"what's 100$ for 3 ships ? that's nothing ... " ,
along with the
" ...and remember , the Devs have to get payed somehow ... or they won't be able to make more 100$ ships for us and sell us more tech instead of content ..." crowds to become the dominant in these forums .
... 'cause as you know ... some ppl make their money by posting on forums ...
I'm expecting a "If you don't like, don't buy it !". Which is as stupid.
I do believe there are valid arguments on both sides of the debate and I suspect a compromise would be the best solution. On the one hand Cryptic needs to stop people from returning single ships so that packs can be bought. Besides, it can become quite an administrative nightmare trying to compensate for every possible scenario. I mean what happens if someone already owns 4 ships and wants to buy the 9 pack?
On the other hand, barring players from all future pack sales because they bought a single ship when they could afford it is also not the solution. People have different amounts of money at different times and punishing someone today will cost you money tomorrow.
So I propose that Cryptic implements a trade in system on existing ships for the purpose of buying packs. Give players the option to trade in their single ships at say 50% of what they paid and let them then be able to buy the pack of their choice. Trade ins could be done for straight up Zen or could count as a discount on packs. This way everyone knows what they're getting and everyone is happy.
Make it so.
It's already been stated in the dev blog. If you buy any Dyson ship from the c-store you can't buy the 9 ship pack, period. You also can't buy the bundle for the ship(s) you purchased.
So if you buy just 1 ship, you'll have to pay 2500 zen each to get the other 2 for the bundle, but you'll be able to purchase the 3 pack bundles for the other factions.
If you purchase 1 ship for all 3 factions you just screwed yourself if you ever want a discount. Because you won't be able to buy ANY bundles and would have to purchase all 6 other ships individually at 2500 zen each thus costing you the maximum amount.
The only 3 pack ship I've purchased was the Scimitar because I didn't want the other 2. When I purchased it the bundle option was removed from the c-store. It doesn't matter because whether I purchase the bundle, or the other 2 separately, I'd be paying 5000 zen anyway.
And as for your idea on a trade-in, how will that work? c-store ships are unlocked for your entire account. How do you propose a player with 30 characters, all of which have the same exact ship, trade it in just so they can buy the bundle to get the rest of the ships for it?
The bundle has a discount. Buy in bulk to save zen, or buy them 1 at a time and pay full price. It's not a bad deal buying the bundle. Think about it this way: if you buy the 9 pack bundle of Dyson ships, you are essentially getting 3 ships free. That's saving you 7500 zen, or $75, if you bought those ships separately. Basically it's $100 for the 9 pack bundle. Total amount for all ships individually purchased = $225, so that's a $125 discount if you buy the bundle.
I was not aware of that. I thought the whole point of "destroyers" was that they were Sci, and Tac rolled into one, not being particularly good at either role. So there's going to be a destroyer that uses cruiser commands? The latest in a four year long stretch of brainfarts, I suppose.
The 3 types are not ship Class types. They are Faction types. The Federation Faction gets a 3-pack. The Romulan Faction gets a 3-pack. The Klingon Faction gets a 3-pack. Each pack has 3 Science Destroyers that look like they belong to their respective Factions.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
To all the ones who are jumping on the OP, take time to re-read what he wrote and I quote
"NOTE: Purchasing any one of the 9 ships individually, or any one of the 3-pack bundles, will make the account ineligible to purchase the 9-pack bundle. Also, purchasing one of the factional ships individually will make the account ineligible to purchase that faction’s 3-pack bundle."
He is not complaining that if he bought 1 ship and want the other 8 he must pay full price, he is making the point that if you buy 1 ship you are DISQUALIFIED TO BUY THE WHOLE 9 SHIP PACKAGE, re-read the notes again. If you buy 1 ship you CANNOT BUY the 9 package. :eek:
And again the player base only has themselves to blame for this development. It was the players constant complaining about there being too many "alien" ships hanging around ESD, etc that gave Cryptic the idea people would jump at the chance to buy three faction specific versions of the same stupid ship.
The answer to too many alien ships around ESD is not more alien ships with vaguely familiar silhouettes. The Dyson ships look awful.
He is not complaining that if he bought 1 ship and want the other 8 he must pay full price, he is making the point that if you buy 1 ship you are DISQUALIFIED TO BUY THE WHOLE 9 SHIP PACKAGE, re-read the notes again. If you buy 1 ship you CANNOT BUY the 9 package. :eek:
Yes, we know that. As I stated several pages back, it would seem that Cryptic considers the 9-pack discount to be a one-time take it or leave it special: Buy them all for 10,000 at once or buy three 3-packs for 15,000 later.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
The answer to too many alien ships around ESD is not more alien ships with vaguely familiar silhouettes. The Dyson ships look awful.
