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Season 8 Dev Blog #45

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  • thedoctorblueboxthedoctorbluebox Member Posts: 749 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    This is all very confusing, even for me.

    Why did you all have to go and make it this confusing, why not just simplify things?

    I'm not going to grind, I'm tired of the grind, and each new event seems to be a new grind.

    I don't have the time for it, nor do I want to support the grind, therefore I will not do it.


    P.S., I'm reminded of the "gift to the fans" Brannon Braga and Rick Berman wanted to give to the fans at the end of Enterprise with "These are the Voyages" and we all know how that turned out..............
  • dirodindirodin Member Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Systems Designer Jeremy "BorticusCryptic" Randall reveals more details about the 4-Year Anniversary event rewards in this entry of the Season 8 News Dev Blog series.


    Link to the blog.

    The developers value constructive feedback. I'm going to do my best. I prefer to think of the devs as friends. They have done something exceptional and they're rightfully proud of it. I don't have to personally like the look of a ship to appreciate their effort. As it stands I like the Romulan destroyer best.

    Anyway, they shared the process on the blogs because they wanted to show us the hard work, time, and money that went into creating the science destroyers. As an artist I appreciate the amount of work they went to and I'm happy to applaud the bells and whistles, the shiny hulls, and the animations. Bravo guys, gals, and in-between!

    I perceive repeating the Feature Episode for the full set of gear as a reward for something I would do anyway. You Devs are obviously very pleased to have put this together for us. You got Tim Russ, how cool is that? You encourage us to go back and play the episode no less than three times because come on, it's Tim Russ and test flying the new destroyer! I want to practice and test this ship out and I want to see something new. Giving me rewards for practicing is neat and I truly appreciate it.

    You apparently wanted to try something new with an escalating power structure to the new ships. Casual players have the option either to play mini-games for a free ship to enjoy or shell out money for the ship of their choice. The next step seems to be a challenge for dedicated or "hard core" players. Play the mini-games and get the pieces to finish the 4-piece set. If a player is truly hard core then there is the option of purchasing an upgraded destroyer that rewards all the effort. This reminds me of how WoW made some epic mounts available only to top tier PvP champions. It's a point of prestige. I can stop at any point and still have a fun, interesting ship. Problem is, in my opinion there is an ethical conflict. Nothing needed to play the game is ever supposed to cost real money.

    The destroyer is an anniversary gift. You announced it as a "thank you." Making the final challenge to hard core players a purchase from the C-store seems like breaking the line. If it starts in-game then, like the Odyssey and Obelisk, it stays in-game. I believe there is reason for complaint on this count. Do I think you did it intentionally? That's silly, you guys put this together months ago.

    Like Worf said, though, and I paraphrase as I can't remember verbatim, "No plan survives contact with the enemy." Things like an "oops," about Romulans with faction ships using M/A cores. You guys jumped on that as soon as it came up in the forum and given how this has been in the works for months, the fact that you remedied this so quickly tells me that there is a code monkey somewhere with a burst spleen that deserves a lot of love from us Rihannsu. Thanks code monkey!

    I can honestly imagine being in Dev shoes thinking, "how can players think the mini-game is a grind? We tested the game as taking at most 2-5 minutes." That some players have 30+ alts might not have occurred or perhaps you calculated to the broadest base of players. I can't know those details but I trust you to have good reason as to why they did not factor in alts with the mini-game. Live and learn if it was an accidental oversight. Some have offered a good work-around for future events. Make the game count account-wide so those with 30+ alts still play as much as everyone else and don't feel penalized for having a large number of characters.

    My constructive feedback is quite simply to understand that many players want stress relief and fantasy immersion. mini-games strike me as breaking immersion unless they are like the particle scan and radiation scan mini-games. Also, guys, I see a cardinal rule broken.

    You took the carrot away. Previous anniversaries gave ships away after playing through the feature episode. I understand the science destroyers are a lot more work. They have more bells and whistles but it's a simple fact of life; take a carrot away and the mule is going to balk.

    So, why not in future events make the mini-game as part of the feature episode? Say like you have to bring the core temperature down or manually crack the lock on a door? You're giving away EV suits. Why not a mini-game based around that like with the walk across DS9? You then have story immersion, a sense of accomplishment, it is exciting, and challenging. There won't be players running around trying to beat each other to mini-Q's as they play the games.

