The state of the PvP is a whole another problem by itself. It doesn't really matter how experienced or new you are, I've been playing since 2011 and I can still get insta-vaped by the likes of minimax in PvP.
Maybe balancing the queues by gear score would be a solution to this, so that players with uber lockbox, elite fleet and such gear get paired with such players and the ones that are still building their chars would be paired with others on the same level of development. If I'm not mistaking, I think that NW has sth. like this.
And the warzones should remain warzones. Ker'rat needs to be a free for all regardless of gear, skill or whatever. Warzones are for the likes of Captain Kirk and General Chang.
I don't think gear scores would help. It'd probably just add a new dimension of min-maxing to the game. "How low of a gear score can I have and still do 20k DPS?"
I don't think gear scores would help. It'd probably just add a new dimension of min-maxing to the game. "How low of a gear score can I have and still do 20k DPS?"
*shudders*
Oh, I'm personally adamantly against gear scores - especially in PvE. They tend to bring the worst out in players.
It was just a thought about PvP in particular, to help aleviate the gear differences (that can be quite huge in STO) between a run of the mill lvl 60 char and fully specced, lockboxed and geared with elites one. In PvP it's not about reaching asinine levels of DPS, but rather getting the kill.
If you don't wanna cough up cash, you just have to work a little harder to get the same result... Seems fair to me...
I'm LTS myself, but I'm amazed at how so many people define days of grinding Dilithium as "working a little harder".
Zen-buying player gets their shininess in minutes and can spend their time actually playing for enjoyment while the F2P player spends more than a week to get the shiny and by the end is so sick and tired of the grind they can barely bring themselves to log in, much less less play for fun.
Current Z-Dil exchange rates means somebody with the three free character slots can grind 24000 Dilithium per day for a grand total of 160 Zen, meaning their T5 ship takes 12.5 days to earn, grinding everyday, for each toon, that's not including upgrade tokens, crafting the gear..
While the Zen-uying Player accomplishes the same thing for the same number of toons (or more) in under an hour.
Comparing the plight of F2P to Zen buyers and saying it's "a little" more work is horribly dismissive.
Original Join Date: January 2010. Ragequit Date: January 7th 2012. Return Date: October 23rd 2014.
For the last friggin time, of course there are going to be advantages for Paying customers over Free Players, if you dont like it, either start paying, or leave, you're crying is only an irritation.
STO's model is 'pay to be lazy', not 'pay to win'.
Right... because working for hours at a productive job, so that you can earn money to spend in the game, is SO MUCH more lazy than grinding away those hours in a video game is.
I'm LTS myself, but I'm amazed at how so many people define days of grinding Dilithium as "working a little harder".
Zen-buying player gets their shininess in minutes and can spend their time actually playing for enjoyment while the F2P player spends more than a week to get the shiny and by the end is so sick and tired of the grind they can barely bring themselves to log in, much less less play for fun.
Current Z-Dil exchange rates means somebody with the three free character slots can grind 24000 Dilithium per day for a grand total of 160 Zen, meaning their T5 ship takes 12.5 days to earn, grinding everyday, for each toon, that's not including upgrade tokens, crafting the gear..
While the Zen-uying Player accomplishes the same thing for the same number of toons (or more) in under an hour.
Comparing the plight of F2P to Zen buyers and saying it's "a little" more work is horribly dismissive.
Yay, finally someone that actually notices that AND isn't an annoying whiner!
And I don't mind paying for a game that's fun to play, and where all my friends can join me whether they pay or not. and you know what? The content is quite good.
As a paying customer, all I ask is for the impossible:
1.) Access costume packs like the Intelligence costume that I've paid $$$ for.
2.) Loadouts that work. My primary toon still can't get a loadout to work. (Known bug)
3.) My Reman toon can't use ship mastery, or leave Starfleet Academy.
4.) Getting the XP I'm told I'm due in missions without it being slashed by 60%.
You know... whine whine whine. "NERD RAGE" that I want what I paid for.
As for whether I get advantages over F2P players - I'm not so sure. I do know I bought the Operations Pack #STO #NERDRAGE and have massive buyers remorse. I don't see the benefits at the moment.
