I've always adored the bad business logic of, "our interiors don't sell," therefore, interiors in general must not sell. Talk about ego. How about some objective logic: the bridge packs don't sell because most are of an embarrassingly low quality, and of the only THREE really high quality ones they've ever released, they arbitrarily and unnecessarily TIED the most important (Voyager) to a huge $50 ship pack! AND the most requested interior wasn't and isn't Voyager at all, but the iconic Galaxy!
No, it's not that there's no demand. It's that Cryptic refuses to meet it.
I've always adored the bad business logic of, "our interiors don't sell," therefore, interiors in general must not sell. Talk about ego. How about some objective logic: the bridge packs don't sell because most are of an embarrassingly low quality, and of the only THREE really high quality ones they've ever released, they arbitrarily and unnecessarily TIED the most important (Voyager) to a huge $50 ship pack! AND the most requested interior wasn't and isn't Voyager at all, but the iconic Galaxy!
No, it's not that there's no demand. It's that Cryptic refuses to meet it.
I recall Tacofangs 'admitting' there was some circular reasoning going in their deliberations ("They're not selling, so we're not making good ones... hence they're not selling." Etc.) But, objectively, I can see how it simply takes too much time to create a cool stand-alone bridge, compared to what they get in return for it (unless said bridge was already made for a mission). Sad, but entirely reasonable. *snif*
And yeah, I'd easily pay 50 bucks for a bridge. But, in all fairness, I know not many would.
Fake EDIT: I would get totally behind the idea mentioned here, of letting Foundry creators design them. I'm sure many there be who would be quite willing. And maybe hold a contest even, so as to pick winners for to-be-used-in-game bridges (and give the winners a few T6 Zen-ships or something: still endlessly cheaper than having Taco spend hundreds of hours on them himself.)
I normally stay quite on forums, but I felt like making this comment.
If cryptic doesn't see a market for prefab interiors and bridges, how about making it a subscriber perk/Zen purchase to be able to use a mini foundry to build your own interior/bridge. Then be able to save it to purchasable slots beyond the default 2/4/6/etc. You could then select from the slots in the ship costume designer.
Aside from the setup work and programming it would then be on the user to do the design and layout work. If part of the player base is like me, they spend too much time on Captain and Boff costumes. I can easily see burning hours doing this too, especially if services like bank, exchange, etc were unlockables to add to the bridge/interior after meeting achievement or monetary/Zen requirement. You could make your bridge/ship useful at that point and convenient to visit it (over spacedock/first city/Rom float boat).
I know the suggestion is a bit of work but it would turn into a self sustaining system after initial investment on Cryptic's part.
And see, that's a good idea. Either have a contest to design sets, and Becky able to create our own. Cryptic might be surprised at how many people would buy something like that. And the idea others have about creating the galaxy class sets would be a game changer. I just hope cryptic sees it our way. I know it would be alot of work, but it will pay off.
I normally stay quite on forums, but I felt like making this comment.
If cryptic doesn't see a market for prefab interiors and bridges, how about making it a subscriber perk/Zen purchase to be able to use a mini foundry to build your own interior/bridge. Then be able to save it to purchasable slots beyond the default 2/4/6/etc. You could then select from the slots in the ship costume designer.
Aside from the setup work and programming it would then be on the user to do the design and layout work. If part of the player base is like me, they spend too much time on Captain and Boff costumes. I can easily see burning hours doing this too, especially if services like bank, exchange, etc were unlockables to add to the bridge/interior after meeting achievement or monetary/Zen requirement. You could make your bridge/ship useful at that point and convenient to visit it (over spacedock/first city/Rom float boat).
I know the suggestion is a bit of work but it would turn into a self sustaining system after initial investment on Cryptic's part.
my two bits.... now back I go to obscurity.
That is almost certainly MORE work than just making more canon interiors.
I've always adored the bad business logic of, "our interiors don't sell," therefore, interiors in general must not sell. Talk about ego. How about some objective logic: the bridge packs don't sell because most are of an embarrassingly low quality, and of the only THREE really high quality ones they've ever released, they arbitrarily and unnecessarily TIED the most important (Voyager) to a huge $50 ship pack! AND the most requested interior wasn't and isn't Voyager at all, but the iconic Galaxy!
No, it's not that there's no demand. It's that Cryptic refuses to meet it.
Some food for thought:
Any business has to guage potential demand against the cost of investment. If they spend a lot of effort on something and lose money, that hurts the game in the long run.
The current bridge packs may not be selling, and in many cases that's probably due to quality, but you and I don't have data on, say, the Belfast bridge sales. If those are also disappointing, well, there's definitely nothing wrong with the quality of that interior or the show accuracy of its layout.
But regardless, even if you're right, and the reason the current bridge packs don't sell is due to their age and low quality, that still doesn't make a high quality bridge pack into a sure thing. It's at best an untested product, that is related to a failed product. The fact that some vocal folks on the forums really want it doesn't actually have bearing on whether it would sell. It is entirely possible that you are not representative of the playerbase as a whole.
Many players don't fly Galaxies or their variants. Those players that don't probably wouldn't be interested in a show-accurate interior.
If you want them to make more interiors, the best advice would be to have them make interiors that can be reused as settings for featured episodes. That way they get extra milage out of the art, even if the layout doesn't sell. (See: Voyager interior)
No, it's not that there's no demand. It's that Cryptic refuses to meet it.
First: Personally, I would LOVE to see at least the 'Origin' interior that we see in the revamped Fed tutorial made the default template to replace the existing ship interiors we have now.
That said, in response to the poster I quoted above, it's not that 'Cryptic refuses to meet it." per se; it's more Cryptic refuses to take the chance (and spend valuable development resources and time) to see if such new interiors would sell; when they have and can make other things that they already know WILL sell (and sell well); and thus they see the latter as the best use of Dev time and resources.
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 normally stay quite on forums, but I felt like making this comment.
If cryptic doesn't see a market for prefab interiors and bridges, how about making it a subscriber perk/Zen purchase to be able to use a mini foundry to build your own interior/bridge. Then be able to save it to purchasable slots beyond the default 2/4/6/etc. You could then select from the slots in the ship costume designer.
Aside from the setup work and programming it would then be on the user to do the design and layout work. If part of the player base is like me, they spend too much time on Captain and Boff costumes. I can easily see burning hours doing this too, especially if services like bank, exchange, etc were unlockables to add to the bridge/interior after meeting achievement or monetary/Zen requirement. You could make your bridge/ship useful at that point and convenient to visit it (over spacedock/first city/Rom float boat).
I know the suggestion is a bit of work but it would turn into a self sustaining system after initial investment on Cryptic's part.
my two bits.... now back I go to obscurity.
Best idea I have seen. A nice twist on the usual requests made in the past for a total foundry overhaul. A concentration that should get what we want. I add to this, allow us to create interiors with this suggestion, that "fill-out" existing ships that may not see updates. I.E. the interior of the Risian Luxury Cruiser with island or forest arboretum for specific example. If not willing to do that for us, let us do it. Thank you. Also make the Origin interior the basis for an awesome layout make it standard as suggested above. And please do the Galaxy and/or Sovereign official interiors sometime soon this year. would be bought and enjoyed.
I normally stay quite on forums, but I felt like making this comment.
If cryptic doesn't see a market for prefab interiors and bridges, how about making it a subscriber perk/Zen purchase to be able to use a mini foundry to build your own interior/bridge. Then be able to save it to purchasable slots beyond the default 2/4/6/etc. You could then select from the slots in the ship costume designer.
Aside from the setup work and programming it would then be on the user to do the design and layout work. If part of the player base is like me, they spend too much time on Captain and Boff costumes. I can easily see burning hours doing this too, especially if services like bank, exchange, etc were unlockables to add to the bridge/interior after meeting achievement or monetary/Zen requirement. You could make your bridge/ship useful at that point and convenient to visit it (over spacedock/first city/Rom float boat).
I know the suggestion is a bit of work but it would turn into a self sustaining system after initial investment on Cryptic's part.
my two bits.... now back I go to obscurity.
Best idea I have seen. A nice twist on the usual requests made in the past for a total foundry overhaul. A concentration that should get what we want. I add to this, allow us to create interiors with this suggestion, that "fill-out" existing ships that may not see updates. I.E. the interior of the Risian Luxury Cruiser with island or forest arboretum for specific example. If not willing to do that for us, let us do it. Thank you. Also make the Origin interior the basis for an awesome layout make it standard as suggested above. And please do the Galaxy and/or Sovereign official interiors sometime soon this year. would be bought and enjoyed.
The "Best idea you've seen" boils down to: "So okay, if developing new ship interiors isn't worth the investment, how about instead you just develop an entire new system of bridge customization that you would have to populate with all of the assets that would be involved in the development of the bridge sets you're not willing to make, thus doing all the same work you would've been doing plus a whole bunch more? Then you could give it away as a subscriber perk so that many of the people that might pay extra for it will get it for free."
I mean, I can respect the balls of going up to someone that refused to make you toast and asking for a full course breakfast, but it's not exactly grounded in reality.
I normally stay quite on forums, but I felt like making this comment.
If cryptic doesn't see a market for prefab interiors and bridges, how about making it a subscriber perk/Zen purchase to be able to use a mini foundry to build your own interior/bridge. Then be able to save it to purchasable slots beyond the default 2/4/6/etc. You could then select from the slots in the ship costume designer.
Aside from the setup work and programming it would then be on the user to do the design and layout work. If part of the player base is like me, they spend too much time on Captain and Boff costumes. I can easily see burning hours doing this too, especially if services like bank, exchange, etc were unlockables to add to the bridge/interior after meeting achievement or monetary/Zen requirement. You could make your bridge/ship useful at that point and convenient to visit it (over spacedock/first city/Rom float boat).
I know the suggestion is a bit of work but it would turn into a self sustaining system after initial investment on Cryptic's part.
my two bits.... now back I go to obscurity.
Best idea I have seen. A nice twist on the usual requests made in the past for a total foundry overhaul. A concentration that should get what we want. I add to this, allow us to create interiors with this suggestion, that "fill-out" existing ships that may not see updates. I.E. the interior of the Risian Luxury Cruiser with island or forest arboretum for specific example. If not willing to do that for us, let us do it. Thank you. Also make the Origin interior the basis for an awesome layout make it standard as suggested above. And please do the Galaxy and/or Sovereign official interiors sometime soon this year. would be bought and enjoyed.
The "Best idea you've seen" boils down to: "So okay, if developing new ship interiors isn't worth the investment, how about instead you just develop an entire new system of bridge customization that you would have to populate with all of the assets that would be involved in the development of the bridge sets you're not willing to make, thus doing all the same work you would've been doing plus a whole bunch more? Then you could give it away as a subscriber perk so that many of the people that might pay extra for it will get it for free."
I mean, I can respect the balls of going up to someone that refused to make you toast and asking for a full course breakfast, but it's not exactly grounded in reality.
Tacofangs did mention that the possibility and only the possibility exists if they could ever just make a base normalized map that is not as customizable, THEN they might have something to work with. However, that first hurdle still needs to be jumped.
Using the Origin or tutorial bridge map set as a start for that would be possible. Nothing is impossible. Several things we asked for have been done. Here's holding out hope and having the audacity to make the suggestion. Computer, reference song by the 21st century hip-hop group, Ugly Duckling - Audacity. Engage.
I normally stay quite on forums, but I felt like making this comment.
If cryptic doesn't see a market for prefab interiors and bridges, how about making it a subscriber perk/Zen purchase to be able to use a mini foundry to build your own interior/bridge. Then be able to save it to purchasable slots beyond the default 2/4/6/etc. You could then select from the slots in the ship costume designer.
Aside from the setup work and programming it would then be on the user to do the design and layout work. If part of the player base is like me, they spend too much time on Captain and Boff costumes. I can easily see burning hours doing this too, especially if services like bank, exchange, etc were unlockables to add to the bridge/interior after meeting achievement or monetary/Zen requirement. You could make your bridge/ship useful at that point and convenient to visit it (over spacedock/first city/Rom float boat).
I know the suggestion is a bit of work but it would turn into a self sustaining system after initial investment on Cryptic's part.
my two bits.... now back I go to obscurity.
Best idea I have seen. A nice twist on the usual requests made in the past for a total foundry overhaul. A concentration that should get what we want. I add to this, allow us to create interiors with this suggestion, that "fill-out" existing ships that may not see updates. I.E. the interior of the Risian Luxury Cruiser with island or forest arboretum for specific example. If not willing to do that for us, let us do it. Thank you. Also make the Origin interior the basis for an awesome layout make it standard as suggested above. And please do the Galaxy and/or Sovereign official interiors sometime soon this year. would be bought and enjoyed.
The "Best idea you've seen" boils down to: "So okay, if developing new ship interiors isn't worth the investment, how about instead you just develop an entire new system of bridge customization that you would have to populate with all of the assets that would be involved in the development of the bridge sets you're not willing to make, thus doing all the same work you would've been doing plus a whole bunch more? Then you could give it away as a subscriber perk so that many of the people that might pay extra for it will get it for free."
I mean, I can respect the balls of going up to someone that refused to make you toast and asking for a full course breakfast, but it's not exactly grounded in reality.
Making it free is not suggested but making it modular and buy-able and not locked down in a bundle is the key lesson perhaps. The Galaxy and movie sets perhaps in bundles to match the previous sets for customers who want to buy those bundles and have been patiently waiting for them. Then take some of that hallway work from that and found in existing work (the holodeck mission on Bajor and the missions on Klingon side where you are on the Federation ship making moves) and blend all of those assets into an expanded Origin/Tutorial version that is not in a bundle.
So, heavensrun like you said as well above, also make it usable in a mission, and like the poster above this post said, the TNG anniversary is coming up soon(TM). In the words of the great Captain Nog... "Opportunities (for profit)". Cheers and agreed.
The polish that the game has been receiving has made an already awesome game that much cooler. Replaying on alts I've seen the mission polish they have done and it is very impressive and completely appreciated. The bridges need love in the same way. Add to that more costumes: sets and pieces to go for. Dixon Hill fedora and trenchcoat anyone? Sherlock Holmes and Watson Holodeck sets all for 30th anniversary goodies to buy from the zen store? Guinan outfit/set? Revamped 10 Forward (on the TNG, movie and the modular Origin/Tutorial buy-able sets) as part of the appeal? Allow our boffs to wear these said outfits because this is Star Trek.:) Let us control--to a point the Boff outfits--and another reason to buy the wonderful costume pieces. With the understanding that current map restrictions apply but allow us to use these new costume sets and the other ones we can wear on a given map as a captain on our Boffs. Episodes from TNG (Holmes and Dixon Hill Holodeck episodes) and TOS the Excalibans, with Abraham Lincoln doing judo throws lol = #classic trek goodness(TM). Show the bridges the same love that missions got, and the credits zen, lobi, and latinum will be shown by us, the grateful players. I just keep hoping for the program we asked for and not the Quark head on Kira body program instead. lol.
Comments
No, it's not that there's no demand. It's that Cryptic refuses to meet it.
I recall Tacofangs 'admitting' there was some circular reasoning going in their deliberations ("They're not selling, so we're not making good ones... hence they're not selling." Etc.) But, objectively, I can see how it simply takes too much time to create a cool stand-alone bridge, compared to what they get in return for it (unless said bridge was already made for a mission). Sad, but entirely reasonable. *snif*
And yeah, I'd easily pay 50 bucks for a bridge.
Fake EDIT: I would get totally behind the idea mentioned here, of letting Foundry creators design them.
If cryptic doesn't see a market for prefab interiors and bridges, how about making it a subscriber perk/Zen purchase to be able to use a mini foundry to build your own interior/bridge. Then be able to save it to purchasable slots beyond the default 2/4/6/etc. You could then select from the slots in the ship costume designer.
Aside from the setup work and programming it would then be on the user to do the design and layout work. If part of the player base is like me, they spend too much time on Captain and Boff costumes. I can easily see burning hours doing this too, especially if services like bank, exchange, etc were unlockables to add to the bridge/interior after meeting achievement or monetary/Zen requirement. You could make your bridge/ship useful at that point and convenient to visit it (over spacedock/first city/Rom float boat).
I know the suggestion is a bit of work but it would turn into a self sustaining system after initial investment on Cryptic's part.
my two bits.... now back I go to obscurity.
That is almost certainly MORE work than just making more canon interiors.
Some food for thought:
Any business has to guage potential demand against the cost of investment. If they spend a lot of effort on something and lose money, that hurts the game in the long run.
The current bridge packs may not be selling, and in many cases that's probably due to quality, but you and I don't have data on, say, the Belfast bridge sales. If those are also disappointing, well, there's definitely nothing wrong with the quality of that interior or the show accuracy of its layout.
But regardless, even if you're right, and the reason the current bridge packs don't sell is due to their age and low quality, that still doesn't make a high quality bridge pack into a sure thing. It's at best an untested product, that is related to a failed product. The fact that some vocal folks on the forums really want it doesn't actually have bearing on whether it would sell. It is entirely possible that you are not representative of the playerbase as a whole.
Many players don't fly Galaxies or their variants. Those players that don't probably wouldn't be interested in a show-accurate interior.
If you want them to make more interiors, the best advice would be to have them make interiors that can be reused as settings for featured episodes. That way they get extra milage out of the art, even if the layout doesn't sell. (See: Voyager interior)
First: Personally, I would LOVE to see at least the 'Origin' interior that we see in the revamped Fed tutorial made the default template to replace the existing ship interiors we have now.
That said, in response to the poster I quoted above, it's not that 'Cryptic refuses to meet it." per se; it's more Cryptic refuses to take the chance (and spend valuable development resources and time) to see if such new interiors would sell; when they have and can make other things that they already know WILL sell (and sell well); and thus they see the latter as the best use of Dev time and resources.
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..."
Best idea I have seen. A nice twist on the usual requests made in the past for a total foundry overhaul. A concentration that should get what we want. I add to this, allow us to create interiors with this suggestion, that "fill-out" existing ships that may not see updates. I.E. the interior of the Risian Luxury Cruiser with island or forest arboretum for specific example. If not willing to do that for us, let us do it. Thank you. Also make the Origin interior the basis for an awesome layout make it standard as suggested above. And please do the Galaxy and/or Sovereign official interiors sometime soon this year. would be bought and enjoyed.
The "Best idea you've seen" boils down to: "So okay, if developing new ship interiors isn't worth the investment, how about instead you just develop an entire new system of bridge customization that you would have to populate with all of the assets that would be involved in the development of the bridge sets you're not willing to make, thus doing all the same work you would've been doing plus a whole bunch more? Then you could give it away as a subscriber perk so that many of the people that might pay extra for it will get it for free."
I mean, I can respect the balls of going up to someone that refused to make you toast and asking for a full course breakfast, but it's not exactly grounded in reality.
Tacofangs did mention that the possibility and only the possibility exists if they could ever just make a base normalized map that is not as customizable, THEN they might have something to work with. However, that first hurdle still needs to be jumped.
Using the Origin or tutorial bridge map set as a start for that would be possible. Nothing is impossible. Several things we asked for have been done. Here's holding out hope and having the audacity to make the suggestion. Computer, reference song by the 21st century hip-hop group, Ugly Duckling - Audacity. Engage.
TNG's 30th anniversary is next year. Just sayin'.