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The Future of Promotions and Referral Programs
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Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Well, there is a lot of whining and complaining on the forum about it. I think it is partially justfied and partially not. In the end, I think Cryptic needs to look at how it can better communicate its programs without always ending up with a terrible uproar afterwards. This is meant to be constructive feedback.
1) Contine with Promotions and Referral Programs.
They are inevitable, and I say they are good for the game. They draw in new players. That's good for all of us. We want them.
2) Make the default assumption that _everything_ will end up in C-Store.
If you don't, there will be always complaining that items are not available for everyone and you just reward people with more money. And if things that were labeled exclusive, unique, special or similar terms are made available, people will complain about.
3) While _everything_ will go there, clarify when.
I suggest a default "wait time" of about 6 months. Half a year is a lot of time in the world of MMOs.
4) Consider to "upgrade" exclusives once items go into the C-Store.
The example of the 50 $ C-Store reward for Master Recruiters now is one way, though I think it's a little boring. An alternative would be to simply give these people access to another item that is still exclusive. Either at the same time then people participating in the promotion program for that exclusive, or a little later (1-2 months at best).
5) Special In-Game Titles, Ribbons that remain exclusive
This is the only thing you should never give out in the C-Store. Special items - like unique combadges, ear-rings, trophies and special titles should be tied to every exclusive. Be careful with these - they really need to be minor. Something unique like full clothing or races is out of the question, it must be something mostly decorative, otherwise people will demand it for C-Store anyway. It should _not_ be "canon" things, like say an alternative future combadge. This is stuff that every Startrek fan will find at least somewhat desirable and feel taken away from when he doesn't have a chance to access it.
These items are primarly for bragging rights. Everyone can get the Galaxy X, but only few were on Tribble playing with the devs that one night - and now they have that Dev-Hologram Trophy in their trophy room.
1) Contine with Promotions and Referral Programs.
They are inevitable, and I say they are good for the game. They draw in new players. That's good for all of us. We want them.
2) Make the default assumption that _everything_ will end up in C-Store.
If you don't, there will be always complaining that items are not available for everyone and you just reward people with more money. And if things that were labeled exclusive, unique, special or similar terms are made available, people will complain about.
3) While _everything_ will go there, clarify when.
I suggest a default "wait time" of about 6 months. Half a year is a lot of time in the world of MMOs.
4) Consider to "upgrade" exclusives once items go into the C-Store.
The example of the 50 $ C-Store reward for Master Recruiters now is one way, though I think it's a little boring. An alternative would be to simply give these people access to another item that is still exclusive. Either at the same time then people participating in the promotion program for that exclusive, or a little later (1-2 months at best).
5) Special In-Game Titles, Ribbons that remain exclusive
This is the only thing you should never give out in the C-Store. Special items - like unique combadges, ear-rings, trophies and special titles should be tied to every exclusive. Be careful with these - they really need to be minor. Something unique like full clothing or races is out of the question, it must be something mostly decorative, otherwise people will demand it for C-Store anyway. It should _not_ be "canon" things, like say an alternative future combadge. This is stuff that every Startrek fan will find at least somewhat desirable and feel taken away from when he doesn't have a chance to access it.
These items are primarly for bragging rights. Everyone can get the Galaxy X, but only few were on Tribble playing with the devs that one night - and now they have that Dev-Hologram Trophy in their trophy room.
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There will be not much players participating in future referral programs after they cheated their best promoters this way with the exclusive*(tm) Galaxy-X reward.
*"exclusive" is a registered trademark of Cryptic Entertainment and means nothing.
It's like if they pick choice A they will upset one part of the community but if they go for choice B they'll upset the other part. If they try to prevent having to make a choice and don't add it at all then both groups will be upset...
I really don't envy their position, instead of developing a fun game they're having to chose between two evils all the time. That's no fun... It would help if the community in general would just be happy with what they have already, but then again we're humans... Human nature makes you want more then you currently have, especially if your neighbour has it.
Capitalism itself is based on that.
I didn't mean to start an off topic rant either though, so here is my suggestion;
A lot of people get confused over the term exclusive and unique, which could actually mean several things.
1) It could mean exclusive/ unique access to an item.
2) It could mean the item itself is exclusive/ unique, but this doesn't have to include the way you can obtain it.
I'm getting the impression that Cryptic is using the 2nd description of those words while the community uses the first description. It would help a lot if Cryptic would be more open in her communication about that.
Ultimately people need to grow up and learn how to get things legit. Other wise, lets put all the accolades and other things in the C-Store. Better yet, lets go ahead and allow level up purchases through that to. :rolleyes:
How so?
People that got it by recruiting 5 people received 2k cryptic points, several other really cool goodies AND this ship for free.
If they bought 5 accounts just to access this ship they're also getting 50 dollars worth of cryptic points.
They also have 5 friends or family members playing the game now and adding more fun to the game because of that.
On the other hand people that didn't take the time and effort to recruit 5 more people have to pay for the ship and don't get it free.
