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The Truth About Cryptic

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Having been fortunate enough to become somewhat of a well known player, I was recently able to participate in a group discussion about Star Trek Online. We formed an unofficial council which depending on the vote was named either the Stoc coucil - Star Trek online Council or the Fleet council of Star Trek Online. Unlike the "official" Star Trek Online council which is advisory based, our group consisted of what in my opinion was a wide divergence of some of the more active and influential players in the game whom might politely be suggested are online - A LOT. As you might expect, we had combat fleets represented, as well as my own fleet Entomology which is more of a role play fleet for Trekkies and those that ran fan websites long before STO was a gleam in Cryptics Eye. Loners submitted contributions to the discussion and represented the silent majority of players who are unaffiliated and perhaps unnoticed by the majority. Additionally the discussion was attended by the merchant fleet whose goal it is to regulate the economy and keep prices stable. Most of the merchant fleet members quietly have built bankrolls in excess of 100 million and work behind the scenes to profit off of more active players and redistribute it among newer players whom appreciate the assistance and will hopefully add to the player base in the future.

I have been asked to speak for these people and though my opinions are my own as need be by responsibilities of authorship; they generally have backing by fleets of players whom I might suggest are influential to the game. I do not discount the great many players not represented by our council but it is my opinion that the council and representatives that I speak for has spent enormous amounts of time and effort into improving the game. Like many, the STOC council have spent a good amount of real world money, real world time and effort, and blood, sweat and tears into making this game better. We have done so without pay, merit, or notice merely with the hope that we can contribute fun and enjoyment to others lives. It is my hope that Cryptic and others will notice these thoughts, heed these opinions, and merit them worthy.

Though our plan and goal is to submit ideas and suggestions into public debate in the future. My initial task was to talk about Cryptic. The members of our order just spent a weekend slogging through much of the chaos of the welcome back weekend. We tried hard to answer and assist the new players that we hope will add to our player base. And we could not help but notice those who seem unhappy with the game. We are coming up on the 100 day mark and perhaps there is substance in discussion of those that brought us this game.

Cryptic is a small design studio. The total employment of the firm is unknown to the public but by all accounts it is small. I would personally guess it to have around 500 employees and would be surprised if it exceeded 1000. On their website they have ads up for game designers, programmers, and other jobs that are open. Cryptic has been squeezed for cash since its inception and they have been forced to sell their assets and product line to a bigger company once and then later on their entire firm to Atari.

Friends, I want you to think about this for a moment. The owners of Cryptic while quite strapped for cash sold their company to Atari. Whether you believe so or not, this is substantially heroic and I will tell you why. City of Heroes and City of Villains was sold to NC Soft. NC Soft is a Korean company and they have a reputation for taking a game, squeezing every bit of profit they can out of it and discarding it. As a long time gamer, I can tell you that I was playing Akalabeth before many of you were born. I know who Richard Garriot is and he is a legend in the gaming industry. The fact that Tabula Rasa ended so badly is an indictment towards the trend amongst the whole gaming industry and especially to NC Soft. Yes, there are firms that release games, squeeze them for profit, and discard them with all time and investment by the public disregarded as worthless chattel. It is an awful experience for the players left in the cold that loved their chosen game. Cryptic is trying to do better.

Cryptic needing cash, sold the company to Atari so they could continue their efforts to build a good game. Friends, this is heroic. I promise you. I absolutely promise you that the owners of Cryptic could have made a better deal, sold to a bigger company, and made more money by selling to another firm than they did when they merged with Atari. The reason that Cryptic merged with the smaller company that paid them less was because of a promise which allowed them to continue to employee their people, design and improve their games, and maximize the quality of their product and service. We believe that this is heroic. Very few people in the modern day world sell their companies for less money so the company in the future will produce a better product. Most takeovers and mergers involve the take the money and run philosophy.

Certainly, there is a good argument that STO is still in beta. We hope that today its not as good of a game as it will be in the future. By spending money here, and supporting the game through purchase of a retail copy, or cryptic points, or your monthly fees we believe that you are purchasing more than the right to log onto a game and enjoy it. You are investing in a company that is trying to build a product that you will value and enjoy in the future. You are investing in jobs and development. You are a patron of this new electronic medium of art where artwork is available from a download rather than needing to visit a museum; and yes there are people that pay to visit this game to see the artwork.

