Holy schnikies! Just did a cost of living comparison. I'm in Connecticut, which aint cheap. 30% over the us average. But Los Gatos... 329% over the US average. Completely understand why stuff doesn't get resolved quick in game. All the devs are working 3 jobs to pay their rent. Probably sleeping behind the server racks at Cryptic before having to go work at Google and Yahoo for their other two shifts.
Cryptic is known to have salaries a bit on the low end (in comparison to the rest of the Silicon Valley area), but it is important to keep in mind that most of their staff with technical skills get paid on a salary, not by the hour.
And it is also important that most of their staff are college-educated with degrees, portfolios, and resumes filled with on-the-job experience. In the San Francisco bay area, this does not mean they are working three jobs. It means they are more than likely being tempted by one of two employment choices.
1: Work for a smaller company, like Cryptic, and be given a far greater degree of freedom and independance, at the cost of maybe a slightly smaller paycheck than one could get elsewhere nearby. Another perk is they are actually valued by the company, because the company knows they could get paid more elsewhere, but they choose to work at Cryptic. Job security is a major perk.
2: Work for a major development studio and get paid a lot of money to be an extremely expendable, and replacable cog in a machine, until you get burnt out and find work elsewhere.
What is considered as a form of investment? Energy, time, money, etc..?
Each person will define those questions differently.
You can look up invest in a dictionary and see exactly what it means.
Players not investing in STO. They are acting as consumers: purchasing a product for a fee. In this case the product is entertainment. Your Star Trek cult status does not matter. It is still just a consumer transaction.
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.
1: Work for a smaller company, like Cryptic, and be given a far greater degree of freedom and independance, at the cost of maybe a slightly smaller paycheck than one could get elsewhere nearby. Another perk is they are actually valued by the company, because the company knows they could get paid more elsewhere, but they choose to work at Cryptic. Job security is a major perk.
2: Work for a major development studio and get paid a lot of money to be an extremely expendable, and replacable cog in a machine, until you get burnt out and find work elsewhere.
...but, Cryptic is a division to a massive game publisher.
Its similar to BioWare.
EA/BioWare and PerectWorld/Cryptic are different from BioWare '04 and Cryptic '09. Before both companies were bought out, BioWare and Cryptic use to be small developing and publishing companies. Once EA bought BioWare and Perfect World bought Cryptic, the companies had become apart of a massive machine.
PWE is nowhere near the size and scope of EA Games. They wish they were. But they are not.
Are you only seeing the United States portion of the company?
PerfectWorld, over in Asia, is a pretty good sized company. You don't put a tiny company into the stock market. You have to be making millions of dollars.
PerfectWorld's market cap currently sits at $945.22M.
Hell, come work for us, we'll pay YOU, AND you'll get more say in how the game is run.
If Cryptic had openings for Web Developers and were willing to issue a work permit (Latin American here), I'd seriously apply. I could at least give the Gateway a serious (and much needed) overhaul.
Are you only seeing the United States portion of the company?
PerfectWorld, over in Asia, is a pretty good sized company. You don't put a tiny company onto the stock exchange. You have to be making millions of dollars.
Yes, but we aren't in Asia. We're in North America.
PWE is a subsidiary of PWRD.
EA Games is headquartered in Redwood City, same as PWE.
EA Games owns several studios in North America. PWE owns Cryptic Studios... and Runic Studios. That's about it.
Yes, but we aren't in Asia. We're in North America.
PWE is a subsidiary of PWRD.
EA Games is headquartered in Redwood City, same as PWE.
Welcome to globalization. If we were living in the 1990s, the statement you made would make sense. We are no longer living in a isolationist economy. Cryptic belongs to PerfectWorld.
Second, I can careless about what a Cryptic employee makes.
I am here to play a game in which is based upon my favorite franchise.
A lot of the calls for improvements to the "hero" ships from the series of recent have come about due to the impressive job that was done to the Intrepid-class model for Delta Rising; generally speaking there's a good number of things on the Galaxy which could do with improving to make it look more like the model from the series: http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=9211 & http://www.mutara.net/Christies/EnterpriseD.html
Holy schnikies! Just did a cost of living comparison. I'm in Connecticut, which aint cheap. 30% over the us average. But Los Gatos... 329% over the US average. Completely understand why stuff doesn't get resolved quick in game. All the devs are working 3 jobs to pay their rent. Probably sleeping behind the server racks at Cryptic before having to go work at Google and Yahoo for their other two shifts.
