Did you play during the weekend when they were offering the tribble?
Yes, I did. Yes I got them for free.
That's not really the point. They are selling these items. These items affect gameplay. A player joins tomorrow, and can only get them through the C-Store.
That's the point. Not if I have them and got them for free. But that the C-Store is now the way these become available. These aren't just flavor items. These are items that give buffs in-game that affect combat.
That's not really the point. They are selling these items. These items affect gameplay. A player joins tomorrow, and can only get them through the C-Store.
That's the point. Not if I have them and got them for free. But that the C-Store is now the way these become available. These aren't just flavor items. These are items that give buffs in-game that affect combat.
Which effects gameplay more? Them selling those tribbles, or not selling them at all and the new player that joins tomorrow just misses out entirely?
Which effects gameplay more? Them selling those tribbles, or not selling them at all and the new player that joins tomorrow just misses out entirely?
Them selling the tribbles. Because ... it's a KDF centric issue, where the tribbles are concerned anyways. It's the only way a KDF player can get the buff.
A fed can join ... and either breed normal tribbles or just buy pre-bred tribbles off the exchange. There is a thriving system for tribble use in-game. (The top tier tribbles are better than the tribbles from test server and the rivera tribble on the c-store).
Anyways, we're getting pretty far afield don't you think? I'm not advocating shutting down the c-store. I understand the OP's point. And while I may agree with the criticism, I don't think shutting down the c-store is a viable solution. Nor do I think it's something STO will consider at this late stage of the game.
So I'm not really here to argue for shutting down the c-store.
Just to acknowledge that the c-store is currently offering things that are more than just flavor. And that is a legitimate criticism of how they evolved their c-store.
Most of the races in the C-store are supposed to be rare, or are otherwise inappropriate for mass playability in Starfleet. The exception to this would be the Tellarites, but that's not really here or there. The rest are supposed to be very limited. By putting them in the store, you allow people the option to make one of they really want to, but it's obviously meant as a discouragement. A compromise between canon and allowing people to make the characters that they really want.
i can understand of "rare" races but putting them in the C-Store don't make them rare ... i bet that half the players of STO has one or two of the new races so thats not rare in my book.
Ohwell i see your point of it all and i agree in a way, but if thats the way cryptic wanted to be for the new races then 80, 120, 200 or 280 points is way to low cus i totaly did not mind to pay 200 points for a race.
Which effects gameplay more? Them selling those tribbles, or not selling them at all and the new player that joins tomorrow just misses out entirely?
Yes there is a problem here people that got there tribble from test server, its not fair to a new player BUT selling the tribbles in C-Store is not the good way, why not just add some mission to get the tribble, you know a mission a NEW player can take to get the tribble that way has the NEW player don't have to spend MORE money on a ingame item !! cus is it fair for the new player to pay extra for a tribble then the player who got there tribble for free ?! think of that one.
I had a KDF toon and on my away team I had Klingons and they had tribbles the tribble (mat) (ric)
they had the buffs. I bread them in my bank vault and ship vault as well. It may be a bug that affects some not all. The Tribble undine is the one I use the most as it gives the best buffs.
I also don't mind the C store but everything in it should be obtainable in game at a fair cost to the players.
Have any of you people hating on the C-Store ever been to California? Your precious $25 purchase in the C-Store barely covers lunch.
I heard someone say he would 'start a riot' if they put the Red Matter Capacitor in the C-Store because he spent $80....SIX MONTHS AGO :eek: If you drop the cost of a dinner for two (going easy on the drinks of course) on a video game half a year ago and then have the nerve to log in and rage about how much you've invested in STO and how nobody else should be as special as you, something is seriously wrong with both your self-esteem and financial perspective.
We love the game or not , fact is op is correct.
The c store has hurt cryptic more than they realise , I know tons n tons who are leaving when kotor is out because of the money pinching.
So your leaving a game with a store that you don't have to buy stuff from to a game with a store that you have to buy stuff from?
During a conference call with investors, EA's CEO John Riccitello has revealed that BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO will be a mid-session game that's micro-transaction based, thereby distancing the title from World of Warcraft's model of subscription based payment.
"Other initiatives that we have announced, for example the Star Wars Online MMO, are mid-session games which are micro-transaction based. You'll be hearing more about those in the February call," Riccitello stated.
