Even though you have to pay for it, you have to realize that this helps the game in the long-term. Purchasing from the c-store allows for more content to be added to the game. I enjoy buying from the c-store, I look forward to it, and it's a situation where I can support the authors directly.
While you are right, and I support the C-Store for some things, the Excelsior should NOT be a C-Store item. The Galaxy-X and TOS connie I don't have a problem with, those are two ships that should not be prevalent in the game, as it doesn't make sense, but the Excelsior class was the most common class at one point, so if there are that many defiant-esq ships in game, there should be alot of Excelsiors as well.
And while I do support helping the game I love to prosper, there is a point at where I start questioning how much it counts as adding new content, when so much of it is pay-to-play (C-Store) stuff not included in the Sub price. Now if Cryptic makes custom ships or ships that showed up once in the shows or movies, sure no problem, C-Store it, but not the Excelsior class- if anything I think it shoudl be the Federation's answer to the Klingon's Bird of Prey - a ship that spans the ranks and is an "all purpose" ship.
I already gave up all hope. I think that we lost when Atari bought Cryptic..
Atari only interested is a huge temporary profit (single games like ME, Stalker) , no long-term (like UO, WoW, Eve).
I appreciate the efforts of employees' Cryptic (dstahl, captLogan..), but they do not have the last word.
And CBS? The Canon protector? Their politics => more money = more canon.:(
As a long time fan of the nebula class i have been waiting for this ship since launch to come out my fleet mates will vouch for this so i have no problem in buying this ship and i dont think many poeple wont do i agree that there should be more fed and klingon ships through the ranks hell yes you should have a choice a real choice of 3 Cryptic ships and anything else like cannon ships should be made in the c-store.
so it comes down to the bottom line as always if cryptic has to pay for the copyright for the ships then ill pay for them till the cows come home this is the same in every game and always will be.
Am looking forward to the Nebula and will buy it the minute its released
Thanks again for all of your feedback. It really is incredibly valued.
I understand that some of you are upset that the Excelsior and Nebula Class vessels are headed to the C-Store. Theres a number of reasons for this, and I want to try and address them for you.
Some people are upset because they feel these items shouldnt go into the C-Store because theyre "Canon Ships".
I can understand this view point, and Ill make sure to pass it along. I also want to remind you however that we use the C-store to make things that you are requesting, which otherwise would not make it into the game. So, without the C-store, there would be no excelsior or Nebula in STO for some time.
The most prevalent reason seems to be that some people feel as though theyre not getting enough bang for their subscription buck right now. Its very true that your subscription fees do go towards the ongoing development of Star Trek Online. So, I thought I would remind you all of some of the things weve added since launch for free to all of our players.
PvP
Shanty Town PvP Map
Uniform Options
Off Duty Uniforms
New stances and hairstyles at the tailor.
Klingon
The KTanco Battle Cruiser
New Klingon Only Episodes(Coming Soon)
New Klingon Carrier
Federation
War Games (Fed vs. Fed PvP)
The Diplomatic Corps (Coming Soon)
Defiant/Galaxy/Intrepid Refits
Fleet Actions/Content
The Big Dig
DS9 Under Siege
New Undine Missions and Fleet Action (Coming Soon)
Weekly Featured Episodes (Coming Soon)
Miscellaneous
The Difficulty Slider
The Injury System
Accolades
Squad Support
Mini Games (Coming Soon)
Level Cap Increase, 45-51 (Coming Soon)
Veterans Rewards
Not to mention numerous bug fixes, and other minor changes and polish weve made based on your feedback. Were already hard at work planning Season 3 for you right now as well! Almost all of the things listed above have been things that you, our community, has asked us to make happen for you. I personally feel that the Dev Team is doing a great job of pushing out content that you all have been asking for, and at a bang up pace.
However, Im also seeing that you guys would like to see some more customization updates included in the next big update. It may not happen for Season 2, but I will make sure to pass that along to the Dev Team so they can keep that in mind as theyre planning Season 3 and beyond.
Thanks,
Stormshade"
Pirates of the Caribbean Online only costs 10 dollars a month. Hell's bells the game come free with the subscription, you don't even have to buy a box. It has no microtransactions, and is limited to a US only market. Since launch they have added all sorts of new content, ground PvP, ship PvP, new play areas, map and scene revamp, character polygon count reduction, new loot options, new weapons, two level cap increases, cargo increase, new treasure, drops, mini games (ship repair and potion creation), leader boards that track more than DPS and Healing, new NPCs, new baddies, new quests, UI revamp, Jolly Rodger ground raids of major islands, special events for holidays, flag ships, treasure fleets, and now new port raids by ships. Really that's what I remember. 10 dollars a month and nothing more. Either Disney is losing money on PoTCO or the PoTCO bean counters are better than Cryptic's. Then again I do not believe that Disney has too many other MMOs, or a secret third MMO in production.