LG is a ritzy part of town. The vast majority of us don't live here. We live in nearby cities. Try comparing to San Jose or Santa Clara. Still not cheap, but probably only 200% over average vs. 300%.
LG is a ritzy part of town. The vast majority of us don't live here. We live in nearby cities. Try comparing to San Jose or Santa Clara. Still not cheap, but probably only 200% over average vs. 300%.
So, we should invest into "Star Trek: Online" because you are not well off?
I am trying to understand the logic behind this portion of the conversation.
We went from talking about 'consumer loyalty' to 'buy c-store items because company employees are having financial problems'?
Which means no overtime. So it doesn't matter if they work 40 hours a week or 96 hours a week they get the same paycheck regardless.
Course it explains the service we get. They have no motivation. No matter how hard they work they get the same crappy paycheck.
I don't think it's nearly that cut-and-dry. I have a hard time buying into the idea that it's only one single factor.
Namely, because working on salary is not unusual for any game studio. It means they get paid the same if they work 40 hours or 96 hours a week, but that mainly factors into "crunch time". The closer a company is to a major release, they enter into "crunch time" which yes, does mean spending extra long hours at the office. But that's it.
EA Games got pretty scathing criticism from their employees who were forced to work on "crunch time" throughout the year, even before any major releases.
So no, I don't think the pay has a signifigant portion to it, when it is the norm for the industry. As always, I think the problems with STO start at the top of the food chain.
So, we should invest into "Star Trek: Online" because you are not well off?
I am trying to understand the logic behind this portion of the conversation.
Some other poster is drawing the conclusion that the cost of living in their area is ridiculous, therefore people at Cryptic are working 3 jobs.
The reality is that they aren't. Employees at Cryptic actually get paid fairly well, although likely not as well as they could for another developer in the Bay area.
And as Tacofangs pointed out, most don't actually live in that area. They live in nearby areas where the cost of living is not as high as that poster pointed out.
LG is a ritzy part of town. The vast majority of us don't live here. We live in nearby cities. Try comparing to San Jose or Santa Clara. Still not cheap, but probably only 200% over average vs. 300%.
Yes, but does Santa Clara still have that vampire problem?
Yes, but does Santa Clara still have that vampire problem?
*queues the theme song to "Vampire The Masqurade: Bloodlines*
hehehe...
I think the bottom line is that "Star Trek" has a passionate cult following. Players are invested in the success of the company's endeavors. Unlike many other franchises, outside of 'Star Wars', the 'Star Trek' brand has a very loyal following. Creating a game to please a cult following is a monumental task. All Cryptic needs to do is listen and react.
I was just saying that if you're doing a cost of living analysis, comparing to LG isn't the average for the area.
Still, I feel for you. I bailed on NoVa as soon as I was eligible for a pension (I was lucky to start when those existed). So I'm double dipping with that and 401k. Maybe I'll watch for the Seattle jobs and move the family in with friends there
I am here for 'Star Trek' more than I am for "Star Trek: Online". I know that sounds weird. If Cryptic is able to: (1) reduce the grind, timegates, resource requirements, and leveling issues, (2) show that they appreciate consumer loyalty, and (3) get back to storytelling, I will be a very-very happy camper.
*shrugs*
I am a casual player.
I want to spend money on a game, which gives me a casual and rewarding experience. "Star Trek: Online", (Season Five and Legacy of Romulus), allowed me to play casually. I spent more money on casual gameplay. I don't like to be pressured.
*thinking out loud*
I wish my T5 ships had maintained their 'endgame' value.
Ever notice how it careens from one game breaking disaster to another from week to week?
It's always crunch time.
The devs are understaffed, overworked, and underpaid.
I don't disagree with any of this, but it doesn't necessarily mean they work on crunch time throughout the year. We notice it more when it nears a major release. You'll see less dev interviews, less developers posting.
People like Borticus and Tacofangs post less as they work on finishing up. Smirk and Trendy actually end up posting more, even though they don't have much to say.
I have been playing this game long enough to recognize when it's crunch time.
