Look, I pay a monthly sub, hell this is my second account.
Why do I have to buy a new ship for 22 bucks...you already peel that much off me on a monthly basis.
It's upsetting that one of the cooler ships you guys have made can't be obtained through playing the game and paying you monthly.
It feels like you view your players as cash cows and not loyal subscribers.
Reality is your MMO launched half baked and we stuck with it, we don't deserve to have a system in place where things as simple as a new spaceship in a game about spaceships costs us the equivilaent of a month of gametime.
If you are hurting for money or can't afford to develop new ships and this is the only way to do it then come out and say it, or diversify by adding a free to play experience and milk those players.
What happens when that nice looking vulcan ship launches? is that going to be 22 bucks as well?
because as far as my math is concerned that combined would be the cost of another MMO's expansion.
two ships costing the same as other games expansions is just plain mean spirited to your customers, and I hate to say it but STO cannot afford the loss of face to potential customers as they learn that yes you have to pay a sub fee to play, and oh guess what, the new neat ships cost 22 bucks a pop on top of that.
People will not pay a company that blatantly double charges them, while they use the sub fees to develop c store content.
I know that there are good people at cryptic and they need to step up and let marketing know just how misguided this is.
Because they're aren't enough subscribers, subscribers also double as cash cows.
Then again WoW is doing it with some 8 million subscribers (not including the 5 million micro-paying Chinese subscribers in the total), so I guess it's here to stay.
So long as their cosmetic, then it's tolerable I reckon.
Look, I pay a monthly sub, hell this is my second account.
Why do I have to buy a new ship for 22 bucks...you already peel that much off me on a monthly basis.
It's upsetting that one of the cooler ships you guys have made can't be obtained through playing the game and paying you monthly.
It feels like you view your players as cash cows and not loyal subscribers.
Reality is your MMO launched half baked and we stuck with it, we don't deserve to have a system in place where things as simple as a new spaceship in a game about spaceships costs us the equivilaent of a month of gametime.
If you are hurting for money or can't afford to develop new ships and this is the only way to do it then come out and say it, or diversify by adding a free to play experience and milk those players.
What happens when that nice looking vulcan ship launches? is that going to be 22 bucks as well?
because as far as my math is concerned that combined would be the cost of another MMO's expansion.
two ships costing the same as other games expansions is just plain mean spirited to your customers, and I hate to say it but STO cannot afford the loss of face to potential customers as they learn that yes you have to pay a sub fee to play, and oh guess what, the new neat ships cost 22 bucks a pop on top of that.
People will not pay a company that blatantly double charges them, while they use the sub fees to develop c store content.
I know that there are good people at cryptic and they need to step up and let marketing know just how misguided this is.
One, welcome to being thread number 55 bazjillion. We have all heard this song and dance before. Go see all those threads for the community response. (Alot of people agree with you and are upset.)
Two, Cryptic isn't the one that makes that decision. Atari is. Appealing to Cryptic about it is wasting your breath. And Atari doesn't care what you think if your net worth is less than eight digits; and maybe not even then unless you're a major shareholder.
Look, I pay a monthly sub, hell this is my second account.
Why do I have to buy a new ship for 22 bucks...you already peel that much off me on a monthly basis.
It's upsetting that one of the cooler ships you guys have made can't be obtained through playing the game and paying you monthly.
It feels like you view your players as cash cows and not loyal subscribers.
Reality is your MMO launched half baked and we stuck with it, we don't deserve to have a system in place where things as simple as a new spaceship in a game about spaceships costs us the equivilaent of a month of gametime.
If you are hurting for money or can't afford to develop new ships and this is the only way to do it then come out and say it, or diversify by adding a free to play experience and milk those players.
What happens when that nice looking vulcan ship launches? is that going to be 22 bucks as well?
because as far as my math is concerned that combined would be the cost of another MMO's expansion.
two ships costing the same as other games expansions is just plain mean spirited to your customers, and I hate to say it but STO cannot afford the loss of face to potential customers as they learn that yes you have to pay a sub fee to play, and oh guess what, the new neat ships cost 22 bucks a pop on top of that.
