Actually we've seen them respond to feedback with changes quite a few times over the past 4 years. But there was a majority consensus that it needed a change. While this thread is huge, and makes it more prominent (which honestly is why all anniversary threads are being pulled into this one), people got to realize that the MAJORITY of players do not even come on the forums unless something is extremely bad. Someone posted over 600 people have commented on this thread and that the masses has spoken. Honestly even if there was 600 individual people on this thread, that's still a minority. Cryptic/PWE pulls information from multiple sources not just the forums to make decisions about changes and in this case I suppose they aren't changing the grind.
Since I've finally had a chance to sit down and read about how we're getting these ships, I'm actually quite perturbed myself by it. I hated the mini-q event (which has not been around for 4 years. The academy hasn't even been around for 4 years) so I may or may not just buy the qmmendations from the lobi store. I don't mind grind but damn. Chasing little guys around was not fun the second time i ran it let alone the 40th.
On the first point, i have to respectfully disagree.
While I'm sure cryptic use a range of metrics, I'm not sure there are many ways for them to receive written feedback, except through the fora.
And uncontextualised metrics need some words around them to see whats going on.
If they're disregarding the arguments presented on these fora as unrepresentative, then they are making a grave error.
As has been said, while a relatively small proportion of players use the fora, there's no reason to think they're not a representative sample.
As for your second paragraph that i've quoted, you've pretty much succinctly described the problem.
This was supposed to be the anniversary event. A time to mark the partnership of both players and devs, and the fact that the game has survived another year.
There are plenty of slots around the year for cash grabs and grinds. This isn't one of them.
The fact that the system they've set up is actually turning people off participating, in favour of a blatant cash grab later is appalling......in the specific context of the anniversary event.
IMO, deciding to place the new system of monetarisation here, instead of in a different place, is the culpable issue.
I'd really, really like to see a hint of a dev understanding that. Because, while they can apparently monitor the fora closely enough to make a change to what Romulans get from the grind in under a couple of hours, this thread and its valid opinions gets no response at all in days.
That's because people keep bringing up "majority is saying blah blah blah" If no one said that then it'd never be brought up lol.
Sorry , but that's not true .
The first time the "minority" issue came up was during the demand for more KDF content ... , and it was Dstahl's 18% slip that made that a permanent fixture in our later discussions about a variety of topics (PVP , STF's , Foundry) .
When the forums are always cryingabout lock boxes, and how they will never buy them, then i go in game and see plenty of Lockbox ships flying I don't take the forums seriously, it's just a place for angry people to vent.
Your narrow personal vision of what a "star trek experience" should entail is not the final, universal word on the subject. I came for space battles, and I got space battles. The show was never a tedious space flight simulator or a dry exercise in rigid protocol. There is CANON precedent for time travel, Feds flying the ships of other factions, encountering evolved dinosaurs, all of it. Randomness is definitely part of the franchise.
And if your response falls along the lines of "Yeah, but in the shows they did those things for good reasons," you'll need to understand that "good" is also a matter of personal opinion.
I'm a Star Trek fan, and the game can still entertain me. Your mileage may vary, but you don't speak for us all. You do not get to package everything YOU'D like to see and declare it the only "authentic" star trek experience.
im confused.. I never actually outlined what my personal view of star trek is.. so how you can comment on it is weird.. Ive never complained about the time travel, the only thing is I think we do too much of it in this game.. and again, this is a star trek game, the flight simulator, and eve online are
> that way.. it would kind of be like me going into neverwinter, and asking why it wasn't more like robotech, and then demanding it, and them actually listening.. im not saying they cant take liberties, but, they should stay somewhat true to the franchise they are based off of..
I will say that flying the other factions ships does bother me.. I think, to make everyone happy, wen making the decision to do that, they should have created special "instances" of space dock, and or ds9, and or sector space, so that those of us who are looking for a more canon ecperience could not have it broken by a jem dread hovering over us in the middle of federation space..