Are you only seeing the United States portion of the company?
PerfectWorld, over in Asia, is a pretty good sized company. You don't put a tiny company into the stock market. You have to be making millions of dollars.
PerfectWorld's market cap currently sits at $945.22M.
Don't forget CBS or is it NBC (can never remember which) has their grubby say so in the company and, NBC is a part of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBCUniversal, while CBS is part of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS. Both are a cog in a very large gear of businesses, not to mention possible monopoly!
LG is a ritzy part of town. The vast majority of us don't live here. We live in nearby cities. Try comparing to San Jose or Santa Clara. Still not cheap, but probably only 200% over average vs. 300%.
Good lord taco, you all are being ripped off for living over there IMO!
I can relate to the OP's sentiment, but this line of thinking is a bit over-the-top. No matter how much you spend, you don't get entitlement in return. I agree that it would/should be reasonable for PWE/Cryptic to actually act on feedback from the player base, years of history show otherwise...
Expendables Fleet: Andrew - Bajoran Fed Engineer Ken'taura - Rom/Fed Scientist Gwyllim - Human Fed Delta Tac Savik - Vulcan Fed Temporal Sci Dahar Masters Fleet: Alphal'Fa - Alien KDF Engineer Qun'pau - Rom/KDF Engineer D'nesh - Orion KDF Scientist Ghen'khan - Liberated KDF Tac Welcome to StarBug Online - to boldly Bug where no bug has been before!
STO player since November 2013
LG is a ritzy part of town. The vast majority of us don't live here. We live in nearby cities. Try comparing to San Jose or Santa Clara. Still not cheap, but probably only 200% over average vs. 300%.
Same thing with my company over there and here. Offices in Newport Beach, CA and Norwalk, CT, but most people can't afford to live in or close to neither.
My god OP....this is such a display of arrogant TRIBBLE it makes my head hurt. I have not kept track of how much ive spent on ths game but I don't presume to tell the devs what to do....I might ask and toss ideas but the thought that they should obay you cause you don't know how to close ur wallet is pure and undiluted BS. get over it and play the game. or don't, as always it is ur choice.
On a separate note, I often hear people talking about how much they've "invested" into the game. I'm confused by this. The money you've put into the game (since F2P), is for specific products within the game. i.e. you purchase a ship, or character slots, or a costume, or a consumable. In each case, the money you put in has given you something to use within the game. I fail to see the "investment" people view this as? If I go to the grocery store, and buy some broccoli, and then eat it, I have not invested into the store, despite the store getting my money. There was a transaction, and I received what I paid for. Even if the broccoli didn't taste very good, that doesn't mean the store owes me anything further.
What am I missing here?
I generally agree with your post and am glad to see that at least in your eyes the "smaller fish" in the pond mean something to you.
But I do want to explain why I have also spoken in "investment" terms, though I can't say if my reasons are the same as the OP. This will also explain my current spending decision...and how that decision can be changed with the right long-term incentives.
First of all, I realize that I am not paying for a tangible asset, or a financial instrument that will pay me back over time, there is *definitely* a strong "return on investment" concept in my way of thinking about how I spend on the game. This ROI is defined as the amount of enjoyment, and how much time I have a reasonable expectation of getting out of that item. Certain purchases have a bit more impact on the long-term play experience than your one checkout at the grocery store (though I am so not getting into gift cards and gas points... )
Back when I bought my Galor, my Vesta, and even my Dromias (my last large purchase), I had reasonable confidence that by spending on those items, I would get to enjoy them for a long time--at least a few years, maybe even more. Especially for the Vesta, that proved true.
I started losing some confidence under the last EP even before DR, so I took a sort of "try before I buy" approach and ground dil to get the upgrade token for my Vesta so that if I ended up seriously screwed over when DR dropped, I would not be out real money for it. Unfortunately once DR DID drop, I saw incredibly burdensome upgrade that nearly killed alting for me, and ensured that the time, effort, and enjoyment out of any other major change, be it a ship or even a substantial change in build on either of the two toons I have kept alive in spite of the pressure not to, would be absolutely prohibitive.
