While on the subject of old annoying bugs how long has the revive bug been in the game for now?
Y'Know the one where you go to revive someone in ground combat, get half way through it and it stops and you have to start all over again. This can be infuriating at times AND ITS STILL NOT FIXED!
yea its bad when you try 2-3 times before it works
Here's an interesting quote from the Company Profile page of the parent company's website in Beijing...
"We are a leading online game developer and operator based in China. We primarily develop online games based on our proprietary game engines and game development platforms. Our strong technology and creative game design capabilities, combined with our extensive knowledge and experiences in the online game market, enable us to frequently and promptly introduce popular games designed to cater changing customer preferences and market trends."
So if that is the parent company saying that, then how does the "child" not know it also?
Well then if you look at it that way then the foundy before remove fm reward was working as intended. So I guess shipping patches out with bug is also working as intended.
Sometimes when you do a hull heal, you get a 2 minute cooldown on ALL abilities. You cannot do anything except maneuver. Your shields will not regen either. You are basically a sitting duck.
This happened to me after we destroyed a ship and I was clicking abilities to recover. I clicked my hull heal and poof! 2 min cd on everything.
Wow so another game breaking bug introduced into the game by cryptic, again. And they claim they have QA.
Maybe PWE are just getting rid of us so this can be a Star Wars game when TOR folds?
Hmm... does that mean I can haz a Death Star?
Remember what I've been saying for the last few weeks Kaz? That I have a sneaky suspicion that the powers that be are slowly winding this game down so they can focus on a newer, shinier game.
She did say "legitimate missions" so they are not being blamed IMO they are being made out to be the poor innocent parties.
I don't see why any mission needs to be defined as "legitimate."
It was on a half an hour cooldown. Missions did have to meet certain internal criteria to qualify for rewards.
I totally get the idea that 50 was too many. Leaving it at 50 when the wrapper once required three missions and was daily when the wrapper required one mission and was doable every half hour was dumb on Cryptic's part because it made the Foundry better as a FM source than other gameplay types.
But it's a valid alternative type if they just knocked down the rewards so they weren't the best. Cryptic needs to stop fighting so hard for queued events. They're boring.
A solo player in a Foundry mission is engaging in social play because somebody made that. I think the failure to consider that as social (and continued failure to have adequate authorship rewards) is an area where I think Cryptic demonstrates that they see the Foundry as a resource to plunder without showing any great respect to the work involved by authors. I feel like when they DO get blown away by a Foundry mission, the reaction at work is probably something like, "And we got someone to make this FOR FREE!" And it becomes this showcase on the power of crowdsourcing.
I don't believe in crowdsourcing. I think it's a purchase of labor made on credit and that credit will eventually be paid, maybe with another intangible like lost goodwill or closed markets as fringe areas make crowdsourcing illegal. I think there's a limited amount you can benefit from it but that the costs associated with it aren't nearly as limited... and need to be quantified. Even dodging every other bullet, the next question then becomes why devs need salaries once enough things can be automated or crowdsources; that may never impact STO but I guarantee you that somebody, somewhere is dreaming of what it would take to make a totally automated MMO without devs for content or systems balancing, where everything is user submitted, datamined, or handled by vote. At best, eventually somebody is going to launch an MMO with a Foundry-like tool that pays authors cash for content and steal the best authors that way.
Remember what I've been saying for the last few weeks Kaz? That I have a sneaky suspicion that the powers that be are slowly winding this game down so they can focus on a newer, shinier game.
Well there's no doubt that STO's getting neglected because of Neverwinter - also, when NW gets released (in typical buggy, barely fit-for-purpose MMO fashion) it'll be all hands on deck for the inevitable 45-day patch.
How this will impact their grand plans for 'The Season formerly known as Eight' remains to be seen - you'll forgive me if I'm not too optimistic though won't you?
Well there's no doubt that STO's getting neglected because of Neverwinter - also, when NW gets released (in typical buggy, barely fit-for-purpose MMO fashion) it'll be all hands on deck for the inevitable 45-day patch.
How this will impact their grand plans for 'The Season formerly known as Eight' remains to be seen - you'll forgive me if I'm not too optimistic though won't you?
