It's their fault for cynically using a gameplay item that a lot of people want instead of making the game appeal through word of mouth on it's own.
I won't tell you what you shoudl do at all. You are the one who needs to come up with a way to get what you want.
Players should never have to go to this kind of length to gain access to A CANON SHIP.
In a way, yes it is being a salesman. That's why you'd be rewarded with C-Store points and the Galaxy X class ship! Your effort would be rewarded. What part of that do you not understand?
That kind of effort is usually reward with a job, a paycheck and medical insurance.
On this part, I agree with you 100%. Personally, I believe this should apply to those who have already invited other via trial keys and refer a buddy program. It seems as if that won't be the case and I do find that unfair, but that's life for you.
The entire system is unfair. And no, we're not standing for it.
Once again we don't object to incentives for referrals. Of course there have to be. But the Galaxy X is the wrong incentive. Period.
I am torn. And I voted "no, it should be available through other means as well"
Many of you have many things to say and I am intrigued by most of them.
Exclusive to the referral program? I see the merits:
-People will find more creative ways to get their friends to join
-Some will buy more copies of the game and have multiple accounts. (poor personal financial choice, I think, but if that is what they want to do, it IS their money)
-Some will miss out, which makes the reward all the sweeter for those who have it
I also, however, see the downsides:
-some don't have that many friends; much less that many who will join
-some can't afford multiple accounts
-some will miss out, which will anger those who don't have it and want it
-there are other marketing areas that could benefit from this "exclusive", such as those who market STO on their personal websites or a high priced item on the C-store
Not everyone is going to be happy with EITHER decision, and Cryptic is NOT going to lose it's player base for STO simply because of this. Regardless of how much they listen to the players, they still have the final say in how they run their business, which includes all decisions regarding STO. I vote, make it available in other ways. If Cryptic listens to me and others like me, SWEET! If Cryptic does not, I will be sad and move on. I will, regardless, not stop playing STO nor will I stop trying to get my friends to play it.
Have you ever played a MMORPG that had less for you to do at maximum level than this one?
Even the NGE had more content than this.
Honestly, I wouldn't go that far. The NGE is in a league of its own. It litteraly had zero content. Not some, zero...for months and this is a game that had already been out for years.
As a lifer I can't vote with my sub.
But if this goes ahead unchanged, I probably will stop playing, and even if I don't I will never buy any cryptic points, ever.
I'll do my part to protest and not give Cryptic a dime more of my money if they choose to treat me like this.
More than likely this is going to go ahead unchanged. I just see this program being a huge success and money maker for Cryptic simply because of all the outrage this one item is causing
More than likely this is going to go ahead unchanged. I just see this program being a huge success and money maker for Cryptic simply because of all the outrage this one item is causing
It will be a temporary success at most.
Again, WoW has a massive established playerbase and metric tons of content. It can get away with such schemes.
STO can't afford to alienate it's existing playerbase, and this program as it is now will do exactly that.
A good product sells itself. Only bad products need armies of marketers to bamboozle people into purchasing them.
everything uses marketing and tries to encourage people to spread the word, regardless of whether its is good or bad.
regardless of whether we agree with the use of the galaxy X or not this is a common place to try and get people to refer friends. let us not see conspiracies where none exist
It's their fault for cynically using a gameplay item that a lot of people want instead of making the game appeal through word of mouth on it's own.
It is your personal opinion that the game would not appeal to someone else through word of mouth. You're making a supposition without even trying to do what is required, and you are doing this because you don't want to put forth the minimal amount of effort to do what will be necessary to get this item.
That kind of effort is usually reward with a job, a paycheck and medical insurance.
I was able to locate 2 people here at work who are Trek fans and told them about this program. I had asked them both if they would not mind giving the game a try for a month and helping me get the ship. I also mentioned it to a friend of mine who will try the game and help me out as well. I should get a paycheck and medical insurance for two minutes worth of conversation?
The entire system is unfair. And no, we're not standing for it.
But it's not unfair. Those who will put forth the effort will be rewarded. Why should you get the same thing easily when they put the time and effort in to getting it?
Have you ever played a MMORPG that had less for you to do at maximum level than this one?
Yes, I have. Six years ago, City of Heroes launched with next to zero maximum level content. Six years later, it is still very light on maximum level content. Only now, six years after launch, are they added in an "Incarnate" system via a paid expansion that is designed to be "endgame" content.