I am locked into my ships, locked into my build on each of the two toons...and that is really unfortunate. Yes, I could spend to get around the timegates and buy myself that freedom to modify things again, or resurrect my two sidelined alts...but when I look at how much bugginess and disconnects and crashing is going on, and also the damage done under the previous EP's reign, I have concerns about how much and how long I would get anything out of that spending.
To use a financial instrument metaphor, STO's credit rating has taken a hit in my eyes and while a high risk could bring in a high return, there is also a big risk of either getting "wiped out" by paying a lot for something that either I don't like, gets nerfed into oblivion (even my beloved Vesta took a hit with the carrier pet nerf), or bugs and crashes worsen and impact my ability to play at all.
And I don't like that. I am especially sorry about it for the art team and some of the story writing team (I may not like the *patrols* but there is some VERY high quality controversial writing going on with the Kobali and with the real space missions). I *want* this game to get better and to not worry that cost sinks will multiply with bugs and that the coding and physical infrastructures could crack under the strain.
But there ARE some signs of hope even though it's going to take a lot to mend things after all that's gone down with DR, the winter event, the anniversary event, and every nerf and added cost.
That has to do with Steve Ricossa, and what I have seen from him so far.
No doubt, the guy took over at a TOUGH time for the community and doubtlessly for the devs too. And on top of that, especially based on what you've previously shared with us about how long it takes to set up events, etc., he *also* cannot be fairly held responsible right now for all of the coding, systems, or some strategic decisions that have already been set into motion and may be too late to stop.
But it seems to me like he has wisely avoided using that as an excuse.
Take the recent advertising debacle involving dilithium weekend. Mr. Ricossa's first post took ownership of what had happened, didn't blame the players, and even if we don't all agree with the rationale and even if some hoped for a better remedy, he explained everything respectfully towards both customers and IMO to his team too (neither should be thrown under the bus!), and stepped up and personally took the heat knowing full well how severely poisoned customer relations are right now. He didn't just assume that it is what it is and there's no point in trying, or approach it with the attitude that the customer just has to suck it up. That took guramba.
Right now I am still dismayed about the apparent impact of the anniversary event on even staying connected to the game and the CTD's--both the coding and server load testing seem not to have held up to the reality of the event. I know very well it was already pushed to production before he took over. Still, he opted for an extension that will at least mitigate some of the problems people are having.
I also think I am seeing more devs coming in and talking, and more asking players what they want. That timing doesn't seem coincidental to me. It becomes a lot easier to do when the guy at the top seems to have an interest and when as an employee you know your boss has got your back.
I'll need to see how things go over the next several months--if feedback does have an impact, if quality will take precedence over meeting deadlines (or ambitions will be scaled back until things are healthy), if the endless nerfing and cost burden increases will stop to where people can alt and change ships and builds again without incurring a crushing burden of time or money...and especially if what looks to me from the outside like it may be a positive cultural change continues and bears fruit. Then, I may feel confident enough in the health of the game and how much time and enjoyment I will get out of my purchases to spend again.
I would like that to happen because I have met good friends from the game and also drawn a lot of story inspiration from its plots and its art. Even when I criticize, I care. So while right now I make it well known that I do not spend and anyone is free to read the detailed reasons why, I don't want to have that up there forever.
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I'll need to see how things go over the next several months--if feedback does have an impact, if quality will take precedence over meeting deadlines (or ambitions will be scaled back until things are healthy), if the endless nerfing and cost burden increases will stop to where people can alt and change ships and builds again without incurring a crushing burden of time or money...and especially if what looks to me from the outside like it may be a positive cultural change continues and bears fruit. Then, I may feel confident enough in the health of the game and how much time and enjoyment I will get out of my purchases to spend again.
I would like that to happen because I have met good friends from the game and also drawn a lot of story inspiration from its plots and its art. Even when I criticize, I care. So while right now I make it well known that I do not spend and anyone is free to read the detailed reasons why, I don't want to have that up there forever.
Until I see something come to fruition, I am going to keep "Star Trek: Online" uninstalled. I want to come back to "Star Trek: Online"; however, the trend towards endless grinding and micro-transactions have scared me away. If I am going to buy a series of T6 ships, I need to know that they will maintain their 'endgame' value. I feel as though I lost value in my T5 ships, for they were exclusively used for 'endgame' content.
As a result of a mess of changes, the confidence I have in Cryptic has become wary.
