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...
Its like I just explained. Its simple... it ONLY comes from a really crumb bum of a box. The Tal box is GOING to take your money. Its not a question. Unless you get stupid lucky and pull a leech in a couple boxes. (which over time of course will not happen... over time you will get 2 for every 100 Tal boxes.)
I doubt anyone out there has a ton in the bank either. Sure perhaps a handful... I admit I have a handful of them but I hold them for myself. I just bothered leveling up one of my delta toons recently, and in those cases I have what I need in a bank. There isn't anyone manipulating those trust me.... think about why would ANYONE in there right mind open the Tal Shier box, other then they want perhaps to get a leech console.
It really is simple supply and demand. They where cheaper a year ago... because the people like me back then still opened Tal S lockboxes. Cause it was worth it. Back when Keys didn't cost 3.8 million. Think about it what did a key cost a year ago ? lol At 3.8 million I HAVE to be able to know I'm going to recoup a good junk of that EC. Opening 20 boxes these days costs you 70-75 Million EC.
If I open 20 of Hell box box... I am likely going to get... 4-5 Doff Missions (which I can sell for 3.5-4mil each) (3-4 R&D packs which are worth 2-5 million each to me depending if I open them or the sell price is up at that moment) 2-3 doff packs worth 3/4 the cost of a key and then some random traits and boosters which won't be worth a lot and min 80 lobi. That in my mind is not a bad bet... at least I haven't burned the entire 75 mil. Yes that is a loss no doubt... but at least I recouped 40-60 million of the 75 I spent on the keys. Get a little lucky pull a ship or wait for an XP weekend to sell the doff missions at 6mil instead of 3... and I am making EC. (The Xindi-T box that the Kemo book comes from... is also one you can open and recoup most of your EC most of the time)
The Tal box... you spend 75 mil... 98% chance you are going to loose 70 million.
So no one opens them... meaning ZERO new supply. The only new leeches you find on the exchange... are either someones 1 off lucky throw of the dice. (sometimes when I'm bored I'll open 10 Tal or something... and almost always go AW that was dumb lol) So if you see them hit the exchange... its cause someone found one they forgot about in a bank or a return mail... or found themselves in need of some EC and sold one off.
The situation does suck... but it is hardly some player cartel. Its simply Cryptics terrible lockbox planning. I hope someone over there heres my "Surplus Wars supply box" idea and puts it in game. It would make them a ton of money... and the poor guys in the game can get giddy cause there are some Horders that will be livid that there billions of stashed goods will drop in value. (not I could care less... I really do hold it for myself, or the odd time I feel like helping someone out lol)
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.
Kemo isnt necessary for beams. But gives better DPS to Torps or if you got torps. Kemo for beams is replaceable and will do roughly the same DPS with or without.
When fighting the borg one would prefer Tac team instead at ensign. Besides cancelling Assimilated ship, it also adds DPS due to the additional energy/projectile ability.
If cannot afford kemo, Can make do with the Free Focused Assault, which also adds DPS to you and your team.
The advantage of Kemo is its additional DPS is separated in the parse. While Focused Assault and Tac team are part of your beam damage. Which would make it easy to see the additional DPS of Kemo and no need for a controlled environment.
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.
Kemo isnt necessary for beams. But gives better DPS to Torps or if you got torps. Kemo for beams is replaceable and will do roughly the same DPS with or without.
When fighting the borg one would prefer Tac team instead at ensign. Besides cancelling Assimilated ship, it also adds DPS due to the additional energy/projectile ability.
If cannot afford kemo, Can make do with the Free Focused Assault, which also adds DPS to you and your team.
The advantage of Kemo is its additional DPS is separated in the parse. While Focused Assault and Tac team are part of your beam damage. Which would make it easy to see the additional DPS of Kemo and no need for a controlled environment.
And what do you mean "the only other explanation is that nobody wants it anymore?"
That would make the price go down, not up!
Dont even bother convicing him. He is a socialist/communist at heart judging from his post in multiple threads.
TT would be better but if you have reduced the cooldown enough and you have three separate Tac BO stations, a second TT won't be necessary which is why Ensign Kemo is handy. This is if you have three Tac stations and have reduced the cooldowns enough so that stocking duplicate abilities makes little sense.
Yes, the proc rate is higher with torpedoes on any given shot but with BFAW, all those stray shots each have a chance of proccing Kemo. And if you're using FAW in the middle of a crowd, each of those procs from each of those shots can overlap in terms of what targets they damage. Particularly advantageous if you're maintaining maximum FAW uptime through cooldown reductions.