Mind you PoTco is a grind fest with poor graphics that run slow on a good machine. They took a PG13 title and forced it to be G rated. Still they have made good time sinks to keep the players engaged while they maintained a viable player base that not only keeps it afloat in a MMO world defined by the success of WoW but has made improvements. They have never to my recollection played the, "Woe is us WoW ruined the market card." They have even identified and fixed bugs in a timely manner. Consider that my guild specialized in pooling resources to identify bugs and exploits, and in lieu of little to no shinnies, would not report them so we could show off. PoTCO Devs would identify and fix most, on average, within two months.
I mean, these things almost write themselves! And if there is any gamer reading this who does not think that unlocking ships in the game through a reasonable eposide-completion mechanism wouldn't keep them playing for a bit longer, and have more fun doing it, then please speak up. 'Cause right now this is something I think a lot of players would love to see implemented.
But it seems like if the 'bean counters' had their way, everything would be on the C-Store.
* - Isn't... isn't that kind of circular, though?
I can't speak against it as I am all for it. A MMO benchmark should be to keep the player invested in the game through their monthly subscription. The best way to do that is through compelling in story time sinks that offer good rewards, like the one you suggested.
There was content in the game during beta that got removed whilst it was polished, then it gets re released after launch as 'new' content. Most new content has only been graphical updates, as well as systems from Champions online been reskinned with a Star Trek theme, and they haven't been free either, for some odd reason Cryptic mentions these updates as though no one is paying a monthly subscription, which almost every other MMO uses to pay for the games running costs '&' patch updates for the game (So far none of the updates for STO have been in the XPAC size IMHO, so comparing them to XPAC's in other games really shouldn't be done). It was stated many a time before the game launched that all content in the C-store would be available though other game play means as well (which has yet to happen)
The C-store was always portrayed before the game launched as a place where you could changes your characters name, transfer characters, maybe buy more character slots and possibly have fluff items with no effects on them which would have game play effects. Instead, we have ships and races with abilities only available from the C-store, we have the bridges for ships player own only from the C-store, we even have the pre-order exclusives. To be honest the C-store has gone completely out of control now. i genuinely wouldn't be as bothered about the C-store if the game was free to play, but having it alongside a subscription based system is just greedy, and to be honest, the fact that this hybrid pay system is been used on a Star Trek MMO really does dishonor the very principles of what Star Trek in based on.
I happily bought a lifetime subscription, as well as 3 copies of the game (for pre-order bonuses), I believe I've truly done my part to support this game, but to have people claim I'm been greedy and trying to harm the game because I disagree with the C-store is bizarre. Many other games have happily survived on Subscription plans, I fail to see why STO should really be any different. From the way people argue for the C-store, you'd think the game would sink in a few months if it wasn''t for the C-store. If this is the case, then STO is in serious trouble.
Just for the record, I think the work the Dev's do on the game, especially the graphics department is awesome, it just saddens me that it really feels like the Dev's are been forced down this route from the higher ups, who are all thinking short term profits and not sustainability, the fact that allot of the original core community in this game has moved on is quite alarming, and most of the ones I know left mainly because of the C-store.
I agree completely though. Especially that, if the game is as dependent on the C-store as is often claimed, then there's a big problem. And trying to gouge people even more isn't going to solve that problem, except possibly in a disappointing "make back as much of the investment as possible and then close" sort of way.
Agreed wholeheartedly on the last two posts. Expresses my sentiments exactly.
Give us a way to obtain all of these items in-game, it doesn't have to be easy or quick. But a method besides spending real-world cash in a game we already pay a subscription for...
Pirates of the Caribbean Online only costs 10 dollars a month. Hell's bells the game come free with the subscription, you don't even have to buy a box. It has no microtransactions, and is limited to a US only market. Since launch they have added all sorts of new content, ground PvP, ship PvP, new play areas, map and scene revamp, character polygon count reduction, new loot options, new weapons, two level cap increases, cargo increase, new treasure, drops, mini games (ship repair and potion creation), leader boards that track more than DPS and Healing, new NPCs, new baddies, new quests, UI revamp, Jolly Rodger ground raids of major islands, special events for holidays, flag ships, treasure fleets, and now new port raids by ships. Really that's what I remember. 10 dollars a month and nothing more. Either Disney is losing money on PoTCO or the PoTCO bean counters are better than Cryptic's. Then again I do not believe that Disney has too many other MMOs, or a secret third MMO in production.