Where are these changes leading?
Will the T6 ships eventually become obsolete?
Will the resource requirements go down?
Will timegates get reduced?
Will I get better rewards for every one hour of log-in time?
Will I be able to get a full-set of gear for a one to two hours' worth of play time?
Ah ya, OP I'm sorry to tell you that you've been misinformed. The "Your Opinion Matters Club" does not start at $5234.99 as you seem to think but at $14,636.63.
Comments
Cryptic is known to have salaries a bit on the low end (in comparison to the rest of the Silicon Valley area), but it is important to keep in mind that most of their staff with technical skills get paid on a salary, not by the hour.
And it is also important that most of their staff are college-educated with degrees, portfolios, and resumes filled with on-the-job experience. In the San Francisco bay area, this does not mean they are working three jobs. It means they are more than likely being tempted by one of two employment choices.
1: Work for a smaller company, like Cryptic, and be given a far greater degree of freedom and independance, at the cost of maybe a slightly smaller paycheck than one could get elsewhere nearby. Another perk is they are actually valued by the company, because the company knows they could get paid more elsewhere, but they choose to work at Cryptic. Job security is a major perk.
2: Work for a major development studio and get paid a lot of money to be an extremely expendable, and replacable cog in a machine, until you get burnt out and find work elsewhere.
Players not investing in STO. They are acting as consumers: purchasing a product for a fee. In this case the product is entertainment. Your Star Trek cult status does not matter. It is still just a consumer transaction.
...but, Cryptic is a division to a massive game publisher.
Its similar to BioWare.
EA/BioWare and PerectWorld/Cryptic are different from BioWare '04 and Cryptic '09. Before both companies were bought out, BioWare and Cryptic use to be small developing and publishing companies. Once EA bought BioWare and Perfect World bought Cryptic, the companies had become apart of a massive machine.
PWE is nowhere near the size and scope of EA Games. They wish they were. But they are not.
Cryptic is nowhere near the size and scope of BioWare. I'm not even sure they wish they were.
Are you only seeing the United States portion of the company?
PerfectWorld, over in Asia, is a pretty good sized company. You don't put a tiny company into the stock market. You have to be making millions of dollars.
PerfectWorld's market cap currently sits at $945.22M.
If Cryptic had openings for Web Developers and were willing to issue a work permit (Latin American here), I'd seriously apply. I could at least give the Gateway a serious (and much needed) overhaul.
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Yes, but we aren't in Asia. We're in North America.
PWE is a subsidiary of PWRD.
EA Games is headquartered in Redwood City, same as PWE.
EA Games owns several studios in North America. PWE owns Cryptic Studios... and Runic Studios. That's about it.
Welcome to globalization. If we were living in the 1990s, the statement you made would make sense. We are no longer living in a isolationist economy. Cryptic belongs to PerfectWorld.
Second, I can careless about what a Cryptic employee makes.
I am here to play a game in which is based upon my favorite franchise.
That means you do care. At least a little.
So am I, although Star Trek isn't my favorite franchise. I could say it is a favorite franchise.
Any issues with the Galaxy-class have already been brought up in the ship errors thread in the art section, if they have any specific problems they can post it over there: http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1163871
A lot of the calls for improvements to the "hero" ships from the series of recent have come about due to the impressive job that was done to the Intrepid-class model for Delta Rising; generally speaking there's a good number of things on the Galaxy which could do with improving to make it look more like the model from the series: http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=9211 & http://www.mutara.net/Christies/EnterpriseD.html
Commanding Officer: Captain Pyotr Ramonovich Amosov
Dedication Plaque: "Nil Intentatum Reliquit"
LG is a ritzy part of town. The vast majority of us don't live here. We live in nearby cities. Try comparing to San Jose or Santa Clara. Still not cheap, but probably only 200% over average vs. 300%.
So, we should invest into "Star Trek: Online" because you are not well off?
I am trying to understand the logic behind this portion of the conversation.
We went from talking about 'consumer loyalty' to 'buy c-store items because company employees are having financial problems'?
Perfect World's NASDAQ symbol is PWRD.
Heck, even the Captain's Table for lifetime veterans isn't implemented yet, nor the whole voting rights thing on DS9.
I don't think it's nearly that cut-and-dry. I have a hard time buying into the idea that it's only one single factor.