    It is my experience that players will chase the carrot happily over any obstacle as long as it is fun and interesting. Why not tie the Qmendation in as a bonus for successfully beating the mini-game in the feature episode and wow, it it doesn't seem so overwhelming anymore. Not so "grindy" as some players coin the phrase. Less work for you.

    I hope this offers some useful ideas. Thank you for the opportunity to address the staff. I appreciate your effort and I know nothing ever goes quite right. I'm not stressing over it. At the end of the day I can shut down my computer and draw pictures. You do this for a living. I wish you well and hope to see you in-game!
  • jaturnleyjaturnley Member Posts: 1,218 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    I'm not going to grind, I'm tired of the grind, and each new event seems to be a new grind.
    It's a good thing nobody is holding a gun to your head and making you grind then. ;)

    Just kidding (kinda). From the tone of a lot of these posts, it sure seems like a lot of people have electric wires hooked up to kill them if they don't get the free and lobi versions of these ships. I must have been out when the came to hook mine up. :)

    Seriously, if you don't feel like these ships are worth the work, don't do the work - more power to you. I didn't feel like the Pesh Brek was useful to most of my characters, so I only bothered on two out of eight. I only got the Corvette and the Chel Grett on one of them. I don't feel like I am missing out by not bothering to get something that I will not use.
  • bobbydazlersbobbydazlers Member Posts: 4,534 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    kyuzos7 wrote: »
    "In late February (next month), we?ll be releasing a 3-pack C-Store bundle of each factional Dyson Science Destroyer".

    "in addition to upgraded stats, including a 10th console slot."

    why are you making us grind..... omg.

    although I don't mind playing to get the ship and all the other gear I have to kinda agree with you on this one, I cant see why they don't bring out a upgrade c-store purchase option at a reduced cost for anyone who were happy enough to play to get the ship and all the other stuff, so if the c-store version is say 5000 zen for the full bundle for anyone who doesn't want to play the event rep and an upgrade for say 1000 zen for anyone that does.

    this will vastly increase the sales overall as I can imagine a lot of players who will play the event rep would be very happy to pay for the upgrade option my self included but very few who will pay the full 5000 zen when they already have the ship albeit in a cut down version anyway again myself included.

    in this instance everyone will be happy, the non players that just buy the full c-store version, the players who play the event and purchase the upgrade and cryptic for more c-store sales. :)

    When I think about everything we've been through together,

    maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,

     and if that journey takes a little longer,

    so we can do something we all believe in,

     I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.

  • otowiotowi Member Posts: 600 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    vhiranikos wrote: »
    as mentioned you are correct. 5k per faction for grand total of 15k zen or 150 dollars for some ships.

    on its own not a big deal to me, i have lots of disposable money. but to require a grind PLUS an expensive c-store purchase is just ridiculous.

    Wow...

    150 dollars is expensive... Had hoped for one price for all 3 packs.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    I'm curious to see how the new subspace fold warp core works in practice. :D It sounds like fun.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
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  • amwolfeamwolfe Member Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Saddens me to see what should be a fun event be turned into a blatant cash grab.

    It bears repeating....
  • wraithshadow13wraithshadow13 Member Posts: 1,728 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    I was actually looking forward to the Dyson ships, but after finding out what they require to get the full set, i have no choice but to pass. The fact that they are making it a 15 day grind, per character and still calling it Free is insulting. Then to add that people need to pay $50 per faction to complete the Dyson set is just plain unacceptable.


    It's hard to believe that something under Star Trek, would be monetized so horribly with no regards to the IP of the fans... Without Abrams being attached to direct...



    Honestly though, this whole thing is a mess and a terrible idea, and i hope more people are going to stand up against it.
  • konmarukonmaru Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    I'm not sure why everyone is complaining so much. the same thing happened (albeit without the grind) with the odyssey class during a previous anniversary. you test drove the new ship in a mission, got the lesser version, and the 3-pack came out in a month or two.
  • thutmosis85thutmosis85 Member Posts: 2,358 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    konmaru wrote: »
    I'm not sure why everyone is complaining so much. the same thing happened (albeit without the grind) with the odyssey class during a previous anniversary. you test drove the new ship in a mission, got the lesser version, and the 3-pack came out in a month or two.

    Except you're not getting the lesser version, from the mission ...
    konmaru wrote: »
    (albeit without the grind)

    ... and there is your answer ...
    Patch Notes : Resolved an Issue, where people would accidently experience Fun.
  • qjuniorqjunior Member Posts: 2,023 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    konmaru wrote: »
    I'm not sure why everyone is complaining so much. the same thing happened (albeit without the grind) with the odyssey class during a previous anniversary. you test drove the new ship in a mission, got the lesser version, and the 3-pack came out in a month or two.