I understand that leaway has to be taken in a game to make it interesting, or to make it work as a game, but some of the stuff is just childish, or so far off the beaten path, that its not even remotely trek..
for instance, im not against the voth, they are a cool race with a cool backstory in canon. however, to me, the notion of them having a t-rex that talks, and looks like its out of dino riders (which I loved that show and still have some of the toys lol..) was more of a young boys imagination, than creative and adult themed..
and the romulans, while the story was ok from a writing stand point, and the game play was amazing, they were a huge upset. I remember before any news about them being hippies was spread, that people were getting excited to be apart of the tal shiar, and to be apart of the "mysterious" romulan race.. what we got was something far from, and I know a lot of people who were pretty offended by it (as star trek fans)
but unlike my friends and contacts who left over certain things, I try and still try to ignore them, and play what and how I want to play.. however, I keep hoping that in a release someday we will get some more canon ships, and some mechanics like the "disable" mechanic they said we were gonna get.. so that I myself can futher my own star trek experience.. but all I see is this game drifting farther and farther away from the ip. all I want is for them to think, and make compramises, so everyone can be happy..
Arguing about whether the Anniversary Event is "Trek" enough is pointless. I'll even go so far as to say that it is off-topic.
On the eve before S8.5 launches, I suggest that people might just want to give it a rest. See for yourselves what we're getting into and then give Cryptic some specific feedback about what you didn't like and why. Or, if you chose not to do something, tell them why not.
I will play the new episode through at least once. If I like it, I might play through a few repeats.
I will try the mini-games, to see if they are truly as painless as some are claiming it will be. If they're exactly the same mini-games that I think they are, I suspect they are going to get tiresome quickly. But hey, maybe they've taken feedback from previous years and tweaked 'em to work better.
If I end up with a ship, great. If it's a pain in the butt, I'll just stop doing it.
I'm really tired of "parking" my characters for an event, though.
Not currently planning on opening any of the Hirogen lockboxes, so I guess I'll save some money there. I won't go into any detail here except to say that the features aren't compelling enough, especially since I'm not playing a Hirogen and I don't PvP. The only NPC faction lockbox ship I really want is a D'Kora. Aside from that, maybe one of the Temporal ships.
Definitely not buying three sets of three C-Store Dyson Sci Destroyers, no matter what the perks are. I would really like for Cryptic to ease up on the 3-ship bundle plan. There are plenty of other non-bundle ships that I want and would rather spend money on than three virtually identical ships. I learned my lesson with the Vesta.
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
On the eve before S8.5 launches, I suggest that people might just want to give it a rest.
I'd be happy to, however i find myself unable to do so until there is some kind of acknowledgement from the Devs that there is even a problem.
I appreciate what you're suggesting we're awfulising about how bad the grind may be, after all it hasn't gone live yet.
However, there is a legitimate beef that has nothing to do with the quality of either the FE or the mini games.
It's the fact that Cryptic have developed this new model of monetarisation, which is their right, and plonked it down on the one event a year you'd think would be safe from it. The anniversary.
That fundamental misunderstanding of what the anniversary event means to some players betrays a colossal tin ear.
However, while the devs continue to apprently be sticking their fingers in their ears, as regards this thread, and chanting lalalalalacanthearyou, I'll find it hard to resist the urge to ask them to pull the fingers out of their ears and listen.
You guys do realize that paying for the Qmmendations to get the ship is optional, right? It's not like the pictures that you only got 2-6 and had to spend tons of Lobi just to make up a day.
I think in time this thing will blow over. I think it's pointless that you guys are still expecting any feedback from the devs on why they did the anniversary like the way they did. You guys have to face facts that you always can't expect things to remain the same forever. Plus, no one is gonna force you to get the ship.
You guys do realize that paying for the Qmmendations to get the ship is optional, right? It's not like the pictures that you only got 2-6 and had to spend tons of Lobi just to make up a day.
I think in time this thing will blow over. I think it's pointless that you guys are still expecting any feedback from the devs on why they did the anniversary like the way they did. You guys have to face facts that you always can't expect things to remain the same forever. Plus, no one is gonna force you to get the ship.
Nobody has to grind and pay for the full anniversary ship.
Thing is, there's no other way to do it.
And you're shipping past the point that this was supposed to be the anniversary event.
On the eve before S8.5 launches, I suggest that people might just want to give it a rest. See for yourselves what we're getting into and then give Cryptic some specific feedback about what you didn't like and why. Or, if you chose not to do something, tell them why not.
Cryptic admit openly that they don't go back and revisit old changes because it's not good for them to revert code. They have too many problems if that happens, they say. Thus they will NEVER roll back a major change like this.
Waiting and seeing? That's code for "let them do it and stop complaining.... EVER."
