From a long time player perspective it should also be noted that the Dil exchange in STO actually worked for a VERY long time (8-9 years) , in comparison to at least one other (newer) Cryptic game (Neverwinter) , where either the concept or the execution (or both) have failed a lot sooner .
What can we learn from that -- apart from the idea that when all things considered , STO had a more or less stable and functioning economy?
...
I also would not put it out of the realm of possibility that Cryptic may be telling themselves : "well sure , this batch of F2P-ers may get disheartened and leave , but the new ones won't know any better and think that this is the norm , and will play & pay as such.
Yea I mean Neverwinter was almost always maxed at 500:1 and was for 5-7 years before they raised it as I commented above. Two reasons it almost always at max was their exchange used Diamonds (Our Dilithium) not Gold (Our Energy Credits) and their refinement for years was 32,000 per character per day for years or 4x ours. Different game, different economy at play though, and most were fine with this. Meanwhile I'd agree our ZEN exchange has worked for a very long time 8-9 years, and even wasn't wasn't too bad in the 10th year and part of the 11th (which were a few months into) now.
I previously made one suggestion about expanding Tier 3 Fleet Holdings to Tier 4 over time, yet thought it could go well with second suggestion, each introduced at different points or updates.
That later suggestion was a Ferengi Business Woman who was first inspired by Quark's mothers influence on changing the Nagus rules to allow Females to wear cloths, and then later allowed females to go into Business as Quarks mother did working for the earlier Nagus...
My expanded thoughts she sets up shop at new Booth at Drozanna, perhaps where the other Vendors are including the Lobi Consortium. Now the big appeal with the Lobi consortium is the Lobi Ships and their elusive consoles or traits, yet there's also a lot of good SETs (where you get 2 or 3 set bonus) depending how many you use. Yet most Fleet Gear doesn't have a SET bonus, so neither would the Ferengi Business Woman if she offered gear. It offer an improvement over normal gear, similar yet different from that at Fleet. So it also be advantageous to those not in a Fleet, or a less developed one!
NOTE: We already have the currency she likes.
So perhaps she slowly adds a few new items slowly over time. Depending on the item be they Ground or Space. Perhaps Ground items require 10,000's of thousand (35k -150k each) of GPL and the non discounted Dilithium cost from Fleet (so perhaps a 5 - 15% Dilithium Premium over fully build fleets. Space Weapons may range from 100,000's of thousands (200k-850k each) of GPL and again a non discounted Fleet Dilithium cost.
Or perhaps some entirely new and unique things we've never seen? That might cost even more as suggested on Page 2 with a twist based on someone else idea.
A Female Ferengi with a Comedic Sense of Humor inspired by the Lady I identified (above) be fun, this new Ferengi could be funny to listen to, proclaiming the woman who enabled them to wear cloths, and go into business, and/or Comments about the Rules of Acquisition from a Female (Feminist) perspective. It's just too bad they could get the Original Lady as she was a Comedian to help inspire this new Ferengi...
Note: Fleet Dilithium Mine Discount stacks with DIL Store, yet maybe she doesn't honor those agreements!
She also introduces a new Event weekend from time to time, lowering her GPL & and Dilithium (slightly) cause she's a Ferengi.
She not offer better or worse items from Fleet Gear, just different from those available at Fleet.
Being a woman as well, maybe unlike her Male Ferengi counterparts, as she receives GPL & Dilithium (over time) slowly works to remodernize Drozana! Fix the broken Drozana Station Arm and then reinforce and updated it a bit; then in time perhaps modernize &/or reinforces the Lower &/or Upper Stations Hull, and finally parts of the Interior on the Main Floor! Yet as a Ferengi she asks members of the Federation, Klingon, Romulans and Dominion Alliance forces to place bids on station updates. It's something the community could vote on collectively, for which look we like best for each phase. We could see part of the updates inspired by Fed, while others be Romulan, Klingon or even Dominion. They'd all still be inspired on the original K7 model shown fully assembled just with a slight twist to some accents depending who won each phase she slowly considers.
How fast or quick wouldn't be set it stone. Cryptic 'could' keep it secret or not, based on what they think the Ferengi Business Woman could afford, with various updates over time.
Yeah, I see Lockbox Vanity Shields on the Exchange for prices that Lockbox Ships used to sell at.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
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.'
Yeah, I see Lockbox Vanity Shields on the Exchange for prices that Lockbox Ships used to sell at.
