I know this was on the 2019 roadmap that finished in January 2020, but where is it? The're getting to the end of the month and still no word yet. I sure hope they weren't talking about the lock box ships.
I don't know if it's been specified anywhere else offhand, but I'm happy to explain here.
It's mostly the normal way ship mastery works:
The first four masteries on these ships are exactly normal. You get the ship to the level, and that ship has that passive boost while you're flying it.
The fifth mastery level is mostly like normal, where you get the ship to level 5 on a character, and that character now has access to that starship trait (or will gain access at level 50). The unique thing is that for some of these ships it will unlock multiple traits instead of just a single one. Note that if you already have the trait, likely from mastering a different ship with this trait, you won't get an additional copy of it.
Upon reaching the sixth mastery level in one of these ships, the new trait this ship comes with will automatically be granted to all level 50+ characters on your account (and to other characters on your account as they reach they reach level 50). This is entirely unrelated to the Jem'Hadar Vanguard Ship's sixth tier of mastery, and shouldn't be expected to unlock the ships for other factions.
Hopefully that explains it clearly enough; if not, I am happy to answer what questions I can.
Simply because this pack is federation centric doesn't mean they can't do a pack in the future for the other factions. Whether we like it or not most of the "hero" ships have all been federation ships. Given how things have went in the past I guarantee you they're going to release them in some kind of smaller packs 6 months to a year down the road. Would be a huge waste if they didn't. I could be wrong but we'll see. It's cool when they have a ship for each faction in the packs, but not every pack needs to have a ship for every faction in it. I can tell you guys i'm not buying the premium pack because all of that extra stuff I can scoop up no problem any time I wished with a little effort. I am however going to buy the basic bundle because most of those ships are upgrades to ships I use on some of my toons regularly, or that I would never go out of my way to buy otherwise, looking at you crossfield. If folks want to buy the bundle they're free to do so, if not then they don't have to.
"Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment, because it will never come again." - Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek Generations
Simply because this pack is federation centric doesn't mean they can't do a pack in the future for the other factions. Whether we like it or not most of the "hero" ships have all been federation ships. Given how things have went in the past I guarantee you they're going to release them in some kind of smaller packs 6 months to a year down the road. Would be a huge waste if they didn't. I could be wrong but we'll see. It's cool when they have a ship for each faction in the packs, but not every pack needs to have a ship for every faction in it. I can tell you guys i'm not buying the premium pack because all of that extra stuff I can scoop up no problem any time I wished with a little effort. I am however going to buy the basic bundle because most of those ships are upgrades to ships I use on some of my toons regularly, or that I would never go out of my way to buy otherwise, looking at you crossfield. If folks want to buy the bundle they're free to do so, if not then they don't have to.
You're funny. The Doms have gotten ONE ship since their faction was released. The Roms have gotten ONE ship in nearly 3 years and ONE warbird in OVER 3 years. And you think we are gonna get our own special faction bundles...yeah...you are a funny man there alright. It ain't gonna ever happen and you know it. Breaking up the legacy bundle...yeah that might...but please, those of us who ain't feddie bear know we will never get our own bundle. Especially the Roms and Doms.
They could do a KDF and Rom Bundle, but it would have to be filled up with a bunch of Cryptic ships. There is only the T'Laru Intel Carrier Warbird and T'liss Temporal Warbird for the Romulan equivalent of the Promo/Lock Box ships and D4x Pilot Bird of Prey, Sarcophagus Dreadnought Carrier, TOS D7, and Discovery D7 for the Klingon equivalent of the Promo/Lock Box ships.
they could always stick the T6 vo'quv and kamarag that still don't exist yet into an adversary bundle alongside some romulan and dominion ships...if they aren't going to bother making either of those ships regular releases
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch." "We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
Passion and Serenity are one.
I gain power by understanding both.
In the chaos of their battle, I bring order.
I am a shadow, darkness born from light.
The Force is united within me.
Both analogies are faulty. It's like buying a pack of chocolates. There are those delicious Marzipan-Walnut ones you love, but the rest is pretty meh and the nougat ones you are even allergic to. But if you want the Marzipan-Walnut you buy the whole pack since they aren't sold seperately.
Just because another retailer uses the same faulty marketing strategy, that doesn't justify it as a good idea.
It's clear that this pack is targeted at the highest spending players in the game, we'll see if it works out for them.. but personally, I am going to join the majority and pass on this bundle. With the current state of the game, I can't see myself putting $200-$300 into it.. it just seems like a bad buy.
I wish them luck, hopefully it sells and keeps the game going.. but it's clearly not for me. Like many, I would be interested in one or two ships as single purchases, but I don't expect that to ever be an option.
IF they stick in a ToS connie as one of the ships of the pack, the way you can look at it is, that they are selling you an account unlock ToS connie for 200 bucks and the rest of it is all free gifts. It's like the miradorn raider...that 60 dollar price tag was for an account unlock lobi ship...the rest of it is basically free with that purchase. You all asked for these account unlock items...and you all are mad that they are giving these items at what is basically the lowest price you can realistically expect AND they toss on a few extra items as well.
Well what if you don't want any of these promo/lockbox ships? You just want the things Picard and Sisko flew to great reknown. You don't get a choice to buy just the Shiny! Galaxy and Defiant. This is entirely unlike anything they've done before as you've always been able to buy the ship individually or in faction packs in the case of Mega bundles.
The Miradorn is a great analogy because if you wanted that specific ship, then you could buy the pack. If you didn't want the Miradorn, you don't buy, you miss out on nothing and can get the lesser bits individually.
Here you only buy all the ships. You don't get to buy one of the ships, or even some of the ships separately. All or nothing. And yes, strictly speaking from a monetary/zen/key/pure financial value standpoint, its a really good deal. However, when you realize how little you may want some of those ships, that value drops substantially.
The Kelvin Connie has virtually no value to me, neither do I like the Crossfield. To someone else those two ships are worth the price of the bundle. To me they are like looting batteries. Thanks, I guess.
You also get no discount for previously owning anything. If you've got all the lockbox/lobi ships in this pack already, you can get the account unlock special price of $200! If you've got one of those box ships and don't care about the rest, you get the account unlock special price of $200! If you've got the Galaxy, Intrepid packs and the low tier Defiants for all their set pieces, you get the special price of $200! If you don't have those ships and want them all, or want none of them, you get the special price of $200!
It also has to be mentioned, this pack offers nothing but traits for KDF/Roms/Doms, unlike cheaper mega bundles.
There is no respect for previous business done, no special options for people who already have one of the box ships, no ability to get only what you want at a lower price, its just a one size fits all pack that ends up making it wildly frustrating for some and a great deal for others.
.
Why are people making up all these crazy analogies when we already have a direct apples to apples comparison in this game? Ships have been sold individually in this game since forever. Thats the only direct comparison that has any relevance on the discussion.
So while I am definitely buying the bundle myself, I can certainly empathize with those who just want to do what they've always been able to do. Those folks aren't "wrong" and don't need "convincing" with crazy unrelated analogies.
[..]
You know what I would pay $200USD for, though? A Z-store Phoenix ship bundle. It just irritates me that I missed all those events. I might also be swayed by a TOS skin for the Disconnie on this pack, but that's just my opinion.
[..]
Me too... I play rommie and have most of the ships for my alts and to support Cryptic. Accordingly I wont be getting this pack but high hopes for a buff Rommie pack in the future due to Picard. Nonetheless a Phoenix bundle with account wide access would easily be worth $300 or more to me just for the cons.
If you are looking for an excellent PvE fleet consider: Omega Combat Division today.
Former member of the Cryptic Family & FriendsTesting Team. Sadly, one day, it simply vanished - without a word or trace...
they could always stick the T6 vo'quv and kamarag that still don't exist yet into an adversary bundle alongside some romulan and dominion ships...if they aren't going to bother making either of those ships regular releases
The Scimitar works very well for a Romulan Bundle, but sadly a non-Starfleet bundle would likely be the way to go due to the lack of attention for those factions.
Doing C-Store bundles for the older lockbox ships could be a possibility like a Tal Shiar Bundle, an Iconian Bundle, an Elachi Bundle, a Temporal Bundle and a Tholian Bundle.
Well what if you don't want any of these promo/lockbox ships? You just want the things Picard and Sisko flew to great reknown. You don't get a choice to buy just the Shiny! Galaxy and Defiant. This is entirely unlike anything they've done before as you've always been able to buy the ship individually or in faction packs in the case of Mega bundles.
The Gamma Pack came with 3 former lock box/lobi ships. The Galor, T5 JHDC and T5 JHHEC (now referred to as a Strike Wing Escort). All 3 ships could not be purchased on their own and were bundled into the Gamma Pack. The rest of the non-former lock box/lobi ships could be purchased individually.
I could see something eventually happening with this pack where the legendary versions of the "Prize ships" are only available as part of the pack while the legendary versions of c-store ships like the Galaxy/Defiant/Sovereign/Odyssey are available for separate purchase.
When you see "TRIBBLE" in my posts, it's because I manually typed "TRIBBLE" and censored myself.
Simply because this pack is federation centric doesn't mean they can't do a pack in the future for the other factions. Whether we like it or not most of the "hero" ships have all been federation ships. Given how things have went in the past I guarantee you they're going to release them in some kind of smaller packs 6 months to a year down the road. Would be a huge waste if they didn't. I could be wrong but we'll see. It's cool when they have a ship for each faction in the packs, but not every pack needs to have a ship for every faction in it. I can tell you guys i'm not buying the premium pack because all of that extra stuff I can scoop up no problem any time I wished with a little effort. I am however going to buy the basic bundle because most of those ships are upgrades to ships I use on some of my toons regularly, or that I would never go out of my way to buy otherwise, looking at you crossfield. If folks want to buy the bundle they're free to do so, if not then they don't have to.
You're funny. The Doms have gotten ONE ship since their faction was released. The Roms have gotten ONE ship in nearly 3 years and ONE warbird in OVER 3 years. And you think we are gonna get our own special faction bundles...yeah...you are a funny man there alright. It ain't gonna ever happen and you know it. Breaking up the legacy bundle...yeah that might...but please, those of us who ain't feddie bear know we will never get our own bundle. Especially the Roms and Doms.
Have to agree here 100%. I would actually be even more excited about a KDF/ROM legendary ships pack but based on Cryptic's offerings for KDF ships and lack of offerings for Romulan ships over the last 3 years, we have zero reason to expect something like this to happen.
When you see "TRIBBLE" in my posts, it's because I manually typed "TRIBBLE" and censored myself.
Honestly, new player, returning player, or current player, anyone who spends 30,000 worth of zen (or the sale price of 19,500) on this pack has more money than sense. It's absurd, and for little gain really. If these ships are released individually then and I were to return to the game, the Crossfield, Galaxy and Discoprise (if we get it) would be worth a purchase, but otherwise, I'm not seeing the worth.
It really is a shame there's no way to combine elements from the TOS, TMP, JJ and DSC Connies. That would be something.
Price is ridiculous...My Monthly salary is 2,1k of my country currency and bundle will costs more than 1/3 if it....of MONTHLY SALARY!! SEROOUSLY?...WTF, for who you are making these bundles??......
Honestly, new player, returning player, or current player, anyone who spends 30,000 worth of zen (or the sale price of 19,500) on this pack has more money than sense. It's absurd, and for little gain really. If these ships are released individually then and I were to return to the game, the Crossfield, Galaxy and Discoprise (if we get it) would be worth a purchase, but otherwise, I'm not seeing the worth.
It really is a shame there's no way to combine elements from the TOS, TMP, JJ and DSC Connies. That would be something.
I probably have more money than sense when it comes to Star Trek Online, but since I own almost all C-Store ships already - the pack - on sale - is the only sensible thing for me to buy it. I will want the ships at some point anyway.
And of course, I also own a few Lobi, Lockbox and Promo ships.
I figure that is the kind of player they are aiming the pack at - people that tend to buy everything anyway.
I figure the only reason that they don't sell them ship by ship is because they expect there are a few people that could be convinced to buy the full pack if that is the only way to get their favorite (or favorite two or three) ships that way, and if they would sell them one by one, these people would pay only buy one or two ships instead.
In the end, we all see if this model works out for them. But I expect at some point, individual purchases will be possible (and if it's in Mudd's Store). But people will have to wait a while longer. Kinda like Tier 6 Nova, Oberth or Vo'Quv fans. Except at least they people looking for Legendary ships know the ships definitely exist (because someone is flying them.)
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
I'm buying the big pack as soon as it's out. The price doesn't bother me in the slightest. A few months of Admiralty taking around 20 minutes a day to fill the missions is all it's going to cost me. I knew a big bundle was coming for the anniversary, I didn't know what it was going to be. I made a bet that it'd be something I would want and saved up my Dilithium, waiting for a moment the prices were good before trading in. Before the price was announced, I had 29,000 zen. Trade for another 300? Sure, why not?
I know someone out there bought the zen that I'm buying with refined Dilithium, so Cryptic is still getting money for the pack indirectly. However I'm paying nothing but time.
Ironically, I still see posts about the price. I'm guessing those people haven't seen the threads from people who have spent upwards of $700+ on keys for lock boxes and never got the ship they wanted. Potentially, this could actually save those players a lot of money. :P
I also hope they offer at least a smaller bundle. I am not interested in most of the ships so far, but the Intrepid is one I definitely want so far, even though it's stats suck.
Ironically, I still see posts about the price. I'm guessing those people haven't seen the threads from people who have spent upwards of $700+ on keys for lock boxes and never got the ship they wanted.
I think this is where I'm at on this. I get that people feel the bundle is expensive and should have cheaper/smaller options. I'm not even someone who cares about traits or ships or promos or Lobi or whatever. The regular ships I get and the event ships and a couple ship packs (when on sale) have worked fine for me.
However when I talk with people who do care about acquiring specific new shinies, traits and ships, I am often surprised that they are willing to shell out $75, $100, $200 and up to acquire a single pack or ship or trait. Often it's a character-only purchase.
Yes, this package is expensive, and it's Fed. That said, as an account unlock, if you want even 2 ships and 2 traits and/or 2 consoles out of the pack, it seems like a good deal. There's also this wrinkle where unlocking tier 6 unlocks the special 'new' trait for the whole account. Account unlocks for traits works for me, as I don't play enough to unlock traits on each character.
I don't even care about these things and may buy the pack anyway, just because it delivers so much stuff to the whole account (for someone like me, who's never bought any of these things) that it's hard to pass up. Sure, they could have broken it into 3 bundles with 3, 3, and 4 ships, priced at $80, $80 and $100 respectively (intro. sale price), and that would make some people more happy and they would buy a smaller bundle. But they would lose buyers like me for whom none of those packs would represent sufficient value to pry open the wallet.
As said, if they've put effort into developing the ships, they will almost certainly offer them in other packages later. It's a "pay now for the big shiny, or wait patiently for the smaller shinies" tradeoff and that's pretty standard in MMO pricing it seems.
Honestly, new player, returning player, or current player, anyone who spends 30,000 worth of zen (or the sale price of 19,500) on this pack has more money than sense. It's absurd, and for little gain really. If these ships are released individually then and I were to return to the game, the Crossfield, Galaxy and Discoprise (if we get it) would be worth a purchase, but otherwise, I'm not seeing the worth.
It really is a shame there's no way to combine elements from the TOS, TMP, JJ and DSC Connies. That would be something.
I probably have more money than sense when it comes to Star Trek Online, but since I own almost all C-Store ships already - the pack - on sale - is the only sensible thing for me to buy it. I will want the ships at some point anyway.
And of course, I also own a few Lobi, Lockbox and Promo ships.
I figure that is the kind of player they are aiming the pack at - people that tend to buy everything anyway.
I figure the only reason that they don't sell them ship by ship is because they expect there are a few people that could be convinced to buy the full pack if that is the only way to get their favorite (or favorite two or three) ships that way, and if they would sell them one by one, these people would pay only buy one or two ships instead.
In the end, we all see if this model works out for them. But I expect at some point, individual purchases will be possible (and if it's in Mudd's Store). But people will have to wait a while longer. Kinda like Tier 6 Nova, Oberth or Vo'Quv fans. Except at least they people looking for Legendary ships know the ships definitely exist (because someone is flying them.)
I'm in the same boat as you, to be honest.
Fact is, whilst I understand some only want one or two ships from the pack, I'm another of those players who'd probaby have purchased them all seperately eventually.
I'm still not absolutely certain about buying it - but I'd have to say that if a Zen charge bonus pops up that'll definitely push me to purchase the Standard pack.
I kinda doubt that you're more than a blip on the Cryptic bean counter's radar, but if you keep buying ships that are not Tier 6 Novas, I guess they have a reason to keep selling you other ships and they might feel better off selling you the one ship you really want - you might stop buying!
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Honestly, new player, returning player, or current player, anyone who spends 30,000 worth of zen (or the sale price of 19,500) on this pack has more money than sense. It's absurd, and for little gain really. If these ships are released individually then and I were to return to the game, the Crossfield, Galaxy and Discoprise (if we get it) would be worth a purchase, but otherwise, I'm not seeing the worth.
I probably have more money than sense when it comes to Star Trek Online, but since I own almost all C-Store ships already - the pack - on sale - is the only sensible thing for me to buy it. I will want the ships at some point anyway. And of course, I also own a few Lobi, Lockbox and Promo ships.
I figure that is the kind of player they are aiming the pack at - people that tend to buy everything anyway.
I figure the only reason that they don't sell them ship by ship is because they expect there are a few people that could be convinced to buy the full pack if that is the only way to get their favorite (or favorite two or three) ships that way, and if they would sell them one by one, these people would pay only buy one or two ships instead.
Fact is, whilst I understand some only want one or two ships from the pack, I'm another of those players who'd probaby have purchased them all seperately eventually.
I'm still not absolutely certain about buying it - but I'd have to say that if a Zen charge bonus pops up that'll definitely push me to purchase the Standard pack.
Well that's great for you (both), but I'd go out of my way to say you're in the minority, and a lot of people simply can't afford (or justify) this sort of payout. I'm a lifetime member, and I haven't played the game in years, so naturally my zen has been stacking up, and I have enough to buy this pack without breaking a sweat, but I'm not going too because, in my opinion, it's just not worth it.
The way I see it, you're getting a new skin and a few inconsequential (game changing) configurations, not to mention you can only ever fly one ship at a time anyway. I get that it's each to their own, and some people do have splash money, but I'd rather buy a nice pizza or cake, bike or put some money toward a new car than a ship pack.
Ironically, I still see posts about the price. I'm guessing those people haven't seen the threads from people who have spent upwards of $700+ on keys for lock boxes and never got the ship they wanted. Potentially, this could actually save those players a lot of money. :P
I also hope they offer at least a smaller bundle. I am not interested in most of the ships so far, but the Intrepid is one I definitely want so far, even though it's stats suck.
Ironically, I still see people post about people posting about the price. Price is 1 factor, yes, but 'No price is an island entire of itself.' Price is not just related to the amount of items you're getting, but also to:
1) I still only want 2 cupcakes, not 10.
2) There's a reason the mega-bundle is divided into 8 sub-bundles: different types of ships, for different play-styles. Even if the mega-bundle price could be said to be fair, not everyone will want all ships per se.
Hence, I think the logical and sensible thing to have done, is to (also) have offered those 8 sub-bundles individually. Like with the first Intrepid pack, with full interior. I paid, what, like $100 for it? Reasonable, but more to the point: it was a type of ship I wanted. I wasn't being told to buy the entire shop inventory in the process.
3) It's too many ships. No, seriously, I'm on max ships for every toon. And the promise of an extra 10 ship slots, whilst not truly FAKE NEWS, is certainly not an extra 10 for those already at max. (And drydocking sucks, as you lose all your loadouts).
Now here's another topic I haven't seen anyone touch on yet. Namely the reselling/double-dipping/whatever you want to call it, of ships that were already T6 lock box/R&D ships. A practise which makes me frown a bit. Like a newer Crossfield. I have the 'old' one. Although it is nowhere stated that they cannot take an existing T6 lockbox ships, tweak it a bit, and then try and resell you an improved version of it, I nonetheless worked from the idea that this was simply 'not done' (except with major, overall jumps, from like from T5(-U) to T6). YMMY, of course.
The more I look at the stats of the ships, the more I'm "in" on the $300 regular pack. The $450 pack just doesn't have any add ons that are worth it to me. 10k dil, 100 lobi, some worthless upgrades, some phoenix packs, keys and promo packs just aren't worth it. Something more substantial would need to be added IMO. Maybe not something as crazy as an account wide T6 Nagus, although that would do the trick. But maybe a lobi ship of my choice, or a T6 infinity ship pack that gives me a single character ship bound that can't be sold on the exchange. Something more than just the fluff that's currently in it.
When you see "TRIBBLE" in my posts, it's because I manually typed "TRIBBLE" and censored myself.
Ironically, I still see posts about the price. I'm guessing those people haven't seen the threads from people who have spent upwards of $700+ on keys for lock boxes and never got the ship they wanted. Potentially, this could actually save those players a lot of money. :P
I also hope they offer at least a smaller bundle. I am not interested in most of the ships so far, but the Intrepid is one I definitely want so far, even though it's stats suck.
Ironically, I still see people post about people posting about the price. Price is 1 factor, yes, but 'No price is an island entire of itself.' Price is not just related to the amount of items you're getting, but also to:
1) I still only want 2 cupcakes, not 10.
2) There's a reason the mega-bundle is divided into 8 sub-bundles: different types of ships, for different play-styles. Even if the mega-bundle price could be said to be fair, not everyone will want all ships per se.
Hence, I think the logical and sensible thing to have done, is to (also) have offered those 8 sub-bundles individually. Like with the first Intrepid pack, with full interior. I paid, what, like $100 for it? Reasonable, but more to the point: it was a type of ship I wanted. I wasn't being told to buy the entire shop inventory in the process.
3) It's too many ships. No, seriously, I'm on max ships for every toon. And the promise of an extra 10 ship slots, whilst not truly FAKE NEWS, is certainly not an extra 10 for those already at max. (And drydocking sucks, as you lose all your loadouts).
Now here's another topic I haven't seen anyone touch on yet. Namely the reselling/double-dipping/whatever you want to call it, of ships that were already T6 lock box/R&D ships. A practise which makes me frown a bit. Like a newer Crossfield. I have the 'old' one. Although it is nowhere stated that they cannot take an existing T6 lockbox ships, tweak it a bit, and then try and resell you an improved version of it, I nonetheless worked from the idea that this was simply 'not done' (except with major, overall jumps, from like from T5(-U) to T6). YMMY, of course.
But no one said anyone has to buy anything. If price is an issue, then the choice is, buy it or not. If you don't like the ships you get, then don't buy it. If you don't like the fluff with it, then don't buy it. The keys and other consumables don't interest me either. Currently, only one ship and the skins interest meOnce all 10 are known, I am hoping there will at least be a few I want. If not, I am not going to spend $200 on a bundle when there is only one ship I want to use from it.
Like some others, I have been playing on and off since the open beta days. This game has changed a lot. Over those years, I have easily spent a few thousand on ZEN to get the ships and things I want to have as well as once upon a time, buying ZEN for others before PWE nuked their ZEN cards.
I don't think this bundle is aimed at everyone. If you are new to the game and are enjoying the game. Then it offers up some value for those who own little to nothing already in the store to have some good stuff to keep them going for a bunch of characters for quite a while. For those of us who own the majority of things in the C-Store, that might be a selling point to further that collection. Some people just might be interested in the specific ships being offered. There are so many variables that could make these bundles interesting to people and just as many that would make people not interested in purchasing them. The more ships that appeal to someone, the more value there is in those bundles.
Just because a bundle doesn't make a lot of sense to some to purchase, doesn't mean it won't appeal to others. Again, I would really prefer a smaller bundle but if the bundle ends up with enough ships I want in it to be cheaper than buying them all separately. Then I personally am not opposed to buying it.
Personally, I'd never pay $200+ for keys/promo packs to get one of those promo ships. And I'm not going to pay a straight $200 for this bundle to get one ship (there's only one in the pack I care about. And beyond "it's T6", the stats on the ships don't matter to me, it's just the cosmetics I'm interested in.)
But, then, I'd never pay $200 for <digital shinies> in any game, so. . . /shrug
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...and posts just mysteriously disappearing if you happen to mention a ship that hasn't been revealed yet? Kind of annoying. Wouldn't it be just as easy to just <redact> the ship name? Or at least leave a moderation note, so we know our posts have mysteriously vanished and don't have to wonder if we actually made a successful post at some point? Every post of mine that's disappeared, the <redacted thing> hasn't been the important part, there were other valid comments alongside them.
And then there's the part where it's blatantly obvious what the ships will be. There's no secret NDA info to keep control of. It's silly.
Comments
https://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/f0dclb/10th_anniversary_legendary_starship_bundles/fgufxal?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x
I don't know if it's been specified anywhere else offhand, but I'm happy to explain here.
It's mostly the normal way ship mastery works:
The first four masteries on these ships are exactly normal. You get the ship to the level, and that ship has that passive boost while you're flying it.
The fifth mastery level is mostly like normal, where you get the ship to level 5 on a character, and that character now has access to that starship trait (or will gain access at level 50). The unique thing is that for some of these ships it will unlock multiple traits instead of just a single one. Note that if you already have the trait, likely from mastering a different ship with this trait, you won't get an additional copy of it.
Upon reaching the sixth mastery level in one of these ships, the new trait this ship comes with will automatically be granted to all level 50+ characters on your account (and to other characters on your account as they reach they reach level 50). This is entirely unrelated to the Jem'Hadar Vanguard Ship's sixth tier of mastery, and shouldn't be expected to unlock the ships for other factions.
Hopefully that explains it clearly enough; if not, I am happy to answer what questions I can.
Star Trek Online volunteer Community Moderator
They could do a KDF and Rom Bundle, but it would have to be filled up with a bunch of Cryptic ships. There is only the T'Laru Intel Carrier Warbird and T'liss Temporal Warbird for the Romulan equivalent of the Promo/Lock Box ships and D4x Pilot Bird of Prey, Sarcophagus Dreadnought Carrier, TOS D7, and Discovery D7 for the Klingon equivalent of the Promo/Lock Box ships.
#LegalizeAwoo
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
Well what if you don't want any of these promo/lockbox ships? You just want the things Picard and Sisko flew to great reknown. You don't get a choice to buy just the Shiny! Galaxy and Defiant. This is entirely unlike anything they've done before as you've always been able to buy the ship individually or in faction packs in the case of Mega bundles.
The Miradorn is a great analogy because if you wanted that specific ship, then you could buy the pack. If you didn't want the Miradorn, you don't buy, you miss out on nothing and can get the lesser bits individually.
Here you only buy all the ships. You don't get to buy one of the ships, or even some of the ships separately. All or nothing. And yes, strictly speaking from a monetary/zen/key/pure financial value standpoint, its a really good deal. However, when you realize how little you may want some of those ships, that value drops substantially.
The Kelvin Connie has virtually no value to me, neither do I like the Crossfield. To someone else those two ships are worth the price of the bundle. To me they are like looting batteries. Thanks, I guess.
You also get no discount for previously owning anything. If you've got all the lockbox/lobi ships in this pack already, you can get the account unlock special price of $200! If you've got one of those box ships and don't care about the rest, you get the account unlock special price of $200! If you've got the Galaxy, Intrepid packs and the low tier Defiants for all their set pieces, you get the special price of $200! If you don't have those ships and want them all, or want none of them, you get the special price of $200!
It also has to be mentioned, this pack offers nothing but traits for KDF/Roms/Doms, unlike cheaper mega bundles.
There is no respect for previous business done, no special options for people who already have one of the box ships, no ability to get only what you want at a lower price, its just a one size fits all pack that ends up making it wildly frustrating for some and a great deal for others.
.
So while I am definitely buying the bundle myself, I can certainly empathize with those who just want to do what they've always been able to do. Those folks aren't "wrong" and don't need "convincing" with crazy unrelated analogies.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
ingame: @.Spartan
Original Cryptic Forum Name: Spartan (member #124)
The Glorious, Kirk’s Protegè
The Scimitar works very well for a Romulan Bundle, but sadly a non-Starfleet bundle would likely be the way to go due to the lack of attention for those factions.
Doing C-Store bundles for the older lockbox ships could be a possibility like a Tal Shiar Bundle, an Iconian Bundle, an Elachi Bundle, a Temporal Bundle and a Tholian Bundle.
I could see something eventually happening with this pack where the legendary versions of the "Prize ships" are only available as part of the pack while the legendary versions of c-store ships like the Galaxy/Defiant/Sovereign/Odyssey are available for separate purchase.
It really is a shame there's no way to combine elements from the TOS, TMP, JJ and DSC Connies. That would be something.
I probably have more money than sense when it comes to Star Trek Online, but since I own almost all C-Store ships already - the pack - on sale - is the only sensible thing for me to buy it. I will want the ships at some point anyway.
And of course, I also own a few Lobi, Lockbox and Promo ships.
I figure that is the kind of player they are aiming the pack at - people that tend to buy everything anyway.
I figure the only reason that they don't sell them ship by ship is because they expect there are a few people that could be convinced to buy the full pack if that is the only way to get their favorite (or favorite two or three) ships that way, and if they would sell them one by one, these people would pay only buy one or two ships instead.
In the end, we all see if this model works out for them. But I expect at some point, individual purchases will be possible (and if it's in Mudd's Store). But people will have to wait a while longer. Kinda like Tier 6 Nova, Oberth or Vo'Quv fans. Except at least they people looking for Legendary ships know the ships definitely exist (because someone is flying them.)
I know someone out there bought the zen that I'm buying with refined Dilithium, so Cryptic is still getting money for the pack indirectly. However I'm paying nothing but time.
I also hope they offer at least a smaller bundle. I am not interested in most of the ships so far, but the Intrepid is one I definitely want so far, even though it's stats suck.
I think this is where I'm at on this. I get that people feel the bundle is expensive and should have cheaper/smaller options. I'm not even someone who cares about traits or ships or promos or Lobi or whatever. The regular ships I get and the event ships and a couple ship packs (when on sale) have worked fine for me.
However when I talk with people who do care about acquiring specific new shinies, traits and ships, I am often surprised that they are willing to shell out $75, $100, $200 and up to acquire a single pack or ship or trait. Often it's a character-only purchase.
Yes, this package is expensive, and it's Fed. That said, as an account unlock, if you want even 2 ships and 2 traits and/or 2 consoles out of the pack, it seems like a good deal. There's also this wrinkle where unlocking tier 6 unlocks the special 'new' trait for the whole account. Account unlocks for traits works for me, as I don't play enough to unlock traits on each character.
I don't even care about these things and may buy the pack anyway, just because it delivers so much stuff to the whole account (for someone like me, who's never bought any of these things) that it's hard to pass up. Sure, they could have broken it into 3 bundles with 3, 3, and 4 ships, priced at $80, $80 and $100 respectively (intro. sale price), and that would make some people more happy and they would buy a smaller bundle. But they would lose buyers like me for whom none of those packs would represent sufficient value to pry open the wallet.
As said, if they've put effort into developing the ships, they will almost certainly offer them in other packages later. It's a "pay now for the big shiny, or wait patiently for the smaller shinies" tradeoff and that's pretty standard in MMO pricing it seems.
I kinda doubt that you're more than a blip on the Cryptic bean counter's radar, but if you keep buying ships that are not Tier 6 Novas, I guess they have a reason to keep selling you other ships and they might feel better off selling you the one ship you really want - you might stop buying!
The way I see it, you're getting a new skin and a few inconsequential (game changing) configurations, not to mention you can only ever fly one ship at a time anyway. I get that it's each to their own, and some people do have splash money, but I'd rather buy a nice pizza or cake, bike or put some money toward a new car than a ship pack.
Ironically, I still see people post about people posting about the price. Price is 1 factor, yes, but 'No price is an island entire of itself.' Price is not just related to the amount of items you're getting, but also to:
1) I still only want 2 cupcakes, not 10.
2) There's a reason the mega-bundle is divided into 8 sub-bundles: different types of ships, for different play-styles. Even if the mega-bundle price could be said to be fair, not everyone will want all ships per se.
Hence, I think the logical and sensible thing to have done, is to (also) have offered those 8 sub-bundles individually. Like with the first Intrepid pack, with full interior. I paid, what, like $100 for it? Reasonable, but more to the point: it was a type of ship I wanted. I wasn't being told to buy the entire shop inventory in the process.
3) It's too many ships.
Now here's another topic I haven't seen anyone touch on yet. Namely the reselling/double-dipping/whatever you want to call it, of ships that were already T6 lock box/R&D ships. A practise which makes me frown a bit. Like a newer Crossfield. I have the 'old' one. Although it is nowhere stated that they cannot take an existing T6 lockbox ships, tweak it a bit, and then try and resell you an improved version of it, I nonetheless worked from the idea that this was simply 'not done' (except with major, overall jumps, from like from T5(-U) to T6). YMMY, of course.
But no one said anyone has to buy anything. If price is an issue, then the choice is, buy it or not. If you don't like the ships you get, then don't buy it. If you don't like the fluff with it, then don't buy it. The keys and other consumables don't interest me either. Currently, only one ship and the skins interest meOnce all 10 are known, I am hoping there will at least be a few I want. If not, I am not going to spend $200 on a bundle when there is only one ship I want to use from it.
Like some others, I have been playing on and off since the open beta days. This game has changed a lot. Over those years, I have easily spent a few thousand on ZEN to get the ships and things I want to have as well as once upon a time, buying ZEN for others before PWE nuked their ZEN cards.
I don't think this bundle is aimed at everyone. If you are new to the game and are enjoying the game. Then it offers up some value for those who own little to nothing already in the store to have some good stuff to keep them going for a bunch of characters for quite a while. For those of us who own the majority of things in the C-Store, that might be a selling point to further that collection. Some people just might be interested in the specific ships being offered. There are so many variables that could make these bundles interesting to people and just as many that would make people not interested in purchasing them. The more ships that appeal to someone, the more value there is in those bundles.
Just because a bundle doesn't make a lot of sense to some to purchase, doesn't mean it won't appeal to others. Again, I would really prefer a smaller bundle but if the bundle ends up with enough ships I want in it to be cheaper than buying them all separately. Then I personally am not opposed to buying it.
But, then, I'd never pay $200 for <digital shinies> in any game, so. . . /shrug
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...and posts just mysteriously disappearing if you happen to mention a ship that hasn't been revealed yet? Kind of annoying. Wouldn't it be just as easy to just <redact> the ship name? Or at least leave a moderation note, so we know our posts have mysteriously vanished and don't have to wonder if we actually made a successful post at some point? Every post of mine that's disappeared, the <redacted thing> hasn't been the important part, there were other valid comments alongside them.
And then there's the part where it's blatantly obvious what the ships will be. There's no secret NDA info to keep control of. It's silly.