I think about it this way :
Due to the shenanigans of the past 4 months (R&D systems included) , Cryptic has put the game in a place where I doubt that it will celebrate it's 7th Anniversary (perhaps that's true of it's 6th as well) .
That being said , and without expecting things to "get better" (why be disappointed if they don't , right ?) -- the question remains how will the purchase add to your enjoyment of what is left for you to enjoy in game .
Once you have your answer , you'll know what to do .
I don't have the 10$ issue , but I have player VS player "moral" issue to contend with , as the item I'm planning on picking up is the Galaxy pack ... -- which most likely won't benefit most teams I might queue with .
So , do I punish other players because I want to fly the Gal-R ?
Pre DR , I would not have been punishing (almost) anyone ... , as most would not have had to "carry" me .
Now I would have to put up with that , and I don't feel comfortable with consciously making this choice via this purchase (for which I already have the Zen / Dil) .
... and after a 3 hour instability of the Dil market , I also thought that it was a bit too convenient that Zen stopped at EXACTLY 180 , from 159 ...
For queuing in the ship you want to fly? Why not. It's a game, and the Gal-X can do better than average. If you want to do the dps race, then that's something other entirely and I ain't playing that game. ;-)
As for the dil exchange, it happens every time somethings on sale. 'Who' does this? Speculants. Over the years they've amassed tons of dil and zen by trading. buying low and selling high. Supposedly not allowed to do this, right? Yeah.
What cracks me up is that people run to exchange dil at this rate to buy discounted stuff when they could get the zen cheaper with dil the next week and actually save more or at worst end up paying the same anyway. Shed, tools and all that.
Desperate? Doubt it. More like following the masses who want discounts on the biggest discount-giving season. Cryptic can only "sell" what they have to offer.
I'll bet if Cryptic didn't offer a sale there would be a ****storm.
Okay Cryptic this is my perspective. I see the game getting worse to put it generally; grind left, right and centre, bugs/broken stuff, the devs on the whole not talking to the community and about their thinking, planning or doing (like your thoughts on the upgrade system it was only because someone pointed it out in a podcast which isn't a source I refer to as 'official' like the forums) and frankly the death of alts with the community as a whole feeling like they're jumping ship with dead queues and players who want elite rewards but don't care if they're too 'insert negative word here' they are.
That's it in a nutshell.
Now the sale/bonus zen. Should I spend any kind of money on this when the game is a/ in the state and b/ questionable if it can turn itself around? I keep looking at my specialisation on my alts and think "TRIBBLE this I can just about keep motivated for one character'. This means I'm only really interested in FED/Tac, KDF and Rom and eng/sci characters aren't worth playing for me so why spend any kind of Zen on them? True I've got a lot of what I'd like already and relieved the newest stuff isn't cheaper than the launch discount price (boy would that have $%^$% people off).
Still there are still things I could get and yes I could use my existing zen or spend dil but it's still using up assets or driving up the exchange which indirectly helps Cryptic I guess.
So that's where I stand Cryptic, a customer who could and would spend money but how they see the game makes him think should I bother? These are obviously questions I ask myself and probably others asking the same thing and each one will have their own answer.
I think whatever happens by the end of today I'll be spending less than what I might have I don't know perhaps nothing and wait for Cryptic to get this game in order before investing again.
Pretty much this for me as well.
As for the supposed DOOM, this sale is unusual. Cryptic does usually have a Black Friday sale, but this one is uncharacteristic for two reasons: it's being held at the same time as an in-game event (which could just be coincidence, but is out of the ordinary all the same), and the fact that the sale includes the latest releases, which are less than a couple of weeks old, which Cryptic has NEVER done in it's 4 years to my knowledge.
I doubt they're desparate, but I do think they're feeling pressure to get people to stay, or to return to the game. Whether that's from corporate pressure, or low sales, I can't say.
Well, I, for one, thought this was an excellent deal! I bought 24,000 Zen, and a discounted Phantom Escort & keys. Thank you, Cryptic!
"Thank you dear customer. We will be happy to ignore all or your criticism of the game in the future. Your generous wallet tells us that you are very happy with what we are doing !" :P
Cryptic's grabbing desperately for money. I wouldn't spend a dime on this game right now.
This is Black Friday. Almost every product in the Western World is on sale. If you have Origin, Sims 4, a new release, is like 50% off. Sims 3 expansions are $7.99 down from $19.99. I don't use Steam but I am sure you will find massive sales there as well.
