It's not folly...it's a bump to their business plan. I think most of the players who post to the forums can agree and have seen that they're trying to create a cash machine. Many of the recent changes are geared towards creating additional revenue streams.
This upcoming recruitment drive is no different. They may have run into a problem with their plan...and that is...when all these changes came down the pike with leveling all sorts of different attributes and new tier ships...I would venture a guess that many players decided to trim down the number of characters and ships they had just to be able to keep up with it all and keep at least some of their characters and ships "cutting edge." That would have been a reasonable response.
So now, they're trying to reverse that reasonable response by getting players to generate more characters which in turn will, on occasion, generate revenue. It's a business.
Take these out of here, and stop making my Fathers house a marketplace. John 2:16
It impresses me how quickly discussions on anything Cryptic does boil over into a discussion on their business plan, complete with malicious / preferential policies towards certain groups of players. We don't know their business plan, we don't always know the intention behind certain actions, etc.
But, big shocking revelation here: Cryptic is a for-profit company. They'll try to make money sometimes. :eek:
Sure, they're trying to get new players into the game. Why the heck wouldn't they? With about half the cast of Voyager in the credits, now's the time to reach out to the world again anyways.
But seriously, they're giving existing players plenty of wiggle room here. We're getting free character slots to participate (that's right, something for free that's usually a C-Store purchase - so no cash grab of 'pay to join the fun!' there), increased rewards, more content in and updates to the old story missions, and a selection of account-wide bonuses. This all sounds like a good deal. Is it going to be a huge benefit to existing players? Probably not, but that's ok with me. Sometimes they'll do stuff to focus on new players, other times on existing ones. Either way, this new thing's going to benefit everyone in some form.
So let's hold off on crying foul, eh? Not every single action of Cryptic deserves the kind of instant-hate that's thrown at them. This, dare I say it, sounds like a good thing so far.
A trillion? Humour me. Give me three ideas you think would make this work. In my opinion the absence of the Borg from playable species in is best decision Cryptic has made concerning the direction of the game.
Well, I'd say give me a month and I make a complete storyline, few side quests, and a somewhat balance (since I do not know the programmed data beyond attacks, defense, ...).
Thing is, it will consume quite a lot of time, and I do not like to see that go to waste, if you get my point.
What ideas would you like, story wise?
Gameplay wise?
Otherwise?
And every one of those trillions ideas will be horrible. Thy will do more damage to the Borg than 7 years of voyager and all Brannon in the world combined.
Elevating the collective as a faction instead of giving them the threshold treatment of "this was a horrible idea" was such a misstep.
The Borg have become the Buttmonkey.
Bear 2 things in mind: this is a GAME, which needs balance, and the Borg already around can be used as template.
Yes, the Borg have been toned down extremely, and revamped to give us a "fighting chance" in STV, keeping them as they were intended at first became VERY fast a problem.
The Borg were simplty invincible at first, GOD I loved them for so many a reason, not the invincible part, but they were bloody Cybergods.
But since, if I am not mistaken, Unimatrix0 they lost quite a bit of their power.
Still, the Borg can very much be a viable player race, IMHO.
For me I think it's a case of Cryptic's reputation precedes them. I see this and think the worst; their desperate for new players and desperate to retain old players who are willing to grind not just lv50-60 content but not the entire game! I'm tempted to jump on that bandwagon and presume the worst. Any long term objective player should see that writing even if they don't agree with it.
Within 6 months we've had r&d and the upgrade system, the equivilent of 3 spec trees, t5u and t6 ships, intel and command ships, 2 lockboxs and 2 t6 promos, a story arc mostly filled by patrols and I'm probably missing other negative aspects too like a reputation to grind.
All this has taken it's toll with one thing after another after another. PVP seems to die more each change which seems impossible given it died a long time ago but Cryptic finds a way to kill it off anyway. The marks for bonus dill fell foul of a stealth nerf and Cryptic's had more blunders like the bug promo which have not done it much service.
True we've had the omega minigame/anniversary taking a huge burden off the upgrade system and the story of DR had it's moments but that's it really that.
Now this....
