Why would they need to pull the contract? Surely they can run different games within the Trek universe?
If CBS were again making first-party Star Trek content, they may want to minimize confusion of having an "in-brand" and "off-brand" MMO. That would be a very different environment than currently, where they're just sitting back and collecting license fees on games or novels, because CBS's goals and plans would be very different than they are right now, and they would become much more inclined to rule their IP with an iron fist by taking a heavier hand in licensed works and cracking down on fan productions.
There is a JJ-style game for consoles out soon (if not already), surely that went through CBS? They can easily come round and say "well yeah, it's just another universe".
Out months ago, flopped something awful, under the Paramount license instead of CBS, and it was a squad based shooter, not an MMO, so market overlap is much smaller even if it hadn't been dead on arrival. Since it was, the universe distinction barely needs to be made anyway.
Out months ago, flopped something awful, under the Paramount license instead of CBS, and it was a squad based shooter, not an MMO, so market overlap is much smaller even if it hadn't been dead on arrival. Since it was, the universe distinction barely needs to be made anyway.
Didn't surprise anyone. The developer didn't even pretend to try to blame somebody else and JJ Abrams said he wished they waited to release it after the DVD release because he thinks it flopped bad enough to hurt Into Darkness. It was actually kind of sad watching Gamestop discount it from $60 down to $20 in less than two months in a desperate attempt to get rid of copies.
Why would they need to pull the contract? Surely they can run different games within the Trek universe?
There is a JJ-style game for consoles out soon (if not already), surely that went through CBS? They can easily come round and say "well yeah, it's just another universe".
Um remember the following:
1) Paramount and CBS are now (technically) different companies.
2) CBS owns the rights to all the 'old' Star Trek properties, including:
TOS
TAS
TNG
DS9
VOY
ENT
The TOS and TNG based feature films.
Paramount owns right to the new JJ Abrams 'Star Trek' feature films series (currently two films).
Have CBS and Paramount done some cross marketing agreements involving the above? Yes. That said, it still doesn't change who the primary rights holders are for the the above franchises. It's why you don't see Paramount putting out media using any original series (1966-1969) stuff, and why STO DOESN'T (and can't unless they and Paramount make a deal allowing it) have anything directly from the new 'Star Trek' film series outside of a couple JJ-like items covered in the crossover comic that detailed events in the Prime Universe 24th century era that lead in to the first new Star Trek film back in 2009.
TLDR - The original Star Trek properties (1966 - 2005) and the new Star Trek film series (2009 - Present) are in fact two SEPARATE franchises, the former owned by CBS Studios, and the latter owned by Paramount.
Formerly known as Armsman from June 2008 to June 20, 2012 PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
Seriously - NONE of that matters; In-game concerns are absolutely irrelevant to this.
The only thing that matters in terms of renewing a contract is that the company wishing to renew said contract is profitable, thus justifying a renewal.
You really think that the finiacial advisors involved in such matters are going to care less about PVE or PVP? Absolutely not. All they care about is if Cryptic is making sufficent money to justify a contract renewal, or whether someone else could make them more money from the contract. NOTHING else.
What happened to keeping the customer happy? The bottomline is more important than addressing customer pet peeves and fulfilling client desires? I think we all understand that despite the fact that these are games they are businesses at the end of each and everyday. But when the paying customer is not as valued as the currency they represent I don't see a reason for said customer to continue supporting that business.
So if pvp is lacking and they improve pvp.... you get more pvpers playing your game. If fleet based end game is lacking and you add competetive end game raiding for fleets..... you get more end game raiders. And every new and satisfied customer is a new $ sign for investors to go "wheeeee" at. So I hope part of making the game attractive for another license term is addressing the little things that are unfun or yet to be developed properly in the interest of the game as a whole and not just in the interest ofwhat seems to be getting it by.
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
What happened to keeping the customer happy? The bottomline is more important than addressing customer pet peeves and fulfilling client desires? I think we all understand that despite the fact that these are games they are businesses at the end of each and everyday. But when the paying customer is not as valued as the currency they represent I don't see a reason for said customer to continue supporting that business.
So if pvp is lacking and they improve pvp.... you get more pvpers playing your game. If fleet based end game is lacking and you add competetive end game raiding for fleets..... you get more end game raiders. And every new and satisfied customer is a new $ sign for investors to go "wheeeee" at. So I hope part of making the game attractive for another license term is addressing the little things that are unfun or yet to be developed properly in the interest of the game as a whole and not just what seems to be getting it by.
If your making good profit (and from all indications STO is in fact doing that for Cryptic/PWE); then in management terms - "The Customers ARE happy." BECAUSE if they weren't they wouldn't be spending money in the game and generating said profit for the game.
Happy customer buys stuff.
Unhappy customer doesn't and moves on to something he/she finds enjoyable.
Formerly known as Armsman from June 2008 to June 20, 2012 PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
Have CBS and Paramount done some cross marketing agreements involving the above? Yes. That said, it still doesn't change who the primary rights holders are for the the above franchises. It's why you don't see Paramount putting out media using any original series (1966-1969) stuff, and why STO DOESN'T (and can't unless they and Paramount make a deal allowing it) have anything directly from the new 'Star Trek' film series outside of a couple JJ-like items covered in the crossover comic that detailed events in the Prime Universe 24th century era that lead in to the first new Star Trek film back in 2009.
Thanks!
I am curious though, should a new show come out, who gets the rights? CBS or Paramount? Or is it simply down to whoever is more interested/whoever has the most money? All assuming a third party wouldn't swoop in for the deal.
