Not everyone can do a elite? Not everyone can do a advanced even
This is true. However anyone reading what I post with half a bit of intelligence can go to the exchange and notice what those boxes sell for on say a busy weekend.
Or you could sell your giant hordes of items and allow prices to go down.
It's not like you need tens of billions of EC. Ever. You're just being miserly.
First you have no idea what I need. lol My 20+ well geared toons need resources.
Second, I didn't get that horde of stuff by wishing it into existence. I also didn't get it by spending real world $. I got it by SPENDING EC to buy either keys or those items from other people selling them. They got EC for them. I'm not hording the EC am I ? Also for the record I use my stash.. I give my stash away... I sell a few... I help friends. I earned them I get to do what I want with em. lol
If I dumped them on the market for 25% of there value... you wouldn't be very likely to get any of it anyway. Before you would even notice someone like me would see them and be more then happy to take them off my hands at those prices and horde them themselves or turn them around for a profit at the proper price. My friend as much as I have I know exactly how much I don't have the power to effect the market for more then an hour or so tops. Anyone that gets good at working the market realizes that fast... even things that don't seem to move fast, in order to really work that market takes TONS of resources and you can't hold it for more then an hour or two tops before others see what your doing and get in on it.
The only way to work the market with success really... and people might not get this... is to drive prices DOWN DOWN DOWN. Its true... if you don't believe me go and look at Z-Particles right now. I point those out because for the past week they have been under manipulation. I tried a few posts ago to enlighten people in regards to becoming space rich. To get rich having something that is high volume like that sitting 30% undervalue is GOOD. I am also NOT talking about just buying and waiting for the price to go back from 22k to 40k and profit. No no people (including me honesty) are making millions every day right now by keeping them low... which is why someone has posted 20+ stacks of 999 at a lowish price (most people don't want to buy 18x20 million ec worth of Z parts so the price goes down). Keeping that price down buying in numbers when people dump there stashes and moving the price just a few K at a time makes big profits. If you don't get it its ok... most people don't understand how keeping something undervalued can make you money... which is likely why everyone isn't shorting the stack exchange.
Is the kemocite-laced weapons skill actually any good, and does it share a cd with any other tac skills?
1) Yes. Probably the only worthwhile Tac Ensign ability, particularly if you have two Tac stations. As noted, there are builds (particularly FAW based) where you will see a substantial DPS improvement from this one ability.
Is the kemocite-laced weapons skill actually any good, and does it share a cd with any other tac skills?
1) Yes. Probably the only worthwhile Tac Ensign ability, particularly if you have two Tac stations. As noted, there are builds (particularly FAW based) where you will see a substantial DPS improvement from this one ability.
2) No.
You get to squeeze more from Kemo with Torps, 100% proc. Beams not so much but icing. The advantage of kemo is if you are running a cookie cutter full beam build vs other buffs, it is easy to see the damage gain compared to the likes of Focused assault whose DPS contribution is diluted with your beam damage.
Is the kemocite-laced weapons skill actually any good, and does it share a cd with any other tac skills?
1) Yes. Probably the only worthwhile Tac Ensign ability, particularly if you have two Tac stations. As noted, there are builds (particularly FAW based) where you will see a substantial DPS improvement from this one ability.
Keys are up, Prices on the exchange are up, dil exchange is up, i think cryptic just changed their business model and said TRIBBLE the whiners, lets no longer cater to them.
Yeah, they changed the business model to "Paradox". Zen, if you buy it for $$$ is pretty much worthless other than for unlocking mediocre zen-store ships with it. Well, 30 bucks per ship is almost decent price. Everything else is overpriced because a lot of stuff still requires way too much grinding, something that a paying customer does not want.
Then there are lockbox keys and those are way overpriced considering what the chances are to drop a ship or some good piece of gear. You can easily end up paying over 500 bucks for a ship you're really after because there is no official documented numbers what the drop percentage really is on opening lockboxes or R&D boxes when there's a promo running. It has never been released and it never will be because casual lockbox openers like me would probably stop wasting resources on them. And even if it was documented, it's not a guaranteed percentage because we've seen how good Cryptic is with calculating percentage on everything in game.