I don't think I can speak for new players because I've played the game and generally kept up with the grind and made the game work for me but the big point is I've had 5 years of Cryptic. A newcomer may well have a different opinion but if I had to imagine myself being new I'd get up to lv50 and think there's way too much grind, not enough content to keep me entertained or compete vs the vast amount of p2w content. Thing is Cryptic may well have taken some money from me by then or another player might be quite happy to be nickled and dimed so really I can't say if this would work to Cryptic's benefit and the community's.
As for old players (and new ones)...I guess we need more details. If the amount of dil per kill is so low it's not enough to make it worth while or it only become worthwhile if we grind a new character to level 50 then it's not worth the time or effort. They'll get what they want for their old characters like traits and go back to working on their old characters.
I don't like to prejudge but I've come to expect the worst from Cryptic and evnesupposed good things happening in STO I look for the real/bad reason and signs of the game failing.
The people complaining would still be complaining if they gave 150 free Tier 6 ships, 15,000 Zen, 150 million Refined Dilithium and created a totally awesome 50 episode story arc every month.
But seriously, they're giving existing players plenty of wiggle room here. We're getting free character slots to participate (that's right, something for free that's usually a C-Store purchase - so no cash grab of 'pay to join the fun!' there), increased rewards, more content in and updates to the old story missions, and a selection of account-wide bonuses. This all sounds like a good deal. Is it going to be a huge benefit to existing players? Probably not, but that's ok with me. Sometimes they'll do stuff to focus on new players, other times on existing ones. Either way, this new thing's going to benefit everyone in some form.
I'll cheer for it when they give me either:
a) a way to get my accolades and one-time rewards that are no longer available from my old toon to this free character slot
- or -
b) a way to tag my existing character that has those old things as a "Delta Recruit."
Because otherwise both the old characters and the new one is going to be missing something.
Bear 2 things in mind: this is a GAME, which needs balance, and the Borg already around can be used as template.
Yes, the Borg have been toned down extremely, and revamped to give us a "fighting chance" in STV, keeping them as they were intended at first became VERY fast a problem.
The Borg were simplty invincible at first, GOD I loved them for so many a reason, not the invincible part, but they were bloody Cybergods.
But since, if I am not mistaken, Unimatrix0 they lost quite a bit of their power.
Still, the Borg can very much be a viable player race, IMHO.
A Borg Collective faction will never happen. You would have absolutely no control over your character. A Borg Cooperative faction or some other Liberated Borg faction could work.
I'll cheer for it when they give me either:
a) a way to get my accolades and one-time rewards that are no longer available from my old toon to this free character slot
- or -
b) a way to tag my existing character that has those old things as a "Delta Recruit."
Because otherwise both the old characters and the new one is going to be missing something.
Things do change.
Old things vanish, new things take their place.
I guess, we'll have to follow them, OR seek a new game.
I am more than welcoming this all...
The people complaining would still be complaining if they gave 150 free Tier 6 ships, 15,000 Zen, 150 million Refined Dilithium and created a totally awesome 50 episode story arc every month.
There are people who, if Cryptic burned down their house, would thank them for doing a good job.
There are people who, if Cryptic burned down their house, would thank them for doing a good job.
Both extremes are equally worthless
No, there really isn't. So many of you are just so mired in your ways of spewing hate-filled bile about the company that anyone who doesn't is either "apologist" or "CDF".
A trillion? Humour me. Give me three ideas you think would make this work. In my opinion the absence of the Borg from playable species in is best decision Cryptic has made concerning the direction of the game.
I've only got the one, but I'm not very creative.
The Borg Cooperative is openly hostile to the Borg Collective, is not hostile to either of the three current factions, AND has been shown in game to possess Borg ships. If you were going to allow playable Borg as a Borg faction they fit all the criteria and already exist in game.
In short it definitely can be done, justifying it is in fact the easiest part. The question of whether it SHOULD be done is entirely different. I am personally not in favor of a playable Borg faction as I feel they work better as villains and I'd rather not see them too demystified.