The point he was making is that these concerns are not really part of the overall discussions. Cryptic shows their statistics of players, play time, etc etc etc... that is the metric that is looked at..
Not individual requests.
Anyways, we are heading off in the wrong direction.
As a player, I agree that there are things that I would like to see... but the problem is that there are things that you would like to see... and, God help me, the role playing community wants to see. A stroll through these forums will provide a never ending cornucopia of ideas on how to "improve the game".
You see the issue is though, we (as players) rarely agree on how the game should be improved. So Cryptic has the unenviable task of wading through all of the requests, and coming up with new things that don't chase everyone away. So are the providing bad customer service because your request wasn't honored, but mine was?
Personally, I think they have do a fne job. Which is why I continue to support the game with my time and money.
Bah... your facts have no power here! On with the speculation!
And that word is.....Epic! :P
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
The point he was making is that these concerns are not really part of the overall discussions. Cryptic shows their statistics of players, play time, etc etc etc... that is the metric that is looked at..
Not individual requests.
Anyways, we are heading off in the wrong direction.
As a player, I agree that there are things that I would like to see... but the problem is that there are things that you would like to see... and, God help me, the role playing community wants to see. A stroll through these forums will provide a never ending cornucopia of ideas on how to "improve the game".
You see the issue is though, we (as players) rarely agree on how the game should be improved. So Cryptic has the unenviable task of wading through all of the requests, and coming up with new things that don't chase everyone away. So are the providing bad customer service because your request wasn't honored, but mine was?
Personally, I think they have do a fne job. Which is why I continue to support the game with my time and money.
I think there is another point that should be discussed here. We talk about how the numbers are good and how Cryptic must be doing a good job. But it is pretty hard to flop when you are "the only game in town" now isn't it? There are no other current Star Trek games. There are other space based games but none of them are Star Trek. I made a comparison of Star Trek Online to Swtor because there are elements of both that include space based combat and sci-fi based story. But still Star Trek Online has no competition. I wish it did really. Then maybe the best player base would feed its game makers a 5 star cornucopia of success. A feast to the death! May the best Star Trek Game WIN!
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
I am curious though, should a new show come out, who gets the rights? CBS or Paramount? Or is it simply down to whoever is more interested/whoever has the most money? All assuming a third party wouldn't swoop in for the deal.
None of the specifics have been confirmed to the public, but fans have seen and heard enough to know the Star Trek rights are a train wreck.
Officially, CBS owns TV and Paramount owns movies, but that's only the beginning, obviously - CBS can license the TOS/TNG movies, Paramount still has some of the TV shows' distribution rights, and there's finer points of ownership (such as those that prevented STO from using some things from TAS but not others, or Moriarty's character which was licensed from the author's heir)...
And then things get weird. For example, when occasional talk of a new Trek show comes up, it's mentioned that while it would be in CBS's domain, as long as Paramount is making movies they may have some degree of control or possibly even veto power over it.
Was on tribble and not gonna say how bad or good its going to be but ...
I just know one thing.
Either S8 is going to be epic win or epic fail.!!!
Something in middle is nonexistent.
I think there is another point that should be discussed here. We talk about how the numbers are good and how Cryptic must be doing a good job. But it is pretty hard to flop when you are "the only game in town" now isn't it? There are no other Star Trek games. There are other space based games but none of them are Star Trek. I made a comparison of Star Trek Online to Swtor because there are elements of both that include space based combat and sci-fi based story. But still Star Trek Online has no competition. I wish it did really. May the best Star Trek Game WIN!
The reason why there is hardly any competition is that there is hardly any SF MMOs. SWTOR seems to be STO's main competition due to the casual nature of both games, but SWTOR's F2P system is far worse than STO's. Eve Online and Star Citizen won't ever be STO's competition since STO is too casual and they are more serious. Wildstar might be STO's competition when it comes out. However, even though STO might have some competitors, there is enough room for everyone that enjoys SF MMOs which is not the case with Fantasy MMOs where there is far too many of them and you can always can find some fantasy MMOs that are very similar.
I think there is another point that should be discussed here. We talk about how the numbers are good and how Cryptic must be doing a good job. But it is pretty hard to flop when you are "the only game in town" now isn't it? There are no other Star Trek games. There are other space based games but none of them are Star Trek. I made a comparison of Star Trek Online to Swtor because there are elements of both that include space based combat and sci-fi based story. But still Star Trek Online has no competition. I wish it did really. May the best Star Trek Game WIN!
I don't think the market is such that i could support multiple Star Trek MMO's. We talk about how big the "Star Trek Community" is... but honestly... in real world numbers, its not that big.
Not to mention, that Star Trek fan's who like online MMORPG's is an even smaller number.
Deviding an already small community would most likely hurt both companies.
Was on tribble and not gonna say how bad or good its going to be but ...
I just know one thing.
Either S8 is going to be epic win or epic fail.!!!
Something in middle is nonexistent.
Missed an option, epic winfail. Where the amount of epic win and epic fail balance each other.
Officially, CBS owns TV and Paramount owns movies, but that's only the beginning, obviously - CBS can license the TOS/TNG movies, Paramount still has some of the TV shows' distribution rights, and there's finer points of ownership (such as those that prevented STO from using some things from TAS but not others, or Moriarty's character which was licensed from the author's heir)...
And then things get weird. For example, when occasional talk of a new Trek show comes up, it's mentioned that while it would be in CBS's domain, as long as Paramount is making movies they may have some degree of control or possibly even veto power over it.
I think you meant to say, "Sounds like a giant clusterf****". Mindf***** are what the jedi do.
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
The point he was making is that these concerns are not really part of the overall discussions. Cryptic shows their statistics of players, play time, etc etc etc... that is the metric that is looked at..
