First, will we be able to break down equipment and weapons for mats?
Not at launch, but it is something that I hope to add later. I've set up all the items you create to "know" what it took to make them, so that in the future we can hopefully look that up and give you some of the materials back.
Second, are you going to add MK XII purple energy type consoles to crafting?
Yes, these are available to craft.
Jeff "Adjudicator Hawk" Hamilton
Systems Designer - Cryptic Studios
Twitter: @JeffAHamilton
That's a case of making a choice of how the Dil is spent. That's going to be a personal or group decision. If you go into a convenience store, wanting both a soda and bag of chips - but you've only got enough for one...guess what happens?
So providing alternatives to folks that may not be as good (when as good is not needed) at a much reduced cost is a bad thing?
Again, soda and chips...
Oh dear God...no instant gratification? It's the end of the world!!! /facepalm
Which may or may not have the mods you want - may not even be the equipment you want - you could end up getting all sorts of things. Then take a look at the cost of running those Rep Lock Boxes instead of converting those Marks directly to Dil, eh? Cause that's basically what they are, Rep Lock Boxes...
That may not be as good as what you can craft...
Again...instant gratification issues, eh?
Nothing to do with instant gratification. I run a fleet. A fleet which is hurting because people cannot spend their Diltihium on both the gear they need AND to our starbase as a long term goal. We're a small group, 21 players, trying to do this. I want to craft gear for new players AND help my starbase. Can't do both. And I will choose to help my base over crafting any day and I know ALOT of players will too.
Second, why waste 20K on an item when I can spend double that on a better item? That doesn't give a single incentive to using it.
Third, crafting in other games DO NOT HAVE THIS RESTRICTION. Most games just ask for you to spend time retrieving or buying resources to create gear. Many players in WoW for instance are *CAREER CRAFTERS*. All they do is craft items to sell to lower level players or create something custom on request. Thats not instant gratification, thats an investment in a form of play style. If it takes 3 days to make an inferior piece of gear that is out classed by something that costs just slightly more, why would anyone use it or buy it?
Four, Cryptic and PWE have already made their announcement to sell resources for crafting *IN THE C-STORE* which can be bought with Zen which can be converted with... yup, diltihium. This is a double dip attempt to get more money. Absolutely not. Do one or the other. But dont ask us to grind for resources and the grind more to pay to use them.
You forget the part where a VR Mk XI item costs 0 dil by playing content, which means why bother even crafting? I didn't craft those items before, I didn't buy them from the dil store, I didn't buy Mk XI items from the rep system, why? Because they're free by playing. Comparing one bad idea to several other bad ideas doesn't change that it's a bad idea in the first place.
Ah, but notice that the numbers virusdancer listed are current crafting costs; the proposed cost of an actual end-game (read Very Rare Mk XII) is lower than current crafting requirements or even buying from the Dilithium or Rep Stores; though I still wish the Rep Store used the appropriate Mark instead of dilithium, that's beside the point. Of course you did catch the...
There will be Mk 12 Purple gear in the system, and possibly a few Mk 12 Ultraviolet (fleet quality) pieces. We'll go into more detail on what you can make in a future blog. Does that potentially count as competitive?
...part? I could see a slight decrease in the cost of Very Rare Mk XII to allow for the possible Ultraviolet Mk XII items to be at 20k dilithium, though, since that would put the cost/quality on par with Elite Fleet equipment (assuming the access to unique [Mods] that was mentioned earlier comes to fruition), and of course it was mentioned that...
I think the 20k may be a bit high for a Mk XII, but compared to the 30-40k range for buying gear out of Reputations or the Dil Store, it still feels pretty reasonable to me.
...which gives the possibility of these items being further balanced against other benchmarks for acquiring equipment.
With each passing day I wonder if I stepped into an alternate reality. The Cubs win the world series. Donald Trump is President. Britain leaves the EU. STO gets a dedicated PvP season. Engineers are "out of control" in STO.
We know that there will be a demand spike of Dil with this system. We're looking (long term, not 9.5-era) at ways to increase and normalize the ability to earn supply of Dil for players with different play patterns. Contrary to popular belief, we don't have any sort of widespread internal conspiracy to suck out all the ways to gain Dilithium - we want to reward you for playing the game.
Now THAT is very helpful. And would mitigate my adversity to the new crafting system if it is hell-bent on requiring dilithium to make items. And would immensely improve my fleet's ability to do projects since my fleet has only four people in it.
"General Server Stability" means they are bolting the servers to the floor, right? Wouldn't you be upset if Branflakes were to go stumbling into the server room, knock a rack over, and bring the game down for a DAY? SO, they aren't scrwing it up, they are bolting it down.
We know that there will be a demand spike of Dil with this system. We're looking (long term, not 9.5-era) at ways to increase and normalize the ability to earn supply of Dil for players with different play patterns. Contrary to popular belief, we don't have any sort of widespread internal conspiracy to suck out all the ways to gain Dilithium - we want to reward you for playing the game.
I hate to burst your bubble, but... Many players are looking for short-term solutions. Unless you find ways of putting items into player's hands quickly, I think many players will just find something else to do.
Are you worried about the prolonged affects of creating too many grinding mechanics?
Nice, that alleviates another major concern. Thanks for that as well, since that UI is simple and efficient... we will be able to convert batches to batches, I assume?
With each passing day I wonder if I stepped into an alternate reality. The Cubs win the world series. Donald Trump is President. Britain leaves the EU. STO gets a dedicated PvP season. Engineers are "out of control" in STO.
Jeff, any clarification or comment at all on the exploration clusters? What'll be replacing the mission system there? Would really like some more information there.
Nothing to do with instant gratification. I run a fleet. A fleet which is hurting because people cannot spend their Diltihium on both the gear they need AND to our starbase as a long term goal. We're a small group, 21 players, trying to do this. I want to craft gear for new players AND help my starbase. Can't do both. And I will choose to help my base over crafting any day and I know ALOT of players will too.
I run a solo fleet. I do not feel any hurt. Things get done when they get done. Having to choose between saving your puppy or your kitten might be a painful decision...this is just a game. Why do people get so melodramatic about things?
Third, crafting in other games DO NOT HAVE THIS RESTRICTION. Most games just ask for you to spend time retrieving or buying resources to create gear. Many players in WoW for instance are *CAREER CRAFTERS*. All they do is craft items to sell to lower level players or create something custom on request. Thats not instant gratification, thats an investment in a form of play style. If it takes 3 days to make an inferior piece of gear that is out classed by something that costs just slightly more, why would anyone use it or buy it?
Comparing P2P and F2P?
Where is the slightly more? Where is the outclassed? There's no information yet. You're just whining out your TRIBBLE at this point...
Four, Cryptic and PWE have already made their announcement to sell resources for crafting *IN THE C-STORE* which can be bought with Zen which can be converted with... yup, diltihium. This is a double dip attempt to get more money. Absolutely not. Do one or the other. But dont ask us to grind for resources and the grind more to pay to use them.
They're selling to the folks that can't wait. Just like folks can buy ZEN to get more Dil, because they can't wait to get Dil the normal way. They know folks have instant gratification issues...
We know that there will be a demand spike of Dil with this system. We're looking (long term, not 9.5-era) at ways to increase and normalize the ability to earn supply of Dil for players with different play patterns. Contrary to popular belief, we don't have any sort of widespread internal conspiracy to suck out all the ways to gain Dilithium - we want to reward you for playing the game.
A very good start would be to make everything reward some amount of dilthium based on the time need.
After all we told ditlhium is a time based currency.
But it seems to me you guys simply want to add massive sinks and grinds to game. Which is why I barely play sto anymore. You suck the fun out.
The grind and the fact you do not fix bugs like the missing outfits I should have unlock but not. Why grind grind grind to get the shaft.
As someone who has bought a boatload of zen, I do not think people are approaching this with a sense of entitlement. If many of these people are like myself, they are accustomed to buying single-player and offline games. Spending $60 on a single-player game gets you more content. Expansion packs use to range between $30 and $49. Players are willing to pay for content, for as long as they are getting something practical. Within this particular paradigm, waiting for a week to complete a set is impractical.
I grew up in a world where money and value meant something.
On the plus side it is good that expansions here are free. But on the whole over time via microtransactions an MMO will always be more expensive than a console game. It's the nature of the beast.
Not at launch, but it is something that I hope to add later. I've set up all the items you create to "know" what it took to make them, so that in the future we can hopefully look that up and give you some of the materials back.
Yes, these are available to craft.
Unexpected. I like it.
Have you worked out how that will work for how much you'll get out of low level gear vs high level?
Third, crafting in other games DO NOT HAVE THIS RESTRICTION. Most games just ask for you to spend time retrieving or buying resources to create gear. Many players in WoW for instance are *CAREER CRAFTERS*. All they do is craft items to sell to lower level players or create something custom on request. Thats not instant gratification, thats an investment in a form of play style. If it takes 3 days to make an inferior piece of gear that is out classed by something that costs just slightly more, why would anyone use it or buy it?
Four, Cryptic and PWE have already made their announcement to sell resources for crafting *IN THE C-STORE* which can be bought with Zen which can be converted with... yup, diltihium. This is a double dip attempt to get more money. Absolutely not. Do one or the other. But dont ask us to grind for resources and the grind more to pay to use them.
As an engineer I have marked interest in having this as a side job, being able to craft specialty gear for people.
"Rise like Lions after slumber, In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew, Which in sleep had fallen on you-Ye are many they are few"
On the plus side it is good that expansions here are free. But on the whole over time via microtransactions an MMO will always be more expensive than a console game. It's the nature of the beast.
I do not play console games. My game library is 100% pc.
We know that there will be a demand spike of Dil with this system. We're looking (long term, not 9.5-era) at ways to increase and normalize the ability to earn supply of Dil for players with different play patterns. Contrary to popular belief, we don't have any sort of widespread internal conspiracy to suck out all the ways to gain Dilithium - we want to reward you for playing the game.
Unlike the... misinformed enemy non-combatant you previously quoted. The real issue isn't earning Dil... It's refining it. Increasing the 8k cap only goes up to 8.5k with a T3 Dil mine, and the remembrance to transwarp there every day... I'ts a nice gesture, but there are many players who don't even subscribe to the notion of being in a fleet... Something you devs have time and again tried forcing people into with "better gear" and "better ships."
For those players the cap is still 8k a day....
Myself? Having a backlog of 40k+ and growing Dilithium and hitting the 8.5K cap DAILY... needs to be addressed when you STILL have so much TRIBBLE that wants my Dilithium in the first place...
/Especially/ now that you want this new crafting reputation to demand even more of my unrefined stores of refined Dilithium.
We don't want what the Feds have. We want the equivalent. We want fairer treatment. Concern, desire, greed to some extent, and passionate belief that the enough people would buy KDF items to make it worth Cryptic's while.
Jeff, any clarification or comment at all on the exploration clusters? What'll be replacing the mission system there? Would really like some more information there.
Yup In some way, crafting is dead and can't get worse. However doffing in clusters is something I tend to do regularly as well as many other people (some getting dilithium, others exploring, ...). Therefore it's a topic of quite an importance.
If you don't want to fill this thread with not entirely related talk, please make it known we'd like to know more about that change to clusters.
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Oh no, people want to spend their money (dil) wisely, they must have gratification and entitlement issues! Easy way to cover up how much of a bad idea this is.
People complaining that it might take three days to get something...in a MMO that runs for years and years? Yeah, they might have instant gratification issues.
People complaining that they don't have enough of some currency so they can get everything that they want now...in a MMO that gives folks plenty of ways to earn those things? Yeah, they might have entitlement issues.
It's up to the person to decide how to spend their Dil wisely or even if spending it wisely matters to them - cause they might not have instant gratification and entitlement issues.
So are we talking Spiral Disruptor type procs, Romulan Plasma type procs, or Nukara Tetryon type procs? I am assuming that those crafting procs have higher percentage than 2.5.
Maybe a console that increases beam damage every time you use an Engineering ability.
Yup In some way, crafting is dead and can't get worse. However doffing in clusters is something I tend to do regularly as well as many other people (some getting dilithium, others exploring, ...). Therefore it's a topic of quite an importance.
If you don't want to fill this thread with not entirely related talk, please make it known we'd like to know more about that change to clusters.
They've said the doffing stays in, but that's not what I'm concerned about. I'm concerned about the missions themselves and the removal of the ability to go out on those random cluster missions.
And I'd rather have crummy random exploration missions than no clusters. Stop streamlining and removing chunks of the game. Sure, you put in this awesome new crafting system... but removed a dozen sectors and the ability to run around in randomly generated exploration missions.
Unlike the... misinformed enemy non-combatant you previously quoted. The real issue isn't earning Dil... It's refining it. Increasing the 8k cap only goes up to 8.5k with a T3 Dil mine, and the rememberance to transwarp there every day... I'ts a nice gesture, but there are many players who don't even subscribe to the notion of being in a fleet... Something you devs have time and again tried forcing people into with "better gear" and "better ships."
For those players the cap is still 8k a day....
Myself? Having a backlog of 40+ and growing Dilithium and hitting the 8.5K cap DAILY... needs to be addressed when you STILL have so much TRIBBLE that wants my Dilithium in the first place...
/Especially/ now that you want this new crafting reputation to demand even more of my unrefined stores of refined Dilithium.
THIS. Being limited on the currency needed to craft items makes it pretty much unappealing to make it. The existing crafting system died the moment the unreplicatable materials were put in because all the crafters were putting their dilithium into more profitable ventures. If you want to reward us for playing the game - make searching for Crafting materials that reward. But don't put it behind a gate that's used by practically every single other system in the game.
People complaining that it might take three days to get something...in a MMO that runs for years and years? Yeah, they might have instant gratification issues.
People complaining that they don't have enough of some currency so they can get everything that they want now...in a MMO that gives folks plenty of ways to earn those things? Yeah, they might have entitlement issues.
It's up to the person to decide how to spend their Dil wisely or even if spending it wisely matters to them - cause they might not have instant gratification and entitlement issues.
This IS NOT an instant gratification issue. Because EVERY OTHER GAME THAT HAS CRAFTING DOES NOT TIME GAME IT. The gate behind crafting in other games is the search for materials to make it. Besides adding a "cost" to make something doesn't make sense. You're creating something that requires time and effort to make. I want crafting to come with a bit of skill "get X rare resources from Y" "make component from X" "create item via a process made of component." Not "pay X money to get Y item".
Second it hurts crafters who actually want to craft as a side or primary profession in this game! I want to make some side money crafting. And if it costs more to make the item than to sell it, I'm not going to.
You seem to be confusing instant gratification with people having legitimate concerns that they simply wont be able to partake in a new feature because it costs a currency we are not allowed to have an unlimited supply of. You're saying its a choice. Great. Expect people to not choose to do something because they can't afford to do it.
...I'ts a nice gesture, but there are many players who don't even subscribe to the notion of being in a fleet...
I am one of those players. While I like playing within a team dynamic, fleets have more drama than daytime soap operas. Someone within the fleet owner and fleet member dynamic is always causing a problem.
I have made many friends. I do not want fleet drama to kill my friendships.
We know that there will be a demand spike of Dil with this system. We're looking (long term, not 9.5-era) at ways to increase and normalize the ability to earn supply of Dil for players with different play patterns. Contrary to popular belief, we don't have any sort of widespread internal conspiracy to suck out all the ways to gain Dilithium - we want to reward you for playing the game.
But, but, but...if you guys don't suck out all the ways to gain Dil - then folks will keep farming Dil - folks that want more Dil than they can get will keep buying ZEN to trade for Dil - and Cryptic/PWE will keep making money! Obviously you guys need to suck out all the ways to gain Dilithium! It's the only hope you guys have of...er...not making money.
I still think you guys show a great deal of patience dealing with some of the folks that post some of the most absurd things...it's pretty nifty, imho. I would get fired before lunch on my first day from replying to some of the posts on the forums. Just want to say I appreciate you guys taking the time to reply and how you take so much in stride while doing so. It's definitely appreciated.
Maybe a console that increases beam damage every time you use an Engineering ability.
Mmmm... one can dream.
Yeah, that blog should definitely be pretty trippy - trying to keep my speculative thoughts pretty grounded; but with so many possibilities out there - should be pretty cool all the same.
Hawk, would fleet Dilithium mine discounts apply to these dilithium costs?
While I think 5k is reasonable for mark XI, mark XII should be 10k at maximum dilithium wise, if its a weapon or a console. Shields and deflectors, warp cores and such, 20k would be ok.
Please remember, these will cost materials too, not just dil, and they have to be competitive with fleet and rep store goodies.
Let us wear Swimsuits on Foundry maps or bridges please! I would pay zen for that.
Well I can't argue with how tedious the exploration missions were. But the missions within were monetarily valuable. The question what happens to the explore strange new worlds mission is extremely important to answer.
Does this mean that KDF officers will no longer be able to go to exploration clusters to blow up piles of tribbles? More seriously, what will happen to the daily wrapper that awards 1440 dilithium upon completing 3 missions in an exploration cluster?
The conversion isn't automated - double clicking on a particle trace will let you trade it in for new materials. You can trade in as much of your stash as you need to do whatever task you're working on. You can keep all of your traces stored in your Fleet Bank if you want - they just aren't used for anything anymore.
What about the duty officer assignments that require particles as an input?
Nitpicking is a time-honored tradition of science fiction. Asking your readers not to worry about the "little things" is like asking a dog not to sniff at people's crotches. If there's something that appears to violate natural laws, then you can expect someone's going to point it out. That's just the way things are.
But, but, but...if you guys don't suck out all the ways to gain Dil - then folks will keep farming Dil - folks that want more Dil than they can get will keep buying ZEN to trade for Dil - and Cryptic/PWE will keep making money! Obviously you guys need to suck out all the ways to gain Dilithium! It's the only hope you guys have of...er...not making money.
I still think you guys show a great deal of patience dealing with some of the folks that post some of the most absurd things...it's pretty nifty, imho. I would get fired before lunch on my first day from replying to some of the posts on the forums. Just want to say I appreciate you guys taking the time to reply and how you take so much in stride while doing so. It's definitely appreciated.
Except for the part where everytime they've added a new Dilithium sink the Zen-Dil Exchange crashes. Remember when the Exchange rate was 374 - 425 Dil to one Zen? After the fleet starbases, the reputation systems, the dil store being expanded, its down to 154 Dil to one Zen, even after a massive upping in prices. Its gotten as low as 85. It will crash again and suddenly, no one will pay Zen for Dilithium because, why? It won't be valuable. Its devaluing the economy to keep using it as such. As such, Cryptic will LOSE money.
See, right there, I take issue with. That's THREE days worth of refining for ONE item. That's silly. One item should never be more than one day's worth of refining. Either raise the refining cap, slash dilithium prices, or both.
And on top of that, they're removing another wrapper assignment that rewards a respectable amount of dilithium ("Explore Strange New Worlds" worth 1440 dilithium).
Comments
Not at launch, but it is something that I hope to add later. I've set up all the items you create to "know" what it took to make them, so that in the future we can hopefully look that up and give you some of the materials back.
Yes, these are available to craft.
Systems Designer - Cryptic Studios
Twitter: @JeffAHamilton
Extremely good to hear, I suspected as much from the previous blogs.
It's been interesting seeing the extremely high current dil costs for crafting.
I think that a lot of us feel the current cost is prohibitive, which is one reason crafting is mostly neglected by players.
So while unique mods is a big pro factor, I feel it should be combned with a drastic reduction in dil costs from the current norm.
5k for Mk XI VR is generous to the players.
20k, well its an improvement on the current. I'd prefer a little lower, 10-15k, but its definitely better.
However, the ultra rares you mentioned, I think you can price those quite high.
They'll need to have an equivilant investment to get to fleet gear, or in that sort of ballpark.
That investment includes the general costs of levelling a fleet.
Nothing to do with instant gratification. I run a fleet. A fleet which is hurting because people cannot spend their Diltihium on both the gear they need AND to our starbase as a long term goal. We're a small group, 21 players, trying to do this. I want to craft gear for new players AND help my starbase. Can't do both. And I will choose to help my base over crafting any day and I know ALOT of players will too.
Second, why waste 20K on an item when I can spend double that on a better item? That doesn't give a single incentive to using it.
Third, crafting in other games DO NOT HAVE THIS RESTRICTION. Most games just ask for you to spend time retrieving or buying resources to create gear. Many players in WoW for instance are *CAREER CRAFTERS*. All they do is craft items to sell to lower level players or create something custom on request. Thats not instant gratification, thats an investment in a form of play style. If it takes 3 days to make an inferior piece of gear that is out classed by something that costs just slightly more, why would anyone use it or buy it?
Four, Cryptic and PWE have already made their announcement to sell resources for crafting *IN THE C-STORE* which can be bought with Zen which can be converted with... yup, diltihium. This is a double dip attempt to get more money. Absolutely not. Do one or the other. But dont ask us to grind for resources and the grind more to pay to use them.
TRIBBLE Hydra! Hail Janeway!
Ah, but notice that the numbers virusdancer listed are current crafting costs; the proposed cost of an actual end-game (read Very Rare Mk XII) is lower than current crafting requirements or even buying from the Dilithium or Rep Stores; though I still wish the Rep Store used the appropriate Mark instead of dilithium, that's beside the point. Of course you did catch the... ...part? I could see a slight decrease in the cost of Very Rare Mk XII to allow for the possible Ultraviolet Mk XII items to be at 20k dilithium, though, since that would put the cost/quality on par with Elite Fleet equipment (assuming the access to unique [Mods] that was mentioned earlier comes to fruition), and of course it was mentioned that... ...which gives the possibility of these items being further balanced against other benchmarks for acquiring equipment.
Yes, that is the plan.
Systems Designer - Cryptic Studios
Twitter: @JeffAHamilton
Are you worried about the prolonged affects of creating too many grinding mechanics?
Nice, that alleviates another major concern. Thanks for that as well, since that UI is simple and efficient... we will be able to convert batches to batches, I assume?
I run a solo fleet. I do not feel any hurt. Things get done when they get done. Having to choose between saving your puppy or your kitten might be a painful decision...this is just a game. Why do people get so melodramatic about things?
Why waste more when it's not needed?
Comparing P2P and F2P?
Where is the slightly more? Where is the outclassed? There's no information yet. You're just whining out your TRIBBLE at this point...
They're selling to the folks that can't wait. Just like folks can buy ZEN to get more Dil, because they can't wait to get Dil the normal way. They know folks have instant gratification issues...
A very good start would be to make everything reward some amount of dilthium based on the time need.
After all we told ditlhium is a time based currency.
But it seems to me you guys simply want to add massive sinks and grinds to game. Which is why I barely play sto anymore. You suck the fun out.
The grind and the fact you do not fix bugs like the missing outfits I should have unlock but not. Why grind grind grind to get the shaft.
I just have to ask - is anyone considering that any sort of Dilithium Cost will hurt small fleets like mine? We simply dont have any to spare.
What about using Gold Pressed Latinum instead to make that a viable currency? Its dead in the water as is.
TRIBBLE Hydra! Hail Janeway!
Have you worked out how that will work for how much you'll get out of low level gear vs high level?
As an engineer I have marked interest in having this as a side job, being able to craft specialty gear for people.
That will be an interesting blog to read...hrmmm, definitely looking forward to that one.
Unlike the... misinformed enemy non-combatant you previously quoted. The real issue isn't earning Dil... It's refining it. Increasing the 8k cap only goes up to 8.5k with a T3 Dil mine, and the remembrance to transwarp there every day... I'ts a nice gesture, but there are many players who don't even subscribe to the notion of being in a fleet... Something you devs have time and again tried forcing people into with "better gear" and "better ships."
For those players the cap is still 8k a day....
Myself? Having a backlog of 40k+ and growing Dilithium and hitting the 8.5K cap DAILY... needs to be addressed when you STILL have so much TRIBBLE that wants my Dilithium in the first place...
/Especially/ now that you want this new crafting reputation to demand even more of my unrefined stores of refined Dilithium.
Yup In some way, crafting is dead and can't get worse. However doffing in clusters is something I tend to do regularly as well as many other people (some getting dilithium, others exploring, ...). Therefore it's a topic of quite an importance.
If you don't want to fill this thread with not entirely related talk, please make it known we'd like to know more about that change to clusters.
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
People complaining that it might take three days to get something...in a MMO that runs for years and years? Yeah, they might have instant gratification issues.