Oh, I'm personally adamantly against gear scores - especially in PvE. They tend to bring the worst out in players.
It was just a thought about PvP in particular, to help aleviate the gear differences (that can be quite huge in STO) between a run of the mill lvl 60 char and fully specced, lockboxed and geared with elites one. In PvP it's not about reaching asinine levels of DPS, but rather getting the kill.
true, but it'd also give people such fun choices as whether or not to use good weapons. Exotic damage builds don't really need them so..... Just an example.
Just to keep things in prospective for some people let me just say a few words here. Without those people who PAY, those of you who don't pay DON'T PLAY.
Im not saying you have to thank them, or anything like that just keep it in mind without a source of income there wouldn't be a game to enjoy for any of you. And lifetime perks are just that perks and nothing more.
If you think a couple of playable spieces, and a single vet ship that isnt even a T6 is all that useful I hate to tell you but your one of the people that if given that same "advantage" it wouldn't help you at all.
This reminds me of WoT where people ***** about premium tanks being unfair yet they are statistically worse then their same tier counterparts and provide NO MEASURABLE advantage.
I think it ironic, the biggest advantage for players who spend money in game is from selling their zen for buying refined diithium to upgrade weapons, consoles ect.
so is it not ironic that the vast majority of refined dilithium comes from free to play players who buy zen with their dilithium and then other free to play players complaine that the players who buy the dilithium have an unfair advantage.
Playable Talaxian
Playable Borg
Vet Ships (3 - one for each race, though by rights it is the same ship just in 3 colours)
Free level 50 Ship token per character (It's how all my KDF get the B'rel)
Did I miss anything?
Don't think so.....
That is all the stuff Golds get Silvers cannot get without spending money on being Gold / Lifetime.
eer, Talaxian and borg, if I could give you mine I would, I don't use them.
vet ships no better then any other T5 ship you can buy on the c-store.
Free level 50 Ship token per character, again ships can be purchased on c-store.
so apart from Talaxian and borg that to be honest are no better then any other character you can create all the rest a FTP player can buy on the c-store with refined dilithium exchanged for zen.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
I get so tired of this argument, if subs and lifers got something beneficial over f2pers, then what?? If i pay for a service, any sevice, then i should be provided with something better than the person who doesnt pay.
OP, if while spending $100 in a store you observed someone next to you being given the same items for free, would you be ok with that?? Of course you wouldnt!! How people can have the audacity, and get all arsy, about the idea that someone who has paid gets more, is beyond me.. Especially in a game where -
a) The extras arnt really all that great, as suggested, they are pure fluff.
b) Anything that is genuinly beneficial, or better than free, is grindable.
I do so wish people would stop with this question.. it is NOT pay2win, it IS pay2notwait!
This.
I grew tired of the "but I'm entitled to it, because this is supposed to be free to play!" nonsense in the fora of other gaming companies long ago. And then somewhere along the way, some not-so-genius genius decided to start throwing the "pay to win" stuff into the mix without any justification. It really is "pay to skip the doldrums" and not "pay to win."
The only people who don't get this are the ones who RUIN games because they do nothing but PvP (as if that were the end-all and be-all of a game -- and mind you, I like PvP as much as the next girl, but it's only a small portion of the game), and constantly whine loudly about the things they want, without any consideration of how their desires if granted would impact on the rest of the game, and then eventually some gullible Product Manager tries to cater to them (in a vain effort to stop the forum hysteria, not realizing that this type of person will never be satisfied) and the game begins to sink into the quagmire of eternal stench.
The OP should go back to wherever he last contributed t the epic fail of a game and deal with the consequences of the behavior of a two-year-old who got coddled by an overindulgent parent, rather than continue to spread the plague to other games.
Chinese Business Owners do not understand that WOW could get away with extreme gear barriers because they had an end game raiding community. In World of ******** getting that gear gave you status because you had to get into the raid to get it. Those of us who pug raided when pugs were first possible in WOW remember often being stabbed in the back by elite guilds who did not allow us to win any gear though were happy to have our significant DPS.