Not individual requests.
Anyways, we are heading off in the wrong direction.
As a player, I agree that there are things that I would like to see... but the problem is that there are things that you would like to see... and, God help me, the role playing community wants to see. A stroll through these forums will provide a never ending cornucopia of ideas on how to "improve the game".
You see the issue is though, we (as players) rarely agree on how the game should be improved. So Cryptic has the unenviable task of wading through all of the requests, and coming up with new things that don't chase everyone away. So are the providing bad customer service because your request wasn't honored, but mine was?
Personally, I think they have do a fne job. Which is why I continue to support the game with my time and money.
first off, they cant go by metrics, just because people play something (cause its the only thing to do ingame) doesn't mean they like playing it.. metrics in this game do not work, because there is not enouph of anything to base them on... meaning, they cant say, wow, more players play a as apposed to b, simply because there is no b.. or c or do or e or f and so on.. there is only a.. which is grind grind grind.. there is no kibble inbetween lol...
and as far as them being able to provide what certain players want as apposed to others.. well, other games do it on a regular basis.. honestly, when established game x makes new content, they release, pve, pvp, solo, group based, story driven content, new dailys, guild stuff, the whole kit and kaboodle, thus kinda soothing everyones needs.. I wont say cryptic, cause nw, is ok with this, and so wasn't co, but sto, does not do this.. they have too few people, so they have to have tunnel vision in order to get anything out..
and as far as your take on the customer service, well, what you said is not customer service. creating content and releasing it is not customer service.. when I make a ticket because something goes wrong.. or I get overbilled, or cause something is making my game crash, or any other reason to make a ticket, and it goes a month without being responded to, and then when they do respong it is an automated response that in most cases has nothing to do with what my problem is.. that is what we are calling bad customer service.. I mean seriously.. they are one of the only gaming companies that doesn't have a hotline to call.. which is lame.. customer service works better when I call, tell them my problem, and right then and there, we start trouble shooting it.. not months of playing hide and go seek..
I will say though, what is hurting the sto team the most, is that they decided to work with the community to develop this game for the first half of the games current life, and it went ok, and then stopped.. I can remember getting on the forums from day to day to see devs talking about what they were working on and looking for our feedback.. now were lucky if a dev hops on to combat something someone said about the dev team.. just saying, I remember joking around with stahl, or storm, or anyone, on a daily basis.. that has dried up, which is a shame, and which is why you see the way players feel left ouy, or that they are being ignored.. it is because we were apart of the process for so long, and then cold turkey, no warning, not even a statement from anyone, boom, that was all over..
There are worse games out there than STO, with more bugs, glitches, and severe lack of updates (battlestar galactica online). As a 2 year vet of said game, which is somehow still clinging to life, I'm confident that STO will remain strong for some time yet.
Here's why;
1) Despite the apparent lack of content updates on a regular basis, STO still has a lot more depth to it than any other game I've played, from ship customization to trading with other players and sharing certain resources within a fleet or multiple characters on the same account.
2) We enjoy many more abilities than most other games as far ship builds and weapon types. There's any number of combinations of equipment you can use to suit your specific play style. Whether you like to be fast and manuverable, or enjoy the comfort of heavy armor and powerful shields, there's a ship and a setup there for you.
3) Its Star Trek. By its very nature its got that certain pull.
None of the specifics have been confirmed to the public, but fans have seen and heard enough to know the Star Trek rights are a train wreck.
Officially, CBS owns TV and Paramount owns movies, but that's only the beginning, obviously - CBS can license the TOS/TNG movies, Paramount still has some of the TV shows' distribution rights, and there's finer points of ownership (such as those that prevented STO from using some things from TAS but not others, or Moriarty's character which was licensed from the author's heir)...
And then things get weird. For example, when occasional talk of a new Trek show comes up, it's mentioned that while it would be in CBS's domain, as long as Paramount is making movies they may have some degree of control or possibly even veto power over it.
That's pretty much my understanding of it, too.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I think you meant to say, "Sounds like a giant clusterf****".
Ahem. In these forums we do not discuss giant mindflayers or giant flower clusters. Point taken, I hope. :rolleyes:
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
IMO, as long as they are selling lifetime memberships it would suggest that they intend to stay on for the minimum duration of what a lifetime memberships values would imply. So, I do not listen to doom talk until they stop selling lifetime game memberships. I believe that this game will have a long and healthy run.
first off, they cant go by metrics, just because people play something (cause its the only thing to do ingame) doesn't mean they like playing it.. metrics in this game do not work, because there is not enouph of anything to base them on... meaning, they cant say, wow, more players play a as apposed to b, simply because there is no b.. or c or do or e or f and so on.. there is only a.. which is grind grind grind.. there is no kibble inbetween lol...
Of course they can use metrics. Metrics are far more useful than forums, because they show what people do, as opposed to what people think they do (or think they want to do).
There is more to do in the game than grind. The fact that you think there is nothing else is a good proof that metrics are necessary, because they'd show that people are engaged in far more than just grinding.
and as far as your take on the customer service, well, what you said is not customer service. creating content and releasing it is not customer service.. when I make a ticket because something goes wrong.. or I get overbilled, or cause something is making my game crash, or any other reason to make a ticket, and it goes a month without being responded to, and then when they do respong it is an automated response that in most cases has nothing to do with what my problem is.. that is what we are calling bad customer service.. I mean seriously.. they are one of the only gaming companies that doesn't have a hotline to call.. which is lame.. customer service works better when I call, tell them my problem, and right then and there, we start trouble shooting it.. not months of playing hide and go seek..