After they do it, they simply ignore everyone's dissenting comments (as always) and move on to the next grind-filled content.
I'd be happy to, however i find myself unable to do so until there is some kind of acknowledgement from the Devs that there is even a problem.
I appreciate what you're suggesting we're awfulising about how bad the grind may be, after all it hasn't gone live yet.
However, there is a legitimate beef that has nothing to do with the quality of either the FE or the mini games.
It's the fact that Cryptic have developed this new model of monetarisation, which is their right, and plonked it down on the one event a year you'd think would be safe from it. The anniversary.
That fundamental misunderstanding of what the anniversary event means to some players betrays a colossal tin ear.
However, while the devs continue to apprently be sticking their fingers in their ears, as regards this thread, and chanting lalalalalacanthearyou, I'll find it hard to resist the urge to ask them to pull the fingers out of their ears and listen.
so? How many years has Blizzard been profitable while making games with absurd levels of grind? :P
Games released before D#, thus having built up audiences.
D3 failed because while people will put up with grind thats always been there in order to play a game they've invested a lot of time into, they're not wildly excited about more or new grind.
Games released before D#, thus having built up audiences.
D3 failed because while people will put up with grind thats always been there in order to play a game they've invested a lot of time into, they're not wildly excited about more or new grind.
I really can't blame "grind" for D3's failure. It's not like it was worse than the grind in D2. I'd really have to guess that it was more about people not wanting to play a new game... I mean really. If you have to choose between continuing to play WoW or playing D3.... which do you choose?
The grind has to stop. They have a hugely valuable resource that they are not utilizing at all. The Foundry is an endless source of new content that can be the saving grace of STO if it's properly applied. Currently, it is not. If they want people to be online and playing, they should apply those Qmendations to foundry missions. That would be much more fun and I'd play more often if the Foundry was better presented and offered the same rewards we normally have to grind for.
Go here and show your support for a better Foundry!
Nobody has to grind and pay for the full anniversary ship.
Thing is, there's no other way to do it.
And you're shipping past the point that this was supposed to be the anniversary event.
In my opinion, we're still getting the anniversary event. I still see it as the anniversary event. Judging by the history of the events, how they handled it has been different every year.
1st Anniversary: No ships period, but you guys got a 20% off sale in the c-store that year. It only lasted a week.
2nd Anniversary: This was the first anniversary I was around for. They gave us a short mission that we had to do in order to claim either the Odyssey or the Bortas. This was also around for a short time.
3rd Anniversary: They took this one step farther and gave us a facton-neutral Featured Episode that rewarded both at the time a Tier 3 ship that could not be gotten anywhere else, and a Tier 5 retrofit version that was the limited time reward. We also got nearly 3 weeks to do this one, which was a big improvement for time.
now, we come to the 4th anniversary. As far as I'm concerned, the ship isn't the biggest deal of the anniversary. To me, the biggest deal is that we're getting a Featured Episode with Tim Russ in it, and a episode which is actually supposed to expand the story line a little more towards season 9 (which has been stated before by the devs).
The ship this year is full of unique features that the devs thought deserved to be earned a different way. They took the time to make a ship that they felt most people would appreciate. They even give us 4 weeks to do this. They could have made it that we only had 15 days to grind it out, but they didn't.
To sum up for this 'wall of text' is that there has been very little precedent as to what the anniversary event should be. The devs have shown that they can change things up at any time and it's their goal that this format now is what they will use for next anniversary, so you might as well just get used to it.
*sigh* how many Q marks can I get with 271 lobi crystals? wish I could get more but don't have enough money
I you spent all 270 lobi, you can get between 540 and 1080 Q marks. At the minimum, you'd have to run the Q event twice, while you'd have more than enough at the maximum.
In my opinion, we're still getting the anniversary event. I still see it as the anniversary event.
I appreciate that is your opinion.
however, I think you're probably in a minority.
As Lord Havelock posted in the responses to dev post 45, this does not feel like an act of appreciation from the devs, instead feeling like an attempt to get us to spend more money.
The sheer carelessness of its organisation is also striking, with the way it discriminates against those with multiple toons and the reuse of the unloved miniQ game.
It seems to me that a lot of thought and effort has gone into creating these shiny new ships and figuring out how best to market them.
Also seems to me that next to no thought went into making this an anniversary event.
Instead, they just plonked this new grind and pay option down in the first slot they saw on the calendar.