STO has about 100 "elitists" who raid together. Not enough to support the ridiculous dilthium grinding for XIV gear and without the "status" gained from tier raiding to get that gear it just isnt worth the grind. That said, the game is still entertaining just from a grinding for new shiney ships standpoint, at least until the zen market dries up from people leaving the game...
Whenever something more ub-err-powerfull comes out, it is normally the pay to win peeps who have it first, unless a free to play peep saved up enough dill.
Also, because all the free to play methods are timegated, pay to win peeps normally have the most good gear. (Like enough to fully equip a ship.)
It's a matter of perspective, some things possibly, like paying a timer yes, they obviously get things done faster, then some stuff you can't even Sub to have much gain anymore.
But the balance in this area is marginal (for f2p/sub/p2w)
You will get the wallet warriors but for the most part, not super out balanced.
The game is completly fair. I don't see cryptic saying only this group over here can buy these things. If you want the best stuff you gotta pay like everyone else. Get off your pity pot. :eek: Those servers don't run on faith.
although people may see it that way at 1st glance it is entirely possible to play sto get all the shineys from the c-store and never spend any real money. you can't say that about many f2p games out there
Nothing you can't earn without spending money. The only thing to debate is how that balance is and how long it takes. Too short a time and everyone leaves from boredom, too long a time and people feel pay to win.
I never had any problems with pay to play advantages and made regular use of them as I saw fit.
I would like to do so now as well but cant see any benefits because I would still need something to play at all.
There were multiple fleetmates coming on yesterday in the hope that Thursday's patch would have done something.
Common question was: Did they fix the STF?
At least I was able to point them at mirror . Normal.
You know, me and my fleetmates have been doing advanced everyday multiple times ab day and I haven't lost on since the 14th. and most of us still have Mk12 gear.
Playable Talaxian
Playable Borg
Vet Ships (3 - one for each race, though by rights it is the same ship just in 3 colours)
Free level 50 Ship token per character (It's how all my KDF get the B'rel)
Did I miss anything?
Don't think so.....
That is all the stuff Golds get Silvers cannot get without spending money on being Gold / Lifetime.
Free ship upgrade token, 5% Expertise bonus, respect tokens, more ship slots, more BOFF slots, fireworks, veteran skins for all ships. Combat EV suits from first contact. And don't knock the talaxian, I made one and they cause R&D drops and 5%xp boot to you and anyone teamed up with you. that's on top of the previously stated xp boost.
Free ship upgrade token, 5% Expertise bonus, respect tokens, more ship slots, more BOFF slots, fireworks, veteran skins for all ships. Combat EV suits from first contact. And don't knock the talaxian, I made one and they cause R&D drops and 5%xp boot to you and anyone teamed up with you. that's on top of the previously stated xp boost.
Do you know if the Talaxians can snatch VR R&D drops as well?
Playable Talaxian
Playable Borg
Vet Ships (3 - one for each race, though by rights it is the same ship just in 3 colours)
Free level 50 Ship token per character (It's how all my KDF get the B'rel)
Did I miss anything?
Don't think so.....
That is all the stuff Golds get Silvers cannot get without spending money on being Gold / Lifetime.
Do you know if the Talaxians can snatch VR R&D drops as well?
im not sure, I haven't, and ive been leveling with a fleetmate with a lvl 60 so baddies die too fast for the trait to proc. BUT the combined 10% xp boost is nice. And you don't have to wear the talaxian uniform with is a big plus.
Are the people that are actually complaining about lifetime players getting something you don't, really not understand?
Ok number 1 we had to PAY $200-$300 for the ability to play a liberated borg, and now talaxian, are you saying people who SUPPORT the game by making sure it is financially sound deserve nothing in exchange?!? If so you really don't understand economy very well do you? I would have NEVER bought the lifetime if it offered me nothing in exchange.
Are the people that are actually complaining about lifetime players getting something you don't, really not understand?
Ok number 1 we had to PAY $200-$300 for the ability to play a liberated borg, and now talaxian, are you saying people who SUPPORT the game by making sure it is financially sound deserve nothing in exchange?!? If so you really don't understand economy very well do you? I would have NEVER bought the lifetime if it offered me nothing in exchange.
IIRC, The majority of the LTS sales came in beta or shortly after launch.. Which, at $15/month for a month to month, meant that their paid support of this game ended late 2011.
The real heroes of supporting this game are the month to month Golds.
Don't get me wrong, I'm one of those Launch LTS buyers, and I bought C-Store Currency back when it was the C-Store, left when the Fed Carrier Abomination debuted, and only recently come back, but I've never bought Zen as a matter of principle.
Buying Zen doesn't support Cryptic or STO to my mind, when you buy Zen it's for any and all PWE games, meaning the income, while it may be spent on Cryptic or STO, it feels like I'm supporting PWE, which I refuse to do. I didn't like it when PWE bought Cryptic, and I still long for the day when they sell it to someone (anyone) else or Cryptic manages to buy it's independence.
Original Join Date: January 2010. Ragequit Date: January 7th 2012. Return Date: October 23rd 2014.
-the truly F2P player, who won't even buy ZEN except via grinded dilithium.
-the ZEN buyer, without a sub
-the GOLD month-to-month subscriber
-the LTS guys
Those of us who bought an LTS back at launch are indeed laughing into our sleeves at the money we've saved, but many of us also buy ZEN regularly.
GOLD players, and those of the F2P crowd who regularly buy ZEN, I think, should have either the same benefits as us LTS types. For GOLD's it should be a sub for X number of months and get the benefits from then on, for ZEN buyers it should be buy X amount of ZEN and get the benefits from then on.
Now, for the F2P players who do not pay a dime to support the game: eh.
Sorry, but when you make up a realistic argument as to why you 'deserve' anything,we'll listen.
You are not supporting the game. I'm willing to bet most of the lackluster players in STF's is F2P. With just dilithium, you can acquire pretty much anything other players have, EXCEPT THE BENEFITS THEY GET FOR PAYING ACTUAL $$$.
I'm not sure why this is hard to understand,but I do know that absolutely no one cares that you think you deserve moar.
Yeah, however much as I dislike PWE they did extend the lifespan of the game. Atari's mismanagement and refusal to reinvest money into development was sending this game into the toilet.
Oh don't get me wrong, Atari was terrible, but it's important to realize they were terrible because of business decisions that had nothing to do with Cryptic, essentially, they botched other investments, got cash-starved and couldn't give Cryptic/STO it's proper due.
Best case scenario? Cryptic gets independent investors to pony up cash to free them from PWE and Cryptic operates solo, calling their own shots with their own games, instead of having to report (and take orders from) a parent company who only cares about quarterly profits.
Original Join Date: January 2010. Ragequit Date: January 7th 2012. Return Date: October 23rd 2014.
Playing the game is a privilege not a right.
In the days when you could farm player missions to make 500k a run and 900 dil for 10 min was trivial to get a box ship from exchange. You needed to do like 150 runs for a box ship - like 30 hours of gameplay.
Not to mention the mirror ships which been more than enough for endgame and been pretty much free.
So to sumarise:
- if you are a casual player you don't need any of the items tat you buy with real money
- if you are a hardcore pve player making money should be easy for you and only if you are impatient you have to spend money
- same applies for hardcore pvp
-for casual pvp you have indeed to spend money. however you can simply klingon and slack in a free mirror voquv carier.
No. Someone who pays can get something right away where people who don't have to invest time to earn the same thing. STO's model is 'pay to be lazy', not 'pay to win'.
Getting ships for my toons would be nearly $300.00, just to have a more complicated set up with which to deal. The ships are weaker at T6 vs T6 foes than what we had at T5 vs our old STFs. They destroyed our crafting and gave us nothing in return for what they took away. They penalized every aspect of F2P with DR. They said the new advanced level would be the same as the old elite and it is not - as they now insist advanced and elite are only for those who spend money. Those who have lifetime accounts would have to wait 6 months per ship to cover 1/9th of the potential faction/class options - at that rate we can recover ships for our characters in 4.5 years. Or I suppose we could spend $30 for a ship which is a months worth of lunches...
Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary. ~ Cecil Beaton
IIRC, The majority of the LTS sales came in beta or shortly after launch.. Which, at $15/month for a month to month, meant that their paid support of this game ended late 2011.
