T5U was just a way for Cryptic to double dip. Had they announced that they would be re-releasing most ships at T6 I doubt many people would have bothered with T5U upgrades. I still think that was pretty underhanded of them.
Not in all cases. For example: I may still want to use my old Excelsior time and again at a competitive level but I'm not willing to spend the difference of 2500 zen some seat tweaks. As it is people have the option to go either route depending on how much they really want to spend upgrading (and it's nice that we had that choice from the very start.)
There's going to be some double dipping, but I think it's a very minor drawback to a generally workable system.
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
What many call double dipping i call options for all concearned to support the game via one method or another. The zen in the exchange is largely bought by someone an so cryptic is getting money, which players can exchange dill for gained via grinding giving both parties a option of getting the currency they want. Also some don't want to spend 2.5k zen on a ship unless they really like it, but spending that money to upgrade thier existing t-five is still going to put money in cryptics pocket as the zen used to get the item them need for it is still bought by someone after paying rl money for it. It is just really good business sense to give players more options to stay able to get what they want without too much interference.
What many call double dipping i call options for all concearned to support the game via one method or another. The zen in the exchange is largely bought by someone an so cryptic is getting money, which players can exchange dill for gained via grinding giving both parties a option of getting the currency they want. Also some don't want to spend 2.5k zen on a ship unless they really like it, but spending that money to upgrade thier existing t-five is still going to put money in cryptics pocket as the zen used to get the item them need for it is still bought by someone after paying rl money for it. It is just really good business sense to give players more options to stay able to get what they want without too much interference.
If its an option for players as you call it then why didn't they announce they were going to be bringing all the old ships back at T6? Because they wanted people to purchase upgrade tokens and then purchase the ship again at T6 to maximize profits. That's what i find underhanded. Had they announced it all at the time it would be fine, but they didn't they fooled a lot players and that's what I found dirty.
What many call double dipping i call options for all concearned to support the game via one method or another. The zen in the exchange is largely bought by someone an so cryptic is getting money, which players can exchange dill for gained via grinding giving both parties a option of getting the currency they want. Also some don't want to spend 2.5k zen on a ship unless they really like it, but spending that money to upgrade thier existing t-five is still going to put money in cryptics pocket as the zen used to get the item them need for it is still bought by someone after paying rl money for it. It is just really good business sense to give players more options to stay able to get what they want without too much interference.
If its an option for players as you call it then why didn't they announce they were going to be bringing all the old ships back at T6? Because they wanted people to purchase upgrade tokens and then purchase the ship again at T6 to maximize profits. That's what i find underhanded. Had they announced it all at the time it would be fine, but they didn't they fooled a lot players and that's what I found dirty.
Underhander or dirty really does not matter, if you think a company is not going to do what is going to maximize thier profits than that is short sighted. Would it have changed anything if they did announce it? People would still have bought them most likely, still many would have bought the new ships. I expected that the old tier five ships would be coming as tier sixes it just makes sense that they would do that from a fact of making money on ships that did so in the past. Anyone that was fooled or did not think they would is naive. Also weither they announced it or not does not change that you have two options for getting a viable ship thru buying a tier six, or upgrading your existing tier five while you wait for them to make a tier six varient or a new tier six you like.
How are people still going "T5U=T6" when Cryptic never even promoted T5U to even be that even a year after Delta Rising's release? Even before Delta Rising came out in October 2014, when Cryptic officially announced T5U & T6 differences, they never worded it like that (blog is from Aug 27, 2014, before Delta Rising hit in October):
"As mentioned above, upgraded Tier 5 ships (or T5-U ships) will offer many of the same benefits provided by Tier 6 starships minus a few bells and whistles.
T5-U ships will feature a sizeable number of additional hit points that will increase as your captain levels up, an additional console slot, and four Starship Mastery levels."
Most important is that chart halfway down in that news blog listing EXACTLY what you get by going T5U or going T6. You get SOME of the perks of a T6 ship but not all. They were never shady about it, never tried to hide what you get with T5U and T6. If any misleading ideas about T5U and T6 differences came about, it arose from within the playerbase, NOT by Cryptic.