Which isn't surprising, considering they can only be obtained from lockboxes indirectly most of the time.
The Infinity box was supposed to make things available easier (besides stopping players from picking up two dozen different ones as loot during events).
But exactly the opposite was achieved by putting those shields inside weapon packs that have to be selected from an infinity weapon pack that has to be obtained first.... And which contains many selections like phased polaron, Herald antiproton or coalition disruptors that don't contain those shields at all.
The chance to get a vanity shield may well be much lower than getting a ship. That doesn't help keeping them affordable.
[4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother
Player housing worked wonders as a resource sink in ESO, FFIV and even SWTOR. Introduce player housing and make all the decorations cost dilithium.
While I'm for it, the devs don't seem to be into player housing at all and talk down on the idea whenever it's brought up in Livestreams, etc. Also, it'd likely take way too long to implement be much good with the current issue, unless it was just one thing in a series of things meant to help out the dilithium issue.
One of the easier paths they COULD take with player housing is to work with existing systems, such as starship interiors. And we already have at least a minor method of customizing certain ones with trophies we used to get for accolades. Theoretically they could expand that system to allow for further customization of places like the Captain's Quarters and maybe even the Ready Room. How practical that would be though... it would probably require a total revamp to existing ship interiors, including the special ones like the Connie, Belfast, Galaxy, and Intrepid.
Yeah the big issue will be whether or not adequate changes are made before GW2 does their reveal and release of their new Cantha expansion. Only reason I came back to this game because the production of that game had been slowed down due to the pandemic to the point there wasn't much content being put out. Pretty much PWE has the power to make things obtainable and to stabilize the economy but if they continue this its just a matter of time before people like me just uninstall this game for good.
One of the easier paths they COULD take with player housing is to work with existing systems, such as starship interiors. And we already have at least a minor method of customizing certain ones with trophies we used to get for accolades. Theoretically they could expand that system to allow for further customization of places like the Captain's Quarters and maybe even the Ready Room. How practical that would be though... it would probably require a total revamp to existing ship interiors, including the special ones like the Connie, Belfast, Galaxy, and Intrepid.
I think my first post on Page 8 of the THE Reddit/Twitter DEV Tracker Thread identified something just like that.
I rarely ever complain, as I mostly try to find positive suggestions trying to be more helpful. Doesn't mean they will do this, but it's something several might welcome. Still I think as my suggestion (post above this) they need to look at it slowly introducing various options.
This is certainly a forth idea, they'll at least hopefully discuss; given the KIT that Tacofangs is working on Includes Fed Starship/Starbase Interiors. I realize this was mostly envisioned for Missions on Federation Starships or Starbases; yet you never know, it only miss the trophy mechanic to use a Federation Interior if customized, and would possibly allow more items or furnishings. Yet don't think they'd update the Enterprise, or Voyager Interiors, choosing to keep them as they appeared in the show.
I'd be fine if they in time used it for a new Federation Interior only; as +70% or more mostly play Federation. Slowly over time they could always add trophies, or if successful later expand to Klingon or Romulans as more missions required a KIT for them.
While the KIT could easily be saved to a new Map, expanding Trophies to far more items in those 3 rooms, with some default trophies for Captains Chair, Desk, Sofa, or yes Fish Tank or others. I'd love to have far more items shown in the Link (above) yet realize some would like it but not everyone would.
So while it be cool, I don't expect it... ...mostly because while some would pay to unlock items for 1, 2, or 3 main characters perhaps for Interiors, only a very limited few would do more. And it would depend on the price of GPL & Dilithium for the trophies too, as to who did what or how much.
There is an important misconception in your analysis.
K ...
It makes little sense to explain an increasing Zen price by assuming that fewer regular spenders are spending money on C-store packages.
Who are the people who buy Zen and put it on the exchange for Dil ?
Who are the people who have been doing this for the last 8-9 years ?
If people reading this have done that ... you're welcome to speak up if you do this btw -- as I've been reading both here and in the various Reddit threads , and there is a peculiar loud & interesting SILENCE from the people who have been keeping the DilEx going from the Zen seller side for 8-9 years .
Those regular spenders would buy Zen to get those packages after all. They wouldn't put it on the exchange, so there is no reduced supply of Zen in that regard.
Do you think that by preference , the people who buy Zen , DO NOT buy ships (?) , but they keep putting Zen on the exchange for Dil ?
Nope.
