If I already spent $20-$50 to acquire access to a ship and am now being told I must pay another $5-$10 to keep it relevant it better have ALL the bells and whistles! The only way to excuse not having all the bells and whistles when upgrading is if ALL tier 5 upgrades are free.
The only way I pay for another ship at all is if this partial upgrade is free, otherwise Cryptic and Perfect World have ignored their promise when ships were first added to the C-Store way back when and we are no longer guaranteed any end game ships bought will always remain relevant for no additional costs.
How can they fix this? I see it as simple as providing 2 upgrade options. This PARTIAL upgrade for free for any paid, lockbox, event, or reputation based ship. A FULL upgrade option for $5-$10 more for any paid, lockbox, event, or reputation based ship. Doing so both ensures they don't betray their promises which will undermine future Zen-Store sales of future and existing ships and still provides them with the new revenue stream they are trying to force in their in a way that makes everyone happy.
Well, unless something changes at that cost and limited return I see many ending their financial contributions toward this game. Money does not flow from a wallet which feels betrayed.
Your gear may not keep up with you when there's new expansions in other MMOs, but there's two factors that change things here in STO:
1) Your Ship is much closer to a class specialization than to a piece of gear. Imagine the (quite justified) exodus of players if next expansion "Resto" was removed from druids with no replacement, mages became frost or arcane only, and the shaman class was eliminated utterly.
2) You pay about 40 bucks for that expansion. Once. And you get ALL of the goodies from it. This is rather different in comparison to, oh, I dunno, say, paying 25$ for a single ship model?
Well, whilst my feelings on this matter remain mixed, I will say that, if they MUST place a cost on upgrading our ships, they should at least acknowledge that there will be numerous players who will want to upgrade numerous ships.
In which case it would, in my opinion, be an idea to provide some sort of reduced price item that upgrades multiple ships.
So lets say, for example, that to upgrade one ship to T5-U costs 500 zen, but a player wishes to upgrade five ships. Thats, obviously, going to cost the player 2500 zen.
I, for one, would be far more encouraged if there were a module (for lack of a better term) that could upgrade no more than five ships, but commanded a slightly reduced price say 2000 zen, as an incentive to purchase.
Only my opinion though.
If they do the upgrades with items like they do with fleet ships, I could seem them doing reduced bundle price.
From what I've seen of the Tier 6 Federation ships they are as ugly as hell. I'd rather stick with my Tier 5 ships. As for the upgrade, why not have the two upgrade paths. For $2 have the Tier 5-U and for $10 make it a Tier 6 ships.
Why do all small companies believe selling fewer items at a higher price is better than selling more items at a lower price. Think of the profit you could make off players upgrading their Tier 5 ships to a full Tier 6 ship, much more than buying just one new Tier 6 ship. This just smells of a money grab. :mad:
I'm not whining because I want to be able to finish elite STF's in mere minutes. I'm whining because the tier 6 upgrade will most likely result in tier 5 or 5.5 ships becoming obsolete, even if they say they won't. Also, if they are going to scale elite STF's such that t6 players won't be too powerful while they are doing these, it will hurt the fresh level 50 characters and widen the gap even more.
It would be nice if people stopped calling genuine concern about balance between older and newer players and the risk of things becoming obsolete 'whining' btw.
ah bless, you have just asked people to stop saying you are whining, when you yourself
have defined your statement as whining. :rolleyes:
cryptic dont like to increase difficulty, they have repeatedly stated that they want to
keep this game casual player friendly. the best they seem to come up with is added
complexity or increased encounter duration. bringing fleet ships into game didnt make
T4 or T5 ships obsolete, so why should this be any different? im all for questioning the
developers decisions if i feel things are not as stated or detrimental to the game, but
aside from some basic speculation, we need to see actual data or experience content
before we are in any position to comment on the relative differences between Tiers
and the effect that will have on game play.
I wanted to pop in and answer some common questions that I am seeing. Some I have already answered, but it might be nice to have them all in one place.
Q: Will Fleet Ship Upgrades be account unlock? Or single unlock per character?
A: Fleet Ships Upgrades are account unlocks. However, you must still purchase the Fleet ship to be upgraded on another character. I answered this in an earlier post, but I admit it could have been a little more clear.
Example: You purchase a fleet ship for fleet modules and fleet credits on character A. You then decide to upgrade this ship to T5-U and must pay the upgrade cost. You log onto character B and you want to get the Fleet T5-U ship. Character B will need to spend the fleet modules and fleet credits associated with this ship, but the upgrade to Fleet T5-U will be free.
