Player Summit Meeting: STO Ship Sales

doubleohnine

As a long standing Senator on the Casual Player's Commitee, I hereby call this meeting to order.

The topic is how we as players treat Cryptic going forward, and how to handle, and how they can make right their most recent sin of bringing in T6 ships of canon ships after already tricking us into T5U upgrades.

The very fact they just busted out with a T6 Galaxy tells us they realize they effed up with their T5 U concept. We tried telling them their new designs wouldnt sell so great vs old favorites we were willing to pay to upgrade to full T6, but they wouldnt listen. Our wallets talked, and here come the canon T6s. I for one want Al Rivera and Exec Producer whats his name to man up and write us a formal apology.

Then I want a transparency promise. We all know theyre going to T6 every canon ship they have. So just be up front with the players and POST the upgrade priority list. T5 -U just needs to die once a canon ship gets its T6. No more making T5U anything. When the T6 comes out, you give all of us the T6 ship at no further cost, since we basically paid MORE for a lesser T5U than current T6 ships fresh out of Utopia Planetia. I'll even let go of the few dollars difference more I paid for T5U on my 3 Vesta bundle ships, 1 D'deridex, and 1 Regent class, since Im getting a mostly upgraded ship in the time I wait for its full T6 upgrade availibility.

If you want to release T6 canons based on best selling, thats fair, but post the upgrade schedule and STICK to it. It will be understood that new Cryptic designs will be sprinkled in with the canon upgrades, but if the list states that the Odyssey T6 ships are ahead of the Vesta T6s, then Vestas better not come out before Odysseys, get it. We as players know ships pay the bills. Those that want to pay to keep up with stronger NPCs just want to be respected. Apologizing, and then releasing a T6 canon upgrade schedule will go A LONG way in earning back TONS of lost trust by Cryptic over the years.

And no more Fleet T6 junk. I shouldnt have to buy a NEW ship that sucks up a ship slot. How about Fleet T6 consoles instead. Some just boost hull numbers, aux power, shield power, etc, so we have the choice to beef up a ship how WE want to make up for a short coming of a Tac, Sci, or Eng based ship.

Drop prices. T5 needs to be $20 a single ship. T6 $25, and 1 fleet T6 console $5. Some may even want more than 1 T6 fleet console, now you can make $35-$40 a single T6 ship. But give us the option. Stop being greedy at $30 a T6 ship, then want more for a fleet. Bring the base price down to where it was at $25, and $50 for a 3 pack bundle and you'll get more overall upgraders.

Everyone please share what you expect from Cryptic going forward to earn your spending dollars again or if you agree with me.

And for the love of Q, put XP on levels 50-60 at pre-DR levels. Just because you guys cant release tons of expansion content like other MMOs doesnt mean you need to spread it out with grind and KILL your alt income in the process. Be reasonable with us again, or our wallets stay shut or 1 drop of cash a year.

hypl

Holy macaroons Batman! My entitlement meter just exploded! :eek:

cypherous

Well good luck with that, why give it to you for free when they can sell it to you :P

straden0

Quite a few people seem to take issue for the T5U decision. Quite a few people would have taken more of an issue had Cryptic kept on walking and said "Ok, on to the next from the get-go, just like T1-4.

Their pricing model isn't something they have particular control over, as I'm sure those figures are given to them by their overlords. (please, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)

I really dont feel they owe us an apology for trying to get paid running a business. I may not like their tactics on making said money but I do agree that these guys work hard with the little manpower and resources they have and need to make whatever coin they can.

That being said, T5U was the only way they could have handled the situation of trying to move things forward. Its just like a new dungeon coming out that adds a new tier of armor/loot/equip drops that puts your hard earned stuff from the last dungeon to shame..

I do think that the store should be limited to only cosmetics and items that can still be achieved in game with time and effort, but ships is the business and business is good.

thegrandnagus1

Here is my philosophy regarding entertainment spending:

1) Do I need the money for something else? If so, then spend it on that. If not, proceed to question #2.

2) How much time does it take me to earn the amount of money in question?

3) How much time/use will I get out of the purchase?