Poorly thought out, not very well executed and, frankly, rather insulting.
I'm picturing meetings in a conference room somewhere..
Cryptic team: "We created these nifty new ships, and we actually got Tim Russ to do some voice work in this new feature episode. We're very excited about this year's anniversary ev..."
Perfect World overlords: "Yes, yes. But how is all of this a new source of revenue? You're not giving away those ships for FREE, are you? And how are those login stats looking? Are they all logging in with every character, every day? If they're not playing, they're not paying."
CT: "Well, I guess we could make two versions of the ship and sell the better one. Make the C-store version necessary to complete a set bonus or something, but there probably isn't time to create a new mini-game for them to obtain the free one.."
PW: "What about the one about attending a party?"
CT: "I'm not really sure that one is fitting for this ev..."
PW: "USE THE PARTY ONE!"
CT: "A..Alright. Maybe a few days' to a weeks' repetition to get some stats going for..."
Instead, they just plonked this new grind and pay option down in the first slot they saw on the calendar.
Poorly thought out, not very well executed and, frankly, rather insulting.
This has not been Cryptics finest hour.
Indeed, sadly the die is cast since monday's blog,
they won't row back now, they had their chance and if they would do now they would loose their face (sort of).
We can just hope that their Grind OR Pay! / Grind AND Pay! option Backfires (which is unlikely, we already have enough people yelling: "Shut up and take my money!")
Beta, LTA, CE, Multiple preorder Versions, all Addon Packs except AoY, nearly all KDF/Rom and ~50% of all Fedships, over 25 LockboxShips, Endurer of Atari's "Year of Hell", but...
You're being hard on Cryptic there. If there was a conversation then PWE would want it for 6 months + on a daily basis and CT would have negotiated down to 15 days.
I'm picturing meetings in a conference room somewhere..
Cryptic team: "We created these nifty new ships, and we actually got Tim Russ to do some voice work in this new feature episode. We're very excited about this year's anniversary ev..."
Perfect World overlords: "Yes, yes. But how is all of this a new source of revenue? You're not giving away those ships for FREE, are you? And how are those login stats looking? Are they all logging in with every character, every day? If they're not playing, they're not paying."
CT: "Well, I guess we could make two versions of the ship and sell the better one. Make the C-store version necessary to complete a set bonus or something, but there probably isn't time to create a new mini-game for them to obtain the free one.."
PW: "What about the one about attending a party?"
CT: "I'm not really sure that one is fitting for this ev..."
PW: "USE THE PARTY ONE!"
CT: "A..Alright. Maybe a few days' to a weeks' repetition to get some stats going for..."
PW: "THREE WEEKS MINIMUM. THREE!"
I just hope that the part of PW Overlords wasn't played by a certain Mr D'Angelo.
Indeed, sadly the die is cast since monday's blog,
they won't row back now, they had their chance and if they would do now they would loose their face (sort of).
We can just hope that their Grind OR Pay! / Grind AND Pay! option Backfires (which is unlikely, we already have enough people yelling: "Shut up and take my money!")
We also have a lot of people saying, "Maybe I'll skip this one", or, "Maybe on just the one toon".
For every player out there who'll buy the cstore pack(s) I'd wager a sizeable number have been left with a sour taste in their mouth by this.
And players with sour tastes in their mouths dont spend as much money.
Getting your playerbase to stump up more money is one thing.
Attempting to do so by, frankly, insulting them isn't probably the best way to do it.
It's not that the grind was much, much worse......its that audiences have less and less tolerance for naked grind.
Which is why, imo, this is exactly the wrong direction for STO to be heading in.
Grinds can be designed with regard for player engagement, as opposed to busy work.
Cryptic did not do that for this event. This grind is just busywork.
I don't buy that. If that was true then WoW would have failed too. It didn't. I don't think D3's failure had anything to do with the tolerances of the audience being different. I'd really love to see you give me an example of a "grind" that isn't busywork....
what about the release of the new ships has anything to do with the anniversary? Aside from the obvious timing? the only thing I've seen from you on this can be accurately summarized as "entitlement"...
I don't buy that. If that was true then WoW would have failed too. It didn't. I don't think D3's failure had anything to do with the tolerances of the audience being different. I'd really love to see you give me an example of a "grind" that isn't busywork....what about the release of the new ships has anything to do with the anniversary? Aside from the obvious timing? the only thing I've seen from you on this can be accurately summarized as "entitlement"...