Q: Will there be a noticeable difference between an upgraded regular T5 ship vs an upgraded T5 Fleet ship?
A: Yes. The difference between a T5 ship and a Fleet T5 ship will be the same as the difference between a T5-U ship and a Fleet T5-U ship. In short, the Fleet T5-U ship will have 10% more hull and shield HP and have +1 console slot over a standard T5-U ship.
Q: Why don't T5-Us get level 5 in Starship Mastery?
A: I think there's a bit of confusion of what these levels actually mean. Levels 1-4 on both T5-Us and T6 ships are the same. They're passive buffs for your ship. They're the same strength as well. So, a +damage buff Starship Mastery ability on a T5-U Escort is the same as a T6 Escort. Level 5 is a starship trait unlock. There is no additional benefit. Since T5-Us don't have a starship trait unlock, they don't need level 5.
Q: Will this upgrade system affect Shuttlecraft in any way?
A: Shuttles will not be upgradeable. They will not be affected by this system at all since Shuttle content is effectively leveless.
Q: Will/can the Ambassador Class Ship included in this upgrade? Either the Aniv Version or the Fleet equivalent?
A: The Support Cruiser Retrofit (earned from completing Temporal Ambassador while the 2013 Anniversary Event was active) is not upgradeable, however the Fleet Support Cruiser Retrofit is upgradeable to T5-U.
I know many of you still have many burning questions. Some of them we just can't talk about yet as we're still early in development, or we the information will be released in a future blog post. Anyhow, I hope these answers help clear up some confusion.
With the forums looking like the season 2 finale of the Walking Dead, I have decided to completely empty my thoughts on the new upgrade stuff and I will do my best to stick to the PWE goody goody rules so I can continue posting.
First off, yay for lockbox, lobi and event ships being free for upgrading. That's cool.
As I understand it, T5-U upgrades will have this awesome boost to hull and shield HP (As can be expected with an upgrade), an extra console slot, but NO Specialist boff slot. Tier 6 ships do have the Specialist boff slot as well as the ship levels as you do, and you have traits you can use in a T5-U ship later if the ship isn't to your liking, and you'd rather fly a Tactical Escort instead, for example.
Now, while I see that Cryptic needs money, I understand the anger that's burning the forums. I can feel the hate flowing through them. People don't want to use the Robocop-Cylon wannabe designs. They want the Defiant. They want the Rotarran. They want the N'ventnar. They want their ship, not the new designs, and they have bonded with their ships for four years. Four. That's countless hours, countless victories, and countless defeats.
And you're asking them to pay more for a ship that won't even match your shiny new B.S.-mobile? Players are going to be ridiculed and alienated because there's other players that will end up buying your Tier 6 dinghies, and they're basically going to go "Tier 6 or GTFO." Same with PvP. It will be even more unplayable because the hardcore PvP-ers (who I have the utmost respect for, unless they're... hmm.. not nice.) will be forced to get the Tier 6 ships just to stay competitive.
Don't get me wrong, I would not mind upgrading a ship or two to 5-U. However, this is a bit of a slap in the face to people who JUST got a Fleet Ship. My fleet ships (Galaxy, Defiant, and Sovereign) I have to choose between to save on Zen. Now while I'm glad this will cause a drop in the price of Fleet Ship Modules on the Exchange, I am disappointed in how this was handled. On both sides of the board. I'm not too proud to admit, that at first, I was angry. Still a little angry, but not as much as I was.
On the guy who came up with a way to charge the players, charging people for a ship that cost them in the ballpark for $30-50 an additional $5-10.
On the community for two reasons.
1) I am shocked and appalled that you treated this so negatively. While I just wanted to smash something, I have seen swearing at the devs, threats to leave (good riddance, if you ask me.) and all sorts of nasty stuff. It's ridiculous and you need to chillax. Cryptic's taken care of us before, and while I'm NOT defending them, hopefully one of them will see this and it gets to the right peoples' eyes for reading.
2) Those players with first-class tickets on the Titanic looking down on everyone else that can't afford the upgrades. Well, guess what, Moneybags? You're sinking with us, even if I have to push you off the boat, jump in the water, and drag you into the icy water. Not all of us can afford upgrades, especially when some of us have 3-4 Fleet ships. 500 Zen stacks up fast, and for an "equal" upgrade that's not even equal? Ha. yeah right.
Now, in conclusion, there is a way to extinguish the flames.