No, there really isn't. So many of you are just so mired in your ways of spewing hate-filled bile about the company that anyone who doesn't is either "apologist" or "CDF".
Not true at all, certainly not from my perspective. There are people at both extremes who always pop up and add their "Contribution" to every thread. Their contribution is, as you said, hate-filled bile - either about the company or about people with legitimate complaints.
Not true at all, certainly not from my perspective. There are people at both extremes who always pop up and add their "Contribution" to every thread. Their contribution is, as you said, hate-filled bile - either about the company or about people with legitimate complaints.
I have yet to see a legitimate complaint on these boards. It's all "give me 100x the XP I can get now and everything else for free or I'll quit because you're 'money grabbing' for trying to make any money at all".
Given past events, and Cryptics past practices, I gotta say I'm highly skeptical of this "recruitment drive". I just don't see it being as effective as I think they'd want it to be. Based off the information we have ATM anyway.
I'm on the fence as to weather I'll participate in this or not. The perks are ok, but I'm already at 9 fully leveled toons that aren't anywhere NEAR equipped yet, and getting them geared up, along with starbase upgrades are really breaking my resource collection abilities & game time each day. I honestly don't know if I can viably add a tenth character at this point. I already have about a dozen empty character slots that I picked up when the change from C store to Z store happened (since cryptic points weren't being transferred into Zen back then and had to be spent or lost) and I doubt I'll ever use them.
I can see some of Cryptics reasoning: new players ARE at a disadvantage compared to players that have been here longer, mostly owing to the insane powercreep that Cryptic executed in the past. At the same time, Cryptic can't negate the advantages the older playerbase has earned without a full scale riot in response, and probably take a massive hit on people wanting to play at all, which hurts their bottom line.
I dunno, I think Cryptic may have painted themselves into a corner at this point. I just don't see a way out.
I have yet to see a legitimate complaint on these boards. It's all "give me 100x the XP I can get now and everything else for free or I'll quit because you're 'money grabbing' for trying to make any money at all".
I raised an issue about missing Duty Officer missions. A developer saw my post, looked into the issue and it is now resolved.
But yes, you're right, that was just me being entitled and calling Cryptic money grabbers, wasn't it?
I raised an issue about missing Duty Officer missions. A developer saw my post, looked into the issue and it is now resolved.
But yes, you're right, that was just me being entitled and calling Cryptic money grabbers, wasn't it?
And I never saw that, probably because there were too many of the overly entitled folks who think the game should be tailor made only for them and those who think just like them complaining about EVERYTHING.
To be honest, Delta Recruitment is a half-decent idea, but I do not agree at all with the current details surrounding it.
Rather than what they have planned right now, I would almost rather see a "New Game +" sort of feature, where you have the option to prepare "yourself" for the events of 2409-2410 and the Iconian War by going back in time and having a temporal mini-arc. The trade-off is giving up everything you already have (you would need massive compensation and benefits as a result. Something at least as good as [but obviously not] a 10,000 dilithium refining cap perma-boost.) to "replay" your main character and unlock "DELTA MODE."
There could be a limit on "Δ" mode of 1 character per account, but it could feature better reward modifiers, exclusive goodies and maybe even account-wide benefit unlocks.
there is no amount of enticements cryptic could offer to make me give up anything I already have, I have played too darn hard for so long to get it.
not even for unlimited dilithium refinement, unlimited EC cap, unlimited ship slots and a 100% gurentee that all the bugs would be fixed by the end of the week.
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.
what players are asking for is subjective. Your list is fed heavy... if you ask me, what players want are sci ships for the other factions... and an actual dps themed intel ship for kdf...
That aside, alts are in a strange place now. One can argue that they are too much trouble with spec points --- and that is pretty legit; its nearly impossible for a normal human to have more than 2, maybe 3 toons with enough spec points to be on-par. But there is an interesting thing ... crafted gear being account bound, your weapons, potentially 2 consoles, potentially a couple of other items (engine, for example, since most engines provide little to no real benefits), and so on can be shared, upgrade once, use many times... meh. There are reasons to have a bunch of alts, and reasons not to, its a choice. Ive cut way back, only 3 of my chars are really progressing since DR, maybe 4 now.
