You know what would get me to recruit people? It's not some stupid unique ship. It's not some stupid holographic bridge officer. It's not some stupid holographic tribble. What would get me to recruit people is to have a working, fun, and relatively bug-free game.
STO as it currently stands is stagnant. Season Two might help get the game in the right direction. I won't know until July (or whenever they get around to releasing it). Based on the reviews, the forums, word of mouth, pretty much everywhere, the game sucks. People will not want to play the game knowing or believing that the game does not live up to the name.
Marketing dropped the ball on this one. Not only are they offering a more-or-less unattainable perk that only a handful of people will receive but they're trying to get us to recruit people in a game that a fair amount of us have already lost faith in. I still see potential, but there are LOTS of people who are scared or put-off. They may not like Star Trek in general. They may not want to be labeled as "Trekkie" or dweeb or dork or whatever. They may try the game and decide it's TRIBBLE. There is no long term investment. THAT's the problem with the game as it stands.
Season Two should have been the state of the game at LAUNCH.
The fact that they are getting ever more shrill and offensive in their marketing promotions (especially this debacle) is an indicator of their desperation.
In my collector's edition, I gave three codes to family members and friends to get them to try STO. They used the code, bought the game, and are now paying for subscriptions...
Can the referrals be back dated based on this?
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I can sure as TRIBBLE tell you "NO"....It would shock me out of my seat if they did.
I had asked if I could convert my 6 month subscription to a lifetime and put the unused months (5 of them) towards the $299.00....Cryptic's Billing Dept. said no, they can't do that.
And Memory Alpha was originally created the way it was, and the game was originally created with out a DP or end game content, and Klingons were launched without PvE. Yet, in response to player feedbac, you guys have made the changes the community wanted. So the question is, will you listen again?
well said!
i have to admit reading about how the galaxy X was going to take 5 referrals, and then each has to hit their 30 day cycle for the referrer to get credit and the ship?
that's a little bit steep
good to know that management has an eye on this one...i think if everyone calmly voices their concerns in this thread and there is an overwhelming voice against this, im sure cryptic will listen and adjust
they've already proven they are capable of listening to their players and making key gameplay changes to suit their players...im willing to grant them the benefit of the doubt
In my collector's edition, I gave three codes to family members and friends to get them to try STO. They used the code, bought the game, and are now paying for subscriptions...
Can the referrals be back dated based on this?
If it was my game I would back date for this, however I've heard no official word from Cryptic on this one. A good question. Unfortunately, my gut tells me the answer is going to be "No."
I'm liking the suggestion that it be available via the upcoming revamped Memory Alpha. It's thereby available to anyone who puts in the playing time to satisfy whatever prerequisites deemed suitable.
If it was my game I would back date for this, however I've heard no official word from Cryptic on this one. A good question. Unfortunately, my gut tells me the answer is going to be "No."
To be fair it was a unicorn zebra mount then a dual-seat rocket mount for recruit-a-friend in that other game that shall remain nameless.
<-- Loves her sparkly pony...Don't hate.
This horrifically flawed idea has nothing to do with fairness and everything to do with "show me the money". They are basically tempting people to spend another $200 to own a ship that is more powerful than anything in game.
A CLOAKING ship that has the power of a T5 cruiser (and the tank) plus an additional high DPS exclusive superweapon.
I guess we know why Science Officers have been nerfed to oblivion. They want no challenger to this thing.
That's all well and good, but restricting the Galaxy X to a handful of people who manage to achieve your costly requirement of 5 subbers is just plain mean-spirited.
You cannot expect us to be excited about that or any other related content if you're going to pull this.
I mean, what will a saucer sep feature cost us? Ten subscribers?
You know, the ship was in one episode out of 28 seasons and 11 movies spanning 43 years, and only appeared for a couple of minutes in that episode. It's not exactly an iconic ship.
You know, the ship was in one episode out of 28 seasons and 11 movies spanning 43 years, and only appeared for a couple of minutes in that episode. It's not exactly an iconic ship.
The ship skin is irrelevant.
If it were ONLY a ship skin, we could let this pass.