I don't have a lot of friends that play MMO's so its hard for me to recruit new players. Since this is really the first MMO I've played for an extended period of time I can't refer anyone that I've met here since everyone is already playing the game. As a player that is always spending points in the C-Store, I'd like to have the ability to earn the Galaxy-X in some other way than through recruiting since earning it that way would seem to limit the number of players that will have the ship.
Of course if that is Cryptic's plan, similar to how the Captain's Table or Borg Captain worked, then I don't reallly like that. I know a lot of the players that paid the extra for those perks might be upset by that statement but the reality is this, with MMO's "exclusive" items become less and less exclusive as time goes by. I'm not saying the Galaxy-X (or the Captain's Table and Borg Captain for that matter) should become available for all right away as that would destroy the intended purpose of the reward (to build subscription numbers through word of mouth and referral), but one day down the road I'd like to see all the "exclusives" available for all.
It will be a temporary success at most.
Again, WoW has a massive established playerbase and metric tons of content. It can get away with such schemes.
STO can't afford to alienate it's existing playerbase, and this program as it is now will do exactly that.
This will be a "parasitic" success at most. A handful of hardcore fanbois will shell out the cash to get this for themselves, we will get few real new subscribers. In the long run they will lose more money than they gain from people disgusted by giving out an alpha class ship via this method.
Also, there will be diminishing returns every time they return to this well. And they will. This is only the initial gambit.
It will be a temporary success at most.
Again, WoW has a massive established playerbase and metric tons of content. It can get away with such schemes.
STO can't afford to alienate it's existing playerbase, and this program as it is now will do exactly that.
I wasn't referring to WoW, I was just making an observation. Another thing to take note of is how most people are going to learn, or have learned about this program. A majority of the player base does not come to the forums, and more than likely have heard about this program from that nice little e-mail that cryptic sent out a couple of days ago. They are not going to see the outrage on forums, some of them may be ticked off, and probably a vast majority are going to look at that add, look at the ship it's going to give out and think, "I'm going to get that ship and do what I have to get it." That's why it's going to be a success.
It is your personal opinion that the game would not appeal to someone else through word of mouth. You're making a supposition without even trying to do what is required, and you are doing this because you don't want to put forth the minimal amount of effort to do what will be necessary to get this item.
Minimal effort? What?
Gaining the equivalent revenue of $200 is minimal effort?
I was able to locate 2 people here at work who are Trek fans and told them about this program. I had asked them both if they would not mind giving the game a try for a month and helping me get the ship. I also mentioned it to a friend of mine who will try the game and help me out as well. I should get a paycheck and medical insurance for two minutes worth of conversation?
So coincidentally you know people who like MMOs/Star Trek enough to give it a try.
Good for you. Guess what? I know precisely 0 people who like MMOs/Star Trek or aren't already fully occupied with WoW or some such. I guess that makes me "lazy".
By the way, since you did in fact convince these people to PAY MONEY to sub for the game, or at least have a chance of doing so, you are in fact a salesman. Hate to break it to you.
But it's not unfair. Those who will put forth the effort will be rewarded. Why should you get the same thing easily when they put the time and effort in to getting it?
Don't patronize me. It's simply asking too much.
I note that even you with your story of "minimal effort" only got 3 people interested. The requirement is 5 subbers.
I certainly understand marketing. You want to get more subs and more box sales. I understand rewarding people for this and rewards like Cryptic Points or free game time only make sense.
What I do not understand are people who love the idea that certain things should just be restricted in rediculous ways. We aren't talking about making an item a reward for completing an STF mission arc. That would require people who want the item to learn some new tactics and start working on it.
We are talking about getting 5 people to buy the game and sign up beyond the first month, during a time in its life cycle where there isn't anything to do beyond the first month. Certain people have been posting about how it only takes just a few minutes of conversation to do this and how it isn't hard and that we just don't want to put the work in. I call shenanigans. This same mentality supposes we ALL exist in the same situation. It isn't remotely realistic.
I could get my wife to sign up so I could get the holographic officer. That sounds kind of cool. I had already gotten my brother to sign up in beta. With this game so content light, I don't think my friends would think very highly of me if I badgered them into getting the game, and basically letting cryptic charge their credit card for a month worth of time they won't use.
