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Before Criticizing Cryptic's F2P System...
salynrayder
Member Posts: 139 Arc User
try playing a certain other space-oriented game based off the franchise created by a man whose name rhymes with Beorge Ducas.
I find STO has a more-than-fair balance between free content and that for which you must pay. And don't forget that there is still a way to acquire zen without paying real world money.
Now this other game...I tried playing the other day and was forced to pay money for more tooltip space? I have to pay to wear end-game items? No thanks. Yes, companies have to pay employees, but this just seemed like unmitigated greed.
So, thanks Cryptic for your system. You'll not witness any bashing from me in its current state.
Now, about that T5 Connie...
I find STO has a more-than-fair balance between free content and that for which you must pay. And don't forget that there is still a way to acquire zen without paying real world money.
Now this other game...I tried playing the other day and was forced to pay money for more tooltip space? I have to pay to wear end-game items? No thanks. Yes, companies have to pay employees, but this just seemed like unmitigated greed.
So, thanks Cryptic for your system. You'll not witness any bashing from me in its current state.
Now, about that T5 Connie...
Post edited by salynrayder on
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Comments
But there is something inherently evil with gambling. Especially for something that isn't real.
I'd rather spend $10 on a new expansion pack or bonus items and get them more frequently then get a bunch of grind content thrown at me twice a year. The rep system is nothing but repetative grind to the point where you want to pull your eyes out.
What makes sto's system even more expensive is that most of the cool stuff is now going into the lobi store; they place where a single character ship ends up costing you $200. They don't even bother putting costumes, uniforms, ship skins, and so on into the c-store any more when they can overcharge you for it in the lobi store.
wow being doing that for years sto is the frist ive seen to even let you change it with out money maybe something they should re think
system Lord Baal is dead
but see their strategy ppl with money get flustrated and sub sto dont have one other than free free free and that game shows it
<---- not cheap if i want good quality missions and updates
system Lord Baal is dead
Barely anything is free in this game anymore. Sure you can trade dilithium for Zen, but someone still payed for them.
Those items that come for free are just used to promote and lure people into their next c-store product, while forcing players to log in on a daily basis in order to obtain it for free.
The last real free content was the Facility 4028 storyline...
Granted some of them with their use of forcing you to pay more often for content, and goodies it's no wonder they can pop out content more often because you have to pay for it all.
Heck one MMO I have played forces you to have to pay for mission packs, and the only way to get them for free is to grind 100X worse than STO has currently just to possibly afford a couple mission packs (I think there is some 12 packs total, with most costing 2-5X what the cheaper ones cost).
This game so far for me is a god send when it comes to grind, and getting what I want for the time needed to grind guaranteed, not grind and grind for years without ever getting what you want due to the loot gen never favoring you.
And the ability to obtain real money zen in a respectable amount of time, and not again taking years to get enough to play all the content only for more to pop out and take years to get those as well.
Praetor of the -RTS- Romulan Tal Shiar fleet!
That's a fail business model. I got frustrated with it - so I binned it.
10/10
would uninstall again.
see i was the other way around along with a few of my friends from here and we singed up for months if i want farmvile i come to sto if i want a story that dont jump all over other the galaxy and pvp that rewarding i go to tor but hey each to their own?
but hey this coming from one that sub 3 years straight to wow and got every xpack
imo PWE has spoiled ppl here now they think ever mmos goes f2p or is f2p should be like sto and that is just wrong because again imo this why sto gets mid core up dates every 6 months sometimes longer why every thing works like a free facebook game and it shows and any one who cant see it is blinded by that star trek logo
system Lord Baal is dead
Bingo.
SWTOR was and is a disappointment from top to bottom; why wouldn't their business model be the same? EA had their nasty, grubby greedy fingers all over that game. Color-match behind a paywall? HA!
I'd much rather pay a standard price and get the entire game than to be sucked into a system that utilizes gambling to entice me to dump money on a perhaps futile endeavour.
Yeah this guy has got it ^. The indefinite pricing problem. Yeah, you're going to get an expansion once a year from STO, but most of the content will be a grind. They barely touch upon the content that is broken. And oh yeah, you want that ship? That will be either a $100-$25 C-Store purchase or an unspecified amount as determined by the random lotto boxes.
system Lord Baal is dead
I actually prefer DCUO's model. If you sub DCUO, you get everything (literally everything) and the lockboxes don't require you to buy keys. If you f2p that game, you will be nickeled and dimed. They reward their consistent paying customers while not excluding that casual players.
Swtor's model is too restrictive, but that's EA we're talking about and with the voice overs, lightsabers, and storyline SWTOR can afford to use that model. STO can not.