Don't worry, NW will get neglected as soon as Cryptic gets its hands on another IP to build a storefront out of.
so does this mean the patrol missions and the defiri(sp) dailies are not legitimate? they have no story and are just shoot shoot mob grinds. we should remove all rewards from them as well. or all dailies for that matter they have no story to them so why should they give rewards
How this will impact their grand plans for 'The Season formerly known as Eight' remains to be seen - you'll forgive me if I'm not too optimistic though won't you?
Half finished. Full of bugs. Glaring graphical issues. Holes in the floor. At least three of the promised unlocks will be unfinished while the rest don't work as promised or are outright bugged. We will be stalled for weeks and weeks until they finally stop responding to those questions... Meanwhile we get weekly patches to fix spelling and grammar issues in the lockbox premiums.
Cynical? Oh you bet. It's what we've gotten before and nothing has changed going forward.
I'll keep playing though -- just in case they wake up one day and decide to do better.
I know this release (http://sto.perfectworld.com/blog/?p=821691) was planned a while back and they'd announced it would be discussed soon. Planned, sure, but certainly "well-timed" to come out now, though...
YEP, several of you called it - here's the new "ooooh, shiney" that was predicted would come out just in time to try and run interference and cloud the issues in this thread! Some of ye need to consider a career on The Psychic Network," ha! Nah, it's just that you know your Cryptic, eh?
Sorry, chaps: these ships are cool, but not a single penny more until the issues in this thread (at VERY least - one could hope for more...) are addressed!
Fleet Commander
Caprica's Revenge (...actually active since November 2010, which may one day be important to archaeologists, but not to anyone else...)
I know this release (http://sto.perfectworld.com/blog/?p=821691) was planned a while back and they'd announced it would be discussed soon. Planned, sure, but certainly "well-timed" to come out now, though...
YEP, several of you called it - here's the new "ooooh, shiney" that was predicted would come out just in time to try and run interference and cloud the issues in this thread! Some of ye need to consider a career on The Psychic Network," ha! Nah, it's just that you know your Cryptic, eh?
Sorry, chaps: these ships are cool, but not a single penny more until the issues in this thread (at VERY least - one could hope for more...) are addressed!
I don't think the Devs/PWE have the time to spend on this issue, they have more money making advertising to make $$$$$$$$$$$
At least it's nice to know that they are in the forums, I guess this tiny little thread isn't busy enough for them to look in and say hello...
Dan, Dan he's our man,
if he can't answer,
nobody can...
Too bad they don't invest as much time making a good game as they do creating a new ship.
Not to mention the KDF gets a big middle finger again when it comes to content.
It's too bad, my Klingon toons have pretty much done nothing but sit in the Pi Conis sector block and collect contraband, prisoners, and dilithium. That's the great Klingon Empire for you.
How the Devs see Star Trek, apparently:
Star Trek: The Original Grind
Star Trek: The Next Grind
Star Trek: Deep Space Grind
Star Trek: Voyage to the Grind
This game has such a narrow focus towards one faction PvE repeatable missions. The nice thing about the foundry daily was it allowed players to explore a new source of entertainment and decide where they wanted to spend their time in order to get a fair reward. The decision to remove this has me scratching my head, just like the prior STF dilithium fiasco. I don't see a point in playing through the foundry and not being rewarded for my time and the thought of going back to fleet missions to earn marks is just depressing considering how many times I have run through them already.
Cryptic really dropped the ball here, again. The fighting between foundry authors and large vs small fleets is just egotistical minutiae. Step up to the plate and reverse this change. Let the customer/player decide how they want to spend their time and earn a worthwhile reward.
Well there's no doubt that STO's getting neglected because of Neverwinter - also, when NW gets released (in typical buggy, barely fit-for-purpose MMO fashion) it'll be all hands on deck for the inevitable 45-day patch.
How this will impact their grand plans for 'The Season formerly known as Eight' remains to be seen - you'll forgive me if I'm not too optimistic though won't you?
It's been stated many times that there are separate teams for STO and Neverwinter. The only impact that Neverwinter right now has is that there are features for the foundry that are going to come from Neverwinter, once it is released.