1) Offer a free T6 ship when Delta Rising goes live, of the player's choice, that way, EVERYONE gets ahold of the new traits, along with the additional ways to unlock traits later when those come out.
2) Offer a T6 ship in the same way that for example, the Sovereign, Prometheus, Vanguard, Luna, etc etc were offered at Level 40.
3) If neither one of the above ideas are acceptable. change the upgrade pricing to a little more lower, or offer the upgrade with a choice: Zen OR Dilithium.
I racked my brain around this forever, trying to find a solution that everyone is happy with, and I hope they're good ideas.
Dreadnought class. Two times the size, three times the speed. Advanced weaponry. Modified for a minimal crew. Unlike most Federation vessels, it's built solely for combat.
Well, whilst my feelings on this matter remain mixed, I will say that, if they MUST place a cost on upgrading our ships, they should at least acknowledge that there will be numerous players who will want to upgrade numerous ships.
In which case it would, in my opinion, be an idea to provide some sort of reduced price item that upgrades multiple ships.
So lets say, for example, that to upgrade one ship to T5-U costs 500 zen, but a player wishes to upgrade five ships. Thats, obviously, going to cost the player 2500 zen.
I, for one, would be far more encouraged if there were a module (for lack of a better term) that could upgrade no more than five ships, but commanded a slightly reduced price say 2000 zen, as an incentive to purchase.
Only my opinion though.
Six oneway, half a dozen another.....either way, with all the ships I have.....to pay again is poo.
I'll probably upgrade a few, but man, thats still spending more money for a 'slightly' less upgrade to tier 6 ( the standard ) ships. This is about to get interesting....espensively quick.
I was hoping that upgrading a ship would be part of R and D. Something you could do after crafting a full Aegis Set for example. But no, its a poorly thought out Zynga err Zen grab.
I wanted to pop in and answer some common questions that I am seeing. Some I have already answered, but it might be nice to have them all in one place.
Q: Will Fleet Ship Upgrades be account unlock? Or single unlock per character?
A: Fleet Ships Upgrades are account unlocks. However, you must still purchase the Fleet ship to be upgraded on another character. I answered this in an earlier post, but I admit it could have been a little more clear.
Example: You purchase a fleet ship for fleet modules and fleet credits on character A. You then decide to upgrade this ship to T5-U and must pay the upgrade cost. You log onto character B and you want to get the Fleet T5-U ship. Character B will need to spend the fleet modules and fleet credits associated with this ship, but the upgrade to Fleet T5-U will be free.
Q: Will there be a noticeable difference between an upgraded regular T5 ship vs an upgraded T5 Fleet ship?
A: Yes. The difference between a T5 ship and a Fleet T5 ship will be the same as the difference between a T5-U ship and a Fleet T5-U ship. In short, the Fleet T5-U ship will have 10% more hull and shield HP and have +1 console slot over a standard T5-U ship.
Q: Why don't T5-Us get level 5 in Starship Mastery?
A: I think there's a bit of confusion of what these levels actually mean. Levels 1-4 on both T5-Us and T6 ships are the same. They're passive buffs for your ship. They're the same strength as well. So, a +damage buff Starship Mastery ability on a T5-U Escort is the same as a T6 Escort. Level 5 is a starship trait unlock. There is no additional benefit. Since T5-Us don't have a starship trait unlock, they don't need level 5.
Q: Will this upgrade system affect Shuttlecraft in any way?
A: Shuttles will not be upgradeable. They will not be affected by this system at all since Shuttle content is effectively leveless.
Q: Will/can the Ambassador Class Ship included in this upgrade? Either the Aniv Version or the Fleet equivalent?
A: The Support Cruiser Retrofit (earned from completing Temporal Ambassador while the 2013 Anniversary Event was active) is not upgradeable, however the Fleet Support Cruiser Retrofit is upgradeable to T5-U.
I know many of you still have many burning questions. Some of them we just can't talk about yet as we're still early in development, or we the information will be released in a future blog post. Anyhow, I hope these answers help clear up some confusion.
Best Regards,
Phil "Gorngonzolla" Zeleski
Thank you for continuing to ignore us. I will now be taking my leave. Bye Bye STO.
What about the Regular Obelisk that was earned during the LIMITED TIME episode. Why isn't it on the list. I understand the Ambassador since you can get it at anytime, but not the Obelisk.