If you like f2p, then good for you, but you pay one way or another for freeloading a game. I'm not trying to be insulting by using that term, but I am just calling it as I see it. Personally, I'd much rather see a solid game with the same options to Starships and gear as every other player via a sub/f2p hybrid model (let's face it, a sub is useless after you've leveled your characters up) than to have gambling boxes that distort the market and make the ships I want impossible to get without dumping way more money than I'd like for a digital toy. Think about that, people have dumped hundreds of dollars into those boxes. A sub costs you 15 a month if you just do it by month. That means that at the end of the year, you will pay 180 total, and if the sub worked like it should, then you would have a value that exceeded those who want to pay for the game A'la Carte as opposed to a loyalty program. However, under the system we have in place, the only way to get a sub that's worth a damn is to dump 300 dollars right off the bat into a lifetime that may or may not pay off and doesn't give you the option of walking away like you have with a standard subscription.
Subscriptions worked well because they forced devs to really consider what the players want as opposed to how to rip the most money out of player's pockets. The only reason they are going away is because some really bad MMOs launched, subs did what subs do and walked off. The MMOs that went to an f2p model are the ones that didn't meet the criteria in the first place and institute cash grabs that lure players into dumping more money into the game than they would have under a sub system. Sound good to you?
And as for the claimed lack of free stuff, well, I'd go into detail on that, but newly-promoted Rear Admiral Davis is still exploring the capabilities of her brand-new Solonae-class Science Destroyer, the USS Feynman. And my main, Vice Admiral Sills, is still having trouble deciding between flying his prototype Odyssey, the USS Hans Asperger, and his Nebula refit, the USS Messier. And it's a bit of a boast of mine that I've never spent any money on this game (nor swapped Dil for Zen - I did buy a lockbox ship on the Exchange, but I only used it once).
I don't know, maybe we don't have the same definitions of "new" or "free"...
Apparently you've never played STO's ground combat...
Or STO before they made the sector space look good, before voice overs and episode remakes, before featured series, before the revamp of ground combat.
Reminds me of a quote from Portlandia: "It's free... after you pay for it."
One problem with that. STO and SWTOR have 2 very different business models. Here's a small rundown.
Things that both games share:
-STO and SWTOR both give players full access to story content.
-STO and SWTOR both have items that players cannot buy with regular in game free currency in their respective in-game markets.
STO and SWTOR both have options for people to spend money if they so choose.
Cons of SWTOR
-PvP is limited in SWTOR.
-Endgame content is limited in SWTOR.
-No way to earn as much cash shop currency as you want.
-limited options for creating characters for free players.
-No regular bank access for free players.
-Worst of all: No UGC content.
I would honestly prefer to remain with STO over SWTOR. STO may not have worthwhile PvP and the ability to go where you want in the galaxy (yet), but when you consider that you aren't pressured to buy into things if you want to experience the rest of the game with STO like you are with SWTOR.
So, if you pay for a sub in swtor you get better than what you get in STO?
That's an interesting choice in a ship name
And if you don't pay for a sub in swtor, then you get far worse than what you get in STO. F2Pers are third class citizens in swtor while F2Pers are treated far better in STO.
And yet people keep expecting free lunches.... :rolleyes:
Right, but my point is that it is better to pay, be able to generally get what you pay for, then to have an f2p set-up where everything is paid for in an a la carte fashion by which the prices are very high or indefinitely determined.
You get what you pay for and when you pay nothing, you're going to get really rough reputation grinds, lockboxes, extremely hard to get items that aren't determined by merit of player alone, and broken PvP based around a p2w at PvP environment.
I'd much rather pay for a really good game, and I'm not necessarily saying that Swtor is that game, but I'd much rather pay out right for a really good game then play a free mediocre one that teases me with gambling over things I would actually want, puts an absurd price point on vanity, and creates intense grinds that get referenced as content.
If it weren't for LoR, I would not be playing this game at all. In fact, I would pay for them to put out better content, but STO won't let me do that.
Hehe.... I have no idea why you think it's bad, but I like it.
My character Tsin'xing
That's one thing swtor has up. Try a Sith or Jedi Knight. Force leap puts you right in front of the enemy instantly. It doesn't always work out so well with STO.
I'm one of "those" people that are happy to spend $10 or $20 a month on the game, what I call P2NG (Pay to not grind) ...
I've looked at the Gold membership, but frankly, it doesn't offer enough incentive over a "free" account.
If Gold came with Free Keys (or no Keys required) or If you got an optional "Token" which could be exchanged for Marks of any description, or if you got one free Ship Module for each rank or 50 Lobi as well as 500Dil, etc ... I would join in a heartbeat.
And that's where PWE went wrong ... They took out almost ALL incentive to go Gold, and that's not the best way, but then neither is making the game all Grind and Micro (and not so micro) Transactions ...
I did buy the Legacy Pack, and I my Rommie Alts have gotten a great deal of use from that ... I'd actually consider buying a Klingon Legacy Pack and a Federation Legacy Pack, if they offered the same/similar inclusions ...
LTS? well considering it really offers little more than the Gold Sub ... Maybe if it goes on sale ...
So, TL;DR ... Make Gold Subscription actually worth something, and I for one, and probably many others, would happily pay it