Sure, the attention is on the RAF program. But I am by no means motivated to go after the Galaxy X. In fact, I am even more put off by them, than I was before. Heck, as I said before, if they made it available in game... it is actually something that could have made me LOG IN TO THE GAME.
But as it is now... well, that won't be happening.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure it backfired on them. As opposed to being motivated to get the Galaxy X... meh... I can't be bothered, and people seem put out by this whole Galaxy Gate, than having their cookies baked.
I can't say it's backfired on them, I don't think anybody knows that but them (i.e., Cryptic). However, I agree completely with your comment of, " if they made it available in game... it is actually something that could have made me LOG IN TO THE GAME.," and at its heart, this is the problem IMHO with the RAF program.
Sure, they'll get more subscribers, but will those subscribers stay past the 30 days? If I want more of my friends to join I want them to stick around and play with me more than I want a snazzy new ship. Nearly all my friends are gamers, they know about STO already and the ones who haven't already signed up have refused to sign-up because in their opinion the game needs more polish, more content, and more end-game. The new trailers/teasers/Dev Videos coming out from Bioware, CCP, NetDevil, and Reakktor Media for their games hasn't helped "sell" this game to them either. I'd be shocked if other people haven't heard the same from some of their friends, but I digress...
The time and resources (again IMHO) should have been put toward in-game content, not special content for an RAF program at this point in the game's life. Like I said in other posts, I would have offered free C-Store points, free game time, and in-game titles, then I would have added the snazzier rewards later when the in-game content was in a better place.
To make a long story short, I won't even consider promoting this game, no matter what the reward, until well after Season 2 perhaps even Season 3.
Would seem be be smart thing right? add the Gal X to the game makes 99% of the customers happy.
I think the smarter move is to offer the weird spinoff one of Mutant ship from All Good Things as a reward fro something not everyone is going to participate in ...
And make the T5 Defiant and T5 Intrepid ... and the Excelsior whenever Paramount gives them the OK on it ...you know those right? The thnigs that that 99% of the community has been crying for in thread after threat? Yeah, I think making THOSE free for gameplay ... and making the weird variant mutant ship a special ... is far smarter.
And I think time will justify my view as the correct one.
A T5 Defiant will make more people currently playing the game want to log into the game, than the AGT Galaxy.
Seriously, it's been shown in post after post, thread after thread, that the motivation behind all this angst about the RAF program is that people who want this simply don't want to participate in the program. They just want the reward. In the easiest way possible.
But the reward itself doesn't merit anything changing.
Although I very much appreciate Dstahl going to the CEO about the Galaxy X, this is true but not Dstahl's fault. He did what he could and got an answer that I'm personally disappointed with. I won't shoot the messenger in this instance.
The real blame lies at the feet of the marketing department. They designed this program for anyone who loves the game and who is also a top notch salesperson ONLY. No consideration was made at all for those who don't have the social connections or skills necessary to complete this task.
They could have at least given credit to people who successfully used their buddy keys. 1) It's 100% doable but they don't want to spend any resources on incorporating it into RAF. And 2) They don't want to give credit for the past. They want a new influx of players.
In the end marketing's design will stand as they want a reward so cool it will motivate people to hit the streets and sell STO for them. It also stands to reason that the Galaxy X will have a cloak and a weapon that may not be as balanced as some think. I kinda doubt it will be junk else it defeats the purpose for creating this little motivational ship. And if they can keep this reward rare it will cut down on calls for nerfs.
Our CEO has learned from the unquestioned grandmaster of scam, "honest" John Smedley, of SOE and Star Wars Galaxies NGE infamy. Dstahl will probably get fired for showing any sign of having a principle or standing up for the customers. Smed fired a community manager that did something similar.
My problem with the Galaxy-X reward isn't that they are giving out a ship skin for people who either go buy 5 boxes of the game and pay for 5 subscriptions for one month, or somehow convince 5 others to do so. It's the fact that they are deliberately making doing this more desirable by making it also THE MOST POWERFUL SHIP IN THE GAME because it has an extra weapon, and the ability to cloak, neither of which other Federation T5 ships can or will do at the time of it's release.
Oh, they say we will have other ships with similar abilities "in the future". Which is not when the first superfanbois who are willing to spend $200 to become an alpha class start showing up in these things.
That is what makes this deal completely unethical and a total betrayal of the customer.
