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Dilithium and the Uniforms
jesterdavid
Member Posts: 13 Arc User
I know the price of the uniforms in the dilithium store caused quite a stir a while back, but it was argued as necessary to serve as a "dil sink". And it seemed to work for a time as the dil : zen exchange rate dropped every so slightly.
But now the rate has risen right back to what it was prior to the items being added.
Can we discuss an alternative dil sink then and perhaps those costume pieces being priced at a more reasonable rate?
I'm asking because my main toon and their crew runs around in the Movies/Khan uniforms, and the jacket and vests would be great. But I have not been playing long and don't have close to a million dil, and refining 8k per day means the better part of a year sloooowly grinding. Per costume piece.
It becomes a non-fun chore, popping onto the game just long enough to refine.
But now the rate has risen right back to what it was prior to the items being added.
Can we discuss an alternative dil sink then and perhaps those costume pieces being priced at a more reasonable rate?
I'm asking because my main toon and their crew runs around in the Movies/Khan uniforms, and the jacket and vests would be great. But I have not been playing long and don't have close to a million dil, and refining 8k per day means the better part of a year sloooowly grinding. Per costume piece.
It becomes a non-fun chore, popping onto the game just long enough to refine.
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The horse has already been dug up more than once.
If the only reason you play the game is to refine Dil to eventually get a specific uniform, what's to say that will change when you get it? The uniform doesn't stop you from enjoying 100% of the content in the game.
Step 1: reduce the price of the current uniforms (while considering those who have already paid in)
Step 2: add more items at a lower price point
But what could these items be?
I won't step on the proposals made by others (there's a good run of threads around here and reddit with all the discussion those need) but I'll just stress what I want (and I think would fit a lower price point): currently unavailable NPC uniforms and other customization options.
-Hazari uniform
-Ocampa uniform
-Hierarchy collar
-El-Aurian hat
-Scientist Jacket (and other unnamed civilian gear, such as seen on DS9 NPC's)
-Miral/Leeta hair
-Crazy Klingon hair
-The never-released Omega/Honor Guard/Maco armors
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The spike in the exchange rate is due to the current 20% off ship sale.
It is extremely difficult to fight against the swell of players who rush towards the Dil Exchange to get Zen for their Dil. Just wait for the sale to end and the exchange rate will drop down again.
As for the costume themselves... it is a personal thing if you want them or not. I am not that enamored with Star Trek or deep into role-playing that I need to purchase those costumes so I will remain silent on their prices. However, lower "prices" can spur more demand.
This may be true of the real world, but it is not true of the digital world.
In 2014 and 2016 SWRVE reported on the spending habits of 10 million+ gamers for 200+ games combined. Here is a link to the 2016 pdf:
https://www.swrve.com/images/uploads/whitepapers/swrve-monetization-report-2016.pdf
The key takeaway is that people who spend the most have the fewest transactions, but a larger share of revenue.
Those players spending below $5/mo was 39% of all purchases, but only 14.5% of revenue in 2016 down from 27% in 2014.
Players spending over $50/mo was only 2.5% of purchases but 18% of total revenue, up from 11% in 2014.
That said, the most financially successful companies offer choices for both groups.
Its not that bad. The prices are comparable to the Lobi outfits. Which cost just about as much. And many players have no issues getting those.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
Lobi outfits are only for the character that unlocked them. Not account. So they are very similar there.
To get lobi with Dil only. You usually get 4-5 lobi as others said. By opening the lock boxes. For a 200 lobi outfit you will need to open around 40-50 boxes. Keys are 1,125 zen per pack of 10 which would be the best route. Take Dil prices of 420 which is close to current. At 40 boxes you need 4,500 zen or at 50 boxes you need 5,6250 zen. That will be 1,890,000 - 2,362,500 Dil using the exchange.
So yes they are comparable to to each other.
Bottom line they are fussing over nothing. Want it cheaper, when on the other hand. They buy lobi outfits all day long at similar Dil prices.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
The only assumption we can make is people are more or likely pissed we cant get them directly for EC off the exchange so there is no "fair market value" like everything else. Its go dil or go home with no "smart" shortcuts we can take like we do with all the other lobi/lockbox stuff.
exc. rates going down was not related to it
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
1. Their own stupidity? So their intelligence is based on your financial burdens? That's a very unwise perspective on life.
2. No one in this thread has asked for a sale.
These outfits are priced to be a rare reward for those that either put a substantial amount of time or money into them. It's not like people are buying them and then living on bread and water to survive....that would be stupid.
And why can my Orion male Captain run around with no shirt and yet his non-Orion male BoFFs can't ?
And @gholendhor is right, IMO, if they would simply make it more worthwhile for people to donate dilithium into fleet projects by getting a better ratio of FMs (1 dil = 3 or 5 FMs), the dil sink problem would pretty much take care of itself with minimal time and effort on the dev's part.
Join Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
It really would be one of the most effective sinks for the game as a whole- if "abundant dilithium" is really such a problem in the game.
Personally I see that whole hyperbole/conjecture as exactly that- it really has nothing to do with the Dil/Zen market being so high, the market will always be in favor of Zen sellers, regardless of "how much Dil is out there". Who the hell is going to trade for Dilithium with RL cash if it's at a low ratio? I sure as hell wouldn't. The ratio doesn't reflect the amount of "available" dil in the game, it reflects what people are willing to trade it for Zen. If you are a Zen seller, wouldn't you want the MOST dilithium for your Zen, after all?
Now, I can definitely see more useful dilithium spend items having an effect in game, making it much more valuable than it is- such as non-fleet green to purple quality gear (lower stats, but can buy with Dilithium) and so forth, but definitely NOT ships other than the Tier 1-4 ships people can already acquire with Dilithium in the Shipyard requisitions. Having said items available to non-fleet members would be a good way for people to gear up but also spend their Dil. Perhaps even adding a Fleet module currency variant in Dil (which would compete with the C-store, yes but it's not a total game breaker) might make Fleet ships more enticing to those who have Dilithium as well- and remove the paywall-only nature of them. (never did understand why they did that)
While I also agree that the Fleet Dil donations do indeed come to a halt- I'd have to say the biggest contributing factor of most fleet projects idling is usually the lack of DOFF donations, not Dil, but it does come a close second.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
Look at the Fleet project to just generate more Fleet Credits. A number of people were asking for this. They finally add it but they lower the ratio of Fleet Credits provided per Mark and add all sorts of extra cr*p needed to complete the Project. Probably there was some Geko Metric that showed the simpler approach of 1 Mark giving 50 Fleet Credits '...would be bad… Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light' type bad.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'