Saw this conversation in game chat a couple of days ago & it got me thinking so asking here too.
Besides Legends & Mudd's there hasn't been any direct buy zen store starships released for over 6 months.
All hail the big-ticket, a $100 plus packs & bundles, but is Cryptic having new normal starships being released go the way of the Dodo bird?
It's great for Cryptic to cater to "whales" & such, more power to them, for keeping the lights on with big "Mega" bundles, packs, & a gambling ship every month, but there hasn't been a single starship release to directly buy since October or November.
Is Star Trek Online trending towards only gambling & big-ticket buys from now on?
Is Star Trek Online trending towards only gambling & big-ticket buys from now on?
The answer is "yes" if you remove the word "only", because it is an absolute and does not allow for any exceptions. But yes, the recent trend is clearly towards larger packs rather than single ships. I'm ok with it if I actually want the ships, because the larger packs tend to break down to good prices per ship. But if you don't want them all that breakdown doesn't help you, so I can understand the issue.
> @thegrandnagus1 said: > The answer is "yes" if you remove the word "only", because it is an absolute and does not allow for any exceptions. But yes, the recent trend is clearly towards larger packs rather than single ships. I'm ok with it if I actually want the ships, because the larger packs tend to break down to good prices per ship. But if you don't want them all that breakdown doesn't help you, so I can understand the issue.
That's the issue methinks. The price tags for those that only want certain ships out of these bundles seems not like a good deal at all, and it's a steep increase from the usual store prices as well. And the recent Mega-bundles reached the price of entire game console systems including games - ot sure can be somewhat alienating.
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
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"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
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@nommo#5819 - are there any specific canon ships you yourself want to buy that haven't been released?
It's all well and good to gripe about hero ship legendary packs and Mudd bundles of existing lock box and promo ships, but the zen store is already stuffed full of both canon ships and Cryptic original designs.
Excellent point, somtaawkhar, about perhaps running-out of "canon" starships to produce & it explains the so many re-re-re-versioned starships & would explain Cryptic not focusing on that aspect. lol I hadn't even thought of Cryptic running-out of ship ideas. It just looks so unbalanced with the 6+ month drought.
Good point too, thegrandnagus1, about "only" being very limiting & I was thinking it was the Titan too.
With as many starships there are already I'd think, without checking, that there should still plenty in the ST franchise.
So true, angrytarg, about a starship bundle being the price of a real-life gaming console, well now it's true with this latest bundle.
Good point, westmetals, about those T6 starship coupons being unbound being a better option perhaps.
If not brand new ST "canon" starships to STO then totally okay with some Cryptic original designs, as evilmark444 stated, if Paramount/CBS okays it.
Not looking for anything particular about certain starships, but I do have a few visual favorites, it just seems lopsided with the Mudd's & Legends BIG bundles/packs then gamble starships every month but no new "normal" starships for sale for over 6 months. At least I can rank-up & earn those Reputation Fleet Ship Modules & pick a few ships that way, thanks Cryptic for that! Also, with cross-faction piloting there's much more options.
But, at the end of the day it's those spending big money that Cryptic will listen to understandably.
Sadly, it is quite clear that big ticket bundles full of fluff that no one asked for are the new normal and that regularly priced ships will be few and very far between. Especially if you are not interested in Fed ships.
Is there any chance Cryptic will make a tier 6 ambassador class? Could I just purchase the Narendra support cruiser and use the ambassador skin? Or is that not possible.
"There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life." - Ten Bears (Will Sampson)
Yes the link you provided says the Narendra uses the Ambassador skin and unlocks it. So yes, Narendra is a T6 Ambassador class.
I really have to lay off the de-caf. Thanks for clarifying that !
"There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life." - Ten Bears (Will Sampson)
We've gotten some pretty clear indications that T6 refit Oberth and Steamrunners are in the pipeline. I would not be surprised to see a Constellation as well at some point in the not too distant future. Also if they are doing a Steamrunner I would imagine a Saber is probably already on the teams radar. Those two ships seem to go together quite often.
As for the prevalence of larger ship packs. I suspect part of that is a hedge for the future. Cryptic has said that single ship sales don't really pay the bills in most cases. Whereas Bundles sell quite well. Add to this that a ton of Governments are starting to seek to eliminate lootbox gambling mechanics, and you can see where Cryptic is looking to hedge their income with an alternate revenue stream. And lets face facts. We want that if simply because we want Cryptic to make a profit and keep the servers running. There are worse and far more predatory funding mechanisms than Ship Bundles.
And lets face facts. We want that if simply because we want Cryptic to make a profit and keep the servers running. There are worse and far more predatory funding mechanisms than Ship Bundles.
Yeah, I don't want story content to become paid expansions like FF XIV and WoW, or for play time to be time-limited by the need for "space coal" (fuel, energy, nose candy, etc.) like many mobile games, or a bunch of other limits like SWTOR used to have if you didn't subscribe.
And the STO Wiki suspects the T6 Oberth as either it was hinted, yet I took it more as Humor made in jest, possibly because it occurred only a week or so following another Poll from Cryptic showing the Nova won. But who really knows... ...yet believe at least 1 other Federation ships for the fall, and it's likely Science based.
So they've got at least 1-2 new ZEN store ships planned, yet I admit it's been awhile almost 8 months now and be closer to 10 before the next update occurs.
We also know the Garagin, made the list of ships updated with the 7A Materials. They've hinted at a few other things coming, yet we'll likely have to wait closer to the update before they announce more.
This is just a MMORPG version of a liquidation sale where its not really a sale but more of a jack up prices on all inventory before that contract runs out. I couldn't find the part I remember there being a 9 or 10 year contract they called a business venture with Cryptic. So I am speculating if I understood it right back then that being that was at the end of 2011 when that was stated 10 years would be coming up this October or November.
Also it just makes perfect sense if you think about it because why would Cryptic be putting every single thing coming forward into a promo or lockbox. Then on top of that putting out content for just insane prices they know nobody is ever going to pay. Then take all that into consideration and they are hiring for all these positions on their website. So basically PWE is putting their own self imposed boycott into action just trying to make as much money as possible before their exit.
And the STO Wiki suspects the T6 Oberth as either it was hinted, yet I took it more as Humor made in jest, possibly because it occurred only a week or so following another Poll from Cryptic showing the Nova won. But who really knows... ...yet believe at least 1 other Federation ships for the fall, and it's likely Science based.
The T1 Oberth recently received an updated model, so the April 1st tease of a T6 was definitely not a joke.
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I certainly hope to see a T6 Star cruiser sometime.
Of the older free level up ship designs, I always liked how big it looked, with lots of windows.
It's basically a flying city, and with the elongated design it's everything a real cruiser should be.
Yea perhaps it was, still I think the T6 Oberth Light Science Vessel is going to be different than what many suspect. I know Oberth later inspired the earlier Nova design.
"Unofficially, the Nova-class was considered by some of the production staff as the replacement for the Oberth class as research and science platform."
It's possible they thought the Oberth class ships deserved a quality pass, the real question remains if we'll indeed see a T6 Oberth update. Perhaps we will, yet Kael keeps saying we'll not see it till 3150+ or something like that! It was also a April 1st thing this year, why a part of me believes it's a teaser possibly for T6 Nova, or both...
Given there haven't been a lot of other ZEN ships this last 8 or so months, and the next update is Federation based. All we can do is wait...
Comments
Not sure about this year, but from end of last year.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
The answer is "yes" if you remove the word "only", because it is an absolute and does not allow for any exceptions. But yes, the recent trend is clearly towards larger packs rather than single ships. I'm ok with it if I actually want the ships, because the larger packs tend to break down to good prices per ship. But if you don't want them all that breakdown doesn't help you, so I can understand the issue.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
> The answer is "yes" if you remove the word "only", because it is an absolute and does not allow for any exceptions. But yes, the recent trend is clearly towards larger packs rather than single ships. I'm ok with it if I actually want the ships, because the larger packs tend to break down to good prices per ship. But if you don't want them all that breakdown doesn't help you, so I can understand the issue.
That's the issue methinks. The price tags for those that only want certain ships out of these bundles seems not like a good deal at all, and it's a steep increase from the usual store prices as well. And the recent Mega-bundles reached the price of entire game console systems including games - ot sure can be somewhat alienating.
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It's all well and good to gripe about hero ship legendary packs and Mudd bundles of existing lock box and promo ships, but the zen store is already stuffed full of both canon ships and Cryptic original designs.
There's always the possibility for more original Cryptic designs, especially for Romulans, Klingons, and Dominion.
^ Click image to listen to my favorite Trek theme song! ^
Good point too, thegrandnagus1, about "only" being very limiting & I was thinking it was the Titan too.
With as many starships there are already I'd think, without checking, that there should still plenty in the ST franchise.
So true, angrytarg, about a starship bundle being the price of a real-life gaming console, well now it's true with this latest bundle.
Good point, westmetals, about those T6 starship coupons being unbound being a better option perhaps.
If not brand new ST "canon" starships to STO then totally okay with some Cryptic original designs, as evilmark444 stated, if Paramount/CBS okays it.
Not looking for anything particular about certain starships, but I do have a few visual favorites, it just seems lopsided with the Mudd's & Legends BIG bundles/packs then gamble starships every month but no new "normal" starships for sale for over 6 months. At least I can rank-up & earn those Reputation Fleet Ship Modules & pick a few ships that way, thanks Cryptic for that! Also, with cross-faction piloting there's much more options.
But, at the end of the day it's those spending big money that Cryptic will listen to understandably.
https://sto.fandom.com/wiki/Narendra_Support_Cruiser
> Is there any chance Cryptic will make a tier 6 ambassador class? Could I just purchase the Narendra support cruiser and use the ambassador skin? Or is that not possible.
>
> https://sto.fandom.com/wiki/Narendra_Support_Cruiser
Yes, the link you provided says the Narendra uses the Ambassador skin and unlocks it. So, yes, Narendra is a T6 Ambassador class.
I really have to lay off the de-caf. Thanks for clarifying that !
As for the prevalence of larger ship packs. I suspect part of that is a hedge for the future. Cryptic has said that single ship sales don't really pay the bills in most cases. Whereas Bundles sell quite well. Add to this that a ton of Governments are starting to seek to eliminate lootbox gambling mechanics, and you can see where Cryptic is looking to hedge their income with an alternate revenue stream. And lets face facts. We want that if simply because we want Cryptic to make a profit and keep the servers running. There are worse and far more predatory funding mechanisms than Ship Bundles.
Yeah, I don't want story content to become paid expansions like FF XIV and WoW, or for play time to be time-limited by the need for "space coal" (fuel, energy, nose candy, etc.) like many mobile games, or a bunch of other limits like SWTOR used to have if you didn't subscribe.
https://sto.fandom.com/wiki/Upcoming_content
T6 Steamrunner Blockade Runner Ecort[9]
T6 Oberth Light Science Vessel [10]
And the STO Wiki suspects the T6 Oberth as either it was hinted, yet I took it more as Humor made in jest, possibly because it occurred only a week or so following another Poll from Cryptic showing the Nova won. But who really knows... ...yet believe at least 1 other Federation ships for the fall, and it's likely Science based.
So they've got at least 1-2 new ZEN store ships planned, yet I admit it's been awhile almost 8 months now and be closer to 10 before the next update occurs.
We also know the Garagin, made the list of ships updated with the 7A Materials. They've hinted at a few other things coming, yet we'll likely have to wait closer to the update before they announce more.
Also it just makes perfect sense if you think about it because why would Cryptic be putting every single thing coming forward into a promo or lockbox. Then on top of that putting out content for just insane prices they know nobody is ever going to pay. Then take all that into consideration and they are hiring for all these positions on their website. So basically PWE is putting their own self imposed boycott into action just trying to make as much money as possible before their exit.
T6 Star Cruiser, surely?
:P
The T1 Oberth recently received an updated model, so the April 1st tease of a T6 was definitely not a joke.
^ Click image to listen to my favorite Trek theme song! ^
Of the older free level up ship designs, I always liked how big it looked, with lots of windows.
It's basically a flying city, and with the elongated design it's everything a real cruiser should be.
Yea perhaps it was, still I think the T6 Oberth Light Science Vessel is going to be different than what many suspect. I know Oberth later inspired the earlier Nova design.
"Unofficially, the Nova-class was considered by some of the production staff as the replacement for the Oberth class as research and science platform."
It's possible they thought the Oberth class ships deserved a quality pass, the real question remains if we'll indeed see a T6 Oberth update. Perhaps we will, yet Kael keeps saying we'll not see it till 3150+ or something like that! It was also a April 1st thing this year, why a part of me believes it's a teaser possibly for T6 Nova, or both...
Given there haven't been a lot of other ZEN ships this last 8 or so months, and the next update is Federation based. All we can do is wait...