Welcome to F2P. Back in the Dark Ages, Brad McQuaid once said that they spent $3/month per player on customer service costs. This is obviously not sustainable in F2P. A F2P MMO has two alternatives - bad CS, or decent CS only for paying players.
One makes the company look bad, and the other makes the company look bad.
I will say though, what is hurting the sto team the most, is that they decided to work with the community to develop this game for the first half of the games current life, and it went ok, and then stopped.. I can remember getting on the forums from day to day to see devs talking about what they were working on and looking for our feedback.. now were lucky if a dev hops on to combat something someone said about the dev team.. just saying, I remember joking around with stahl, or storm, or anyone, on a daily basis.. that has dried up, which is a shame, and which is why you see the way players feel left ouy, or that they are being ignored.. it is because we were apart of the process for so long, and then cold turkey, no warning, not even a statement from anyone, boom, that was all over..
"Working with the community" isn't all it's cracked up to be. All it really did was give a false feeling of importance to wanna-be devs. Today the real interaction happens on the test server forums, and that's the proper place for it.
"Participation in PVP-related activities is so low on an hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly basis that we could in fact just completely take it out of STO and it would not impact the overall number of people [who] log in to the game and play in any significant way." -Gozer, Cryptic PvP Dev
And how do we know this? I DEMAND proof of this. I want to see the contract, hear the audio recordings of all negotiations and see a video of everyone agreeing, signing and everything. Then and ONLY the. Will I decide if it is real or if it is a hoax like so many things Cryptic does .
Here we go with the demanding... when does it end?! This entirely will be the death of the game with the 'demands and disenchanted' people.
If we keep playing and keep the game alive it will stay. Why demand anything when all that has been done is currently as per the licensing agreement you signed on for when the game launched. Be patient as the rest of us are.
So what are the chances that Perfect World will back cryptic studios on a renewal of their contract when a year before its end there is still so much to be desired in pvp? How about pve? Almost 4 years and we still can't get regular content updates outside of once every 6 months. Let alone an actual end game that includes more than just the borg. And what about the return of other space sim titles like Star Citizen or Swtor's new space pvp combat? How will Sto's space combat system and ip stand up? Do you think STO will end in 2015? Why or why not? Leave a comment below and let me know.
Time for a reality check.
1: It is typical business practice not to reveal when licenses are up for renewal. This isn't a Cryptic/PWE/CBS Studios thing, this is a business thing that happens on a regular basis in a variety of markets.
Revealing when licenses are up for renewal hurts investor faith. When it's up for renewal, stockholders can simply sell all of their shares a day before it's up for renewal, which is just plain ludicrous in the market. They might say that the license was 'recently renewed' without ever going into specifics, but that's highly subjective. If they mention license renewal? Chances are it was already done and they just didn't tell anyone.
2: The Star Trek license granted by CBS Studios is not tied to PvP any more than the cost of Florida orange juice is tied to the amount of alligators there are in Florida. They're two completely unrelated things that have Florida in common. CBS associates and PWE's associates are not forum posters. They care more about profit margins and percentages than PvP. There's a reason they get paid a lot of money to do this while we bicker and whine like petulent children on the forums for free.
3: SWTOR didn't kill STO when it launched (despite BioDrones in these very same forums saying otherwise), and it won't kill STO now.
4: Star Citizen is the new hotness. While I wish the game well, it's overhyped by the same logic that the people in these forums used in regards to SWTOR. I'll believe it when I see it, but don't count your chickens before they hatch. Regardless of how awesome they say Star Citizen will be, people who know better will know that there's a difference between what they say will be in a product, and what actually makes it.
5: People who play STO play the game for a variety of reasons. But there's one thing that STO has that SWTOR doesn't, that Star Citizen doesn't. And that's Star Trek. I know it sounds really hard to believe, but that alone will keep people coming back for more. There are no other Star Trek MMO's. This is the only one there is. Wishing death or concern trolling the game will not make another Star Trek MMO magically spring up in its place.
This is the Star Trek MMO we have, get used to it or go play something else.
1: It is typical business practice not to reveal when licenses are up for renewal. This isn't a Cryptic/PWE/CBS Studios thing, this is a business thing that happens on a regular basis in a variety of markets.
Revealing when licenses are up for renewal hurts investor faith. When it's up for renewal, stockholders can simply sell all of their shares a day before it's up for renewal, which is just plain ludicrous in the market. They might say that the license was 'recently renewed' without ever going into specifics, but that's highly subjective. If they mention license renewal? Chances are it was already done and they just didn't tell anyone.
2: The Star Trek license granted by CBS Studios is not tied to PvP any more than the cost of Florida orange juice is tied to the amount of alligators there are in Florida. They're two completely unrelated things that have Florida in common. CBS associates and PWE's associates are not forum posters. They care more about profit margins and percentages than PvP. There's a reason they get paid a lot of money to do this while we bicker and whine like petulent children on the forums for free.
Interesting. Another "You don't matter. Only your money does. PvE players pay for the game. You PvP players are lucky to even be mentioned." kind of attitude. I've stated that I as well as many players understand at the end of the day this is a business. But PvPer's are customers too. And since when does the customer not matter?
3: SWTOR didn't kill STO when it launched (despite BioDrones in these very same forums saying otherwise), and it won't kill STO now.
When did I say Star Wars will kill STO? I'm sorry where did I write that? Oh wait. I didn't. I posed a question. Didn't realize it was a crime.