If I do not need the money for something else, and I will get more time/use out of the purchase than the amount of time it takes me to earn that same amount of money, I typically don't mind buying whatever it is.

coupaholic

I can't be bothered to trawl back blog posts, but I believe it was mentioned when T6 ships were first confirmed to be a thing that many ships would be upgraded to T6 and there will be fleet versions to follow.

Specifically these latest iconic ships are following the same example set out by that T6 Intrepid. So you may not have been directly told this was how things were going to break down, but there was enough information to make a reasonable assumption.

meimeitoo

doubleohnine wrote: »

And no more Fleet T6 junk. I shouldnt have to buy a NEW ship that sucks up a ship slot. How about Fleet T6 consoles instead. Some just boost hull numbers, aux power, shield power, etc, so we have the choice to beef up a ship how WE want to make up for a short coming of a Tac, Sci, or Eng based ship.

So, you want a thingy you need to stick inside a console slot, which will then give you an extra console slot!? No offensive, but that may well be the most ridiculous suggestion I've ever seen made here! :P

anodynes

meimeitoo wrote: »

So, you want a thingy you need to stick inside a console slot, which will then give you an extra console slot!? No offensive, but that may well be the most ridiculous suggestion I've ever seen made here! :P

Well, he did start off with this:

doubleohnine wrote: »

As a long standing Senator on the Casual Player's Commitee, I hereby call this meeting to order.

so it follows that dumb things would be said afterward. (This is a joke about our United States Senate, which doesn't have a great reputation at this time. If you come from a country that has a legislative body called a Senate that does have a good reputation for well-reasoned argument, I envy you.)

doubleohnine

They should have just cut straight to T6 all together. That was the best money grab option FOR them. But no, they foolishly insisted that their new designs could pay the bills going forward despite the forums and metrics I have to assume immediately telling them otherwise. Whats funny, if they even realized it, is that they disrespected their own new designs by pricing T5U canon ships as more expensive than their stuff. They wanted soo bad to push us to their new designs, when they could have had so much cash so much faster by releasing the best selling canons with T6 upgrades alongside their new T6 designs, and never released T5U to begin with. Now you have T5U owners who will dig in their heels after already paying $31+ for their favorite canon design and refuse to pay another WHOLE ship cost.

The apology is for NOT listening to their community and costing THEM money they could have made by making a better transition decision.

If I were EP, Id have permanently reset T5 single ship prices to $15 a ship, $30 3 ship bundled. First 60 days of release new T6 Canon ships are $20 a ship, $40 bundled, then go up to $25 a ship, $50 bundled. As a VERY casual spender, Id have bit on that bait had they released T6 Vestas, and get all 3 again for $40. THAT would have been effective bait. Not charging $6+ for each T5U, making my ships $31+ each, then months later expecting me to pay $30 each or $60 for ships I already own. They totally effed up this conversion and could be SWIMMING in Scrooges money bin with a more fair upgrade cost that would have caught 7 out of 10 players, instead of 1 out of 10 who arent going to pay $25+$30 lifetime per ship for the same hull design.

thecosmic1

First, it was clear that, at least, the Iconics were going to get a T6 version - that was made clear via the T6 Intrepid being released with DR. So we knew a T6 Galaxy and Defiant were going to be on the horizon at some point. The fact that it took 6 months to get the Galaxy out is the surprising thing. Most of us expected it much sooner.

And as Coupaholic pointed out, we knew T6 Fleet ships were coming since they announced T6s - it was in the Blog and FAQ. So, again, the fact that it took them 6 months to get T6F into the game is the surprising aspect of it, not that it came. Most of us expected to see them added months ago.

empireofsteve

As the leader if said committee you are here by removed as senator from said committee.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

doubleohnine

meimeitoo wrote: »

So, you want a thingy you need to stick inside a console slot, which will then give you an extra console slot!? No offensive, but that may well be the most ridiculous suggestion I've ever seen made here! :P

Huh? No. I really meant a T6 console that could only go onto a T6, and was a much powerful stat booster than any previous T5 fleet ship consoles. And offered 2 console bonuses, so if you paid for 2, you got a bonus. Id much rather work my way up to that, then deal with replacing the whole ship. Less hassle IMO. And gives customization, instead of 1 flat T6 fleet stat option.