There is nothing wrong with the C-store as it is now, aside from having some items that exclusive that should also have a means to obtain them ingame. The players have spoken, and dstahl seems intent on making sure future ships added to the C-store will also be obtainable through some means ingame. Every other online store is one of two types - pay for content blocks (f2p games) or pay for fluff and some minor enhancers (paid sub games). When STO goes f2p (and it will, all the indicators are there, when is the question) then you will have a valid argument that too much is available in the store, because you will be forced to buy access to sectors and the quests inside, not to mention most races and ships.
To anyone that's read my posting history on the C-Store, you know that I'm hardly anywhere near a defender of the damn thing. However, some people (like the OP) blow it way out of proportion. As it currently stands, my biggest peevs regarding it are the sheer amount of stuff up there and the fact that almost nothing is attainable in-game. If they make everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) unlockable through some in-game means (pay with badges, get as an accolade or mission reward, etc) then I can handle the concept.
Microtransaction stores are NOT a bad thing, but the way that they are handled CAN be. Look at how many people have left the game because of it. Regardless as to if you like it or not, it IS hurting the game. I refuse to buy anything up there (that I haven't already purchased before this became an issue for me), despite that some of the stuff up there I really want, because of Cryptic's handling of it.
Yes, I've used terms like "money grubbing" and "cash grab", but that is the way that a lot of us see it. I also see it as an early indication that the game will go F2P (not necessarily soon, nor should it).
Microtransaction stores are NOT a bad thing, but the way that they are handled CAN be. Look at how many people have left the game because of it. Regardless as to if you like it or not, it IS hurting the game.
Please provide some hard data to back up this wildly speculative claim?
90% of statistics are completely made up to support the poster's own opinion.
They're not actually using the C-Store to its full potential, actually. I thought the Galaxy-X in there was a bad thing at first but it's not. They still have yet to load up the Red Matter Capacitor, Type 8 shuttle, or other trinkets people would whine about then purchase.
soooooo what your saying is your ****ed you spent all that money on the game (lifetime sub etc etc) and now they are asking you to spend more money..........hmmmmm its not like they are a business or anything and they need to keep the money flowing i dont blame them .........let me put it another way .....hell will freeze over first before the c store disappears hell its more likely the game would become free to play with a c store first............................................Tissue?
your period button is stuck, i suggest fixing it.
back on topic, yes cryptic is a business, but you EITHER have a item store and NO sub or you HAVE sub and no item store. you do not do both, as evidently ppl will run far FAR away from games that can't make up their mind.
at the moment all they do is looking greedy trying to scam as much money out of us as possible for "features" that we SHOULD have free to begin with because we pay a subscription fee. its not like this game has to much stuff so they actually can get away with it. Blizzard probably could with WoW if they wanted to, a unfinished game like this can not.
yes i know they will make "some" of it available through normal gameplay, but they will most likely keep the most desirable items as a C-store exclusive, and only have the stuff almost no one buy free.
now, they might not have a CHOICE but to keep the c-store as so many have abandoned the game partly because of it, but on the other hand it sure wont help them financially.
i wish they would at least handle the C-store in this game the same way they do on CO, there they just add avatar costumes every once in a while, in this game they mostly seem to want to make up for the dwindling subscriber income with it, and that just won't work.
i read their "excuse" for adding all that stuff on the C-store, but the problem is that they do not have a dedicated team for it, they use devs i'm already paying with my subscription, so technically i'm paying for it twice (or more depending on the cost) if i decide to buy something.
Please provide some hard data to back up this wildly speculative claim?
heres some proven facts, server queues that lasted over an hour the first few months after launch and 10+ instances PER SECTOR. now you'd be lucky if there were 10+ instances TOTAL across all sectors with the exeption of the weekly episode sector on saturdays.
pvp queres taking 30 minutes to an hour+ to fill up compared to instantly popping at release, even at cap rank.
i could go on but tbh, if u cant even see these two issues i doubt it would be worth the time to write them down.
I'm in favour of the c-store, but I do have to admit the OP makes some good points here.