I know this release (http://sto.perfectworld.com/blog/?p=821691) was planned a while back and they'd announced it would be discussed soon. Planned, sure, but certainly "well-timed" to come out now, though...
YEP, several of you called it - here's the new "ooooh, shiney" that was predicted would come out just in time to try and run interference and cloud the issues in this thread! Some of ye need to consider a career on The Psychic Network," ha! Nah, it's just that you know your Cryptic, eh?
Sorry, chaps: these ships are cool, but not a single penny more until the issues in this thread (at VERY least - one could hope for more...) are addressed!
Lol, note this "Each Andorian ship has some slight modifications befitting the role they might fill on the various battlefields of the galaxy. The Khyzon is the most reminiscent of the ship we've seen in Enterprise, and has a slightly more "sciencey" feel compared to the others. Next, the Charal boasts armored-up hull sections, beefier, sturdier wings, and bulkier cannons, as it will most likely fit the role of a more engineering focused vessel. Similarly, the Kumari Class is the tactical version, and it boasts larger forward dual cannons and sleeker, longer, wing cannons than the rest, with a slightly more aggressive stance. Mixing and matching parts, with paint patterns and varied hull materials will allow players to make some pretty interested mash-ups. Also, each ship comes equipped with the new Andorian bridge and a unique console that has an awesome ability ? more information about these, and each ships? stats, in an upcoming Dev Blog."
Again a 3-pack, minimal design effort, just swapping around some small cannons or whatever and a console extra for whatever the version is intended to be focussed on, maximum profits. On top of that of course a console that looks too good to be true, which two weeks later when they nerf it turns out to be right...yeah I'm excited about these new ships:rolleyes:
Lost and Delirious... and Disenchanted too Apparently some forum posters have diplomatic immunity nowadays, where can I get mine?
It's been stated many times that there are separate teams for STO and Neverwinter. The only impact that Neverwinter right now has is that there are features for the foundry that are going to come from Neverwinter, once it is released.
Once more, separate teams.
Dan Stated he was playing the new FE before he left for Zynga and also said that the game wasn't going f2p and was making good money.
No cups in the kitchen?
Straight from the mouth of one of the leaders of the CDF - "I tell you what, Haven't spent any money either - I'm a lousy freeloader" - Jonsills 17/12/2014
It's been stated many times that there are separate teams for STO and Neverwinter. The only impact that Neverwinter right now has is that there are features for the foundry that are going to come from Neverwinter, once it is released.
Once more, separate teams.
How'd that work out for the CO to STO transition hrmm?
This game has such a narrow focus towards one faction PvE repeatable missions. The nice thing about the foundry daily was it allowed players to explore a new source of entertainment and decide where they wanted to spend their time in order to get a fair reward. The decision to remove this has me scratching my head, just like the prior STF dilithium fiasco. I don't see a point in playing through the foundry and not being rewarded for my time and the thought of going back to fleet missions to earn marks is just depressing considering how many times I have run through them already.
Cryptic really dropped the ball here, again. The fighting between foundry authors and large vs small fleets is just egotistical minutiae. Step up to the plate and reverse this change. Let the customer/player decide how they want to spend their time and earn a worthwhile reward.
[My emphasis]
The main reason I wrote my proposal (see link below). Give the players a choice.
Star Trek Online Volunteer Community Moderator and Resident She-Wolf
Community Moderators are Unpaid Volunteers and NOT Employees of Gearbox/Cryptic
Views and Opinions May Not Reflect the Views and Opinions of Gearbox/Cryptic
Dan Stated he was playing the new FE before he left for Zynga and also said that the game wasn't going f2p and was making good money.
No cups in the kitchen?
New FE: We know it was in a rough draft phase then because we saw the maps. It was his predecessor's comments
Not going F2P: You need to read dev posts like a lawyer. He said "no plans." He stopped saying that or anything early in 2010. If I were him and wanted to play the legalese card, I'd hop on my iPhone 5 minutes before the first planning session reaffirming that there were "no plans" and then have the community manager keep linking people to that thread while I made the plans.