They are giving it cloak AND a special weapon. It will be more powerful than any other ship in the game.
Season Two should have been the state of the game at LAUNCH.
The fact that they are getting ever more shrill and offensive in their marketing promotions (especially this debacle) is an indicator of their desperation.
You know what? I totally agree with you. Unfortunately, we don't have a time machine to go back and fix this...yet. So, Season Two is the make-or-break time for many people...assuming this fiasco isn't the straw the breaks the camel's back first. Things don't look good for the game. I'm trying to minimize the casualties. Too bad I'm just one insignificant peon that probably doesn't have much of a voice due to the blue name.
You know what? I totally agree with you. Unfortunately, we don't have a time machine to go back and fix this...yet. So, Season Two is the make-or-break time for many people...assuming this fiasco isn't the straw the breaks the camel's back first. Things don't look good for the game. I'm trying to minimize the casualties. Too bad I'm just one insignificant peon that probably doesn't have much of a voice due to the blue name.
I just wish Cryptic would grow a conscious.
Not bloody likely, but the only alternative is the same fate SWG suffered. Just a lot faster.
Clearly, the marketing department at Cryptic is insane.
I wouldn't say insane but they don't take all the variables into account.
They saw "an opportunity" (damn Ferengi ) to capitalize on a well known fan favorite... "All Good Things". They want to offer a reward so appealing that we'll go out and hit the streets to sign people up for STO. That's all well and good and on paper it might look attractive to their business.
But they did not consider that:
Some customers have already gotten all their friends in with buddy keys.
Some customers will not have a network of friends who like ST.
Some customers will not have the social skills to get 5 people to subscribe.
These groups of STO customers are left out in the cold. I don't want to derail their marketing program but some consideration should be made to folks who simply cannot meet the requirements.
Just want to chime in that I don't agree with this Galaxy-X being limited to a referal program bonus. I guess the balance comes from how rare they will be. I must of missed it, but do the Klingons get a new unlockable skin?
They are giving it cloak AND a special weapon. It will be more powerful than any other ship in the game.
Than any ship CURRENTLY in the game. You think. Based on some assumptions. You don't know what that weapon's DPS will be like. You don't know what other tradeoffs the ship will have. You don't know what other ships will be introduced at the same time.
Doesn't stop you from proclaiming the End of the World, though.
In my collector's edition, I gave three codes to family members and friends to get them to try STO. They used the code, bought the game, and are now paying for subscriptions...
Can the referrals be back dated based on this?
I do not know. And frankly, nobody here (unless their name is yellow) knows, and I don't think even the community reps even know just yet. So all I'm going to say is: Ask! community@cryptic.com or submit a billing ticket, or make a new thread (though check first to see if anyone has already made such a thread, hopefully to get a rep's attention.)
Than any ship CURRENTLY in the game. You think. Based on some assumptions. You don't know what that weapon's DPS will be like. You don't know what other tradeoffs the ship will have. You don't know what other ships will be introduced at the same time.
Doesn't stop you from proclaiming the End of the World, though.
They already stated that for a time this will be the only ship of it's kind in game.
Yes, while they may give these abilities to ships that are earned (not bought) they openly admit that this ship will enjoy at least a time period of exclusivity in traits.
How is that a good thing?
Marketing decided to release this week's outrage on a day other than a Friday, so far that's all that surprises me.
This ship needs to be demoted to cosmetic skin only. No exclusive abilities. Nothing that any other T5 ship can't do ALREADY in game.
If they do that, I will quit complaining. I actually HATE the appearance of the Galaxy, much less the even worse looking 3 nacelle variant. I have no desire for that ship based on appearance at all, and wouldn't cross the street to get it for free.
But that's not good enough for marketing. They instead have to make it better than anything else, to induce people to shell out over $200 to buy it. Mark my words, this will not net STO any new subscribers. It will just induce the sickest amongst us to buy it.
You know what would get me to recruit people? It's not some stupid unique ship. It's not some stupid holographic bridge officer. It's not some stupid holographic tribble. What would get me to recruit people is to have a working, fun, and relatively bug-free game.
STO as it currently stands is stagnant. Season Two might help get the game in the right direction. I won't know until July (or whenever they get around to releasing it). Based on the reviews, the forums, word of mouth, pretty much everywhere, the game sucks. People will not want to play the game knowing or believing that the game does not live up to the name.
Marketing dropped the ball on this one. Not only are they offering a more-or-less unattainable perk that only a handful of people will receive but they're trying to get us to recruit people in a game that a fair amount of us have already lost faith in. I still see potential, but there are LOTS of people who are scared or put-off. They may not like Star Trek in general. They may not want to be labeled as "Trekkie" or dweeb or dork or whatever. They may try the game and decide it's TRIBBLE. There is no long term investment. THAT's the problem with the game as it stands.
I couldn't agree more with you. I just started playing a trial of another fairly recent MMO (I won't mention it by name since that wouldn't be fair) that I ended up subbing to, just to fill in some time while waiting for things to do in STO. That game was such a sleeper that it's actually easy for me to get people to come and try it out and maybe purchase it if they end up liking it. STO has done a poor job making a name for itself with its quick launch, missing content, all the nickel & diming, and price gouging techniques that come on top of your monthly sub, that I couldn't even give FREE retail codes of the full game away if I had them.
The only people who are going to have this new ship (that's been asked for since early beta), are the people left who purchased multiple copies for all the preorder items. They're the ones who will go out and buy 5 new accounts for 31 days, which won't help the game's population any, because that's still 5 accounts who won't be playing on our already empty and dieing single server.
Then again, getting people to buy 5 accounts for a flying sparkle pony is likely their plan all along. Sadly there will likely be a handful of fools who bite too, then 2 months later they'll put it on the store for $25 and more fools will bite.
You know, the ship was in one episode out of 28 seasons and 11 movies spanning 43 years, and only appeared for a couple of minutes in that episode. It's not exactly an iconic ship.
No, it's not. It's really the sort of thing that would be perfect for a marketing gimmick.
If it didn't have the bloody superlaser and (I myself considered it too absurd to speculate on, but dstahl said it) possibly cloak.
I hope they reach a decision about this topic before the program goes live.
So far management has boldly gone forward with the "advisory" council and other bad ideas of marketing.
To my knowledge they DID cut the 90 days for free at half price "salegate" promotion short, but they still did it.
The only thing unusual about this one was that it wasn't posted on a Friday afternoon.
Honestly, the best thing Cryptic could do to both improve customer relations and this game is to FIRE THE WHOLE MARKETING DEPARTMENT and use the cost savings to add Devs so Season 2 gets implemented early.
This ship needs to be demoted to cosmetic skin only. No exclusive abilities. Nothing that any other T5 ship can't do ALREADY in game.
This isn't good enough for getting 5 people to sign up, buy the game and buy a sub. But you already covered this...
But that's not good enough for marketing. They instead have to make it better than anything else, to induce people to shell out over $200 to buy it. Mark my words, this will not net STO any new subscribers. It will just induce the sickest amongst us to buy it.
Oh it'll get new subscribers, of that I'm sure. However, it will not get those new subscribers to stay long term, it will not keep them playing.
I don't think nerfing the reward is the solution. I still agree with the OP (and other posters). Make it:
- A veteran reward
- A C-Store item (but I'd remove the cloak and cannon in this case)
- A Memory Alpha "ship design" that can be built using the new/improved crafting system
As far as recruit-a-friend rewards, for now (keeping mind that the game isn't even close to being a year old yet), the following given for each person you recruit:
- C-Store Points
- Free Game Time
Then...
- For recruiting 5 people: In-game title and "item" (like a ship skin or that cannon everybody is going on about)
- For recruiting 10 people: An in-game title and "mount" and/or "item" (like snazzy shuttle with ST: The Final Frontier "rocket boots" (i.e., the ones Spock wore)
Personally, I think they should get better model artists for the ships before they start releasing fancy-shmancy ships. The Galaxy-X is going to look exactly like the regular Galaxy with a couple extra things poking out. Frankly, I'm unimpressed with how the regular Galaxy looks.