ceekayzero

doubleohnine wrote: »

Then I want a transparency promise. We all know theyre going to T6 every canon ship they have. So just be up front with the players and POST the upgrade priority list. T5 -U just needs to die once a canon ship gets its T6. No more making T5U anything. When the T6 comes out, you give all of us the T6 ship at no further cost, since we basically paid MORE for a lesser T5U than current T6 ships fresh out of Utopia Planetia. I'll even let go of the few dollars difference more I paid for T5U on my 3 Vesta bundle ships, 1 D'deridex, and 1 Regent class, since Im getting a mostly upgraded ship in the time I wait for its full T6 upgrade availibility.

If you want to release T6 canons based on best selling, thats fair, but post the upgrade schedule and STICK to it. It will be understood that new Cryptic designs will be sprinkled in with the canon upgrades, but if the list states that the Odyssey T6 ships are ahead of the Vesta T6s, then Vestas better not come out before Odysseys, get it.

So because you paid for a T5 ship three years ago, Cryptic automatically owes you a T6 ship?

What incentive would Cryptic have to develop new costumes or boff/console layouts or anything if they had to give significant chunks of new stuff away? Like it or not, Cryptic makes ships to pay the bills. So they have to keep making new and appealing ships that people will buy, not get for free.

And then requiring Cryptic to stick to a public schedule just strikes me as foolish. Sometimes plans change. It stinks, but what are you going to do about it?

crusader2007

I'd vote straight for this guy to be the next addition to Rura Penthe

A wanna be self proclaimed "Senator"...needs to reflect humility on such a vacation spot :cool:

empireofsteve

valoreah wrote: »

Yeah I vote for impeachment as well.

Do we have any others as well?

doubleohnine

ceekayzero wrote: »

So because you paid for a T5 ship three years ago, Cryptic automatically owes you a T6 ship?

What incentive would Cryptic have to develop new costumes or boff/console layouts or anything if they had to give significant chunks of new stuff away? Like it or not, Cryptic makes ships to pay the bills. So they have to keep making new and appealing ships that people will buy, not get for free.

And then requiring Cryptic to stick to a public schedule just strikes me as foolish. Sometimes plans change. It stinks, but what are you going to do about it?

They wanted to milk us for more money for a ship we already owned. We said we wanted FULL T6. They said NO, T5fU instead. We begrudgingly paid, but WE PAID. NOW it SEEMS EVERY ship will get T6 in time. As a reward to those who PAID into their expansion bank account, we should get what we asked for originally. Its not our fault they goofed up and could have had MORE money per ship by just giving us what we wanted for our money. Those that didnt upgrade, let them pay for the whole ship again at $30 more. Those who kept them in business after the labor cost they invested to make DR should be rewarded. I mentioned the better bait earlier, its not our fault they werent smart enough to price their efforts to grab a bigger net of fish.

And Im not saying they have to put DATES on the ship schedule. They already know the order they want to release T6 canons. Im sure its already based on best selling ships. So just TELL US which canons and their bundles are coming next and in what order. If my T6 Vestas, and Regent arent in the top 5 or whatever, ok, but at least I'll know after X T6s are released, MY favorite is next. Would be better to give canon lovers a good sense of when to expect their T6, then let them go away forever because they have no idea when and if their favorite gets a T6. Im frankly shocked the Galaxy got T6d before the Sovereign or Scimitar or Odyssey or Vesta. I'll wait my turn, but Id like to know when my turn is roughly, in exchange for biting on their T5U hook that they're eventually making obsolete.

bluegeek

Dear OP,

Let me assure you that you simply do not speak for all of the other players.

Let me also remind you of the Frequently Created Threads where we warn players that making demands can get your thread closed.

Likewise, insulting the devs can also get your thread closed. By implying that they have cheated you and intentionally 'sinned' against you, you are definitely insulting them.

Finally, threads which incite a forum disturbance fall within the rules against trolling.

You are more than welcome to leave personal feedback about your dissatisfaction with items for sale, pricing, or anything else. But please do not make demands, insult the devs, or try to speak for the community.

This should not come as a surprise. Thread closed.