Making good money: I think the Cryptic POV on this was covering costs and I don't think Atari would have bothered selling them if they weren't.
So when it comes down to it Mr Stahl. It's not just the FM's that's the problem, or even just the bugs alone, the whole game needs to be looked at again and worked on & patched up to a standard which your consumer deserves. Stop throwing new ships at us, lockboxes and new outfits, that stuff can come later when we have a stable game.
Other people have quoted this and I will as well. As much as I'd like to see this happen, I just don't think it's in the cards. I think it's pretty evident where Cryptic's stance lies.
Cryptic doesn't care about quality, they care about revenue.
They don't see increasing quality as a source of revenue, they just want to stuff more revenue sinks into the game.
It's been stated many times that there are separate teams for STO and Neverwinter. The only impact that Neverwinter right now has is that there are features for the foundry that are going to come from Neverwinter, once it is released.
Once more, separate teams.
So what, it's still the same company with the same goals and same philosiphy.
Bioware/EA had different teams for Mass Effect 3 and SWTOR, and we saw how those turned out.
How the Devs see Star Trek, apparently:
Star Trek: The Original Grind
Star Trek: The Next Grind
Star Trek: Deep Space Grind
Star Trek: Voyage to the Grind
How'd that work out for the CO to STO transition hrmm?
Frankly, I think on some level, CO has always been seen as Jack Emmert's expensive hobby and R&D for other games.
STO is something they expected and expect to make money on. I'm not sure CO is or has been since about 30 days after CO launched. I wouldn't be shocked if the big thing keeping it afloat isn't that pulling the plug would undermine confidence in STO and NW and upset Jack Emmert. But if Jack ever retired, I think you'd probably see CO shutdown inside 90 days.
I think maybe they had big hopes for it to be a 250k subber game and realized they were out of touch and shipped devs off to polish STO and avoid a repeat. Then they had hopes of being the premiere F2P game.
But if they hadn't transferred a bunch of CO devs to polish STO, they would have collapsed. Because their idea of a passable MMO launch was out of date. CO faltered out of the gate. And the only survival strategy at that point was to make sure STO launched better than it was set to at that point.
At this point, I think they may be overestimating NW... But I think CO has almost never met expectations and has been getting one stay of execution after another, ever since launch day, whereas STO is probably not on the verge of sinking.
It seems to me the folks at Cryptic are making a simple situation way more complicated than it should. So I hope folks at Cryptic are listening cus this is your solution.
First off, regarding the topic at hand; I have no problems with fleet marks being removed from the foundry missions. I frankly don't know why they put them in there in the first place. The fleet marks system was created for fleet activities, so let them stay there. However you have to address the reason why so many people are upset about the removal of FMs from the foundry wrapper. Its because 50 fleet marks are actually worth the time it takes to do these missions. On the other hand you have No Win, fleet defense, and other fleet PvEs that rewards pitiful amounts of FMs. (Just like Azure Nebula and some of the Romulan rep missions) The Solution is easy, INCREASE THE FM REWARDS GIVEN BY FLEET MISSIONS. Make these PvE's actually worth the time it takes to do them (Like STFs which give 60-110 Omega Marks). Getting 12 fleet marks from a 20+ minute no-win (chasing down a scimitar) is totally ridiculous and frankly insulting to the player. If Cryptic had done this in the first place instead of adding FMs to a foundry wrapper, you wouldn't be facing a 100+ page rant on your forums.
Another convoluted problem Cryptic created themselves is this problem with fleet progression. The explanation given, involving "Option A" and "Option B" is nothing short of an slap in the face to the players. We are not fools Cryptic, we don't live in a 2-dimensional world with only 2 options. Why don'y you tell us about "Option C." Ya know, the option you decided you were too lazy to take? SCALE FLEET PROGRESSION BASED ON FLEET SIZE! In other words, actually program an algorithm that scales holdings and requirements to the size of the fleet. Cryptic, its not as complicated as it sounds and it can be done. The problem is it will take a great deal of manpower, manpower you prefer to be using on releasing new money-making content. Problem is you released a broken product, the customers have spoken, and they deem to be broken. Now, its your responsibility to fix it.
Luckily for you, like I said, these problems have simple solutions.
STO is something they expected and expect to make money on. I'm not sure CO is or has been since about 30 days after CO launched.
I think they knew this the moment Marvel pulled out and they had to scrap all the content and completely replace it; after that it was about trying to salvage something from all that hard work, not create their Next Big Thing. STO was their first post-CoH project that they expected to make big money on; and they have.
Let's face it, it wouldn't be worth asking them to change this if STO wasn't successful; there'd be no point in changing it if there weren't a lot of paying customers unhappy with the change.
Former moderator of these forums. Lifetime sub since before launch. Been here since before public betas. Foundry author of "Franklin Drake Must Die".
Comments
"We are a leading online game developer and operator based in China. We primarily develop online games based on our proprietary game engines and game development platforms. Our strong technology and creative game design capabilities, combined with our extensive knowledge and experiences in the online game market, enable us to frequently and promptly introduce popular games designed to cater changing customer preferences and market trends."
So if that is the parent company saying that, then how does the "child" not know it also?
PWE/Cryptic Stop the FARM! Bring back the FUN!
Zeus
No, no, no. You got it wrong fellas.
That's 'Working as intended', the Cryptic way...
Maybe PWE are just getting rid of us so this can be a Star Wars game when TOR folds?
Hmm... does that mean I can haz a Death Star?
Wow so another game breaking bug introduced into the game by cryptic, again. And they claim they have QA.
"i want fleet marks back!" - we all need just post that over and over again because not getting message.
DELTA RISING FIXS THERE NEVER COMING WHY I'M I WASTING MY TIME ASKING FOR THEM ???
Remember what I've been saying for the last few weeks Kaz? That I have a sneaky suspicion that the powers that be are slowly winding this game down so they can focus on a newer, shinier game.
I don't see why any mission needs to be defined as "legitimate."
It was on a half an hour cooldown. Missions did have to meet certain internal criteria to qualify for rewards.
I totally get the idea that 50 was too many. Leaving it at 50 when the wrapper once required three missions and was daily when the wrapper required one mission and was doable every half hour was dumb on Cryptic's part because it made the Foundry better as a FM source than other gameplay types.
But it's a valid alternative type if they just knocked down the rewards so they weren't the best. Cryptic needs to stop fighting so hard for queued events. They're boring.
A solo player in a Foundry mission is engaging in social play because somebody made that. I think the failure to consider that as social (and continued failure to have adequate authorship rewards) is an area where I think Cryptic demonstrates that they see the Foundry as a resource to plunder without showing any great respect to the work involved by authors. I feel like when they DO get blown away by a Foundry mission, the reaction at work is probably something like, "And we got someone to make this FOR FREE!" And it becomes this showcase on the power of crowdsourcing.
I don't believe in crowdsourcing. I think it's a purchase of labor made on credit and that credit will eventually be paid, maybe with another intangible like lost goodwill or closed markets as fringe areas make crowdsourcing illegal. I think there's a limited amount you can benefit from it but that the costs associated with it aren't nearly as limited... and need to be quantified. Even dodging every other bullet, the next question then becomes why devs need salaries once enough things can be automated or crowdsources; that may never impact STO but I guarantee you that somebody, somewhere is dreaming of what it would take to make a totally automated MMO without devs for content or systems balancing, where everything is user submitted, datamined, or handled by vote. At best, eventually somebody is going to launch an MMO with a Foundry-like tool that pays authors cash for content and steal the best authors that way.
We'll see though.
Well there's no doubt that STO's getting neglected because of Neverwinter - also, when NW gets released (in typical buggy, barely fit-for-purpose MMO fashion) it'll be all hands on deck for the inevitable 45-day patch.
How this will impact their grand plans for 'The Season formerly known as Eight' remains to be seen - you'll forgive me if I'm not too optimistic though won't you?
Don't worry, NW will get neglected as soon as Cryptic gets its hands on another IP to build a storefront out of.