John Needham isn't going to compromise because he knows that their "referrals" (which won't be real new players in any case) will be a fraction of what they would be unless that ship is so overpowered a certain segment considers it mandatory to get it.
Our CEO has learned from the unquestioned grandmaster of scam, "honest" John Smedley, of SOE and Star Wars Galaxies NGE infamy.
And due to the monk-nerf, Jack Emmert saw fit to put ED into CoH and that's why the Galaxy X is a slap in the face to the entire STO community, amirite?
And due to the monk-nerf, Jack Emmert saw fit to put ED into CoH and that's why the Galaxy X is a slap in the face to the entire STO community, amirite?
I blame myself for being asleep at the switch and never noticing that article before. I probably never would have bought STO and certainly never would have bought a LTS had I known that someone who worked that closely with Smed was CEO, and apparently making operational decisions directly affecting gameplay, such as introducing an alpha class ship... For the price of 5 boxed sets plus 5 subscriptions for 1 month, which comes out to about $275.
What is truly sad is there will be people who do this.
I blame myself for being asleep at the switch and never noticing that article before. I probably never would have bought STO and certainly never would have bought a LTS had I known that someone who worked that closely with Smed was CEO, and apparently making operational decisions directly affecting gameplay, such as introducing an alpha class ship... For the price of 5 boxed sets plus 5 subscriptions for 1 month, which comes out to about $275.
What is truly sad is there will be people who do this.
Needham has been here ages. Why are you acting like this is news? I think he came on board when Atari bumped up the other SEO guy who lost them $300M 2008/2009
It's the fact that they are deliberately making doing this more desirable by making it also THE MOST POWERFUL SHIP IN THE GAME because it has an extra weapon, and the ability to cloak, neither of which other Federation T5 ships can or will do at the time of it's release.
Er, just want to point out, politely: From what we have been told, the Galaxy-X has one less forward weapons slot to simulate having this weapon. I forget how many forward weapon slots a standard T4 Galaxy has, but the Galaxy-X has one less forward configurable weapon slot.
In a way, I'm glad they did this with the Galaxy-X. If they tried it with the Excelsior or a cloakking Defiant, the uproar would be even larger. (As it is, anyone showing up with a Gal-X in PvP is going to be ganked in Planck time. Socially, I don't see Gal-X owners making many friends on the forum. But that's besides the point.)
Mind you, I don't want to see these things on the C-Store (or the Gal-X in the C-Store, when they get around to releasing it to the general population.) I want them unlocked in the game. Give me and the other players who just want to play, a reason to play, a goal, something to work towards rather than just grind.
While I can't speak to the Calendar update - I posted in the Engineering Report yesterday that things are for the most part still on track (ie.. some changes) but for the most part features are on track. I'll have a full update later today.
To the OP - from my perspective it was ok to voice opinion over the referral program - and it was discussed several times in executive meetings and it was felt that the reward was worthy of the challenging task. We realize it isn't a cake-walk to recruit 5 friends, which is why the reward was asked to be cool.
And as I've stated elsewhere - the program is really intended for players who are enjoying the game and having fun and want to share their love of the game with their friends. If that isn't you, then the program really isn't designed for you. I don't think it does anyone any good (including the community) to bring people into the game who really don't want to play it in the first place - or to purchase their own subs just to get a reward - it doesn't help the game to do that. What helps the game is finding more people who do enjoy and want to play the game. I know its hard to gather from reading these boards sometimes, but there are quite a few people who do enjoy and love this game.
If that's not you - then I can only assume you're here because you want to make the game better - and I can tell you that the team is working breakneck to get updates into the game so that there is always a flow of new features and content that you've been asking for. If you are here just to cause trouble, then don't be surprised if the mods bounce... because it really just isn't helping.
Whether or not the community went too far is something you'll have to look at personally. From this perspective your concerns were heard, communicated, and responded to.
Is the Galaxy X only going to be available via referral? Probably because that is what it was designed for - but who knows... things can always change.
Thank you for this informative outreach.
Can we get an official message posting on Cryptic's overall stance on its intentions with "Exclusive" items as they stand now? (including examples) I know you ended this with "things can always change" but I also know what that means (it means never say never, and nothing more). Sadly, most forum communities latch onto those words... careful how they are used. At any rate, I for one would like to understand the company's limits on what will be changed to non- and semi-exclusive items down the road, the way TCT has (not judging, just asking).
