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Idea to reduce forum whining...

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
If you take a look at the forum threads lately you can clearly see a massive amount of people who are not satisfied with what's going on in the STO universe (to say the least). This is making the forum useless for CRYPTIC to get any useful feedback and gives the general impression that the game is not doing well.

What is even more shocking is that many of those "unsatisfied" people writing those angry posts are lifetime subscribers who don't even play the game and come here just to tell CRYPTIC how much they disagree with STO's vision of Star Trek, CRYPTIC's marketing policies, the actual development stage of the game or whatever.

If the game is going to survive then it's necessary to get rid of the DOOM impression the forums are transmitting to anyone who cares to read a couple of threads. The only way to do that is stopping the people from writing those posts and that's not easy... why? let's see, ...

FACTS:

- A lifetime subscriber is not going to cancel his/her subscription like any other unsatisfied player because that can't be done.

- A lifetime subscriber usually is someone who plays videogames on a regular basis and knows other people that play videogames. If that subscriber is writing in the forums then we are talking about someone who "speaks up" and gives his/her impressions on things whenever he wants and not a quiet, shy person.

- A disatisfied lifetime subscriber won't be saying any good things about STO anywhere and will do a great damage to STO's image in all his/her surroundings. Word of mouth is still the best advertising for any videogame.

ASSUMPTIONS:

- A lifetime subscriber who feels he/she has been "betrayed" by CRYPTIC because of (put whatever reason you want here: Marketing policies, unfinished product, non canon ST game,...) will just keep coming back to the forums to express his/her disatisfaction because of the feeling of "wasted money and time" that accompanies all angry posts you can read in the forum.

- A dissapointed lifetime subscriber is not going to change his/her perception of the game after 6 months since release, no matter what CRYPTIC does, it just won't happen. 6 months waiting for an expensive gaming inversion to fulfill expectations is too long. They won't change their minds.

- The only way of making a disatisfied lifetime subscriber get away from the forums and stop giving bad publicity to the game here and in real life is to stop the "wasted time and money" perception and making him/her forget about the game.

SOLUTION:

It seems clear there is only one solution to the problem... give the lifetime subscribers the ability to cancel their accounts and get their unused gametime money back. This will solve many problems with the whinings in the forums and most probably improve CRYPTIC's image for anyone who reads the forums and the ex-lifetime subscribers.

This solution is so clear and evident to anyone that CRYPTIC is making the problem worse by ignoring it .

This solution won't stop the whining on the forums, but at least will tackle a good portion of it by taking out the ones that do most damage, the ones written by lifetime subscribers.

Here, in vulcan terms:
Tuvok? wrote:
"Cryptic is just making its financial problem bigger in the long term by refusing to acknowledge the lifetime subscribers' desire to cancel their accounts and get a money refund, because those disatisfied customers are giving bad publicity to the product and turning people away from STO that otherwise might have bought the product. The fact that this desire has been previously acknowledged by Cryptic and now is being ignored is even more worrying as it is giving everyone at the STO community the impression that Cryptic's word has absolutey no value."
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    people have a right to hold and express differing opinions.

    solution: if you can't accept this don't come on the forums.

    simple
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    but at least will tackle a good portion of it

    No it won't. Players.. either lifetime members or no, will express their opinion no matter what. You can't stop that and neither can I. So dont even try. :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Sad to say, but it won't. IT seems to be a Gore given right(He invented the Internet, didn't he after all?) that people will complain, and grouse and flame because no matter what you give them, it is rarely enough. They would just fine some other direction to complain about.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    OR the solution would be to address the problems and actually fix the game without resorting to highwayman tactics with the C Store, since realistically you already paid for that.

    Please no more smart pants threads about "whining " because if there is smoke there is fire. And its getting rather hot...;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    OR the solution would be to address the problems and actually fix the game without resorting to highwayman tactics with the C Store, since realistically you already paid for that.

    Please no more smart pants threads about "whining " because if there is smoke there is fire. And its getting rather hot...;)

    But fire keeps the trolls away! Well that and the sheer volume of acidic bile spewed..... Its sad to say but to a certain extent, some of the problems are solved by the c-store, even though it helps to create problems too.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    I just can't even reply to this pile of,



    of,



    of,



    Poo.



    Almost did'nt make it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Went through all the effort of posting using colors to make it look nice. Well, it was said in the last election... "You can put lipstick on a pig..."
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Not going to happen they already spent the money. that is what most likely paid for the development costs. So not they can not give back the money.

    added to that whining if done in the right way is a good thing. One well written thread can light the forum on fire, and those small fires promote change. that is how changes come along.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    this seem like an *O wait wrong topic*

    Just go maykay we don't whine we loudly complain and protest against actions that we (the ones who protest) think have gone to far.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    I'm sorry, English is not my native language and i think i didn't express myself correctly...