People will not pay a company that blatantly double charges them, while they use the sub fees to develop c store content.
I know that there are good people at cryptic and they need to step up and let marketing know just how misguided this is.
Because stuff in the C-store isn't needed. Its extras or sparklies or cosmetics that don't impact game play. If you think the pricing is unreasonable, don't buy anything. Thanks for adding to the hundreds of anti C-store and ship-pricing-ripoff threads. I was just thinking we didn't have enough of these clogging up the forums.
Look, I pay a monthly sub, hell this is my second account.
Why do I have to buy a new ship for 22 bucks...you already peel that much off me on a monthly basis.
It's upsetting that one of the cooler ships you guys have made can't be obtained through playing the game and paying you monthly.
It feels like you view your players as cash cows and not loyal subscribers.
Reality is your MMO launched half baked and we stuck with it, we don't deserve to have a system in place where things as simple as a new spaceship in a game about spaceships costs us the equivilaent of a month of gametime.
If you are hurting for money or can't afford to develop new ships and this is the only way to do it then come out and say it, or diversify by adding a free to play experience and milk those players.
What happens when that nice looking vulcan ship launches? is that going to be 22 bucks as well?
because as far as my math is concerned that combined would be the cost of another MMO's expansion.
two ships costing the same as other games expansions is just plain mean spirited to your customers, and I hate to say it but STO cannot afford the loss of face to potential customers as they learn that yes you have to pay a sub fee to play, and oh guess what, the new neat ships cost 22 bucks a pop on top of that.
People will not pay a company that blatantly double charges them, while they use the sub fees to develop c store content.
I know that there are good people at cryptic and they need to step up and let marketing know just how misguided this is.
You don't "have" to buy it. But, Cryptic knows they have you believing that the game is unfinished, lacks content and that they "intend" to fix this over the looooong haul of your continued subscription. Of course this is a great way to explain why some of the most appealing and recognizable aspects of the Star Trek universe can only be found in the C-Store, clearly they feel that as a Star Trek fan you will simply buy it. They are counting on your being blinded enough to do so. I am myself guilty of that, I bought everything in the C-Store I could up until recently. But never again!
From what I've read the ship has tons of problems anyway, save your money for something real in your life you can see. Donate it to needy children or something that will really matter, save up for a vacation
Look, I pay a monthly sub, hell this is my second account.
Why do I have to buy a new ship for 22 bucks...you already peel that much off me on a monthly basis.
It's upsetting that one of the cooler ships you guys have made can't be obtained through playing the game and paying you monthly.
It feels like you view your players as cash cows and not loyal subscribers.
Reality is your MMO launched half baked and we stuck with it, we don't deserve to have a system in place where things as simple as a new spaceship in a game about spaceships costs us the equivilaent of a month of gametime.
If you are hurting for money or can't afford to develop new ships and this is the only way to do it then come out and say it, or diversify by adding a free to play experience and milk those players.
What happens when that nice looking vulcan ship launches? is that going to be 22 bucks as well?
because as far as my math is concerned that combined would be the cost of another MMO's expansion.
two ships costing the same as other games expansions is just plain mean spirited to your customers, and I hate to say it but STO cannot afford the loss of face to potential customers as they learn that yes you have to pay a sub fee to play, and oh guess what, the new neat ships cost 22 bucks a pop on top of that.
People will not pay a company that blatantly double charges them, while they use the sub fees to develop c store content.
I know that there are good people at cryptic and they need to step up and let marketing know just how misguided this is.
I bolded the clue as to what you are not understanding. You simply don't HAVE to buy it do you, yet because you want something, you deem it necessary to be free. Stop complaining. I bet you spend money on various other things in life that if you actually spent a moment thinking, 'do i really need that', you might understand your post better. For the moment, if you want this ship, you have to pay for it. But you don't HAVE to have this ship either. Understand Cryptic are not forcing you to do anything. Quit your whining or get your wallet out, and its really that simple. Just as simple as we don't need five new threads about this same topic every day...