I think it would go a long way to settling these riots before they rule 2 days of the boards time if there are clear-cut, definitive, gold-name post(s) on exactly how and what Cryptic defines these rewards. So long as that post sticks to what the current stance is, and does not try to include "possibilities" of future changes to this. If it too ends with " things can always change," the riots will double in length. Of course they can change, just don't cover that bit. Cover the current policy.
you have just killed this community.
If you think that we are going to chase around many different, dead, forums to continue conversations you are mistaken. I have no doubt that's exactly what you want.
I'm sorry but your argument is not logical. I understand you have strong feelings about STO and the moderators in general, but it is more logical to assume they did the restructuing so their respective departments can see what people are complaining about.
I don't think an additional click or two on the mouse can be classified as "chasing".... unless you troll the forums and you want an easier way to do so But ofc you don't do that.
Cryptic doesn't give a rat's behind about their customers beyond doing the bare minimum it took to first suck them in to buying, and then keep a portion of them subscribing. If that's "player driven content" then every single mmo that's been released has done it. They didn't "plan" on "putting out a bare skeleton and then developing it with player input" at all. That whole schpeel came out of nowhere near the end of open beta when they were getting hammered by people seeing just how little was there and the word started getting around faster than they anticipated. It's just more snakeoiling.
It's still not their plan either. Ya'll will get what they already long ago decided to give IF they got in trouble (which STO did otherwise they'd have moved more over to the next project as soon as STO was released), and it's simple for them to pretend it's "player driven" (to keep the facade) because the game is so devoid of content and features they can easily find a group that's asking for what they're adding, then point to them and say "see, player driven!". They can also rely on the general forum dweller's ego to just suck that sh..stuff up too.
You could be right about CBS and about Atari's plan to crank out a bunch of MMO's. I know for sure that Atari acquired Cryptic for their ability to do it quick and on the cheap.
What I disagree with is the notion that Cryptic has done nothing but scheme and plot to string us along and steal our money. It's more likely that Cryptic has busted their assess to make a product that they can be proud of. One that could make money as quickly as possible for Atari yes (you're right about that part) and then sustain/grow their income by adding on more features over time. Evil practices from the depths of hell? Nah... it's just capitalism at work (oh wait maybe that is from hell! ).
Yes, I agree they often try to sell features and content they had previously planned but I don't believe they are scheming to disguise all of these as player driven features. We've seen them propose things, trying to sell it despite our negative feedback, then change plans to meet demand (or riots lol). If that's all a facade then I guess I'm gullible.
The story about the Klingon faction and how "rioting on the forums" got them to start adding PvE content I read earlier in the thread? Ya, horsepucky. They didn't make any movement on adding PvE content, and distancing themselves from the "PvP faction" thing, until it became very clear that they had severely underestimated just how many were planning on playing Klingon but were turned off by their decision, and when they were losing pre-orders over it. We were "fighting" to save the faction (not rioting) for over two months after the word leaked out about the decision to make it PvP oriented, and there was nothing but silence from Cryptic on the matter. Well except for one of their producers ridiculing us in IRC, and implanting keywords into the sheep's brains that then came on the forums to use those words in their attacks on us.
Then people that were in CB and later OB started making it clear they were packing it in when it came to STO by canceling their pre-orders and asking for LTS refunds, and entire fleets were folding or moving on. It wasn't till then we heard anything about adding PvE content, and even then all we got was a smoke and mirrors show about what it would be and when it would be there. They made sure to intimate that it was coming in this wonderful "45 day patch" though. So again, enough to have suckers (ya, I'm one of them) buy the game and subscribe for at least a month.
They just keep playing the fiddle too, and some just keep dancing to their tune. :rolleyes:
I try to put myself in other people's shoes and understand where they are coming from. That being said I still appreciate you going to bat for Klingon PvE during closed beta. It's sad how it turned out but at least all the riots over it resulted in (yet to be seen) change.
And yea, they tried very hard to sell their PvP only vision of Klingons because they didn't have the time or resources to create PvE for them. Klingon PvE was never planned... probably the only reason why Klingons were in at launch period was because Jack Emmert wanted it that way. "Might as well not have it if it's not in at launch" or something to that effect from one of his interviews.
Plenty here have just painted you as a frothy mouthed troll but I understand your anger given the disparity we've seen from the beginning and all the Klingon fleets that have vanished because of that.
I still think this is another example of how the overwhelming response to STO was totally underestimated. We're both speculating but it may be as you say... that they only planned for STO to be part of a portfolio of small, quick crank MMO's.