Mind you PoTco is a grind fest with poor graphics that run slow on a good machine. They took a PG13 title and forced it to be G rated. Still they have made good time sinks to keep the players engaged while they maintained a viable player base that not only keeps it afloat in a MMO world defined by the success of WoW but has made improvements. They have never to my recollection played the, "Woe is us WoW ruined the market card." They have even identified and fixed bugs in a timely manner. Consider that my guild specialized in pooling resources to identify bugs and exploits, and in lieu of little to no shinnies, would not report them so we could show off. PoTCO Devs would identify and fix most, on average, within two months.
You forget Crytpic is made up of 3 guys in a basement with an Apple II GS. They are using our subsctptions to save up for the 1 button mouse they have always dreamed of!
For every new ship added to the game, including the Galaxy-X, there should be a means of earning that same ship in game through hard work. This allows players the option of buying the ship outright or earning the ship through play, which accomplishes both potential revenue for Cryptic while adding valuable end-game awards to keep players 'engaged'.
For every new ship added to the game, including the Galaxy-X, there should be a means of earning that same ship in game through hard work. This allows players the option of buying the ship outright or earning the ship through play, which accomplishes both potential revenue for Cryptic while adding valuable end-game awards to keep players 'engaged'.
The problem is that there is somebody sitting in the 'Department of Bean Affairs' that has decreed that $TRIBBLE.xx MUST be gotten from each and every nerd that uses the game. There is no consideration for those that shelled out for the LTS, for multiple copies, or that continue to pay a monthly sub. The whole operation is geared towards "what have you paid me today!?!"
There is a budget somewhere on someone's desk that has been written that dictates that there must be xx% of revenue derived from Non-Subrcription based products/services, and EVERYTHING has to post an increase of at least 10% over last months sales figures.
The problem is that there is somebody sitting in the 'Department of Bean Affairs' that has decreed that $TRIBBLE.xx MUST be gotten from each and every nerd that uses the game. There is no consideration for those that shelled out for the LTS, for multiple copies, or that continue to pay a monthly sub. The whole operation is geared towards "what have you paid me today!?!"
There is a budget somewhere on someone's desk that has been written that dictates that there must be xx% of revenue derived from Non-Subrcription based products/services, and EVERYTHING has to post an increase of at least 10% over last months sales figures.
Wow...how did we ever come across such insider information?!?!? ...lol
Wow...how did we ever come across such insider information?!?!? ...lol
Mark use to work for Cryptic... i think his last handle was copper..no maybe it was iron.... TRIBBLE can t remember i think it was a metal with an atomic number of 30 if i recall:p
holy smoke....i ve just read your signature Mark... loving it...
Mark use to work for Cryptic... i think his last handle was copper..no maybe it was iron.... TRIBBLE can t remember i think it was a metal with an atomic number of 30 if i recall:p
*doubles over laughing*
If the "not actually taking a break" theories are true, I wouldn't be surprised for him to pop up somewhere... not likely that particular case tho. Or IS IT? Dun dun dun...
Yea, mark's not off about what the bean counters are thinking. I believe f the reason they are so slow about telling us how much everything is going to cost is be for one of 2 reasons.
1. We angry players with phasers and pitchforks...KLINGONS included might storm the proverbial castle and burn it to the ground.
-or-
2. They are still doing the long-division with pencils and paper...or maybe with an abacus......Yes, that sounds about it. Maybe they are the same people that assist the GAO with the budget every year....
You forget Crytpic is made up of 3 guys in a basement with an Apple II GS. They are using our subsctptions to save up for the 1 button mouse they have always dreamed of!
Ok so let me spell this out to everyone.. first off shame on cryptic for releasing an unfinished game that not only ****ed the comunity off due to lack of content, but made at least helf of the populus leave the game... thus why a game that has only been on the market for what 8 or so months is already offering return bennies... that to me is the first clue that something is wrong... then they have the odacity to charge what top mmo's that have NEXT TO NO GLITCHES AND PROBLEMS charge... then they add the c store... supposed to be for xtra skins and other things to support what is already in game.. ie, a new skin for an existing ship.. now instead of releasing content to make people happy ( and stop peeps from leaving) they say,, oh buy the content that we should have included in the original release..
the c store would be viable if the game was free to play. release content to buy in a free to play game and no one gets mad... release it in a game where you already charge a premium to play a subpar game.. and you get post like this.
now, im happy for now with the game, i am one of those who said lets see what happens under the new leadership and see what this first content patch brings... i figured that at eleast the excelsior (who won the fan poll) would have been an ingame release. i agree that the piggies at cryptic just wanted to see which skin some people couldnt live without.. and as such if further polls are going to make the piggies oink and squeel than i am not going to take part in them and niether should anyone in the community..
now for the spelling out of what is going on... cryptic sees what happened. people have left the game because they did a poor job with content, and since they are behind, its like trying to bail a boat out with a strainer which is why the level cap went up already... its a fis that is like dangling keys over a baby, eventually we will want more and i dont think it will be there. but i think cryptic is concerned about the new star wars game coming out (and i am not advertising it or anything as i am not a star wars fan really) but... they are tyring to get their money now while they can b4 people jump ship...
and to all those who say that the c-store helps, of course it does, but... how can all the other mmo;s do it with just membership fees and they have much more stable games with much more content. inho, the key to cryptics future is makeing a hard decision, lose the c-store, or lose the monthly fees. that is it plain and simple.... and lifers, dont worry, you guys would probably get some uber awsome stuff if we went free to play..