In life you don't buy Trefoils because you like the cookies. You are investing in the girl behind the green uniform. You are buying more here than the rights to play the game. You are buying jobs. You are buying creativity. You are investing in the production of a new product and watching a virtual society and philosophy unfold. We realize that people who focus on combat can explore most of what the game has to offer in a short time but we hold to hope that Cryptic will bring us more in the future. It almost seems as if many come to a weekend handed out freely with hopes that complaints will recruit others into unhappiness and departure. It saddens us that work hard for this game to succeed to see the trend.

STO is not particularly expensive. While surely expectations cannot be fully met for all; I doubt that anybody has ruined their life by paying time and effort into this game that could have been invested more wisely elsewhere. If you enjoy the game, then please continue. And if not, then please move along nicely to something that adds to your life. There is no use picketing the restaurant after the meal for poor service, poor food, and a poor experience. Quality succeeds and inferiority always seems to fade away. Negative opinions expressed freely rarely accelerate the process.

Many people enjoy this game for many reasons, some enjoy it for the art and others for the role play. There are people that enjoy the economy of the game and the dynamics of it as well as people that like to craft and build. And of course, many enjoy combat, as others like to explore and experience new things. My personal opinion is that role play will determine success and failure of this particular game because of the unique nature of appeal to its built in fan base but there are many different reasons and ways to enjoy the game. Perhaps in the future our society will comment on them.

Like the game and stay. Or do not and leave. Perhaps its best to reserve judgement for the future. Cryptic surmounted enormous odds and they brought the game out. It wasn't ready. It wasn't complete. The best loner that I know suggested that Cryptic had a fabulous design team that did not know gaming and my opinion is that he offers a fair assessment as he speaks as a fan with hope. We all know there are opportunity areas of improvement. Still, its easier in life to notice what has not been done than it is to appreciate what has. Cryptic got the game here and they are working to better it. The Truth About Cryptic is this. They need to survive if they are going to be around to build the best product for you to enjoy. They are running a business and they need money to keep the doors open. They had lots of opportunities to profit more and leave the game hanging, unfinished, and undone but they took less money just for the opportunity to work hard and improve. I applaud Cryptic and point out the nobility of purpose even amongst the difficulty of execution.

I hope hope hope Cryptic is putting all resources they can into this game and perhaps some into Champions. STO will be the make or break game for Cryptic and probably Atari. They will never get the rights to another game with a built in fan base like this one. Cryptic needs to make this game work and its their one hope at a World of Warcraft type mega game that can establish a future for the company.

Please enjoy the game if you can. And support it if you can. Support whether financial or joining a fleet that helps bring fun to others and is an investment in improvement in this world and perhaps outward as well. It is appreciated by those of us that care for this game, and the Star Trek World and Ideals.

Live Long and Prosper !!!!

Happy Gaming All

:)

Bugshu and the Fleet council of Star Trek Online
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    tldr; please? :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Big block of text crits for 500,000, hull breach in progress!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Why do you call this 'the truth about cryptic' and then go on to make a lot of suppositions and opinions interspersed with downright misinformation and untruth?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    senn4200 wrote: »
    Big block of text crits for 500,000, hull breach in progress!

    Yeah that happened to me too when I first started reading. Ouch.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I have been away from this game for awhile--whats a fleet council?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Intrepidox wrote: »
    tldr; please? :D

    Bugshu became a well known gamer. Was asked to join a council. Was asked to post the council's minutes. Gave us some history of the company and the game. Gave this imperative to all who played the game:
    Like the game and stay. Or do not and leave.

    Wished us all the best. Live long and prosper. Happy Gaming.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Intrepidox wrote: »
    tldr; please? :D

    TLDR: Cryptic cares about its employees and most of its compromises have been made to protect them. These aren't bad people and they aren't greedy people because the guys at the top could have made more money selling out their employees but have compromised both financially and in terms of policies to protect their employees in a rough job market and have honored personal loyalty above things other companies might value, making compromises (financial, personal and policy-wise) rather than be satisfied with industry standard turnover or cutbacks.

