Thankies for the Awesome Game but Help!

brandon3407

To whom it may concern:

I have been a fan of Star Trek since I saw my first episode off TNG with my father in the 80s. He has been a fan of it since he was a boy and saw TOS in the 60s so naturally when I saw this in Feb of 13 I had to try it. Was free to play and have tons of time on my hands. A month later my father saw me playing it and started. Was a great joy to show him the little bit I knew of it. Since then my stepmother also started and so STO has become a family affair. The missions and episodes are a lot of fun and there is tons of stuff to do not to mention the social aspect of the game which by the way in my opinion is second to none. I love the way we can meet new people on here and the challenges of the pves are awesome for both ground and space. You really have done an awesome job with all of it and we do love it.

While my father, stepmother, and I are all lifetime members we still rely a lot on the free to play aspect of the game for energy credits and to help newer players or friends. Lately this has become a serious problem as the price of zen has steadily risen close to 300 dilith per one zen. Zen basically controls most of the economy in sto, so as goes zen so goes dilith levels and energy credit prices. When I started the rate was 101/1 and I remember thinking how long it would take to get anything. If it seemed that much of a challenge at that point to me as a new player, then I have to ask how much more it is to someone who might start today. This is the main driving factor that in my eyes is killing the free to play aspect and in turn killing the game. I've watched a lot of good friends stop playing in the past few months. Some really amazing people that just couldn't accomplish anything anymore without really parting with funds they don't have. Have watched the pool of eligible people needed for pve drop to a point where ques that used to take seconds to launch can now take a half hour, longer, or not que at all. The game now relies on dps channels and fleet groups to que for pves and even those are getting depleted. So I must ask if the point to the game is really only about making someone money because I know a lot of good folks have worked on this and put their lives into it, so it should never look like it does right now. I ask that you place a cap on the dilith exchange of around 150 - 200. Seems fair enough a price though remember the lower the prices the more likely you are to win over new players and possibly bring some good ones back.

I love the events, the winter and summer are both awesome. Snowconian was funny btw, and thanks for the new outfits and gear. I am looking forward to the upcoming anniversary as I am sure you are as well. Hard to believe I have been in here for three years now but cant imagine having been anywhere else. I truly hope that you are able to make the changes needed to make STO what it was as well as the good things that it still is. Something that may help is to make it possible to pay for reputation completions while still leaving them grindable of course. A lot of high end payers would gladly pay to have it done quickly. A way to grab some revenue anyways. Want to say before I stops here thankies for such an awesome game. It has been a great pleasure and privilege to play it along with my family and friends. Happy Sixth to all on STO's staff and thank you for your time. ^^
Sincerily and respectfully
Brandon R. Anderson

garaks31

i don't see how the game can go on without players buying zen ! any suggestions ?

brandon3407

I buy plenty of zen. Always have. Not saying that the game should be completely free to play just that it should be an option as it always was in the past. All I am suggesting is a cap on the dilith exchange to prevent zen from climbing high enough, as it is now, that free to play players cannot play the game period. Bottom line is either cap it and save free to play or lose those players which a few are good friends and in turn lose people who do pay to play such as myself.

hypnoticbeast

I feel the same. What I can't get is WHO is been putting $2500, $3500, and $5000 in the game for Dil? And what's the need for so much Dil. I get wanting to trade "Time" {Dil} for money {Zen}. But what is the need for some much of it RIGHT NOW? With the huge amount of the odd bot like toons I have been seeing just standing around with names that look like a bar code number with letters, dashes and hashtags. Sounds A LOT like what just happend with another cryptic game. This is my first year anniversary. And when the incident game I spoke of needed a cleansing, the Dilithum Exchange started to rise. What the problem I see is there are 7 different Zen Hack programs that have popped in the last 6 months. The most resent is two months old!!! If the market is going to be fair there needs to be a cap on how much Zen you can sell. Dilithum MUST BE EARNED NOT BOUGHT! If you are going to play the game then PLAY it!!!! Not Pay it. For someone who plays like I do, with a limited income. There needs to be another market for people who have put in the time. If I have saved up 1.2 mil in Dilithum and I want to sell it, then I should get a fair price! But if I put Money into the game GREAT then I should get something return. BUT if you want a short cut, then a Dilithum voucher is what you should get. Which CAN"T be re-sold. That way the rate of exchange is more fair. Dilithum vouchers work just like Dilithum it can be used for all projects and kit costs. And if you put a certain amount of cash in then YOU get Lump some of Vouchers and that lump sum will go up based on how much you put in. The same goes for a player who puts in the time to earn a ship, or outfit, or drydock slots, Heck how about two different kinds of ZEN? They would both work the same but be different colors Sliver for Time and Gold for cash. That way if someone puts the time in and has worked to get that 2.1 mil and puts $10 or $20 into the game they can COMBINE the two and get the goods that say I busted my Butt for this!!. I would love to pony up the cash and be lifer right now. But at the moment I can't. I don't want to see all the hard work "I" put in this game go to waste because of some one wanting a short cut.

captaintroika

Okay, first up... learn about the paragraph. Mr. Paragraph is your friend.

Second: Fine, you ground out a bunch of zen using dil. Good job. But it's not the responsibility of the rest of us who have money to make you feel better about yourself for being poor.

brandon3407

Captaintroika is right to an extent as the game must generate revenue, but when it's being done like this it drives free to play out and I am certain Captaintroika does not like playing alone very much. Hypnoticbeast. I like your idea about the voucher system. Anything that will eliminate what is happening in game at this time I am all for as it is literally killing it. Captaintroika do you have a better suggestion for fixing this issue? If so by all means feel free as ideas are kinda what I was hoping for.

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brandon3407

Well just sucks of course. I understands what you are saying, but if everybody quits is my idea that Cryptic makes nothing at all of course and we has no more fun in sto so both ways not good. Thankies for the feedback though. ^^

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baddmoonrizin

First: What does any of this have to do with the Art of STO?

Second: It would seem that some people don't understand how a free market system is supposed to work. Artificially capping trade, especially as low as you're suggesting, guarantees that Zen and Dilithium will always be traded at the highest possible rate, because everyone's going to want to get the most bang for their buck. Supply and demand would no longer dictate the exchange rate, which would no longer fluctuate. Zen might even become more rare, as those who spend real money for Zen (the main reason there's even any Zen in the market) may be less likely to trade at such low rates. Speculators, those that buy low and sell high, would almost certainly abandon the market since they'd have no way of making a profit. The Dilithium Exchange would simply become a currency converter for when Zen might actually be available. You'd have players just sitting on the Exchange waiting for Zen to post, and not actually playing the game.

My suggestion to you is: be patient. The rate will come back down. Buy low, sell high.

brandon3407

I won't quit and don't really intend to unless I lose everyone but a lot of my closest friends on here have. It is disappointing to see. This game has never taken so long to get anything done. The profit was there for them before not to have this type of play style I guess my main gripe is what has changed. I would hope that the high end players would see benefits in more people in game and not just someone making a toon and quitting because it takes far too long to get anything done anymore. Other games may be harder I am not saying they are not but that's not STO and never should be. Thankies for the awesome feedback just the same. ^^

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brandon3407

Yes I understand the it is still possible aspect of it, but imagine being free to play with one account and maybe one or two chars on that account. Imagine spending all day doing what a newer player does not knowing how to do. Imagine spending all this time just making gear that you find out is wrong, and I think we've all been there. Do you think it fair that something fixable like this in a month now takes a year. Do you think that a majority of this game's population that have been kicked around enough as it is in RL need go through that in game when most established players never had to. If anyone thinks for a second that I will ever consent to what is going on with greed in game is correct or fair they needs to think again. Pretty sure stats can back up my claims easy. I'm not just going to go along and get along and watch people be taken advantage of. If this had been done to me when I started I would have turned if off and never turned it back on. Am all for people who are content. I'm glad you have what you have, and tbh I have quite a bit in game as well, but it's not about me. Most of what I do today is about other players and in helping them both in knowledge and in gear, which is something no one did for me btw. I've been here a long while and I know what this game was and what it can be but the greed of people taking advantage has to stop or no one will be having any fun or accomplishing anything before long. In short I've seen this all before in RL. If I want RL I'll go play in RL. Simply put, I and a majority of players in game would just as soon not be constantly reminded of greed. Defend the current situation if you want but when there's no seventh anniversary I don't want to hear the crying. Now respond to this defending the current status if you like but you'll get no more from me as far as posts. I wanted solutions to the problem not an argument as to whether or not it exists as I already know that.

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