Hypothetical question, based on nothing but my own curiosity: if ships like these were sold in the C-store with the canon visuals, but not-as-good stats as a promo box version, would that interest folks? And, on the same note, if you bought those ships, would you no longer want the promo box versions with better stats?
To your first question: Yes. But depending on HOW "not-as-good" it was. I already have an account-wide Tier 1 Connie, thank you. AND I paid for it in the C-Store.
As for boxed versions. If you mean single-character locked lock box/R&D promo ones, then no, I don't go for gamble boxes, so I wouldn't pursue them anyway. If I'm paying, I want something for my money, not a gamble. I don't go to a car dealer and put down my money on a 1% chance on a BMW and a 99% chance on a Yugo. But I have bought a BMW before.
If you mean the combination bundle things, that's how I got my T-1 Connie. BUT it was in a pack of relevant things I wanted, the TOS Starter Pack.
If I could get the 1 ship I want from a multi-SHIP bundle (even a slightly stripped version) without buying 9 ships I DON'T want, then yes, being able to purchase the single ship WOULD make me no longer want the box version. The other ships are worth an Admiralty card and maybe a console. certainly not the full price of the ships, because I wouldn't fly them.
Let's look at the extreme opposite case, though. As another hypothetical. Suppose STO ONLY offered ships in one HUGE pack. One uber-legendary-mega-bundle. 1,000,000 Zen or $10,000 for all the ships in the game. In order to play, you MUST buy this pack. What would the game be like? A few ultra-whales, showing how much disposable income they have. A few Sir Edmund Hillary loonies diehards who can't afford it, but who spend a year scrimping and saving, living in their cars on peanut butter and crackers for a year "because it is there". And that's it. Cryptic makes a stack at once on the rich kids, and an occasional pop when a RL grinder reaches his goal, and that's it.
OR suppose every ship was a standalone. You'd get steady streams of 3,000 Zen or $30. Whales and collectors would still buy everything. DPSer's would still grab each new power-creep ship. Yes, non-millionaire fans of a specific series probably only buy the few ships/shuttles they are interested in, but you would actually get SOME money out of them at endgame, which you are missing out on now.
So to summarize my answers: Yes, and qualified yes.
Comments
To your first question: Yes. But depending on HOW "not-as-good" it was. I already have an account-wide Tier 1 Connie, thank you. AND I paid for it in the C-Store.
As for boxed versions. If you mean single-character locked lock box/R&D promo ones, then no, I don't go for gamble boxes, so I wouldn't pursue them anyway. If I'm paying, I want something for my money, not a gamble. I don't go to a car dealer and put down my money on a 1% chance on a BMW and a 99% chance on a Yugo. But I have bought a BMW before.
If you mean the combination bundle things, that's how I got my T-1 Connie. BUT it was in a pack of relevant things I wanted, the TOS Starter Pack.
If I could get the 1 ship I want from a multi-SHIP bundle (even a slightly stripped version) without buying 9 ships I DON'T want, then yes, being able to purchase the single ship WOULD make me no longer want the box version. The other ships are worth an Admiralty card and maybe a console. certainly not the full price of the ships, because I wouldn't fly them.
Let's look at the extreme opposite case, though. As another hypothetical. Suppose STO ONLY offered ships in one HUGE pack. One uber-legendary-mega-bundle. 1,000,000 Zen or $10,000 for all the ships in the game. In order to play, you MUST buy this pack. What would the game be like? A few ultra-whales, showing how much disposable income they have. A few Sir Edmund Hillary loonies diehards who can't afford it, but who spend a year scrimping and saving, living in their cars on peanut butter and crackers for a year "because it is there". And that's it. Cryptic makes a stack at once on the rich kids, and an occasional pop when a RL grinder reaches his goal, and that's it.
OR suppose every ship was a standalone. You'd get steady streams of 3,000 Zen or $30. Whales and collectors would still buy everything. DPSer's would still grab each new power-creep ship. Yes, non-millionaire fans of a specific series probably only buy the few ships/shuttles they are interested in, but you would actually get SOME money out of them at endgame, which you are missing out on now.
So to summarize my answers: Yes, and qualified yes.