Mark use to work for Cryptic... i think his last handle was copper..no maybe it was iron.... TRIBBLE can t remember i think it was a metal with an atomic number of 30 if i recall:p
holy smoke....i ve just read your signature Mark... loving it...
Now that $***'s funny!
If that was the case, I probably could have helped burn the whole barn down allready...
The bottom line is Cryptic is a business and seems to run itself focused on making money over the short-term (considering it's an MMO).
As long as people buy items in the C-Store, Cryptic will sell them. If they have an advantage of making use (or abusing) a franchise or popular iconics in said franchise, they'll use them. If sales through the C-Store go up, they'll push the barriers more to see how much more they can soak out of it.
The majority of people on MMOs rarely look at forums and have a high tendency of spending money on microtransactions. If it makes them money, they'll keep at it.
We can blame Cryptic all we want, but if we didn't buy anything through the C-Store, they wouldn't have the option to do what they're doing right now. Instead they'd be focused on updating *more* content in-game instead of dividing their attention between that and the C-Store - Which imo would keep and attract more subscribers.
I thought Cryptic did a very good job with Champ's store, and was pleased with how STO's was shaping up. At launch and for a few months, everything seemed pretty cheap, all aesthetic, and not a big deal. I was happy to shell out $2-3 here and there for some cool new skins, regardless of the fact that I had already shelled out $300 for the retail box and my lifetime sub.
Then the sparkleship, or Galaxy X hit.
I don't believe a subscription based game should ever charge over $10 for a virtual item. I have no problems spending EXTRA money on a game to get something, but I refuse to be taken advantage of. Unfortunately for me, they're are many people who have money to burn, with no problem spending more on a virtual item then they could find the retail box for now.
I'll hold out hope they implement an in game option as a way to get these insanely priced items, sometime in the not so distant future, and they don't apply anything close to the $25 price point to these new ships.
cryptic is charging extra for new content when the old content is not even working properly.. just refered a friend over a week ago and big suprise... didnt get the referal points or anything... another shocker was uncovered when i looked into it, the referal system has been broken for what i can see is well OVER TWO MONTHS.... keep charging us more for a game that doesnt work properly cryptic.
i have no problem with there being glitches and bugs in a new game, but dont go and nickle and dime us when the content that is free doesnt even work right. i rmember back to when i first started the game, and another shocker, something was wrong with the billing program, i was locked out of the game for three weeks b4 you fixed it. lol.... but dont worry, the galaxy x is 25 dollers, even though you might not be able to log in lol.... id pay 25 dollers for content if it came with a garuntee that i would experience no more bugs, server lag, billing problems, referal problems, glitches, and enouph content to keep me busy for more than a month...
i also use more colorful words when i have to pay money to make a star trek game work like a star trek game should... does anyone know if there is a lemon law for video games.... lol...
As most of you should know the Excelsior, and the Nebula are coming to the C-store, and it mite be coming soon with the new C-store update that should be out by the 19th. I love the fact that the Excelsior is coming,becasue that is one of my favorite ships from Star trek.
But here is the problem Those two ships are loved by a lot of people. the polls results were 3553 for the excelsior, and 2647 for the Nebula, and those are just the people who come on to the forums, there are more out there who don't post on the forums, and they will be shocked to see their favorite ship added to the game. Problem is your adding two of the more popular, and most wanted ships to the game and you are going to force people to pay for it, in turn you seem to taken advantage of people's love for those ships, and I think the bean counters know that they are doing that.
I quoted you from one of your post earlier because that right there is the answer. This would be the time to add in a system where you can exchange merits for the ships. you need to push to make the merits equal to the their C-store equivalent. that way people who don't want to pay real money can work hard in the game and earn the ships.
added to what I said it would look a lot better on your part. personally I see this as a boarder line money grab by those bean counters, and you guys are stuck in the middle of this, but you can do something about it.
So what does anyone else think about this?
post your grievances, complaints, complements, concerns here, and lets get our voices heard before they release it to the C-store. ( before it is to late )
EDIT here is a good price exchange between merits and C-store points .