/sarcasm
Half finished. Full of bugs. Glaring graphical issues. Holes in the floor. At least three of the promised unlocks will be unfinished while the rest don't work as promised or are outright bugged. We will be stalled for weeks and weeks until they finally stop responding to those questions... Meanwhile we get weekly patches to fix spelling and grammar issues in the lockbox premiums.
Cynical? Oh you bet. It's what we've gotten before and nothing has changed going forward.
I'll keep playing though -- just in case they wake up one day and decide to do better.
I know this release (http://sto.perfectworld.com/blog/?p=821691) was planned a while back and they'd announced it would be discussed soon. Planned, sure, but certainly "well-timed" to come out now, though...
YEP, several of you called it - here's the new "ooooh, shiney" that was predicted would come out just in time to try and run interference and cloud the issues in this thread! Some of ye need to consider a career on The Psychic Network," ha! Nah, it's just that you know your Cryptic, eh?
Sorry, chaps: these ships are cool, but not a single penny more until the issues in this thread (at VERY least - one could hope for more...) are addressed!
Fleet Commander
Caprica's Revenge
(...actually active since November 2010, which may one day be important to archaeologists, but not to anyone else...)
At least it's nice to know that they are in the forums, I guess this tiny little thread isn't busy enough for them to look in and say hello...
Dan, Dan he's our man,
if he can't answer,
nobody can...
=/\= 106th Fleet =/\=
Website | Fleet Charter | Mission Statement | Forums | Join | F.A.Q.
lol too funny, they just letting us punch ouselves out lol.
Too bad they don't invest as much time making a good game as they do creating a new ship.
Not to mention the KDF gets a big middle finger again when it comes to content.
It's too bad, my Klingon toons have pretty much done nothing but sit in the Pi Conis sector block and collect contraband, prisoners, and dilithium. That's the great Klingon Empire for you.
Star Trek: The Original Grind
Star Trek: The Next Grind
Star Trek: Deep Space Grind
Star Trek: Voyage to the Grind
Cryptic really dropped the ball here, again. The fighting between foundry authors and large vs small fleets is just egotistical minutiae. Step up to the plate and reverse this change. Let the customer/player decide how they want to spend their time and earn a worthwhile reward.
It's been stated many times that there are separate teams for STO and Neverwinter. The only impact that Neverwinter right now has is that there are features for the foundry that are going to come from Neverwinter, once it is released.
Once more, separate teams.
Lol, note this "Each Andorian ship has some slight modifications befitting the role they might fill on the various battlefields of the galaxy. The Khyzon is the most reminiscent of the ship we've seen in Enterprise, and has a slightly more "sciencey" feel compared to the others. Next, the Charal boasts armored-up hull sections, beefier, sturdier wings, and bulkier cannons, as it will most likely fit the role of a more engineering focused vessel. Similarly, the Kumari Class is the tactical version, and it boasts larger forward dual cannons and sleeker, longer, wing cannons than the rest, with a slightly more aggressive stance. Mixing and matching parts, with paint patterns and varied hull materials will allow players to make some pretty interested mash-ups. Also, each ship comes equipped with the new Andorian bridge and a unique console that has an awesome ability ? more information about these, and each ships? stats, in an upcoming Dev Blog."
Again a 3-pack, minimal design effort, just swapping around some small cannons or whatever and a console extra for whatever the version is intended to be focussed on, maximum profits. On top of that of course a console that looks too good to be true, which two weeks later when they nerf it turns out to be right...yeah I'm excited about these new ships:rolleyes:
Apparently some forum posters have diplomatic immunity nowadays, where can I get mine? [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Dan Stated he was playing the new FE before he left for Zynga and also said that the game wasn't going f2p and was making good money.
No cups in the kitchen?
How'd that work out for the CO to STO transition hrmm?
[My emphasis]
The main reason I wrote my proposal (see link below). Give the players a choice.
Views and Opinions May Not Reflect the Views and Opinions of Gearbox/Cryptic
Moderation Problems/Issues? Please contact the Community Manager
Terms of Service / Community Rules and Policies / FCT
Facebook / Twitter / Twitch
New FE: We know it was in a rough draft phase then because we saw the maps. It was his predecessor's comments
Not going F2P: You need to read dev posts like a lawyer. He said "no plans." He stopped saying that or anything early in 2010. If I were him and wanted to play the legalese card, I'd hop on my iPhone 5 minutes before the first planning session reaffirming that there were "no plans" and then have the community manager keep linking people to that thread while I made the plans.