To me it looks like they took the Galaxy model from Armada 1, and upped its size paying no attention to texture or design. They would have done better hiring a model designer from the Fileplanet mod database gang.
Comments
Season Two should have been the state of the game at LAUNCH.
The fact that they are getting ever more shrill and offensive in their marketing promotions (especially this debacle) is an indicator of their desperation.
I can sure as TRIBBLE tell you "NO"....It would shock me out of my seat if they did.
I had asked if I could convert my 6 month subscription to a lifetime and put the unused months (5 of them) towards the $299.00....Cryptic's Billing Dept. said no, they can't do that.
Why not a flying space unicorn that has 25 weapon slots, 10 console slots for each type, that shoots Skittles, that can fire while cloaked?
well said!
i have to admit reading about how the galaxy X was going to take 5 referrals, and then each has to hit their 30 day cycle for the referrer to get credit and the ship?
that's a little bit steep
good to know that management has an eye on this one...i think if everyone calmly voices their concerns in this thread and there is an overwhelming voice against this, im sure cryptic will listen and adjust
they've already proven they are capable of listening to their players and making key gameplay changes to suit their players...im willing to grant them the benefit of the doubt
If it was my game I would back date for this, however I've heard no official word from Cryptic on this one. A good question. Unfortunately, my gut tells me the answer is going to be "No."
To be fair it was a unicorn zebra mount then a dual-seat rocket mount for recruit-a-friend in that other game that shall remain nameless.
<-- Loves her sparkly pony...Don't hate.
This horrifically flawed idea has nothing to do with fairness and everything to do with "show me the money". They are basically tempting people to spend another $200 to own a ship that is more powerful than anything in game.
A CLOAKING ship that has the power of a T5 cruiser (and the tank) plus an additional high DPS exclusive superweapon.
I guess we know why Science Officers have been nerfed to oblivion. They want no challenger to this thing.
You know, the ship was in one episode out of 28 seasons and 11 movies spanning 43 years, and only appeared for a couple of minutes in that episode. It's not exactly an iconic ship.
The ship skin is irrelevant.
If it were ONLY a ship skin, we could let this pass.
They are giving it cloak AND a special weapon. It will be more powerful than any other ship in the game.
Wait... what? Really? ... Egad!
Okay. Going back on topic VERY quickly here before this gets locked. Bootlegger's reverse, Mr. Sulu!
You know what? I totally agree with you. Unfortunately, we don't have a time machine to go back and fix this...yet. So, Season Two is the make-or-break time for many people...assuming this fiasco isn't the straw the breaks the camel's back first. Things don't look good for the game. I'm trying to minimize the casualties. Too bad I'm just one insignificant peon that probably doesn't have much of a voice due to the blue name.
It explains all these marketing "blunders" does it not?
Hell, SOE was putting out press releases a week after the NGE saying that it was an "outstanding success".
Today there are more people waiting in login queues in WOW than SOE has subscribers across all games they have.
I just wish Cryptic would grow a conscious.
Not bloody likely, but the only alternative is the same fate SWG suffered. Just a lot faster.
I wouldn't say insane but they don't take all the variables into account.
They saw "an opportunity" (damn Ferengi
But they did not consider that:
- Some customers have already gotten all their friends in with buddy keys.
- Some customers will not have a network of friends who like ST.
- Some customers will not have the social skills to get 5 people to subscribe.
These groups of STO customers are left out in the cold. I don't want to derail their marketing program but some consideration should be made to folks who simply cannot meet the requirements.My thoughts exactly, lol!
"All hands abandon ship! MY GOD, ABANDON SHIP!!!!"
Than any ship CURRENTLY in the game. You think. Based on some assumptions. You don't know what that weapon's DPS will be like. You don't know what other tradeoffs the ship will have. You don't know what other ships will be introduced at the same time.
Doesn't stop you from proclaiming the End of the World, though.
If i wasnt already ****ed off i sure am now
I do not know. And frankly, nobody here (unless their name is yellow) knows, and I don't think even the community reps even know just yet. So all I'm going to say is: Ask! community@cryptic.com or submit a billing ticket, or make a new thread (though check first to see if anyone has already made such a thread, hopefully to get a rep's attention.)