EDIT and for anyone who was wondering where they said it was going to be on the C-store.
MT's are Ok for special NON-Working costumes in games like maple story---- but in a top level MMO MT's are tacky.. More than that- if you want MT's in your "top level" MMO make them count. This last GAL-X deal I thought was ok. In fact I liked the idea that people had to pay 25 bucks for a ship that just looks a little different and had its up''s and downs. However doig this too often with every 'new' ship that comes to the game is going to kill their game.
Many ST fans will pay several times-- my recommendation to cryptic is- pick what you want to make people pay for with care. If you offer 3 pay ships and someone pays for each other them- you just made them pay MORE than the first expiation of wow- and your game has been out for 6 months and still has embarrassing bugs in it that have been around sense cb. You risk KILLING the golden goose that is laying the eggs.
MT's are Ok for special NON-Working costumes in games like maple story---- but in a top level MMO MT's are tacky.. More than that- if you want MT's in your "top level" MMO make them count. This last GAL-X deal I thought was ok. In fact I liked the idea that people had to pay 25 bucks for a ship that just looks a little different and had its up''s and downs. However doig this too often with every 'new' ship that comes to the game is going to kill their game.
Many ST fans will pay several times-- my recommendation to cryptic is- pick what you want to make people pay for with care. If you offer 3 pay ships and someone pays for each other them- you just made them pay MORE than the first expiation of wow- and your game has been out for 6 months and still has embarrassing bugs in it that have been around sense cb. You risk KILLING the golden goose that is laying the eggs.
The last ever thing ill buy from c-store will be the Excellsior and nothing else ever again , and only Excellsior skin if its a proper item store price of around 200 max, fed up with the money pinching from Cryptic.
Even the Excellsior im now having doubts over , its not got a good skill , the transwarp you can with higher ranks so whats the point , at least give it a combat skill as well . Remember in Undiscovered Country when the Excellsior launched all those torps from two front launchers and blew that BOP up , how about something along those lines?
Well, until something gives, I'm out of here. I'm not going to buy anything more from STO's C-store*. Unfortunately, I can't un-sub, since I'm a lifetime sucker. Someone told me "what you play shouldn't frustrate you" about something entirely different, but my mind immediately went to STO. I'm tired of being frustrated as I try to get Cryptic to follow through on the promises and assurances that led me to make the investment of a lifetime sub. Even if I didn't care about the dishonesty, the part of season 2 I was looking forward to the most - interiors - turned out to have even worse Alice-in-Wonderland proportions than the rest of the game. I have no good reason to bother anymore and no faith left that the game will improve.
And since this is the last of the threads I cared to leave this comment in... goodbye, STO forums. I'm sure most of you won't miss me anyway.
*Though, since CO's store has followed the policies they originally promised - albeit under extreme 'whiner' duress - I might toss something in that direction in a fit of pique.
And I agree. I'll keep playing, just because the only thing making me able to come back to this game is the RP (even though the game is set up horribly for RP), but I definitely don't want anything more to do with the C-Store.
YOU MEAN WE ACTUALLY HAVE TO PAY TO MAINTAIN THE GAME AND TO ALLOW UPDATES AND ADVANCE THE GAME AS A WHOLE!?! WTF!?! THATS HORRIBLE! CRYPTIC IS GREEDY! HOW DARE THEY EXPECT TO GET PAID FOR THE WORK THEY DO!!! GRRRRRRRR
(btw, that was sarcasm) ( lol )
Other than membership fee's which seem to be shrinking daily, this is the one thing that keeps Cryptic afloat, thus, I really don't care if they charge $10 for fluff, btw, no one's forcing you to buy it. You just won't be playing with that fluff is all.
You know why subs are shrinking? It is because in a huge content patch our 3 "NEW" ships are re-skins of old ships...the news content vessels are going to be TRIBBLE amount on the C-store.
Cryptic is making good money off subscriptions but that subscription count will not increase if all the actual INTERESTING loot needs to be bought via a meta-game.
We may not be playing with new ships but it also mans we will not be playing with that many new players either because lets be honest: the price for entry is STARTING at $15 p/mo and rising.
Comments
While you are right, and I support the C-Store for some things, the Excelsior should NOT be a C-Store item. The Galaxy-X and TOS connie I don't have a problem with, those are two ships that should not be prevalent in the game, as it doesn't make sense, but the Excelsior class was the most common class at one point, so if there are that many defiant-esq ships in game, there should be alot of Excelsiors as well.