On the other hand, if this game had a bunch of stuff to do at any given level, and iconic planets were treated as mission hubs that had maybe 50 to 60 missions and the planet was a large landmass instead of what feels like a shoebox, I wouldn't mind pimping this game, because it would rock.
Minimal effort? What?
Gaining the equivalent revenue of $200 is minimal effort?
For many it is only a day or two of work. But even so, Cryptic should listen to their customers regardless of the amount of money or effort in question.
This will be a "parasitic" success at most. A handful of hardcore fanbois will shell out the cash to get this for themselves, we will get few real new subscribers. In the long run they will lose more money than they gain from people disgusted by giving out an alpha class ship via this method.
You really don't know that though. No one knows what the success/failure will be. Only time will tell that.
Option 2: Cryptic come out with the next generation of ships at the same time this thing becomes available.
As it is, this Galaxy-X is part of that next generation and will be until the rest of us can get the rest. That is both unfair and tipping extremely close to unbalanced.
By the way, since you did in fact convince these people to PAY MONEY to sub for the game, or at least have a chance of doing so, you are in fact a salesman. Hate to break it to you.
I understand that completely. And that's why if I am able to help bring in 5 subscribers, I will be rewarded with C-Store points and an in-game item. Those who choose to participate in it will be rewarded for their efforts. The RAF program is not "something for nothing".
Don't patronize me. It's simply asking too much. I note that even you with your story of "minimal effort" only got 3 people interested. The requirement is 5 subbers.
"Too much" is a matter of personal opinion. I've no real problem at least trying to find 5 new subscribers.
Ironic what little confidence they have in the game they now expect us to sell for them.
WoW has a RAF program, the reward for it is the only flying mount in the game capable of carrying a passenger. By your statement, Blizzard has no confidence in their game, because they want players to Refer a Friend to play, and then reward them with an exclusive 'ship' not available anywhere else.
RAF is good, rewards for RAF are good, especially if they are something you want.
I understand that completely. And that's why if I am able to help bring in 5 subscribers, I will be rewarded with C-Store points and an in-game item. Those who choose to participate in it will be rewarded for their efforts. The RAF program is not "something for nothing".
Am I saying there shouldn't be a referral program and rewards?
No. I'm saying the Galaxy X is simply too much, too unbalancing.
"Too much" is a matter of personal opinion. I've no real problem at least trying to find 5 new
subscribers.
Before it was "3 people interested" and now it's "5 subscribers"?
Okay man, whatever you say.
Moreover, this isn't all about you. I'm sure some people won't have trouble getting 5 subbers. I AM NOT ONE OF THEM. I LITERALLY KNOW NOBODY WHO'D BE INTERESTED IN GOING THAT FAR.
Therefore I should miss out on a canon ship design and new gameplay element? Oh right I must be "lazy"/
WoW has a RAF program, the reward for it is the only flying mount in the game capable of carrying a passenger. By your statement, Blizzard has no confidence in their game, because they want players to Refer a Friend to play, and then reward them with an exclusive 'ship' not available anywhere else.
Did Blizzard do it only 4-5 months after release?
Is a flying mount a game changing element? Because there aren't in game ways to gain flying mounts? Oh wait, there are!
RAF is good, rewards for RAF are good, especially if they are something you want.
Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself, there.
WoW has a RAF program, the reward for it is the only flying mount in the game capable of carrying a passenger. By your statement, Blizzard has no confidence in their game, because they want players to Refer a Friend to play, and then reward them with an exclusive 'ship' not available anywhere else.
RAF is good, rewards for RAF are good, especially if they are something you want.
It took Blizzard 5 years and 11 million subs to pull that. I will let you do the math for here.... :rolleyes:
Did Blizzard do it only 4-5 months after release?
Is a flying mount a game changing element? Because there aren't in game ways to gain flying mounts? Oh wait, there are!
Fine, show me the in game method in WoW to obtain a flying mount capable of carrying a passenger. Go ahead, I'll wait.
Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself, there.
And you sound like you're mad at Cryptic because you don't have any friends, so that those of us with friends are at some unfair advantage over you.
Comments
I voted "no". Not because I personally want the ship, but because I think Cryptic should listen to their customers.
It's their fault for cynically using a gameplay item that a lot of people want instead of making the game appeal through word of mouth on it's own.
Players should never have to go to this kind of length to gain access to A CANON SHIP.