Really? Entitlement eh?
Well, ignoring the ad hominem, let me deal with your points if I can.
Wow didn't fail, according to my model, because of the huge investment of time its players have put into it. Also, its a game that has become more than a game, instad acting as a kind of social area for a lot of people world wide.
However, you asked about a grind that wasn't busywork.
there was a tiny one for the Obelisk.
Run SoI once for the ship, more times for all the kit.
And you know, there was next to no fuss about that.
because although you were grinding out the obelisk bits, you were playing what is considered to be one of the best things Cryptic have made in a while.
I have suggested already in this thread that junking the mini game and, instead, having us play the FE a few more times would be more acceptable.
400 QM the first time, 100 thereafter. Get her done in a week.
Now, I do hope I've answered you. i have done so as honestly as i can.
and, as I've posted many times in this thread that i support cryptic monetarising their work, but feel the anniversary event was a very poor choice to roll out the grind and pay model, i'll thank you to reserve your accusations of entitlement.
Well, ignoring the ad hominem, let me deal with your points if I can.
Wow didn't fail, according to my model, because of the huge investment of time its players have put into it. Also, its a game that has become more than a game, instad acting as a kind of social area for a lot of people world wide.
However, you asked about a grind that wasn't busywork.
there was a tiny one for the Obelisk.
Run SoI once for the ship, more times for all the kit.
And you know, there was next to no fuss about that.
because although you were grinding out the obelisk bits, you were playing what is considered to be one of the best things Cryptic have made in a while.
I have suggested already in this thread that junking the mini game and, instead, having us play the FE a few more times would be more acceptable.
400 QM the first time, 100 thereafter. Get her done in a week.
Now, I do hope I've answered you. i have done so as honestly as i can.
and, as I've posted many times in this thread that i support cryptic monetarising their work, but feel the anniversary event was a very poor choice to roll out the grind and pay model, i'll thank you to reserve your accusations of entitlement.
As someone who actually did play SoI a dozen times.... It gets old fast. The third or so time the coolness kinda fades. By the twelfth time, I'd memorized the quickest way to get it over with and get all of the accolades at the same time.
As someone who actually did play SoI a dozen times.... It gets old fast. The third or so time the coolness kinda fades. By the twelfth time, I'd memorized the quickest way to get it over with and get all of the accolades at the same time.
Gonna skip this event. I just don't need any more ships. I'm sick of ships and ship inflation. I'm sick of things that make ships tougher and meaner. I'm sick of hearing about new ship designs.
We don't need better ships, we don't even need more levels, we need a purpose beyond pew. Is there anything an individual player can do that will make a mark on this galaxy? I can't customize anything. I can't build anything. I can only turn on/off some very costly switches. Starbases and ship interiors are really sterile. No matter how pretty the art is, it never feels like home.
Let's shut down the ship creating department, yes? Put them to work on designing things to do on canon worlds? Let's not go to a new quadrant when we have so much exploring left to do here in our back yard. If all they do is make ships, well, find them new pwe games to design for and bring some content people our way. The sort of devs that design exploration mechanics and allow for more sand-boxy type activities.
Hey, I woulda paid money for the arc giveaway clothes! Not dl'ing arc to get them, even for a moment then leaving, as my wearing them would be advertising for arc in game.
Not going to purchase tokens to reduce cooldowns, lol. Make some interesting c-store products, give me stars to chart, let me gather resources for crafting and building unique maps and I will pay you cash monies. You're having all the fun, let us in on it eh.
Anybody remember the feeling of the older generation of games when you had a map full of unexplored stars waiting for you to travel to each one looking for resources and indigenous species. I miss that new map feel, and would pay money for it.
And oh, there's still nothing to do on Andoria. It's right next to Sol.
This thread needs an intermission:
Let me share this. An example of the exotic right here on Earth, exploring is fun.
Comments
*points at how well Diablo3 is doing right now*
I rest my case.
On the first point, i have to respectfully disagree.
While I'm sure cryptic use a range of metrics, I'm not sure there are many ways for them to receive written feedback, except through the fora.
And uncontextualised metrics need some words around them to see whats going on.
If they're disregarding the arguments presented on these fora as unrepresentative, then they are making a grave error.