The recruitment drive is a good thing *IFF* it delivers what it is supposed to deliver. The idea is to bring in new players and get them up to speed. If that succeeds, that will be great for the game... more people is good.
If all the recruitment does is cause existing players to roll new characters, that is not so good. It accomplishes nothing at all. It sounds like there may be some new cool things to do along the way, so that is nice, but having just made a new one during the XP weekend (level 52 now) I am not super keyed up about rolling more. For existing players, it sounds like a nice fun event but more of a distraction than progress. Those that love alts, have them already, for the most part, and the majority of players don't have the time for more esp with the spec point issue.
I will roll out my last 2 for the event. How many levels they get... is another story. If nothing else, that is 2 more dil farmers
Some games offer leveling contests that can be fun... minor rewards or recognition for who can go from 0-max the fastest. This is not really helpful to the "lets get more new faces" concept, but it would have been a fun add on to the even, because you KNOW a bunch of existing players are gonna re-roll for it anyway.
If you have to reach level 60 to get the trait people are going to cry. There isn't enough time to do that. They'd need to extend the event by a factor of 10.
Total BS. You can hit L50 before the DS9 storyline is over. Thats with normal game play. During this event there will be an XP boost in effect. The boost will scale up as more Delta Recruits play the various storylines.
The Borg Cooperative is openly hostile to the Borg Collective, is not hostile to either of the three current factions, AND has been shown in game to possess Borg ships. If you were going to allow playable Borg as a Borg faction they fit all the criteria and already exist in game.
In short it definitely can be done, justifying it is in fact the easiest part. The question of whether it SHOULD be done is entirely different. I am personally not in favor of a playable Borg faction as I feel they work better as villains and I'd rather not see them too demystified.
I FULLY agree there, it can be a separated faction from the original Borg Collective, with it's own distinctive way of thinking/acting.
The "race" should be hostile to all factions (logical), and thus have a really hard time surviving.
In comes technology (they ARE Borg) that grants them a certain survivability, but balanced.
Perhaps these new Borg are less destructive, far more friven to assimilate 9which would be VERY lgical: Wolf 359 should have been done differently: instead of destroying 40'ish ships, try to ASSIMILATE them all at once: a Cube has appx. 100.000 Drones, can transport a 1000 drones in one time: drain each ship of shields, then throw 500 to 1000 drones to each Fed vessel... outcome clearly quite different, nea? IMHO THAT would be the true Borg way as per they contantly say: "We will add your distinctiveness to our own" rather than "We will blow a hole in your pathetic vessel").
Just an idea for one from the top of my mind.
But the Borg can have a pleiade of approaches when it comes to storytelling...
As for ships, logically they would be restricted to a few ships, maybe they will fly the first 30, 40 levels in an technology wise upgradeable Scout vessel, with a few weapons that can be also somewhat upgraded to match balance to the other ships.
Spheres and Cubes would be a no-no, logically.
But there are ways to work around this.
DOffs: Logically: a Drone is versatile, thus each station would be a versitile station with versatile DOffs.
Start-off: we begin the story with a small movie, where a Scout ship is lost on some deserted planet.
You are the only survivor, looking to be reinserted into the Collective.
As you go, you learn that the collective is not "right" in their doings, assimilation is far more important than destruction.
One cannot assimilate what is dead, correct?
And so the story begins: you manage to get your half gone Scout ship working, or you manage to transport onto an overflying satellite looking for ores, whatever, you assimilate this probe, and there the story of you begins...
Merely a few things directly from the top of my mind...
There are just as much possibilities as there are ideas.
One of the things I'm looking for as they tell us more information, is does this really mean in the future we'll have parallel content exclusive to newer toon types.
My kneejerk reaction to this first blog is not just that I'd have to roll up another alt but actually invest in it long term for these parallel story arcs. And if this becomes a pattern.
That means all our pre-DR toons couldn't participate in this new content. And with each new variation of Delta Recruits we leave still more of our oldest toons behind, the ones I've already invested in so heavily. My choice then is ignore all new content that works this way, basically sidelining me from it, or slowly abandon my characters for new ones which will be nowhere near as well kitted.