If you can organize enough players to not buy things from the C-Store, then either prices would drop or they'd stop spending money to make content to put on the C-store if players aren't going to buy it.
They are able to charge 20+ bucks in addition to your subscription fees because people are willing to pay it.
If you don't approve of the C-store, don't use it. Using it but then complaining about it isn't going to change anything because in the end it just proves that its still a viable way for Cryptic to make money.
"Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it." - Publilius Syrus
I used to buy almost everything that came out in the C-store, but I've become more choosy over the last several releases. There are a bunch of neat looking things, but in all honesty, how many different ships do you need? How many different costume options do you need?
DStahl has explained why things are in the C-Store before. To paraphrase: everything in there takes developer resources to make, and yet, their business folks have shown that almost nothing in there will drive recurring subscriptions. Therefore, in order to justify the use of resources, and to pay for that use of resources, they put those items in the C-Store. Without the C-Store, they likely wouldn't be available at all. I believe it was StormShade that said he has asked the team to make the new KDF ship available as a referral reward the same way the Galaxy-X is.
I know its not the point, but if you don't like the $22 price tag, wait a month or two. I suspect we'll see a MLK weekend sale or a President's Day sale in the C-Store where everything is 20-25% off.
At least the C-store lets you get what you pay for.
There's the SWG CCG that lets you buy a chance to get something that you may want (booster packs). No guarantee that you'll get anything you can use, much less the actual item you're looking for.
At least the C-store lets you get what you pay for.
There's the SWG CCG that lets you buy a chance to get something that you may want (booster packs). No guarantee that you'll get anything you can use, much less the actual item you're looking for.
Lol - I wasn't aware of that. So basically it's an Item Casino Store.
I don't have any real problems with Items Stores myself, but that ones going too far.
At least the C-store lets you get what you pay for.
There's the SWG CCG that lets you buy a chance to get something that you may want (booster packs). No guarantee that you'll get anything you can use, much less the actual item you're looking for.
Although it should be noted that you can get the items from the SWG trading card tame without ever spending any actual money. You have a chance to get them for free with your booster packs, or you can buy them with in game money from people willing to sell.
Look, I pay a monthly sub, hell this is my second account.
Why do I have to buy a new ship for 22 bucks...you already peel that much off me on a monthly basis.
It's upsetting that one of the cooler ships you guys have made can't be obtained through playing the game and paying you monthly.
It feels like you view your players as cash cows and not loyal subscribers.
I've been playing this game since closed beta, and the only thing I've ever bought from the c-store was a name change token.
And I have enjoyed my time and am doing great. So you see, you don't NEED to buy anything from the c-store.
Nobody is really sure why you think you "NEED" to buy this 22 dollar ship.
I want my 15 seconds back for having to reply to the post, because I NEEDED to!
I do think the C-Store points are a touch on the shifty side in the way its set up however.
1200 points for this ship you say? I have to buy points in blocks of 500 you say?
Its not a coincidence, trust me
Keep in mind that during the winter sale all items(except TMP uniforms and the new Nausican ship) are 20% off the price listed on the website. So you'll be able to get that 1200 ship for less than 1000 points.
I bolded the clue as to what you are not understanding. You simply don't HAVE to buy it do you, yet because you want something, you deem it necessary to be free. Stop complaining. I bet you spend money on various other things in life that if you actually spent a moment thinking, 'do i really need that', you might understand your post better. For the moment, if you want this ship, you have to pay for it. But you don't HAVE to have this ship either. Understand Cryptic are not forcing you to do anything. Quit your whining or get your wallet out, and its really that simple. Just as simple as we don't need five new threads about this same topic every day...
you are missing the point son, the monthly fee you pay goes to developing the products on the c store, why anyone would defend this is beyond me, its like you are arguing that you like to pay more for less..