As has been said, while a relatively small proportion of players use the fora, there's no reason to think they're not a representative sample.
As for your second paragraph that i've quoted, you've pretty much succinctly described the problem.
This was supposed to be the anniversary event. A time to mark the partnership of both players and devs, and the fact that the game has survived another year.
There are plenty of slots around the year for cash grabs and grinds. This isn't one of them.
The fact that the system they've set up is actually turning people off participating, in favour of a blatant cash grab later is appalling......in the specific context of the anniversary event.
IMO, deciding to place the new system of monetarisation here, instead of in a different place, is the culpable issue.
I'd really, really like to see a hint of a dev understanding that. Because, while they can apparently monitor the fora closely enough to make a change to what Romulans get from the grind in under a couple of hours, this thread and its valid opinions gets no response at all in days.
Sorry , but that's not true .
The first time the "minority" issue came up was during the demand for more KDF content ... , and it was Dstahl's 18% slip that made that a permanent fixture in our later discussions about a variety of topics (PVP , STF's , Foundry) .
I thought that was the "DoooooM" thread .
im confused.. I never actually outlined what my personal view of star trek is.. so how you can comment on it is weird.. Ive never complained about the time travel, the only thing is I think we do too much of it in this game.. and again, this is a star trek game, the flight simulator, and eve online are
> that way.. it would kind of be like me going into neverwinter, and asking why it wasn't more like robotech, and then demanding it, and them actually listening.. im not saying they cant take liberties, but, they should stay somewhat true to the franchise they are based off of..
I will say that flying the other factions ships does bother me.. I think, to make everyone happy, wen making the decision to do that, they should have created special "instances" of space dock, and or ds9, and or sector space, so that those of us who are looking for a more canon ecperience could not have it broken by a jem dread hovering over us in the middle of federation space..
I understand that leaway has to be taken in a game to make it interesting, or to make it work as a game, but some of the stuff is just childish, or so far off the beaten path, that its not even remotely trek..
for instance, im not against the voth, they are a cool race with a cool backstory in canon. however, to me, the notion of them having a t-rex that talks, and looks like its out of dino riders (which I loved that show and still have some of the toys lol..) was more of a young boys imagination, than creative and adult themed..
and the romulans, while the story was ok from a writing stand point, and the game play was amazing, they were a huge upset. I remember before any news about them being hippies was spread, that people were getting excited to be apart of the tal shiar, and to be apart of the "mysterious" romulan race.. what we got was something far from, and I know a lot of people who were pretty offended by it (as star trek fans)
but unlike my friends and contacts who left over certain things, I try and still try to ignore them, and play what and how I want to play.. however, I keep hoping that in a release someday we will get some more canon ships, and some mechanics like the "disable" mechanic they said we were gonna get.. so that I myself can futher my own star trek experience.. but all I see is this game drifting farther and farther away from the ip. all I want is for them to think, and make compramises, so everyone can be happy..
Good idea.
Arguing about whether the Anniversary Event is "Trek" enough is pointless. I'll even go so far as to say that it is off-topic.
On the eve before S8.5 launches, I suggest that people might just want to give it a rest. See for yourselves what we're getting into and then give Cryptic some specific feedback about what you didn't like and why. Or, if you chose not to do something, tell them why not.
I will play the new episode through at least once. If I like it, I might play through a few repeats.
I will try the mini-games, to see if they are truly as painless as some are claiming it will be. If they're exactly the same mini-games that I think they are, I suspect they are going to get tiresome quickly. But hey, maybe they've taken feedback from previous years and tweaked 'em to work better.
If I end up with a ship, great. If it's a pain in the butt, I'll just stop doing it.
I'm really tired of "parking" my characters for an event, though.
Not currently planning on opening any of the Hirogen lockboxes, so I guess I'll save some money there. I won't go into any detail here except to say that the features aren't compelling enough, especially since I'm not playing a Hirogen and I don't PvP. The only NPC faction lockbox ship I really want is a D'Kora. Aside from that, maybe one of the Temporal ships.
Definitely not buying three sets of three C-Store Dyson Sci Destroyers, no matter what the perks are. I would really like for Cryptic to ease up on the 3-ship bundle plan. There are plenty of other non-bundle ships that I want and would rather spend money on than three virtually identical ships. I learned my lesson with the Vesta.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I'd be happy to, however i find myself unable to do so until there is some kind of acknowledgement from the Devs that there is even a problem.