That kind of effort is usually reward with a job, a paycheck and medical insurance.
The entire system is unfair. And no, we're not standing for it.
Once again we don't object to incentives for referrals. Of course there have to be. But the Galaxy X is the wrong incentive. Period.
Sure, in my opinion.
Have you ever played a MMORPG that had less for you to do at maximum level than this one?
Even the NGE had more content than this.
That is a given any time a human being speaks, so pointing that out is only stating the blatantly obvious, not some kind of counter point.
but they cant because then nobody would bother with the referral program
im convinced it will be made available to everybody down the line, they just cant say it yet
Ironic what little confidence they have in the game they now expect us to sell for them.
Many of you have many things to say and I am intrigued by most of them.
Exclusive to the referral program? I see the merits:
-People will find more creative ways to get their friends to join
-Some will buy more copies of the game and have multiple accounts. (poor personal financial choice, I think, but if that is what they want to do, it IS their money)
-Some will miss out, which makes the reward all the sweeter for those who have it
I also, however, see the downsides:
-some don't have that many friends; much less that many who will join
-some can't afford multiple accounts
-some will miss out, which will anger those who don't have it and want it
-there are other marketing areas that could benefit from this "exclusive", such as those who market STO on their personal websites or a high priced item on the C-store
Not everyone is going to be happy with EITHER decision, and Cryptic is NOT going to lose it's player base for STO simply because of this. Regardless of how much they listen to the players, they still have the final say in how they run their business, which includes all decisions regarding STO. I vote, make it available in other ways. If Cryptic listens to me and others like me, SWEET! If Cryptic does not, I will be sad and move on. I will, regardless, not stop playing STO nor will I stop trying to get my friends to play it.
I WANT THAT SHIP!!!!
I think they'd be better putting this down to a bad marketing idea and coming up with something better.
Stick the Galaxy-X in the C-Store and give RAF either a chunk more C-points or some gametime for 5 (along with the title).
A good product sells itself. Only bad products need armies of marketers to bamboozle people into purchasing them.
Honestly, I wouldn't go that far. The NGE is in a league of its own. It litteraly had zero content. Not some, zero...for months and this is a game that had already been out for years.
But if this goes ahead unchanged, I probably will stop playing, and even if I don't I will never buy any cryptic points, ever.
I'll do my part to protest and not give Cryptic a dime more of my money if they choose to treat me like this.
It will be a temporary success at most.
Again, WoW has a massive established playerbase and metric tons of content. It can get away with such schemes.
STO can't afford to alienate it's existing playerbase, and this program as it is now will do exactly that.
everything uses marketing and tries to encourage people to spread the word, regardless of whether its is good or bad.
regardless of whether we agree with the use of the galaxy X or not this is a common place to try and get people to refer friends. let us not see conspiracies where none exist
It is your personal opinion that the game would not appeal to someone else through word of mouth. You're making a supposition without even trying to do what is required, and you are doing this because you don't want to put forth the minimal amount of effort to do what will be necessary to get this item.
I was able to locate 2 people here at work who are Trek fans and told them about this program. I had asked them both if they would not mind giving the game a try for a month and helping me get the ship. I also mentioned it to a friend of mine who will try the game and help me out as well. I should get a paycheck and medical insurance for two minutes worth of conversation?
But it's not unfair. Those who will put forth the effort will be rewarded. Why should you get the same thing easily when they put the time and effort in to getting it?
Yes, I have. Six years ago, City of Heroes launched with next to zero maximum level content. Six years later, it is still very light on maximum level content. Only now, six years after launch, are they added in an "Incarnate" system via a paid expansion that is designed to be "endgame" content.
Of course if that is Cryptic's plan, similar to how the Captain's Table or Borg Captain worked, then I don't reallly like that. I know a lot of the players that paid the extra for those perks might be upset by that statement but the reality is this, with MMO's "exclusive" items become less and less exclusive as time goes by. I'm not saying the Galaxy-X (or the Captain's Table and Borg Captain for that matter) should become available for all right away as that would destroy the intended purpose of the reward (to build subscription numbers through word of mouth and referral), but one day down the road I'd like to see all the "exclusives" available for all.
This will be a "parasitic" success at most. A handful of hardcore fanbois will shell out the cash to get this for themselves, we will get few real new subscribers. In the long run they will lose more money than they gain from people disgusted by giving out an alpha class ship via this method.