And if that's true then they now see how it could have been a HUGE success on all fronts if they had taken the time and committed the resources to make a grand full featured product for both factions at launch. From where I sit, they might still be able to pull it off if they can keep the subs they have and get more by adding compelling features.
My problem with the Galaxy-X reward isn't that they are giving out a ship skin for people who either go buy 5 boxes of the game and pay for 5 subscriptions for one month, or somehow convince 5 others to do so. It's the fact that they are deliberately making doing this more desirable by making it also THE MOST POWERFUL SHIP IN THE GAME because it has an extra weapon, and the ability to cloak, neither of which other Federation T5 ships can or will do at the time of it's release.
Oh, they say we will have other ships with similar abilities "in the future". Which is not when the first superfanbois who are willing to spend $200 to become an alpha class start showing up in these things.
That is what makes this deal completely unethical and a total betrayal of the customer.
Yep, it also goes against the possibility of it ending up in the C-Store as items there are intended to be cosmetic or have little impact on the game.
But I do admit mixed feelings here. This RAF offer smells of either desperation or a preemptive strike against loosing subs. I still want STO to succeed no matter how I feel about marketing offers. Part of me hopes this works out well for Cryptic but marketing really needs to reevaluate their practices. Most of what they are doing is either divisive or unfair or both to the community.
Honestly, can you imagine what it must be like for the Dev's? No matter what they do, some people get mad and freak out with serious rage. I could never be in the game design industry, I dont have thick enough skin.
To the guy who came up with the idea of breeding tribbles = I love you
To the guy who thought hitting the spacebar everytime you wanted to fire your ships weapons was a good idea = I hate you.
To the guy who fixed the moronic spacebar issue above = I love you
Honestly, can you imagine what it must be like for the Dev's? No matter what they do, some people get mad and freak out with serious rage. I could never be in the game design industry, I dont have thick enough skin.
Again...who cares what the devs think about anything? All of Cryptic's wounds are self-inflicted.
Honestly, can you imagine what it must be like for the Dev's? No matter what they do, some people get mad and freak out with serious rage. I could never be in the game design industry, I dont have thick enough skin.
I've been trying to convince what few friends I have in that particular industry to give serious consideration to using these forum issues as a resource. Let the community rage that constantly turns in on itself, be part of the game's experience.
I've even given a few very detailed ideas on how to achieve this.
It wouldn't fit this game or this IP. But I think the potential is there and it could be a huge step forward in the evolution of these games. Sometimes it's easier to swim with the current instead of trying to swim against it.
Honestly, can you imagine what it must be like for the Dev's? No matter what they do, some people get mad and freak out with serious rage. I could never be in the game design industry, I dont have thick enough skin.
What saddens me is that the developers are actually pretty awesome, they all seem to know what they are doing and do it well, the issue is implemetation of the ideas. Afterall, if a dev is told to fix Memory Alpha's usability but then that UI fix is advertised as a memory alpha overhaul, its not actualy the dev that fixed the UI that did a crappy job, but rather the people that decided to mislabel what had been done. Each componant of the game requires multiple people working together to create, the issue is not the quality of the componants made, but 'how' they are put together, and that lies on the games management team, since they are the ones that can see the bigger picture.
I'm seriously impressed with the hard work the devs put into the game and what they can come up with, what I'm not impressed with is how it feels that the game is missing so so much, it really needed an extra 6 months or so of development before been released, I mean how many MMO's launch without the death penalty been added? There's even content like the accolades which were in the game during beta but were removed before the game went live, the game actually launched with less content activated than it had during the beta...
I can't say it's backfired on them, I don't think anybody knows that but them (i.e., Cryptic). However, I agree completely with your comment of, " if they made it available in game... it is actually something that could have made me LOG IN TO THE GAME.," and at its heart, this is the problem IMHO with the RAF program.
Sure, they'll get more subscribers, but will those subscribers stay past the 30 days? If I want more of my friends to join I want them to stick around and play with me more than I want a snazzy new ship. Nearly all my friends are gamers, they know about STO already and the ones who haven't already signed up have refused to sign-up because in their opinion the game needs more polish, more content, and more end-game. The new trailers/teasers/Dev Videos coming out from Bioware, CCP, NetDevil, and Reakktor Media for their games hasn't helped "sell" this game to them either. I'd be shocked if other people haven't heard the same from some of their friends, but I digress...