Namely, because working on salary is not unusual for any game studio. It means they get paid the same if they work 40 hours or 96 hours a week, but that mainly factors into "crunch time". The closer a company is to a major release, they enter into "crunch time" which yes, does mean spending extra long hours at the office. But that's it.
EA Games got pretty scathing criticism from their employees who were forced to work on "crunch time" throughout the year, even before any major releases.
So no, I don't think the pay has a signifigant portion to it, when it is the norm for the industry. As always, I think the problems with STO start at the top of the food chain.
Wha? I'm not sure where you got that.
I was just saying that if you're doing a cost of living analysis, comparing to LG isn't the average for the area.
rofl... I had the same reaction. I am getting a little confused.
Hey now. Taco didn't bring up the whole cost of living thing, other people in this thread did and he merely responded to them.
Some other poster is drawing the conclusion that the cost of living in their area is ridiculous, therefore people at Cryptic are working 3 jobs.
The reality is that they aren't. Employees at Cryptic actually get paid fairly well, although likely not as well as they could for another developer in the Bay area.
And as Tacofangs pointed out, most don't actually live in that area. They live in nearby areas where the cost of living is not as high as that poster pointed out.
Yes, but does Santa Clara still have that vampire problem?
*queues the theme song to "Vampire The Masqurade: Bloodlines*
hehehe...
I think the bottom line is that "Star Trek" has a passionate cult following. Players are invested in the success of the company's endeavors. Unlike many other franchises, outside of 'Star Wars', the 'Star Trek' brand has a very loyal following. Creating a game to please a cult following is a monumental task. All Cryptic needs to do is listen and react.
Still, I feel for you. I bailed on NoVa as soon as I was eligible for a pension (I was lucky to start when those existed). So I'm double dipping with that and 401k. Maybe I'll watch for the Seattle jobs and move the family in with friends there
*shrugs*
I am a casual player.
I want to spend money on a game, which gives me a casual and rewarding experience. "Star Trek: Online", (Season Five and Legacy of Romulus), allowed me to play casually. I spent more money on casual gameplay. I don't like to be pressured.
*thinking out loud*
I wish my T5 ships had maintained their 'endgame' value.
I feel a little cheated and unappreciated.
I don't disagree with any of this, but it doesn't necessarily mean they work on crunch time throughout the year. We notice it more when it nears a major release. You'll see less dev interviews, less developers posting.
People like Borticus and Tacofangs post less as they work on finishing up. Smirk and Trendy actually end up posting more, even though they don't have much to say.
I have been playing this game long enough to recognize when it's crunch time.
Don't forget CBS or is it NBC (can never remember which) has their grubby say so in the company and, NBC is a part of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBCUniversal, while CBS is part of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS. Both are a cog in a very large gear of businesses, not to mention possible monopoly!
Good lord taco, you all are being ripped off for living over there IMO!
Praetor of the -RTS- Romulan Tal Shiar fleet!
Savik - Vulcan Fed Temporal Sci
Dahar Masters Fleet: Alphal'Fa - Alien KDF Engineer Qun'pau - Rom/KDF Engineer D'nesh - Orion KDF Scientist Ghen'khan - Liberated KDF Tac
Welcome to StarBug Online - to boldly Bug where no bug has been before!
STO player since November 2013
Same thing with my company over there and here. Offices in Newport Beach, CA and Norwalk, CT, but most people can't afford to live in or close to neither.
I generally agree with your post and am glad to see that at least in your eyes the "smaller fish" in the pond mean something to you.
But I do want to explain why I have also spoken in "investment" terms, though I can't say if my reasons are the same as the OP. This will also explain my current spending decision...and how that decision can be changed with the right long-term incentives.
First of all, I realize that I am not paying for a tangible asset, or a financial instrument that will pay me back over time, there is *definitely* a strong "return on investment" concept in my way of thinking about how I spend on the game. This ROI is defined as the amount of enjoyment, and how much time I have a reasonable expectation of getting out of that item. Certain purchases have a bit more impact on the long-term play experience than your one checkout at the grocery store (though I am so not getting into gift cards and gas points...