I spent five years kitting them out. I'm not going to repeat that every time there is a new Delta Recruits-type event.
So on the positive side, I like the idea of new parallel content. I just don't want it used as an excuse to force me to abandon or at least sideline older toons. Because that's not how I will respond.
It's to see if this will be a trend, that is what I will be watching for.
creating a new char for this event is one thing.... having a reason to use the new alt after the event ended is a totally different story (thats something cryptic didnt understand yet)
Don't suppose it occurs to anyone this is targeting new players and not veterans?
Inconceivable!
Who would play Star Trek Online if he hasn't already ground 300 days and spend Zen worth thousand dollars and needs to justify his expenses in time and money?
:P
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
there is no amount of enticements cryptic could offer to make me give up anything I already have, I have played too darn hard for so long to get it.
not even for unlimited dilithium refinement, unlimited EC cap, unlimited ship slots and a 100% gurentee that all the bugs would be fixed by the end of the week.
For me, it's not so much a problem with giving up what I have, it's that multiple captains are a negative in today's post-DR world.
I'm not a member of the church of the One True Main. I don't want to be one either, but DR is continually ringing my doorbell at 7am on weekends asking if I'd like a pamphlet that will save me from my evil alting ways.
This is my Risian Corvette. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I FULLY agree there, it can be a separated faction from the original Borg Collective, with it's own distinctive way of thinking/acting.
The "race" should be hostile to all factions (logical), and thus have a really hard time surviving.
In comes technology (they ARE Borg) that grants them a certain survivability, but balanced.
Perhaps these new Borg are less destructive, far more friven to assimilate 9which would be VERY lgical: Wolf 359 should have been done differently: instead of destroying 40'ish ships, try to ASSIMILATE them all at once: a Cube has appx. 100.000 Drones, can transport a 1000 drones in one time: drain each ship of shields, then throw 500 to 1000 drones to each Fed vessel... outcome clearly quite different, nea? IMHO THAT would be the true Borg way as per they contantly say: "We will add your distinctiveness to our own" rather than "We will blow a hole in your pathetic vessel").
Just an idea for one from the top of my mind.
But the Borg can have a pleiade of approaches when it comes to storytelling...
As for ships, logically they would be restricted to a few ships, maybe they will fly the first 30, 40 levels in an technology wise upgradeable Scout vessel, with a few weapons that can be also somewhat upgraded to match balance to the other ships.
Spheres and Cubes would be a no-no, logically.
But there are ways to work around this.
DOffs: Logically: a Drone is versatile, thus each station would be a versitile station with versatile DOffs.
Start-off: we begin the story with a small movie, where a Scout ship is lost on some deserted planet.
You are the only survivor, looking to be reinserted into the Collective.
As you go, you learn that the collective is not "right" in their doings, assimilation is far more important than destruction.
One cannot assimilate what is dead, correct?
And so the story begins: you manage to get your half gone Scout ship working, or you manage to transport onto an overflying satellite looking for ores, whatever, you assimilate this probe, and there the story of you begins...
Merely a few things directly from the top of my mind...
There are just as much possibilities as there are ideas.
Cryptic will never create a hostile faction due to the creation of the Romulan Republic instead of using the Romulan Star Empire. If Cryptic creates a Borg faction, then it will be some liberated borg faction where they have to ally themselves with the Federation or Klingon Empire and get along with everyone at endgame.
Where would that be good for?
It's bad for PVP, it's bad story wise (no one would accept a "Borg Faction" aligned with either Feds or Klingons).
Aside, Feds and Klings still are hostile towards one another, why not have a third hostile to all faction?
ANY clue how many folks would love to play a Borg, even if it is "slightly" different in version?
Food for thought.
Comments
This upcoming recruitment drive is no different. They may have run into a problem with their plan...and that is...when all these changes came down the pike with leveling all sorts of different attributes and new tier ships...I would venture a guess that many players decided to trim down the number of characters and ships they had just to be able to keep up with it all and keep at least some of their characters and ships "cutting edge." That would have been a reasonable response.