    I was trying to make an ironic post asking for a money refund for the lifetime subscribers who ask for it, like they said time ago they would offer. I'm one of those who feel betrayed and i come to the forums to express my disatisfaction and tell everyone everything I don't like concerning CRYPTIC and STO.

    I just want to cancel my subscription and get some money back!!! and tell CRYPTIC they should honour their word (for a change). I've used the "forum whining" approach because it seems that could be the way to make them listen.

    Again, I'm sorry and apologize to anyone who has felt offended by my post, in no way i'm saying that people should shut up in the forums, i'm one of those who doesn't!! If you read some of my other posts you'll see that i've called CRYPTIC liars several times and i've been called whiner by others.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    I'm sorry, English is not my native language and i think i didn't express myself correctly...

    I was trying to make an ironic post asking for a money refund for the lifetime subscribers who ask for it, like they said time ago they would offer. I'm one of those who feel betrayed and i come to the forums to express my disatisfaction and tell everyone everything I don't like concerning CRYPTIC and STO.

    I just want to cancel my subscription and get some money back!!! and tell CRYPTIC they should honour their word (for a change). I've used the "forum whining" approach because it seems that could be the way to make them listen.

    Again, I'm sorry and apologize to anyone who has felt offended by my post, in no way i'm saying that people should shut up in the forums, i'm one of those who doesn't!!

    irony and long post do not mix.

    as for your money back they offered that around launch (forget when exactly) for a short time and only than they said.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Sounds like someone is fishing for a refund.......................
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    heh.....


    Hi guys....



    I'm not going to comment here ( no way.. :) ), except to say.....


    Those burnt muffins I ate this morning ? : ..... well.... now my mouth tastes like I smoked a pack of Camels.....then ate a couple Kingsford briquettes.....



    Think I need a popsicle or something........


    .
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    heh.....


    Hi guys....



    I'm not going to comment here ( no way.. :) ), except to say.....


    Those burnt muffins I ate this morning ? : ..... well.... now my mouth tastes like I smoked a pack of Camels.....then ate a couple Kingsford briquettes.....



    Think I need a popsicle or something........


    .

    LOL. I was trying to come up with my own response to that, till you did.

    So yeah, sometimes when there's smoke, theres no fire.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    DLRevan wrote: »
    LOL. I was trying to come up with my own response to that, till you did.

    So yeah, sometimes when there's smoke, theres no fire.

    smoke grenade :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Liandras wrote:
    smoke grenade :)

    Helluvalot of smoke grenades thown in this forum.

    As for this threads topic, i agree on it in principle, but no one's getting any refund. Refunds just dont work for any kind of lifetime subscriptions anywhere, whether they be for a game, a club, or anything else. Especially when a limited time refund WAS offered early in the STO's lifetime, if i recall.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    If you take a look at the forum threads lately you can clearly see a massive amount of people who are not satisfied with what's going on in the STO universe (to say the least). This is making the forum useless for CRYPTIC to get any useful feedback and gives the general impression that the game is not doing well.

    What is even more shocking is that many of those "unsatisfied" people writing those angry posts are lifetime subscribers who don't even play the game and come here just to tell CRYPTIC how much they disagree with STO's vision of Star Trek, CRYPTIC's marketing policies, the actual development stage of the game or whatever.

    If the game is going to survive then it's necessary to get rid of the DOOM impression the forums are transmitting to anyone who cares to read a couple of threads. The only way to do that is stopping the people from writing those posts and that's not easy... why? let's see, ...

    FACTS:

    - A lifetime subscriber is not going to cancel his/her subscription like any other unsatisfied player because that can't be done.

    - A lifetime subscriber usually is someone who plays videogames on a regular basis and knows other people that play videogames. If that subscriber is writing in the forums then we are talking about someone who "speaks up" and gives his/her impressions on things whenever he wants and not a quiet, shy person.

    - A disatisfied lifetime subscriber won't be saying any good things about STO anywhere and will do a great damage to STO's image in all his/her surroundings. Word of mouth is still the best advertising for any videogame.

    ASSUMPTIONS:

    - A lifetime subscriber who feels he/she has been "betrayed" by CRYPTIC because of (put whatever reason you want here: Marketing policies, unfinished product, non canon ST game,...) will just keep coming back to the forums to express his/her disatisfaction because of the feeling of "wasted money and time" that accompanies all angry posts you can read in the forum.