Taking into account that appearance is subjective, I will simply say that my subjective opinion is that the Fed version look quite nice. While I have no immediate plans to buy any of the ships I have a Romulan and a Federation Science Captain both using the Event version even as we speak.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Taking into account that appearance is subjective, I will simply say that my subjective opinion is that the Fed version look quite nice. While I have no immediate plans to buy any of the ships I have a Romulan and a Federation Science Captain both using the Event version even as we speak.
Simply doesn't look like a Starfleet design. At best it looks like something Starfleet would build if it was only allowed to pick up scraps from the dyson sphere and exploded Obelisks, but they don't look the least like some guy at Utopia Planitia worked them over before assembly.
But of course you're right and it's all subjective. So let me rephrase: I would like to see some Trek looking ships again. Some, you could take from the game and back into a TNG, DS9 or VOY episode and they wouldn't look out of place. Ships showing Starfleets usual pragmatism in design, without rear spoilers and racing stripes. More Vesta or Regent (or even Excelsior and Constellation) and less Avenger.
And this is no different than how they marketed LoR. We could buy the content individually at full price, we could get the starter pack at a discounted price, or we could get the complete legacy pack at an even bigger discount.
But if we already unlocked stuff we weren't eligible to upgrade to one of the discount packs.
There is a slight difference this time. If I purchased the $20.00 pack in LoR I could still purchase the $160.00 pack later. I simply would have ended up paying $180.00. This time around I can only choose one version or the other: buy it all for a big discount or buy it piecemeal.
That does not bother me, though; as it gets around all the complaints from people who were angry about buying the $20.00 pack in LoR and then not getting a discount on the $160.00 pack. This time they are telling you right up front: one way or the other way.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
The OP wants to be able to buy one ship and if he decides he likes it and doesn't have buyers remorse he wants to be able to get the discount later.
Well tough turnips, it isn't going to work like that.
Are the ship yours, or are you the seller of the packages? No, then why complaint against the OP because he is asking for the choice to buy the package at a later time, and he is not asking for discount price. Re-read what he wrote. HE IS COMPLAINING THAT HE WILL NOIT BE ABLE TO BUY THE PACKAGE PERIOD, NOT AT A DISCOUNT PRICE NOT AT A WHOLE PRICE
What if Cryptic made one ship that does everything, capable of one shotting whatever it looks at, including other ships of its type, that has all the premium console abilities, in addition to 15 console slots, four hangars that launch Typhoon battleships, 5 fore, and 5 rear weapon hardpoints, and 5 universal commander bridge seats. You'd have 24 hours to purchase it, at the expiration of which, the ship would never be offered again.
Do you think players would pay 1000$ for such a ship?
I really think there's players who would buy it.
Of course there are some players who would purchase it - probably PvP players.
As I said above, there are people paying $500.00 for a Spectral Tiger Loot Card on Ebay for their WOW character. Spending a lot of money on your hobby is not uncommon, in any hobby.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
What if Cryptic made one ship that does everything, capable of one shotting whatever it looks at, including other ships of its type, that has all the premium console abilities, in addition to 15 console slots, four hangars that launch Typhoon battleships, 5 fore, and 5 rear weapon hardpoints, and 5 universal commander bridge seats. You'd have 24 hours to purchase it, at the expiration of which, the ship would never be offered again.
Do you think players would pay 1000$ for such a ship?
I really think there's players who would buy it.
You'd see loads of them knocking about. Way too many people want to be "better" than everyone else and think it's the gear that does it.
Of course there are some players who would purchase it - probably PvP players.
As I said above, there are people paying $500.00 for a Spectral Tiger Loot Card on Ebay for their WOW character. Spending a lot of money on your hobby is not uncommon, in any hobby.
Exactly. I had a friend a while back who collected stamps and payed a grand or so on a stamp. Hobbies are something some people are willing to spend a ton of money on.
I would try the freebie first, then if you like it with the Solonae set, get the rest.
Simple as that.
And that is really all there is to it.
Most people are not going to buy 9 ships. Most people have 3-4 characters on the FTP account. They do not need 9 Science Destroyers. One of those 3-4 characters might be Science and so they might want a single ship pack for it but they do not need all 9 ships, thus the 9-pack is meaningless to them.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Exactly. I had a friend a while back who collected stamps and payed a grand or so on a stamp. Hobbies are something some people are willing to spend a ton of money on.
Yeah, my son just started into coin collecting. It gets a little scary when he starts talking about wanting us to buy $200.00 pennies.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Yeah, my son just started into coin collecting. It gets a little scary when he starts talking about wanting us to buy $200.00 pennies.