So now, they're trying to reverse that reasonable response by getting players to generate more characters which in turn will, on occasion, generate revenue. It's a business.
Take these out of here, and stop making my Fathers house a marketplace. John 2:16
But, big shocking revelation here: Cryptic is a for-profit company. They'll try to make money sometimes. :eek:
Sure, they're trying to get new players into the game. Why the heck wouldn't they? With about half the cast of Voyager in the credits, now's the time to reach out to the world again anyways.
But seriously, they're giving existing players plenty of wiggle room here. We're getting free character slots to participate (that's right, something for free that's usually a C-Store purchase - so no cash grab of 'pay to join the fun!' there), increased rewards, more content in and updates to the old story missions, and a selection of account-wide bonuses. This all sounds like a good deal. Is it going to be a huge benefit to existing players? Probably not, but that's ok with me. Sometimes they'll do stuff to focus on new players, other times on existing ones. Either way, this new thing's going to benefit everyone in some form.
So let's hold off on crying foul, eh? Not every single action of Cryptic deserves the kind of instant-hate that's thrown at them. This, dare I say it, sounds like a good thing so far.
Suggesting negative things that aren't in the blog helps nobody.
By the same token, suggesting positive things that aren't in the blog is equally unhelpful.
Both sides of the argument need to wait for Cryptic to release more information. Until then, it's all just blind speculation.
Free Tibet!
Thing is, it will consume quite a lot of time, and I do not like to see that go to waste, if you get my point.
What ideas would you like, story wise?
Gameplay wise?
Otherwise?
Bear 2 things in mind: this is a GAME, which needs balance, and the Borg already around can be used as template.
Yes, the Borg have been toned down extremely, and revamped to give us a "fighting chance" in STV, keeping them as they were intended at first became VERY fast a problem.
The Borg were simplty invincible at first, GOD I loved them for so many a reason, not the invincible part, but they were bloody Cybergods.
But since, if I am not mistaken, Unimatrix0 they lost quite a bit of their power.
Still, the Borg can very much be a viable player race, IMHO.
Within 6 months we've had r&d and the upgrade system, the equivilent of 3 spec trees, t5u and t6 ships, intel and command ships, 2 lockboxs and 2 t6 promos, a story arc mostly filled by patrols and I'm probably missing other negative aspects too like a reputation to grind.
All this has taken it's toll with one thing after another after another. PVP seems to die more each change which seems impossible given it died a long time ago but Cryptic finds a way to kill it off anyway. The marks for bonus dill fell foul of a stealth nerf and Cryptic's had more blunders like the bug promo which have not done it much service.
True we've had the omega minigame/anniversary taking a huge burden off the upgrade system and the story of DR had it's moments but that's it really that.
Now this....
I don't think I can speak for new players because I've played the game and generally kept up with the grind and made the game work for me but the big point is I've had 5 years of Cryptic. A newcomer may well have a different opinion but if I had to imagine myself being new I'd get up to lv50 and think there's way too much grind, not enough content to keep me entertained or compete vs the vast amount of p2w content. Thing is Cryptic may well have taken some money from me by then or another player might be quite happy to be nickled and dimed so really I can't say if this would work to Cryptic's benefit and the community's.
As for old players (and new ones)...I guess we need more details. If the amount of dil per kill is so low it's not enough to make it worth while or it only become worthwhile if we grind a new character to level 50 then it's not worth the time or effort. They'll get what they want for their old characters like traits and go back to working on their old characters.
I don't like to prejudge but I've come to expect the worst from Cryptic and evnesupposed good things happening in STO I look for the real/bad reason and signs of the game failing.
I'll cheer for it when they give me either:
a) a way to get my accolades and one-time rewards that are no longer available from my old toon to this free character slot
- or -
b) a way to tag my existing character that has those old things as a "Delta Recruit."
Because otherwise both the old characters and the new one is going to be missing something.
A Borg Collective faction will never happen. You would have absolutely no control over your character. A Borg Cooperative faction or some other Liberated Borg faction could work.
Old things vanish, new things take their place.