No doubt Cryptic are disappointed with the response to Delta Rising, but they have only themselves to blame.
That they do. They don't seem to listen to us much. I do wonder though, as has been mentioned already from time to time whether it truly is their own fault, or whether it's pressure from PWE (if the latter, then someone within Cryptic needs to make a stand, and let PWE know that their method just ain't cutting it).
I can honestly say that none of the recent content, nor any of the content this previous year has been astounding to me. The last content released that I thought was truly inspiring was LoR and the release of the Republic (even if it wasn't what I had hoped for, it was something new). Cryptic have however left the Republic unfinished and under-utilized, it wouldn't half surprise me if most people went back to their Federation characters - I know I did, several times.
I would love to spend some money on this game - I've been eyeing up the Vesta Bundle for some time now, and it's 4000zen instead of 5000zen at the moment - opportunity - but I can't justify it. I know that as soon as I buy it, someone will come along and present a T6 ship release that's comparable to all the ships within these multi-packs, and I'll then be annoyed with myself for not waiting it out. Furthermore, what to do with a Vesta that I can't already manage with a Nebula?
STO lacks uniqueness - the two (or three) factions need to be build up differently from each other - Cryptic needs to give people a reason to play as the different factions save for initial story content (cause the latter story content is pretty much universal).
This is Black Friday. Almost every product in the Western World is on sale. If you have Origin, Sims 4, a new release, is like 50% off. Sims 3 expansions are $7.99 down from $19.99. I don't use Steam but I am sure you will find massive sales there as well.
You're completely missing the point. This is highly irregular for STO in the States. It's not that they're not happeneing elsewhere or that other games/stores don't have the sale. The point the OP is making is that it appears to be a desperation move by the makers of STO. Not as much a "thank you" as a "Please stop leaving our game in droves" type move.
You can speculate real world commerce all day, but here are some facts for speculating in-game commerce shifts...
The Dilithium exchange moved 20 points in 6 hours (from 160 - 180).
Based on what I observed, some 850,000 ZEN was converted from at least 150,000,000 Dilithium by 8:00am EST. I haven't checked since 8am EST so no idea if the exchange is still going up.
The value of ZEN in STO has never been higher than it is today.
The value of Dilithium in STO has not been this low in all of 2014 (~180 per ZEN is low value for Dilithium).
It is definitely Black Friday as far as the economic markets of STO are concerned, because the economy just took a massive shift. How long does it recover to normal levels, and what do normal levels look like by next week?
The folks who cashed in 10K ZEN for Dilithium at 180 per will be able to sell their ZEN later when the market drops back to 160, get all their ZEN back, and still make out with 200,000 dilithium.
But the real bottom line is, that 8K Dilithium you get per character has never been worth less than it is today. Not only has the value of experience points dropped the last few weeks, but the value of the most important in-game currency just crashed primarily due to a Black Friday sale. Whether that is good news or bad news to you depends entirely on how much ZEN and Dilithium you currently have.
The value of ZEN in STO has never been higher than it is today.
The value of Dilithium in STO has not been this low in all of 2014 (~180 per ZEN is low value for Dilithium).
lol wut. Were you here during the first year of the DilEx or are you just trolling?
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.
DR Pack Price (normal) = 12000 Zen = $120
DR Pack Price (promotion) = 10000 Zen = $100
8700 Zen + 15% bonus = 10000 Zen
Final DR Pack Price = $87
While their marketing of "Mega Sale" with its measly 20% discount was something a bit laughable, the 15% zen bonus on top of it makes it quite of a fine deal.
Assuming my math is right, of course. You never know these days, Cryptic's math curse can be contagious. :rolleyes:
You're completely missing the point. This is highly irregular for STO in the States. It's not that they're not happeneing elsewhere or that other games/stores don't have the sale. The point the OP is making is that it appears to be a desperation move by the makers of STO. Not as much a "thank you" as a "Please stop leaving our game in droves" type move.
Yep, it's highly irregular...you know, STO having that 20% Black Friday thing going back to 2010 when the game first launched.
Kind of like all the Cryptic/PWE games having taken part in Black Friday stuff since the dawn of time...
lol wut. Were you here during the first year of the DilEx or are you just trolling?
The first year of the Dilithium exchange was 2014, or were you not reading what you actually quoted?
And yes, 180 is the highest the exchange has been in 2014. It got to 177 twice. The value of ZEN in STO as an in-game currency has never been this good, and as some have noted, when you add up the 15% sale price and the 20% discounts across the board...