Keep in mind that during the winter sale all items(except TMP uniforms and the new Nausican ship) are 20% off the price listed on the website. So you'll be able to get that 1200 ship for less than 1000 points.
For now yeah. Even at 960 points, would should be $12 on a cost per point basis, in reality you end up paying $12.50 for if you don't have any extra point laying around.
When its not on sale, that 1200 point ship should cost $15, instead you pay $18.75.
Doesn't sound like much on an individual basis, but it adds up quick when spread out over everyone that uses the C-Store.
For now yeah. Even at 960 points, would should be $12 on a cost per point basis, in reality you end up paying $12.50 for if you don't have any extra point laying around.
When its not on sale, that 1200 point ship should cost $15, instead you pay $18.75.
Doesn't sound like much on an individual basis, but it adds up quick when spread out over everyone that uses the C-Store.
It'd do a Ferengi proud.
Oh I get your point, but those leftover "points" also add up. So if you want to buy something in the future, you'll have extra points that may mean you dont have to buy as many then.
No reason to ready any further because your entire post is based on a lie. You dont "have" to buy anything. If you choose to do so, thats up to you.
yet agian an argument defending this practice.
of course I don't have to buy it...but if I don't have to buy it, then I shouldnt have to pay a monthly fee either, seeing as I have no clear indication that there is a seperation between the monthly subscription I pay and the development resources used to create an item that double charges in order to use..
People need to stop defending this and stop drinking the cooliad.
This is a bad way to treat paying customers, period.
of course I don't have to buy it...but if I don't have to buy it, then I shouldnt have to pay a monthly fee either, seeing as I have no clear indication that there is a seperation between the monthly subscription I pay and the development resources used to create an item that double charges in order to use..
People need to stop defending this and stop drinking the cooliad.
This is a bad way to treat paying customers, period.
Or, alternately, you need to understand that this fairly standard practice in the industry nowadays is often used to develop cosmetic items that otherwise wouldn't get developed at all.
I've no doubt that Cryptic is doing all they can to maximise C-store sales, but last time I checked Atari wasn't a non-profit organisation and therefore is doing what it's shareholders demand it do.
The very fact that the C-Store is, indeed, making sales, justifies it's existence. There is not a single item - not one - that you "need" to buy, and so long as that remains true, the arguments against it are occasionally understandable, but ultimately ill-founded.
of course I don't have to buy it...but if I don't have to buy it, then I shouldnt have to pay a monthly fee either, seeing as I have no clear indication that there is a seperation between the monthly subscription I pay and the development resources used to create an item that double charges in order to use..
That doesnt make any sense. You pay a monthly fee to have access to the game. Thats it. If you want(key word) the items in the C-store, then you can choose(another key word) to buy them. Its just that simple.
People need to stop defending this and stop drinking the cooliad.
This is a bad way to treat paying customers, period.
No one treated you badly. You can play the entire game to max level and enjoy yourself without buying anything from the C-store. Now, if you are so envious of the things other people have or covetous of the things you want from the C-store that you cant enjoy yourself, thats more of a psychological issue.
Just for the record, I wish all of the items in the C-store were available in game. I also think some of hte prices are a bit high. That said, I dont think Cryptic is "treating me badly", as it is completely my choice whether to buy these items or not, and none of them are even remotely necessary to play the game.
The "it's all cosmetic anyways" excuse really doesnt fly.
The uniforms may be cosmetic, some of the ship costumes might be, the bridge packs as well... but the extra races, the extra ships, the extra bridge officers - none of that is cosmetic, they all have game-effecting features along with them. Some may not be all that major, but who knows - perhaps the guy who spent 20$ on the galaxy refit with it's seperatable saucer section gets just enough edge out of it in battle to best someone who didnt spend the money. The borg bridge officers have traits that no other bridge officers have, and the unlockable playable species all have unique bonuses that none of the other races can get.