I hope that some of the new costumes they're working on can be purchased by GPL instead of CP. I'd still buy them either/ or, but having more in-game means to do so would be nice.
heres some proven facts, server queues that lasted over an hour the first few months after launch and 10+ instances PER SECTOR. now you'd be lucky if there were 10+ instances TOTAL across all sectors with the exeption of the weekly episode sector on saturdays.
pvp queres taking 30 minutes to an hour+ to fill up compared to instantly popping at release, even at cap rank.
i could go on but tbh, if u cant even see these two issues i doubt it would be worth the time to write them down.
They have also done a lot of things regarding how load balancing was implemented and how the queues function. Also, part of the problem with the queues is that there aren't enough klingons playing - but I bet more left over the lack of PVE than of the C-store.
I don't disagree there are fewer people playing. I do disagree your "proven facts" show that people left over the evil scary C-store.
To make a compelling case, not only would you need hard evidence that X number of people have left because of the CStore, you would need to show that the subscription $ of those people exceeded the $ from the CStore that were gained.
Even more problematic, you would need to show that closing the CStore would somehow bring in enough new subscription $ to make up for the lost revenue going forward.
here's some proven facts, server queues that lasted over an hour the first few months after launch and 10+ instances PER SECTOR. now you'd be lucky if there were 10+ instances TOTAL across all sectors with the exception of the weekly episode sector on Saturdays.
Wait... did you actually just prove that the Weekly Episodes are good for STO and in fact, that since you have to maintain a subscription to be able to play Weekly Episodes, there actually are people paying the monthly fee to play weekly episode but they are perhaps avoiding playing on weekdays and thus still paying for STO and yet not taxing the servers?!?! :rolleyes:;)
90% of statistics are completely made up to support the poster's own opinion.
Five out of four statisticians agree with this statement.
While I do not have any HARD facts, the fact of the matter is that the C-Store IS turning off a lot of people, myself included. I haven't left the game because of it, but I am not buying things from it because I don't like how it's being handled. I know I'm not the only one. Is it killing the game? It's certainly not helping.
To make a compelling case, not only would you need hard evidence that X number of people have left because of the CStore, you would need to show that the subscription $ of those people exceeded the $ from the CStore that were gained.
Even more problematic, you would need to show that closing the CStore would somehow bring in enough new subscription $ to make up for the lost revenue going forward.
Good luck.
Agreed. Some people left due to the C-store, but there are more reasonable excuses than the C-store. Limited Klingon content seems to be a better reason than the C-store. People either support the game by using the C-store, like the extras, or ignore it completely. I have a lifetime subscription and I enjoy the game, but in 1.5 years I won't be paying for the game anymore. The C-store would be the only way to show my support and I like getting interesting stuff that I use.
We love the game or not , fact is op is correct.
The c store has hurt cryptic more than they realise , I know tons n tons who are leaving when kotor is out because of the money pinching.
And I'm sure they won't be on the forums over there complaining that "everything" is being put on the "Skywalker Store/Darth Mall".
Regardless of whether or not there is anything in the C-Store required to play the game, the very fact that there are items that can only be bought in the C-Store is downright wrong for a subscription MMO. 'Nuff Sed.
Regardless of whether or not there is anything in the C-Store required to play the game, the very fact that there are items that can only be bought in the C-Store is downright wrong for a subscription MMO. 'Nuff Sed.
There's a many different MMOs out there that would agree with you, including WoW.
Regardless of whether or not there is anything in the C-Store required to play the game, the very fact that there are items that can only be bought in the C-Store is downright wrong for a subscription MMO. 'Nuff Sed.
The problem is that said subscription is still $15, which is not worth the same value it was years ago when MMOs started charging $15...
That's covers part of the statement. What supports the claim that it is the C-Store causing the population decline.
I'm thinking the Mirror Universe uniform flap/rant/forum meltdown weekend is probably shading my perception of the c-store's impact on the player population.
I'm thinking the Mirror Universe uniform flap/rant/forum meltdown weekend is probably shading my perception of the c-store's impact on the player population.
I don't know about how others felt about the MU and pre-order fiasco, but I know that it was a major turn-off for me and at least one of my RL friends. It was at that point that I got fed up with the C-Store and refused to buy anything more, no matter what was put up (and there are still a couple things that I really want but won't get until Cryptic gets their act together). I'll reiterate what I said before: The C-Store isn't a bad concept, but Cryptic has proven many times in the past months that they don't know how to properly run an MT store.