The time and resources (again IMHO) should have been put toward in-game content, not special content for an RAF program at this point in the game's life. Like I said in other posts, I would have offered free C-Store points, free game time, and in-game titles, then I would have added the snazzier rewards later when the in-game content was in a better place.
To make a long story short, I won't even consider promoting this game, no matter what the reward, until well after Season 2 perhaps even Season 3.
I agree with you. These are points that I made clearly in the post I quote below to mirror-master, and also in this new thread (because the old one was closed) A more "civil" discussion on the RAF program which essentially brings up the same points as the larger thread, but is more concise and has a decidedly different purpose.
Cryptic and/or Atari's management has decided against the majority here who took the time to respond on the forums.
But I do admit mixed feelings here. This RAF offer smells of either desperation or a preemptive strike against loosing subs. I still want STO to succeed no matter how I feel about marketing offers. Part of me hopes this works out well for Cryptic but marketing really needs to reevaluate their practices. Most of what they are doing is either divisive or unfair or both to the community.
Well, you can look at things a couple of different ways right now.
The housecleaning the forums got certainly worked.
And the increase in "I'm New, Have a Question" threads in the forums shows the free weekend is garnering some activity.
And there are quite a few threads now showing people are trying this RAF program.
I'm not so sure the case can be made that it's desperation. That the game is on its last gasp. That everything is fail.
I think this marketing gimmick, as heavy handed as it is, still works as a marketing gimmick. I know that probably still infuriates folks who would rather just buy the Galaxy X in the C-Store.
But ... that's a moot point now with the referrals already trickling in.
i know the fury at the Galaxy X being for the RAF, but we all have to remember that STO is a company, and part of keeping a company afloat is customers,
in the sale buz its called a leading product Galaxy X are the leading product for increasing the players and payers, or dose everyone want to go back to watching DVD's thinking that ST would be a good online game, if only Cryptic didnt Crash and burn, there are going to be more sales pitches over the up and comming decades << and yes i beleive STO has that kind of staying power even though we are seeing the first year >> but i do have a Hope, that peaplo will still put there words into making the game better for everyone, but also know that, Cryptic has to think about the cash flow as well and some ideas may be reschedualed or even canceled but never give up hope that the game will constantly improove
After reading some of these posts, I can see that there are a lot of unhappy people in this unline community and apparently quite a bit of bleeding. I may be a junior member, but I'm also a lifetime Star Trek fan and I will continue to play the game with all the positive and negative aspects because I'm simply having fun, period. I will continue to enjoy the game despite what faults there may be. When do executives in these corporations ever listen to the little people anyways? The same is true for my job in real life, they don't listen to the workers. They think they know whats better, (which they don't for all there education, they lack common sense and are guided by there love for money which is the root of all evil.). But hey, I still enjoy the game and will continue to do so, and I suggest maybe the rest of us should just try to enjoy it also. But in the meantime, continue with the posts, and who knows, someday they may listen when enough people have left or they simply shut the game down, which would make me very sad.
I think you are right, and I've had this sneaking suspicion that things are not all rosy at the studio (in fact i heard they are not, by someone associated with them). There are in fact a lot of things I want to say, but don't for the simple consideration that they may be just as disheartened with the way things turned out as we are... but for which are beyond their control.
Not to mention the fact that there have been several high profile people who have left the company (Awen, Gozer, Daeke, Shane Hensley, and a few nameless others that have posted here and there) and some not so high profile people who have made their way to the forums to post their thoughts and how they wished things had gone differently.
There very well may be a slight sense of exhaustion on their part. As I've said before... they are forced into this position of constantly churning out light content at a fast rate because they HAVE to in order to keep the subscriber based interested. Instead of giving themselves time to breathe and a length of time to work on something grand and big on the horizon they are forced to work harder and more quickly. And for their efforst, they see a bleeding subscriber base, and a consistently unhappy forum community.
I for one will be cutting back to give them time and a break. A smart idea, or a clever one, isn't necessarily a wise idea. And I wish they would consider more carefully (or hire me, as I can work magic). While it might be wise to say to keep fighting... on the other hand I personally am getting tired. Espescially after the recent spate of being targeted and discriminated against by Phoxe... I just don't feel inclined to bring constructive ideas to the table any more.
You have some good points.
Problem is the "cutting back to give them time and a break" will end up being people leaving the game. Even temporarily is this not bad for the game?
Persistence is key, we are the income, if the CEO can say whatever he wants, technically as a whole, we are the utmost boss. If we all, or the majority of us unsub for even a month, they will get their act together in a heart beat.