4: Star Citizen is the new hotness. While I wish the game well, it's overhyped by the same logic that the people in these forums used in regards to SWTOR. I'll believe it when I see it, but don't count your chickens before they hatch. Regardless of how awesome they say Star Citizen will be, people who know better will know that there's a difference between what they say will be in a product, and what actually makes it.
You mean kinda like the hype of how awesome STO was going to be when it released? Yah. That's with any anticipated release. The fan boys will always be just that. As for your chickens..... count your own. I'm not counting any. I posed a question. Not a new years countdown to armageddon.
5: People who play STO play the game for a variety of reasons. But there's one thing that STO has that SWTOR doesn't, that Star Citizen doesn't. And that's Star Trek. I know it sounds really hard to believe, but that alone will keep people coming back for more. There are no other Star Trek MMO's. This is the only one there is. Wishing death or concern trolling the game will not make another Star Trek MMO magically spring up in its place.
Trolling? I'm not trolling. I posed a community question. Not a complaint. I'm not flaming Cryptic. Last time I checked my original post was not an "I quit once x,y,z comes out" declaration. So don't lump me in with all your other friends. I made no wishes. I simply want the best for the game. In my opinion its good. But not as good as it could be. Not yet. And obviously the dev's agree or they wouldnt continually be making improvements and retweaking existing skills, systems, doffs, etc. As well as continuing to take player feedback.
This is the Star Trek MMO we have, get used to it or go play something else.
Your right. This IS the Star Trek MMO we have. And I can go play something else. But I'm entitled to my opinion. I'm entitled to share it. I'm entitled to make suggestions based on what i think is both good and bad. When I get burnt out I do play other games. Then I come back fresh and ready to continue trekkin it up. So why don't you just.....Live Long and Prosper.:D
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
And despite your intentions, your opinion comes out in a remarkably similar way as other concern trolls. So if it looks like a duck, and acts like a duck, I'm going to assume it's a duck. But if you aren't concern trolling, then I apologize for labeling you as such.
Back to the original point though, your opinion does matter. Whether it's about PvP, PvE, the Galaxy-class not having the canon number of windows on it, or KDF disparity. Because it is these opinions that help guide STO to a better state -- and opinions like this has guided STO to a better state in the past.
But what doesn't help is when that opinion is tied to something completely unrelated in some kind of effort to drum up the fear of DOOOOOM! that people are (in my opinion) rightfully lambasting you with.
But when it comes to CBS Studios and PWE and Cryptic and their money? No, your opinion doesn't really matter all that much. And neither does mine. There's a line that divides customers and the complicated and sometimes malicous nature that is capitalism. If the powers that be took every single suggestion and every single opinion and acted on it, then this game would likely implode from the number of contradictions. That being said, your opinions are valid -- but when tied to the Star Trek license, somewhat dishonest. CBS Studios doesn't care about pvp. They didn't care then, they don't care now. There's really no reason to think they'll care in the future when it comes to the license being renewed.
As for SWTOR and Star Citizen? You're right, you didn't say those things. But many other posters have. And I did lump you in with them because trying to compare STO to SWTOR or Star Citizen is really just a sign of immaturity and the inability to understand the video game industry. SWTOR and Star Citizen are not STO. STO will do their own thing regardless of what other games do. That's what they've done so far, and the game is still thriving.
And you're right, STO did say they would have a lot of things that it ended up not having at launch. You're absolutely 100% correct on that. Which is why I find it humorous that people are taking the hype that Star Citizen and SWTOR's new space combat has at face value. It's like they didn't learn their lesson with STO or any other multitude of MMO's that weren't exactly as advertised.
But sure, I'm a fanboy. If that's what helps you disregard reality and the truth, you can tell yourself whatever you want.
And despite your intentions, your opinion comes out in a remarkably similar way as other concern trolls. So if it looks like a duck, and acts like a duck, I'm going to assume it's a duck. But if you aren't concern trolling, then I apologize for labeling you as such.
Back to the original point though, your opinion does matter. Whether it's about PvP, PvE, the Galaxy-class not having the canon number of windows on it, or KDF disparity. Because it is these opinions that help guide STO to a better state -- and opinions like this has guided STO to a better state in the past.
But what doesn't help is when that opinion is tied to something completely unrelated in some kind of effort to drum up the fear of DOOOOOM! that people are (in my opinion) rightfully lambasting you with.
But when it comes to CBS Studios and PWE and Cryptic and their money? No, your opinion doesn't really matter all that much. And neither does mine. There's a line that divides customers and the complicated and sometimes malicous nature that is capitalism. If the powers that be took every single suggestion and every single opinion and acted on it, then this game would likely implode from the number of contradictions. That being said, your opinions are valid -- but when tied to the Star Trek license, somewhat dishonest. CBS Studios doesn't care about pvp. They didn't care then, they don't care now. There's really no reason to think they'll care in the future when it comes to the license being renewed.
As for SWTOR and Star Citizen? You're right, you didn't say those things. But many other posters have. And I did lump you in with them because trying to compare STO to SWTOR or Star Citizen is really just a sign of immaturity and the inability to understand the video game industry. SWTOR and Star Citizen are not STO. STO will do their own thing regardless of what other games do. That's what they've done so far, and the game is still thriving.
And you're right, STO did say they would have a lot of things that it ended up not having at launch. You're absolutely 100% correct on that. Which is why I find it humorous that people are taking the hype that Star Citizen and SWTOR's new space combat has at face value. It's like they didn't learn their lesson with STO or any other multitude of MMO's that weren't exactly as advertised.
But sure, I'm a fanboy. If that's what helps you disregard reality and the truth, you can tell yourself whatever you want.