Thanks for quoting this lot as we do keep repeating it a lot. Don't suppose you can tidy stuff a bit though with the old VA ships and reduce the level requirement to 49? As it is now the T6 ships also get shared with T5 ships at level 50 which is going to get very confusing going forwards as nobody will know why one is T5 and not T6. far easier if we can just say level 50 is T6, level 40 is T5 etc
What about the Regular Obelisk that was earned during the LIMITED TIME episode. Why isn't it on the list. I understand the Ambassador since you can get it at anytime, but not the Obelisk.
It is the other way around. The Ambassador retrofit could only be earned during the event. The Obelisk can be purchased from any fleet spire developed enough, and it costs fleet modules.
As much as i agree with you, a company's gotta do what a company needs...money..though this....this is just a disgrace me thinks. :mad:
Tell me about it... it's depressing, really.
Dreadnought class. Two times the size, three times the speed. Advanced weaponry. Modified for a minimal crew. Unlike most Federation vessels, it's built solely for combat.
Cryptic has already stated you will not need T5U or T6 ships to do the new content - it is in the FAQ.
If you are itching to try the T5U or T6 ships you can do so on Tribble at any time for free - once DR Open Beta starts, and forever thereafter.
So at no time are you required to spend any money for the new things in the game unless you wish to - and even then you can grind and get them for free. I do not see how Cryptic can make it too much simpler and still make rent money.
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.
It is the other way around. The Ambassador retrofit could only be earned during the event. The Obelisk can be purchased from any fleet spire developed enough, and it costs fleet modules.
No, the Ambassador class ship can still be earned from Temporal Ambassador mission. You CAN NOT get the Obelisk from Sphere of Influence anymore, hence it was a LIMITED TIME ONLY.
So, according to what you are saying, unless you PAID for the Obelisk, you can't upgrade it......Again....BS
He just answered a bunch of questions, how is that ignoring?
Those questions were not the majority of the questions out of these 150+ pages. The majority has been people, like me, "whining" about being shafted and "robbed" and Cryptic's response is not putting me at ease at all. So yes, a bunch of questions have been ignored.
I wanted to pop in and answer some common questions that I am seeing. Some I have already answered, but it might be nice to have them all in one place.
Q: Will Fleet Ship Upgrades be account unlock? Or single unlock per character?
A: Fleet Ships Upgrades are account unlocks. However, you must still purchase the Fleet ship to be upgraded on another character. I answered this in an earlier post, but I admit it could have been a little more clear.
Example: You purchase a fleet ship for fleet modules and fleet credits on character A. You then decide to upgrade this ship to T5-U and must pay the upgrade cost. You log onto character B and you want to get the Fleet T5-U ship. Character B will need to spend the fleet modules and fleet credits associated with this ship, but the upgrade to Fleet T5-U will be free.
I know many of you still have many burning questions. Some of them we just can't talk about yet as we're still early in development, or we the information will be released in a future blog post. Anyhow, I hope these answers help clear up some confusion.
Best Regards,
Phil "Gorngonzolla" Zeleski
I still have a question about this sort of upgrade. Say I own a T5 Defiant non-fleet, because my fleet isn't high enough to get that yet. If I purchase the upgrade for my non-fleet ship, can I just use a fleet module once my fleet has unlocked that ship to upgrade the hull and shield hit points on my T5U or do I have to buy the fleet version and pay for the T5U upgrade again?
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Looking for a new fleet? Drop by the in-game chat channel, "tenforwardforum", and say hi to the members of A Fleet Called Ten Forward (Fed) and The Orion Pirates (KDF). If you already have a fleet you are happy with, please feel free to drop by our chat channel if you are looking for a friendly bunch of helpful people to socialize with.
Ok people keep making this mistake. There is the support cruiser (ambassador class), tier 3, is given to you now for completing the mission. For a short time when the mission was first released there was ALSO the support cruiser retrofit, a standard tier 5 version that you got for completing the mission during the event, just like the obelisk. Lastly, there is the tier 5.5 fleet support cruiser retrofit which you can buy in the fleet store. The fleet support cruiser retrofit and the advanced obelisk carrier from the lobi store can be upgraded, the standard obelisk carrier and the limited time support cruiser retrofit can not be upgraded. Nobody thinks the tier 3 support cruiser should have been able to be upgraded, people have been asking about the limited time retrofit.
I wanted to pop in and answer some common questions that I am seeing. Some I have already answered, but it might be nice to have them all in one place.
Q: Will Fleet Ship Upgrades be account unlock? Or single unlock per character?
A: Fleet Ships Upgrades are account unlocks. However, you must still purchase the Fleet ship to be upgraded on another character. I answered this in an earlier post, but I admit it could have been a little more clear.