Whether it is smart to buy ZEN is ultimately a choice for the buyer, but it is a fact that today is almost certainly the best day in the history of STO to actually spend ZEN.
TBH I don't recall it in conjuction with a zen bonus as well.
That being said, maybe they just finally wanted it to feel more like a black Friday event, which is odd...
Black Friday is for the brick and mortar companies while cyber Monday would fit an mmo better since it is an online company.
Also, I dunno bout other parts of the states, but our "Black Friday" started Thursday at 4 pm /shrug
The whole thing has become muddled over the years, with online deals happening before Cyber Monday for some time...just like Black Friday, as you mentioned is no longer just a Friday thing. Hell, there have been pre-Black Friday sales going on for some time...there are also the non-November Black Friday sales that take place every now and again. The term(s) just don't mean what they once did. Lol, the stores even directly leak their sales now instead of having to hunt them down on various leak sites.
And well, I can't remember when Newegg didn't run Black Friday deals...and well, they're not retail space - they're online. It's why the Cyber Monday thing has been a trip for the longest time, since it's not really been a thing.
Black Friday is like calling a copy from a Panasonic copier a Xerox copy...just doesn't mean what it did.
Black Friday starts before Friday and Cyber Monday tends to last beyond Monday...
LOL. Yeah okay. The dilithium exchange that we've had since 2011 was introduced in 2014. Right. The dilithium exchange that used to give out C-Points was introduced in 2014. The dilithium exchange that used to be "stable" in the 250+ range was introduced in 2014. The dilithium exchange that crashed all the way down to 60 and 70 last year was introduced in 2014. The dilithium exchange that spiked up to 200 this summer during wild speculative rumors of Delta Rising and the introduction of T6 ships and T5U upgrades. That dilithium exchange. Right.
Can I have what you're smoking? Because I'd like to time travel too. Just stop talking.
Yeah, I had to go back and read the first post where you'd asked if they were trolling...cause it was full of lolwut.
The first year of the Dilithium exchange was 2014, or were you not reading what you actually quoted?
And yes, 180 is the highest the exchange has been in 2014. It got to 177 twice. The value of ZEN in STO as an in-game currency has never been this good, and as some have noted, when you add up the 15% sale price and the 20% discounts across the board...
Whether it is smart to buy ZEN is ultimately a choice for the buyer, but it is a fact that today is almost certainly the best day in the history of STO to actually spend ZEN.
LOL. Yeah okay. The dilithium exchange that we've had since 2011 was introduced in 2014. Right. The dilithium exchange that used to give out C-Points was introduced in 2014. The dilithium exchange that used to be "stable" in the 250+ range was introduced in 2014. The dilithium exchange that crashed all the way down to 60 and 70 last year was introduced in 2014. The dilithium exchange that spiked up to 200 this summer during wild speculative rumors of Delta Rising and the introduction of T6 ships and T5U upgrades. That dilithium exchange. Right.
Can I have what you're smoking? Because I'd like to time travel too. Just stop talking.
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.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
It may be tinfoil hat time, but sometimes I definitely wonder if some of the complaint threads aren't created by Cryptic/PWE employees, spouses, significant others, family, or friends - to create such outlandish complaints on purpose...to distract from all the legitimate ranting and raving - or - in an attempt just to make all complaints look as silly as some of the silly complaints. And, well, it's kind of annoying - tinfoil hat or not - cause there are plenty of things to complain about and stuff like this just casts that melodramatic goofy light on everything else.
edit: Perhaps legitimate is the wrong word there - the gist being, complaints grounded in reality. Cause, well - there was that group of folks complaining about wanting cropped jackets for males, and some folks might have a hard time considering that a legitimate complaint - but that gets into subjective matters, and as much as it may be a /facepalm for some folks...they'd have to admit that it was at least a complaint grounded in reality. Some of the stuff folks post about is completely delusional - no reality anywhere near it.
It may be tinfoil hat time, but sometimes I definitely wonder if some of the complaint threads aren't created by Cryptic/PWE employees, spouses, significant others, family, or friends - to create such outlandish complaints on purpose...to distract from all the legitimate ranting and raving - or - in an attempt just to make all complaints look as silly as some of the silly complaints. And, well, it's kind of annoying - tinfoil hat or not - cause there are plenty of things to complain about and stuff like this just casts that melodramatic goofy light on everything else.
The mental disconnect in these complaint threads is mind boggling. I'm starting to relate to villains that want to burn the whole world.
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.