    The OP was asked by a group of his friends to express this and encourage people to consider that you're keeping a small group of good people employed by giving them some extra breathing room.

    Basically? It's the MMO version of: "Buy your coffee from the small local chain, not Starbucks. Because the local guy has less purchasing power and needs the money more and he isn't going to fire his employees for not selling enough mugs or messing up an iced coffee because he has a personal relationship with his employees that goes beyond corporate training BS."
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Slackjaw wrote:
    I have been away from this game for awhile--whats a fleet council?

    It's like the United Nations. But on the internet. With wordier resolutions.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    superchum wrote: »
    Bugshu became a well known gamer. Was asked to join a council. Was asked to post the council's minutes. Gave us some history of the company and the game. Gave this imperative to all who played the game:

    Wished us all the best. Live long and prosper. Happy Gaming.

    Thank you for the summary. :)

    Now a question I ask, not out of sarcasm, but genuine interest: Has anyone heard of the OP, or the Fleet council he represents before?

    While I'll admit to being frequently out of the loop on things, just thought it a little odd I haven't heard of them before now. Not that there's anything wrong with people trying to do something positive, just curious.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    personae wrote:
    Now a question I ask, not out of sarcasm, but genuine interest: Has anyone heard of the OP, or the Fleet council he represents before?

    .

    Nope and Nope
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Well as always I didnt bother to read through that at all! Is it anouther complain or one of the rare people who actualy like this game?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    personae wrote:
    Thank you for the summary. :)

    Now a question I ask, not out of sarcasm, but genuine interest: Has anyone heard of the OP, or the Fleet council he represents before?

    While I'll admit to being frequently out of the loop on things, just thought it a little odd I haven't heard of them before now. Not that there's anything wrong with people trying to do something positive, just curious.

    I want to say STOIC sounds familiar. But I don't know. There's a lot of things I miss. And I never paid a whole lot of attention to the council stuff when it was a hot topic.

    My TLDR summary really did try to break it down to as small a summary as possible. I'm not disputing anything Bugshu posted. Was just trying to get it down to the smallest blurb possible.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    superchum wrote: »
    It's like the United Nations. But on the internet. With wordier resolutions.

    I know what it means i mean is this something authorized by cryptic because i just have to say from someone who took a step back and did not come to the forum for a few months it seems like alot of people on here just like to blow smoke up everyone's wazoo
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I have never heard of the OP...

    And I know everybody.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Um...I don't know why you guys keep thinking Cryptic has 1000s of employees... They have about 30. And of that number, about 10 are supervisory and marketing. It may SEEM bigger because the amount of work done for STO was started with Perpetual which had been working on STO for years before hand.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Slackjaw wrote:
    I know what it means i mean is this something authorized by cryptic because i just have to say from someone who took a step back and did not come to the forum for a few months it seems like alot of people on here just like to blow smoke up everyone's wazoo

    When in doubt, fall back on what you do know. All official posts from Cryptic employees are made by folks with orange names. This one doesn't have an orange name. So it's not an official post by Cryptic.

    It's a good rule of thumb for those times when you're not quite sure.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    superchum wrote: »
    When in doubt, fall back on what you do know. All official posts from Cryptic employees are made by folks with orange names. This one doesn't have an orange name. So it's not an official post by Cryptic.

    It's a good rule of thumb for those times when you're not quite sure.

    Good advice--so he is blowing smoke. Wish i could sue him for the 2 min's it took to read that. my time is precocious....souls to corrupt and all that.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    superchum wrote: »
    When in doubt, fall back on what you do know. All official posts from Cryptic employees are made by folks with orange names. This one doesn't have an orange name. So it's not an official post by Cryptic.

    It's a good rule of thumb for those times when you're not quite sure.

    Atari employees get them too.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    nixboox wrote: »
    Um...I don't know why you guys keep thinking Cryptic has 1000s of employees... They have about 30. And of that number, about 10 are supervisory and marketing. It may SEEM bigger because the amount of work done for STO was started with Perpetual which had been working on STO for years before hand.