I appreciate what you're suggesting we're awfulising about how bad the grind may be, after all it hasn't gone live yet.
However, there is a legitimate beef that has nothing to do with the quality of either the FE or the mini games.
It's the fact that Cryptic have developed this new model of monetarisation, which is their right, and plonked it down on the one event a year you'd think would be safe from it. The anniversary.
That fundamental misunderstanding of what the anniversary event means to some players betrays a colossal tin ear.
However, while the devs continue to apprently be sticking their fingers in their ears, as regards this thread, and chanting lalalalalacanthearyou, I'll find it hard to resist the urge to ask them to pull the fingers out of their ears and listen.
I think in time this thing will blow over. I think it's pointless that you guys are still expecting any feedback from the devs on why they did the anniversary like the way they did. You guys have to face facts that you always can't expect things to remain the same forever. Plus, no one is gonna force you to get the ship.
Nobody has to grind and pay for the full anniversary ship.
Thing is, there's no other way to do it.
And you're shipping past the point that this was supposed to be the anniversary event.
Cryptic admit openly that they don't go back and revisit old changes because it's not good for them to revert code. They have too many problems if that happens, they say. Thus they will NEVER roll back a major change like this.
Waiting and seeing? That's code for "let them do it and stop complaining.... EVER."
After they do it, they simply ignore everyone's dissenting comments (as always) and move on to the next grind-filled content.
^-- This and so much more!
My character Tsin'xing
Games released before D#, thus having built up audiences.
D3 failed because while people will put up with grind thats always been there in order to play a game they've invested a lot of time into, they're not wildly excited about more or new grind.
My character Tsin'xing
Thats kind of my point.
It's not that the grind was much, much worse......its that audiences have less and less tolerance for naked grind.
Which is why, imo, this is exactly the wrong direction for STO to be heading in.
Grinds can be designed with regard for player engagement, as opposed to busy work.
Cryptic did not do that for this event. This grind is just busywork.
In my opinion, we're still getting the anniversary event. I still see it as the anniversary event. Judging by the history of the events, how they handled it has been different every year.
1st Anniversary: No ships period, but you guys got a 20% off sale in the c-store that year. It only lasted a week.
2nd Anniversary: This was the first anniversary I was around for. They gave us a short mission that we had to do in order to claim either the Odyssey or the Bortas. This was also around for a short time.
3rd Anniversary: They took this one step farther and gave us a facton-neutral Featured Episode that rewarded both at the time a Tier 3 ship that could not be gotten anywhere else, and a Tier 5 retrofit version that was the limited time reward. We also got nearly 3 weeks to do this one, which was a big improvement for time.
now, we come to the 4th anniversary. As far as I'm concerned, the ship isn't the biggest deal of the anniversary. To me, the biggest deal is that we're getting a Featured Episode with Tim Russ in it, and a episode which is actually supposed to expand the story line a little more towards season 9 (which has been stated before by the devs).
The ship this year is full of unique features that the devs thought deserved to be earned a different way. They took the time to make a ship that they felt most people would appreciate. They even give us 4 weeks to do this. They could have made it that we only had 15 days to grind it out, but they didn't.
To sum up for this 'wall of text' is that there has been very little precedent as to what the anniversary event should be. The devs have shown that they can change things up at any time and it's their goal that this format now is what they will use for next anniversary, so you might as well just get used to it.
I you spent all 270 lobi, you can get between 540 and 1080 Q marks. At the minimum, you'd have to run the Q event twice, while you'd have more than enough at the maximum.
I appreciate that is your opinion.
however, I think you're probably in a minority.
As Lord Havelock posted in the responses to dev post 45, this does not feel like an act of appreciation from the devs, instead feeling like an attempt to get us to spend more money.
The sheer carelessness of its organisation is also striking, with the way it discriminates against those with multiple toons and the reuse of the unloved miniQ game.
It seems to me that a lot of thought and effort has gone into creating these shiny new ships and figuring out how best to market them.
Also seems to me that next to no thought went into making this an anniversary event.
Instead, they just plonked this new grind and pay option down in the first slot they saw on the calendar.
Poorly thought out, not very well executed and, frankly, rather insulting.
This has not been Cryptics finest hour.
If that's what you took away, then it was either
My point
Your head
Or deliberately ignoring the point for purposes of white-knighting. Either way, it was so off-base as to be pitiable.