You're trying do disassociate spending Zen on ships and spending Zen on Dil (because you presumably don't do both) .
But the people who would buy Zen to put it on the exchange = the same people who would buy Zen to buy ships .
So I tried to look at what happened when the Zen stopped flowing , and came up with two options :
a) Some of the people who would buy Zen to put it on the exchange suddenly stopped doing that , but they kept buying ships .
b) Some of the people who would buy Zen to put it on the exchange suddenly stopped doing that , but they also stopped buying ships .
But things didn't exactly happen in a vacuum either .
Since real life money is not in an infinite supply , the introduction of the Anniversary bundles + the release of the Mudd bundles one after the other ( a clear up scaling of the monetization efforts by Cryptic /PWE ) , all these things have put the potential STO spender in a bind :
Do I save for the Bundle / Lockbox of the Month , or do I buy more Dil by Zen ?
You're seeing one of the two results of that question on the DilEx today.
Previous spenders are either saving for the Bundle / Lockbox of the Month (and thus not buying Zen to put on the exchange) , or the offering of the bundles themselves have pissed them off enough to stop purchasing altogether (in which case -- going back to your initial presumption -- yes , there is a likely link between increasing Zen price and fewer regular spenders spending money on C-store ships , that also include large Bundles & Lockboxes) .
And I seriously doubt that people who are used to getting the stuff they want by regularly spending, are now going to spend hours and hours grinding thousands of Zen to get a new package.
Don't discount anger as a factor in all of this .
The magic of F2P is that it works as long as the providing company can disguise a lot of things , from the predatory pricing , to the predatory practices (gambling) to the fact that if you're not spending , you're part of the product .
The Mudd Bundles may have been the step too far that alienated some spenders (possibly whales) .
We already have spenders who have closed their wallets for a while now due to other reasons -- I'm one of them , but I'm not a whale . Never was .
A reduction in real money spent isn't such a likely explanation. Far more reasonable to presume that it's an increase in demand for Zen - due to many formerly rather exclusive ships being added to the store - that's driving up the prices.
We shall see . If what you claim is true , prices should drop at some point . As long as Cryptic maintains it's new found monetization model , I don't think they will .
Also , you might note that in the post you responded to , I was looking for secondary reasons to what was happening (as I don't think that what's happening has one single reason , but rather a convergence of different reasons) . Your response focused mainly on primary ones .
Who are the people who buy Zen and put it on the exchange for Dil ?
Who are the people who have been doing this for the last 8-9 years ?
I have actually sold zen for dil a few times over the years, mainly when I wanted something in the fleet store and wanted to get the marks quick and then for however much dil the gear costs.
That said, it was zen I had previously bought with dil. It wasn't something I actually bought with cash.
Maybe all the Zen was spent on T6 Oberths, I find it strange that the DilEx crash almost immediately after they were announced, I also get the feeling that Kael doesn't like that ship.
Its not that mudd bundles drove away paying customers. Its that it enticed the hardcore free farmers and the 80/20 and 50/50 type players to all cash in at the same time. Yes the last mudd bundle was more attractive then the early ones. They offered iconic ship unlocks. Not xindis and elachis ect. They also tried to sell a larger pack with a double dip option. Followed by a popular low end ship T6 pack. As well as ship sales. All things that drive people to convert dil to zen.
Cryptic for a year or two now have been pretty good at dropping mudd packs that drove the value of dill down... but often following up with zen store ships that where not big sellers. I was starting to think it was purpose... that perhaps they actually had some clue that some of their meh ships wouldn't sell and they where just gaming the dil exchange to the 480-90s on purpose. Which I respected as any good Ferengi would.
Its my own fault of course for forgetting Rule of Acquisition #44 Never confuse wisdom with luck.
Someone does need to remind Cryptic of Rule of Acquisition #43 Feed your greed, but not enough to choke it.
Pretty sure Crpyitc has point blank said this isn't viable because it would require just as much work as if they made the entire ship interior customizable since it would require literally all of the same systems/development. the only difference would be room size.
I think you missed the part where I mentioned the practical side.
Theoretically they could expand that system to allow for further customization of places like the Captain's Quarters and maybe even the Ready Room. How practical that would be though... it would probably require a total revamp to existing ship interiors, including the special ones like the Connie, Belfast, Galaxy, and Intrepid.
I floated a possible solution, but also pointed out the problem with said solution.
Its not that mudd bundles drove away paying customers. Its that it enticed the hardcore free farmers and the 80/20 and 50/50 type players to all cash in at the same time.
Yeah I think that's the real point. I'm sure Cryptic is making a killing with the Kelvin bundle because it's honestly a hell of a deal. But because it was such a deal, it basically soaked up all the zen on the exchange (which was finished off by the Genesis bundle).
So no, Cryptic isn't driving anyone away with these bundles. But yes, they are creating such a huge demand for zen that it has exceeded the 'normal' balance that keeps the exchange going and now they have to come up with some new need for dilithium to try to get some zen back into the exchange.
280k for a single unlock is a bit much, but boy I can only say one thing: FINALLY.
Not agreeing with someone doesn't give you the right to be an TRIBBLE.
Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
- quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;
Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
280k for a single unlock is a bit much, but boy I can only say one thing: FINALLY.
That should work well enough. We all know they want to keep in the 475-499 range as often as they can to maximize Cryptic profits. All they need is something time limited they can use as a valve. Vanity shields will work now... and again in 4-6 months if needed. Next year they can find something else to add to their Dil relief valve if they have too.
I hope long term they consider perhaps reimagining Phoenix a bit... to give it value beyond upgrades and one time old unlocks. I still think they have a collection of the older lobi ships that will neither be great mudd pack sales fodder or really entice anyone to burn lobi either. They would be perfect time limited adds to Pheonix. Or perhaps if they need a valve beyond vanity shields later they could even add actual new stuff to phoenix. Time gate some on off vanity shields into phoenix if needed could also drive a bit of value in to dil as needed.
In any event this should do it... I expect dil will drop to the 490 or so mark with this.
280k for a single unlock is a bit much, but boy I can only say one thing: FINALLY.
That should work well enough. We all know they want to keep in the 475-499 range as often as they can to maximize Cryptic profits. All they need is something time limited they can use as a valve. Vanity shields will work now... and again in 4-6 months if needed. Next year they can find something else to add to their Dil relief valve if they have too.
I hope long term they consider perhaps reimagining Phoenix a bit... to give it value beyond upgrades and one time old unlocks. I still think they have a collection of the older lobi ships that will neither be great mudd pack sales fodder or really entice anyone to burn lobi either. They would be perfect time limited adds to Pheonix. Or perhaps if they need a valve beyond vanity shields later they could even add actual new stuff to phoenix. Time gate some on off vanity shields into phoenix if needed could also drive a bit of value in to dil as needed.
In any event this should do it... I expect dil will drop to the 490 or so mark with this.
I think it's a start. I'm not sure it'll create enough dilithium demand to jump start the dilex though. Last I checked, there's still a backlog of (does some math) over 200 million dilithium waiting to be sold at prices 500-496.
while the 500-496 price range seems cheap to PCs but compared to Consoles even 320 seems a bit too high, then again Consoles had this feature since launch, and I'm glad the Devs went with the selling Vanity Shields for Dil route.
I think it's a start. I'm not sure it'll create enough dilithium demand to jump start the dilex though. Last I checked, there's still a backlog of (does some math) over 200 million dilithium waiting to be sold at prices 500-496.
Yea. Testing the waters for sure. And at a far more reasonable price than the costumes that had been in there.
That’s good news I’d say. Thanks for passing it on.
They released a keyless loot box on Neverwinter called the Astral Lockbox for 100,000 AD last year. The only reason very few purchased it, YouTubers showed that opening the loot box dropped about 60K worth of junk rewards and very few of anything they wanted. My issue with these YouTubers was them looking at the AD value for resale. Some scammers bought these loot boxes and then posted them in the Auction for twice what they paid. Knowing naïve players would buy them.
Since STO auctions are Energy based and not Dilithium based, these loot boxes will work for STO.
If done right... maybe. Although in theory we already have that kind of thing in STO in the form of the Phoenix Box. Granted it is only loaded with old event rewards and the best frickin' Tech Upgrade in the game. The Phoenix Box is due for an update though. Maybe they could add some stuff from old lockboxes or more old event rewards.
280k for a single unlock is a bit much, but boy I can only say one thing: FINALLY.
That should work well enough. We all know they want to keep in the 475-499 range as often as they can to maximize Cryptic profits. All they need is something time limited they can use as a valve. Vanity shields will work now... and again in 4-6 months if needed. Next year they can find something else to add to their Dil relief valve if they have too.
I hope long term they consider perhaps reimagining Phoenix a bit... to give it value beyond upgrades and one time old unlocks. I still think they have a collection of the older lobi ships that will neither be great mudd pack sales fodder or really entice anyone to burn lobi either. They would be perfect time limited adds to Pheonix. Or perhaps if they need a valve beyond vanity shields later they could even add actual new stuff to phoenix. Time gate some on off vanity shields into phoenix if needed could also drive a bit of value in to dil as needed.
In any event this should do it... I expect dil will drop to the 490 or so mark with this.
I think it's a start. I'm not sure it'll create enough dilithium demand to jump start the dilex though. Last I checked, there's still a backlog of (does some math) over 200 million dilithium waiting to be sold at prices 500-496.
Well it will drop fast then if that is all that's their. 200 million will only buy 715 vanity shields... and they are toon unlock not account. I expect a few people will be buying 10+ shields. I could give a toss about a vanity shield... but I won't begrudge the RP players from RPing. I know their are plenty of players that have been eyeing up some of those old vanity shields but where just not willing to spend the exchange prices for them. 280k Dil... ya Cryptic is going to move 2-3k shields this week would be my guess. So about 3x the backlog... I actually won't be shocked if the exchange hits 260-70 range in the first couple days. I mean it will go back up fast enough but as long as it holds in the 290s Cryptic will be happy.
280k for a single unlock is a bit much, but boy I can only say one thing: FINALLY.
That should work well enough. We all know they want to keep in the 475-499 range as often as they can to maximize Cryptic profits. All they need is something time limited they can use as a valve. Vanity shields will work now... and again in 4-6 months if needed. Next year they can find something else to add to their Dil relief valve if they have too.
I hope long term they consider perhaps reimagining Phoenix a bit... to give it value beyond upgrades and one time old unlocks. I still think they have a collection of the older lobi ships that will neither be great mudd pack sales fodder or really entice anyone to burn lobi either. They would be perfect time limited adds to Pheonix. Or perhaps if they need a valve beyond vanity shields later they could even add actual new stuff to phoenix. Time gate some on off vanity shields into phoenix if needed could also drive a bit of value in to dil as needed.
In any event this should do it... I expect dil will drop to the 490 or so mark with this.
I don't think they want it JUST in the 475-499 range. I think they honestly want it as low as it'll go to help out people like me who want as much zen from the exchange as possible to buy a pack I've been wanting.
280k for a single unlock is a bit much, but boy I can only say one thing: FINALLY.
That should work well enough. We all know they want to keep in the 475-499 range as often as they can to maximize Cryptic profits. All they need is something time limited they can use as a valve. Vanity shields will work now... and again in 4-6 months if needed. Next year they can find something else to add to their Dil relief valve if they have too.
I hope long term they consider perhaps reimagining Phoenix a bit... to give it value beyond upgrades and one time old unlocks. I still think they have a collection of the older lobi ships that will neither be great mudd pack sales fodder or really entice anyone to burn lobi either. They would be perfect time limited adds to Pheonix. Or perhaps if they need a valve beyond vanity shields later they could even add actual new stuff to phoenix. Time gate some on off vanity shields into phoenix if needed could also drive a bit of value in to dil as needed.
In any event this should do it... I expect dil will drop to the 490 or so mark with this.
I don't think they want it JUST in the 475-499 range. I think they honestly want it as low as it'll go to help out people like me who want as much zen from the exchange as possible to buy a pack I've been wanting.
Why would they want that ? They want it to run at as close to 500 without grinding out as possible. The higher it is the more likely people buy Dilithium with cash money. Of course they want the exchange to be moving... and keeping people playing and grinding. Last thing they want is whales to try and que up and have to wait 20 min for a pop... of for people to have issues completing events in the last week cause people don't que them anymore.
The idea that Crytpic wants to see the exchange drop sub 400 again though seems a bit crazy. The higher the exchange the better deal it is for paying customers. They simply have to balance it a bit to ensure enough free playing dill gathers keep the game alive to give the paying customers a game to actually pay for.
If its closer to 350, then both Dilithium and Zen are flowing at a rate that is more fair to everyone, which in turn is good for Cryptic as there would be a healthy economy. 400/1 is doable, but in the past they've said that 300-350 is much more desirable all around.
Comments
Yea I mean Neverwinter was almost always maxed at 500:1 and was for 5-7 years before they raised it as I commented above. Two reasons it almost always at max was their exchange used Diamonds (Our Dilithium) not Gold (Our Energy Credits) and their refinement for years was 32,000 per character per day for years or 4x ours. Different game, different economy at play though, and most were fine with this. Meanwhile I'd agree our ZEN exchange has worked for a very long time 8-9 years, and even wasn't wasn't too bad in the 10th year and part of the 11th (which were a few months into) now.
I previously made one suggestion about expanding Tier 3 Fleet Holdings to Tier 4 over time, yet thought it could go well with second suggestion, each introduced at different points or updates.
That later suggestion was a Ferengi Business Woman who was first inspired by Quark's mothers influence on changing the Nagus rules to allow Females to wear cloths, and then later allowed females to go into Business as Quarks mother did working for the earlier Nagus...
My expanded thoughts she sets up shop at new Booth at Drozanna, perhaps where the other Vendors are including the Lobi Consortium. Now the big appeal with the Lobi consortium is the Lobi Ships and their elusive consoles or traits, yet there's also a lot of good SETs (where you get 2 or 3 set bonus) depending how many you use. Yet most Fleet Gear doesn't have a SET bonus, so neither would the Ferengi Business Woman if she offered gear. It offer an improvement over normal gear, similar yet different from that at Fleet. So it also be advantageous to those not in a Fleet, or a less developed one!
NOTE: We already have the currency she likes.
So perhaps she slowly adds a few new items slowly over time. Depending on the item be they Ground or Space. Perhaps Ground items require 10,000's of thousand (35k -150k each) of GPL and the non discounted Dilithium cost from Fleet (so perhaps a 5 - 15% Dilithium Premium over fully build fleets. Space Weapons may range from 100,000's of thousands (200k-850k each) of GPL and again a non discounted Fleet Dilithium cost.
Or perhaps some entirely new and unique things we've never seen? That might cost even more as suggested on Page 2 with a twist based on someone else idea.
A Female Ferengi with a Comedic Sense of Humor inspired by the Lady I identified (above) be fun, this new Ferengi could be funny to listen to, proclaiming the woman who enabled them to wear cloths, and go into business, and/or Comments about the Rules of Acquisition from a Female (Feminist) perspective. It's just too bad they could get the Original Lady as she was a Comedian to help inspire this new Ferengi...
Note: Fleet Dilithium Mine Discount stacks with DIL Store, yet maybe she doesn't honor those agreements!
She also introduces a new Event weekend from time to time, lowering her GPL & and Dilithium (slightly) cause she's a Ferengi.
She not offer better or worse items from Fleet Gear, just different from those available at Fleet.
Being a woman as well, maybe unlike her Male Ferengi counterparts, as she receives GPL & Dilithium (over time) slowly works to remodernize Drozana! Fix the broken Drozana Station Arm and then reinforce and updated it a bit; then in time perhaps modernize &/or reinforces the Lower &/or Upper Stations Hull, and finally parts of the Interior on the Main Floor! Yet as a Ferengi she asks members of the Federation, Klingon, Romulans and Dominion Alliance forces to place bids on station updates. It's something the community could vote on collectively, for which look we like best for each phase. We could see part of the updates inspired by Fed, while others be Romulan, Klingon or even Dominion. They'd all still be inspired on the original K7 model shown fully assembled just with a slight twist to some accents depending who won each phase she slowly considers.
How fast or quick wouldn't be set it stone. Cryptic 'could' keep it secret or not, based on what they think the Ferengi Business Woman could afford, with various updates over time.
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.'
Which isn't surprising, considering they can only be obtained from lockboxes indirectly most of the time.
The Infinity box was supposed to make things available easier (besides stopping players from picking up two dozen different ones as loot during events).
But exactly the opposite was achieved by putting those shields inside weapon packs that have to be selected from an infinity weapon pack that has to be obtained first.... And which contains many selections like phased polaron, Herald antiproton or coalition disruptors that don't contain those shields at all.
The chance to get a vanity shield may well be much lower than getting a ship. That doesn't help keeping them affordable.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
https://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/o9tub4/fixing_dilithium_economy/
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
While I'm for it, the devs don't seem to be into player housing at all and talk down on the idea whenever it's brought up in Livestreams, etc. Also, it'd likely take way too long to implement be much good with the current issue, unless it was just one thing in a series of things meant to help out the dilithium issue.
Theoretically they could expand that system to allow for further customization of places like the Captain's Quarters and maybe even the Ready Room. How practical that would be though... it would probably require a total revamp to existing ship interiors, including the special ones like the Connie, Belfast, Galaxy, and Intrepid.
I think my first post on Page 8 of the THE Reddit/Twitter DEV Tracker Thread identified something just like that.
I rarely ever complain, as I mostly try to find positive suggestions trying to be more helpful. Doesn't mean they will do this, but it's something several might welcome. Still I think as my suggestion (post above this) they need to look at it slowly introducing various options.
This is certainly a forth idea, they'll at least hopefully discuss; given the KIT that Tacofangs is working on Includes Fed Starship/Starbase Interiors. I realize this was mostly envisioned for Missions on Federation Starships or Starbases; yet you never know, it only miss the trophy mechanic to use a Federation Interior if customized, and would possibly allow more items or furnishings. Yet don't think they'd update the Enterprise, or Voyager Interiors, choosing to keep them as they appeared in the show.
I'd be fine if they in time used it for a new Federation Interior only; as +70% or more mostly play Federation. Slowly over time they could always add trophies, or if successful later expand to Klingon or Romulans as more missions required a KIT for them.
While the KIT could easily be saved to a new Map, expanding Trophies to far more items in those 3 rooms, with some default trophies for Captains Chair, Desk, Sofa, or yes Fish Tank or others. I'd love to have far more items shown in the Link (above) yet realize some would like it but not everyone would.
So while it be cool, I don't expect it... ...mostly because while some would pay to unlock items for 1, 2, or 3 main characters perhaps for Interiors, only a very limited few would do more. And it would depend on the price of GPL & Dilithium for the trophies too, as to who did what or how much.
K ...
Who are the people who buy Zen and put it on the exchange for Dil ?
Who are the people who have been doing this for the last 8-9 years ?
If people reading this have done that ... you're welcome to speak up if you do this btw -- as I've been reading both here and in the various Reddit threads , and there is a peculiar loud & interesting SILENCE from the people who have been keeping the DilEx going from the Zen seller side for 8-9 years .
Do you think that by preference , the people who buy Zen , DO NOT buy ships (?) , but they keep putting Zen on the exchange for Dil ?
Nope.
You're trying do disassociate spending Zen on ships and spending Zen on Dil (because you presumably don't do both) .
But the people who would buy Zen to put it on the exchange = the same people who would buy Zen to buy ships .
So I tried to look at what happened when the Zen stopped flowing , and came up with two options :
a) Some of the people who would buy Zen to put it on the exchange suddenly stopped doing that , but they kept buying ships .
b) Some of the people who would buy Zen to put it on the exchange suddenly stopped doing that , but they also stopped buying ships .
But things didn't exactly happen in a vacuum either .
Since real life money is not in an infinite supply , the introduction of the Anniversary bundles + the release of the Mudd bundles one after the other ( a clear up scaling of the monetization efforts by Cryptic /PWE ) , all these things have put the potential STO spender in a bind :
Do I save for the Bundle / Lockbox of the Month , or do I buy more Dil by Zen ?
You're seeing one of the two results of that question on the DilEx today.
Previous spenders are either saving for the Bundle / Lockbox of the Month (and thus not buying Zen to put on the exchange) , or the offering of the bundles themselves have pissed them off enough to stop purchasing altogether (in which case -- going back to your initial presumption -- yes , there is a likely link between increasing Zen price and fewer regular spenders spending money on C-store ships , that also include large Bundles & Lockboxes) .
Don't discount anger as a factor in all of this .
The magic of F2P is that it works as long as the providing company can disguise a lot of things , from the predatory pricing , to the predatory practices (gambling) to the fact that if you're not spending , you're part of the product .
The Mudd Bundles may have been the step too far that alienated some spenders (possibly whales) .
We already have spenders who have closed their wallets for a while now due to other reasons -- I'm one of them , but I'm not a whale . Never was .
We shall see . If what you claim is true , prices should drop at some point . As long as Cryptic maintains it's new found monetization model , I don't think they will .
Also , you might note that in the post you responded to , I was looking for secondary reasons to what was happening (as I don't think that what's happening has one single reason , but rather a convergence of different reasons) . Your response focused mainly on primary ones .
I have actually sold zen for dil a few times over the years, mainly when I wanted something in the fleet store and wanted to get the marks quick and then for however much dil the gear costs.
That said, it was zen I had previously bought with dil. It wasn't something I actually bought with cash.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
Cryptic for a year or two now have been pretty good at dropping mudd packs that drove the value of dill down... but often following up with zen store ships that where not big sellers. I was starting to think it was purpose... that perhaps they actually had some clue that some of their meh ships wouldn't sell and they where just gaming the dil exchange to the 480-90s on purpose. Which I respected as any good Ferengi would.
Its my own fault of course for forgetting Rule of Acquisition #44 Never confuse wisdom with luck.
Someone does need to remind Cryptic of Rule of Acquisition #43 Feed your greed, but not enough to choke it.
I think you missed the part where I mentioned the practical side.
I floated a possible solution, but also pointed out the problem with said solution.
Yeah I think that's the real point. I'm sure Cryptic is making a killing with the Kelvin bundle because it's honestly a hell of a deal. But because it was such a deal, it basically soaked up all the zen on the exchange (which was finished off by the Genesis bundle).
So no, Cryptic isn't driving anyone away with these bundles. But yes, they are creating such a huge demand for zen that it has exceeded the 'normal' balance that keeps the exchange going and now they have to come up with some new need for dilithium to try to get some zen back into the exchange.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11490183
280k for a single unlock is a bit much, but boy I can only say one thing: FINALLY.
Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
- quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;
Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
That should work well enough. We all know they want to keep in the 475-499 range as often as they can to maximize Cryptic profits. All they need is something time limited they can use as a valve. Vanity shields will work now... and again in 4-6 months if needed. Next year they can find something else to add to their Dil relief valve if they have too.
I hope long term they consider perhaps reimagining Phoenix a bit... to give it value beyond upgrades and one time old unlocks. I still think they have a collection of the older lobi ships that will neither be great mudd pack sales fodder or really entice anyone to burn lobi either. They would be perfect time limited adds to Pheonix. Or perhaps if they need a valve beyond vanity shields later they could even add actual new stuff to phoenix. Time gate some on off vanity shields into phoenix if needed could also drive a bit of value in to dil as needed.
In any event this should do it... I expect dil will drop to the 490 or so mark with this.
That's interesting. I've been wanting to buy the S31 shield for some characters for a while.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
> They've made their first move:
>
> https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11490183
>
> 280k for a single unlock is a bit much, but boy I can only say one thing: FINALLY.
That’s good news I’d say. Thanks for passing it on.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
while the 500-496 price range seems cheap to PCs but compared to Consoles even 320 seems a bit too high, then again Consoles had this feature since launch, and I'm glad the Devs went with the selling Vanity Shields for Dil route.
Yea. Testing the waters for sure. And at a far more reasonable price than the costumes that had been in there.
They released a keyless loot box on Neverwinter called the Astral Lockbox for 100,000 AD last year. The only reason very few purchased it, YouTubers showed that opening the loot box dropped about 60K worth of junk rewards and very few of anything they wanted. My issue with these YouTubers was them looking at the AD value for resale. Some scammers bought these loot boxes and then posted them in the Auction for twice what they paid. Knowing naïve players would buy them.
Since STO auctions are Energy based and not Dilithium based, these loot boxes will work for STO.
Well it will drop fast then if that is all that's their. 200 million will only buy 715 vanity shields... and they are toon unlock not account. I expect a few people will be buying 10+ shields. I could give a toss about a vanity shield... but I won't begrudge the RP players from RPing. I know their are plenty of players that have been eyeing up some of those old vanity shields but where just not willing to spend the exchange prices for them. 280k Dil... ya Cryptic is going to move 2-3k shields this week would be my guess. So about 3x the backlog... I actually won't be shocked if the exchange hits 260-70 range in the first couple days. I mean it will go back up fast enough but as long as it holds in the 290s Cryptic will be happy.
I don't think they want it JUST in the 475-499 range. I think they honestly want it as low as it'll go to help out people like me who want as much zen from the exchange as possible to buy a pack I've been wanting.
Why would they want that ? They want it to run at as close to 500 without grinding out as possible. The higher it is the more likely people buy Dilithium with cash money. Of course they want the exchange to be moving... and keeping people playing and grinding. Last thing they want is whales to try and que up and have to wait 20 min for a pop... of for people to have issues completing events in the last week cause people don't que them anymore.
The idea that Crytpic wants to see the exchange drop sub 400 again though seems a bit crazy. The higher the exchange the better deal it is for paying customers. They simply have to balance it a bit to ensure enough free playing dill gathers keep the game alive to give the paying customers a game to actually pay for.