They already stated that for a time this will be the only ship of it's kind in game.
Yes, while they may give these abilities to ships that are earned (not bought) they openly admit that this ship will enjoy at least a time period of exclusivity in traits.
How is that a good thing?
Marketing decided to release this week's outrage on a day other than a Friday, so far that's all that surprises me.
This ship needs to be demoted to cosmetic skin only. No exclusive abilities. Nothing that any other T5 ship can't do ALREADY in game.
If they do that, I will quit complaining. I actually HATE the appearance of the Galaxy, much less the even worse looking 3 nacelle variant. I have no desire for that ship based on appearance at all, and wouldn't cross the street to get it for free.
But that's not good enough for marketing. They instead have to make it better than anything else, to induce people to shell out over $200 to buy it. Mark my words, this will not net STO any new subscribers. It will just induce the sickest amongst us to buy it.
You should talley those people who are FOR and AGAINST your original proposal, and then put the results in the OP.
I couldn't agree more with you. I just started playing a trial of another fairly recent MMO (I won't mention it by name since that wouldn't be fair) that I ended up subbing to, just to fill in some time while waiting for things to do in STO. That game was such a sleeper that it's actually easy for me to get people to come and try it out and maybe purchase it if they end up liking it. STO has done a poor job making a name for itself with its quick launch, missing content, all the nickel & diming, and price gouging techniques that come on top of your monthly sub, that I couldn't even give FREE retail codes of the full game away if I had them.
The only people who are going to have this new ship (that's been asked for since early beta), are the people left who purchased multiple copies for all the preorder items. They're the ones who will go out and buy 5 new accounts for 31 days, which won't help the game's population any, because that's still 5 accounts who won't be playing on our already empty and dieing single server.
Then again, getting people to buy 5 accounts for a flying sparkle pony is likely their plan all along. Sadly there will likely be a handful of fools who bite too, then 2 months later they'll put it on the store for $25 and more fools will bite.
No, it's not. It's really the sort of thing that would be perfect for a marketing gimmick.
If it didn't have the bloody superlaser and (I myself considered it too absurd to speculate on, but dstahl said it) possibly cloak.
This.
To release something like that as an exclusive is to openly declare contempt for the customers of this game.
I hope they reach a decision about this topic before the program goes live.
So far management has boldly gone forward with the "advisory" council and other bad ideas of marketing.
To my knowledge they DID cut the 90 days for free at half price "salegate" promotion short, but they still did it.
The only thing unusual about this one was that it wasn't posted on a Friday afternoon.
Honestly, the best thing Cryptic could do to both improve customer relations and this game is to FIRE THE WHOLE MARKETING DEPARTMENT and use the cost savings to add Devs so Season 2 gets implemented early.
A better game will market itself.
This isn't good enough for getting 5 people to sign up, buy the game and buy a sub. But you already covered this...
Oh it'll get new subscribers, of that I'm sure. However, it will not get those new subscribers to stay long term, it will not keep them playing.
I don't think nerfing the reward is the solution. I still agree with the OP (and other posters). Make it:
- A veteran reward
- A C-Store item (but I'd remove the cloak and cannon in this case)
- A Memory Alpha "ship design" that can be built using the new/improved crafting system
As far as recruit-a-friend rewards, for now (keeping mind that the game isn't even close to being a year old yet), the following given for each person you recruit:
- C-Store Points
- Free Game Time
Then...
- For recruiting 5 people: In-game title and "item" (like a ship skin or that cannon everybody is going on about)
- For recruiting 10 people: An in-game title and "mount" and/or "item" (like snazzy shuttle with ST: The Final Frontier "rocket boots" (i.e., the ones Spock wore)
To me it looks like they took the Galaxy model from Armada 1, and upped its size paying no attention to texture or design. They would have done better hiring a model designer from the Fileplanet mod database gang.
Cheap gimmicks and inducements are a waste of time and money. What we need is Season 2, done right. ASAP.
The current game will not retain subs. Once you reach RA5, you only get new content once a month.