And while I do support helping the game I love to prosper, there is a point at where I start questioning how much it counts as adding new content, when so much of it is pay-to-play (C-Store) stuff not included in the Sub price. Now if Cryptic makes custom ships or ships that showed up once in the shows or movies, sure no problem, C-Store it, but not the Excelsior class- if anything I think it shoudl be the Federation's answer to the Klingon's Bird of Prey - a ship that spans the ranks and is an "all purpose" ship.
Atari only interested is a huge temporary profit (single games like ME, Stalker) , no long-term (like UO, WoW, Eve).
I appreciate the efforts of employees' Cryptic (dstahl, captLogan..), but they do not have the last word.
And CBS? The Canon protector? Their politics => more money = more canon.:(
so it comes down to the bottom line as always if cryptic has to pay for the copyright for the ships then ill pay for them till the cows come home this is the same in every game and always will be.
Am looking forward to the Nebula and will buy it the minute its released
Hey gang,
Thanks again for all of your feedback. It really is incredibly valued.
I understand that some of you are upset that the Excelsior and Nebula Class vessels are headed to the C-Store. Theres a number of reasons for this, and I want to try and address them for you.
Some people are upset because they feel these items shouldnt go into the C-Store because theyre "Canon Ships".
I can understand this view point, and Ill make sure to pass it along. I also want to remind you however that we use the C-store to make things that you are requesting, which otherwise would not make it into the game. So, without the C-store, there would be no excelsior or Nebula in STO for some time.
The most prevalent reason seems to be that some people feel as though theyre not getting enough bang for their subscription buck right now. Its very true that your subscription fees do go towards the ongoing development of Star Trek Online. So, I thought I would remind you all of some of the things weve added since launch for free to all of our players.
PvP
Shanty Town PvP Map
Uniform Options
Off Duty Uniforms
New stances and hairstyles at the tailor.
Klingon
The KTanco Battle Cruiser
New Klingon Only Episodes(Coming Soon)
New Klingon Carrier
Federation
War Games (Fed vs. Fed PvP)
The Diplomatic Corps (Coming Soon)
Defiant/Galaxy/Intrepid Refits
Fleet Actions/Content
The Big Dig
DS9 Under Siege
New Undine Missions and Fleet Action (Coming Soon)
Weekly Featured Episodes (Coming Soon)
Miscellaneous
The Difficulty Slider
The Injury System
Accolades
Squad Support
Mini Games (Coming Soon)
Level Cap Increase, 45-51 (Coming Soon)
Veterans Rewards
Not to mention numerous bug fixes, and other minor changes and polish weve made based on your feedback. Were already hard at work planning Season 3 for you right now as well! Almost all of the things listed above have been things that you, our community, has asked us to make happen for you. I personally feel that the Dev Team is doing a great job of pushing out content that you all have been asking for, and at a bang up pace.
However, Im also seeing that you guys would like to see some more customization updates included in the next big update. It may not happen for Season 2, but I will make sure to pass that along to the Dev Team so they can keep that in mind as theyre planning Season 3 and beyond.
Thanks,
Stormshade"
Pirates of the Caribbean Online only costs 10 dollars a month. Hell's bells the game come free with the subscription, you don't even have to buy a box. It has no microtransactions, and is limited to a US only market. Since launch they have added all sorts of new content, ground PvP, ship PvP, new play areas, map and scene revamp, character polygon count reduction, new loot options, new weapons, two level cap increases, cargo increase, new treasure, drops, mini games (ship repair and potion creation), leader boards that track more than DPS and Healing, new NPCs, new baddies, new quests, UI revamp, Jolly Rodger ground raids of major islands, special events for holidays, flag ships, treasure fleets, and now new port raids by ships. Really that's what I remember. 10 dollars a month and nothing more. Either Disney is losing money on PoTCO or the PoTCO bean counters are better than Cryptic's. Then again I do not believe that Disney has too many other MMOs, or a secret third MMO in production.
Mind you PoTco is a grind fest with poor graphics that run slow on a good machine. They took a PG13 title and forced it to be G rated. Still they have made good time sinks to keep the players engaged while they maintained a viable player base that not only keeps it afloat in a MMO world defined by the success of WoW but has made improvements. They have never to my recollection played the, "Woe is us WoW ruined the market card." They have even identified and fixed bugs in a timely manner. Consider that my guild specialized in pooling resources to identify bugs and exploits, and in lieu of little to no shinnies, would not report them so we could show off. PoTCO Devs would identify and fix most, on average, within two months.
I can't speak against it as I am all for it. A MMO benchmark should be to keep the player invested in the game through their monthly subscription. The best way to do that is through compelling in story time sinks that offer good rewards, like the one you suggested.