Comments
Yes, I did. Yes I got them for free.
That's not really the point. They are selling these items. These items affect gameplay. A player joins tomorrow, and can only get them through the C-Store.
That's the point. Not if I have them and got them for free. But that the C-Store is now the way these become available. These aren't just flavor items. These are items that give buffs in-game that affect combat.
Which effects gameplay more? Them selling those tribbles, or not selling them at all and the new player that joins tomorrow just misses out entirely?
Them selling the tribbles. Because ... it's a KDF centric issue, where the tribbles are concerned anyways. It's the only way a KDF player can get the buff.
A fed can join ... and either breed normal tribbles or just buy pre-bred tribbles off the exchange. There is a thriving system for tribble use in-game. (The top tier tribbles are better than the tribbles from test server and the rivera tribble on the c-store).
Anyways, we're getting pretty far afield don't you think? I'm not advocating shutting down the c-store. I understand the OP's point. And while I may agree with the criticism, I don't think shutting down the c-store is a viable solution. Nor do I think it's something STO will consider at this late stage of the game.
So I'm not really here to argue for shutting down the c-store.
Just to acknowledge that the c-store is currently offering things that are more than just flavor. And that is a legitimate criticism of how they evolved their c-store.
i can understand of "rare" races but putting them in the C-Store don't make them rare ... i bet that half the players of STO has one or two of the new races so thats not rare in my book.
Ohwell i see your point of it all and i agree in a way, but if thats the way cryptic wanted to be for the new races then 80, 120, 200 or 280 points is way to low cus i totaly did not mind to pay 200 points for a race.
Yes there is a problem here people that got there tribble from test server, its not fair to a new player BUT selling the tribbles in C-Store is not the good way, why not just add some mission to get the tribble, you know a mission a NEW player can take to get the tribble that way has the NEW player don't have to spend MORE money on a ingame item !! cus is it fair for the new player to pay extra for a tribble then the player who got there tribble for free ?! think of that one.
they had the buffs. I bread them in my bank vault and ship vault as well. It may be a bug that affects some not all. The Tribble undine is the one I use the most as it gives the best buffs.
I also don't mind the C store but everything in it should be obtainable in game at a fair cost to the players.
I heard someone say he would 'start a riot' if they put the Red Matter Capacitor in the C-Store because he spent $80....SIX MONTHS AGO :eek: If you drop the cost of a dinner for two (going easy on the drinks of course) on a video game half a year ago and then have the nerve to log in and rage about how much you've invested in STO and how nobody else should be as special as you, something is seriously wrong with both your self-esteem and financial perspective.
Check the signature!
So your leaving a game with a store that you don't have to buy stuff from to a game with a store that you have to buy stuff from?
During a conference call with investors, EA's CEO John Riccitello has revealed that BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO will be a mid-session game that's micro-transaction based, thereby distancing the title from World of Warcraft's model of subscription based payment.
"Other initiatives that we have announced, for example the Star Wars Online MMO, are mid-session games which are micro-transaction based. You'll be hearing more about those in the February call," Riccitello stated.
Source: http://www.totalvideogames.com/Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic/news/EA-Boss-Touts-KOTOR-MMO-As-Micro-transaction-Based-13530.html
There is nothing wrong with the C-store as it is now, aside from having some items that exclusive that should also have a means to obtain them ingame. The players have spoken, and dstahl seems intent on making sure future ships added to the C-store will also be obtainable through some means ingame. Every other online store is one of two types - pay for content blocks (f2p games) or pay for fluff and some minor enhancers (paid sub games). When STO goes f2p (and it will, all the indicators are there, when is the question) then you will have a valid argument that too much is available in the store, because you will be forced to buy access to sectors and the quests inside, not to mention most races and ships.
Microtransaction stores are NOT a bad thing, but the way that they are handled CAN be. Look at how many people have left the game because of it. Regardless as to if you like it or not, it IS hurting the game. I refuse to buy anything up there (that I haven't already purchased before this became an issue for me), despite that some of the stuff up there I really want, because of Cryptic's handling of it.
Yes, I've used terms like "money grubbing" and "cash grab", but that is the way that a lot of us see it. I also see it as an early indication that the game will go F2P (not necessarily soon, nor should it).
Please provide some hard data to back up this wildly speculative claim?