Such honesty. We can be friends. I'm not in denial about anything. I like reality. Its pretty cool. I posted to hear what other players think. I don't need you bashing me because of it. And when I want to pvp I don't come to the forum. I usually log into the game. I've got your point of view. It's well taken and you do have a point. So thank you for your response. Be well.
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
I am curious though, should a new show come out, who gets the rights? CBS or Paramount? Or is it simply down to whoever is more interested/whoever has the most money? All assuming a third party wouldn't swoop in for the deal.
I'm going to go waaaay out on a limb here...
I think the "EPIC" announcement we are going to get this week is that...
... STO has acquired the rights from Paramount to use JJ-Trek Stuff in the game.
Stay with me here for a moment...
There have been rumblings on the internetz over the last couple of months that CBS and Paramount are in secret negotiations to try and figure out a way to avoid another fiasco, like the one that occurred when JJ wanted to work out a deal over the licensing of his Trek movies.
Essentially, what happened was, He couldn't get CBS and Paramount to agree on the Merchandising Deal he wanted for the Films...
He eventually threw his hands up in disgust and walked away.
This left both of the Trek IP Owners with a very large pile of egg on their faces.
I'm sure somebody in the higher-up offices at Viacom, wanted to know who-screwed-the-pooch and why.
It was shortly after this became public knowledge that the rumors started spreading about an internal reorganization of the Trek Franchise.
Therefore, I'm going with the "EPIC" announcement being, what I described in my opening above.
:cool:
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Comments
If CBS were again making first-party Star Trek content, they may want to minimize confusion of having an "in-brand" and "off-brand" MMO. That would be a very different environment than currently, where they're just sitting back and collecting license fees on games or novels, because CBS's goals and plans would be very different than they are right now, and they would become much more inclined to rule their IP with an iron fist by taking a heavier hand in licensed works and cracking down on fan productions.
Out months ago, flopped something awful, under the Paramount license instead of CBS, and it was a squad based shooter, not an MMO, so market overlap is much smaller even if it hadn't been dead on arrival. Since it was, the universe distinction barely needs to be made anyway.
Didn't surprise anyone. The developer didn't even pretend to try to blame somebody else and JJ Abrams said he wished they waited to release it after the DVD release because he thinks it flopped bad enough to hurt Into Darkness. It was actually kind of sad watching Gamestop discount it from $60 down to $20 in less than two months in a desperate attempt to get rid of copies.
Um remember the following:
1) Paramount and CBS are now (technically) different companies.
2) CBS owns the rights to all the 'old' Star Trek properties, including:
TOS
TAS
TNG
DS9
VOY
ENT
The TOS and TNG based feature films.
Paramount owns right to the new JJ Abrams 'Star Trek' feature films series (currently two films).
Have CBS and Paramount done some cross marketing agreements involving the above? Yes. That said, it still doesn't change who the primary rights holders are for the the above franchises. It's why you don't see Paramount putting out media using any original series (1966-1969) stuff, and why STO DOESN'T (and can't unless they and Paramount make a deal allowing it) have anything directly from the new 'Star Trek' film series outside of a couple JJ-like items covered in the crossover comic that detailed events in the Prime Universe 24th century era that lead in to the first new Star Trek film back in 2009.
TLDR - The original Star Trek properties (1966 - 2005) and the new Star Trek film series (2009 - Present) are in fact two SEPARATE franchises, the former owned by CBS Studios, and the latter owned by Paramount.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
What happened to keeping the customer happy? The bottomline is more important than addressing customer pet peeves and fulfilling client desires? I think we all understand that despite the fact that these are games they are businesses at the end of each and everyday. But when the paying customer is not as valued as the currency they represent I don't see a reason for said customer to continue supporting that business.
So if pvp is lacking and they improve pvp.... you get more pvpers playing your game. If fleet based end game is lacking and you add competetive end game raiding for fleets..... you get more end game raiders. And every new and satisfied customer is a new $ sign for investors to go "wheeeee" at. So I hope part of making the game attractive for another license term is addressing the little things that are unfun or yet to be developed properly in the interest of the game as a whole and not just in the interest ofwhat seems to be getting it by.
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
If your making good profit (and from all indications STO is in fact doing that for Cryptic/PWE); then in management terms - "The Customers ARE happy." BECAUSE if they weren't they wouldn't be spending money in the game and generating said profit for the game.
Happy customer buys stuff.
Unhappy customer doesn't and moves on to something he/she finds enjoyable.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
Thanks!
I am curious though, should a new show come out, who gets the rights? CBS or Paramount? Or is it simply down to whoever is more interested/whoever has the most money? All assuming a third party wouldn't swoop in for the deal.
Not individual requests.
Anyways, we are heading off in the wrong direction.
As a player, I agree that there are things that I would like to see... but the problem is that there are things that you would like to see... and, God help me, the role playing community wants to see. A stroll through these forums will provide a never ending cornucopia of ideas on how to "improve the game".
You see the issue is though, we (as players) rarely agree on how the game should be improved. So Cryptic has the unenviable task of wading through all of the requests, and coming up with new things that don't chase everyone away. So are the providing bad customer service because your request wasn't honored, but mine was?
Personally, I think they have do a fne job. Which is why I continue to support the game with my time and money.
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
And that word is.....Epic! :P
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
I think there is another point that should be discussed here. We talk about how the numbers are good and how Cryptic must be doing a good job. But it is pretty hard to flop when you are "the only game in town" now isn't it? There are no other current Star Trek games. There are other space based games but none of them are Star Trek. I made a comparison of Star Trek Online to Swtor because there are elements of both that include space based combat and sci-fi based story. But still Star Trek Online has no competition. I wish it did really. Then maybe the best player base would feed its game makers a 5 star cornucopia of success. A feast to the death! May the best Star Trek Game WIN!