There was content in the game during beta that got removed whilst it was polished, then it gets re released after launch as 'new' content. Most new content has only been graphical updates, as well as systems from Champions online been reskinned with a Star Trek theme, and they haven't been free either, for some odd reason Cryptic mentions these updates as though no one is paying a monthly subscription, which almost every other MMO uses to pay for the games running costs '&' patch updates for the game (So far none of the updates for STO have been in the XPAC size IMHO, so comparing them to XPAC's in other games really shouldn't be done). It was stated many a time before the game launched that all content in the C-store would be available though other game play means as well (which has yet to happen)
The C-store was always portrayed before the game launched as a place where you could changes your characters name, transfer characters, maybe buy more character slots and possibly have fluff items with no effects on them which would have game play effects. Instead, we have ships and races with abilities only available from the C-store, we have the bridges for ships player own only from the C-store, we even have the pre-order exclusives. To be honest the C-store has gone completely out of control now. i genuinely wouldn't be as bothered about the C-store if the game was free to play, but having it alongside a subscription based system is just greedy, and to be honest, the fact that this hybrid pay system is been used on a Star Trek MMO really does dishonor the very principles of what Star Trek in based on.
I happily bought a lifetime subscription, as well as 3 copies of the game (for pre-order bonuses), I believe I've truly done my part to support this game, but to have people claim I'm been greedy and trying to harm the game because I disagree with the C-store is bizarre. Many other games have happily survived on Subscription plans, I fail to see why STO should really be any different. From the way people argue for the C-store, you'd think the game would sink in a few months if it wasn''t for the C-store. If this is the case, then STO is in serious trouble.
Just for the record, I think the work the Dev's do on the game, especially the graphics department is awesome, it just saddens me that it really feels like the Dev's are been forced down this route from the higher ups, who are all thinking short term profits and not sustainability, the fact that allot of the original core community in this game has moved on is quite alarming, and most of the ones I know left mainly because of the C-store.
/rant
*dons flame suit*
C'mon, tell us how you really feel!
I agree completely though. Especially that, if the game is as dependent on the C-store as is often claimed, then there's a big problem. And trying to gouge people even more isn't going to solve that problem, except possibly in a disappointing "make back as much of the investment as possible and then close" sort of way.
Give us a way to obtain all of these items in-game, it doesn't have to be easy or quick. But a method besides spending real-world cash in a game we already pay a subscription for...
You forget Crytpic is made up of 3 guys in a basement with an Apple II GS. They are using our subsctptions to save up for the 1 button mouse they have always dreamed of!
The problem is that there is somebody sitting in the 'Department of Bean Affairs' that has decreed that $TRIBBLE.xx MUST be gotten from each and every nerd that uses the game. There is no consideration for those that shelled out for the LTS, for multiple copies, or that continue to pay a monthly sub. The whole operation is geared towards "what have you paid me today!?!"
There is a budget somewhere on someone's desk that has been written that dictates that there must be xx% of revenue derived from Non-Subrcription based products/services, and EVERYTHING has to post an increase of at least 10% over last months sales figures.
Wow...how did we ever come across such insider information?!?!? ...lol
Mark use to work for Cryptic... i think his last handle was copper..no maybe it was iron.... TRIBBLE can t remember i think it was a metal with an atomic number of 30 if i recall:p
holy smoke....i ve just read your signature Mark... loving it...
*doubles over laughing*
If the "not actually taking a break" theories are true, I wouldn't be surprised for him to pop up somewhere... not likely that particular case tho. Or IS IT? Dun dun dun...
1. We angry players with phasers and pitchforks...KLINGONS included might storm the proverbial castle and burn it to the ground.
-or-
2. They are still doing the long-division with pencils and paper...or maybe with an abacus......Yes, that sounds about it. Maybe they are the same people that assist the GAO with the budget every year....
Sheesh, if it's not one thing, its another.
Freaking hilarious!
the c store would be viable if the game was free to play. release content to buy in a free to play game and no one gets mad... release it in a game where you already charge a premium to play a subpar game.. and you get post like this.
now, im happy for now with the game, i am one of those who said lets see what happens under the new leadership and see what this first content patch brings... i figured that at eleast the excelsior (who won the fan poll) would have been an ingame release. i agree that the piggies at cryptic just wanted to see which skin some people couldnt live without.. and as such if further polls are going to make the piggies oink and squeel than i am not going to take part in them and niether should anyone in the community..
now for the spelling out of what is going on... cryptic sees what happened. people have left the game because they did a poor job with content, and since they are behind, its like trying to bail a boat out with a strainer which is why the level cap went up already... its a fis that is like dangling keys over a baby, eventually we will want more and i dont think it will be there. but i think cryptic is concerned about the new star wars game coming out (and i am not advertising it or anything as i am not a star wars fan really) but... they are tyring to get their money now while they can b4 people jump ship...
and to all those who say that the c-store helps, of course it does, but... how can all the other mmo;s do it with just membership fees and they have much more stable games with much more content. inho, the key to cryptics future is makeing a hard decision, lose the c-store, or lose the monthly fees. that is it plain and simple.... and lifers, dont worry, you guys would probably get some uber awsome stuff if we went free to play..