    The free Oddy had no impact on the c-store version, it wasn't required, gave no discount and had no unique setitem that is only available for a limited time. Quite the difference.
  • shadowwraith77shadowwraith77 Member Posts: 6,395 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    I'm curious to see how the new subspace fold warp core works in practice. :D It sounds like fun.

    From the description, I am going to have to say it is probably just a built in sub-space jump ability, but I could be wrong so we will have to see. :rolleyes:
    tumblr_nq9ec3BSAy1qj6sk2o2_500_zpspkqw0mmk.gif


    Praetor of the -RTS- Romulan Tal Shiar fleet!

  • havamhavam Member Posts: 1,735 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    I'm sorry guys, but 3x 3-packs is a bit much. How about a discount bundle, if you have the all three grind version you can buy the 9-pack at a heavy discount.
  • grylakgrylak Member Posts: 1,594 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Don't care about the ships frankly. But I do like the look of those EV suits. I'm just gonna be grinding out a couple of those for me and my boffs.
    *******************************************

    A Romulan Strike Team, Missing Farmers and an ancient base on a Klingon Border world. But what connects them? Find out in my First Foundary mission: 'The Jeroan Farmer Escapade'
  • johngazmanjohngazman Member Posts: 2,826 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Because in your flawed way of thinking you believe LTS is an entitlement to get everything instantly for free without ever actually doing anything besides having paid a couple hundred bucks a couple years ago?

    Which you've made back in perks twice over by now already.

    Not quite what I meant. I was more getting at how invested I am in this game, and how despite it being a 4th Anniversary celebration, i'm more disappointed with the game and it's developers than ever before.
    mikefl wrote: »
    Why don't for once the players say thank you to STO and its devs for making a great game and keeping it profitable for 4 years now?

    Well, we're still here aren't we? The Devs don't keep the game profitable - the players do.
    You're just a machine. And machines can be broken.
    StarTrekFirstContactBorgBattleonetumblr_lln3v6QoT31qzrtqe.gif
  • vetteguy904vetteguy904 Member Posts: 3,903 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    ok read the blog and the first 5 pages of the thread. somone tell me if thee cliffs are accurate:

    1. 10 toons = 60 trips through the FE to get all the goodies.
    2. an additional god knows how many grinds through the minigame to get the bloody ship
    3. to max out the ship, you then get the privilege to spend $150 to get all three faction ships via the c-store.
    sig.jpg
  • johngazmanjohngazman Member Posts: 2,826 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    ok read the blog and the first 5 pages of the thread. somone tell me if thee cliffs are accurate:

    1. 10 toons = 60 trips through the FE to get all the goodies.
    2. an additional god knows how many grinds through the minigame to get the bloody ship
    3. to max out the ship, you then get the privilege to spend $150 to get all three faction ships via the c-store.

    Sounds about right. Unless the EV suits are a mission reward too, in which case to get everything it's more like 120 replays of the FE.
    You're just a machine. And machines can be broken.
    StarTrekFirstContactBorgBattleonetumblr_lln3v6QoT31qzrtqe.gif
  • rickpaaarickpaaa Member Posts: 637 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Grind is the exact opposite of monetization, wtf

    Dude, youre not just going to get handed a ship of this magnitude.

    Do we know the magnitude? It must be special to warrant grind plus $50.00 for one captain of one faction!

    Whatever Cryptic/PW wants to do is fine by me. I have plenty of great ships. I may do the grind on an up and coming science officer, but no others. By limiting my grind to only one captain/faction, it will insure that I don't buy the packs for the two other factions. I suspect that I will not be the only one saving $100.00, and not giving Cryptic/PW and extra $100.00. I have 23 alts, and it would have been just a matter of time.

