This is misquoting someone in order to prove your point Tarjan. I expect better of you. The actual quote states that the C-store will be mostly cosmetic items, and that items which have an in-game effect will be able to be earned in-game, or items in-game will have similar effects.Originally Posted by tarjan
Cryptic said both roper and jack both said cstore would only be used for cosmetic items.
What we promised is that any item which does have an in-game effect will also have something of equal power available for free, in-game. We have not broken those promises yet, the refits of the Galaxy, Intrepid and Defiant, will be of equal power to the Galaxy X, which is the only item currently on the c-store which offers a major advantage.
Also, to add on to that, many players believe that the Galaxy X is not as powerful as other top of the line ships currently available in-game. So those players are also stating that there is not a balance problem due to items available on the C-Store.Originally Posted by tarjan
kinda funny how cryptic seems to evade this forum section maybe we should link post like this on game sites forums.... maybe they will get that a lot of us is really upset over this TRIBBLE.
Quite the opposite actually. I read quite a bit in this forum specifically due to the amount of people that are upset with the C-Store. just because we don't post a reply to every thread doesn't mean we don't read it.
If I responded to every thread I read with "Stormshade was here," as proof that I had read the thread, would that actually contribute anything? The answer is no. So therefore, I remain silent on a great number of the threads I'm reading, and only chime in when I have something worthwhile to add to the conversation. Several members of the development team have similar habits.Originally Posted by 1701LivesOn
Obvious bash-thread is obvious.
I agree. Which is why this thread is now closed.
Comments
Nice, they probably will, I think they hate anyone who doesn't worship them.
Then I and about 10 others in the forums must be the epitomy of Satan
Blak
Ha Ha
/10char
I have tried and they ignore me. Actually, according to their guidelines, questioning Disciplinary Actions is prohibited, I merely asked his opinion on a number of questions. And I merely suggested closing every thread that doesn't paint Cryptic in perfect light will not help them get good feedback.
I got to say, right now, I think you're my favorite Cryptic employee, cause that was awesome!
Don't be dissin' my Stormshade man!
EDIT: Or if you have an issue with me for that matter.
The Devs are fine. There's just crazy higher ups at Cryptic or CBS or whatever that are plain deceivers.
They can say "oh we didn't really say this" and provide all their very lawyer'ish reasons and workarounds. But it's not like that helps you trust them anymore.
Whoever is in charge of all the deceiving, misguiding, etc... They've ruined Cryptic for me. You shouldn't feel like you're talking to a lawyer and that anything can mean anything when talking about a company you've invested in.
Again, the game makers are mostly fine. Some of 'em are great. I just wish Atari, CBS or whatever Cryptic higher up guys are making this SUCK would leave.
It's not any of the yellow text people's fault (not likely anyways). This is just another project handled like TRIBBLE compared to completely respectable companies like Nintendo (among many others).
I like you, although you can be a little blunt. But, you don't hide behind false rationales. You try to be honest.
/agreed
I have to say, code you have an attitude, one I like. (some call it being blunt), but your don't try to worrlydick anything so I accept when you make a post. Others... need some work.
ME!
I brought along a day old Balonie Sandwich for ya.
Blak
Yeah I gots an issue with ya alright!
When did ya develop a sense o' humor?
Blak
This sums up my feelings perfectly. Only in my case, its a life time sub.
Blak, your butt kissing here is interrupting our legitimate thread debate here....
Yea what's up with this butt kissing and prostrating whenever the Dev responds on the thread? The OP asked legitimate questions and I would like a mucho serious answer from the Dev. Not another jokes to keep the community "happy."
Who then gets the credit for adding the following to the game?
Optional Dealth Penalty/Difficulty Slider (Season 1.1)
Exclusive items like TOS uniforms, mirror universe uniforms, etc... to the C-Store
Diplomatic Corps non combat missions (On Tribble now coming in Season 2)
More Ship interiors (On Tribble now coming in Season 2)
I am confused I thought Cryptic listened and added those features to the game based on what the consumer base (Forum users) requested.
I think this may be a difference between us.