    Cryptic had between 100 and 200 employees in 2007. When they were bought by Atari they had around 200. Some left. 150 or so went to Atari with them. 50 were put on the STO team.
    I think that the department currently runs at around 150 people or so.

    Perpetual's work on their STO has nothing to do with Cryptic other than Jack Emmert was friends with the owners of Perpetual due to them being in the same business. It was this relationship that allowed Jack to know that Perpetual were in trouble and gave him the idea to propose a transfer of the rights license for STO to his own company ( which was 'at the brink of financial disaster' according to his words )

    Now all of these people work for Cryptic but as a subsidiary of Atari SA. If there was a prize to be won then I'd guess that current cryptic staff not including the janitors would be about 183.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Never heard of the OP or his council either.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Never heard of you or your council. But that's not really a surprise.

    As for the spending money on STO = investing in STO logic, just no. If I want to invest in STO I will buy stock in Atari. I pay companies money for goods and services. Period.

    It's too bad STO is still in Beta. IMO the markets - aka we - should punish Atari for putting out an unpolished product. We should start rewarding them when they get that polish shimmering.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    scotty says:captin the text sheild is at maximun it cunot take any morre she is gona blow. kirk says:scotty can you give me just alittle bit more im sure the op will run out of text soon. scotty says:captin ill give her all shes got. kirk says to sulu: mr sulu set phaser to maximun dispersal patter omaga three and destroy that text wall mr spock says: captain the chances of surviving a text wall like this are 1billion to 1.kirk says:MR spock i told you to never tell me the odds kirk says to ahura: open a channel to star fleet. ahoura says :yes captiain. kirk says this is captain kirk of the starship enterprize we are being bombarted with a text wall of 12 to the 20th power we have little chance of survival. so i am going to resort to opening the last can of text whoop TRIBBLE we have. if this dose not work, prepare earth for the worst kirk out.

    kirk calmly walks to the the wall where a pane of glass covers the last can of text whoopass. the glass reads only break in case of the maximum text wall incident. kirk says under his breath if this is not the time for this thier never will be one. he breaks the glass as if shatters andf falls to the floor he reaches in and grbs the can>druming can be heard in the background as the text grows closer< kirk walks back to the view screen and yells TAKE THIS TEXTWALL. and as he pulls the tab smoke begins to pore from the open top of the can. thier is a blinding flash,and then darkness. in the distance joan rivers can be heard saying god i love this text. as the crew wakes up they find the textwall gone. all of them say thanks to joan as they go on thier way
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Bugshu wrote: »
    <snip>

    Like the game and stay. Or do not and leave.

    </snip>

    I'm sort of in a position where I do not like the game and cannot leave.

    :(
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    OP, I feel ya but I wish you had picked a different game/company to support, here's why:

    In the beginning of MMO's we had features that attracted many different people. Games did not focus on just one or two elements, if you were bored of PVP you could go gather resources and get into crafting. If you were not a crafting type, you could throw up a house and decorate it.

    How many of you spent time decorating a house in SWG or UO? I know in SWG I spent hours playing with all the different home decorating ideas.

    As we move forward, the MMO game development is changing. We are getting fewer and fewer features that used to be standard in MMO's. Now that is ok to a point BUT the price should scale down as features scale down. How can Cryptic put out a game lacking in so many areas but charge the premium price AND have RMT? All MMO's have bugs but some of the aspects of this game are not bugs, they are just poor design.

    Crafting in Memory Alpha is not a bug, it is the poorest form of crafting I have ever seen in an MMO but I am asked to pay a premium price and give them time to make a new crafting system.

    Klingon content is not a bug, it was a lack of time to get the content into the game but still people are asked to pay a premium price and give them time to get something in.

    I dont hate STO or Cryptic but I fear that those of you supporting the game so boldly are showing the decision makers of future MMO's that they can make less content, have developers who have never played a game but allowed to design important game aspects and generally rush out a game before it is even close to ready AND do it for a premium price while also throwing in micro-transactions. That is not the future of MMO's that I wnat to see.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Bugshu wrote: »
    Having been fortunate enough to become somewhat of a well known player....

