to how they will be in the future.
First, EDC, Tech and Salvage, which all turn into marks or Borg Processors (former elite marks). I find this trade off fair, as far as it goes here. You are trading a a chance to get mark XII gear and instant gratification if you do, for a building up process of collecting marks and running projects (again only looking at marks here) for a promise that once you have finished, you can get it.
Next, Dilithium. I do not have an objection to having the borg sets and weapons cost some ammount of dilithium. It is fair as the fleet weapons, their only real compotition, also cost dilithium, though I would prefer both to cost less than they do right now. What I find as an unfair trade off is the reduction of dilithium as rewards from STFs, while adding it to the requirements of leveling up in order to get the gear. Before, any reward you could get from the STFs you got playing the STFs. With this change, you must either work harder at the STFs to get the same reward, or play other content to get the STFs. From the comment earlier, I guess that is by design, that you are dangling a carrot in front of us to play fleet events, though I am honestly lost as to why you feel the need to do this. I will note this is based on the current tribble build and what has been said earlier where one normal STF gives you more than enough marks to start a project, but you would need to run about 4 to get the amount of dilithium you need.
And finally, the "trash" the shields and deflectors we get. Based on what is said, I assume these are going away, however this add to the issue with having to go out of our way to get items that are not in the STFs for the end game gear. I know tha tshields and such do not appear to be an imput to the projects, but they coudl have been sold to cover the costs of the provisions and other replicatable things that the project seems to call for.
Honestly, and moving on from STF feedback to slightly more general feedback, I do not believe that Dilithium should be in the game as something that is used directly to purchase something or to be directly donated to a project. I believed it was a good idea at first, but now I think it just adds an extra level of complexity to the whole process. I believe that it would be better to just have one in game currency to buy stuff with and/or donate to projects, combining both EC and dilithium, and have one interface that would transfer zen to this currency. This would make a currency that is truely time based, so that no matter what you did in game, missions, STFs, fleet stuff, you would always be rewarded for your time, and you could take that reward and spend it as you wished on anything in the game, or transfer it into zen. This would take a lot of the pain out of trying to transfer zen or dilithium into something to sell for EC, and would make possible the opposite. Of course, this would mean another transition, and it would probably be painful, but after the dust setteled, I think things would be better.
Anyway, my two cents for what its worth.
Nouveau riche LTS member
Since most of us are upset regarding the changes that are upcoming, let me propose an idea.
Known: PWE has Cryptic by the proverbial test@#&lar tight twist for more funds. One must always make more money for the Parent Company.
Known: People/Players are not too happy about some of the issues---increased Dil needed, no increase on Dil processing cap, excessive regrinding of STFs that have max accolades, etc
Idea: More of a challenge to the player base. All of this is being done hoping the players will utilize the Micro transactions...DON'T
See how far you can take everything without buying anything from the Zen Store. No purchases utilizing Real Money.
EXCEPTION: If you buy Zen with Dil or use your stipend from the Parent Company that"s ok.
This is a passive non threatening way to challenge the Parent Company/Developers and sooner or later (if enough go thru with this) they will have 2 options: Make Changes or Close the game. I do not believe they will do #2 as this game makes this a pretty penny or pence for the Parent Company.
Just my 2 Dil worth.
(feel free to set the Targs and Hortas on this not to mention the Players)
Nouveau riche LTS member
Yeah, then I have to agree here.. this is a disadvantage to the KDF, heck even the Fleet Action Queues (especially the older ones) on the Fed side take time to fill up. I can only imagine the Klingon wait.
That being said, you may see the queues pick up a little because this will become a primary source of dilithium... but still, smaller player base will still have extended waits.
Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of diversifying the game play.. that promotes other avenues of obtaining needed items, I personally like the choices with S6 & coming with S7.
Since dilithium is a global currency in STO... then all the various missions should award the same amount of dilithium (based on average time committment (longer missions = bigger rewards).
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
Does this mean that the existing MACO and KHG artwork will no longer be available, and reserved only for people who have already unlocked it? Or are the existing MACO and KHG sets still possible in the new system??
EDIT: NVM, FOUND IT!
ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3
A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome.
Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
I don't log on to Tribble, ever. Will I be able see the conversion in some other way? Will you publicize the conversion rate for people not on Tribble?
I still don't think it's right or fair that I have to grind through a new reputation system for 2-3 months before I use things I ALREADY OWN. That's like going to another country, exchanging currency, and being told you have to wait until you've passed citizenship tests to spend their money. It's absurd.
I assume the rewards at the max tier will be better than those at the lower tiers. If I want to spend stuff I currently have on lower tier rewards, shouldn't that be my prerogative?
What about people that don't have time OR money? How are they benefited?
GREAT IDEA!!! at least we get something for all of our trouble!!! I know that I already have all of the accolades
I AM NOT A FAN OF PWE!!!!
MEMBER SINCE JANUARY 2010
1. Dilithium is not a time-based reward currency. It may have been desired to be, but it is not and will not be until quite a few changes are made to other systems within the game. If you wish to use Dilithium as a time-rewarded currency within a system, then you must first make it what it was designed to be. Currently, Dilithium is the monotonous grinder's currency and is thusly no different than EC except in value.
2. The addition of fleet starbase projects caused mass price-fixing of project-required items in the exchange by players who are already very wealthy. Adding individual projects requiring the same resources will only compound the issue. The exchange needs to be adjusted so that it can have its prices be set by supply and demand and not the greed of very wealthy players. I'll leave the method to you, but my own thought would be to impose a 7-day cooldown on any item purchased through the exchange that prevents it from being re-posted until the cooldown expires.
3. The game is supported by subscriptions and zen transactions. As the reasons to subscribe or buy zen over just playing free diminish, so too does the game's ability to support itself. When a major update such as this is added, most of your subscribers and veteran players should be thinking to themselves 'Wow, I'm glad I subscribe and support this game.'
Implementing new systems without new content to support them and requiring a recycle of old content does not give the 'I'm glad I support this game' feeling. You have at your fingertips an infinite source of creative new content that no other MMO (as far as I know) has, called the Foundry: utilize the creativity of your players more and expand on this feature and it can become the source of new content you need to support your efforts into other things, such as these STF changes. I have many ideas on how this can be better utilized, but firstly it needs better multi-creator support and an automated system of rating, review, CBS review, and game implementation. Just think how much new content would be available if players could build their own STFs that could become part of official content.
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A note on player reaction:
People like getting things, not having things taken away. That means if you start with giving 3, then give 1 and 1 they will be happy and end with 5. If you start with giving 3, give them 3 more, and take away 1 then they will be angry and end with 5. This is a universal fact in everything from politics to games, so please keep it in mind when trying to come up with major system changes and conversion processes.
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On Zen and Dilithium:
I can only imagine that all of these new Dilithium sink holes are designed to reduce the amount of Zen a player makes that can be used to buy the more elite items and services for the game. While this method is not completely ineffective, it is not a very good choice for promoting the game and maintaining general player satisfaction. Find a better way: whether it's item stats, enemy difficulty, currency conversion, or resource sinks; escalation is never a means to an end, but rather a band-aid that leads to more problems later on.
I think you can have repeatable story content.
But I think it looks different. The Invasion Zones are a form of this and Romulan Adventure Zone continues it.
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From the Dev Blog, the Omega Marks are coming from STFs as you are performing missions for the Omega Force.
(UFP) Ragnar
Have Normal STFs have the 900-1000 Dilithium per mission with a rare chance to score a bonus that could be used for Dilithum or for Omega Marks.
Have Elite STFs have the current Dilithum reward of 1400 with a rare chance for a bonus to be turned in for Dilithum or for Omega marks.
Have Fleet Actions have that 960 Dilithium reward for playing with players striving for a chance to get bonuses by doing getting one of the top three spots.
It's only fair, since Klingons can't group with Federation for Fleet Actions, and Fleet Actions has always been infamous for AFKers and people in Escorts almost always getting First Place.
Please, do the right thing Cryptic.
EXACTLY.. we only asked to be able to buy the mk xii gear with 80 or 120 EDCs so at least we had a clear objective to earn that wasn't based on lottery. We sure didn't ask for this whole new system!!!
Additionally, if they are going to go through with this system, I concur with another poster's comments that tiers should be opened according to accolades so that it is not as painful.
I AM NOT A FAN OF PWE!!!!
MEMBER SINCE JANUARY 2010
I'm concerned about the new precedent being set for the use of Dilithium and Marks in the upcoming reputation system. It almost feels like we are being "double-dipped" for lack of a better description.
Current item costs:
Most non-set items = dilithium (time)
Set Items = marks of some sort (time)
Proposed Season 7 item costs:
Most non-set items = dilithium (time)
Set Items = marks of some sort (time) + dilithium (time)
See the double-dip of time in Season 7?
The requirement for spending dilithium AND marks for reputation rewards seems to represent a fundamental departure from the use of dilithium and marks up to this point, and I'm interested in the reasoning behind this decision.
It's been 3 years since the start of the Federation-Klingon War. Don't you think it's about time to put that to rest, and show the factions cooperating more fully again? There may in fact be "bigger threats" out there, than has yet to be revealed.
I think I'll be purchasing more MK XII weapons before Season 7 just in case I decide to switch to a different weapon type post S7. The rest gets turned in for dilithium. Now to grind for that prototype engine tech...
1. This is a long thread: people care, they are not happy about all aspects of these changes, listen to what is being said.
2. Taking away our stuff: you don't make your players happy when you take away the things they earn and put them behind a wall. In some countries that's called stealing, and while we don't actually "own" any of it, we both benefit by our shared fantasy. If you have tech drops, you should immediately be able to get and use the new gear. Players who have played hundreds of STF's (and you know who they are b/c you count them) should not be penalized by months of waiting to use their stuff. It is neither just nor fair.
3. Invalidating achievements: We have done hundreds of STFs. We have earned a higher position in line b/c we have done the work. This is not like the starbases where everyone started at the same point. I have several prototype techs that I have been saving b/c I heard new sets were on the way. Now I have to wait months to use them? Will they be worth the same? Is that really worth it to me? Could I not spend time and money playing some other game that isn't going to put me back down at the bottom of the mountain I just spent all that time climbing? I don't mind working for a reward, but once I've earned it, I want to keep it.
4. Dilithium/doffs: what are the requirements for these tiers? Those of us building starbases are getting drained already - now our members are going to have what amounts to their own private starbase projects to be able to use stf gear? This is getting closer and closer to a job.
5. Cooldowns: with the rewards cut so drastically, I hope you plan on changing the cooldowns. 1 hour made some sense with the old system...now it would just be onerous.
6. Guaranteed rewards: I think everyone really likes the basic idea you and the team have come up with. I gave up on trying to get ground tech b/c two of the missions took so long and were really buggy (and no one has spent time fixing them). I now have a way to get the Mark XII gear. I don't mind working for a reward.
There wouldn't be anywhere near this number of pages if they weren't introducing these ridiculous added dilithium sinks, simple as that, as of yet we've received no explanation as to why, just evasion.
With STF's if they wanted to add a resource sink, why not use Experience Points, after all it is Experience with fighting the borg that counts. It just doesn't make sense and they've not told us why they assumed it would be even a remotely good idea, the doff grinder is even worse, 5000/6000 Dilithium to change 5 Blue to 1 Purple, again no rational explanation for this has been given.
Not only that but it's hugely unpopular it is the number 1. gripe for the majority of us.
#2311#2700#2316#2500
Rest of the post was good, but this jumped out at me. Please give us a buy window where we can say I will buy X amount of Y item for Z price, and let it be so that other people can fill orders with as many or as few items as they want.
Nouveau riche LTS member
This should tell you something.
You can't suddenly charge more and pay less. This isn't a plantation.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
So is DPS all the way!
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Don't worry. Some friendly forum poster will be glad to do the math and post it. Probably within 10 minutes of the conversion going live on tribble.
And then the pitchforks and torches will be issued...
Ok new players: If you haven't got the pieces by november, you will be at a direct disadvantage against older players with their sets all collected.
PVP: New players will be cannon fodder until they hit tier 5, and stay out of Ker'Rat as well.
Eveything will cost dilithium, meaing that people will be less prone to donate to their fleets, and the demand for dilithium in the dilithium store will increase = Less dilithium per Zen right?
If you are going to buy dilithium with Zen, do it now before season 7;) And if you have alot of dilithium, wait until s7 to buy Zen;)
if PWE was smart, they would sell pitchforks and torches in the Zen store.
Btw... Fleet Action scoring is set up differently in every Fleet Action and is not entirely based on DPS, but rather objective scoring.
I've asked the team to come up with a scoring chart so that you can see what different objectives mean from a score perspective (for example in some fleet actions interactions are worth a lot of points and that has nothing to do with DPS). A lot of the Fleet Actions do value "Kills" in scoring, but we are reviewing that as well.
In addition, we have decided to nix the X2 Dilithium bonus for Gold and instead provide a x2 Purple gear and keep the Dilithium consistent across all players.
Not exactly... You will unlock pieces as you tier in the reputation system... Tier 1 = Mk X Ground, Tier 2 Mark X Space, Tier 3 Mark XI Ground, Tier 4 Mark XI Space, Tier 5 Mk XII. Based on the costs I see to get to T1 ERputation (essentially 3 days and cost is negligible), Tier 2... 3 - 4 days?
If you have a partial set of tech, (IMO) your best bet is to trade it in now for the equipment, and jjust put it in your bank. We dont lose any pieces (i.e. Mako Mk Xii Shield) we currently have... but will lose the Tech (i.e. Rare Shield Tech)/Salvage/EDC until you reach Tier 5.
If you allow the conversion to convert your Rare Tech, you wont be able to gain access to its "value" until you are tiered to 5 (at which point Mk XII is available).
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