Its how you look at it. You want Dil, you want Zen high to cash in a lot of Dil. Want Zen, you want Dil low so you get a lot of Zen. However, with it like it is now. Most people can't afford those prices. This is why mine is going to upgrades, and being stockpiled until it does drop.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
The only rate that should matter to anyone and especially Cryptic, is whether it's at a point where it doesn't turn away new players. Old players leave. The future of the game depends on fresh players coming in and staying. So IMO the rate is currently far too high.
That makes no sense.
The rate currently only 'scares away' Free to play people that want to grind Dilithium instead of spending money.
I've spent many years working in "free" online business with "upsells" so I can speak from real experience. Everyone starts as "free" and you have to have that "achievable" carrot in there for them to keep them in the product as a percentage will turn into real spenders. The high rate does not leave a player with an achievable "carrot". So I'm sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about. But carry on anyway.
It most certainly is obtainable. It might take a long time, but it's free, in a game with no mandatory purchases, so it should take a long time. If you want it now, pony up some cash and actually support this game.
If people had been willing to pay for the standard $15 sub model this game launched with, we wouldn't be dealing with this F2P nonsense we have now and everyone would be better off, but no everyone wants stuff free these days ...
The price is going down already. As I knew it would. But please continue.
"Great men are not peacemakers, Great men are conquerors!" - Captain Archer" "When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative - violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way." - Captain Janeway #Support Mirror Universe I.S.S. Prefixes
Zen? High? But the Brittish Pound is pretty low because they are leaving the EU. They tell me if I leave this game, the price of Zen will go down, but I am staying.
There's simply too much Dilithium running around the markets, thus devaluing it as a currency against Zen and the real world currency used to pay for it. At one US Penny per Zen, that same penny is worth 490 Dilithium or whatever it is right now (I didn't check recently). Whether this is good or bad is left to the individual.
As a currency, there are three ways to really manipulate it.
Get more people, which reduces the per capita amount of currency on the market. In the real world, reducing the per capita amount will make the currency more valuable. This doesn't work very well in an online virtual world, because they can generate the currency and actually TRIBBLE up the per capita ratio established when they just began the game.
Increase supply of the currency, which will naturally devalue the currency if it increases the per capita amount of the currency.
Decrease supply of the currency, which will make it more valuable if it decreases the per capita amount of the currency.
What you saw in-game was getting more people. REMEMBER--in game is disastrous for currencies. In a game, this will produce a very temporary valuation of Dil, but over time will cause inflation since they can generate Dil also. In essence, the flood of Dil from new characters made Dil worth less and Zen worth more. Again, you're seeing the devaluation of Dil and nothing more.
If we limit the supply of Dil players can generate, it's hoped that Dil becomes a bit more valuable. However, if it become too valuable, then nobody dumps their Zen into the exchange. It's a very thin tightrope to stay balanced upon.
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If there are posts here that do not appeal to you, or opinions you disagree with, the best way to deal with that is to resist the urge to add comments. Instead, engage with the content you like! Don't feed the trolls!
I think so. Actually I think the currency price could be lowered. I think they actually they could cut the price in half, and they'd more than make up for it in increased sales.
The price is going down already. As I knew it would. But please continue.
Good thing your skill at picking winners is solid.
We both had our victories and defeats. Now it's time to resolve our differences, and face the ultimate truth. I have won Benja-.... Oh wait that's from DS9. You get the point though.
"Great men are not peacemakers, Great men are conquerors!" - Captain Archer" "When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative - violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way." - Captain Janeway #Support Mirror Universe I.S.S. Prefixes
The price is going down already. As I knew it would. But please continue.
It should drop further as we get to bonus upgrade weekend in a few days. There will be lots of people with new AOY toons enjoying the dilithium sink all over again. Should run a thread guessing what the low will be. I put my bet around 350
Players economy:
zen too low, Cryptic won't make Profit as Players just Play for free. Zen too high, free Players won't get zen, not be competitive and stop Play. Therefore Queues will take longer to activate, fewer Players on battlezones and so on. Which leads to Players speculating if the game is dying and therefore not investing in the game anymore.
I was waiting for 5 minutes recently for a Iconian mark PvE to start - and left the game frustrated after 5 minutes. Currently with the temporal recruitment Event on, there are probably more Players in the game again, but generally I have the Feeling that 2 years ago, this game was much more active. I do not have numbers of active Players, but I guess you could even Count someone active Player who only Pops on, does the DOffing and admirality Thing - so I guess numbers wouldn'T even tell the full truth anyway.
My Suggestion would be: Cryptic should put in some Zen into the market to make sure the Price gets to affordable rates again. This would not bring new Players but give the existing ones something to grind for. And I think that now is the perfect time, as there are a lot of Players here due to the Expansion.
18 characters
KDF: 2 tacs, 2 engs, 3 scis
KDF Roms: 3 tacs, 1 eng, 1 scis
FED: 2 tacs, 1 eng, 2 scis
TOS: 1 tac
all on T5 rep (up to temporal)
all have mastered Intel tree (and some more specs Points)
highest DPS: 60.982
Ohhh, look: someone is having my same problem. But hey, I tried to talk about this last year ... wanna know the answer ?
bla bla bla ... nothing is about to chance ... bla bla bla ... real world economy is bad ... bla bla bla ... we like the price as it is.
Want to change this situation ? Don't buy Zen !
You don't buy, they don't sell ... and since they don't want to earn dil by playing the game, you'll see the price go down.
That's it: syndacate is the only way for workers to have their rights reknown.
My Suggestion would be: Cryptic should put in some Zen into the market to make sure the Price gets to affordable rates again. This would not bring new Players but give the existing ones something to grind for. And I think that now is the perfect time, as there are a lot of Players here due to the Expansion.
If you want Zen from Cryptic, then play those Arc Quests or whatever they are called when you log into Arc.
There is no need for Cryptic to put Zen on the Dil Exchange to force players who sell Zen to lower their prices. However, Cryptic should curtail the ease at which players can obtain Dil. One idea could be to cut the amount of Dil rewarded for playing a mission (1st time and repeats) in half. However, this is only a short term solution since most players do not get "mine" Dil by playing story missions.
you only copied the Suggestion - not my reasoning behind it.
Now Players either spend Money or don't bother getting Zen. Lower Zen Price would make Zen grindable again - thus giving Players a reason to grind Dil which would boost Players queueing up for PvEs
Yes, Cryptic would directly win less Money and yes, some Players who are crazy enough to buy zen and sell it would lose out a bit of Zen. But I really think that this would improve the game in the Long run as it would create a more active Player base which in turn would be willing to spend some Money.
ie: instead of 10 Players who spend 100 Euros/Dollars you may get 200 Players who grind and spend 10 Euros/Dollars.
18 characters
KDF: 2 tacs, 2 engs, 3 scis
KDF Roms: 3 tacs, 1 eng, 1 scis
FED: 2 tacs, 1 eng, 2 scis
TOS: 1 tac
all on T5 rep (up to temporal)
all have mastered Intel tree (and some more specs Points)
highest DPS: 60.982
'Too high' is highly subjective. The current Exchange-rate for dil-zen mirrors the overall situation that effectively dil-farming players have too much dil which effectively inflates its value. Thus, zen are freaking expensive now.
I've read the reason behind your suggestion and I do not think Cryptic should directly influence the Dil Exchange by putting Zen there to force Zen sellers to accept a lower exchange rate.
The proper solution would be to find a way for players to use their stockpile of Dil for something else other than exchanging it for Zen. One method is to reduce the amount of Dil injected into the economy, but that is only half of a solution and does not address the immediate issue of the fact there is supposedly a large stockpile of refined and unrefined Dil in the game. There needs to be a new Dil sink(s) for the Dil to go to other than directly to the Dil Exchange... something more than just Fleet Projects.
Because let's face it, with the demand for dil so low these days, if they crashed the market to be "reasonable" to what you all think, NONE of the current zen sellers will be buying zen to sell. So...yeah...no.
And the fact the demand for Zen in the Dil Exchange has been and always shall be high. Nothing will change that... unless the C-Store is converted to only accept cash (well... credit cards and other forms of monetary payment systems).
you only copied the Suggestion - not my reasoning behind it.
Now Players either spend Money or don't bother getting Zen. Lower Zen Price would make Zen grindable again - thus giving Players a reason to grind Dil which would boost Players queueing up for PvEs
Yes, Cryptic would directly win less Money and yes, some Players who are crazy enough to buy zen and sell it would lose out a bit of Zen. But I really think that this would improve the game in the Long run as it would create a more active Player base which in turn would be willing to spend some Money.
ie: instead of 10 Players who spend 100 Euros/Dollars you may get 200 Players who grind and spend 10 Euros/Dollars.
You DO realize that if us "crazy" people stop putting zen in the exchange, there's not going to be any for you you to trade dil for right? If anyone wants me to pay money so they can get something for free, they can either pay a premium or wait for someone else. My cash is far more valuable than anyone's desire for free stuff.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, if you want a new shiny in a timely manner then pony up some cash and support this game. Nothing in entertainment should be free, and to be honest I'd be happier if they just eliminated dil all-together and made zen only obtainable with cash.
I wish we could go back to the good old days when F2P didn't exist and if you wanted to play an MMO your only option was to sub.
Oh here we go, the whole "make it free to play friendly or we will quit" line. Frakin freeloader want everything handed to them. Grind your butt off or swipe your credit card and get what you want.
Oh here we go, the whole "make it free to play friendly or we will quit" line. Frakin freeloader want everything handed to them. Grind your butt off or swipe your credit card and get what you want.
"Great men are not peacemakers, Great men are conquerors!" - Captain Archer" "When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative - violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way." - Captain Janeway #Support Mirror Universe I.S.S. Prefixes
no - I am a life timer and have probably spent a month salary on this game. So definitely not a freeloader. I want an active community. When Season 7 came out there was much more Chat going on in our fleet, you could easily create private PvEs with your friends who were just in the game anyway. And if you pugged, you didn't have to wait in a Queue for as Long as you have to wait now.
Last month I was trying to get the Borg BOff for a few of my toons - every third day I managed to start a pugged Khitomer ground - I queued up and then did patrols to get some more xp. After Season 7 I would have waited for 20 minutes max.
Sure there are more Queues now, so even if the same number of Players were in the game it would statisticly take longer. But many good Players I knew left (amongst others 3 of our 5 PvP team) and game isn't about socializing anymore but just log on, DOff, admirality, check the fleet is OK, grind some daily Bonus missions and then eff off again (Current Event is a break from that rule)
18 characters
KDF: 2 tacs, 2 engs, 3 scis
KDF Roms: 3 tacs, 1 eng, 1 scis
FED: 2 tacs, 1 eng, 2 scis
TOS: 1 tac
all on T5 rep (up to temporal)
all have mastered Intel tree (and some more specs Points)
highest DPS: 60.982
Oh here we go, the whole "make it free to play friendly or we will quit" line. Frakin freeloader want everything handed to them. Grind your butt off or swipe your credit card and get what you want.
^ I have no words... just awesome.
It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
Oh here we go, the whole "make it free to play friendly or we will quit" line. Frakin freeloader want everything handed to them. Grind your butt off or swipe your credit card and get what you want.
By now everyone will have taken notice that you like to be contrary.
That however does not change the simple fact that high rates at the diltihium exchange hurt the free to play model.
It's all about perception and with the current exchange rates people are less likely to exchange dilithium for zen which hurts the free to play model. This drives players away and with that a source of micro transactions.
Both the people who only purchase zen and those who strictly purchase zen through dilithium exchange are minorities.
However, the largest source of income for a game with a F2P model comes from people for micro transactions. Not subscriptions or purchase of ship packs, but a small transaction to get 200-500 zen for utilities. That is also the group which WILL be driven away, along with any economic viability for the game, by high exchange rates.
This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
Some of you have commented that people you know are leaving the game over the exchanfe rate.
So they basically took their ball and went home because they did not get their way. I do not have the red matter capacitor, should I create multiple theads on how unfair it is I can't get one, bad mouth Cryptic for not making it accessible to me and then just up and quit over it?
People who do not want to spend money on the game but want everything find a way. I have buddy in the game with 4 accounts with the sole purpose of grinding tons of dil a day just to get his zen on.
You all should be thanking us who are dumping zen on the exchange, we are removing dil faster then the rest of you. I have personally purchased 7 million dil off the exchange for the sole purpose of completing Armada fleet projects.
Comments
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
It most certainly is obtainable. It might take a long time, but it's free, in a game with no mandatory purchases, so it should take a long time. If you want it now, pony up some cash and actually support this game.
If people had been willing to pay for the standard $15 sub model this game launched with, we wouldn't be dealing with this F2P nonsense we have now and everyone would be better off, but no everyone wants stuff free these days ...
"When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative - violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way." - Captain Janeway
#Support Mirror Universe I.S.S. Prefixes
Good thing your skill at picking winners is solid.
As a currency, there are three ways to really manipulate it.
What you saw in-game was getting more people. REMEMBER--in game is disastrous for currencies. In a game, this will produce a very temporary valuation of Dil, but over time will cause inflation since they can generate Dil also. In essence, the flood of Dil from new characters made Dil worth less and Zen worth more. Again, you're seeing the devaluation of Dil and nothing more.
If we limit the supply of Dil players can generate, it's hoped that Dil becomes a bit more valuable. However, if it become too valuable, then nobody dumps their Zen into the exchange. It's a very thin tightrope to stay balanced upon.
If there are posts here that do not appeal to you, or opinions you disagree with, the best way to deal with that is to resist the urge to add comments. Instead, engage with the content you like! Don't feed the trolls!
We both had our victories and defeats. Now it's time to resolve our differences, and face the ultimate truth. I have won Benja-.... Oh wait that's from DS9. You get the point though.
"When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative - violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way." - Captain Janeway
#Support Mirror Universe I.S.S. Prefixes
Last time I've check 1 Zen only costs $0.01. Except when there is a bonus on Zen purchases.
It should drop further as we get to bonus upgrade weekend in a few days. There will be lots of people with new AOY toons enjoying the dilithium sink all over again. Should run a thread guessing what the low will be. I put my bet around 350
zen too low, Cryptic won't make Profit as Players just Play for free. Zen too high, free Players won't get zen, not be competitive and stop Play. Therefore Queues will take longer to activate, fewer Players on battlezones and so on. Which leads to Players speculating if the game is dying and therefore not investing in the game anymore.
I was waiting for 5 minutes recently for a Iconian mark PvE to start - and left the game frustrated after 5 minutes. Currently with the temporal recruitment Event on, there are probably more Players in the game again, but generally I have the Feeling that 2 years ago, this game was much more active. I do not have numbers of active Players, but I guess you could even Count someone active Player who only Pops on, does the DOffing and admirality Thing - so I guess numbers wouldn'T even tell the full truth anyway.
My Suggestion would be: Cryptic should put in some Zen into the market to make sure the Price gets to affordable rates again. This would not bring new Players but give the existing ones something to grind for. And I think that now is the perfect time, as there are a lot of Players here due to the Expansion.
KDF: 2 tacs, 2 engs, 3 scis
KDF Roms: 3 tacs, 1 eng, 1 scis
FED: 2 tacs, 1 eng, 2 scis
TOS: 1 tac
all on T5 rep (up to temporal)
all have mastered Intel tree (and some more specs Points)
highest DPS: 60.982
bla bla bla ... nothing is about to chance ... bla bla bla ... real world economy is bad ... bla bla bla ... we like the price as it is.
Want to change this situation ? Don't buy Zen !
You don't buy, they don't sell ... and since they don't want to earn dil by playing the game, you'll see the price go down.
That's it: syndacate is the only way for workers to have their rights reknown.
If you want Zen from Cryptic, then play those Arc Quests or whatever they are called when you log into Arc.
There is no need for Cryptic to put Zen on the Dil Exchange to force players who sell Zen to lower their prices. However, Cryptic should curtail the ease at which players can obtain Dil. One idea could be to cut the amount of Dil rewarded for playing a mission (1st time and repeats) in half. However, this is only a short term solution since most players do not get "mine" Dil by playing story missions.
Now Players either spend Money or don't bother getting Zen. Lower Zen Price would make Zen grindable again - thus giving Players a reason to grind Dil which would boost Players queueing up for PvEs
Yes, Cryptic would directly win less Money and yes, some Players who are crazy enough to buy zen and sell it would lose out a bit of Zen. But I really think that this would improve the game in the Long run as it would create a more active Player base which in turn would be willing to spend some Money.
ie: instead of 10 Players who spend 100 Euros/Dollars you may get 200 Players who grind and spend 10 Euros/Dollars.
KDF: 2 tacs, 2 engs, 3 scis
KDF Roms: 3 tacs, 1 eng, 1 scis
FED: 2 tacs, 1 eng, 2 scis
TOS: 1 tac
all on T5 rep (up to temporal)
all have mastered Intel tree (and some more specs Points)
highest DPS: 60.982
The proper solution would be to find a way for players to use their stockpile of Dil for something else other than exchanging it for Zen. One method is to reduce the amount of Dil injected into the economy, but that is only half of a solution and does not address the immediate issue of the fact there is supposedly a large stockpile of refined and unrefined Dil in the game. There needs to be a new Dil sink(s) for the Dil to go to other than directly to the Dil Exchange... something more than just Fleet Projects.
And the fact the demand for Zen in the Dil Exchange has been and always shall be high. Nothing will change that... unless the C-Store is converted to only accept cash (well... credit cards and other forms of monetary payment systems).
You DO realize that if us "crazy" people stop putting zen in the exchange, there's not going to be any for you you to trade dil for right? If anyone wants me to pay money so they can get something for free, they can either pay a premium or wait for someone else. My cash is far more valuable than anyone's desire for free stuff.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, if you want a new shiny in a timely manner then pony up some cash and support this game. Nothing in entertainment should be free, and to be honest I'd be happier if they just eliminated dil all-together and made zen only obtainable with cash.
I wish we could go back to the good old days when F2P didn't exist and if you wanted to play an MMO your only option was to sub.
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"When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative - violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way." - Captain Janeway
#Support Mirror Universe I.S.S. Prefixes
Last month I was trying to get the Borg BOff for a few of my toons - every third day I managed to start a pugged Khitomer ground - I queued up and then did patrols to get some more xp. After Season 7 I would have waited for 20 minutes max.
Sure there are more Queues now, so even if the same number of Players were in the game it would statisticly take longer. But many good Players I knew left (amongst others 3 of our 5 PvP team) and game isn't about socializing anymore but just log on, DOff, admirality, check the fleet is OK, grind some daily Bonus missions and then eff off again (Current Event is a break from that rule)
KDF: 2 tacs, 2 engs, 3 scis
KDF Roms: 3 tacs, 1 eng, 1 scis
FED: 2 tacs, 1 eng, 2 scis
TOS: 1 tac
all on T5 rep (up to temporal)
all have mastered Intel tree (and some more specs Points)
highest DPS: 60.982
^ I have no words... just awesome.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
By now everyone will have taken notice that you like to be contrary.
That however does not change the simple fact that high rates at the diltihium exchange hurt the free to play model.
It's all about perception and with the current exchange rates people are less likely to exchange dilithium for zen which hurts the free to play model. This drives players away and with that a source of micro transactions.
Both the people who only purchase zen and those who strictly purchase zen through dilithium exchange are minorities.
However, the largest source of income for a game with a F2P model comes from people for micro transactions. Not subscriptions or purchase of ship packs, but a small transaction to get 200-500 zen for utilities. That is also the group which WILL be driven away, along with any economic viability for the game, by high exchange rates.
So they basically took their ball and went home because they did not get their way. I do not have the red matter capacitor, should I create multiple theads on how unfair it is I can't get one, bad mouth Cryptic for not making it accessible to me and then just up and quit over it?
People who do not want to spend money on the game but want everything find a way. I have buddy in the game with 4 accounts with the sole purpose of grinding tons of dil a day just to get his zen on.
You all should be thanking us who are dumping zen on the exchange, we are removing dil faster then the rest of you. I have personally purchased 7 million dil off the exchange for the sole purpose of completing Armada fleet projects.