Well as long as he doesn't hit you up for a loan
On the matter at hand I wouldn't buy them for my fed characters as I find that design ugly. However the Rommy one looks nice and, unusually, so doe the KDF one. However I find them lack luster, and sort of a jack of all trades but a master of none. Personally on my Fed I will stick with my Vesta.
The consoles being unique to the ship doesnt bother me. Its the grind necessary to get a complete C-store ship...that and the 9 seperate ships...really? Just doesnt show a proper respect for either my time or my money.
you only need 9 seperate ships if you plan on using it on all factions. you can easily just pick one of them (say RR, since they dont get many sci ships) and buy it for 5k, you got one complete dyson ship for your rommy.
its only if you need to get a DSD on each faction that you should shell out the 10k.
you only need 9 seperate ships if you plan on using it on all factions. you can easily just pick one of them (say RR, since they dont get many sci ships) and buy it for 5k, you got one complete dyson ship for your rommy.
its only if you need to get a DSD on each faction that you should shell out the 10k.
This,
The Feds really do not need the dyson ship as they have the Vesta, but the Klingons and Romulans can very much use it, and even then, the KDF already has the Kar'fri and Varanus, which are not that bad of science ships in the C-store.
1 Fed Tactical - Dyson ships does extremely well
1 Rom Engineering - Dyson ship does well
1 Klingon Science - Dyson ship does poorly, but may be my lacing of engineering slots to place some extra shielding.
You think they'd go 5000$? How far do you think Cryptic could push it?
Personally, I don't by items in games, I buy games. I haven't spent a penny on STO in two years. I used to be a whale, too. Once I realized Cryptic was just pocketing my cash, and not doing anything to make the game better.
I cannot really speculate on what someone would pay. Each person has an entirely different financial threshold.
Heck, I purchased an LTS to Champions Online just so I could get into the Closed Beta of STO. So obviously a couple of hundreds dollars is not an issue for me - and factoring that in with my STO LTS, the boxsets I purchased, and all the C-Store items in the game I purchased before Dilithium was introduced I am fairly certain I have around $1,000.00 tied up in STO right now.
There are clearly people playing who have dumped hundreds of dollars into Keys every quarter when a new Lockbox is released, so money is not a major issue to them either.
Of course since the game went FTP and introduced the Dilithium Exchange I have not spent any of my own money on STO - though I have purchased everything in the C-Store and Exchange I have wanted and still have over 65,000 Zen on my account. So someone else is paying for me.
As far as Cryptic not making the game better, well, you and I will just need to disagree on that subjective opinion. I find the game to be immensely better then it was at Headstart and Launch, as well as the FTP Launch. YMMV
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
I just see no good reason to lock players out of spending money. It's bad for the players, and ultimately, it's bad for the developers.
The ships are $25 a pop, or 9 for $100. It's perfectly reasonable for someone new to the game with one character to want to buy a single $25 ship... and then a few months down the road he's hooked, has several alts, and wants the whole package... after all, it will still be cheaper to "re-purchase" the one he's bought than buy them individually. But, instead, PWE says, "TRIBBLE you, buy them all individually." At best, to get the other 8 ships he can buy 2 bundles @ $50 each, and the other 2 ships at $25 each... so $150 for 8 ships, when everyone else that didn't support the game is still free to buy 9 for $100.
That's asinine. There's no good reason to be a jerk to your customer base like this.
Comments
Thank you Captain Obvious, you've saved us again !
It's already been stated in the dev blog. If you buy any Dyson ship from the c-store you can't buy the 9 ship pack, period. You also can't buy the bundle for the ship(s) you purchased.
So if you buy just 1 ship, you'll have to pay 2500 zen each to get the other 2 for the bundle, but you'll be able to purchase the 3 pack bundles for the other factions.
If you purchase 1 ship for all 3 factions you just screwed yourself if you ever want a discount. Because you won't be able to buy ANY bundles and would have to purchase all 6 other ships individually at 2500 zen each thus costing you the maximum amount.
The only 3 pack ship I've purchased was the Scimitar because I didn't want the other 2. When I purchased it the bundle option was removed from the c-store. It doesn't matter because whether I purchase the bundle, or the other 2 separately, I'd be paying 5000 zen anyway.
And as for your idea on a trade-in, how will that work? c-store ships are unlocked for your entire account. How do you propose a player with 30 characters, all of which have the same exact ship, trade it in just so they can buy the bundle to get the rest of the ships for it?
The bundle has a discount. Buy in bulk to save zen, or buy them 1 at a time and pay full price. It's not a bad deal buying the bundle. Think about it this way: if you buy the 9 pack bundle of Dyson ships, you are essentially getting 3 ships free. That's saving you 7500 zen, or $75, if you bought those ships separately. Basically it's $100 for the 9 pack bundle. Total amount for all ships individually purchased = $225, so that's a $125 discount if you buy the bundle.