I can understand having some things for sale on the cstore - account services, those aesthetic options that have no game impact, even the extra species, but everything else available on the c-store should also be available simply by playing the game. Honestly, if it takes you long enough to grind out merits or emblems or whatever to get a ship available on the c-store, the monthly fee is already taking care of what you would've spent otherwise.
I know how much it costs to run a server, or to pay a team of people to keep that server running smooth, or even the costs of maintaining a development team to keep the game evolving and fix bugs and issues - and the monthly subscription fee charged to all of the people playing this game is -more- than enough to handle all of those costs and still turn a profit. This game may not be as large as some of the other MMO's, but think about the math - if you've got even 1000 players here (and that is a very conservative amount, we probably have ten times as many), you're making $15,000 per month from the subscription fee alone. More realistically, cryptic is probably pulling in around $100,000-$150,000 per month before any c-store sales are considered. All they're doing with the c-store is milking people for every penny they can, but I guess that's typical business practice in the modern world =/
Also if not mistaken WoW, SWG, and Eve do not have lifetime membership so maybe cryptic is looking ahead and charging money now to compensate the money they will lose in 3 years...
The "it's all cosmetic anyways" excuse really doesnt fly.
The uniforms may be cosmetic, some of the ship costumes might be, the bridge packs as well... but the extra races, the extra ships, the extra bridge officers - none of that is cosmetic, they all have game-effecting features along with them. Some may not be all that major, but who knows - perhaps the guy who spent 20$ on the galaxy refit with it's seperatable saucer section gets just enough edge out of it in battle to best someone who didnt spend the money. The borg bridge officers have traits that no other bridge officers have, and the unlockable playable species all have unique bonuses that none of the other races can get.
People complain about virtually everything in an MMO. The fact that people ARENT complaining about the things you just mentioned being unbalanced or overpowered is pretty good evidence that theyre not.
pointless thread. So I am going to pointlessly post in it.
I like apples. Apples are yummy.
Apples are a good ingrediant in pies. I like pies. I wish I had some apple pie now.
I wish someone would build something that tasted like an apple, but looked like an orange. Then when they built it, I wish they would let me have it for free. But they probably won't, because it took them time to build the apple-tasting orange and they would want to be compensated for their time.
But I already bought apples, you say. Then enjoy the apples. You have apple-tasting goodness already.
If you want the apple-tasting orange, pay the man.
Now, OP, please go back to making your totally illogical argument despite having been shown over and over why your argument fails. You know ya wanna....
Just for the record, I wish all of the items in the C-store were available in game. I also think some of hte prices are a bit high. That said, I dont think Cryptic is "treating me badly", as it is completely my choice whether to buy these items or not, and none of them are even remotely necessary to play the game.
I also think they should remove things like captain retrain tokens from the C-Store, and lower the insane merit cost to respec in game.
Charging real money for something so basic as the ability to move skill points around is...silly. I can't think of anything that justifies it.
Comments
Then again WoW is doing it with some 8 million subscribers (not including the 5 million micro-paying Chinese subscribers in the total), so I guess it's here to stay.
So long as their cosmetic, then it's tolerable I reckon.
But you still bought it huh. That's why.
Two, Cryptic isn't the one that makes that decision. Atari is. Appealing to Cryptic about it is wasting your breath. And Atari doesn't care what you think if your net worth is less than eight digits; and maybe not even then unless you're a major shareholder.
Because stuff in the C-store isn't needed. Its extras or sparklies or cosmetics that don't impact game play. If you think the pricing is unreasonable, don't buy anything. Thanks for adding to the hundreds of anti C-store and ship-pricing-ripoff threads. I was just thinking we didn't have enough of these clogging up the forums.
You don't "have" to buy it. But, Cryptic knows they have you believing that the game is unfinished, lacks content and that they "intend" to fix this over the looooong haul of your continued subscription. Of course this is a great way to explain why some of the most appealing and recognizable aspects of the Star Trek universe can only be found in the C-Store, clearly they feel that as a Star Trek fan you will simply buy it. They are counting on your being blinded enough to do so. I am myself guilty of that, I bought everything in the C-Store I could up until recently. But never again!