People complaining that they don't have enough of some currency so they can get everything that they want now...in a MMO that gives folks plenty of ways to earn those things? Yeah, they might have entitlement issues.
It's up to the person to decide how to spend their Dil wisely or even if spending it wisely matters to them - cause they might not have instant gratification and entitlement issues.
Mmmm... one can dream.
Helpful Tools: Dictionary.com - Logical fallacies - Random generator - Word generator - Color tool - Extra Credits - List of common English language errors - New T6 Big booty tutorial
They've said the doffing stays in, but that's not what I'm concerned about. I'm concerned about the missions themselves and the removal of the ability to go out on those random cluster missions.
And I'd rather have crummy random exploration missions than no clusters. Stop streamlining and removing chunks of the game. Sure, you put in this awesome new crafting system... but removed a dozen sectors and the ability to run around in randomly generated exploration missions.
I'm not sure that exchange is equal.
THIS. Being limited on the currency needed to craft items makes it pretty much unappealing to make it. The existing crafting system died the moment the unreplicatable materials were put in because all the crafters were putting their dilithium into more profitable ventures. If you want to reward us for playing the game - make searching for Crafting materials that reward. But don't put it behind a gate that's used by practically every single other system in the game.
This IS NOT an instant gratification issue. Because EVERY OTHER GAME THAT HAS CRAFTING DOES NOT TIME GAME IT. The gate behind crafting in other games is the search for materials to make it. Besides adding a "cost" to make something doesn't make sense. You're creating something that requires time and effort to make. I want crafting to come with a bit of skill "get X rare resources from Y" "make component from X" "create item via a process made of component." Not "pay X money to get Y item".
Second it hurts crafters who actually want to craft as a side or primary profession in this game! I want to make some side money crafting. And if it costs more to make the item than to sell it, I'm not going to.
You seem to be confusing instant gratification with people having legitimate concerns that they simply wont be able to partake in a new feature because it costs a currency we are not allowed to have an unlimited supply of. You're saying its a choice. Great. Expect people to not choose to do something because they can't afford to do it.
TRIBBLE Hydra! Hail Janeway!
I have made many friends. I do not want fleet drama to kill my friendships.
But, but, but...if you guys don't suck out all the ways to gain Dil - then folks will keep farming Dil - folks that want more Dil than they can get will keep buying ZEN to trade for Dil - and Cryptic/PWE will keep making money! Obviously you guys need to suck out all the ways to gain Dilithium! It's the only hope you guys have of...er...not making money.
I still think you guys show a great deal of patience dealing with some of the folks that post some of the most absurd things...it's pretty nifty, imho. I would get fired before lunch on my first day from replying to some of the posts on the forums. Just want to say I appreciate you guys taking the time to reply and how you take so much in stride while doing so. It's definitely appreciated.
Yeah, that blog should definitely be pretty trippy - trying to keep my speculative thoughts pretty grounded; but with so many possibilities out there - should be pretty cool all the same.
While I think 5k is reasonable for mark XI, mark XII should be 10k at maximum dilithium wise, if its a weapon or a console. Shields and deflectors, warp cores and such, 20k would be ok.
Please remember, these will cost materials too, not just dil, and they have to be competitive with fleet and rep store goodies.
I asked the same question.
I asked this question as well.
What about the duty officer assignments that require particles as an input?
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Assignment:_Data_Sample_Analysis
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Assignment:_Infuse_Alien_Artifact_with_Rare_Particles
Joined January 2009
Except for the part where everytime they've added a new Dilithium sink the Zen-Dil Exchange crashes. Remember when the Exchange rate was 374 - 425 Dil to one Zen? After the fleet starbases, the reputation systems, the dil store being expanded, its down to 154 Dil to one Zen, even after a massive upping in prices. Its gotten as low as 85. It will crash again and suddenly, no one will pay Zen for Dilithium because, why? It won't be valuable. Its devaluing the economy to keep using it as such. As such, Cryptic will LOSE money.
TRIBBLE Hydra! Hail Janeway!
And on top of that, they're removing another wrapper assignment that rewards a respectable amount of dilithium ("Explore Strange New Worlds" worth 1440 dilithium).