Cryptic usually excludes recent additions to the store during sales, but this is the first I've seen where EVERYTHING was on sale.
Have we ever had new stuiff released this close to a "black Friday" thing?
Well they maybe desperate but I took advantage of it for my account bank. Still debating on a ship or two, which means I most probably won't get them. I am still waiting for hangar based T6 ships. The rest just don't make me go "ooh nice" except maybe the updated warbird.
Comments
For queuing in the ship you want to fly? Why not. It's a game, and the Gal-X can do better than average. If you want to do the dps race, then that's something other entirely and I ain't playing that game. ;-)
As for the dil exchange, it happens every time somethings on sale. 'Who' does this? Speculants. Over the years they've amassed tons of dil and zen by trading. buying low and selling high. Supposedly not allowed to do this, right? Yeah.
What cracks me up is that people run to exchange dil at this rate to buy discounted stuff when they could get the zen cheaper with dil the next week and actually save more or at worst end up paying the same anyway. Shed, tools and all that.
Brawndo leads to gooey afterburn...
I'll bet if Cryptic didn't offer a sale there would be a ****storm.
By Kahless' beard, yes, that's what's happening!!!
They've been on a nerfing rampage lately and they got so carried away that they even nerfed the prices!!! :eek: :P
... Water, like out of the toilet ? I like money, though ...
Pretty much this for me as well.
As for the supposed DOOM, this sale is unusual. Cryptic does usually have a Black Friday sale, but this one is uncharacteristic for two reasons: it's being held at the same time as an in-game event (which could just be coincidence, but is out of the ordinary all the same), and the fact that the sale includes the latest releases, which are less than a couple of weeks old, which Cryptic has NEVER done in it's 4 years to my knowledge.
I doubt they're desparate, but I do think they're feeling pressure to get people to stay, or to return to the game. Whether that's from corporate pressure, or low sales, I can't say.
"Thank you dear customer. We will be happy to ignore all or your criticism of the game in the future. Your generous wallet tells us that you are very happy with what we are doing !" :P
I can't believe you like money too. We should hang out.
This is Black Friday. Almost every product in the Western World is on sale. If you have Origin, Sims 4, a new release, is like 50% off. Sims 3 expansions are $7.99 down from $19.99. I don't use Steam but I am sure you will find massive sales there as well.
I can honestly say that none of the recent content, nor any of the content this previous year has been astounding to me. The last content released that I thought was truly inspiring was LoR and the release of the Republic (even if it wasn't what I had hoped for, it was something new). Cryptic have however left the Republic unfinished and under-utilized, it wouldn't half surprise me if most people went back to their Federation characters - I know I did, several times.
I would love to spend some money on this game - I've been eyeing up the Vesta Bundle for some time now, and it's 4000zen instead of 5000zen at the moment - opportunity - but I can't justify it. I know that as soon as I buy it, someone will come along and present a T6 ship release that's comparable to all the ships within these multi-packs, and I'll then be annoyed with myself for not waiting it out. Furthermore, what to do with a Vesta that I can't already manage with a Nebula?
STO lacks uniqueness - the two (or three) factions need to be build up differently from each other - Cryptic needs to give people a reason to play as the different factions save for initial story content (cause the latter story content is pretty much universal).
You're completely missing the point. This is highly irregular for STO in the States. It's not that they're not happeneing elsewhere or that other games/stores don't have the sale. The point the OP is making is that it appears to be a desperation move by the makers of STO. Not as much a "thank you" as a "Please stop leaving our game in droves" type move.
The Dilithium exchange moved 20 points in 6 hours (from 160 - 180).
Based on what I observed, some 850,000 ZEN was converted from at least 150,000,000 Dilithium by 8:00am EST. I haven't checked since 8am EST so no idea if the exchange is still going up.
The value of ZEN in STO has never been higher than it is today.
The value of Dilithium in STO has not been this low in all of 2014 (~180 per ZEN is low value for Dilithium).
It is definitely Black Friday as far as the economic markets of STO are concerned, because the economy just took a massive shift. How long does it recover to normal levels, and what do normal levels look like by next week?
The folks who cashed in 10K ZEN for Dilithium at 180 per will be able to sell their ZEN later when the market drops back to 160, get all their ZEN back, and still make out with 200,000 dilithium.
But the real bottom line is, that 8K Dilithium you get per character has never been worth less than it is today. Not only has the value of experience points dropped the last few weeks, but the value of the most important in-game currency just crashed primarily due to a Black Friday sale. Whether that is good news or bad news to you depends entirely on how much ZEN and Dilithium you currently have.
