Desirability of C-Store items: Getting better or getting worse?

mneme0

Do you consider the desirability of C-Store items to be getting better or getting worse? Give your thoughts on why you think so.

chookin

Getting better.

The latest things like ship bundles I see on the cstore and get excited about (as a kdf main I get excited if there are kdf ships at all)

Command ship bundle i love, the console platforms fun even though I don't use the consoles anymore due to dps chasing. Good traits.

Did not buy new flagship pack since I remember the inertia from my old sci bortasqu and trying to turn in it.

Pilot pack, so much fun, amazing ship models.

I don't buy as many ships as I used to as I find it harder and harder to maintain more than 3 Alts without feeling burnt out, and wallet gets too light then too.

mneme0

Getting worse.

Generally, I find the C-Store to be less desirable than it used to be, mostly due to stagnation. I see no reason why my quite limited STO budget should outstrip the development of desirable items but I haven't bought anything in awhile.

My complaints include:

1. Lackluster, recycled, and non-canon ship designs.
2. No new or interesting ship mechanics.
3. No "bonus" items for new ships, e.g. Tal'Kyr Support Craft with D'Kyr.
4. No new bridge officers, duty officers, or costumes.
5. Klingon, Romulan, and cross-faction costumes nearly non-existent.
6. Few sub-faction ships, e.g. Andorian Escorts.
7. No attempts to monetize new and unique concepts.

angrytarg

Getting worse.

I kinda agree with @mneme0 but this is, of course, absolutely subjective. For me there's nothing really in the store tha peaks my interest aside from old stuff. There are no new costumes or visuals (I'd even buy visual overhauls of certain races and appearances with zen at this poit), no new items (like a nice canon weapon pack or anything), no new races (Deferi plz!), no new canon ships (T6 Nebula, pleeeaze?) so my interest in the store is rather low. Of course this could change any time if certain things do get put into it.​​

mirrorchaos

Getting worse.

Too much of one thing however the cost of these virtual items has increased to rather unreasonable prices for something that isnt real, coupled with the dilithium market that could be around 300 - 1, the chances of making some real progress is significantly limited even with a number of alts.

angrytarg

Getting worse.

mirrorchaos wrote: »

Too much of one thing however the cost of these virtual items has increased to rather unreasonable prices for something that isnt real, coupled with the dilithium market that could be around 300 - 1, the chances of making some real progress is significantly limited even with a number of alts.

Right, this as well. 30 bucks for a virtual star ship isn't something I'd ever pay, the dilithium rate doesn't really bother me as I get dilithium while playing. Sure, it takes maybe a year to save for a T6 but whatevs

But items in a game for the price of a new game? No, definitely not. Realistically, what I would be willing to pay would be 10 currencies tops for account unlock star ships.​​

lordsteve1

Getting worse.

Getting worse because the sheer cost of those pixels is ridiculous at the moment.
Even the old outdated ships are high in price so even if you wanted a ship to unlock a costume it's going to cost an arm and a leg.
Added to that is the high exchange price in dilithium so even going half n' half on a ship is going to take a lot of time to save up unless you go full on farming mad.

But most of all I think it's just an over saturation of the same stuff. Every quarter it's another Fed cruiser, or another overpowered escort. Where's the diversity? What about all the canon ships still waiting for T6 versions? What about adding more RR & KDF ships? What about some more bridge or interrior packs?

Seems like they don't make stuff because it doesn't sell; but yet it doesn't sell because they don't make it in the first place!

mustrumridcully0

Neither way, particularly.

When a new ship is released, there is usually something interesting in it. I like the cross-faction bundles in particular.

The Zen/Dilithium rate also seems to suggest that Zen is still highly desirable, possibly more than before.
But for me personally, it's simply the ebb & flow of ship releases. I don't really need most of the services and other things offered.

scarling

Getting worse.

Ships cost too much, Recycled ships with less desirable designs than the originals, Nothing else new added to it anymore besides pack promos and ships. Just wondering if the future holds more expensive ships for every new tier they add or what?

jade1280

Neither way, particularly.

Medicore is the word.

irm1963

Neither way, particularly.

jade1280 wrote: »

Medicore is the word.

No it isn't

irm1963

Neither way, particularly.

Depends how long you've been playing, been here since F2P started on this account so I've got virtually everything out so far that I want either by buying or from giveaways and I'd think that'd be the case for many people. If I've any complaint at all, it's that a lot of the costumes and gear seem to go to the Lobi store now rather than the C-Store.

Prices are quite high for a bunch of pixels IMO, but not all that different from many other F2P MMOs out there. Nature of the beast, and it's not like you need to buy everything that comes out. C-Store stuff's always been optional extras anyway.

catsmeat

Getting better.

I've been playing since day one. The C-store is what it is, I don't think any particular offering is better or worse in general now than when it started up. But the slowly growing stock of ships and items has been nice to see build up over the course of the games life. If I were a new player right now I'd be trying to figure out which of all the tasty items to buy first.

I don't need it to stock new or superior stuff constantly to enjoy the game. I do look forward to seeing new things too though.

I guess I'm just happy with the pace they set on offering new models.

I have a lifetime sub, have about 90% of the C-store ships unlocked; sure it cost a few bucks, but this is by far my least expensive hobby. For the hours upon hours of fun I have in game with good friends met in this game I'd say it's a great value.

Cheers.

daendae

Getting worse.

I mean, you don't need the stuff in the C-Store, but the stuff is not as good as you sometimes expect it to be.
Also, I'm upset that there aren't any T6 Orion, Ferasan, Caitian, or Risian stuff

farmallm

Getting better.

The many different options is nice. And you have a lot more to choose from. So this way everyone is showing off their own style of ships. This is what I like. Only thing I don't like is the copies of the T5s going into T6s to say I'm all new. This is why I'm not much interested in buying T6 clones of T5s. Only T6s I like is something totally new.

cmdrbluerevan

Getting worse.

I wish there were new bridge officers. Haven't seen a new one in a few years

risian4

Getting worse.

Mostly for the reasons I described here: http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/comment/12907820

The space part of the game was getting more interesting after I tried some new builds, but I'm now back to exploring ground maps and playing ground missions. The skill revamp didn't really help here: most missions are now done so fast that you barely get a chance to do anything except keeping up with some fast flying FAW'ing ship. It's one of the main reasons why, when I'm playing space content, I'm doing missions like Borg disconnected, Undine assault etc. : at least in those missions everyone gets a chance to do his own thing, which is what makes most ground missions also more appealing to me.


We need more stuff in the store that isn't yet another ship. Adding some things for ground builds would be one idea. Some other non-combat related stuff would be nice too: new Boffs, options to change ship-specific items like skins, bridges or non-offensive console abilities into devices.

risian4

Getting worse.

Core of the problem, I think, is that most C-store items are tied to the agressive nature of most game content so to say.

Everything is basically centred around killing enemies, which means they have to monetise that content by either selling ships or other items to let us do it.

If they'd focus on Exploration for example, they could sell us new EV suits, new devices like small vehicles to explore maps, new pets etc. Even during exploration you'd still have to fight sometimes, meaning they could keep selling and designing ships, but at least they could diversify C-store releases a bit which would also allow them to diversify their income source.

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snoggymack22

Neither way, particularly.

somtaawkhar wrote: »

sophlogimo wrote: »

Character class change token.
Character species change token.

I'd also pay for things like better ship interriors. Not in the sense of a bridgepack, but in the sense of a "instead of the basic ship interior, you get a realistic map of the ship's 40 decks, where you can see from the layout that you are actually in a ship".

I honestly cant think of an MMO that lets you change your race like that, nor your class. That's just not how games work.

They would make ship interiors if people actually used them.

Doesn't Rift let you change your class?

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dirlettia

Getting worse.

Have to say getting worse but only really in respect of certain T5 ships. The old VA T5.5 ships like the B'rel, Galaxy and Defiant really need to be knocked back to level 40 requirements as who in their right mind would ever buy a T5 ship once they are in the T6 ship ranges?

tacticalrook

dirlettia wrote: »

Have to say getting worse but only really in respect of certain T5 ships. The old VA T5.5 ships like the B'rel, Galaxy and Defiant really need to be knocked back to level 40 requirements as who in their right mind would ever buy a T5 ship once they are in the T6 ship ranges?

Folks who buy ships for the purpose of obtaining unlocks or pieces of equipment may well be "in their right mind". There are a number of ships that are in demand for no other reason than to strip them for parts.

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dalolorn

snoggymack22 wrote: »

somtaawkhar wrote: »

sophlogimo wrote: »

Character class change token.
Character species change token.

I'd also pay for things like better ship interriors. Not in the sense of a bridgepack, but in the sense of a "instead of the basic ship interior, you get a realistic map of the ship's 40 decks, where you can see from the layout that you are actually in a ship".

I honestly cant think of an MMO that lets you change your race like that, nor your class. That's just not how games work.

They would make ship interiors if people actually used them.

Doesn't Rift let you change your class?

SWG let you change your class. SWTOR lets you change your species. Sounds like Star Wars MMOs aren't games, huh?

voyagerfan9751

angrytarg wrote: »

I kinda agree with @mneme0 but this is, of course, absolutely subjective. For me there's nothing really in the store tha peaks my interest aside from old stuff. There are no new costumes or visuals (I'd even buy visual overhauls of certain races and appearances with zen at this poit), no new items (like a nice canon weapon pack or anything), no new races (Deferi plz!), no new canon ships (T6 Nebula, pleeeaze?) so my interest in the store is rather low. Of course this could change any time if certain things do get put into it.​​

I am pretty much right with angrytarg here. For the most part there isn't much new that interests me. We haven't had a new bridge Officer or Captain species in just shy of eternity. Costumes in just about as long. There really isn't anything to spend money on at this point. Even the slow trickle of T6s isn't much and they are more a Save up and get this someday kind of thing (If they ever release a new one). It just seems Cryptic isn't as invested in the C-store as it used to be.

mustrumridcully0

Neither way, particularly.

sophlogimo wrote: »

somtaawkhar wrote: »

sophlogimo wrote: »

Yes, let us not be original. Otherwise the game might earn more money.

It has nothing to do with originality, it has to do with how games in general store character data and use it to find your character when you log in.

It is a database. All fields in a database can be edited. Especially if there's money in it.

I guess that leaves only one possible conclusion. Cryptic doesn't like to make money, right?

The request for this feature has been around for about as long as the game is around. It might be that yes, you can edit almost everything in a database - but it might not be as simple as editing just a single entry?

Considering that Cryptic managed to replace every single item in our inventories with a "dynamic item" variant of the item to enable the upgrade system (and did so free of charge, even if you never ever did use these "dynamic" items to make upgrades), and yet hasn't tried to sell us this feature hints that it just might not be so easy.

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kodachikuno

Neither way, particularly.

Honestly while I agree with mneme0's and angrytarg's complaints. I feel that whats in the Z-store hasn't gotten better or worse... its about the same as always(which isn't necessarily a good thing). What's changed is the game itself. Between the awful writing and uninspired plots, I know my play time has dropped to an all time low. I'm down to a couple hours a week atm, why would I fork over $$$ for overpriced pixels when I'm going to barely see them? The price tags are laughably ridiculous in my opinion, only to be outdone by the speed at which people merrily pay them.