I guess, we'll have to follow them, OR seek a new game.
I am more than welcoming this all...
Still, I pray for a playable Borg race. XD
There are people who, if Cryptic burned down their house, would thank them for doing a good job.
Both extremes are equally worthless
Free Tibet!
No, there really isn't. So many of you are just so mired in your ways of spewing hate-filled bile about the company that anyone who doesn't is either "apologist" or "CDF".
The last the KDF and Roms need are even more casual fed tourists mucking up our factions
I've only got the one, but I'm not very creative.
The Borg Cooperative is openly hostile to the Borg Collective, is not hostile to either of the three current factions, AND has been shown in game to possess Borg ships. If you were going to allow playable Borg as a Borg faction they fit all the criteria and already exist in game.
In short it definitely can be done, justifying it is in fact the easiest part. The question of whether it SHOULD be done is entirely different. I am personally not in favor of a playable Borg faction as I feel they work better as villains and I'd rather not see them too demystified.
Not true at all, certainly not from my perspective. There are people at both extremes who always pop up and add their "Contribution" to every thread. Their contribution is, as you said, hate-filled bile - either about the company or about people with legitimate complaints.
Free Tibet!
I have yet to see a legitimate complaint on these boards. It's all "give me 100x the XP I can get now and everything else for free or I'll quit because you're 'money grabbing' for trying to make any money at all".
I'm on the fence as to weather I'll participate in this or not. The perks are ok, but I'm already at 9 fully leveled toons that aren't anywhere NEAR equipped yet, and getting them geared up, along with starbase upgrades are really breaking my resource collection abilities & game time each day. I honestly don't know if I can viably add a tenth character at this point. I already have about a dozen empty character slots that I picked up when the change from C store to Z store happened (since cryptic points weren't being transferred into Zen back then and had to be spent or lost) and I doubt I'll ever use them.
I can see some of Cryptics reasoning: new players ARE at a disadvantage compared to players that have been here longer, mostly owing to the insane powercreep that Cryptic executed in the past. At the same time, Cryptic can't negate the advantages the older playerbase has earned without a full scale riot in response, and probably take a massive hit on people wanting to play at all, which hurts their bottom line.
I dunno, I think Cryptic may have painted themselves into a corner at this point. I just don't see a way out.
And this is exactly the type of rhetoric that will paint you as a "CDF-er".
I raised an issue about missing Duty Officer missions. A developer saw my post, looked into the issue and it is now resolved.
But yes, you're right, that was just me being entitled and calling Cryptic money grabbers, wasn't it?
Free Tibet!
And I never saw that, probably because there were too many of the overly entitled folks who think the game should be tailor made only for them and those who think just like them complaining about EVERYTHING.
there is no amount of enticements cryptic could offer to make me give up anything I already have, I have played too darn hard for so long to get it.
not even for unlimited dilithium refinement, unlimited EC cap, unlimited ship slots and a 100% gurentee that all the bugs would be fixed by the end of the week.
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.
That aside, alts are in a strange place now. One can argue that they are too much trouble with spec points --- and that is pretty legit; its nearly impossible for a normal human to have more than 2, maybe 3 toons with enough spec points to be on-par. But there is an interesting thing ... crafted gear being account bound, your weapons, potentially 2 consoles, potentially a couple of other items (engine, for example, since most engines provide little to no real benefits), and so on can be shared, upgrade once, use many times... meh. There are reasons to have a bunch of alts, and reasons not to, its a choice. Ive cut way back, only 3 of my chars are really progressing since DR, maybe 4 now.
The recruitment drive is a good thing *IFF* it delivers what it is supposed to deliver. The idea is to bring in new players and get them up to speed. If that succeeds, that will be great for the game... more people is good.
If all the recruitment does is cause existing players to roll new characters, that is not so good. It accomplishes nothing at all. It sounds like there may be some new cool things to do along the way, so that is nice, but having just made a new one during the XP weekend (level 52 now) I am not super keyed up about rolling more. For existing players, it sounds like a nice fun event but more of a distraction than progress. Those that love alts, have them already, for the most part, and the majority of players don't have the time for more esp with the spec point issue.