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
None of the specifics have been confirmed to the public, but fans have seen and heard enough to know the Star Trek rights are a train wreck.
Officially, CBS owns TV and Paramount owns movies, but that's only the beginning, obviously - CBS can license the TOS/TNG movies, Paramount still has some of the TV shows' distribution rights, and there's finer points of ownership (such as those that prevented STO from using some things from TAS but not others, or Moriarty's character which was licensed from the author's heir)...
And then things get weird. For example, when occasional talk of a new Trek show comes up, it's mentioned that while it would be in CBS's domain, as long as Paramount is making movies they may have some degree of control or possibly even veto power over it.
I just know one thing.
Either S8 is going to be epic win or epic fail.!!!
Something in middle is nonexistent.
The reason why there is hardly any competition is that there is hardly any SF MMOs. SWTOR seems to be STO's main competition due to the casual nature of both games, but SWTOR's F2P system is far worse than STO's. Eve Online and Star Citizen won't ever be STO's competition since STO is too casual and they are more serious. Wildstar might be STO's competition when it comes out. However, even though STO might have some competitors, there is enough room for everyone that enjoys SF MMOs which is not the case with Fantasy MMOs where there is far too many of them and you can always can find some fantasy MMOs that are very similar.
I don't think the market is such that i could support multiple Star Trek MMO's. We talk about how big the "Star Trek Community" is... but honestly... in real world numbers, its not that big.
Not to mention, that Star Trek fan's who like online MMORPG's is an even smaller number.
Deviding an already small community would most likely hurt both companies.
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
Missed an option, epic winfail. Where the amount of epic win and epic fail balance each other.
I think you meant to say, "Sounds like a giant clusterf****". Mindf***** are what the jedi do.
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
first off, they cant go by metrics, just because people play something (cause its the only thing to do ingame) doesn't mean they like playing it.. metrics in this game do not work, because there is not enouph of anything to base them on... meaning, they cant say, wow, more players play a as apposed to b, simply because there is no b.. or c or do or e or f and so on.. there is only a.. which is grind grind grind.. there is no kibble inbetween lol...
and as far as them being able to provide what certain players want as apposed to others.. well, other games do it on a regular basis.. honestly, when established game x makes new content, they release, pve, pvp, solo, group based, story driven content, new dailys, guild stuff, the whole kit and kaboodle, thus kinda soothing everyones needs.. I wont say cryptic, cause nw, is ok with this, and so wasn't co, but sto, does not do this.. they have too few people, so they have to have tunnel vision in order to get anything out..
and as far as your take on the customer service, well, what you said is not customer service. creating content and releasing it is not customer service.. when I make a ticket because something goes wrong.. or I get overbilled, or cause something is making my game crash, or any other reason to make a ticket, and it goes a month without being responded to, and then when they do respong it is an automated response that in most cases has nothing to do with what my problem is.. that is what we are calling bad customer service.. I mean seriously.. they are one of the only gaming companies that doesn't have a hotline to call.. which is lame.. customer service works better when I call, tell them my problem, and right then and there, we start trouble shooting it.. not months of playing hide and go seek..
I will say though, what is hurting the sto team the most, is that they decided to work with the community to develop this game for the first half of the games current life, and it went ok, and then stopped.. I can remember getting on the forums from day to day to see devs talking about what they were working on and looking for our feedback.. now were lucky if a dev hops on to combat something someone said about the dev team.. just saying, I remember joking around with stahl, or storm, or anyone, on a daily basis.. that has dried up, which is a shame, and which is why you see the way players feel left ouy, or that they are being ignored.. it is because we were apart of the process for so long, and then cold turkey, no warning, not even a statement from anyone, boom, that was all over..
Here's why;
1) Despite the apparent lack of content updates on a regular basis, STO still has a lot more depth to it than any other game I've played, from ship customization to trading with other players and sharing certain resources within a fleet or multiple characters on the same account.
2) We enjoy many more abilities than most other games as far ship builds and weapon types. There's any number of combinations of equipment you can use to suit your specific play style. Whether you like to be fast and manuverable, or enjoy the comfort of heavy armor and powerful shields, there's a ship and a setup there for you.
3) Its Star Trek. By its very nature its got that certain pull.
That's pretty much my understanding of it, too.
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Ahem. In these forums we do not discuss giant mindflayers or giant flower clusters. Point taken, I hope. :rolleyes:
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I understood. I 'star-ed' my choice of word on purpose, especially for the occasion.
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Of course they can use metrics. Metrics are far more useful than forums, because they show what people do, as opposed to what people think they do (or think they want to do).
There is more to do in the game than grind. The fact that you think there is nothing else is a good proof that metrics are necessary, because they'd show that people are engaged in far more than just grinding.
Welcome to F2P. Back in the Dark Ages, Brad McQuaid once said that they spent $3/month per player on customer service costs. This is obviously not sustainable in F2P. A F2P MMO has two alternatives - bad CS, or decent CS only for paying players.
One makes the company look bad, and the other makes the company look bad.
"Working with the community" isn't all it's cracked up to be. All it really did was give a false feeling of importance to wanna-be devs. Today the real interaction happens on the test server forums, and that's the proper place for it.
Here we go with the demanding... when does it end?! This entirely will be the death of the game with the 'demands and disenchanted' people.
If we keep playing and keep the game alive it will stay. Why demand anything when all that has been done is currently as per the licensing agreement you signed on for when the game launched. Be patient as the rest of us are.
Time for a reality check.