Cryptic team: "We created these nifty new ships, and we actually got Tim Russ to do some voice work in this new feature episode. We're very excited about this year's anniversary ev..."
Perfect World overlords: "Yes, yes. But how is all of this a new source of revenue? You're not giving away those ships for FREE, are you? And how are those login stats looking? Are they all logging in with every character, every day? If they're not playing, they're not paying."
CT: "Well, I guess we could make two versions of the ship and sell the better one. Make the C-store version necessary to complete a set bonus or something, but there probably isn't time to create a new mini-game for them to obtain the free one.."
PW: "What about the one about attending a party?"
CT: "I'm not really sure that one is fitting for this ev..."
PW: "USE THE PARTY ONE!"
CT: "A..Alright. Maybe a few days' to a weeks' repetition to get some stats going for..."
PW: "THREE WEEKS MINIMUM. THREE!"
Indeed, sadly the die is cast since monday's blog,
they won't row back now, they had their chance and if they would do now they would loose their face (sort of).
We can just hope that their Grind OR Pay! / Grind AND Pay! option Backfires (which is unlikely, we already have enough people yelling: "Shut up and take my money!")
Still waiting to be able to use forum titles
I just hope that the part of PW Overlords wasn't played by a certain Mr D'Angelo.
If so, we're in for a rocky few months.
We also have a lot of people saying, "Maybe I'll skip this one", or, "Maybe on just the one toon".
For every player out there who'll buy the cstore pack(s) I'd wager a sizeable number have been left with a sour taste in their mouth by this.
And players with sour tastes in their mouths dont spend as much money.
Getting your playerbase to stump up more money is one thing.
Attempting to do so by, frankly, insulting them isn't probably the best way to do it.
My character Tsin'xing
Really? Entitlement eh?
Well, ignoring the ad hominem, let me deal with your points if I can.
Wow didn't fail, according to my model, because of the huge investment of time its players have put into it. Also, its a game that has become more than a game, instad acting as a kind of social area for a lot of people world wide.
However, you asked about a grind that wasn't busywork.
there was a tiny one for the Obelisk.
Run SoI once for the ship, more times for all the kit.
And you know, there was next to no fuss about that.
because although you were grinding out the obelisk bits, you were playing what is considered to be one of the best things Cryptic have made in a while.
I have suggested already in this thread that junking the mini game and, instead, having us play the FE a few more times would be more acceptable.
400 QM the first time, 100 thereafter. Get her done in a week.
Now, I do hope I've answered you. i have done so as honestly as i can.
and, as I've posted many times in this thread that i support cryptic monetarising their work, but feel the anniversary event was a very poor choice to roll out the grind and pay model, i'll thank you to reserve your accusations of entitlement.
My character Tsin'xing
Still better than a griefable miniQ game.
Gonna skip this event. I just don't need any more ships. I'm sick of ships and ship inflation. I'm sick of things that make ships tougher and meaner. I'm sick of hearing about new ship designs.
We don't need better ships, we don't even need more levels, we need a purpose beyond pew. Is there anything an individual player can do that will make a mark on this galaxy? I can't customize anything. I can't build anything. I can only turn on/off some very costly switches. Starbases and ship interiors are really sterile. No matter how pretty the art is, it never feels like home.
Let's shut down the ship creating department, yes? Put them to work on designing things to do on canon worlds? Let's not go to a new quadrant when we have so much exploring left to do here in our back yard. If all they do is make ships, well, find them new pwe games to design for and bring some content people our way. The sort of devs that design exploration mechanics and allow for more sand-boxy type activities.
Hey, I woulda paid money for the arc giveaway clothes! Not dl'ing arc to get them, even for a moment then leaving, as my wearing them would be advertising for arc in game.
Not going to purchase tokens to reduce cooldowns, lol. Make some interesting c-store products, give me stars to chart, let me gather resources for crafting and building unique maps and I will pay you cash monies. You're having all the fun, let us in on it eh.
Anybody remember the feeling of the older generation of games when you had a map full of unexplored stars waiting for you to travel to each one looking for resources and indigenous species. I miss that new map feel, and would pay money for it.
And oh, there's still nothing to do on Andoria. It's right next to Sol.
This thread needs an intermission:
Let me share this. An example of the exotic right here on Earth, exploring is fun.