90% of statistics are completely made up to support the poster's own opinion.
They're not actually using the C-Store to its full potential, actually. I thought the Galaxy-X in there was a bad thing at first but it's not. They still have yet to load up the Red Matter Capacitor, Type 8 shuttle, or other trinkets people would whine about then purchase.
In these Immortal Words
your period button is stuck, i suggest fixing it.
back on topic, yes cryptic is a business, but you EITHER have a item store and NO sub or you HAVE sub and no item store. you do not do both, as evidently ppl will run far FAR away from games that can't make up their mind.
at the moment all they do is looking greedy trying to scam as much money out of us as possible for "features" that we SHOULD have free to begin with because we pay a subscription fee. its not like this game has to much stuff so they actually can get away with it. Blizzard probably could with WoW if they wanted to, a unfinished game like this can not.
yes i know they will make "some" of it available through normal gameplay, but they will most likely keep the most desirable items as a C-store exclusive, and only have the stuff almost no one buy free.
now, they might not have a CHOICE but to keep the c-store as so many have abandoned the game partly because of it, but on the other hand it sure wont help them financially.
i wish they would at least handle the C-store in this game the same way they do on CO, there they just add avatar costumes every once in a while, in this game they mostly seem to want to make up for the dwindling subscriber income with it, and that just won't work.
i read their "excuse" for adding all that stuff on the C-store, but the problem is that they do not have a dedicated team for it, they use devs i'm already paying with my subscription, so technically i'm paying for it twice (or more depending on the cost) if i decide to buy something.
and THAT is what angers me the most.
heres some proven facts, server queues that lasted over an hour the first few months after launch and 10+ instances PER SECTOR. now you'd be lucky if there were 10+ instances TOTAL across all sectors with the exeption of the weekly episode sector on saturdays.
pvp queres taking 30 minutes to an hour+ to fill up compared to instantly popping at release, even at cap rank.
i could go on but tbh, if u cant even see these two issues i doubt it would be worth the time to write them down.
I hope that some of the new costumes they're working on can be purchased by GPL instead of CP. I'd still buy them either/ or, but having more in-game means to do so would be nice.
The temperature in the Northern Hemisphere has also risen since February.
Clearly, the C-Store causes global warming on an alarming scale.
They have also done a lot of things regarding how load balancing was implemented and how the queues function. Also, part of the problem with the queues is that there aren't enough klingons playing - but I bet more left over the lack of PVE than of the C-store.
I don't disagree there are fewer people playing. I do disagree your "proven facts" show that people left over the evil scary C-store.
Even more problematic, you would need to show that closing the CStore would somehow bring in enough new subscription $ to make up for the lost revenue going forward.
Good luck.
Five out of four statisticians agree with this statement.
While I do not have any HARD facts, the fact of the matter is that the C-Store IS turning off a lot of people, myself included. I haven't left the game because of it, but I am not buying things from it because I don't like how it's being handled. I know I'm not the only one. Is it killing the game? It's certainly not helping.
Agreed. Some people left due to the C-store, but there are more reasonable excuses than the C-store. Limited Klingon content seems to be a better reason than the C-store. People either support the game by using the C-store, like the extras, or ignore it completely. I have a lifetime subscription and I enjoy the game, but in 1.5 years I won't be paying for the game anymore. The C-store would be the only way to show my support and I like getting interesting stuff that I use.
And I'm sure they won't be on the forums over there complaining that "everything" is being put on the "Skywalker Store/Darth Mall".
That's covers part of the statement. What supports the claim that it is the C-Store causing the population decline.
The problem is that said subscription is still $15, which is not worth the same value it was years ago when MMOs started charging $15...
I'm thinking the Mirror Universe uniform flap/rant/forum meltdown weekend is probably shading my perception of the c-store's impact on the player population.
I agree. It's much more valuable now in this down/recessed economy than it was back in a thriving economy.
I don't know about how others felt about the MU and pre-order fiasco, but I know that it was a major turn-off for me and at least one of my RL friends. It was at that point that I got fed up with the C-Store and refused to buy anything more, no matter what was put up (and there are still a couple things that I really want but won't get until Cryptic gets their act together). I'll reiterate what I said before: The C-Store isn't a bad concept, but Cryptic has proven many times in the past months that they don't know how to properly run an MT store.