True, however there are other LTS buyers/holders that purchased their LTS this year or last year. Or maybe even during the current LTS sale. Someone's paying support ended, someone is in the middle, someone is just starting.
This is ofcourse only my opinion, but I really believe that most people that bought a LTS long ago and are still playing and enjoying the game, probably don't shy away from additional Zen purchases if they feel they need them instead of grinding.
Don't get me wrong, I'm one of those Launch LTS buyers, and I bought C-Store Currency back when it was the C-Store, left when the Fed Carrier Abomination debuted, and only recently come back, but I've never bought Zen as a matter of principle.
Buying Zen doesn't support Cryptic or STO to my mind, when you buy Zen it's for any and all PWE games, meaning the income, while it may be spent on Cryptic or STO, it feels like I'm supporting PWE, which I refuse to do. I didn't like it when PWE bought Cryptic, and I still long for the day when they sell it to someone (anyone) else or Cryptic manages to buy it's independence.
Whenever I've bought Zen so far (haven't used the Arc option yet, only the classic billing page) it goes to my virtual wallet after which I pick the game I want to transfer the Zen to. I'm pretty sure that when PWE looks at my purchase records they can clearly see that every single Zen purchase I made was transfered to Holodeck/STO, so they have a pretty clear idea of which game I'm supporting.
I mean, even if there were separate "Crpytic points" for Cryptic's games only - you'd still have no way of knowing that your money support STO or maybe CO or NW. We have to rely on the common sense of the people that take care of that stuff in Cryptic/PWE who can clearly see which product is getting support and cash and needs to be further developed.
Comments
*shudders*
My character Tsin'xing
Oh, I'm personally adamantly against gear scores - especially in PvE. They tend to bring the worst out in players.
It was just a thought about PvP in particular, to help aleviate the gear differences (that can be quite huge in STO) between a run of the mill lvl 60 char and fully specced, lockboxed and geared with elites one. In PvP it's not about reaching asinine levels of DPS, but rather getting the kill.
I'm LTS myself, but I'm amazed at how so many people define days of grinding Dilithium as "working a little harder".
Zen-buying player gets their shininess in minutes and can spend their time actually playing for enjoyment while the F2P player spends more than a week to get the shiny and by the end is so sick and tired of the grind they can barely bring themselves to log in, much less less play for fun.
Current Z-Dil exchange rates means somebody with the three free character slots can grind 24000 Dilithium per day for a grand total of 160 Zen, meaning their T5 ship takes 12.5 days to earn, grinding everyday, for each toon, that's not including upgrade tokens, crafting the gear..
While the Zen-uying Player accomplishes the same thing for the same number of toons (or more) in under an hour.
Comparing the plight of F2P to Zen buyers and saying it's "a little" more work is horribly dismissive.
Almost called it.
Right... because working for hours at a productive job, so that you can earn money to spend in the game, is SO MUCH more lazy than grinding away those hours in a video game is.
Yay, finally someone that actually notices that AND isn't an annoying whiner!
Players who just play the game don't really 'work' at all for their desired rewards. They just play the game and get them.
And those players who pay... they're the ones subsidizing those who don't. Without them, there is no F2P.
As a paying customer, all I ask is for the impossible:
1.) Access costume packs like the Intelligence costume that I've paid $$$ for.
2.) Loadouts that work. My primary toon still can't get a loadout to work. (Known bug)
3.) My Reman toon can't use ship mastery, or leave Starfleet Academy.
4.) Getting the XP I'm told I'm due in missions without it being slashed by 60%.
You know... whine whine whine. "NERD RAGE" that I want what I paid for.
As for whether I get advantages over F2P players - I'm not so sure. I do know I bought the Operations Pack #STO #NERDRAGE and have massive buyers remorse. I don't see the benefits at the moment.
My character Tsin'xing
The people who pay make it possible for other people to play for free, this isnt exactly a benevolant charity for Star Trek or video game enthusiasts.
Make no mistake, any advantage given to someone who pays is well deserved and certainly fair.