Example: You purchase a fleet ship for fleet modules and fleet credits on character A. You then decide to upgrade this ship to T5-U and must pay the upgrade cost. You log onto character B and you want to get the Fleet T5-U ship. Character B will need to spend the fleet modules and fleet credits associated with this ship, but the upgrade to Fleet T5-U will be free.
Q: Will there be a noticeable difference between an upgraded regular T5 ship vs an upgraded T5 Fleet ship?
A: Yes. The difference between a T5 ship and a Fleet T5 ship will be the same as the difference between a T5-U ship and a Fleet T5-U ship. In short, the Fleet T5-U ship will have 10% more hull and shield HP and have +1 console slot over a standard T5-U ship.
Q: Why don't T5-Us get level 5 in Starship Mastery?
A: I think there's a bit of confusion of what these levels actually mean. Levels 1-4 on both T5-Us and T6 ships are the same. They're passive buffs for your ship. They're the same strength as well. So, a +damage buff Starship Mastery ability on a T5-U Escort is the same as a T6 Escort. Level 5 is a starship trait unlock. There is no additional benefit. Since T5-Us don't have a starship trait unlock, they don't need level 5.
Q: Will this upgrade system affect Shuttlecraft in any way?
A: Shuttles will not be upgradeable. They will not be affected by this system at all since Shuttle content is effectively leveless.
Q: Will/can the Ambassador Class Ship included in this upgrade? Either the Aniv Version or the Fleet equivalent?
A: The Support Cruiser Retrofit (earned from completing Temporal Ambassador while the 2013 Anniversary Event was active) is not upgradeable, however the Fleet Support Cruiser Retrofit is upgradeable to T5-U.
I know many of you still have many burning questions. Some of them we just can't talk about yet as we're still early in development, or we the information will be released in a future blog post. Anyhow, I hope these answers help clear up some confusion.
Best Regards,
Phil "Gorngonzolla" Zeleski
Thanks for the info
I would like to repeat my previous protests about the lack of parity though. The upgrades should be to full T6 in my opinion. I know myself and many others would be happy to pay for upgrades, provided those upgrades actually mean something.
My only remaining questions are:
With the extra console given by upgrading, will it be a universal slot or decided on a per ship basis? (personally I really think it should be universal, as it would help them compete and to "future proof" them to an extent. It would also cut down on your workloads substantially and prevent the inevitable it-should-have-been-a-tac-slot situation, lest we forget backlash from the Galaxy revamp).
will T6 ships have fleet versions?
Will specialist BOFFs fit in a universal slot?
Will the remaining fleet-less ships, such as the Guramba, now recieve fleet versions?
Will we see some/all T5 ships be given T6 versions in the Z-store? For example, could we see a true T6 Intrepid in the Z-store down the line separate from T5 and T5U?
Thanks for taking the time to answer some of our questions gorgonzilla.
Got a cat? Have 10 minutes to help someone make the best degree dissertation of all time?
Then please fill out my dissertation survey on feline attachment, it'd be a massive help (-:
You have completely missed it. Since my stuff is no longer end game gear it has lost the value of Zen and grinding time I have put into it since it is now 3rd rate. Therefore, I, LIKE MANY OTHERS are getting the shaft. I'm done. :mad:
Perhaps I have. But then again, perhaps you have missed it, I already addressed this "misconception" - while we the players, and yeah, perhaps the Devs, nicknamed these T5x ships "endgame" - because they were the highest ship(s) at the time of the comment, nowhere have I seen advertising or mention from the Devs that they will automatically, and freely, remain "endgame" ships for whatever the endgame of the day is.
And, to be fully technical and hardheaded, the purpose of an expansion is to expand upon the previous release(s) - and as this is not a "prequel" like LoR was, but is an actual expansion to what is considered endgame, the target has moved.
As they did when they moved the maximum power level from T5+1 to T5.5 (introduction of fleet ships), the lockbox vessels are granted this ability automatically. Everyone else has to pay for the T5U functionality just like we have to pay for the 5+1 to 5.5 functionality (via fleet module(s)). Did I mention that I saw you do just that - pay for 5+1 to 5.5? And say that you still have 5.5 after DR launches?
And on an aside, but can I ask where you're getting the belief/claim that the Fleet Galaxy-X is the definitive "endgame" ship? Ask anyone in these forums - especially frequent posters in the "galaxy line needs upgrades" threads, and you would have seen that even the Fleet Galaxy-X pales in comparison to ships like the Oddessy / Avenger, nevermind the current "queen of endgame" Scimitar (with right load-out, of course. You need a full squad of them hyper-expensive SRO Rommies to make the Scim work right)...