Making good money: I think the Cryptic POV on this was covering costs and I don't think Atari would have bothered selling them if they weren't.
Other people have quoted this and I will as well. As much as I'd like to see this happen, I just don't think it's in the cards. I think it's pretty evident where Cryptic's stance lies.
Cryptic doesn't care about quality, they care about revenue.
They don't see increasing quality as a source of revenue, they just want to stuff more revenue sinks into the game.
So what, it's still the same company with the same goals and same philosiphy.
Bioware/EA had different teams for Mass Effect 3 and SWTOR, and we saw how those turned out.
Star Trek: The Original Grind
Star Trek: The Next Grind
Star Trek: Deep Space Grind
Star Trek: Voyage to the Grind
Frankly, I think on some level, CO has always been seen as Jack Emmert's expensive hobby and R&D for other games.
STO is something they expected and expect to make money on. I'm not sure CO is or has been since about 30 days after CO launched. I wouldn't be shocked if the big thing keeping it afloat isn't that pulling the plug would undermine confidence in STO and NW and upset Jack Emmert. But if Jack ever retired, I think you'd probably see CO shutdown inside 90 days.
I think maybe they had big hopes for it to be a 250k subber game and realized they were out of touch and shipped devs off to polish STO and avoid a repeat. Then they had hopes of being the premiere F2P game.
But if they hadn't transferred a bunch of CO devs to polish STO, they would have collapsed. Because their idea of a passable MMO launch was out of date. CO faltered out of the gate. And the only survival strategy at that point was to make sure STO launched better than it was set to at that point.
At this point, I think they may be overestimating NW... But I think CO has almost never met expectations and has been getting one stay of execution after another, ever since launch day, whereas STO is probably not on the verge of sinking.
First off, regarding the topic at hand; I have no problems with fleet marks being removed from the foundry missions. I frankly don't know why they put them in there in the first place. The fleet marks system was created for fleet activities, so let them stay there. However you have to address the reason why so many people are upset about the removal of FMs from the foundry wrapper. Its because 50 fleet marks are actually worth the time it takes to do these missions. On the other hand you have No Win, fleet defense, and other fleet PvEs that rewards pitiful amounts of FMs. (Just like Azure Nebula and some of the Romulan rep missions) The Solution is easy, INCREASE THE FM REWARDS GIVEN BY FLEET MISSIONS. Make these PvE's actually worth the time it takes to do them (Like STFs which give 60-110 Omega Marks). Getting 12 fleet marks from a 20+ minute no-win (chasing down a scimitar) is totally ridiculous and frankly insulting to the player. If Cryptic had done this in the first place instead of adding FMs to a foundry wrapper, you wouldn't be facing a 100+ page rant on your forums.
Another convoluted problem Cryptic created themselves is this problem with fleet progression. The explanation given, involving "Option A" and "Option B" is nothing short of an slap in the face to the players. We are not fools Cryptic, we don't live in a 2-dimensional world with only 2 options. Why don'y you tell us about "Option C." Ya know, the option you decided you were too lazy to take? SCALE FLEET PROGRESSION BASED ON FLEET SIZE! In other words, actually program an algorithm that scales holdings and requirements to the size of the fleet. Cryptic, its not as complicated as it sounds and it can be done. The problem is it will take a great deal of manpower, manpower you prefer to be using on releasing new money-making content. Problem is you released a broken product, the customers have spoken, and they deem to be broken. Now, its your responsibility to fix it.
Luckily for you, like I said, these problems have simple solutions.
Regards,
DubC
I think they knew this the moment Marvel pulled out and they had to scrap all the content and completely replace it; after that it was about trying to salvage something from all that hard work, not create their Next Big Thing. STO was their first post-CoH project that they expected to make big money on; and they have.
Let's face it, it wouldn't be worth asking them to change this if STO wasn't successful; there'd be no point in changing it if there weren't a lot of paying customers unhappy with the change.