Why do you buy from Cryptic?

afree100

This is a poll, I, many others and (I am sure) Cryptic would want to know why. I made this thread in the hope that people buy from Cryptic for design reasons and not because items they buy are more powerful, if this is the case then Cryptic can stop making gear that is more powerful and focus on making the game better (since you can only have one of those in a game), thus drawing more players towards PvP (which if not for OP stuff, and a tough learning curve, would be the most fun section of the game (to many players, I know it is for me) and this would also hopefully draw more people to STO).

So: Why do you buy from Cryptic?

Possible info you could include:
1. Whether you buy because its more powerful, because its canon, because its rare, because it looks good, because it provides more functionality.
2. What you buy

Also another question, a more important one: Why do you play STO?

latiasracer

I play STO because it is quite simply the best looking and most expansive Star Trek game out there.

I normally buy things if they are cannon/look good as performance doesn't really factor into it for me, Which also doesn't matter because i don't touch PvP with a barge pole :P

jarfaru

Nice try and good luck getting anyone to admit they buy stuff because its more powerful than things you get in game. That would be admitting the game is pay to win which it is.

maddriver

I buy from Cryptic, even small stuff like uniforms or bridges, because of two reasons:
1. they are well designed and look/feel very Star Trek'ish
2. supporting a game with unique very diverse gameplay that is being offered for free

About the last question: STO is a unique game. Now that may sound a bit strange, but it is true. What other game out there has such a complex list of features? Ground combat? Space combat? Free-roaming galaxy map? Complex character and ship customization? Having the option of building and customizing your own crew?
What other online game out there has all these things offered in just one package?

I play for the diversity offered in terms of gameplay. I play for the sci-fi and Star Trek theme.
And because it is one of the few games out there which are releasing major updates so frequently and at no extra cost. I certainly can give a few examples of (free) big budget online games out there that are not so generous in offering new content so frequently, especially for free.
Let's not even mention the fact that you can earn ZEN by just playing the game a lot.

vestereng

I wanted the ground sets outfits to be better at fighting on the ground, mainly fast remod, and back in the day, for respect in earning optionals and drops through actual work.
(gone now ofc)

Then I got an atrox because it is the biggest ship there is and because pets help a lot in grinding while watching tv.

I knew she didn't turn very well, people generally don't like her and I'd never break any dps records but to this day it's my favorite ship so I am happy...

Most designs I don't personally like. The 2 exceptions are the guramba and the klingon horror house carrier.

I mainly got the guramba just because it has a spammable transformer animation and that's a true story.

I unlocked a few outfits but the lack of being able to mix across the board, say off-duty with uniform or maco/omega/hg with uniform sort of kills it for me.
Basically my characters look the same from half a year ago. And once they finally get around to fixing the ground sets block from season 7 probably all my characters will just wear optional outfits.

Personally I will take active animations with a low cooldown over passive stats no matter what.
Which means I like stuff like the gorn bite and what not and I will always pick those over having say more dps on the ground.

So yeah I am a barbie but I also go for active functionality like when I chose to use pets to optimize the grinding. Active in that it has to have an actual animation or at least sound effect (tos phasers).

That being said I never paid cryptic anything - I am pure f2p

From my narrow minded, limited point of view 100 $ is a full game which'd mean I get everything in the entire game right there. Everything, all ships, all guns - everything there is and ever will be period.

Hat's off to the people who buy LTS for fireworks no idea what planet you are from

scififan78

The last two things I bought were the Atrox and Stealth fighter. Not exactly OP there. If I do buy things that are more powerful, it wouldn't mater to anyone but me as I don't PvP. I don't exactly hate PvP but, it is just not something that interests me.

johnsteward

I buy what i like. Be it bcause it looks good or because it fits my idea how my ship should be or stuff like that. But i must say sometimes the stuff you buy for zen is just way to underpowered. Only someone who doesnt have that stuff can think its pay2win. Take the arc torp which is nice but in now way comparable to fleet quantums. So yes you have the arc but you dont do more dmg anyways.

Mostly i buy stuff because it would take days/weeks of grinding/farming to get that stuff from exchange and i dont have that much free time whenever i want. So i pay to get it anyways.

fraghul2000

For me it's a bit of both.

There are items which i solely buy for customization and what might be called RP-reasons. When I bought the Atrox, I bought the Caitian species, 4 Caitian boffs and the Stalker, simply to make the ship "feel" right and to round of my toon. Same goes for the Aquarius I bought for my Odyssey captain, the Quad cannon ships, various costumes, the Haakona I bought just to get the Haakona assault warbird costume etc...

Then there are items that bought because they were more powerful. When I had outfitted my normal Patrol Escort or my Vor'Cha and there wasn't any room for improvement gear-wise, the only logical step to develope and improve the character, thus making them more powerful (even if just a tiny bit) was to upgrade to Fleet versions. Eventually, all my 9-console free ships will get upgraded as well.