From what I've read the ship has tons of problems anyway, save your money for something real in your life you can see. Donate it to needy children or something that will really matter, save up for a vacation
I bolded the clue as to what you are not understanding. You simply don't HAVE to buy it do you, yet because you want something, you deem it necessary to be free. Stop complaining. I bet you spend money on various other things in life that if you actually spent a moment thinking, 'do i really need that', you might understand your post better. For the moment, if you want this ship, you have to pay for it. But you don't HAVE to have this ship either. Understand Cryptic are not forcing you to do anything. Quit your whining or get your wallet out, and its really that simple. Just as simple as we don't need five new threads about this same topic every day...
They are able to charge 20+ bucks in addition to your subscription fees because people are willing to pay it.
If you don't approve of the C-store, don't use it. Using it but then complaining about it isn't going to change anything because in the end it just proves that its still a viable way for Cryptic to make money.
"Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it." - Publilius Syrus
Items Store are pretty much staple now, regardless of whether the MMO is F2P or subscriber.
They originally hailed mostly from the F2P but no longer.
DStahl has explained why things are in the C-Store before. To paraphrase: everything in there takes developer resources to make, and yet, their business folks have shown that almost nothing in there will drive recurring subscriptions. Therefore, in order to justify the use of resources, and to pay for that use of resources, they put those items in the C-Store. Without the C-Store, they likely wouldn't be available at all. I believe it was StormShade that said he has asked the team to make the new KDF ship available as a referral reward the same way the Galaxy-X is.
I know its not the point, but if you don't like the $22 price tag, wait a month or two. I suspect we'll see a MLK weekend sale or a President's Day sale in the C-Store where everything is 20-25% off.
There's the SWG CCG that lets you buy a chance to get something that you may want (booster packs). No guarantee that you'll get anything you can use, much less the actual item you're looking for.
No reason to ready any further because your entire post is based on a lie. You dont "have" to buy anything. If you choose to do so, thats up to you.
Lol - I wasn't aware of that. So basically it's an Item Casino Store.
I don't have any real problems with Items Stores myself, but that ones going too far.
Well spotted Big Ears. +1 Internets for you, I missed that bit in the OP.
Although it should be noted that you can get the items from the SWG trading card tame without ever spending any actual money. You have a chance to get them for free with your booster packs, or you can buy them with in game money from people willing to sell.
I was confused that people still played that.
1200 points for this ship you say? I have to buy points in blocks of 500 you say?
Its not a coincidence, trust me
I've been playing this game since closed beta, and the only thing I've ever bought from the c-store was a name change token.
And I have enjoyed my time and am doing great. So you see, you don't NEED to buy anything from the c-store.
Nobody is really sure why you think you "NEED" to buy this 22 dollar ship.
I want my 15 seconds back for having to reply to the post, because I NEEDED to!
Keep in mind that during the winter sale all items(except TMP uniforms and the new Nausican ship) are 20% off the price listed on the website. So you'll be able to get that 1200 ship for less than 1000 points.
you are missing the point son, the monthly fee you pay goes to developing the products on the c store, why anyone would defend this is beyond me, its like you are arguing that you like to pay more for less..
For now yeah. Even at 960 points, would should be $12 on a cost per point basis, in reality you end up paying $12.50 for if you don't have any extra point laying around.
When its not on sale, that 1200 point ship should cost $15, instead you pay $18.75.
Doesn't sound like much on an individual basis, but it adds up quick when spread out over everyone that uses the C-Store.
It'd do a Ferengi proud.
Oh I get your point, but those leftover "points" also add up. So if you want to buy something in the future, you'll have extra points that may mean you dont have to buy as many then.
yet agian an argument defending this practice.
of course I don't have to buy it...but if I don't have to buy it, then I shouldnt have to pay a monthly fee either, seeing as I have no clear indication that there is a seperation between the monthly subscription I pay and the development resources used to create an item that double charges in order to use..
