Not buying the lockboxes won't make them go away.. Someone will always buy one..
There is nothing wrong with fighting for a better more honest game experience.
There is no other trek mmo.
If enough people stopped buying them the powers that be might get the hint.
The only way to fight back is with our money, if suckers keep flushing money down the toilet on lockbox scams nothing will change except for the worse.
If enough people stopped buying them the powers that be might get the hint.
The only way to fight back is with our money, if suckers keep flushing money down the toilet on lockbox scams nothing will change except for the worse.
you do realize that by their own admission they had a 40% total sales rate on the first box, now, that was pre F2p, think about how much that went up?
its a sad state of affairs when they will do anything to make a quick buck instead of investing in the game for its LONG term health. Lock boxes will do more harm than good over the long run.
you do realize that by their own admission they had a 40% total sales rate on the first box, now, that was pre F2p, think about how much that went up?
its a sad state of affairs when they will do anything to make a quick buck instead of investing in the game for its LONG term health. Lock boxes will do more harm than good over the long run.
F2P did bring in a lot of new bodies, no arguing that. F2P did not provide enough incentive for the subbers to keep subbing. A hybrid business model has to strike a balance between micro-transactions and subs. STO failed to do that in favor of short-term money grabs. Going for the quick buck is what's going to kill this game faster than anything else.
I don't contribute to the business practice. I have an active sub and make c-store purchases when something catches my interest. The day I cancel my sub will be the day I delete the game from my computer and forget about it.
And that day is getting closer and closer with every money grab they make.
Take a look at the F2P/Sub matrix for City of Heroes. Perfect balance on every point. Long term players got a ton of rewards at the switchover and contimue to earn more with active subs. New F2Pers get something like 90% of the same content and can buy the rest directly from the market.
I don't contribute to the business practice. I have an active sub and make c-store purchases when something catches my interest. The day I cancel my sub will be the day I delete the game from my computer and forget about it.
And that day is getting closer and closer with every money grab they make.
I fully agree, I've been playing and paying for some time now, and during the Jem ship event my wife and I both agreed that for Christmas we would give eachother $200 for the boxes.....$400 later...nothing, first try and last try....
I've been a fan of many things over the years but Star Trek has been a passion shared between my wife and I since we met.
.....as they say, live and learn...Now we ( as the community) have lived this nightmare.....now let PWE/Cryptic learn from our anger what NOT to do....there have been posts about how several other games let subs or lifers open similar boxes for free, while F2P members have to buy the keys....there is a sound practice that works wonders and doesn't upset people to the point they quit....unless they want everyone to quit so they can kill it off....
The Box concept is just a waste of time.. I and many others still have yet to get a Gold Box.. I have only seen these boxes offered outside of STF's and only then two times out the six days since the boxes have launched.. And Playing consistantly on all days..
At least when the Cardassian Boxes were offered, I was able to obtain a few and saw them up for the Roll more often (Except when it changed the last few weeks of the promo).. Instead of calling them Very Rare (Purple) they need to call them Extremely Rare...:rolleyes:
I was gonna write some TRIBBLE about how offencive I find this lottery style of generating income, but their prob to buissy conting their cash to care.
I am hearing this too. There should be an explanation given for this.
MODERATORS: This thread should not be moved, merged, or banished to bugs or C-Store. This is highly relevant discussion of STO that is NOT the same as the other threads. I am speaking specifically, by name, to BranFlakes and the community moderators here. You have already suppressed a thread like this - this is an extremely high priority issue that the community is raising and it deserves its own topic for visibility to the community and developers.
Please also do not close it based on a technicality of quoting the ticket - again we are raising an issue of critical priority to the current Ferengi Lock Box promotion which absolutely must be addressed. Edit the ticket out if you want but it is critical that you do not suppress the discussion. Please also do not retitle the thread. Thank you.
This is how they hide stuff, this is how they silence people. This is the kind of treatment they're willing to use on people who have been fueling their profits on the lottery boxes. If this is the treatment they give to their best financial customers, just imagine how they're willing to treat customers like me who refuse to buy they're lottery boxes.
Mistakes are covered up, promises forgotten or ignored, people who shine a light on this are silenced one way or another. Is it any suprise that rather than fix the lotto box problem, they'd rather try to feed you a line that this is the intended result?
Oh well, I pre-purchased Guild Wars 2, the first beta weekend event is starting soon, STO becomes irrelevant in 7 days. (it makes me kinda sad, but Cryptic gives me no real choice)
This is how they hide stuff, this is how they silence people. This is the kind of treatment they're willing to use on people who have been fueling their profits on the lottery boxes. If this is the treatment they give to their best financial customers, just imagine how they're willing to treat customers like me who refuse to buy they're lottery boxes.
Mistakes are covered up, promises forgotten or ignored, people who shine a light on this are silenced one way or another. Is it any suprise that rather than fix the lotto box problem, they'd rather try to feed you a line that this is the intended result?
Oh well, I pre-purchased Guild Wars 2, the first beta weekend event is starting soon, STO becomes irrelevant in 7 days. (it makes me kinda sad, but Cryptic gives me no real choice)
*nods in agreement at Guild Wars 2* Also, The Secret World is just around the corner. So many choices...
Ya know what I find ironic as all hell?
All that profit can't seem to get them stable servers. STILL has issues with large loads in concentrated areas. I swear they have some of the worst servers around, I do know they're in Boston, I just wonder who the hell is their host so I know NEVER to use them.
my wife and I both agreed that for Christmas we would give eachother $200 for the boxes.....$400 later
That's...just...so...