    Ok, I have been around a long time and I haven't EVER heard of you. (Serioiusly)

    Anyone can make that claim, does not mean you get points or that you can speak for me or anyone else. What your post does is actuallly alienate a lot of people that have absolutely no idea who you are and why you would be posting this.

    Now, what you may have posted may or may not be truthful. I won't bother to read it simply because of the line I quoted you making above. Sorry.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Gruug wrote: »
    I won't bother to read it simply because of the line I quoted you making above. Sorry.

    Never ever ever discount an idea because you didnt like the source.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Talonsin wrote: »
    OP, I feel ya but I wish you had picked a different game/company to support, here's why:

    In the beginning of MMO's we had features that attracted many different people. Games did not focus on just one or two elements, if you were bored of PVP you could go gather resources and get into crafting. If you were not a crafting type, you could throw up a house and decorate it.

    How many of you spent time decorating a house in SWG or UO? I know in SWG I spent hours playing with all the different home decorating ideas.

    As we move forward, the MMO game development is changing. We are getting fewer and fewer features that used to be standard in MMO's. Now that is ok to a point BUT the price should scale down as features scale down. How can Cryptic put out a game lacking in so many areas but charge the premium price AND have RMT? All MMO's have bugs but some of the aspects of this game are not bugs, they are just poor design.

    Crafting in Memory Alpha is not a bug, it is the poorest form of crafting I have ever seen in an MMO but I am asked to pay a premium price and give them time to make a new crafting system.

    Klingon content is not a bug, it was a lack of time to get the content into the game but still people are asked to pay a premium price and give them time to get something in.

    I dont hate STO or Cryptic but I fear that those of you supporting the game so boldly are showing the decision makers of future MMO's that they can make less content, have developers who have never played a game but allowed to design important game aspects and generally rush out a game before it is even close to ready AND do it for a premium price while also throwing in micro-transactions. That is not the future of MMO's that I wnat to see.

    /medal

    Honestly the only MMOs that are going to have all the bells and whistles at this point are ones comming out of the 800 pound gorrilla - aka Blizzard.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I hope Cryptic at least paid you for this PR, because I'd shudder to think you would do this for free.

    But as to your discussion, I have played nearly every MMO out there to some extent. I have experienced the customer service, business practices, and general attitude of all the major companies, and sorry man, but Crypitc isn't as noble as you paint them in your OP. To me they have clearly demonstrated that they are all about nickel and diming the customers while providing a bare minimal product. We have all paid for beta, and continue to do so. What's worse is that most new additions to the game must be bought via micro transaction on top of our subs including such things as additional emotes. What the hell is the sub money for that I have to pay extra for emotes? EMOTES?!?!?! This game is so unfinished, and lacking in content that in all honesty there shouldn't even be a C-store. All new content whether fluff or not should simply be added to the game as is with no micro transaction necessary as the 15 dollars per month should more than cover this.

    At least Crypitc hasn't had a billing fiasco such as Mythic did with Warhammer recently so I won't rate them as low as Mythic, but definitely far below Blizzard. My hope is that Bioware will follow the Blizzard business model with SW:ToR rather than the model followed by other, less successful entities.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Talonsin wrote: »
    Never ever ever discount an idea because you didnt like the source.

    Except when the source is on false assumations. Sorry, I don't trust anyone that first says "trust me". State the facts, then I will judge.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    /medal

    Honestly the only MMOs that are going to have all the bells and whistles at this point are ones comming out of the 800 pound gorrilla - aka Blizzard.

    And Bioware hopefully.

    Agree for the most part but... Other developers dont expect you to pay a premium price for what they know is not a premium product, I give you two examples, Guild Wars and Global Agenda. GW does not pretend to be an MMO and Global Agenda does not pretend they offer all the content of other MMO's so both have a different pricing model compared to premium MMO's.

    I am not against new MMO's coming out and focusing on smaller gameplay depth or specializing in one or two areas as long as the pricing model reflects this. The biggest issue most people have with STO is that Cryptic pretends it is a premium MMO and charges a premium rate but also throws in RMT.
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