    - A dissapointed lifetime subscriber is not going to change his/her perception of the game after 6 months since release, no matter what CRYPTIC does, it just won't happen. 6 months waiting for an expensive gaming inversion to fulfill expectations is too long. They won't change their minds.

    - The only way of making a disatisfied lifetime subscriber get away from the forums and stop giving bad publicity to the game here and in real life is to stop the "wasted time and money" perception and making him/her forget about the game.

    SOLUTION:

    It seems clear there is only one solution to the problem... give the lifetime subscribers the ability to cancel their accounts and get their unused gametime money back. This will solve many problems with the whinings in the forums and most probably improve CRYPTIC's image for anyone who reads the forums and the ex-lifetime subscribers.

    This solution is so clear and evident to anyone that CRYPTIC is making the problem worse by ignoring it .

    This solution won't stop the whining on the forums, but at least will tackle a good portion of it by taking out the ones that do most damage, the ones written by lifetime subscribers.

    Here, in vulcan terms:

    Some good points, especially about highlighting how lifetimers tend to speak for those who would be in the game if A, B, and C were completed. LTS want more people, we know how important it is to keep the gaming growing. That is why we fight so hard on other forums to keep the image of the game up, and fight so hard against the devs on this forum to get what we need to bring new people in.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Get this through your head right now: this is a MMORPG, therefore nothing will reduce the whining on the forums. Not. One. Thing.

    Nothing Cryptic does will ever have the slightest impact on the quantity of whining on these forums, which is exactly why most MMORPG developers of other games end up ignoring the forums.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    To the contrary, I think that Cryptic has made a very good business decision by allowing their customers (lifetime or not) to express their frustrations with the game in the forums. If they actually take from these complaints some of the better ideas, they can create a better game for their customers. And lifetime subscribers are paying for the success of the game just like regular subscribers. You could divide the initial up-front cost of a lifetime account by X years, and it is still a form of payment.

    Every massively multiplayer game tends to have a huge and diverse following. To ignore what even a minority of that community has to say would be bad for their decision making progress. They have every right to make a game, the way they want it, on their own terms. But at the same time, every customer as a right to discontinue playing such a game.

    It's clear that Cryptic isn't trying to stifle any type of discussion about game-play on these forums, and (hopefully) this shows they are taking a lot of what people are saying into consideration. I would consider constructive criticism to be more valuable than a 50-page thread about players voting themselves free items or adding god-mode type items to the C-STORE. Obviously the people complaining LIKE the game and see what the game COULD BE, so what you may perceive to be whining may well just be people discussing what they would like to see in the game (albeit some are more intense about it than others).

    Ironically, this whole idea about letting people get refunds to stifle discussion is probably the worst idea to hit the forums that I have seen.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Oh look, another thread WHINING about other people WHINING. How amusing :o
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Oh look, another thread WHINING about other people WHINING. How amusing :o

    Zoddammit! :eek:

    Quit whining about the whining going on in the thread about whining that everyone is whining about...

    ...allready! :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    MarkStone wrote: »
    Zoddammit! :eek:

    Quit whining about the whining going on in the thread about whining that everyone is whining about...

    ...allready! :D

    whiner ......


    :p:D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    MarkStone wrote: »
    Zoddammit! :eek:

    Quit whining about the whining going on in the thread about whining that everyone is whining about...

    ...allready! :D

    The difference between you and I and the OP is we didnt post a new thread about it :o
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    The difference between you and I and the OP is we didnt post a new thread about it :o

    I like you.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Bsranger wrote: »
    I like you.

    So do alot of the rest of us. Are we trying to get this thread closed? Ha.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Well, we gotta give the Mods something to besides stare at us and twitch... :p
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    The difference between you and I and the OP is we didnt post a new thread about it :o

    I know. The sad thing is that a new one isn't needed, there are so many existing ones to choose from.

    And I like you too. :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    . . . It seems clear there is only one solution to the problem... give the lifetime subscribers the ability to cancel their accounts and get their unused gametime money back. . . . I was trying to make an ironic post asking for a money refund for the lifetime subscribers who ask for it, like they said time ago they would offer.

    Lets see, open beta (soft start) started 2 Feburary 2010, and official start was 17 Feburary 2010. Fast forward five (5) months, and you want a refund. I don't think subscriptions work this way,
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    So...

    Your solution isn't for Cryptic to fix the game? It's to give us "blues" a refund?

    Shut off the voices of discontent instead of actually make the game that they promised it would be?

    Oh God! I think I just had an aneurysm. I... I'm dying. Are you happy? Your * * has killed me. Now my * cat is homeless. I'm dead.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Krussian wrote:
    .... Now my * cat is homeless. ......

    hehe


    :)..............
This discussion has been closed.