3 of 4 of my Feds fly Vestas from the Vesta bundle. I was probably going to try to tough it out in the new Level 60 content anyways. But I see I dont even have the option to upgrade. WTF was one of the best selling ship bundles not included on the list? Though paying for an upgrade basically kills the discounted "bundle" I got when I plunked down $50 for the 3 ship set.
#LeftBehind
Probably ninjaed, but the Vesta line are the Multi Mission blank Explorers, of which I see all three on the upgrade list...
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]
Comments
The only way I pay for another ship at all is if this partial upgrade is free, otherwise Cryptic and Perfect World have ignored their promise when ships were first added to the C-Store way back when and we are no longer guaranteed any end game ships bought will always remain relevant for no additional costs.
How can they fix this? I see it as simple as providing 2 upgrade options. This PARTIAL upgrade for free for any paid, lockbox, event, or reputation based ship. A FULL upgrade option for $5-$10 more for any paid, lockbox, event, or reputation based ship. Doing so both ensures they don't betray their promises which will undermine future Zen-Store sales of future and existing ships and still provides them with the new revenue stream they are trying to force in their in a way that makes everyone happy.
Well, unless something changes at that cost and limited return I see many ending their financial contributions toward this game. Money does not flow from a wallet which feels betrayed.
1) Your Ship is much closer to a class specialization than to a piece of gear. Imagine the (quite justified) exodus of players if next expansion "Resto" was removed from druids with no replacement, mages became frost or arcane only, and the shaman class was eliminated utterly.
2) You pay about 40 bucks for that expansion. Once. And you get ALL of the goodies from it. This is rather different in comparison to, oh, I dunno, say, paying 25$ for a single ship model?
If they do the upgrades with items like they do with fleet ships, I could seem them doing reduced bundle price.
Why do all small companies believe selling fewer items at a higher price is better than selling more items at a lower price. Think of the profit you could make off players upgrading their Tier 5 ships to a full Tier 6 ship, much more than buying just one new Tier 6 ship. This just smells of a money grab. :mad:
ah bless, you have just asked people to stop saying you are whining, when you yourself
have defined your statement as whining. :rolleyes:
cryptic dont like to increase difficulty, they have repeatedly stated that they want to
keep this game casual player friendly. the best they seem to come up with is added
complexity or increased encounter duration. bringing fleet ships into game didnt make
T4 or T5 ships obsolete, so why should this be any different? im all for questioning the
developers decisions if i feel things are not as stated or detrimental to the game, but
aside from some basic speculation, we need to see actual data or experience content
before we are in any position to comment on the relative differences between Tiers
and the effect that will have on game play.
If they do reduced bundle prices, I want to be reimbursed the difference on all the bundles I've purchased. But that's only if.
I wanted to pop in and answer some common questions that I am seeing. Some I have already answered, but it might be nice to have them all in one place.
Q: Will Fleet Ship Upgrades be account unlock? Or single unlock per character?
A: Fleet Ships Upgrades are account unlocks. However, you must still purchase the Fleet ship to be upgraded on another character. I answered this in an earlier post, but I admit it could have been a little more clear.
Example: You purchase a fleet ship for fleet modules and fleet credits on character A. You then decide to upgrade this ship to T5-U and must pay the upgrade cost. You log onto character B and you want to get the Fleet T5-U ship. Character B will need to spend the fleet modules and fleet credits associated with this ship, but the upgrade to Fleet T5-U will be free.
Q: Will there be a noticeable difference between an upgraded regular T5 ship vs an upgraded T5 Fleet ship?
A: Yes. The difference between a T5 ship and a Fleet T5 ship will be the same as the difference between a T5-U ship and a Fleet T5-U ship. In short, the Fleet T5-U ship will have 10% more hull and shield HP and have +1 console slot over a standard T5-U ship.
Q: Why don't T5-Us get level 5 in Starship Mastery?
A: I think there's a bit of confusion of what these levels actually mean. Levels 1-4 on both T5-Us and T6 ships are the same. They're passive buffs for your ship. They're the same strength as well. So, a +damage buff Starship Mastery ability on a T5-U Escort is the same as a T6 Escort. Level 5 is a starship trait unlock. There is no additional benefit. Since T5-Us don't have a starship trait unlock, they don't need level 5.