Unless they are really trying to destroy the game, which reputation would lead anyone to believe after grandfathered sci consoles.,..1.1's BIG 3, and the RAF.
First and foremost, the thing is hideously ugly! In this future forward Star Trek game, I would like to see more modern ship instead of rehashing the old ones. If the older ship are being used for lower level ships it make sense, but for Admiral Class ship, I would think that Star Fleet would outfit them with the best of everything. So, to the Galaxy X, I say no!
If everyone wants new ships, Cryptic should have a quarterly or a bi-annual contest for new designs. It would give us a steady flow of ship at all levels and also involve the community.
Why should we have to pay Cryptic another $5.00 or $10.00 or whatever to be able to buy a ship that gives us an advantage over other players in-game when we've already bought the box and already pay sub fees?
I wouldn't know as I have no intention of buying it or finding new subs for the game. I was just saying that it is a non-important worry.
Comments
I can't say it's backfired on them, I don't think anybody knows that but them (i.e., Cryptic). However, I agree completely with your comment of, " if they made it available in game... it is actually something that could have made me LOG IN TO THE GAME.," and at its heart, this is the problem IMHO with the RAF program.
Sure, they'll get more subscribers, but will those subscribers stay past the 30 days? If I want more of my friends to join I want them to stick around and play with me more than I want a snazzy new ship. Nearly all my friends are gamers, they know about STO already and the ones who haven't already signed up have refused to sign-up because in their opinion the game needs more polish, more content, and more end-game. The new trailers/teasers/Dev Videos coming out from Bioware, CCP, NetDevil, and Reakktor Media for their games hasn't helped "sell" this game to them either. I'd be shocked if other people haven't heard the same from some of their friends, but I digress...
The time and resources (again IMHO) should have been put toward in-game content, not special content for an RAF program at this point in the game's life. Like I said in other posts, I would have offered free C-Store points, free game time, and in-game titles, then I would have added the snazzier rewards later when the in-game content was in a better place.
To make a long story short, I won't even consider promoting this game, no matter what the reward, until well after Season 2 perhaps even Season 3.
I think the smarter move is to offer the weird spinoff one of Mutant ship from All Good Things as a reward fro something not everyone is going to participate in ...
And make the T5 Defiant and T5 Intrepid ... and the Excelsior whenever Paramount gives them the OK on it ...you know those right? The thnigs that that 99% of the community has been crying for in thread after threat? Yeah, I think making THOSE free for gameplay ... and making the weird variant mutant ship a special ... is far smarter.
And I think time will justify my view as the correct one.
A T5 Defiant will make more people currently playing the game want to log into the game, than the AGT Galaxy.
Seriously, it's been shown in post after post, thread after thread, that the motivation behind all this angst about the RAF program is that people who want this simply don't want to participate in the program. They just want the reward. In the easiest way possible.
But the reward itself doesn't merit anything changing.
Our CEO has learned from the unquestioned grandmaster of scam, "honest" John Smedley, of SOE and Star Wars Galaxies NGE infamy. Dstahl will probably get fired for showing any sign of having a principle or standing up for the customers. Smed fired a community manager that did something similar.
My problem with the Galaxy-X reward isn't that they are giving out a ship skin for people who either go buy 5 boxes of the game and pay for 5 subscriptions for one month, or somehow convince 5 others to do so. It's the fact that they are deliberately making doing this more desirable by making it also THE MOST POWERFUL SHIP IN THE GAME because it has an extra weapon, and the ability to cloak, neither of which other Federation T5 ships can or will do at the time of it's release.
Oh, they say we will have other ships with similar abilities "in the future". Which is not when the first superfanbois who are willing to spend $200 to become an alpha class start showing up in these things.
That is what makes this deal completely unethical and a total betrayal of the customer.
John Needham isn't going to compromise because he knows that their "referrals" (which won't be real new players in any case) will be a fraction of what they would be unless that ship is so overpowered a certain segment considers it mandatory to get it.
And due to the monk-nerf, Jack Emmert saw fit to put ED into CoH and that's why the Galaxy X is a slap in the face to the entire STO community, amirite?
C'mon man, let's go camp Ragefire or something.
roflcopters
http://www.massively.com/2008/06/02/cryptic-appoints-former-soe-exec-as-new-ceo/
I'm speaking of John Needham, not Jack Emmert.