You can't buy XP boxes that would speed up the progress, level you up faster, you can't buy specialization points. You can buy are some boosters that are useless in the new xp-frenzy model and they are overpriced, they are worth 10 times less than they are listed. They had meaning pre-DR now they are useless.
People who want to spend money don't want to grind. If I give you 120 dollars on a micro transaction for a ship bundle, i don't want broken ships that i have to fix by playing 4 or more hours per ship per character. This is why paying people are leaving the game, plus all the bugs and stuff that is annoying but can be tolerated. (btw. dyson ground battlezone and zaria still crash after 6 fixes and now 5 months running bug). If I pay, i don't want to spend time grinding to make it work. It's like buying an overpriced car then having to spend a month to assemble it at home. What kind of reasoning is this? Maybe this is reasonable, maybe i'm stupid or lazy, maybe customers should be forced to assemble the stuff they buy. I don't know. Am I?
At the current exchange rate of dilithium to zen player earns about $1.05 per hour of play. Good economic model for a game that wants real money would be to make it worth my while to shave off each hour of gameplay by half or even quarter of that amount. Then maybe they'd get more dollars and less hours spent on their products. And the suits care about dollars more than hours, at least they used to.
And it's suits who decide how long the game keeps running, not us crying here or these overworked devs.
In other words, it is convenient either to spend a lot of money or not to spend a dime at all.
I agree with you but consider that they care a lot also about metrics.
Trying to corner a market in sto is a pretty good way to turn a small fortune into a smaller fortune.
For nearly every item in sto, there is no limit to its supply, and no way of knowing whether the market contains a hidden supply.
People end up throwing good money after bad trying to defend a higher market price fix. In the long run it benefits people who sell to the market cornerer, and hurts him.
People forget that the market price is set by supply and demand - the cost of creating new items, be it from crafting or opening lock boxes, vs the demand for the item at a given price point.
If you try to defend a market price fix that is significantly higher than the cost to produce an item, producers will happily sell it to you, or undercut you to sell it to others. Forever, as long as it costs less to make than what you're willing to pay to defend your price fix.
When you run out of money, they'll keep making the thing until it stops being super profitable to do. And you end up stuck with a lot of an item that you have to sell at a loss if you want to sell at all. This loss is your wealth being transferred to people who sold their items at the higher price you paid to defend.
That's one half of the supply problem, the unlimited supply part, the other is the hidden supply part. One part of having a diverse space portfolio is having a decent basket of valuable and easily sold stuff. One reason for this is that it allows you to profit at the expense of market fixers. They pay their money to drive up the price of some item, you get to sell yours at the higher price.
Looking on the exchange and seeing "wow there are only four of these things listed at realistic prices, if I bought all 4, I could hike up the price and relist them," is a mistake. There may only be 4 on the exchange, but there may also be another ten or twenty sitting in people's banks. And of course, if the price gets too high vs the cost of production, people will keep producing the thing until it balances out.
The prices of items are mainly changed by things out of the players control in the game. A new ship comes out that affects demand for an old ship, a promo makes it better to buy promo packs and sell for ec than to buy keys, a new box comes out with more generous loot, so on and so forth.
People see big numbers and lose their minds. If you take the time to figure out the cost of producing most expensive items, it becomes clear that without those big prices, nobody would bother doing it. People don't set out to lose money on purpose.
This is by far the most insightful and practical post I've seen made on the forums about STO's economy in recent memory. These are absolutely critical concepts for poorer folks, who are trying to become space rich, to understand and leverage. I should know, I'm poor.
I disagree with the analysis and suggest that most of these super rare items are price controlled entirely. The reason is that there is not really an unlimited supply. Or lets put it this way - the supply that is available to be put on the exchange is small enough to manage and control for people who have billions of EC.
I take the leech and this kemosabi garbage as examples. Only a small handful arrive on the market each day - and in the case of the leech it may be actually zero to 1 or 2. Someone, or a group, can easily prevent any leech from existing on the market for less than 100 million.
And the same is true for a number of other super rare items.
From my point of view I really don't care. If I ever feel the need for a new toy I will get it in the first few days of a new box. But these constant arguments that it's "all just supply and demand maaan" are complete bs. The exchange is one big antitrust action in the waiting.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
If your grasp of economics is any indication then our public education system has indeed failed us miserably.
good one. i stand by my statement.
and p.s. it's an artificial system with a very limited supply...
in other words a fairly poor and childish market simulator.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
eh, what. I looked at leeches this morning. I believe the price was 120 million?
I am only poor in EC in comparison to dilithium. I could liquidate my dilithium and zen now for around 2 billion. I just don't think this is a fair exchange so I wont do it. For the time component something more like 10 billion feels more appropriate.
I have no interest in playing stock market simulator or becoming a future business leader of america.
but I understand the desire not to be seen as a price fixer.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
And when the metrics (or PvP crybabies) demand it, it will get nerfed as everything does in this game.It's the only real reason I didn't waste my EC to get it on all my toons after I accidentally tripped it when i opened the lockbox... seriously, i was jonesing for doffs or whatever, then this kemo thing falls out. DPS increase is sizeable but since I don't run elite space queues, it just sits there.
Good luck blaming the about 15-20 of us left. You blame us for nerfs, but when science captains use 3 deflector doffs, no one goes, hey, thanks for getting those fixed. Same goes for Gravity Well 2 and 3, and Tykens 2 and 3.
eh, what. I looked at leeches this morning. I believe the price was 120 million?
I am only poor in EC in comparison to dilithium. I could liquidate my dilithium and zen now for around 2 billion. I just don't think this is a fair exchange so I wont do it. For the time component something more like 10 billion feels more appropriate.
I have no interest in playing stock market simulator or becoming a future business leader of america.
but I understand the desire not to be seen as a price fixer.
This is one of the silliest posts I have ever seen.
Firstly no their is no evil cartel inflating prices. Are you telling us that if someone gifted you a key and you happened to pull a leech you didn't need you would happily sell it for 2 million EC ? give me a break you would post it 1 million less then the cheapest one on the exchange just like everyone else. lol
Same thing happens in real life.... if you had a Card collection you bought when you where a kid. When going through them as an adult if you found a rare one that you where told was worth a couple grand.... are you telling me you would sell it to someone for the face value on the card because it just seems fair.
The EC is worth what it is because it is worth what it is. If it was easy for you to rack up millions of EC you would have. It is far easier to rack up tons of Dilithium... Creating more pylons is hardly hard work.
That ignores the entire point. Sure I would post it for 118 million or whatever. However there is no downward pressure of 1000's of people doing so with the leech. As I said, it's a couple a day, which the price fixer continue to buy if they are posted for any significant discount. The pressure from the lack of supply, from the fixers, and from advertising threads like this is all up up up. In fact I'll wager this thread has bumped your prices on the kemocite maybe 10 to 20 million in the last couple of days.
It was 2 lockbox replays ago I recall very clearly hoping the leech would go under 30 million to buy for the last character that needed it. It only got to like 35 million so I didn't buy, and probably still wouldn't. I'm a miser. I don't remember the price the last lockbox replay - maybe 70's or 80's. Too much for me anyway. The supply is very limited and very easily controlled.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Kemo has remained steady... this thread or no other thread will really effect that. What will effect it would be large numbers of "OH my Kemo is the best ever" posted in game chat channels. Sure if someone in the DPS channel starts screaming how great it is some will sell. That has already happened though. The price was up long before this thread.
In the case of KEMO it won't really go any higher then it is now... and I don't honestly see it dropping much at all either.
That has to do with the "supply" as you have mentioned. Things always come down to supply. Kemo has an advantage over the leech console, it comes from a box that isn't complete junk. (at least not yet).
What determines price on the uber expensive traits... and now books... and ships. Really comes down to where they come from. The leech console for instance comes from the Tal Shier box... which is 100% a looser box. Those of us that open lots and lots of boxes, pay attention to the market and the box. In the case of a box like that... it will not pay opening them right now, the leech is a 2% pull, Helmsman is 0.5%... the destroyer doesn't sell well, or for more then the cost of a lobi ship, the box has NO R&D pulls... and 50% of the time will give you one of 2 mini packs which have a value of 3.5% of a key. So its a looser... and as such is a true super gamble... meaning the odd rich dude (those of us that open the 100+ boxes a day) May open a handful a month as an honest TRIBBLE shoot.
So leech will never ever be inexpensive because the only way to get one is to roll on average 50 Tal boxes or 190 Million worth... which means even if you pull one leech in 50 boxes, honestly you have still lost EC.
In the case of the Xindi Books... they come out of a box that does drop R&D packs, and they have a 50% chance to drop combos of the mini/full size R&D packs... which in comparison are worth 75% the cost of the keys compared to the 3.5% the Tal box drops 50% of the time. On top of that the boosters it drops are worth more, the ship it drops still sells well (as in you don't have to sit on it for a month cause no one wants it)and it drops Rich D tickets for your Pylon toons.
PS Sheldon
I have said for awhile what Cryptic needs to do is REMOVE all lockboxes more then 3 or 4 back... and roll all their rewards into ONE constantly updated Obsolete Gold pack. (ok bad name... more something like Surplus War Supply Lockbox).
This would mean traits like Helmsman, Wing commander, Biotech Patch, Inspirational leader, consoles like leech and subjump... ect ect would have a more consistent supply.
They could keep the % chance for ships the same... and just have the box drop a Bound GOLD super box that when you open it let you choose one of the Obsolete Lockboxships, which themselves would not be bound. They could do the same thing with the Obsolete Space/Ground traits... have a Bound Gold Surplus Space Trait and a Surplus Ground Trait box, you open them and choose ANY of the old traits.
That would fix the supply on the really old stuff. Guess what it would also somewhat fix what you are worried about (people hording things) if that box existed it would be illogical to hold onto massive stacks of anything as the supply would rocket up when they got old enough to hit the "Surplus Box". As it is now old doff packs/Traits ect are safe sound investments because Cryptic can't help themselves, they always release better and better boxes with more and more and more % of good goodies... which makes the old boxes unattractive to all but the super gambler hoping for like in the Tal S box case that ONE good pull. (why would anyone sell those cheep when they are that hard to get)
I hear what your saying and this post does make a lot of sense to me. It just bothers me that in around 1 years time the leech has tripled in price (from what was then considered very expensive already). Just doesn't smell right to me. The only other explanation would be that no one wants it anymore/already have it - the demand is way down. Maybe this is so, but I can imagine lots of people would still like one for new characters etc...
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Is the kemocite-laced weapons skill actually any good, and does it share a cd with any other tac skills?
1) Yes. Probably the only worthwhile Tac Ensign ability, particularly if you have two Tac stations. As noted, there are builds (particularly FAW based) where you will see a substantial DPS improvement from this one ability.
2) No.
Thanks for answering.
Just a note:
I experimented with my build (which is light on Tac slots) and I did better DPS switching things around.
With only one Lt. Cmdr Tac station (and no other Tacs), I did 38k with:
Ensign Kemocite, Lt. APB, Lt. Cmdr BFAW.
I actually improved that to 41k+ with:
Ensign BFAW, Lt. APB, Lt. Cmdr Kemocite.
It makes some sense because BFAW is largely something I use as a carrier for other procs (and the simplest BFAW nerf I could see would be if they disabled procs from triggering while BFAW is active, at least on non-target enemies).
Kemocite + BFAW isw a really powerful combo largely because of the number of Kemocite procs. I'd focus on getting Kemocite at a higher rank if you can't afford the Ensign version.
If you have limited Tac slots, there are fine Ensign abilities. If you have three Tac stations, that's where ensign Kemocite becomes almost mandatory to avoid wasting DPS potential. You'll do fine with TT and BFAW Ensign and a higher rank Kemocite IF you can save more that way.
What happens is, the more Tac stations your ship has, the fewer decent options you have for a Tac ensign slot.
Comments
This is true.
First you have no idea what I need. lol My 20+ well geared toons need resources.
Second, I didn't get that horde of stuff by wishing it into existence. I also didn't get it by spending real world $. I got it by SPENDING EC to buy either keys or those items from other people selling them. They got EC for them. I'm not hording the EC am I ?
If I dumped them on the market for 25% of there value... you wouldn't be very likely to get any of it anyway. Before you would even notice someone like me would see them and be more then happy to take them off my hands at those prices and horde them themselves or turn them around for a profit at the proper price. My friend as much as I have I know exactly how much I don't have the power to effect the market for more then an hour or so tops.
The only way to work the market with success really... and people might not get this... is to drive prices DOWN DOWN DOWN. Its true... if you don't believe me go and look at Z-Particles right now. I point those out because for the past week they have been under manipulation. I tried a few posts ago to enlighten people in regards to becoming space rich. To get rich having something that is high volume like that sitting 30% undervalue is GOOD. I am also NOT talking about just buying and waiting for the price to go back from 22k to 40k and profit. No no people (including me honesty) are making millions every day right now by keeping them low... which is why someone has posted 20+ stacks of 999 at a lowish price (most people don't want to buy 18x20 million ec worth of Z parts so the price goes down). Keeping that price down buying in numbers when people dump there stashes and moving the price just a few K at a time makes big profits. If you don't get it its ok... most people don't understand how keeping something undervalued can make you money... which is likely why everyone isn't shorting the stack exchange.
1) Yes. Probably the only worthwhile Tac Ensign ability, particularly if you have two Tac stations. As noted, there are builds (particularly FAW based) where you will see a substantial DPS improvement from this one ability.
2) No.
You get to squeeze more from Kemo with Torps, 100% proc. Beams not so much but icing. The advantage of kemo is if you are running a cookie cutter full beam build vs other buffs, it is easy to see the damage gain compared to the likes of Focused assault whose DPS contribution is diluted with your beam damage.
Thanks for answering.
In other words, it is convenient either to spend a lot of money or not to spend a dime at all.
I agree with you but consider that they care a lot also about metrics.
I take the leech and this kemosabi garbage as examples. Only a small handful arrive on the market each day - and in the case of the leech it may be actually zero to 1 or 2. Someone, or a group, can easily prevent any leech from existing on the market for less than 100 million.
And the same is true for a number of other super rare items.
From my point of view I really don't care. If I ever feel the need for a new toy I will get it in the first few days of a new box. But these constant arguments that it's "all just supply and demand maaan" are complete bs. The exchange is one big antitrust action in the waiting.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
If your grasp of economics is any indication then our public education system has indeed failed us miserably.
Most unexpectedly, this turned into a flame-fest! Closed it goes!. /sigh What flamefestery is this? pwlaughingtrendy
good one. i stand by my statement.
and p.s. it's an artificial system with a very limited supply...
in other words a fairly poor and childish market simulator.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
I am only poor in EC in comparison to dilithium. I could liquidate my dilithium and zen now for around 2 billion. I just don't think this is a fair exchange so I wont do it. For the time component something more like 10 billion feels more appropriate.
I have no interest in playing stock market simulator or becoming a future business leader of america.
but I understand the desire not to be seen as a price fixer.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Most unexpectedly, this turned into a flame-fest! Closed it goes!. /sigh What flamefestery is this? pwlaughingtrendy
Most unexpectedly, this turned into a flame-fest! Closed it goes!. /sigh What flamefestery is this? pwlaughingtrendy
Xindi-Earth, and it's not a weapon. It's a tactical boff skill that can be slotted in Ensign, Lt. and Lt. Commander.
Good luck blaming the about 15-20 of us left. You blame us for nerfs, but when science captains use 3 deflector doffs, no one goes, hey, thanks for getting those fixed. Same goes for Gravity Well 2 and 3, and Tykens 2 and 3.
This is one of the silliest posts I have ever seen.
Firstly no their is no evil cartel inflating prices. Are you telling us that if someone gifted you a key and you happened to pull a leech you didn't need you would happily sell it for 2 million EC ? give me a break you would post it 1 million less then the cheapest one on the exchange just like everyone else. lol
Same thing happens in real life.... if you had a Card collection you bought when you where a kid. When going through them as an adult if you found a rare one that you where told was worth a couple grand.... are you telling me you would sell it to someone for the face value on the card because it just seems fair.
The EC is worth what it is because it is worth what it is. If it was easy for you to rack up millions of EC you would have. It is far easier to rack up tons of Dilithium... Creating more pylons is hardly hard work.
It was 2 lockbox replays ago I recall very clearly hoping the leech would go under 30 million to buy for the last character that needed it. It only got to like 35 million so I didn't buy, and probably still wouldn't. I'm a miser. I don't remember the price the last lockbox replay - maybe 70's or 80's. Too much for me anyway. The supply is very limited and very easily controlled.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
In the case of KEMO it won't really go any higher then it is now... and I don't honestly see it dropping much at all either.
That has to do with the "supply" as you have mentioned. Things always come down to supply. Kemo has an advantage over the leech console, it comes from a box that isn't complete junk. (at least not yet).
What determines price on the uber expensive traits... and now books... and ships. Really comes down to where they come from. The leech console for instance comes from the Tal Shier box... which is 100% a looser box. Those of us that open lots and lots of boxes, pay attention to the market and the box. In the case of a box like that... it will not pay opening them right now, the leech is a 2% pull, Helmsman is 0.5%... the destroyer doesn't sell well, or for more then the cost of a lobi ship, the box has NO R&D pulls... and 50% of the time will give you one of 2 mini packs which have a value of 3.5% of a key. So its a looser... and as such is a true super gamble... meaning the odd rich dude (those of us that open the 100+ boxes a day) May open a handful a month as an honest TRIBBLE shoot.
So leech will never ever be inexpensive because the only way to get one is to roll on average 50 Tal boxes or 190 Million worth... which means even if you pull one leech in 50 boxes, honestly you have still lost EC.
In the case of the Xindi Books... they come out of a box that does drop R&D packs, and they have a 50% chance to drop combos of the mini/full size R&D packs... which in comparison are worth 75% the cost of the keys compared to the 3.5% the Tal box drops 50% of the time. On top of that the boosters it drops are worth more, the ship it drops still sells well (as in you don't have to sit on it for a month cause no one wants it)and it drops Rich D tickets for your Pylon toons.
PS Sheldon
I have said for awhile what Cryptic needs to do is REMOVE all lockboxes more then 3 or 4 back... and roll all their rewards into ONE constantly updated Obsolete Gold pack. (ok bad name... more something like Surplus War Supply Lockbox).
This would mean traits like Helmsman, Wing commander, Biotech Patch, Inspirational leader, consoles like leech and subjump... ect ect would have a more consistent supply.
They could keep the % chance for ships the same... and just have the box drop a Bound GOLD super box that when you open it let you choose one of the Obsolete Lockboxships, which themselves would not be bound. They could do the same thing with the Obsolete Space/Ground traits... have a Bound Gold Surplus Space Trait and a Surplus Ground Trait box, you open them and choose ANY of the old traits.
That would fix the supply on the really old stuff. Guess what it would also somewhat fix what you are worried about (people hording things) if that box existed it would be illogical to hold onto massive stacks of anything as the supply would rocket up when they got old enough to hit the "Surplus Box". As it is now old doff packs/Traits ect are safe sound investments because Cryptic can't help themselves, they always release better and better boxes with more and more and more % of good goodies... which makes the old boxes unattractive to all but the super gambler hoping for like in the Tal S box case that ONE good pull. (why would anyone sell those cheep when they are that hard to get)
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Just a note:
I experimented with my build (which is light on Tac slots) and I did better DPS switching things around.
With only one Lt. Cmdr Tac station (and no other Tacs), I did 38k with:
Ensign Kemocite, Lt. APB, Lt. Cmdr BFAW.
I actually improved that to 41k+ with:
Ensign BFAW, Lt. APB, Lt. Cmdr Kemocite.
It makes some sense because BFAW is largely something I use as a carrier for other procs (and the simplest BFAW nerf I could see would be if they disabled procs from triggering while BFAW is active, at least on non-target enemies).
Kemocite + BFAW isw a really powerful combo largely because of the number of Kemocite procs. I'd focus on getting Kemocite at a higher rank if you can't afford the Ensign version.
If you have limited Tac slots, there are fine Ensign abilities. If you have three Tac stations, that's where ensign Kemocite becomes almost mandatory to avoid wasting DPS potential. You'll do fine with TT and BFAW Ensign and a higher rank Kemocite IF you can save more that way.
What happens is, the more Tac stations your ship has, the fewer decent options you have for a Tac ensign slot.