    I got burned out on the winter event pretty fast, and I am not in the mood to get on another hamster wheel. I have to see just what the prize really amounts to with all bonuses. I may sit this out, and spend my money on something that's more satisfying.
    giphy.gif
    Member since December 2009


  • annemarie30annemarie30 Member Posts: 2,662 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    konmaru wrote: »
    I'm not sure why everyone is complaining so much. the same thing happened (albeit without the grind) with the odyssey class during a previous anniversary. you test drove the new ship in a mission, got the lesser version, and the 3-pack came out in a month or two.

    actually there is no comparison. the annioddy has no bearing on the tri pack oddys. in this caser it's clearly stated that to get the full potentioal of the sets you have to have both the anniversary ship and the C-store pack

    I suspect it may be ok for the KDF, depending on if there are fleet versions of the KDF sci ships, should be good for the romulans but I suspect the fleet nova will still be the better ship
    We Want Vic Fontaine
  • sunfranckssunfrancks Member Posts: 3,925 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Just going to pass on the grind and only get the Fed bundle, but even then the ship has to be pretty epic for me to buy it.
    Makes no sense to grind and pay for these ships....
    Fed: Eng Lib Borg (Five) Tac Andorian (Shen) Sci Alien/Klingon (Maelrock) KDF:Tac Romulan KDF (Sasha) Tac Klingon (K'dopis)
    Founder, member and former leader to Pride Of The Federation Fleet.
    What I feel after I hear about every decision made since Andre "Mobile Games Generalisimo" Emerson arrived...
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  • johngazmanjohngazman Member Posts: 2,826 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    konmaru wrote: »
    I'm not sure why everyone is complaining so much. the same thing happened (albeit without the grind) with the odyssey class during a previous anniversary. you test drove the new ship in a mission, got the lesser version, and the 3-pack came out in a month or two.

    So how many times did you have to do the test drive mission, and/or spend Lobi, before you got the Anni. Oddy/Bortas?
    You're just a machine. And machines can be broken.
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  • qjuniorqjunior Member Posts: 2,023 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Fear not, puny mortals ! I, QJunior come to deliver you from evil ! :D

    I have the perfect solution that would at least make me feel much better about all this:

    Put the damn warp core or whatever the 4th setpiece might be on the c-store version as well !

    That way people can do the Anniversary event and get the 9-console ships for "free", and people who haven't got the time or suffer from Grindophobia can pay money to get the c-store bundles !

    It's not good to put a limited-time setpeice in the game, what about people who can't participate in the event or new players who join after the event ?

    :)
  • sunfranckssunfrancks Member Posts: 3,925 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    reyan01 wrote: »
    Except that you won't have all the set-pieces if you don't own the anni ship. Which all really depends on whether one is bothered about such things.

    I'm not. As it is, I already have difficulties finding space for consoles. I don't usually equip special ship consoles, so losing one of them is of no consequence to me. :)

    In the end, it depends on what the mini games are like and how annoying they are.
    If they are like the quick 2 minute ice race from the winter event, I would be more inclined to do it for my 2 Fed mains.
    Fed: Eng Lib Borg (Five) Tac Andorian (Shen) Sci Alien/Klingon (Maelrock) KDF:Tac Romulan KDF (Sasha) Tac Klingon (K'dopis)
    Founder, member and former leader to Pride Of The Federation Fleet.
    What I feel after I hear about every decision made since Andre "Mobile Games Generalisimo" Emerson arrived...
    3oz8xC9gn8Fh4DK9Q4.gif





  • gofasternowgofasternow Member Posts: 1,390 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Alright, my thoughts on the whole thing:

    For me, I have no problems with the grind and the boatload of C-Store ships. Why? Because I'm probably one of the few that (GASP) only plays with one character! I got a Fed character, a KDF character and a RR character, but I don't have the time and patience to focus on all three. Thus, all of my attention goes towards my Feddie.

    I like the idea of the anniversary ship being the way that it is. Why? Because it has a lot more bells and whistles and thus is worth the grind. Oh, sure, I can stop right there after day one and use up 280 Lobi to get the other 540 Qmendations after the episode run, but I'm using that as a last resort, really - I've still had my eye on that wonderful, wonderful Adapted Battlecruiser for some time. That, and I wouldn't mind spending some Lobi on getting those space suits - the lumpy EVs are boring. Those are so sleek.

    Am I going to get the C-Store ships? I dunno. I've had other ships I wanted to get - both Fleet and C-Store. It'll depend on how this model runs. If it isn't what I think it is? Aw, well - won't get 'em. I can still fall back on the anniversary ship when the time comes.
  • johngazmanjohngazman Member Posts: 2,826 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    qjunior wrote: »
    Fear not, puny mortals ! I, QJunior come to deliver you from evil ! :D

    I have the perfect solution that would at least make me feel much better about all this:

    Put the damn warp core or whatever the 4th setpiece might be on the c-store version as well !

    That way people can do the Anniversary event and get the 9-console ships for "free", and people who haven't got the time or suffer from Grindophobia can pay money to get the c-store bundles !