Back when I bought my Galor, my Vesta, and even my Dromias (my last large purchase), I had reasonable confidence that by spending on those items, I would get to enjoy them for a long time--at least a few years, maybe even more. Especially for the Vesta, that proved true.
I started losing some confidence under the last EP even before DR, so I took a sort of "try before I buy" approach and ground dil to get the upgrade token for my Vesta so that if I ended up seriously screwed over when DR dropped, I would not be out real money for it. Unfortunately once DR DID drop, I saw incredibly burdensome upgrade that nearly killed alting for me, and ensured that the time, effort, and enjoyment out of any other major change, be it a ship or even a substantial change in build on either of the two toons I have kept alive in spite of the pressure not to, would be absolutely prohibitive.
I am locked into my ships, locked into my build on each of the two toons...and that is really unfortunate.
To use a financial instrument metaphor, STO's credit rating has taken a hit in my eyes and while a high risk could bring in a high return, there is also a big risk of either getting "wiped out" by paying a lot for something that either I don't like, gets nerfed into oblivion (even my beloved Vesta took a hit with the carrier pet nerf), or bugs and crashes worsen and impact my ability to play at all.
And I don't like that. I am especially sorry about it for the art team and some of the story writing team (I may not like the *patrols* but there is some VERY high quality controversial writing going on with the Kobali and with the real space missions). I *want* this game to get better and to not worry that cost sinks will multiply with bugs and that the coding and physical infrastructures could crack under the strain.
But there ARE some signs of hope even though it's going to take a lot to mend things after all that's gone down with DR, the winter event, the anniversary event, and every nerf and added cost.
That has to do with Steve Ricossa, and what I have seen from him so far.
No doubt, the guy took over at a TOUGH time for the community and doubtlessly for the devs too. And on top of that, especially based on what you've previously shared with us about how long it takes to set up events, etc., he *also* cannot be fairly held responsible right now for all of the coding, systems, or some strategic decisions that have already been set into motion and may be too late to stop.
But it seems to me like he has wisely avoided using that as an excuse.
Take the recent advertising debacle involving dilithium weekend. Mr. Ricossa's first post took ownership of what had happened, didn't blame the players, and even if we don't all agree with the rationale and even if some hoped for a better remedy, he explained everything respectfully towards both customers and IMO to his team too (neither should be thrown under the bus!), and stepped up and personally took the heat knowing full well how severely poisoned customer relations are right now. He didn't just assume that it is what it is and there's no point in trying, or approach it with the attitude that the customer just has to suck it up. That took guramba.
Right now I am still dismayed about the apparent impact of the anniversary event on even staying connected to the game and the CTD's--both the coding and server load testing seem not to have held up to the reality of the event. I know very well it was already pushed to production before he took over. Still, he opted for an extension that will at least mitigate some of the problems people are having.
I also think I am seeing more devs coming in and talking, and more asking players what they want. That timing doesn't seem coincidental to me.
I'll need to see how things go over the next several months--if feedback does have an impact, if quality will take precedence over meeting deadlines (or ambitions will be scaled back until things are healthy), if the endless nerfing and cost burden increases will stop to where people can alt and change ships and builds again without incurring a crushing burden of time or money...and especially if what looks to me from the outside like it may be a positive cultural change continues and bears fruit. Then, I may feel confident enough in the health of the game and how much time and enjoyment I will get out of my purchases to spend again.
I would like that to happen because I have met good friends from the game and also drawn a lot of story inspiration from its plots and its art. Even when I criticize, I care. So while right now I make it well known that I do not spend and anyone is free to read the detailed reasons why, I don't want to have that up there forever.
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Until I see something come to fruition, I am going to keep "Star Trek: Online" uninstalled. I want to come back to "Star Trek: Online"; however, the trend towards endless grinding and micro-transactions have scared me away. If I am going to buy a series of T6 ships, I need to know that they will maintain their 'endgame' value. I feel as though I lost value in my T5 ships, for they were exclusively used for 'endgame' content.
As a result of a mess of changes, the confidence I have in Cryptic has become wary.
Where are these changes leading?
Will the T6 ships eventually become obsolete?
Will the resource requirements go down?
Will timegates get reduced?
Will I get better rewards for every one hour of log-in time?
Will I be able to get a full-set of gear for a one to two hours' worth of play time?
*shurgs*
I am watching out for a million answers.