Also, there will be diminishing returns every time they return to this well. And they will. This is only the initial gambit.
I wasn't referring to WoW, I was just making an observation. Another thing to take note of is how most people are going to learn, or have learned about this program. A majority of the player base does not come to the forums, and more than likely have heard about this program from that nice little e-mail that cryptic sent out a couple of days ago. They are not going to see the outrage on forums, some of them may be ticked off, and probably a vast majority are going to look at that add, look at the ship it's going to give out and think, "I'm going to get that ship and do what I have to get it." That's why it's going to be a success.
Minimal effort? What?
Gaining the equivalent revenue of $200 is minimal effort?
So coincidentally you know people who like MMOs/Star Trek enough to give it a try.
Good for you. Guess what? I know precisely 0 people who like MMOs/Star Trek or aren't already fully occupied with WoW or some such. I guess that makes me "lazy".
By the way, since you did in fact convince these people to PAY MONEY to sub for the game, or at least have a chance of doing so, you are in fact a salesman. Hate to break it to you.
Don't patronize me. It's simply asking too much.
I note that even you with your story of "minimal effort" only got 3 people interested. The requirement is 5 subbers.
What I do not understand are people who love the idea that certain things should just be restricted in rediculous ways. We aren't talking about making an item a reward for completing an STF mission arc. That would require people who want the item to learn some new tactics and start working on it.
We are talking about getting 5 people to buy the game and sign up beyond the first month, during a time in its life cycle where there isn't anything to do beyond the first month. Certain people have been posting about how it only takes just a few minutes of conversation to do this and how it isn't hard and that we just don't want to put the work in. I call shenanigans. This same mentality supposes we ALL exist in the same situation. It isn't remotely realistic.
I could get my wife to sign up so I could get the holographic officer. That sounds kind of cool. I had already gotten my brother to sign up in beta. With this game so content light, I don't think my friends would think very highly of me if I badgered them into getting the game, and basically letting cryptic charge their credit card for a month worth of time they won't use.
On the other hand, if this game had a bunch of stuff to do at any given level, and iconic planets were treated as mission hubs that had maybe 50 to 60 missions and the planet was a large landmass instead of what feels like a shoebox, I wouldn't mind pimping this game, because it would rock.
For many it is only a day or two of work. But even so, Cryptic should listen to their customers regardless of the amount of money or effort in question.
You really don't know that though. No one knows what the success/failure will be. Only time will tell that.
Option 1: It becomes available via another means
Option 2: Cryptic come out with the next generation of ships at the same time this thing becomes available.
As it is, this Galaxy-X is part of that next generation and will be until the rest of us can get the rest. That is both unfair and tipping extremely close to unbalanced.
I understand that completely. And that's why if I am able to help bring in 5 subscribers, I will be rewarded with C-Store points and an in-game item. Those who choose to participate in it will be rewarded for their efforts. The RAF program is not "something for nothing".
"Too much" is a matter of personal opinion. I've no real problem at least trying to find 5 new subscribers.
WoW has a RAF program, the reward for it is the only flying mount in the game capable of carrying a passenger. By your statement, Blizzard has no confidence in their game, because they want players to Refer a Friend to play, and then reward them with an exclusive 'ship' not available anywhere else.
RAF is good, rewards for RAF are good, especially if they are something you want.
Am I saying there shouldn't be a referral program and rewards?
No. I'm saying the Galaxy X is simply too much, too unbalancing.
Before it was "3 people interested" and now it's "5 subscribers"?
Okay man, whatever you say.
Moreover, this isn't all about you. I'm sure some people won't have trouble getting 5 subbers. I AM NOT ONE OF THEM. I LITERALLY KNOW NOBODY WHO'D BE INTERESTED IN GOING THAT FAR.
Therefore I should miss out on a canon ship design and new gameplay element? Oh right I must be "lazy"/
Did Blizzard do it only 4-5 months after release?
Is a flying mount a game changing element? Because there aren't in game ways to gain flying mounts? Oh wait, there are!
Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself, there.
It took Blizzard 5 years and 11 million subs to pull that. I will let you do the math for here.... :rolleyes:
Fine, show me the in game method in WoW to obtain a flying mount capable of carrying a passenger. Go ahead, I'll wait.
And you sound like you're mad at Cryptic because you don't have any friends, so that those of us with friends are at some unfair advantage over you.