I blame myself for being asleep at the switch and never noticing that article before. I probably never would have bought STO and certainly never would have bought a LTS had I known that someone who worked that closely with Smed was CEO, and apparently making operational decisions directly affecting gameplay, such as introducing an alpha class ship... For the price of 5 boxed sets plus 5 subscriptions for 1 month, which comes out to about $275.
What is truly sad is there will be people who do this.
Needham has been here ages. Why are you acting like this is news? I think he came on board when Atari bumped up the other SEO guy who lost them $300M 2008/2009
But Jack Emmert PLAYED everquest. And played a monk. And it was the monk nerf ... in the smedley run game ... that taught Emmert how to do this.
If, as you state, people are guilty by association, I am simply showing you how tightly woven your anti-SOE Everquest resentment really is.
It all goes back to McQuaid leaving. And Shadows of Luclin. And Vanguard.
We know this.
The Galaxy X is Smedley's fault because SoE killed Planetside and Matrix Online and Vanguard.
I get it. I follow you.
Er, just want to point out, politely: From what we have been told, the Galaxy-X has one less forward weapons slot to simulate having this weapon. I forget how many forward weapon slots a standard T4 Galaxy has, but the Galaxy-X has one less forward configurable weapon slot.
In a way, I'm glad they did this with the Galaxy-X. If they tried it with the Excelsior or a cloakking Defiant, the uproar would be even larger. (As it is, anyone showing up with a Gal-X in PvP is going to be ganked in Planck time. Socially, I don't see Gal-X owners making many friends on the forum. But that's besides the point.)
Mind you, I don't want to see these things on the C-Store (or the Gal-X in the C-Store, when they get around to releasing it to the general population.) I want them unlocked in the game. Give me and the other players who just want to play, a reason to play, a goal, something to work towards rather than just grind.
Can we get an official message posting on Cryptic's overall stance on its intentions with "Exclusive" items as they stand now? (including examples) I know you ended this with "things can always change" but I also know what that means (it means never say never, and nothing more). Sadly, most forum communities latch onto those words... careful how they are used. At any rate, I for one would like to understand the company's limits on what will be changed to non- and semi-exclusive items down the road, the way TCT has (not judging, just asking).
I think it would go a long way to settling these riots before they rule 2 days of the boards time if there are clear-cut, definitive, gold-name post(s) on exactly how and what Cryptic defines these rewards. So long as that post sticks to what the current stance is, and does not try to include "possibilities" of future changes to this. If it too ends with " things can always change," the riots will double in length. Of course they can change, just don't cover that bit. Cover the current policy.
I'm sorry but your argument is not logical. I understand you have strong feelings about STO and the moderators in general, but it is more logical to assume they did the restructuing so their respective departments can see what people are complaining about.
I don't think an additional click or two on the mouse can be classified as "chasing".... unless you troll the forums and you want an easier way to do so
You could be right about CBS and about Atari's plan to crank out a bunch of MMO's. I know for sure that Atari acquired Cryptic for their ability to do it quick and on the cheap.
What I disagree with is the notion that Cryptic has done nothing but scheme and plot to string us along and steal our money. It's more likely that Cryptic has busted their assess to make a product that they can be proud of. One that could make money as quickly as possible for Atari yes (you're right about that part) and then sustain/grow their income by adding on more features over time. Evil practices from the depths of hell? Nah... it's just capitalism at work (oh wait maybe that is from hell!
Yes, I agree they often try to sell features and content they had previously planned but I don't believe they are scheming to disguise all of these as player driven features. We've seen them propose things, trying to sell it despite our negative feedback, then change plans to meet demand (or riots lol). If that's all a facade then I guess I'm gullible.
I try to put myself in other people's shoes and understand where they are coming from. That being said I still appreciate you going to bat for Klingon PvE during closed beta. It's sad how it turned out but at least all the riots over it resulted in (yet to be seen) change.
And yea, they tried very hard to sell their PvP only vision of Klingons because they didn't have the time or resources to create PvE for them. Klingon PvE was never planned... probably the only reason why Klingons were in at launch period was because Jack Emmert wanted it that way. "Might as well not have it if it's not in at launch" or something to that effect from one of his interviews.
Plenty here have just painted you as a frothy mouthed troll but I understand your anger given the disparity we've seen from the beginning and all the Klingon fleets that have vanished because of that.
I still think this is another example of how the overwhelming response to STO was totally underestimated. We're both speculating but it may be as you say... that they only planned for STO to be part of a portfolio of small, quick crank MMO's.