    It's not good to put a limited-time setpeice in the game, what about people who can't participate in the event or new players who join after the event ?

    :)

    Your solution is inefficient. It does not seek to maximise potential profits.

    As for people who join after the event? Well, they haven't made the free Ambassador/Kamarag or free Oddy/Bortas available from subsequent Anniversary celebrations. This will probably be no different. Once it's gone, it's gone.
    You're just a machine. And machines can be broken.
    StarTrekFirstContactBorgBattleonetumblr_lln3v6QoT31qzrtqe.gif
  • qjuniorqjunior Member Posts: 2,023 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    johngazman wrote: »
    Your solution is inefficient. It does not seek to maximise potential profits.

    As for people who join after the event? Well, they haven't made the free Ambassador/Kamarag or free Oddy/Bortas available from subsequent Anniversary celebrations. This will probably be no different. Once it's gone, it's gone.

    It is different, none of the other ships came with a setitem no longer available.
  • qjuniorqjunior Member Posts: 2,023 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    sunfrancks wrote: »
    I'm not. As it is, I already have difficulties finding space for consoles. I don't usually equip special ship consoles, so losing one of them is of no consequence to me. :)

    In the end, it depends on what the mini games are like and how annoying they are.
    If they are like the quick 2 minute ice race from the winter event, I would be more inclined to do it for my 2 Fed mains.

    The 4th setitem is not a console.....
  • dareaudareau Member Posts: 2,390 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    qjunior wrote: »
    Fear not, puny mortals ! I, QJunior come to deliver you from evil ! :D

    I have the perfect solution that would at least make me feel much better about all this:

    Put the damn warp core or whatever the 4th setpiece might be on the c-store version as well !

    That way people can do the Anniversary event and get the 9-console ships for "free", and people who haven't got the time or suffer from Grindophobia can pay money to get the c-store bundles !

    It's not good to put a limited-time setpeice in the game, what about people who can't participate in the event or new players who join after the event ?

    :)

    As of right now, the "pay method" of bypassing grind = lobi crystals, 50 crystals = 10-20 "qmendations", so 30-60 of these 50 lobi boxes and one pass of Tuvok's mission = ship without the 15 day grind... (though how efficient is getting ~300 lobi?)
    johngazman wrote: »
    Your solution is inefficient. It does not seek to maximise potential profits.

    As for people who join after the event? Well, they haven't made the free Ambassador/Kamarag or free Oddy/Bortas available from subsequent Anniversary celebrations. This will probably be no different. Once it's gone, it's gone.

    Unknown. 9-console Oddy/Bort is available from the starbase T5 shipyard(s), 200k credits and a ship req. is the "cost"...

    However, said anny-flagships don't have a special part contained therein. This one does. Dangerous precedent sticking consoled ships into the fleet yards, and who would buy the 9-console sci-destroyer when the store's selling 10-console ones?
    Detecting big-time "anti-old-school" bias here. NX? Lobi. TOS/TMP Connie? Super-promotion-box. (aka the two hardest ways to get ships) Excelsior & all 3 TNG "big hero" ships? C-Store. Please Equalize...

    To rob a line: [quote: Mariemaia Kushrenada] Forum Posting is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever. However, opinions will change upon the reading of my post.[/quote]
  • drreverenddrreverend Member Posts: 459 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Looking at the Solanae Environmental Suits, I just have one thought: any possibility of us being able to unlock a Costume version of those outfits? Y'know, so I don't have to wear the helmet but can run around wherever in the rest of the suit?

    Preferably in the uniform section, not some special section, so I can give it to BOFFs too.
  • johngazmanjohngazman Member Posts: 2,826 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    dareau wrote: »
    Unknown. 9-console Oddy/Bort is available from the starbase T5 shipyard(s), 200k credits and a ship req. is the "cost"...

    However, said anny-flagships don't have a special part contained therein. This one does. Dangerous precedent sticking consoled ships into the fleet yards, and who would buy the 9-console sci-destroyer when the store's selling 10-console ones?

    Who's going to grind the 9-console version when there's a 10-console version around the corner? Why put a grind in at all?
    drreverend wrote: »
    Looking at the Solanae Environmental Suits, I just have one thought: any possibility of us being able to unlock a Costume version of those outfits? Y'know, so I don't have to wear the helmet but can run around wherever in the rest of the suit?

    Preferably in the uniform section, not some special section, so I can give it to BOFFs too.

    Borticus already addressed this.
    You're just a machine. And machines can be broken.
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