I think that any subscriber or LTS holder should get more advantages, namely an increase in experience points gain, more then the paltry 5%.
Im not saying you have to thank them, or anything like that just keep it in mind without a source of income there wouldn't be a game to enjoy for any of you. And lifetime perks are just that perks and nothing more.
If you think a couple of playable spieces, and a single vet ship that isnt even a T6 is all that useful I hate to tell you but your one of the people that if given that same "advantage" it wouldn't help you at all.
This reminds me of WoT where people ***** about premium tanks being unfair yet they are statistically worse then their same tier counterparts and provide NO MEASURABLE advantage.
TLDR
L2P.
GG.
so is it not ironic that the vast majority of refined dilithium comes from free to play players who buy zen with their dilithium and then other free to play players complaine that the players who buy the dilithium have an unfair advantage.
eer, Talaxian and borg, if I could give you mine I would, I don't use them.
vet ships no better then any other T5 ship you can buy on the c-store.
Free level 50 Ship token per character, again ships can be purchased on c-store.
so apart from Talaxian and borg that to be honest are no better then any other character you can create all the rest a FTP player can buy on the c-store with refined dilithium exchanged for zen.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
This.
I grew tired of the "but I'm entitled to it, because this is supposed to be free to play!" nonsense in the fora of other gaming companies long ago. And then somewhere along the way, some not-so-genius genius decided to start throwing the "pay to win" stuff into the mix without any justification. It really is "pay to skip the doldrums" and not "pay to win."
The only people who don't get this are the ones who RUIN games because they do nothing but PvP (as if that were the end-all and be-all of a game -- and mind you, I like PvP as much as the next girl, but it's only a small portion of the game), and constantly whine loudly about the things they want, without any consideration of how their desires if granted would impact on the rest of the game, and then eventually some gullible Product Manager tries to cater to them (in a vain effort to stop the forum hysteria, not realizing that this type of person will never be satisfied) and the game begins to sink into the quagmire of eternal stench.
The OP should go back to wherever he last contributed t the epic fail of a game and deal with the consequences of the behavior of a two-year-old who got coddled by an overindulgent parent, rather than continue to spread the plague to other games.
STO has about 100 "elitists" who raid together. Not enough to support the ridiculous dilthium grinding for XIV gear and without the "status" gained from tier raiding to get that gear it just isnt worth the grind. That said, the game is still entertaining just from a grinding for new shiney ships standpoint, at least until the zen market dries up from people leaving the game...
Also, because all the free to play methods are timegated, pay to win peeps normally have the most good gear. (Like enough to fully equip a ship.)
But the balance in this area is marginal (for f2p/sub/p2w)
You will get the wallet warriors but for the most part, not super out balanced.
You know, me and my fleetmates have been doing advanced everyday multiple times ab day and I haven't lost on since the 14th. and most of us still have Mk12 gear.
Free ship upgrade token, 5% Expertise bonus, respect tokens, more ship slots, more BOFF slots, fireworks, veteran skins for all ships. Combat EV suits from first contact. And don't knock the talaxian, I made one and they cause R&D drops and 5%xp boot to you and anyone teamed up with you. that's on top of the previously stated xp boost.
Do you know if the Talaxians can snatch VR R&D drops as well?
im not sure, I haven't, and ive been leveling with a fleetmate with a lvl 60 so baddies die too fast for the trait to proc. BUT the combined 10% xp boost is nice. And you don't have to wear the talaxian uniform with is a big plus.
Ok number 1 we had to PAY $200-$300 for the ability to play a liberated borg, and now talaxian, are you saying people who SUPPORT the game by making sure it is financially sound deserve nothing in exchange?!? If so you really don't understand economy very well do you? I would have NEVER bought the lifetime if it offered me nothing in exchange.
IIRC, The majority of the LTS sales came in beta or shortly after launch.. Which, at $15/month for a month to month, meant that their paid support of this game ended late 2011.
The real heroes of supporting this game are the month to month Golds.
Don't get me wrong, I'm one of those Launch LTS buyers, and I bought C-Store Currency back when it was the C-Store, left when the Fed Carrier Abomination debuted, and only recently come back, but I've never bought Zen as a matter of principle.