1: It is typical business practice not to reveal when licenses are up for renewal. This isn't a Cryptic/PWE/CBS Studios thing, this is a business thing that happens on a regular basis in a variety of markets.
Revealing when licenses are up for renewal hurts investor faith. When it's up for renewal, stockholders can simply sell all of their shares a day before it's up for renewal, which is just plain ludicrous in the market. They might say that the license was 'recently renewed' without ever going into specifics, but that's highly subjective. If they mention license renewal? Chances are it was already done and they just didn't tell anyone.
2: The Star Trek license granted by CBS Studios is not tied to PvP any more than the cost of Florida orange juice is tied to the amount of alligators there are in Florida. They're two completely unrelated things that have Florida in common. CBS associates and PWE's associates are not forum posters. They care more about profit margins and percentages than PvP. There's a reason they get paid a lot of money to do this while we bicker and whine like petulent children on the forums for free.
3: SWTOR didn't kill STO when it launched (despite BioDrones in these very same forums saying otherwise), and it won't kill STO now.
4: Star Citizen is the new hotness. While I wish the game well, it's overhyped by the same logic that the people in these forums used in regards to SWTOR. I'll believe it when I see it, but don't count your chickens before they hatch. Regardless of how awesome they say Star Citizen will be, people who know better will know that there's a difference between what they say will be in a product, and what actually makes it.
5: People who play STO play the game for a variety of reasons. But there's one thing that STO has that SWTOR doesn't, that Star Citizen doesn't. And that's Star Trek. I know it sounds really hard to believe, but that alone will keep people coming back for more. There are no other Star Trek MMO's. This is the only one there is. Wishing death or concern trolling the game will not make another Star Trek MMO magically spring up in its place.
This is the Star Trek MMO we have, get used to it or go play something else.
Your right. This IS the Star Trek MMO we have. And I can go play something else. But I'm entitled to my opinion. I'm entitled to share it. I'm entitled to make suggestions based on what i think is both good and bad. When I get burnt out I do play other games. Then I come back fresh and ready to continue trekkin it up. So why don't you just.....Live Long and Prosper.:D
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
And despite your intentions, your opinion comes out in a remarkably similar way as other concern trolls. So if it looks like a duck, and acts like a duck, I'm going to assume it's a duck. But if you aren't concern trolling, then I apologize for labeling you as such.
Back to the original point though, your opinion does matter. Whether it's about PvP, PvE, the Galaxy-class not having the canon number of windows on it, or KDF disparity. Because it is these opinions that help guide STO to a better state -- and opinions like this has guided STO to a better state in the past.
But what doesn't help is when that opinion is tied to something completely unrelated in some kind of effort to drum up the fear of DOOOOOM! that people are (in my opinion) rightfully lambasting you with.
But when it comes to CBS Studios and PWE and Cryptic and their money? No, your opinion doesn't really matter all that much. And neither does mine. There's a line that divides customers and the complicated and sometimes malicous nature that is capitalism. If the powers that be took every single suggestion and every single opinion and acted on it, then this game would likely implode from the number of contradictions. That being said, your opinions are valid -- but when tied to the Star Trek license, somewhat dishonest. CBS Studios doesn't care about pvp. They didn't care then, they don't care now. There's really no reason to think they'll care in the future when it comes to the license being renewed.
As for SWTOR and Star Citizen? You're right, you didn't say those things. But many other posters have. And I did lump you in with them because trying to compare STO to SWTOR or Star Citizen is really just a sign of immaturity and the inability to understand the video game industry. SWTOR and Star Citizen are not STO. STO will do their own thing regardless of what other games do. That's what they've done so far, and the game is still thriving.
And you're right, STO did say they would have a lot of things that it ended up not having at launch. You're absolutely 100% correct on that. Which is why I find it humorous that people are taking the hype that Star Citizen and SWTOR's new space combat has at face value. It's like they didn't learn their lesson with STO or any other multitude of MMO's that weren't exactly as advertised.
But sure, I'm a fanboy. If that's what helps you disregard reality and the truth, you can tell yourself whatever you want.
Such honesty. We can be friends. I'm not in denial about anything. I like reality. Its pretty cool. I posted to hear what other players think. I don't need you bashing me because of it. And when I want to pvp I don't come to the forum. I usually log into the game. I've got your point of view. It's well taken and you do have a point. So thank you for your response. Be well.
Let no other Captain discourage you from what you believe you can achieve in PvP. Debuffs and Disables be damned! Charge up your Backstep and Forge your build out of Lock Boxes, Consoles, and Flash Sales feeding off of only your pure will to chain, spam, and hax your way forward. You will not be forgotten to history.
I'm going to go waaaay out on a limb here...
I think the "EPIC" announcement we are going to get this week is that...
... STO has acquired the rights from Paramount to use JJ-Trek Stuff in the game.
Stay with me here for a moment...
There have been rumblings on the internetz over the last couple of months that CBS and Paramount are in secret negotiations to try and figure out a way to avoid another fiasco, like the one that occurred when JJ wanted to work out a deal over the licensing of his Trek movies.
Essentially, what happened was, He couldn't get CBS and Paramount to agree on the Merchandising Deal he wanted for the Films...
He eventually threw his hands up in disgust and walked away.
This left both of the Trek IP Owners with a very large pile of egg on their faces.
I'm sure somebody in the higher-up offices at Viacom, wanted to know who-screwed-the-pooch and why.
It was shortly after this became public knowledge that the rumors started spreading about an internal reorganization of the Trek Franchise.
Therefore, I'm going with the "EPIC" announcement being, what I described in my opening above.
:cool:
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion