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LTS worth it?
zulnob
Member Posts: 3 Arc User
So heres the background
yes I'm a Trekkie and just recently started playing (reason being that there is no Version playable on MAC). Now finally got a PC and the first and only game installed was STO..
My one week experience..(full time job + RL)
STO was meant as a little fun every now and then to kill some spare time..
between server time outs, servers not responding both earlier this week and then todays maintenance which now ended in a queue 3702 out of 10432 with the only number going up being the latter I am starting to have my doubts. Was originally planning on getting a LTS. Servers down = Action in Forums and I read from a lot of frustrated players which got me thinking.. its frustrating as a non LTS player who started his first week by spending $75 on Uniforms etc to have the basics I like to have as Trekkie in a Star Trek mmorpg.
If half of what little time I do or rather would have to play is spent looking at a real nice diversity of messages telling me i cant play when i want to.. I'm really thinking twice about getting a LTS (especially because the package really doesnt seem THAT great).
So allow me to ask the community and especially those that did spend the money on LTS.. is it still worth the investment?
Looking forward to reading your responses
Zulnob
yes I'm a Trekkie and just recently started playing (reason being that there is no Version playable on MAC). Now finally got a PC and the first and only game installed was STO..
My one week experience..(full time job + RL)
STO was meant as a little fun every now and then to kill some spare time..
between server time outs, servers not responding both earlier this week and then todays maintenance which now ended in a queue 3702 out of 10432 with the only number going up being the latter I am starting to have my doubts. Was originally planning on getting a LTS. Servers down = Action in Forums and I read from a lot of frustrated players which got me thinking.. its frustrating as a non LTS player who started his first week by spending $75 on Uniforms etc to have the basics I like to have as Trekkie in a Star Trek mmorpg.
If half of what little time I do or rather would have to play is spent looking at a real nice diversity of messages telling me i cant play when i want to.. I'm really thinking twice about getting a LTS (especially because the package really doesnt seem THAT great).
So allow me to ask the community and especially those that did spend the money on LTS.. is it still worth the investment?
Looking forward to reading your responses
Zulnob
Post edited by zulnob on
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My stipend is very handy. I like having lots of toons. I enjoy a large bank. Today, when the servers were full, I enjoyed jumping the queue straight to 46 out of 1600 people. The lifetime subscription bonuses like respecs are VERY valuable.
Still, it's a personal decision. Only you can make it. I'd suggest you consider a) how much you intend to play. b) whether you want the lifetime stuff (Borg captain is cool). c) how much you intend to spend in zen and see how long it would take the stipend to pay you back.
Like I said, these are my reasons and I won't advise you one way or the other.
If you guys were to speculate.. would i get my 2-3 Years or is there an end in sight?
the login/queue issues were just a result of the super high traffic for the event starting yesterday and not the norm for the game.
If your ONLY reason for looking into a LTS is to jump to the front of the queue then its likely not worth it for you as in the year I've been playing there is RARELY ever a queue. I became a LTS member for all of the "free" unlocks you get. If you add up what those perks would cost on there own then its a good deal
Expanded bank and inventory space
Extra ship, character and costume slots (both from basic Gold status and more from vet rewards)
Multiple uniform options (Veteran, Jupiter Veteran, LTS comm badge)
Access to the Captain's Yacht shuttle
A Mugato pet
Several respec tokens per character
Playable Liberated Borg
A FREE single unlock of a Defiant, Galaxy, Intrepid or B'Rel when a character his Lv. 50 (retroactive as well)
The Chimera and Pegh'qu Heavy Destroyers (awesome)
1,000 extra dil refinement every 2 days
5% skill point boost to you and your team.
Fireworks, titles, Android bridge officers, oh my.
So there's easily $200 worth of stuff there. The only thing you have to decide is if there's $200 worth of it that you personally want, factoring in the stipend.
Oh, and jumping into the login queue ahead of a couple thousand other people when a new season or event launches is handy too.
I was interested for the LTS when it was on sale (it will be on sale again, I am sure), but I am no longer. I like the game and I will spend money on it, but that depends on what will come out and what I like.
Yes you do, as long as you actually understand what the word priority means. I means you get to jump in front of all the Sliver people waiting to log in. It does not mean you get to kick people currently playing off the server to make room for you.
Lots of people were reporting this as working last night, so don't bother telling me it doesn't. Being put in line at 2,500 out of 9,000 means the priority login worked, you were placed in line in front of all those sliver accounts.
Also login queues happen maybe 3-4 times a year. Last night the queue lasted for about 4 or 5 hours. There was no queue when I logged in last night at 9:30pm. There was queues for a day or so during peak time when Season 7 released. The rest of the year priority login means pretty much nothing.
This is very true, and I forgot to mention that. Yes, if you sub for a month certain things will remain permanent for all your current characters. However, you will no longer be able to claim them on any new characters. The nice thing about an LTS is that you pay once, and you get everything in perpetuity without ever thinking about it again. I just wouldn't pay $300 for it.
If nothing else here is what you get and it's rough value... it pays for itself and then some as well as paying you back $5 per month in zen.
ZEN ITEM
++++++++
600z Playable Federation Liberated Borg character (Only LTS can obtain)
600z Playable Klingon Liberated Borg character (Only LTS can obtain)
Costume Pieces:
550z Special Veteran Jacket Option
Special Veteran Uniform Option (Silver Jupiter Variant)
Special Veteran Uniform Option (Gold Jupiter Variant)
550z Klingon Shoulder Pads and Cape
Starships:
2500z Chimera Heavy Destroyer
2500z Pehgqu' Heavy Destroyer
500z Captain's Yacht/Chariot
2500z Free Ship at Starfleet Vice Admiral
2500z Free Ship at KDF Lieutenant General
Assorted:
300z Mugato Companion
500z Android Bridge Officer
2000z 4 Additional Starship Slots
500z 2 Additional Costume Slots
1065z 4 Additional Character Slots
5000z 10 Respecs (Per character)
2000z 20 account shared bank slots
1500z 60 additional bank slot per character
1600Z 72 additional INVENTORY SLOTS (PER CHARACTER)
500z Energy Credit Increase
Unvalued items:
Captain's Table Access
Firework Ship Emote
Veteran Starship Material
Alternative Future Comm Badge
lifetime comm badge
Dilithium Refining Boost Doff Assignment
5% Skill Point and Expertise Boost
5% Team Skill and Expertise Boost
Priority Login, Full Chat/Mail Access, Full Customer Service Access, No ads in voice chat, No limitations for fleet creation.
Titles:
Stalwart
Redoubtable
Dauntless
Valiant
Relentless
Magnificent
Impressive
Vigilant
Guardian
Starfleet/Empire Veteran
Career Officer
That's 27,765 zen in easily valued benefits besides the unvalued items. So over $250 in perks and $5 in zen back every month. I didn't even multiply out all the other benefits when you consider they are per character.
It's up to you to see how much value you will take from it. Keep in mind too that there have been sales (2 last year) for the LTS at $199.
Lifetime Sub since June 2010
Signed A Very Extremely Po'ed Lifer .
I am not super familiar with MMOs, but I think STO is going to be around for quite a while. A lot of the people who are predicting the doom of the game are a lot quieter now that things are actually starting to roll from the money infusion PWE put in. One reason Cryptic couldn't deliver on promises (and they weren't all promises) was because they didn't have the resources - Atari treated this game horribly, and as one can see from their recent bankruptcy, they may well not know what they're doing in general financially. Also, the forum community has a lot of those that are simultaneously the most dedicated and the most aggrieved in the entire game. Frankly it can be a massive sink of negativity, so you shouldn't base all your assumptions on what you see here. Those crying out their grievances, ranging from fully justified to ridiculous, are usually the loudest. Which is not to say the forums should be ignored entirely - that said, the context of the discourse here must be kept in mind.
However, that does not answer your question - is an LTS worth it? Excellent question. Personally, if I were you I'd consider just going Gold. You get bonuses when you level, you get priority in-queue, you help the game out financially, etc. If the game is still around it will cost more in the long-run, but it's a lot less sticker shock up front and gives you a chance to effectively bail.
Also the connectivity issues are not something I normally experience, although that's just my personal experience. Login queues are rare.
The end is in the rear view mirror, in terms of paying for a subscription of any sort for this game. A lifetime sub for a freemium game? That's madness. And not worth it.
Another poster pointed out how you can pretty much just buy a month and get lots of the unlocks you want. It's cheaper and far more efficient. Even if you have to pay for ... gasp ... another month sometime in the future to get unlocks for later created characters. Heh.
It's also worth looking at the Z-Store for things you might want and totting up the cost in Zen for them and converting to money, if that amount is only $65 cheaper than a lifetime sub on sale would be ($200) then be patient and get a lifetime sub on sale as the extra bonuses like free ships etc are very nice to have.
It is through repetition that we learn our weakness.
A master with a stone is better than a novice with a sword.
Has damage got out of control?
This is the last thing I will post.
There are a couple of other games where I do regret my LTS, but this is still not one of them.
The perks I get are very usefull to me, all the ships/character/boff/bank slots, the free tokens at every promotion, access to the Foundry for creating your own adventures, the automated dil. refinement and especially the 500 z. monthly stipend and the EC cap are quite nice and beneficial to have in game.
Now because you're considering LTS, you'll have even more perks asap, the veteran rewards - all the ones mikefl has mentioned in his post before. Some very nice stuff there, like the awesome veteran ships or the liberated borg amongst many other things.
In my opinion I'd say that it's worth it, especially if you like STO because of Star Trek and not just as an MMO. And it is also a nice way to support the game we enjoy.
The game is structured on a per character basis, in that most everything is isolated to a character, not very much account stuff. (EG: Reputation system, endgame grinding, many c-store items)
So, since LTS really only benefits people who are going to be around for a really really long time AND have a large number of characters, its probably better for you to go gold for a month or two, get your characters to max rank and buy the things you want off the store.
Summary: Don't get LTS unless you know for sure you are going to play this for years and will make a large number of characters.
I recommend going gold for a month or two for the stuff, then staying silver and buying what you want of the store.