He is not complaining that if he bought 1 ship and want the other 8 he must pay full price, he is making the point that if you buy 1 ship you are DISQUALIFIED TO BUY THE WHOLE 9 SHIP PACKAGE, re-read the notes again. If you buy 1 ship you CANNOT BUY the 9 package. :eek:
The answer to too many alien ships around ESD is not more alien ships with vaguely familiar silhouettes. The Dyson ships look awful.
Simply doesn't look like a Starfleet design. At best it looks like something Starfleet would build if it was only allowed to pick up scraps from the dyson sphere and exploded Obelisks, but they don't look the least like some guy at Utopia Planitia worked them over before assembly.
But of course you're right and it's all subjective. So let me rephrase: I would like to see some Trek looking ships again. Some, you could take from the game and back into a TNG, DS9 or VOY episode and they wouldn't look out of place. Ships showing Starfleets usual pragmatism in design, without rear spoilers and racing stripes. More Vesta or Regent (or even Excelsior and Constellation) and less Avenger.
That does not bother me, though; as it gets around all the complaints from people who were angry about buying the $20.00 pack in LoR and then not getting a discount on the $160.00 pack. This time they are telling you right up front: one way or the other way.
Are the ship yours, or are you the seller of the packages? No, then why complaint against the OP because he is asking for the choice to buy the package at a later time, and he is not asking for discount price. Re-read what he wrote. HE IS COMPLAINING THAT HE WILL NOIT BE ABLE TO BUY THE PACKAGE PERIOD, NOT AT A DISCOUNT PRICE NOT AT A WHOLE PRICE
Simple as that.
As I said above, there are people paying $500.00 for a Spectral Tiger Loot Card on Ebay for their WOW character. Spending a lot of money on your hobby is not uncommon, in any hobby.
You'd see loads of them knocking about. Way too many people want to be "better" than everyone else and think it's the gear that does it.
Exactly. I had a friend a while back who collected stamps and payed a grand or so on a stamp. Hobbies are something some people are willing to spend a ton of money on.
Most people are not going to buy 9 ships. Most people have 3-4 characters on the FTP account. They do not need 9 Science Destroyers. One of those 3-4 characters might be Science and so they might want a single ship pack for it but they do not need all 9 ships, thus the 9-pack is meaningless to them.
Well as long as he doesn't hit you up for a loan
On the matter at hand I wouldn't buy them for my fed characters as I find that design ugly. However the Rommy one looks nice and, unusually, so doe the KDF one. However I find them lack luster, and sort of a jack of all trades but a master of none. Personally on my Fed I will stick with my Vesta.
you only need 9 seperate ships if you plan on using it on all factions. you can easily just pick one of them (say RR, since they dont get many sci ships) and buy it for 5k, you got one complete dyson ship for your rommy.
its only if you need to get a DSD on each faction that you should shell out the 10k.
This,
The Feds really do not need the dyson ship as they have the Vesta, but the Klingons and Romulans can very much use it, and even then, the KDF already has the Kar'fri and Varanus, which are not that bad of science ships in the C-store.
1 Fed Tactical - Dyson ships does extremely well
1 Rom Engineering - Dyson ship does well
1 Klingon Science - Dyson ship does poorly, but may be my lacing of engineering slots to place some extra shielding.
Heck, I purchased an LTS to Champions Online just so I could get into the Closed Beta of STO. So obviously a couple of hundreds dollars is not an issue for me - and factoring that in with my STO LTS, the boxsets I purchased, and all the C-Store items in the game I purchased before Dilithium was introduced I am fairly certain I have around $1,000.00 tied up in STO right now.
There are clearly people playing who have dumped hundreds of dollars into Keys every quarter when a new Lockbox is released, so money is not a major issue to them either.
Of course since the game went FTP and introduced the Dilithium Exchange I have not spent any of my own money on STO - though I have purchased everything in the C-Store and Exchange I have wanted and still have over 65,000 Zen on my account. So someone else is paying for me.
As far as Cryptic not making the game better, well, you and I will just need to disagree on that subjective opinion. I find the game to be immensely better then it was at Headstart and Launch, as well as the FTP Launch. YMMV
The ships are $25 a pop, or 9 for $100. It's perfectly reasonable for someone new to the game with one character to want to buy a single $25 ship... and then a few months down the road he's hooked, has several alts, and wants the whole package... after all, it will still be cheaper to "re-purchase" the one he's bought than buy them individually. But, instead, PWE says, "TRIBBLE you, buy them all individually." At best, to get the other 8 ships he can buy 2 bundles @ $50 each, and the other 2 ships at $25 each... so $150 for 8 ships, when everyone else that didn't support the game is still free to buy 9 for $100.
That's asinine. There's no good reason to be a jerk to your customer base like this.