Both ways are legit if you ask me and the first way is far more profitable then the 2nd, so personally I don't really see the problem.
I like some of your ideas but I dont think peopel will be doing refrals anymore why would they it's easier to get it on the cstore and as far as just giving us a different shiny then the whining will start all over again
The value of buying the Galaxy in the C-Store and getting it in the referral program is not equal. $50 of cryptic points is not equal to the average $300 in total gained from 5 referrals.
Several of my referrals are from family and friends who tried the game, liked it but didn't have the spare change, so I bought them a copy and time card. And I'm sure I'm not the only one seeing I saw someone mention they actually gave out the games as a reward to come contest or something. $50 of cryptic points does not match the value of the time and money I spent.
So unless you need about $250 of Cryptic Points to get the Galaxy X, it is a smack in the face to those who participated in said referral program.
So you have payed 250$ for your Galaxy, why do you want to charge others that insane amount?
Other got their Gal X + 5x400 C Points + 4000 C-Points + Holo Tribble + Holo BO + 2 Titles for FREE.
BTW I heard the Price in the c-store is ~1000CP.
Why do you feel an item that essentially had people pay $300 to get now be available for 13 bucks in less than a month time frame?
Wrong, 5 Persons payed for 5 Games and at least 5 Months, the Galaxy-X is simply an Bonus (again, for FREE).
There will be ZERO SUPPORT from the community. Cryptic killed the goose on this one. You can't get milk from the cow after you slaughter it.
I worked my A** off, and got 13 subscribers to buy the game.
(1) my EXCLUSIVE ship is now going to be purchaseable in the C-Store. So it is no longer exclusive.
(2) A reward for getting 5+ subscriptions is not avaiable to me, becuase they diddn't bill by yesterday.
And this is after
(3) My Pre-order exclusives went into the C-Store
(4) my LTS benefits are all but gone....just waiting for the last one to leave.
Cryptic, you have effectivly destroyed your future customer base!
You got the ship for free and others will be paying money for it. How exactly did you lose here??
Maybe if we changed the scenario a bit....
"Girl Scouts who sell over $1,000 in cookies will receive this exclusive Girl Scout Barby not found in stores."
<Month later>
"Buy this Girl Scout Barby at Walmart for 10 bucks! Those who got it through the cookies service can have this 10 dollar coupon to buy some cookies with."
I think the girl scouts who completed the $1,000 in cookies would be ****ed.
This entire line of thinking is entirely wrong. You've totally missed the point of the referral program and what the "rewards" of it are.
Sad really.
You have no idea how much time you have to spent to bring 5 new subscribers to the game. I tell you what: If the ships costs 100$ in C-store and I would have known this eight weeks ago, I would have waited and easily paid the money instead of doing this bunch of work.
I had to do promotions, ingame-support, newbie-help and answer endless mails and PNs about the game. I had about 20 players at the same time in my referal account, and only 6 of them finally bought the game and subscribed so I got the ship. It was hell of work to get this done...
I spent hunderts of hours of free time to succeed. 100$ are peanuts compared to this. And you ask me what I lost? I lost nothing. But Cryptic has lost all of their reputation by this huge scamming of their promoters. I will never ever trust them again.
They billed 4000 CP at my account as compensation. They should put their CP to a place where the sun never shines. I don't need their CP... and there's nothing of interest in their C-Store.
They are scammers and liars. Plain and simple.
This is my biggest concern through all of this. Cryptic has displayed a phenomenal lack of good judgment over the last few weeks. Trust in the company is just gone. I fully expect to be charged for patches, updates, and season content. It would go right along with their recent actions.
I don't even know what Cryptic could do to restore a sense of good faith at this point. Their reputation is pretty much FUBARed.
I think you missed the point of the referral program. If the objective was to get players to get there friends in for the sake of better enjoyment of the game, there would have NOT be exclusive rewards at the end. In fact, there wouldn't BE a referral program in general, aside from a trial key, as players have been recommended the game to their friends.
I do think that Atari marketing has contributed to wrecking any hope Cryptic has for future promotions (not to mention Cryptic's reputation) and possibly for many other companies as well. Now nobody will be certain if this special little shiny or gewgaw or doodad or whateever -- in this game or others -- will never be available any other way. There will always be an iota of doubt. Cryptic likely will not (or should not) use shiny in-game items for promotions or programs again. They will probably rely on CP and free time awards (like most games do.)
Unless they put C-Points on the C-Store. :eek: The causality paradox would make Stephen Hawking weep. Please, think of the Stephen Hawkings.
Indeed.
Cryptic will see only a tiny fraction of the Money spent on the Gal... i mean 5 Games!
Everyone who did the "hard" work got an acceptable Reward (6000CP, the Ship, The Doc, an Tribble, Titles and some Friends)
Everyone who decided to follow the quick, easy and dirty way got EXACTLY what they deserved.
Since he appeared in TNG.. can i have him as a Bridge Officer?