Now that $***'s funny!
If that was the case, I probably could have helped burn the whole barn down allready...
As long as people buy items in the C-Store, Cryptic will sell them. If they have an advantage of making use (or abusing) a franchise or popular iconics in said franchise, they'll use them. If sales through the C-Store go up, they'll push the barriers more to see how much more they can soak out of it.
The majority of people on MMOs rarely look at forums and have a high tendency of spending money on microtransactions. If it makes them money, they'll keep at it.
We can blame Cryptic all we want, but if we didn't buy anything through the C-Store, they wouldn't have the option to do what they're doing right now. Instead they'd be focused on updating *more* content in-game instead of dividing their attention between that and the C-Store - Which imo would keep and attract more subscribers.
I thought Cryptic did a very good job with Champ's store, and was pleased with how STO's was shaping up. At launch and for a few months, everything seemed pretty cheap, all aesthetic, and not a big deal. I was happy to shell out $2-3 here and there for some cool new skins, regardless of the fact that I had already shelled out $300 for the retail box and my lifetime sub.
Then the sparkleship, or Galaxy X hit.
I don't believe a subscription based game should ever charge over $10 for a virtual item. I have no problems spending EXTRA money on a game to get something, but I refuse to be taken advantage of. Unfortunately for me, they're are many people who have money to burn, with no problem spending more on a virtual item then they could find the retail box for now.
I'll hold out hope they implement an in game option as a way to get these insanely priced items, sometime in the not so distant future, and they don't apply anything close to the $25 price point to these new ships.
"Funny" isn't the word I 've been using...
Well there were a few more colorful words I would rather have used.
cryptic is charging extra for new content when the old content is not even working properly.. just refered a friend over a week ago and big suprise... didnt get the referal points or anything... another shocker was uncovered when i looked into it, the referal system has been broken for what i can see is well OVER TWO MONTHS.... keep charging us more for a game that doesnt work properly cryptic.
i have no problem with there being glitches and bugs in a new game, but dont go and nickle and dime us when the content that is free doesnt even work right. i rmember back to when i first started the game, and another shocker, something was wrong with the billing program, i was locked out of the game for three weeks b4 you fixed it. lol.... but dont worry, the galaxy x is 25 dollers, even though you might not be able to log in lol.... id pay 25 dollers for content if it came with a garuntee that i would experience no more bugs, server lag, billing problems, referal problems, glitches, and enouph content to keep me busy for more than a month...
i also use more colorful words when i have to pay money to make a star trek game work like a star trek game should... does anyone know if there is a lemon law for video games.... lol...
MT's are Ok for special NON-Working costumes in games like maple story---- but in a top level MMO MT's are tacky.. More than that- if you want MT's in your "top level" MMO make them count. This last GAL-X deal I thought was ok. In fact I liked the idea that people had to pay 25 bucks for a ship that just looks a little different and had its up''s and downs. However doig this too often with every 'new' ship that comes to the game is going to kill their game.
Many ST fans will pay several times-- my recommendation to cryptic is- pick what you want to make people pay for with care. If you offer 3 pay ships and someone pays for each other them- you just made them pay MORE than the first expiation of wow- and your game has been out for 6 months and still has embarrassing bugs in it that have been around sense cb. You risk KILLING the golden goose that is laying the eggs.
Uh, what he said!
Even the Excellsior im now having doubts over , its not got a good skill , the transwarp you can with higher ranks so whats the point , at least give it a combat skill as well . Remember in Undiscovered Country when the Excellsior launched all those torps from two front launchers and blew that BOP up , how about something along those lines?
And since this is the last of the threads I cared to leave this comment in... goodbye, STO forums. I'm sure most of you won't miss me anyway.
*Though, since CO's store has followed the policies they originally promised - albeit under extreme 'whiner' duress - I might toss something in that direction in a fit of pique.
And I agree. I'll keep playing, just because the only thing making me able to come back to this game is the RP (even though the game is set up horribly for RP), but I definitely don't want anything more to do with the C-Store.
You know why subs are shrinking? It is because in a huge content patch our 3 "NEW" ships are re-skins of old ships...the news content vessels are going to be TRIBBLE amount on the C-store.
Cryptic is making good money off subscriptions but that subscription count will not increase if all the actual INTERESTING loot needs to be bought via a meta-game.
We may not be playing with new ships but it also mans we will not be playing with that many new players either because lets be honest: the price for entry is STARTING at $15 p/mo and rising.