Similar thing goes for my small craft. I bought a fighter when the Vault was first introduced, because I felt that built-in RF, better maneuverability and cannons would fare better than anything a shuttle or runabout had to offer.

wildmousex

I bought several pre-release copies so I could have several month's of sub's already bought and paid for - I got them from different retailers to maximize the bonus items offered.

I then bought a lifetime sub durring pre-launch - back when F2P was never going to be considered and you needed a sub to play - I figured the money would help get them started getting issues worked out, because it was cheaper over the long run and in case I lost my job and couldn't afford sub's after that.

now I get 500 zen stipends every month and buy whatever catch's my eye in the zen store.

jockey1979

I buy the things that interest me, the Bortas pack while hated by many, I love.

My KDF engineer in the engi Bortas does really well in it and I have come up with some crazy configs that work better than expected.

My Fed uses the Oddy pack, engi one again and it may be slow but it is fun and can take insane amounts of damage.

My Rommie engineer is looking to get the retro D'D, not just because it is versatile (3,3,3 console slots and 4 engi, 3 tac, 1 tac, 3 sci, 1 uni BO config), but also, it is a canon ship seen in ST:TNG and it is beautifully made / designed - I think Cryptic did it justice when putting it in game and I'm itching to fly it.

I bought all of the Galaxy options for my Fed before the Oddy came out, and loved all of it, again because it is the Galaxy class. Plus Cryptics new design was pleasing to my eyes. I spend an hour just sat outside ESD looking at my ship once I had all of the options for it lol

The Defiant, well, it is the Defiant, there was no question I was going to get it. I enjoy DS9 and a cloaking tac ship fed side was a must.

The B'rel.... what can be said about the B'rel, this ship is my one true love!! I cannot be accused of power playing flying a B'rel lol, but I had to have it and have done some mental things in it - including some spectacular deaths. It is however the most fun ship to fly in STO in my opinion.

I have bought other ships, for various experiments with configs, but they are my main ships.

As long as Cryptic bring out things that make me think "I could do some weird stuff with that" then I'm happy to buy and test out my theories, as I am enjoy the game doing so - and that is what gaming is about to me, enjoyment :cool:

timezarg

Why do I buy from Cryptic? Because some of the best equipment is C-Store, and always has been. Since this is a free-to-play game, they rely even more on these kinds of purchases than they did before. That's why there's such an emphasis on both lockbox ships and C-store purchases.

I buy Tier 5 C-store ships because they are more powerful than the free stuff that's offered. The free stuff is perfectly fine for PvE, but the free ships no longer cut it when it comes to PvP. Since I PvP, I buy ships to get consoles and I buy ships to use them in PvP.

To the poster who mentioned pay-to-win: Deal with it. The game has to make money. How else do you expect them to accomplish that in a f2p system? Costumes? Ships and the consoles they come with are big commodities to sell to people willing to buy.

I, for one, keep my 'pay to win' in check. I don't use broken consoles that are easily exploited or used to fight dirty. I only targ-pack when flying a BoP, otherwise I try to keep the odds even.

EDIT: As to why I play STO. . .it's the only modern Star Trek game around that I find interesting and worth bothering with. If there were a better game run by a bigger developing studio, with a better game engine. . .I'd be playing that instead of STO. It's ultimately the lack of Star Trek options that keeps me with STO.

sterlingwarbird

The last thing I bought was the Vesta Class because I was curious to compare it to the other science ships and see that it completely outclasses every other Science vessel in the game. However that aside, I remember this quote from Cryptic.

"We will never sell more powerful items in the C-Store then you can get in the game" Well, it did not take a long time for us to find out it was all complete lies.

darthpetersen

I love the canon, so i bought the Excelsior and the Wrath of Khan Movie Uniform, because its the uniform with the most details in Star Trek. I also bought the Sovereign, because i like the design.

Overall i bought things, because i like the design or because i know it from the series and movies and beacause ist good for the atmopshere, not beacause the ingame features.

But at the moment, i don't spend money any more, because the problems that game has.

neoakiraii

Cryptic is the only place selling Federation Starships.

mirrorchaos

no other trek game out there at this time that has come close to big interest, so thats a no brainer why i am here.

why do i buy? i used to sub to play the game not too long ago, before f2p/p2w whatever its called these days.

these days? i bought starter pack LoR and LTS before launch a week ago because i wanted a change in pace, increased access to for example account bank, inventory, absurd cap limits removed and the chance to play the lib borg toons :P.

i dont buy from cryptic when it comes to z-store ships and the t'varo from the starter pack was just a side effect even though i am using it, the reman boff and the increased boff slots were of interest to me before the LTS.