I will roll out my last 2 for the event. How many levels they get... is another story. If nothing else, that is 2 more dil farmers
Some games offer leveling contests that can be fun... minor rewards or recognition for who can go from 0-max the fastest. This is not really helpful to the "lets get more new faces" concept, but it would have been a fun add on to the even, because you KNOW a bunch of existing players are gonna re-roll for it anyway.
Total BS. You can hit L50 before the DS9 storyline is over. Thats with normal game play. During this event there will be an XP boost in effect. The boost will scale up as more Delta Recruits play the various storylines.
The "race" should be hostile to all factions (logical), and thus have a really hard time surviving.
In comes technology (they ARE Borg) that grants them a certain survivability, but balanced.
Perhaps these new Borg are less destructive, far more friven to assimilate 9which would be VERY lgical: Wolf 359 should have been done differently: instead of destroying 40'ish ships, try to ASSIMILATE them all at once: a Cube has appx. 100.000 Drones, can transport a 1000 drones in one time: drain each ship of shields, then throw 500 to 1000 drones to each Fed vessel... outcome clearly quite different, nea? IMHO THAT would be the true Borg way as per they contantly say: "We will add your distinctiveness to our own" rather than "We will blow a hole in your pathetic vessel").
Just an idea for one from the top of my mind.
But the Borg can have a pleiade of approaches when it comes to storytelling...
As for ships, logically they would be restricted to a few ships, maybe they will fly the first 30, 40 levels in an technology wise upgradeable Scout vessel, with a few weapons that can be also somewhat upgraded to match balance to the other ships.
Spheres and Cubes would be a no-no, logically.
But there are ways to work around this.
DOffs: Logically: a Drone is versatile, thus each station would be a versitile station with versatile DOffs.
Start-off: we begin the story with a small movie, where a Scout ship is lost on some deserted planet.
You are the only survivor, looking to be reinserted into the Collective.
As you go, you learn that the collective is not "right" in their doings, assimilation is far more important than destruction.
One cannot assimilate what is dead, correct?
And so the story begins: you manage to get your half gone Scout ship working, or you manage to transport onto an overflying satellite looking for ores, whatever, you assimilate this probe, and there the story of you begins...
Merely a few things directly from the top of my mind...
There are just as much possibilities as there are ideas.
My kneejerk reaction to this first blog is not just that I'd have to roll up another alt but actually invest in it long term for these parallel story arcs. And if this becomes a pattern.
That means all our pre-DR toons couldn't participate in this new content. And with each new variation of Delta Recruits we leave still more of our oldest toons behind, the ones I've already invested in so heavily. My choice then is ignore all new content that works this way, basically sidelining me from it, or slowly abandon my characters for new ones which will be nowhere near as well kitted.
I spent five years kitting them out. I'm not going to repeat that every time there is a new Delta Recruits-type event.
So on the positive side, I like the idea of new parallel content. I just don't want it used as an excuse to force me to abandon or at least sideline older toons. Because that's not how I will respond.
It's to see if this will be a trend, that is what I will be watching for.
Who would play Star Trek Online if he hasn't already ground 300 days and spend Zen worth thousand dollars and needs to justify his expenses in time and money?
:P
For me, it's not so much a problem with giving up what I have, it's that multiple captains are a negative in today's post-DR world.
I'm not a member of the church of the One True Main. I don't want to be one either, but DR is continually ringing my doorbell at 7am on weekends asking if I'd like a pamphlet that will save me from my evil alting ways.
Cryptic will never create a hostile faction due to the creation of the Romulan Republic instead of using the Romulan Star Empire. If Cryptic creates a Borg faction, then it will be some liberated borg faction where they have to ally themselves with the Federation or Klingon Empire and get along with everyone at endgame.
It's bad for PVP, it's bad story wise (no one would accept a "Borg Faction" aligned with either Feds or Klingons).
Aside, Feds and Klings still are hostile towards one another, why not have a third hostile to all faction?
ANY clue how many folks would love to play a Borg, even if it is "slightly" different in version?
Food for thought.