I expect (and want, to some extent) people I do business with to justify their actions with nitpicky details and NOT to be beholden to broad principles. Cryptic has never shocked me with their business practices, nor do I feel deceived. Everything that has caused an uproar is something I said would happen and people didn't believe me when I said to expect it and embrace it. I feel like the resident prophet since I've been saying to expect exclusives on the C-store since closed beta and to expect their sales model to be based roughly on getting at least $18 a month per person and that dropped subs or too many lifers would result in more C-store offerings. For the record, I also said this would likely be a shift from Cryptic's leveling focused philosophy to a sparse leveling experience with development focused on endgame.
I also said ship functionality meant mini-games and that Klingon PvE content in the 45 day patch would be exploration clusters. Each time I made these comments, there were people who insisted on reading more favorably into words like "ship interior functionality" and "Klingon PvE content" and those people wound up being the most loudly disappointed when I think I did a fair job telling them what to expect. That doesn't mean it wouldn't have been nice if Cryptic had been more brutally honest but I think it's hard to call it deception if I was able to read into what they were saying.
In general, most of the bitter frustration seems to come from people who interpret marketing lingo to mean they're getting everything they want (or who have non-negotiable desires or who consider a statement of intent for anything more than a week in advance to be something remotely approaching a promise in the gaming business) and fail to recognize when someone is politely offering them a compromise in place of what they want.
The one exception for me was the heavy initial discounting of the game and my issue with that was that it was too heavy, too soon, to a point where it made it difficult for me to recruit because friends saw those discounts as being so deep, they thought the game was about to shut down.
This thread is likely getting closed down but I'll leave that up to a moderator to decide.
My point is that nitpicky words are exactly what you should be doing business in and reading your business associates in. Broad principles don't apply like that. We all try to make them apply -- and I've seen Cryptic bend the rules in the name of upholding broad principles or helping players. But I think you'll never be happy expecting or demanding that every time, especially in dealing with artists and engineers who not only need legal breathing room but will play with the nitpicky details to give themselves room to work. Tell them they can't have authority over their product by nitpicking the details in their favor and 99% of everyone doing painting or 3D models or writing code would go get jobs at McDonald's rather than be subjected to consumer tyranny.
If they wanted to be bound by your broad principles, they'd be in customer service, not marketing or art or programming. That doesn't mean they DON'T want to make you happy or uphold general principles. Guys like CapnLogan are proof of that. But nobody would sell art or write ad copy or design bridges or write code or engineer creative profit-making strategies if it didn't mean that they had to observe the "customer is always right" maxim. The typical designer in any field inherently wants to be always right and won't do business without the assurance that they can be protected by the nitpicky details. Ideally, everybody is always right together, customer and artist alike, or you have killer customer service who can satisfy both sides.
Operating on the nitpicky level will make you a prepared consumer, though. And you'll have to be if you deal with skilled artisans or engineers (including bean counters) because that's how they protect themselves.
I don't know. I've been sucked back into Age of Conan thanks to all the improvements...
Didn't you know that no matter what an MMO developer does, it'll never please some people? They'll find every and any little thing to complain about on the forums. Makes me wonder if they play the game or the forums more... wait; I already know the answer to that question.
But I'm leveling with you all, speaking as someone totally unaffiliated with Cryptic but who has lived and worked with a lot of artists and engineers over the years. These folks need the nitpicky rules both spelled out TO them and protecting them.
You have to tell them that they can't be falling over drunk at work and you have to put that in writing. You also have to let them lawyer their own words and agreements in their own favor.
That's what artists and architects and designers are like in my experience, whether it's people who do creative business planning or screenwriters or painters or poets or codemonkeys or actors.
While that in no way justifies anything, you can't deny that it created a sense of anger and frustration within the community. Some of us tried to maintain some level of rationality about the whole thing while being continually ignored by Cryptic, and in some cases grossly trolled and harrased by some players. I mention no names, but I think they should be self evident.
Frankly i think there quite a few threads that I was surprised did not get shut down faster than they did. I would hope that going forward, Cryptic would be a little more responsive to things before they get out of control. It would also be nice if the trolls were kept on a tighter leash as well. While I fully support evryones rights to express themselves, a lot of us got a little p***ed that we were able to be targeted, but not able to respond for fear of being hit with the ban hammer, and there were some that intentionally tried to make that happen.