Focused Assault doesn't have an Ensign rank. It starts at Lt.
TT would be better but if you have reduced the cooldown enough and you have three separate Tac BO stations, a second TT won't be necessary which is why Ensign Kemo is handy. This is if you have three Tac stations and have reduced the cooldowns enough so that stocking duplicate abilities makes little sense.
It is build diversity you can make do with or without kemo. Having one tactical team means your putting 2 tac team doff to keep tac team uptime.
Although it does DPS and would be required if your chasing top dps, it wouldnt be required to have kemo if you are chase aiming for minimum requirement dps for beams.
Yes, the proc rate is higher with torpedoes on any given shot but with BFAW, all those stray shots each have a chance of proccing Kemo. And if you're using FAW in the middle of a crowd, each of those procs from each of those shots can overlap in terms of what targets they damage. Particularly advantageous if you're maintaining maximum FAW uptime through cooldown reductions.
It comes down to piloting and knowledge of mechanics when comes to crowd disposal. With bfaw beam arrays you can do right in the middle of the crowd, with Torps or dual beam banks you have to be front of the crowd.
You won't be maximizing kemo dps with beam faw even if adds dps. This can be shown on parses of hybrids and torp builds vs pure energy builds where kemo DPS is really in favor of players using torps. Currently, its kind of the embassy console for Torps.
When fighting the borg one would prefer Tac team instead at ensign. Besides cancelling Assimilated ship, it also adds DPS due to the additional energy/projectile ability.
FYI - I think you forgot the part where the damage bonus of TT becomes way less effective the less crew you have. Only way to keep it high is with the space nurse and Jem'Hadar shields.
of course i am a communist at heart. but i guess i'm willing to believe that no one is opening tal shiar boxes anymore thus reducing the supply way below the demand. i don't participate in gambling so i wasn't aware that you couldn't make a lot of you money back on opening those boxes. as far as the kemocite i get that it's the flavor of the month so of course it will be priced for the economy of the rich. Now tell me no one is manipulating z particles..
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."
so someone has 30,000+ particles they suddenly wanted to sell in groups of 999?
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."
so someone has 30,000+ particles they suddenly wanted to sell in groups of 999?
Wouldn't that make the price of them go down?
Yes, if they are priced low, but in general very few people are going to buy 999 stacks. Then the fat cats buy up the Z's in small batches at a depressed price. The low priced 999 stacks are temporarily removed, priced go up, fat cats sell at a higher price.
it's just a very obvious example of someone manipulating the market. i've probably made more selling z particles than any other thing except loluhnat favors. Maybe around 100 million. They have stayed in the neighborhood of 50,000 per for a very long time but the 2 pages of 999 stacks have cut that in half. Then, eventually when the fix has bought what they want cheap they will allow the price to return to 50,000 and double their money. 40,000 z particles at 50,000 per is not chicken feed. Would be around 1 billion profit.
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."
People have Driven the cost of Z-parts down yes. No they will not remove their stacks and reap the wind.
I have explained how people make money doing that already... and it doesn't involve pushing the price back up at some point... if you wait that long someone else will buy up your 30,000 Particles and laugh at you all the way to the bank.
It does force the price down though... and allow people to ride the wave for days on end. Right now with the promo on there isn't a big chance someone will buy up all 30k... because it wouldn't be a very instant profit as the supply on them is flooded for the next week or so.
To be plain... it works like this... Someone blocks up the price good to keep it around 19-24k.... They buy up a ton at 19k... and sell them out at 28-30k all weekend. As I have tried to explain to people already... for every 1k you push a particle stack of 999 you MAKE 1 million EC profit. So you repack them in stacks of 100-300 or so at the price that is just over the cheapest ones. So if I am buying em up at 19k and reselling them at 26k say.... I am making 7 Million EC profit a stack.
Pretty much by selling short... people believe they are overvalued increasing the likely hood that people will sell their stacks at the lower price. Its a variation on selling short... looking for small gains. No one is really trying to block up the and then pull out pushing the pirce to 50k so they can profit. If i can turn over 20-30 stacks for 7k more each all weekend I can make 200 Million profit... and then if People buy up my Z particles that I am selling at cost... so what. If is used say 10,000 of them at cost I loose nothing. However in a lot of cases you can still manage to turn a small profit on them anyway.
Yes people play the market that way.... just like they do in the real world. The only difference is the people flooding markets with things like OIL tend to be GOVs instead of individuals.
I assume you're 19 years old - which is such a mind boggling concept to me I feel about to desiccate and blow away on the wind.