Q: Will this upgrade system affect Shuttlecraft in any way?
A: Shuttles will not be upgradeable. They will not be affected by this system at all since Shuttle content is effectively leveless.
Q: Will/can the Ambassador Class Ship included in this upgrade? Either the Aniv Version or the Fleet equivalent?
A: The Support Cruiser Retrofit (earned from completing Temporal Ambassador while the 2013 Anniversary Event was active) is not upgradeable, however the Fleet Support Cruiser Retrofit is upgradeable to T5-U.
I know many of you still have many burning questions. Some of them we just can't talk about yet as we're still early in development, or we the information will be released in a future blog post. Anyhow, I hope these answers help clear up some confusion.
Best Regards,
Phil "Gorngonzolla" Zeleski
Despite what I really want to do to the new upgrade content.
First off, yay for lockbox, lobi and event ships being free for upgrading. That's cool.
As I understand it, T5-U upgrades will have this awesome boost to hull and shield HP (As can be expected with an upgrade), an extra console slot, but NO Specialist boff slot. Tier 6 ships do have the Specialist boff slot as well as the ship levels as you do, and you have traits you can use in a T5-U ship later if the ship isn't to your liking, and you'd rather fly a Tactical Escort instead, for example.
Now, while I see that Cryptic needs money, I understand the anger that's burning the forums. I can feel the hate flowing through them. People don't want to use the Robocop-Cylon wannabe designs. They want the Defiant. They want the Rotarran. They want the N'ventnar. They want their ship, not the new designs, and they have bonded with their ships for four years. Four. That's countless hours, countless victories, and countless defeats.
And you're asking them to pay more for a ship that won't even match your shiny new B.S.-mobile? Players are going to be ridiculed and alienated because there's other players that will end up buying your Tier 6 dinghies, and they're basically going to go "Tier 6 or GTFO." Same with PvP. It will be even more unplayable because the hardcore PvP-ers (who I have the utmost respect for, unless they're... hmm.. not nice.) will be forced to get the Tier 6 ships just to stay competitive.
Don't get me wrong, I would not mind upgrading a ship or two to 5-U. However, this is a bit of a slap in the face to people who JUST got a Fleet Ship. My fleet ships (Galaxy, Defiant, and Sovereign) I have to choose between to save on Zen. Now while I'm glad this will cause a drop in the price of Fleet Ship Modules on the Exchange, I am disappointed in how this was handled. On both sides of the board. I'm not too proud to admit, that at first, I was angry. Still a little angry, but not as much as I was.
On the guy who came up with a way to charge the players, charging people for a ship that cost them in the ballpark for $30-50 an additional $5-10.
On the community for two reasons.
1) I am shocked and appalled that you treated this so negatively. While I just wanted to smash something, I have seen swearing at the devs, threats to leave (good riddance, if you ask me.) and all sorts of nasty stuff. It's ridiculous and you need to chillax. Cryptic's taken care of us before, and while I'm NOT defending them, hopefully one of them will see this and it gets to the right peoples' eyes for reading.
2) Those players with first-class tickets on the Titanic looking down on everyone else that can't afford the upgrades. Well, guess what, Moneybags? You're sinking with us, even if I have to push you off the boat, jump in the water, and drag you into the icy water. Not all of us can afford upgrades, especially when some of us have 3-4 Fleet ships. 500 Zen stacks up fast, and for an "equal" upgrade that's not even equal? Ha. yeah right.
Now, in conclusion, there is a way to extinguish the flames.
1) Offer a free T6 ship when Delta Rising goes live, of the player's choice, that way, EVERYONE gets ahold of the new traits, along with the additional ways to unlock traits later when those come out.
2) Offer a T6 ship in the same way that for example, the Sovereign, Prometheus, Vanguard, Luna, etc etc were offered at Level 40.
3) If neither one of the above ideas are acceptable. change the upgrade pricing to a little more lower, or offer the upgrade with a choice: Zen OR Dilithium.
I racked my brain around this forever, trying to find a solution that everyone is happy with, and I hope they're good ideas.
Dreadnought class. Two times the size, three times the speed. Advanced weaponry. Modified for a minimal crew. Unlike most Federation vessels, it's built solely for combat.
Six oneway, half a dozen another.....either way, with all the ships I have.....to pay again is poo.
I'll probably upgrade a few, but man, thats still spending more money for a 'slightly' less upgrade to tier 6 ( the standard ) ships. This is about to get interesting....espensively quick.
No, I meant the upgrade item bundles, not ship bundles.