But we all knew that more T6 ships would come. That it would in a large part be additional versions of existing skins is imo a nice benefit. they could easily have gone and made entirely new ships exclusively which i would have hated. usually their best ships are looking ok in the best of cases, and horrible in the more common worse cases.
The T5-Us were margeted from the beginning as a cheap method to keep flying your favorite old ship with henhanced stats to match the new content.
They could never have dumped 50+ new ships on us the second they introduced T6.
So it either was
A: You buy one of the limited number of new ships to stay competitive
B: Wait until there is enough ships on the market to satify most playstyles and then up the content, meanwhile have loads of players faceroll the old content in the new OP ships
or
C: introduce a midway solution that is affordable.
Which of these is the most reasonable?
What would you have done if they announced a year ago if and when they would release your favorite ship as T6? Would you TRIBBLE and moan, that you didn't get it right away before every other ship on the schedule? Wait a year or longer to upgrade to save 5 bucks? or pay the 5 bucks anyway because it was an acceptable midway solution till your favorite ship eventually came out and 5 bucks is really not that much.
T5U was just a way for Cryptic to double dip. Had they announced that they would be re-releasing most ships at T6 I doubt many people would have bothered with T5U upgrades. I still think that was pretty underhanded of them.
Did people honestly think they were not going to re-release ships for T6?
When Delta Rising came out, I thought it obvious Crytpic would slowly do that conversion and that's exactly what they did. Only the most stubborn clinger-ons to T5/T5U would believe otherwise. Did people seriously think they would not convert popular canon ships like Galaxy, Intrepid, etc. to T6 and keep them only for T5?
If anything, Intrepid fans were the very first ones to get caught off guard. I knew canon ships would make their way in to T6 but again, not everyone thought the same. So early on in DR, you had guys take to T5U their Intrepids. Not long after DR's release, the T6 Intrepid / Pathfinder comes out. If that was not a big neon, flashing sign warning of what's to come, I don't know what is.
T6 ships have Fleet T5-U hull/shields, plus a second console, plus the Fleet T5 boff seat, plus a power
Well, remember, you level the T6 to TierV mastery to get its power added to your character; you still only get to use said power if you decide to slot it on said character; and then it becomes available when you're flying a T5U
Are T6 ships generally better than aT5U? Yes.
Are there T5U ships that are still very good (and in some cases) better in some ways overall than a T6 if your character has 'powers' from T6 ships slotted when flying the T5U? Yes as well.
Formerly known as Armsman from June 2008 to June 20, 2012 PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
I also want to add that you could pull up the T6 shipyard page and contrast the info of its T5 version, provided they exist. There's even a confirmation page that requires player "Yay / Nay" before conversion to T5U occurs. The information is there on T5U/T6 differences. But players still TRIBBLE it up and say they're the same???
Product 1 has A.
Product 2 also has A.
Product 1 has B.
Product 2 also has B.
Product 1 has C.
Porduct 2 does not have C.
Product 1 has D.
Product 2 does not have D.
"Therefore, Product 2 = Product 1"... How do people come up with that?
It was never advertised to be, in fact specifically the opposite. So 'no', although not to the question you asked.
So...why did they introduce T5-U? Just to make money? T5-U was introduced at the same time as the T6 ships because...?
Not all T5 ships have a T6 counterpart. They needed to make the current stable of ships comparable to some degree. Their solution...T5-U. Now that most players have had a taste of both...the question/poll is asking...comparable or not? Is the premise...that the reason for it in the first place was to bring some semblance of equivalency? Thanks for posting.
It was never advertised to be, in fact specifically the opposite. So 'no', although not to the question you asked.
So...why did they introduce T5-U? Just to make money? T5-U was introduced at the same time as the T6 ships because...?
Not all T5 ships have a T6 counterpart. They needed to make the current stable of ships comparable to some degree. Their solution...T5-U. Now that most players have had a taste of both...the question/poll is asking...comparable or not? Is the premise...that the reason for it in the first place was to bring some semblance of equivalency? Thanks for posting.
T5U is there for those that didn't want to jump to T6 but make continuing use of their existing ship with SOME of the perks of T6.
It's a teaser. An appetizer to the full course meal.
Also at the time of Delta Rising's release, the selection of T6 ships was far more limited.
How are people still going "T5U=T6" when Cryptic never even promoted T5U to even be that even a year after Delta Rising's release? Even before Delta Rising came out in October 2014, when Cryptic officially announced T5U & T6 differences, they never worded it like that (blog is from Aug 27, 2014, before Delta Rising hit in October):
"As mentioned above, upgraded Tier 5 ships (or T5-U ships) will offer many of the same benefits provided by Tier 6 starships minus a few bells and whistles.
T5-U ships will feature a sizeable number of additional hit points that will increase as your captain levels up, an additional console slot, and four Starship Mastery levels."
Most important is that chart halfway down in that news blog listing EXACTLY what you get by going T5U or going T6. You get SOME of the perks of a T6 ship but not all. They were never shady about it, never tried to hide what you get with T5U and T6. If any misleading ideas about T5U and T6 differences came about, it arose from within the playerbase, NOT by Cryptic.
Yeah...You'd think more people would have died with all of the leaps to conclusions they take.
I mean seriously sometimes I really think people aren't reading the same thing I am the way they jump to conclusions...T5 Bug was a great example...
Can't have a honest conversation because of a white knight with power
T5U and T6 base are comparable. I still give the edge to T6.
Fleet T6 is obviously superior to both.
To be fair, T5U was advertised as 'comparable' to T6 not equal. There is a difference.
I don't believe either Tier of ship is falsely advertised. All the information you need to make an informed decision is readily available.
I don't know...maybe some people were gullible enough to think those bells and whistles would be something completely minor like a little extra hull or shield strength? Something most people wouldn't pay for...
Can't have a honest conversation because of a white knight with power
However, the gap is small, and as noted by a few others, there are instances where the T5-U versions of ships are still outperforming T6 ships. Once you start getting traits and porting them over to your U's, the difference is marginal, even negligible in cases.
T5U was just a way for Cryptic to double dip. Had they announced that they would be re-releasing most ships at T6 I doubt many people would have bothered with T5U upgrades. I still think that was pretty underhanded of them.
Only stupid people assumed they wouldn't be bringing old ships to T6 at a later date.
It was never advertised to be, in fact specifically the opposite. So 'no', although not to the question you asked.
So...why did they introduce T5-U? Just to make money? T5-U was introduced at the same time as the T6 ships because...?
Not all T5 ships have a T6 counterpart. They needed to make the current stable of ships comparable to some degree. Their solution...T5-U. Now that most players have had a taste of both...the question/poll is asking...comparable or not? Is the premise...that the reason for it in the first place was to bring some semblance of equivalency? Thanks for posting.
Actually at the time, many players in the forums were commenting that T6 was just a money grab, Cryptic you just made all our investment in T5 ships obsolete, T6 was just a way to force us to spend more money etc. etc. Also the "I love my T5 and I hate your new T6 designs" threads were pretty common. As well as the 'Well TRIBBLE that T5 lockbox/lobi I just paid for is worthless now" threads.
I felt, and felt it was communicated (though I can't link a post), that T5-U was a cheaper alternative to T6 and a way to maximize the lifetime of your favorite/geared-up T5 vessel. It was clearly shown as being a 'step down' from T6, but a 'step up' from T5. And fairly affordable to do given the price of the upgrade tokens on exchange.
It gave people the option, stay with your T5 and see how far you can take it, upgrade your T5 to T5-U for a little more oomph at a reasonable cost, or shell out the $$/Zen for a new T6. I upgraded a couple of my ships to T5-U, a *lot* of my ships (lobi/lockbox/event) got FREE upgrades, and I didn't need to acquire a T6 at all.
It was obvious (and clearly stated) that they couldn't release a T6 version of every ship at the same time, nor does it make any business sense. They were clear that 'more would come later' and gave us options in the meantime.
Trying to paint it now as some sort of scam or ripoff (as a number of posters are) is really missing the overall picture.
I fly plenty of T5U ships, and lower, I also fly a fair few T6 ships.
I do not open Lockboxes, and have so far not had any T5 or T6 lockbox ships except mirror or consolation ships such as APU.
T5U is perfectly serviceable, it misses 1 Boff Slot ( normally a Lt or Lt Com ) and sometimes the use of a new Boff Spec such as Intel ( which I never use on my T6 ships anyways)
It takes a Fleet T6 to match the console slots, so a normal T6 is a trade off, of a extra Boff for 1 less console, only FT^ is not a trade off and gains in my opinion.
Most of the time I prefer the Console anyway, and with Doffs, and Builds that extra Boff power can be completely ignored.
Hulls and Shields are pretty much the same, nothing to worry about. With all the Power-creep now there is no Glass cannons left in the game!
So finally, what do you get, a new skin - this is cool, a starship trait - these are two a penny anyway and there are far more traits out there than you can use (5 with Research lab upgrade)
I love T5U as much as T6.
I would however not buy a T6 when I have the T5U already, and I will buy the T6 if I do not own the T5-T5U, makes sense really.
They are pretty much the same, not a massive improvement, not like T7 will be ( mind you we all know T6 will upgrade to T6U and this argument will carry on!)
They are pretty much the same, not a massive improvement, not like T7 will be ( mind you we all know T6 will upgrade to T6U and this argument will carry on!)
I'm sorry...but I think it's funny the way people already talk like T7 is already a reality...it took them years to make fleet versions...almost half a decade to make T6...they may want money but I don't think they'd be stupid enough to go for T7 any time soon...especially the way some people feel about the game...it may not survive another huge alienation...
Can't have a honest conversation because of a white knight with power
While a bunch of people were parading in their T6 Yamato class ships, I broke out my T5-U Galaxy Dreadnought just to have a little fun... took it into a Advanced Borg STF, and nearly died a few times even with super high resistances... not sure how much better the Yamato woulda fared
I do as good in my Fleet T5-U Avenger as my Benthan Assault Cruiser. For budget T5-U, the Nhydron destroyer needs more serious attention. That sucker has 5 tac consoles in T5-U.
To put it simply T5U is history. T5U is a concept to allow the players not willing to invest 3000 zen in T6 ships to gain cheaper general improvement in their ships. Now with more and more T6 ships being made or remade, T5U is history. Those who don't want to spend or grind for T6 ship, already fly T5U, new players who buy ships go straight for T6, and then there is the small portion of players who first bought T5U and then bought T6 version of a ship (Yep, have 4 different Avengers for the admirality system ). The last group is a bit screwed, but i guess it can't be helped. Flying the shiniest toys was never cheap.
To put it simply T5U is history. T5U is a concept to allow the players not willing to invest 3000 zen in T6 ships to gain cheaper general improvement in their ships. Now with more and more T6 ships being made or remade, T5U is history. Those who don't want to spend or grind for T6 ship, already fly T5U, new players who buy ships go straight for T6, and then there is the small portion of players who first bought T5U and then bought T6 version of a ship (Yep, have 4 different Avengers for the admirality system ). The last group is a bit screwed, but i guess it can't be helped. Flying the shiniest toys was never cheap.
Funny...well I suppose if you mean by *Is history* sorta means make history sure then you're right...groups are still topping the DPS with T5-U ships...not T6.
Can't have a honest conversation because of a white knight with power
Funny...well I suppose if you mean by *Is history* sorta means make history sure then you're right...groups are still topping the DPS with T5-U ships...not T6.
By history i mean that the players who think T5U is good enough have already purchased it. The new players won't. Also it is matter of time before the old 3-pack T5 ships will be released as T6. If Starfleet have special plans for Odyssey, what are the odds of the Romulan Republic to have special plans for the Scimitar? Or in fact every T5 ship that has ever existed.
Not generally, but there are exceptions. A couple T5U ships for which no T6 counterpart currently exists still outperform most or all of the T6 lineup in damage output (Scimitar and FPER, in skilled hands). And of course there's the issue that the Feds and Roms still have yet to get any T6 science vessels so their existing T5U sci ships (Gorn, Ha'nom, and Dyson) are the only game in town.
On the other hand, the Andromeda and Yamato vastly outperform their T5U equivalents.
"Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
— Sabaton, "Great War"
It was advertised to be 'competitive.' With good gear and setup and flying any ship will perform and be competitive. The difference to me is how a T5FU compares to a T6 (not even fleet grade) on an alt with just about equal gear.
Switching from an Odyssey flagship cruiser with AP beam banks (fleet-grade ship) to the Standard Intel Light (Battle)cruiser Eclipse with AP DHC made a very large difference, to the point where I could actually meaningfully contribute to special space events and even some advanced STFs.
I might try this setup again, just for fun and out of curiosity, on the same alt that's now fully equipped in all freebie mission gear plus a bunch collected over time.
Devs: Provide the option to Turn OFF full screen flashes from enemy ship explosions
· ♥ · ◦.¸¸. ◦'¯`·. (Ɏ) V A N U _ S O V E R E I G N T Y (Ɏ) .·´¯'◦.¸¸. ◦ · ♡ ·
«» \▼/ T E R R A N ¦ R E P U B L I C \▼/ «»
﴾﴿ ₪ṩ ||| N A N I T E S Y S T E M S : B L A C K | O P S ||| ₪ṩ ﴾﴿
If Fleet T5U had the extra BOff power, I'd consider the claim that they're comparable more valid. If Fleet Tier 5U had an extra BOff power and it was an ensign specialization slot, I'd probably get back into ship collecting and upgrading even though T6 spec slots are higher ranked.
I can fly without specializations (although it's really more Cryptic's loss than mine if I do so). But the loss of a BO power makes 5U and upgrade unworth doing and Admiralty doesn't change my mind.
Is it a big deal to me? Not really. It mainly just costs Cryptic sales and saves me money.
What many call double dipping i call options for all concearned to support the game via one method or another.
I get this. But as somebody who has always chafed at the ship enthusiast side of random, I really wish that "or another" was the route they chose to finance the game, without making this Starships Online and keeping ships more as an affordable extra than the absolute revenue driver and focus of the community. Even now, I think getting the community focused on things that are not ships while *sigh* continuing to deal them ship crack is probably the economically smart option for the long run.
Comments
Not in all cases. For example: I may still want to use my old Excelsior time and again at a competitive level but I'm not willing to spend the difference of 2500 zen some seat tweaks. As it is people have the option to go either route depending on how much they really want to spend upgrading (and it's nice that we had that choice from the very start.)
There's going to be some double dipping, but I think it's a very minor drawback to a generally workable system.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
If its an option for players as you call it then why didn't they announce they were going to be bringing all the old ships back at T6? Because they wanted people to purchase upgrade tokens and then purchase the ship again at T6 to maximize profits. That's what i find underhanded. Had they announced it all at the time it would be fine, but they didn't they fooled a lot players and that's what I found dirty.
Underhander or dirty really does not matter, if you think a company is not going to do what is going to maximize thier profits than that is short sighted. Would it have changed anything if they did announce it? People would still have bought them most likely, still many would have bought the new ships. I expected that the old tier five ships would be coming as tier sixes it just makes sense that they would do that from a fact of making money on ships that did so in the past. Anyone that was fooled or did not think they would is naive. Also weither they announced it or not does not change that you have two options for getting a viable ship thru buying a tier six, or upgrading your existing tier five while you wait for them to make a tier six varient or a new tier six you like.
"As mentioned above, upgraded Tier 5 ships (or T5-U ships) will offer many of the same benefits provided by Tier 6 starships minus a few bells and whistles.
T5-U ships will feature a sizeable number of additional hit points that will increase as your captain levels up, an additional console slot, and four Starship Mastery levels."
Most important is that chart halfway down in that news blog listing EXACTLY what you get by going T5U or going T6. You get SOME of the perks of a T6 ship but not all. They were never shady about it, never tried to hide what you get with T5U and T6. If any misleading ideas about T5U and T6 differences came about, it arose from within the playerbase, NOT by Cryptic.
The T5-Us were margeted from the beginning as a cheap method to keep flying your favorite old ship with henhanced stats to match the new content.
They could never have dumped 50+ new ships on us the second they introduced T6.
So it either was
A: You buy one of the limited number of new ships to stay competitive
B: Wait until there is enough ships on the market to satify most playstyles and then up the content, meanwhile have loads of players faceroll the old content in the new OP ships
or
C: introduce a midway solution that is affordable.
Which of these is the most reasonable?
What would you have done if they announced a year ago if and when they would release your favorite ship as T6? Would you TRIBBLE and moan, that you didn't get it right away before every other ship on the schedule? Wait a year or longer to upgrade to save 5 bucks? or pay the 5 bucks anyway because it was an acceptable midway solution till your favorite ship eventually came out and 5 bucks is really not that much.
Did people honestly think they were not going to re-release ships for T6?
When Delta Rising came out, I thought it obvious Crytpic would slowly do that conversion and that's exactly what they did. Only the most stubborn clinger-ons to T5/T5U would believe otherwise. Did people seriously think they would not convert popular canon ships like Galaxy, Intrepid, etc. to T6 and keep them only for T5?
If anything, Intrepid fans were the very first ones to get caught off guard. I knew canon ships would make their way in to T6 but again, not everyone thought the same. So early on in DR, you had guys take to T5U their Intrepids. Not long after DR's release, the T6 Intrepid / Pathfinder comes out. If that was not a big neon, flashing sign warning of what's to come, I don't know what is.
Well, remember, you level the T6 to TierV mastery to get its power added to your character; you still only get to use said power if you decide to slot it on said character; and then it becomes available when you're flying a T5U
Are T6 ships generally better than aT5U? Yes.
Are there T5U ships that are still very good (and in some cases) better in some ways overall than a T6 if your character has 'powers' from T6 ships slotted when flying the T5U? Yes as well.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
Product 1 has A.
Product 2 also has A.
Product 1 has B.
Product 2 also has B.
Product 1 has C.
Porduct 2 does not have C.
Product 1 has D.
Product 2 does not have D.
"Therefore, Product 2 = Product 1"... How do people come up with that?
So...why did they introduce T5-U? Just to make money? T5-U was introduced at the same time as the T6 ships because...?
Not all T5 ships have a T6 counterpart. They needed to make the current stable of ships comparable to some degree. Their solution...T5-U. Now that most players have had a taste of both...the question/poll is asking...comparable or not? Is the premise...that the reason for it in the first place was to bring some semblance of equivalency? Thanks for posting.
T5U is there for those that didn't want to jump to T6 but make continuing use of their existing ship with SOME of the perks of T6.
It's a teaser. An appetizer to the full course meal.
Also at the time of Delta Rising's release, the selection of T6 ships was far more limited.
Yeah...You'd think more people would have died with all of the leaps to conclusions they take.
I mean seriously sometimes I really think people aren't reading the same thing I am the way they jump to conclusions...T5 Bug was a great example...
Fleet T6 is obviously superior to both.
To be fair, T5U was advertised as 'comparable' to T6 not equal. There is a difference.
I don't believe either Tier of ship is falsely advertised. All the information you need to make an informed decision is readily available.
I don't know...maybe some people were gullible enough to think those bells and whistles would be something completely minor like a little extra hull or shield strength? Something most people wouldn't pay for...
However, the gap is small, and as noted by a few others, there are instances where the T5-U versions of ships are still outperforming T6 ships. Once you start getting traits and porting them over to your U's, the difference is marginal, even negligible in cases.
Only stupid people assumed they wouldn't be bringing old ships to T6 at a later date.
I Support Disco | Disco is Love | Disco is Life
Actually at the time, many players in the forums were commenting that T6 was just a money grab, Cryptic you just made all our investment in T5 ships obsolete, T6 was just a way to force us to spend more money etc. etc. Also the "I love my T5 and I hate your new T6 designs" threads were pretty common. As well as the 'Well TRIBBLE that T5 lockbox/lobi I just paid for is worthless now" threads.
I felt, and felt it was communicated (though I can't link a post), that T5-U was a cheaper alternative to T6 and a way to maximize the lifetime of your favorite/geared-up T5 vessel. It was clearly shown as being a 'step down' from T6, but a 'step up' from T5. And fairly affordable to do given the price of the upgrade tokens on exchange.
It gave people the option, stay with your T5 and see how far you can take it, upgrade your T5 to T5-U for a little more oomph at a reasonable cost, or shell out the $$/Zen for a new T6. I upgraded a couple of my ships to T5-U, a *lot* of my ships (lobi/lockbox/event) got FREE upgrades, and I didn't need to acquire a T6 at all.
It was obvious (and clearly stated) that they couldn't release a T6 version of every ship at the same time, nor does it make any business sense. They were clear that 'more would come later' and gave us options in the meantime.
Trying to paint it now as some sort of scam or ripoff (as a number of posters are) is really missing the overall picture.
I do not open Lockboxes, and have so far not had any T5 or T6 lockbox ships except mirror or consolation ships such as APU.
T5U is perfectly serviceable, it misses 1 Boff Slot ( normally a Lt or Lt Com ) and sometimes the use of a new Boff Spec such as Intel ( which I never use on my T6 ships anyways)
It takes a Fleet T6 to match the console slots, so a normal T6 is a trade off, of a extra Boff for 1 less console, only FT^ is not a trade off and gains in my opinion.
Most of the time I prefer the Console anyway, and with Doffs, and Builds that extra Boff power can be completely ignored.
Hulls and Shields are pretty much the same, nothing to worry about. With all the Power-creep now there is no Glass cannons left in the game!
So finally, what do you get, a new skin - this is cool, a starship trait - these are two a penny anyway and there are far more traits out there than you can use (5 with Research lab upgrade)
I love T5U as much as T6.
I would however not buy a T6 when I have the T5U already, and I will buy the T6 if I do not own the T5-T5U, makes sense really.
They are pretty much the same, not a massive improvement, not like T7 will be ( mind you we all know T6 will upgrade to T6U and this argument will carry on!)
I'm sorry...but I think it's funny the way people already talk like T7 is already a reality...it took them years to make fleet versions...almost half a decade to make T6...they may want money but I don't think they'd be stupid enough to go for T7 any time soon...especially the way some people feel about the game...it may not survive another huge alienation...
Funny...well I suppose if you mean by *Is history* sorta means make history sure then you're right...groups are still topping the DPS with T5-U ships...not T6.
By history i mean that the players who think T5U is good enough have already purchased it. The new players won't. Also it is matter of time before the old 3-pack T5 ships will be released as T6. If Starfleet have special plans for Odyssey, what are the odds of the Romulan Republic to have special plans for the Scimitar? Or in fact every T5 ship that has ever existed.
On the other hand, the Andromeda and Yamato vastly outperform their T5U equivalents.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
Switching from an Odyssey flagship cruiser with AP beam banks (fleet-grade ship) to the Standard Intel Light (Battle)cruiser Eclipse with AP DHC made a very large difference, to the point where I could actually meaningfully contribute to special space events and even some advanced STFs.
I might try this setup again, just for fun and out of curiosity, on the same alt that's now fully equipped in all freebie mission gear plus a bunch collected over time.
I can fly without specializations (although it's really more Cryptic's loss than mine if I do so). But the loss of a BO power makes 5U and upgrade unworth doing and Admiralty doesn't change my mind.
Is it a big deal to me? Not really. It mainly just costs Cryptic sales and saves me money.
I get this. But as somebody who has always chafed at the ship enthusiast side of random, I really wish that "or another" was the route they chose to finance the game, without making this Starships Online and keeping ships more as an affordable extra than the absolute revenue driver and focus of the community. Even now, I think getting the community focused on things that are not ships while *sigh* continuing to deal them ship crack is probably the economically smart option for the long run.
Whatever...bring on the T7 ships already!