People need to stop defending this and stop drinking the cooliad.
This is a bad way to treat paying customers, period.
Or, alternately, you need to understand that this fairly standard practice in the industry nowadays is often used to develop cosmetic items that otherwise wouldn't get developed at all.
I've no doubt that Cryptic is doing all they can to maximise C-store sales, but last time I checked Atari wasn't a non-profit organisation and therefore is doing what it's shareholders demand it do.
The very fact that the C-Store is, indeed, making sales, justifies it's existence. There is not a single item - not one - that you "need" to buy, and so long as that remains true, the arguments against it are occasionally understandable, but ultimately ill-founded.
False. Pointing out your incorrect statement has nothing to do with "defending" the C-store.
That doesnt make any sense. You pay a monthly fee to have access to the game. Thats it. If you want(key word) the items in the C-store, then you can choose(another key word) to buy them. Its just that simple.
No one treated you badly. You can play the entire game to max level and enjoy yourself without buying anything from the C-store. Now, if you are so envious of the things other people have or covetous of the things you want from the C-store that you cant enjoy yourself, thats more of a psychological issue.
Just for the record, I wish all of the items in the C-store were available in game. I also think some of hte prices are a bit high. That said, I dont think Cryptic is "treating me badly", as it is completely my choice whether to buy these items or not, and none of them are even remotely necessary to play the game.
The uniforms may be cosmetic, some of the ship costumes might be, the bridge packs as well... but the extra races, the extra ships, the extra bridge officers - none of that is cosmetic, they all have game-effecting features along with them. Some may not be all that major, but who knows - perhaps the guy who spent 20$ on the galaxy refit with it's seperatable saucer section gets just enough edge out of it in battle to best someone who didnt spend the money. The borg bridge officers have traits that no other bridge officers have, and the unlockable playable species all have unique bonuses that none of the other races can get.
I can understand having some things for sale on the cstore - account services, those aesthetic options that have no game impact, even the extra species, but everything else available on the c-store should also be available simply by playing the game. Honestly, if it takes you long enough to grind out merits or emblems or whatever to get a ship available on the c-store, the monthly fee is already taking care of what you would've spent otherwise.
I know how much it costs to run a server, or to pay a team of people to keep that server running smooth, or even the costs of maintaining a development team to keep the game evolving and fix bugs and issues - and the monthly subscription fee charged to all of the people playing this game is -more- than enough to handle all of those costs and still turn a profit. This game may not be as large as some of the other MMO's, but think about the math - if you've got even 1000 players here (and that is a very conservative amount, we probably have ten times as many), you're making $15,000 per month from the subscription fee alone. More realistically, cryptic is probably pulling in around $100,000-$150,000 per month before any c-store sales are considered. All they're doing with the c-store is milking people for every penny they can, but I guess that's typical business practice in the modern world =/
People complain about virtually everything in an MMO. The fact that people ARENT complaining about the things you just mentioned being unbalanced or overpowered is pretty good evidence that theyre not.
I like apples. Apples are yummy.
Apples are a good ingrediant in pies. I like pies. I wish I had some apple pie now.
I wish someone would build something that tasted like an apple, but looked like an orange. Then when they built it, I wish they would let me have it for free. But they probably won't, because it took them time to build the apple-tasting orange and they would want to be compensated for their time.
But I already bought apples, you say. Then enjoy the apples. You have apple-tasting goodness already.
If you want the apple-tasting orange, pay the man.
Now, OP, please go back to making your totally illogical argument despite having been shown over and over why your argument fails. You know ya wanna....
I also think they should remove things like captain retrain tokens from the C-Store, and lower the insane merit cost to respec in game.
Charging real money for something so basic as the ability to move skill points around is...silly. I can't think of anything that justifies it.