Buying Zen doesn't support Cryptic or STO to my mind, when you buy Zen it's for any and all PWE games, meaning the income, while it may be spent on Cryptic or STO, it feels like I'm supporting PWE, which I refuse to do. I didn't like it when PWE bought Cryptic, and I still long for the day when they sell it to someone (anyone) else or Cryptic manages to buy it's independence.
Almost called it.
Let's break this down.
There are four classes of player:
-the truly F2P player, who won't even buy ZEN except via grinded dilithium.
-the ZEN buyer, without a sub
-the GOLD month-to-month subscriber
-the LTS guys
Those of us who bought an LTS back at launch are indeed laughing into our sleeves at the money we've saved, but many of us also buy ZEN regularly.
GOLD players, and those of the F2P crowd who regularly buy ZEN, I think, should have either the same benefits as us LTS types. For GOLD's it should be a sub for X number of months and get the benefits from then on, for ZEN buyers it should be buy X amount of ZEN and get the benefits from then on.
Now, for the F2P players who do not pay a dime to support the game: eh.
Sorry, but when you make up a realistic argument as to why you 'deserve' anything,we'll listen.
You are not supporting the game. I'm willing to bet most of the lackluster players in STF's is F2P. With just dilithium, you can acquire pretty much anything other players have, EXCEPT THE BENEFITS THEY GET FOR PAYING ACTUAL $$$.
I'm not sure why this is hard to understand,but I do know that absolutely no one cares that you think you deserve moar.
Oh don't get me wrong, Atari was terrible, but it's important to realize they were terrible because of business decisions that had nothing to do with Cryptic, essentially, they botched other investments, got cash-starved and couldn't give Cryptic/STO it's proper due.
Best case scenario? Cryptic gets independent investors to pony up cash to free them from PWE and Cryptic operates solo, calling their own shots with their own games, instead of having to report (and take orders from) a parent company who only cares about quarterly profits.
Almost called it.
In the days when you could farm player missions to make 500k a run and 900 dil for 10 min was trivial to get a box ship from exchange. You needed to do like 150 runs for a box ship - like 30 hours of gameplay.
Not to mention the mirror ships which been more than enough for endgame and been pretty much free.
So to sumarise:
- if you are a casual player you don't need any of the items tat you buy with real money
- if you are a hardcore pve player making money should be easy for you and only if you are impatient you have to spend money
- same applies for hardcore pvp
-for casual pvp you have indeed to spend money. however you can simply klingon and slack in a free mirror voquv carier.
Getting ships for my toons would be nearly $300.00, just to have a more complicated set up with which to deal. The ships are weaker at T6 vs T6 foes than what we had at T5 vs our old STFs. They destroyed our crafting and gave us nothing in return for what they took away. They penalized every aspect of F2P with DR. They said the new advanced level would be the same as the old elite and it is not - as they now insist advanced and elite are only for those who spend money. Those who have lifetime accounts would have to wait 6 months per ship to cover 1/9th of the potential faction/class options - at that rate we can recover ships for our characters in 4.5 years. Or I suppose we could spend $30 for a ship which is a months worth of lunches...
True, however there are other LTS buyers/holders that purchased their LTS this year or last year. Or maybe even during the current LTS sale. Someone's paying support ended, someone is in the middle, someone is just starting.
This is ofcourse only my opinion, but I really believe that most people that bought a LTS long ago and are still playing and enjoying the game, probably don't shy away from additional Zen purchases if they feel they need them instead of grinding.
This is true and I completely agree.
Whenever I've bought Zen so far (haven't used the Arc option yet, only the classic billing page) it goes to my virtual wallet after which I pick the game I want to transfer the Zen to. I'm pretty sure that when PWE looks at my purchase records they can clearly see that every single Zen purchase I made was transfered to Holodeck/STO, so they have a pretty clear idea of which game I'm supporting.
I mean, even if there were separate "Crpytic points" for Cryptic's games only - you'd still have no way of knowing that your money support STO or maybe CO or NW. We have to rely on the common sense of the people that take care of that stuff in Cryptic/PWE who can clearly see which product is getting support and cash and needs to be further developed.