But uh, to try and answer your uh question. I don't really have any problem with the STO exchange. It's just amusing to hear denials of market manipulation when people have been here boasting about it since day 1.
I enjoy my game and I'm sure the future business leaders of america enjoy theirs. No worries.
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."
People brag all the time it means nothing. I feel no need to prove my point since everyone else here has already done it. Present the evidence and if the person refuses to accept it simply move on, that's my motto.
Kemo is expensive because it is worth it. For Beam builds it's essentially a free 5-10% DPS. For torp builds (including hybrid torp-beam builds) it is a MUST have for insane levels of DPS. Throw torp spread 3 + Neutronic Torp + Kemo on a group of spheres in ISA and you will easily get 20k from Neutronic and 20K from Kemo, on good procs I've gotten 47K DPS just from Kemo when activated with Torp spread. It's that good, and that's why it's in high demand within the DPS chasing community.
There's some interaction with the neutronic torp that makes Kemo perform especially well with it, AOE drain (stupidly OP with high flow caps) and radiation dmg just marries perfectly with the Kemo radiation procs - they interact with and complement each other to make them both much more effective (especially in the area of getting pass those pesky shield facings).
Some have also suggested that Kemo double procs on torpedo spreads (still being verified - but regardless of whether this is true and regardless of whether Kemo is currently double dipping atm, the Kemo procs on torp spreads really help by stripping shields ahead of your kinetic dmg being dealt + it's AOE so NPC mobs don't stand a chance with this combo, grav well or no grav well). So everyone looking for cheese is after this toy, it's the next best thing on the cheese list after crits were stolen from plasma explosions.
I need to get to him. I can't just leave him out there alone. - Sometimes you've got to makes sacrifices, Lara. You can't save everyone. - I know about sacrifices. - No, you know about loss. Sacrifice is a choice you make. Loss is a choice made for you. - I can't choose to let him die, Roth.
Incidentally, I strongly suspect Cryptic is constantly looking at new A2B and Plasmonic Leech alternatives. Both mechanics were evolutions of things that had been seen elsewhere and we've seen more since (ie. the Supremacy trait, for example).
Likewise, KLW seems likely to get some competitors although with BOff abilities, I do wish Cryptic would intervene to cap the price because those are fundamental build components. At the VERY least, maybe have it be so that learning a rank lets you train character bound manuals that require Lobi as an input. Though I'd prefer the manuals just go on the Lobi store or be reintroduced in several places.
Or, heck, if we could retrait BOffs with newer traits, that would be nice.
Its to late to lament the complete p2w scenario Cryptic has created in this game.
It reminds me of the poem by Martin Niemoller. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox weapons. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox ships. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox doffs. No one said no more when they started selling better lockbox bats. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox consoles.
So its really really late to be upset that they now sell lockbox bridge officer skills.
Cryptic has been paving the road to P2W for 4 years or so now. Its to late now to complain about it.
We have all kept playing right along while they turned more and more of the games systems into Best of = $. At this point if you want to be on par with the best players in the game PvE or PvP as a new player it involves opening your wallet. If your an old player it involves either Grinding like a job or opening your wallet. Its not going to change anytime soon... just when you think there isn't anything else Cryptic could power creep behind a paywall they will surprise you with something.
Its to late to lament the complete p2w scenario Cryptic has created in this game.
It reminds me of the poem by Martin Niemoller. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox weapons. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox ships. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox doffs. No one said no more when they started selling better lockbox bats. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox consoles.
So its really really late to be upset that they now sell lockbox bridge officer skills.
Cryptic has been paving the road to P2W for 4 years or so now. Its to late now to complain about it.
We have all kept playing right along while they turned more and more of the games systems into Best of = $. At this point if you want to be on par with the best players in the game PvE or PvP as a new player it involves opening your wallet. If your an old player it involves either Grinding like a job or opening your wallet. Its not going to change anytime soon... just when you think there isn't anything else Cryptic could power creep behind a paywall they will surprise you with something.
That is just not true. How is there a P2W scenario? You can access everything without paying and get with the best players in the game without opening your wallet. The power creep balance is better now then it used to be. Grinding is no worse that most MMO's.
Buy one for whatever price you can get it for. Get your cheesy 39K neutronic and 47K Kemo DPS buffs today!
There is another way to look at that video. Kemo did half the damage of FaW and around the same damage as torp spread 3. Its not that bad compared to the other bridge officer powers. FaW is doing over double the damage.
With the price of these so high, and the amount of damage considered by some as over powered, would it not be prudent for people to sit back and wait for the "nerf" dev correction on these? At that point that should bring the demand down and the price as well.
With the price of these so high, and the amount of damage considered by some as over powered, would it not be prudent for people to sit back and wait for the "nerf" dev correction on these? At that point that should bring the demand down and the price as well.
Why should they be nerfed when they do no more damage then other bridge officer powers?
Its to late to lament the complete p2w scenario Cryptic has created in this game.
It reminds me of the poem by Martin Niemoller. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox weapons. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox ships. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox doffs. No one said no more when they started selling better lockbox bats. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox consoles.
So its really really late to be upset that they now sell lockbox bridge officer skills.
Cryptic has been paving the road to P2W for 4 years or so now. Its to late now to complain about it.
We have all kept playing right along while they turned more and more of the games systems into Best of = $. At this point if you want to be on par with the best players in the game PvE or PvP as a new player it involves opening your wallet. If your an old player it involves either Grinding like a job or opening your wallet. Its not going to change anytime soon... just when you think there isn't anything else Cryptic could power creep behind a paywall they will surprise you with something.
That is just not true. How is there a P2W scenario? You can access everything without paying and get with the best players in the game without opening your wallet. The power creep balance is better now then it used to be. Grinding is no worse that most MMO's.
Oh come now. I don't spend any money myself and have billions and every bit and piece I could possibly want.
However I'm not stupid. I know all the grinding I do makes Cryptic plenty of Cash. The Keys I buy with EC come from people that paid for them... the Dilithium I sell for Zen is Paid for Zen. All the stuff I move buy or use comes from someones $. (the odd silly person will say to me ya ya but I mined the purple rock to get my zen so Cryptic didn't make money... forgetting that the only way zen enters the game is with $)
Saying the game isn't pay to win because Cryptic has given you a grind for it option doesn't mean its not P2W. Of course it is Kemo is P2W... it just is. I can accept that, why can't you ?
Go start a new account... don't send yourself anything, don't spend a dime. See how long you keep playing for. Cryptic has all but destroyed this game for completely new players... which isn't a great long term model imo. Do I like Cryptics F2P model in general... yes. As F2P games go Crytpic/PWE have not a bad model, its far from the best, its also far from the worst. Of course I would rather they P2W the systems instead of Locking content or item bars behind paywalls. That doesn't mean I'm not going to call a spade a spade. Every single system in this game has an element of P2W. That they have allowed you to grind it out and trade your grinded EC or Purple Rock to a player willing to Drop $ is fine... they have just been a lot more duplicitous about it then some other Developers. Where as most other developers just let you do the plain "gems"->"Gold" type transactions... Cryptic sort of obscures what is happening in their system a little more by allowing people to earn the traded "gem" (purple rocks here) in game clouding what is $ and what is grind for some people. Also by reselling Zen store items in game. (where as most other developers either bind store items or time gate them in a way to discourage in game purchasing of currency or at least slowing it a bit)
With the price of these so high, and the amount of damage considered by some as over powered, would it not be prudent for people to sit back and wait for the "nerf" dev correction on these? At that point that should bring the demand down and the price as well.
I wouldn't count on that... as some people have pointed out... it still provides less dmg then standard weapon skills like spread it self or faw... and eats up the same boff slots. (so as a bridge officer skill it is sort of what one would expect). I think if you where to compare the dmg to the overall boost of Attack Pattern Beta to a TEAMs dmg Beta would also be considered better most of the time. So from that perspective Kemo is fine. (also the double procing people are going on about is pretty much BS... Kemo has a 1k AOE on it that is what they are seeing when you start calculating spreads with multiple hits creating AOE bubbles)
Also Cryptic has a long history of not really touching things out of lockboxs all that often. It takes something extremely broken for that to happen. In the case of Kemo I don't think it is really broken. Its just a bit BS that it can be used so easily as it shares no global cool downs with anything else... so you can use it with standard weapon buffs/attack patterns teams ect.
Perhaps the better thing to ask for is a new class of Tac Skill (which kemo would be included in) and then for Cryptic to add 1-2 more Kemo like skills to the game for free (through a mission unlock or something even) Something like
Weapon Enhancement Class tac Skills; then they could add a new skill that adds say Electrical DMG to hits with a chance to chain 1-2 times (instead of the AOE on kemo).. or perhaps one that adds a 1k aoe shockwave effect, or a CPB effect that adds a shield drain like Destabalized Tetryon.
Anyway point is they could easily add a few free skills that worked in the same way with weapons; putting them on a global with Kemo. Giving people an almost as good free option... and creating another class of weapon enhancments.
All the stuff I move buy or use comes from someones $. (the odd silly person will say to me ya ya but I mined the purple rock to get my zen so Cryptic didn't make money... forgetting that the only way zen enters the game is with $) "
That’s not 100% accurate as a large amount of zen enters the game without $ being paid. Most of my Zen doesn't come from cash, my cash or others peoples cash.
Saying the game isn't pay to win because Cryptic has given you a grind for it option doesn't mean its not P2W. Of course it is Kemo is P2W... it just is. I can accept that, why can't you ?
I don't count it as a grind. I spent 15mins crafting on Friday, put the stuff on market then wake up on Saturday with enough EC to buy kemo. Anyway pay to win to me is when you have to pay cash to gain access to an advantage. If you can gain that advantage without paying cash then its not pay to win in my mind.
"Go start a new account... don't send yourself anything, don't spend a dime. See how long you keep playing for."
Once you level up crafting which doesn't cost anything you can make enough EC to buy anything you want which is just one method. The content is not locked behind a pay walls as you can access the content without money.
That’s not 100% accurate as a large amount of zen enters the game without $ being paid. Most of my Zen doesn't come from cash, my cash or others peoples cash.
Really ? Where exactly do you think it comes from. If you are talking about sub or lifetime stipend... umm that is money. If you are talking about free zen someone earned doing a survey for PWE... that is also money.
I don't count it as a grind. I spent 15mins crafting on Friday, put the stuff on market then wake up on Saturday with enough EC to buy kemo. Anyway pay to win to me is when you have to pay cash to gain access to an advantage. If you can gain that advantage without paying cash then its not pay to win in my mind.
See you have proven my point... Cryptic does a good job of obscuring how they ARE making money. Yes you craft like mad burning a bunch of purple rock and make your ec that way. Fair enough. The Kemo you are buying is coming from a lockbox... which means someone used a key which means some one gave them zen... which only comes from one play. Cash purchases, or stipend rewards which are also cash purchases, or they did something that is making PWE money like filling out a survey for a little bit of zen. Cryptic does a really good job of hiding that 90% of the stuff everyone uses isn't Free it is bought from them. The fact that you don't see it that way is Exactly what they are going for.
Don't get me wrong I'm not judging here. I have tons of P2W... I am simply under no illusions. I may not have paid for my 10 or 12 copies of kemo on a bunch of my toons... or the 50+ lockbox ships I have at this point spread accross my toons... or all the doffs and consoles ect. They exist in game cause someone spent $ I know that... Because I have played for a long time and have been good at making fake currency people are willing to sell me the stuff they buy from Cryptic. Works for me... and it is why I like Cryptics F2P model. Those of us willing to play or find a niche to work the system with like farming a ton of Purple rock to craft like mad once a week are rewarded. Of course if the new people that are willing to buy 20 keys to sell on the market... or the people willing to let me buy their zen from them for some purple rocks, keep everything going. Its people like you and me that keep the market turning that make those things attractive to them. (they wouldn't need our extra D... or 1000s of our Tech upgrades if it was cheap or easy to just do it themselves)
Once you level up crafting which doesn't cost anything you can make enough EC to buy anything you want which is just one method. The content is not locked behind a pay walls as you can access the content without money.
I never disagreed that it wasn't easy to make EC in this game. I tell people how to go about it any time someone asks. Yes if you have an army of alts to farm D for you can craft 100 million worth of tech with 90,000 Dilithium granted buying components that is likely more around 60-70 million profit. Still your point is valid. As long as you have the army of alts... and even if you don't its a good income stream. Still everything you are buying that came out of a lockbox at some point had to have a key used on it... which only comes into existence when someone hands Zen to Cryptic.
Its a P2W system... with a grind option... that is still true even if you have found a away to reduce your grind to 20 min a week.
Comments
Its like I just explained. Its simple... it ONLY comes from a really crumb bum of a box. The Tal box is GOING to take your money. Its not a question. Unless you get stupid lucky and pull a leech in a couple boxes. (which over time of course will not happen... over time you will get 2 for every 100 Tal boxes.)
I doubt anyone out there has a ton in the bank either. Sure perhaps a handful... I admit I have a handful of them but I hold them for myself. I just bothered leveling up one of my delta toons recently, and in those cases I have what I need in a bank. There isn't anyone manipulating those trust me.... think about why would ANYONE in there right mind open the Tal Shier box, other then they want perhaps to get a leech console.
It really is simple supply and demand. They where cheaper a year ago... because the people like me back then still opened Tal S lockboxes. Cause it was worth it. Back when Keys didn't cost 3.8 million. Think about it what did a key cost a year ago ? lol At 3.8 million I HAVE to be able to know I'm going to recoup a good junk of that EC. Opening 20 boxes these days costs you 70-75 Million EC.
If I open 20 of Hell box box... I am likely going to get... 4-5 Doff Missions (which I can sell for 3.5-4mil each) (3-4 R&D packs which are worth 2-5 million each to me depending if I open them or the sell price is up at that moment) 2-3 doff packs worth 3/4 the cost of a key and then some random traits and boosters which won't be worth a lot and min 80 lobi. That in my mind is not a bad bet... at least I haven't burned the entire 75 mil. Yes that is a loss no doubt... but at least I recouped 40-60 million of the 75 I spent on the keys. Get a little lucky pull a ship or wait for an XP weekend to sell the doff missions at 6mil instead of 3... and I am making EC. (The Xindi-T box that the Kemo book comes from... is also one you can open and recoup most of your EC most of the time)
The Tal box... you spend 75 mil... 98% chance you are going to loose 70 million.
So no one opens them... meaning ZERO new supply. The only new leeches you find on the exchange... are either someones 1 off lucky throw of the dice. (sometimes when I'm bored I'll open 10 Tal or something... and almost always go AW that was dumb lol) So if you see them hit the exchange... its cause someone found one they forgot about in a bank or a return mail... or found themselves in need of some EC and sold one off.
The situation does suck... but it is hardly some player cartel. Its simply Cryptics terrible lockbox planning.
Kemo isnt necessary for beams. But gives better DPS to Torps or if you got torps. Kemo for beams is replaceable and will do roughly the same DPS with or without.
When fighting the borg one would prefer Tac team instead at ensign. Besides cancelling Assimilated ship, it also adds DPS due to the additional energy/projectile ability.
If cannot afford kemo, Can make do with the Free Focused Assault, which also adds DPS to you and your team.
The advantage of Kemo is its additional DPS is separated in the parse. While Focused Assault and Tac team are part of your beam damage. Which would make it easy to see the additional DPS of Kemo and no need for a controlled environment.
Dont even bother convicing him. He is a socialist/communist at heart judging from his post in multiple threads.
TT would be better but if you have reduced the cooldown enough and you have three separate Tac BO stations, a second TT won't be necessary which is why Ensign Kemo is handy. This is if you have three Tac stations and have reduced the cooldowns enough so that stocking duplicate abilities makes little sense.
Yes, the proc rate is higher with torpedoes on any given shot but with BFAW, all those stray shots each have a chance of proccing Kemo. And if you're using FAW in the middle of a crowd, each of those procs from each of those shots can overlap in terms of what targets they damage. Particularly advantageous if you're maintaining maximum FAW uptime through cooldown reductions.
Focused Assault doesn't have an Ensign rank. It starts at Lt.
It is build diversity you can make do with or without kemo. Having one tactical team means your putting 2 tac team doff to keep tac team uptime.
Although it does DPS and would be required if your chasing top dps, it wouldnt be required to have kemo if you are chase aiming for minimum requirement dps for beams.
It comes down to piloting and knowledge of mechanics when comes to crowd disposal. With bfaw beam arrays you can do right in the middle of the crowd, with Torps or dual beam banks you have to be front of the crowd.
You won't be maximizing kemo dps with beam faw even if adds dps. This can be shown on parses of hybrids and torp builds vs pure energy builds where kemo DPS is really in favor of players using torps. Currently, its kind of the embassy console for Torps.
FYI - I think you forgot the part where the damage bonus of TT becomes way less effective the less crew you have. Only way to keep it high is with the space nurse and Jem'Hadar shields.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Yes, if they are priced low, but in general very few people are going to buy 999 stacks. Then the fat cats buy up the Z's in small batches at a depressed price. The low priced 999 stacks are temporarily removed, priced go up, fat cats sell at a higher price.
"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 have explained how people make money doing that already... and it doesn't involve pushing the price back up at some point... if you wait that long someone else will buy up your 30,000 Particles and laugh at you all the way to the bank.
It does force the price down though... and allow people to ride the wave for days on end. Right now with the promo on there isn't a big chance someone will buy up all 30k... because it wouldn't be a very instant profit as the supply on them is flooded for the next week or so.
To be plain... it works like this... Someone blocks up the price good to keep it around 19-24k.... They buy up a ton at 19k... and sell them out at 28-30k all weekend. As I have tried to explain to people already... for every 1k you push a particle stack of 999 you MAKE 1 million EC profit. So you repack them in stacks of 100-300 or so at the price that is just over the cheapest ones. So if I am buying em up at 19k and reselling them at 26k say.... I am making 7 Million EC profit a stack.
Pretty much by selling short... people believe they are overvalued increasing the likely hood that people will sell their stacks at the lower price. Its a variation on selling short... looking for small gains. No one is really trying to block up the and then pull out pushing the pirce to 50k so they can profit. If i can turn over 20-30 stacks for 7k more each all weekend I can make 200 Million profit... and then if People buy up my Z particles that I am selling at cost... so what. If is used say 10,000 of them at cost I loose nothing. However in a lot of cases you can still manage to turn a small profit on them anyway.
Yes people play the market that way.... just like they do in the real world. The only difference is the people flooding markets with things like OIL tend to be GOVs instead of individuals.
I wonder how a communist game would work anyways. Everyone has to fly a T5 Galaxy except Cryptic DEV's who get T6 ships? LOL
But uh, to try and answer your uh question. I don't really have any problem with the STO exchange. It's just amusing to hear denials of market manipulation when people have been here boasting about it since day 1.
I enjoy my game and I'm sure the future business leaders of america enjoy theirs. No worries.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
There's some interaction with the neutronic torp that makes Kemo perform especially well with it, AOE drain (stupidly OP with high flow caps) and radiation dmg just marries perfectly with the Kemo radiation procs - they interact with and complement each other to make them both much more effective (especially in the area of getting pass those pesky shield facings).
Some have also suggested that Kemo double procs on torpedo spreads (still being verified - but regardless of whether this is true and regardless of whether Kemo is currently double dipping atm, the Kemo procs on torp spreads really help by stripping shields ahead of your kinetic dmg being dealt + it's AOE so NPC mobs don't stand a chance with this combo, grav well or no grav well). So everyone looking for cheese is after this toy, it's the next best thing on the cheese list after crits were stolen from plasma explosions.
See here for a fine example of this stuff in action: https://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/3l59ey/check_out_aux2batman_also_known_as_sir_clicksalot/
OR here for another:
Buy one for whatever price you can get it for. Get your cheesy 39K neutronic and 47K Kemo DPS buffs today!
Likewise, KLW seems likely to get some competitors although with BOff abilities, I do wish Cryptic would intervene to cap the price because those are fundamental build components. At the VERY least, maybe have it be so that learning a rank lets you train character bound manuals that require Lobi as an input. Though I'd prefer the manuals just go on the Lobi store or be reintroduced in several places.
Or, heck, if we could retrait BOffs with newer traits, that would be nice.
It reminds me of the poem by Martin Niemoller. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox weapons. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox ships. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox doffs. No one said no more when they started selling better lockbox bats. No one said no more when they started selling lockbox consoles.
So its really really late to be upset that they now sell lockbox bridge officer skills.
Cryptic has been paving the road to P2W for 4 years or so now. Its to late now to complain about it.
We have all kept playing right along while they turned more and more of the games systems into Best of = $. At this point if you want to be on par with the best players in the game PvE or PvP as a new player it involves opening your wallet. If your an old player it involves either Grinding like a job or opening your wallet. Its not going to change anytime soon... just when you think there isn't anything else Cryptic could power creep behind a paywall they will surprise you with something.
Oh come now. I don't spend any money myself and have billions and every bit and piece I could possibly want.
However I'm not stupid. I know all the grinding I do makes Cryptic plenty of Cash. The Keys I buy with EC come from people that paid for them... the Dilithium I sell for Zen is Paid for Zen. All the stuff I move buy or use comes from someones $. (the odd silly person will say to me ya ya but I mined the purple rock to get my zen so Cryptic didn't make money... forgetting that the only way zen enters the game is with $)
Saying the game isn't pay to win because Cryptic has given you a grind for it option doesn't mean its not P2W. Of course it is Kemo is P2W... it just is. I can accept that, why can't you ?
Go start a new account... don't send yourself anything, don't spend a dime. See how long you keep playing for. Cryptic has all but destroyed this game for completely new players... which isn't a great long term model imo. Do I like Cryptics F2P model in general... yes. As F2P games go Crytpic/PWE have not a bad model, its far from the best, its also far from the worst. Of course I would rather they P2W the systems instead of Locking content or item bars behind paywalls. That doesn't mean I'm not going to call a spade a spade. Every single system in this game has an element of P2W. That they have allowed you to grind it out and trade your grinded EC or Purple Rock to a player willing to Drop $ is fine... they have just been a lot more duplicitous about it then some other Developers. Where as most other developers just let you do the plain "gems"->"Gold" type transactions... Cryptic sort of obscures what is happening in their system a little more by allowing people to earn the traded "gem" (purple rocks here) in game clouding what is $ and what is grind for some people. Also by reselling Zen store items in game. (where as most other developers either bind store items or time gate them in a way to discourage in game purchasing of currency or at least slowing it a bit)
I wouldn't count on that... as some people have pointed out... it still provides less dmg then standard weapon skills like spread it self or faw... and eats up the same boff slots. (so as a bridge officer skill it is sort of what one would expect). I think if you where to compare the dmg to the overall boost of Attack Pattern Beta to a TEAMs dmg Beta would also be considered better most of the time. So from that perspective Kemo is fine. (also the double procing people are going on about is pretty much BS... Kemo has a 1k AOE on it that is what they are seeing when you start calculating spreads with multiple hits creating AOE bubbles)
Also Cryptic has a long history of not really touching things out of lockboxs all that often. It takes something extremely broken for that to happen. In the case of Kemo I don't think it is really broken. Its just a bit BS that it can be used so easily as it shares no global cool downs with anything else... so you can use it with standard weapon buffs/attack patterns teams ect.
Perhaps the better thing to ask for is a new class of Tac Skill (which kemo would be included in) and then for Cryptic to add 1-2 more Kemo like skills to the game for free (through a mission unlock or something even) Something like
Weapon Enhancement Class tac Skills; then they could add a new skill that adds say Electrical DMG to hits with a chance to chain 1-2 times (instead of the AOE on kemo).. or perhaps one that adds a 1k aoe shockwave effect, or a CPB effect that adds a shield drain like Destabalized Tetryon.
Anyway point is they could easily add a few free skills that worked in the same way with weapons; putting them on a global with Kemo. Giving people an almost as good free option... and creating another class of weapon enhancments.
I don't count it as a grind. I spent 15mins crafting on Friday, put the stuff on market then wake up on Saturday with enough EC to buy kemo. Anyway pay to win to me is when you have to pay cash to gain access to an advantage. If you can gain that advantage without paying cash then its not pay to win in my mind.
Once you level up crafting which doesn't cost anything you can make enough EC to buy anything you want which is just one method. The content is not locked behind a pay walls as you can access the content without money.
Really ? Where exactly do you think it comes from. If you are talking about sub or lifetime stipend... umm that is money. If you are talking about free zen someone earned doing a survey for PWE... that is also money.
See you have proven my point... Cryptic does a good job of obscuring how they ARE making money. Yes you craft like mad burning a bunch of purple rock and make your ec that way. Fair enough. The Kemo you are buying is coming from a lockbox... which means someone used a key which means some one gave them zen... which only comes from one play. Cash purchases, or stipend rewards which are also cash purchases, or they did something that is making PWE money like filling out a survey for a little bit of zen. Cryptic does a really good job of hiding that 90% of the stuff everyone uses isn't Free it is bought from them. The fact that you don't see it that way is Exactly what they are going for.
Don't get me wrong I'm not judging here. I have tons of P2W... I am simply under no illusions. I may not have paid for my 10 or 12 copies of kemo on a bunch of my toons... or the 50+ lockbox ships I have at this point spread accross my toons... or all the doffs and consoles ect. They exist in game cause someone spent $ I know that... Because I have played for a long time and have been good at making fake currency people are willing to sell me the stuff they buy from Cryptic. Works for me... and it is why I like Cryptics F2P model. Those of us willing to play or find a niche to work the system with like farming a ton of Purple rock to craft like mad once a week are rewarded. Of course if the new people that are willing to buy 20 keys to sell on the market... or the people willing to let me buy their zen from them for some purple rocks, keep everything going. Its people like you and me that keep the market turning that make those things attractive to them. (they wouldn't need our extra D... or 1000s of our Tech upgrades if it was cheap or easy to just do it themselves)
I never disagreed that it wasn't easy to make EC in this game. I tell people how to go about it any time someone asks. Yes if you have an army of alts to farm D for you can craft 100 million worth of tech with 90,000 Dilithium granted buying components that is likely more around 60-70 million profit. Still your point is valid. As long as you have the army of alts... and even if you don't its a good income stream. Still everything you are buying that came out of a lockbox at some point had to have a key used on it... which only comes into existence when someone hands Zen to Cryptic.
Its a P2W system... with a grind option... that is still true even if you have found a away to reduce your grind to 20 min a week.