Rules of Acquisition at Priority One
lol wut. Were you here during the first year of the DilEx or are you just trolling?
Joined January 2009
DR Pack Price (promotion) = 10000 Zen = $100
8700 Zen + 15% bonus = 10000 Zen
Final DR Pack Price = $87
While their marketing of "Mega Sale" with its measly 20% discount was something a bit laughable, the 15% zen bonus on top of it makes it quite of a fine deal.
Assuming my math is right, of course. You never know these days, Cryptic's math curse can be contagious. :rolleyes:
STO Screenshot Archive
Yep, it's highly irregular...you know, STO having that 20% Black Friday thing going back to 2010 when the game first launched.
Kind of like all the Cryptic/PWE games having taken part in Black Friday stuff since the dawn of time...
...yep, it's highly irregular. :rolleyes:
you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. I for one picked up the Pathfinder with Interior for 3200, good thing I waited!
The first year of the Dilithium exchange was 2014, or were you not reading what you actually quoted?
And yes, 180 is the highest the exchange has been in 2014. It got to 177 twice. The value of ZEN in STO as an in-game currency has never been this good, and as some have noted, when you add up the 15% sale price and the 20% discounts across the board...
Whether it is smart to buy ZEN is ultimately a choice for the buyer, but it is a fact that today is almost certainly the best day in the history of STO to actually spend ZEN.
Rules of Acquisition at Priority One
TBH I don't recall it in conjuction with a zen bonus as well.
That being said, maybe they just finally wanted it to feel more like a black Friday event, which is odd...
Black Friday is for the brick and mortar companies while cyber Monday would fit an mmo better since it is an online company.
Also, I dunno bout other parts of the states, but our "Black Friday" started Thursday at 4 pm /shrug
The whole thing has become muddled over the years, with online deals happening before Cyber Monday for some time...just like Black Friday, as you mentioned is no longer just a Friday thing. Hell, there have been pre-Black Friday sales going on for some time...there are also the non-November Black Friday sales that take place every now and again. The term(s) just don't mean what they once did. Lol, the stores even directly leak their sales now instead of having to hunt them down on various leak sites.
And well, I can't remember when Newegg didn't run Black Friday deals...and well, they're not retail space - they're online. It's why the Cyber Monday thing has been a trip for the longest time, since it's not really been a thing.
Black Friday is like calling a copy from a Panasonic copier a Xerox copy...just doesn't mean what it did.
Black Friday starts before Friday and Cyber Monday tends to last beyond Monday...
Yeah, I had to go back and read the first post where you'd asked if they were trolling...cause it was full of lolwut.
Wait 'till next year: expect Black Friday to start on Wednesday.
LOL. Yeah okay. The dilithium exchange that we've had since 2011 was introduced in 2014. Right. The dilithium exchange that used to give out C-Points was introduced in 2014. The dilithium exchange that used to be "stable" in the 250+ range was introduced in 2014. The dilithium exchange that crashed all the way down to 60 and 70 last year was introduced in 2014. The dilithium exchange that spiked up to 200 this summer during wild speculative rumors of Delta Rising and the introduction of T6 ships and T5U upgrades. That dilithium exchange. Right.
Can I have what you're smoking? Because I'd like to time travel too. Just stop talking.
Joined January 2009
So every retail establishment that has a sale on 'black friday' is therefor 'desperate for money' ?
Your logic is flawed.
- Judge Aaron Satie
edit: Perhaps legitimate is the wrong word there - the gist being, complaints grounded in reality. Cause, well - there was that group of folks complaining about wanting cropped jackets for males, and some folks might have a hard time considering that a legitimate complaint - but that gets into subjective matters, and as much as it may be a /facepalm for some folks...they'd have to admit that it was at least a complaint grounded in reality. Some of the stuff folks post about is completely delusional - no reality anywhere near it.
The mental disconnect in these complaint threads is mind boggling. I'm starting to relate to villains that want to burn the whole world.
Joined January 2009
Have we ever had new stuiff released this close to a "black Friday" thing?
Well they maybe desperate but I took advantage of it for my account bank. Still debating on a ship or two, which means I most probably won't get them. I am still waiting for hangar based T6 ships. The rest just don't make me go "ooh nice" except maybe the updated warbird.
The Avenger was excluded last year...
But yeah, the sales and even bonus Zen thing aren't anything new - they ran both at the same time last year as well.