EDIT II: I vote for: NO E PEENS IN THIS GAME!
Now my two cents is this. Cryptic moved this ship to the cstore so ppl would not have an advantage/coolness that was not properly obtained. Lets face it, if you were paid to hand out fliers for a business and didn't do it properly, I'd imagine they'd be understandably ****ed off. As for the ppl who payed though the teeth with multiple account feeling ripped off, well read the title again, it's called, "Referral Program". Then it says, "Friend's Email", then "Hey there! I am playing Star Trek Online and would love to have you join me. Check it out!".
This all obviously points to bringing in new players and to do it wisely. So if you didn't read the obvious print sorry about your luck, lean back relax, but you did do it to yourself. Now the players that did do it though legit means and can prove it, though their referrals being online lvl'd up to a reasonable spot since their start date. I would be upset also.
This is not bashing or smashing but just my two cents.
To a point I agree with this. some things are a little askew, but not horribly so. What I totally agree with is that the people who went out and bought the 5 boxes and then paid the one month sub for each just to get the Galaxy-X did get what they deserve. They chose to ignore the spirit of the referral system and go by the letter of it.
Ironically cryptic is guilty of the exact same thing on other counts, but that has been discussed at length in other threads.
Oh yes I do.
Right, so what you're saying here is this: you participated in this program for entirely the wrong reason and completely misunderstood what the intent of it is.
The intent is to invite 5 friends. Yes, it says "friends or family" on the Referral Page. The input box you use on the referral invite form in your account area says "Friend's Email". Cryptic wasn't asking or demanding you to go out and sell the game to complete strangers for them. They were asking you to invite your friends. Sure, you inviting 5 or more friends helps them out... that's why they added a few incentives for you to participate.
I ask you this - is spending time with your friends like work? Is it that much of a chore to hang out with them? I would hope not.
The real reward for having 5 friends play STO with you is that you now have 5 or more friends spending time together and enjoying the game together. The ship or any other incentive is meaningless compared to that.
After reading your post, I wouldn't think anyone would want to have been referred by you, since it seems to be a "chore" to help them with questions or support in-game. You're essentially treating others as mules for something you want. You went about participating in the program for the wrong reasons. Would you have done it the intended reasons, the ship being in the C-Store wouldn't matter to you at all.
How? Show us where you were scammed and lied to.
I suggest you recruit five new players buying the retail and subscribe the game by yourself. THEN come back and if you still think, a non-exlusive free c-store item and 4000 allmost useless CP are enough credit for your work, I will agree to your post.
For now, it means nothing because you have no idea what you are talking about when you write "hard" work.
If this is the intention, there would be no need of an exclusive reward. Cryptic placed this ship there to get us motivated to promote their game. Without this reward, it would not have been such a success. Especially with the worst limited trail demo I've ever seen in an MMO. It was pretty hard to describe the new players what STO is really like, because the tutorial and one mission isn't enough to show you the game.
So, IF you are right and I did this with the wrong intention, why was there an exclusive reward?
You cann't place a carrot in front of a hourse to make it run, then give one to every horse and finally tell the working one his motivation to run should not have been the carrot.
So, Cryptic made me promoting their game by offering a special reward.
Now Cryptic made me "promoting" this huge betrayal.
And I swear, my intention ist EXACTLY the right one this time...
I brought six friends to the game.
Cryptic cheated me as a "thanks" to this.
No I will thank them my way.
As a small incentive and a way to say "Thank You" for bringing your friends into STO with you.
No brainer there.
Cryptic didn't make or force you to do anything. You chose to participate because you wanted some pixels on a screen in a video game because that's what you deemed important. Would your intention have been to recruit 5 friends because you'd like to play together with them, then getting the ship is just a bonus.
And this "Thank you" is one of the most wanted ship models since eary beta? Dream on... it was a calculated CARROT.
For some, not everyone. There are those who really don't want it.
I did say it was an incentive to participate in the program. Reading comprehension is a wonderful thing.
Where you fail is in thinking that the ship is the one and only, end all be all carrot when it isn't.
To remove that uncertainty, I think their best move is to make it public that that the exclusivity is only true for a limited amount of time. This way everyone "armed" with the knowledge - he can wait the time or he participates in the promotion program. No one can complain about being scammed or betrayed.
And the reality will probably always be that Cryptic cannot offer "exclusive" items that are exclusive forever. Players will alway ask for another access that doesn't require them to run through promotions hoops (that might not even longer exist - pre-orders can't be done once the game is out...)
Exclusivity by any definition does not mean forever, unless expressly stated so otherwise. That should not come as a surprise to anyone.
Haven't bought any extra retails apart from my CE and DDE but i've recruited so far 2.5 Players, one day i'll get my non-exclusive free c-store item minus the 4000 CP's and it's ok.
I currently have no use for the cruiser since i'm tactical but maybe i will use it on my liberated borg when they are up for sale.
For some, not everyone.