Mirror Universe variants were never top tier to begin.
ah, ok. that makes more sense.
Thanks for quoting this lot as we do keep repeating it a lot. Don't suppose you can tidy stuff a bit though with the old VA ships and reduce the level requirement to 49? As it is now the T6 ships also get shared with T5 ships at level 50 which is going to get very confusing going forwards as nobody will know why one is T5 and not T6. far easier if we can just say level 50 is T6, level 40 is T5 etc
Still waiting to be able to use forum titles
Tell me about it... it's depressing, really.
Dreadnought class. Two times the size, three times the speed. Advanced weaponry. Modified for a minimal crew. Unlike most Federation vessels, it's built solely for combat.
If you are itching to try the T5U or T6 ships you can do so on Tribble at any time for free - once DR Open Beta starts, and forever thereafter.
So at no time are you required to spend any money for the new things in the game unless you wish to - and even then you can grind and get them for free. I do not see how Cryptic can make it too much simpler and still make rent money.
He just answered a bunch of questions, how is that ignoring?
No, the Ambassador class ship can still be earned from Temporal Ambassador mission. You CAN NOT get the Obelisk from Sphere of Influence anymore, hence it was a LIMITED TIME ONLY.
So, according to what you are saying, unless you PAID for the Obelisk, you can't upgrade it......Again....BS
Those questions were not the majority of the questions out of these 150+ pages. The majority has been people, like me, "whining" about being shafted and "robbed" and Cryptic's response is not putting me at ease at all. So yes, a bunch of questions have been ignored.
I still have a question about this sort of upgrade. Say I own a T5 Defiant non-fleet, because my fleet isn't high enough to get that yet. If I purchase the upgrade for my non-fleet ship, can I just use a fleet module once my fleet has unlocked that ship to upgrade the hull and shield hit points on my T5U or do I have to buy the fleet version and pay for the T5U upgrade again?
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Thanks for the info
I would like to repeat my previous protests about the lack of parity though. The upgrades should be to full T6 in my opinion. I know myself and many others would be happy to pay for upgrades, provided those upgrades actually mean something.
My only remaining questions are:
With the extra console given by upgrading, will it be a universal slot or decided on a per ship basis? (personally I really think it should be universal, as it would help them compete and to "future proof" them to an extent. It would also cut down on your workloads substantially and prevent the inevitable it-should-have-been-a-tac-slot situation, lest we forget backlash from the Galaxy revamp).
will T6 ships have fleet versions?
Will specialist BOFFs fit in a universal slot?
Will the remaining fleet-less ships, such as the Guramba, now recieve fleet versions?
Will we see some/all T5 ships be given T6 versions in the Z-store? For example, could we see a true T6 Intrepid in the Z-store down the line separate from T5 and T5U?
Thanks for taking the time to answer some of our questions gorgonzilla.
Then please fill out my dissertation survey on feline attachment, it'd be a massive help (-:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/87XKSGH
Perhaps I have. But then again, perhaps you have missed it, I already addressed this "misconception" - while we the players, and yeah, perhaps the Devs, nicknamed these T5x ships "endgame" - because they were the highest ship(s) at the time of the comment, nowhere have I seen advertising or mention from the Devs that they will automatically, and freely, remain "endgame" ships for whatever the endgame of the day is.
And, to be fully technical and hardheaded, the purpose of an expansion is to expand upon the previous release(s) - and as this is not a "prequel" like LoR was, but is an actual expansion to what is considered endgame, the target has moved.
As they did when they moved the maximum power level from T5+1 to T5.5 (introduction of fleet ships), the lockbox vessels are granted this ability automatically. Everyone else has to pay for the T5U functionality just like we have to pay for the 5+1 to 5.5 functionality (via fleet module(s)). Did I mention that I saw you do just that - pay for 5+1 to 5.5? And say that you still have 5.5 after DR launches?
And on an aside, but can I ask where you're getting the belief/claim that the Fleet Galaxy-X is the definitive "endgame" ship? Ask anyone in these forums - especially frequent posters in the "galaxy line needs upgrades" threads, and you would have seen that even the Fleet Galaxy-X pales in comparison to ships like the Oddessy / Avenger, nevermind the current "queen of endgame" Scimitar (with right load-out, of course. You need a full squad of them hyper-expensive SRO Rommies to make the Scim work right)...
Probably ninjaed, but the Vesta line are the Multi Mission blank Explorers, of which I see all three on the upgrade list...
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]
Can I level my starship in PVP?