And if that's true then they now see how it could have been a HUGE success on all fronts if they had taken the time and committed the resources to make a grand full featured product for both factions at launch. From where I sit, they might still be able to pull it off if they can keep the subs they have and get more by adding compelling features.
Yep, it also goes against the possibility of it ending up in the C-Store as items there are intended to be cosmetic or have little impact on the game.
But I do admit mixed feelings here. This RAF offer smells of either desperation or a preemptive strike against loosing subs. I still want STO to succeed no matter how I feel about marketing offers. Part of me hopes this works out well for Cryptic but marketing really needs to reevaluate their practices. Most of what they are doing is either divisive or unfair or both to the community.
To the guy who came up with the idea of breeding tribbles = I love you
To the guy who thought hitting the spacebar everytime you wanted to fire your ships weapons was a good idea = I hate you.
To the guy who fixed the moronic spacebar issue above = I love you
Again...who cares what the devs think about anything? All of Cryptic's wounds are self-inflicted.
I've been trying to convince what few friends I have in that particular industry to give serious consideration to using these forum issues as a resource. Let the community rage that constantly turns in on itself, be part of the game's experience.
I've even given a few very detailed ideas on how to achieve this.
It wouldn't fit this game or this IP. But I think the potential is there and it could be a huge step forward in the evolution of these games. Sometimes it's easier to swim with the current instead of trying to swim against it.
What saddens me is that the developers are actually pretty awesome, they all seem to know what they are doing and do it well, the issue is implemetation of the ideas. Afterall, if a dev is told to fix Memory Alpha's usability but then that UI fix is advertised as a memory alpha overhaul, its not actualy the dev that fixed the UI that did a crappy job, but rather the people that decided to mislabel what had been done. Each componant of the game requires multiple people working together to create, the issue is not the quality of the componants made, but 'how' they are put together, and that lies on the games management team, since they are the ones that can see the bigger picture.
I'm seriously impressed with the hard work the devs put into the game and what they can come up with, what I'm not impressed with is how it feels that the game is missing so so much, it really needed an extra 6 months or so of development before been released, I mean how many MMO's launch without the death penalty been added? There's even content like the accolades which were in the game during beta but were removed before the game went live, the game actually launched with less content activated than it had during the beta...
I agree with you. These are points that I made clearly in the post I quote below to mirror-master, and also in this new thread (because the old one was closed) A more "civil" discussion on the RAF program which essentially brings up the same points as the larger thread, but is more concise and has a decidedly different purpose.
Cryptic and/or Atari's management has decided against the majority here who took the time to respond on the forums.
STO and the downward spiral
[COLOR="rgb(0, 255, 255)"]Despite the title... trust me, its not a doom thread.
The housecleaning the forums got certainly worked.
And the increase in "I'm New, Have a Question" threads in the forums shows the free weekend is garnering some activity.
And there are quite a few threads now showing people are trying this RAF program.
I'm not so sure the case can be made that it's desperation. That the game is on its last gasp. That everything is fail.
I think this marketing gimmick, as heavy handed as it is, still works as a marketing gimmick. I know that probably still infuriates folks who would rather just buy the Galaxy X in the C-Store.
But ... that's a moot point now with the referrals already trickling in.
in the sale buz its called a leading product Galaxy X are the leading product for increasing the players and payers, or dose everyone want to go back to watching DVD's thinking that ST would be a good online game, if only Cryptic didnt Crash and burn, there are going to be more sales pitches over the up and comming decades << and yes i beleive STO has that kind of staying power even though we are seeing the first year >> but i do have a Hope, that peaplo will still put there words into making the game better for everyone, but also know that, Cryptic has to think about the cash flow as well and some ideas may be reschedualed or even canceled but never give up hope that the game will constantly improove
You have some good points.
Problem is the "cutting back to give them time and a break" will end up being people leaving the game. Even temporarily is this not bad for the game?
Does that make the Galaxy X a Pimp mobile?
Only if ship interiors come with leopard print texture.
Persistence is key, we are the income, if the CEO can say whatever he wants, technically as a whole, we are the utmost boss. If we all, or the majority of us unsub for even a month, they will get their act together in a heart beat.
Unless they are really trying to destroy the game, which reputation would lead anyone to believe after grandfathered sci consoles.,..1.1's BIG 3, and the RAF.
...Keep up the fight.
I wouldn't know as I have no intention of buying it or finding new subs for the game. I was just saying that it is a non-important worry.