That's exactly why casino boxes are in game, some people just can't help themselves. They are preying on those with addictive personalities that have lots of money to blow.
Just stop people, please, just stop. All of you, just stop! Don't play the fool.
You people responsible for this scam should be ashamed of yourselves.
I fully agree, I've been playing and paying for some time now, and during the Jem ship event my wife and I both agreed that for Christmas we would give eachother $200 for the boxes.....$400 later...nothing, first try and last try....
I've been a fan of many things over the years but Star Trek has been a passion shared between my wife and I since we met.
.....as they say, live and learn...Now we ( as the community) have lived this nightmare.....now let PWE/Cryptic learn from our anger what NOT to do....there have been posts about how several other games let subs or lifers open similar boxes for free, while F2P members have to buy the keys....there is a sound practice that works wonders and doesn't upset people to the point they quit....unless they want everyone to quit so they can kill it off....
Sorry to call you out, but Cryptic will contend that you got $400 of fun out of those boxes and if you did not, then it is a failure of you to have other expectations. Naturally I completely disagree with this.
As I measured 2,000 red holiday gift boxes, I know something of the drop rate.
320 Red Boxes would net you a 79.9% chance of getting the ship. Unfortunately with such a low drop rate, spending a lot of money can give you a "good" chance, but there is no sure thing. It is still easy to spend a lot of money and have a significant chance to get nothing.
*nods in agreement at Guild Wars 2* Also, The Secret World is just around the corner. So many choices...
I still have a Life sub with Anarchy Online and I poured a lot of money into that game since 1999 and they recently Invited me to free closed Betaof The Secret World, even though I havn't played AO since 2009. I checked in on my account and I have a massive amount of FunCom store credits and more collectable items then a lucky dip barrel that wowed me.
I still have life subs with 3 other games and store credits abundant in each, recurring monthly games in suspense like Aion, WoW, Requiem Bloodymare (love blood n guts) but I am hooked on STO being a trekkie fan.
I could choose to go back to any of these game, except WoW but I am staying put, although will sneak a peak at The Secret World or maybe TERA in a few days when they go invite open beta.
But in the mean time I have a Pre-Order for Lollipop Chainsaw FTW! on PS3 which I can take numerous frustrations out on. :mad::mad::mad:
It just shows that every player in this game (STO) has a choice of what to play and where to spend and I like a lot of older, mature or any demographic really has more then 1 p2p game and plenty of f2p's.
< WHAT THEBLUE SKINWOULD ASK THEPINK SKINSTO DO >
What I would like to see out of this fiasco now is DSTAHL to recognise that there is problems surrounding the 'lotto' albeit a nasty word for random (although chosen because we pay real currency to buy keys, to by subs etc) does have its fails and this time round with poor PR, misleading FAQ, ridiculous Lobi crystal implementation, FAQ cover up by rewording it instead of fixing and compensating is FAIL FAIL FAIL.
<BLUE SKINWENT RED SKIN OVER RECENT GM RESPONSE >
On another note a recent reply to a ticket about 1 lobi crystals in Gold lock boxes was left with a cut n paste from the new FAQ and nothing else, so they are not addressing the 1 lobi crystal even thought BranFlakes says to submit a ticket.
All in All you will get no where with GM ticketing unless BranFlakes or some other Community Mod informs the GM team to DO something about it and stop sending the same messages.
Being around you pink skins to long has corrupted me
You owe me one
Thy'lek Shran
they actualy gave an reimbursement to some player who sent a ticket ingame about thie gold boxes !
but they also stated:
"Please be aware that we are not able to provide reimbursement in all cases, however we are glad that we have ben able to assist you in this matter"
actually they are listening but i also think its just to much at this time...
a tip of mine is: take a screenrecord with fraps or smiliar when u open a GOLDBOX.. in case it is bugged you can sent this video to cryptic
greetings
Yeah I took screen shots of them all and provided the information in the tickets. Been playing mmorpg's a long time now and know how to CMA, Cover My A(backside).
But I do appreciate the information thank you
Being around you pink skins to long has corrupted me
You owe me one
Thy'lek Shran
Just stop people, please, just stop. All of you, just stop! Don't play the fool.
You people responsible for this scam should be ashamed of yourselves.
I never defended CRYPTIC in regards to using R.G.L's (Random. Generated. Loot) - Let alone the fact that they are now forcing players to spend real money just to open an R.G.L
... and the few post I made promoting it, was to poke fun at the GREED and make it a mockery - akin to reverse psychology.
Its a BAD Business Practice and Model - no doubt it is. Defenders will say they need to do it to generate revenue - truth is there are far superior means and better models to adopt from. It just happenes to be that this bad practice is the quickest to captilize on the fans of Star Trek.
Trust me, they know when to feed you a bone and know that most Star Trek Fanatics will bite at it as if they were JAWS.
We can plee, we can cry, the truth is the Lock Boxes are here to stay - and for the most part they are far more devious than the Red Gift Boxes which I fell prey to in the beginning. There is no doubt in my mind that the face of STO has changed drastically, F2P has become a horror story for STO - its now all about gimmicks, hidden grinds, and little to no rewards for the playerbase.
The sad part is that I care about STO the game, unfortunately; CRYPTIC has made a mockery of the only Star Trek MMO.
I am still hoping for some major changes in the right directions - I am referring to business practice as well as providing solid content - since the last real solid content was the "2800" FE - everything else has been fluff and gimmicks - with the occasional ONE episode tease.
"Hmmm, should we fix it?"
"No, it'll take ages, just retcon the information and say we meant it like that all the time."
Not that I'm synical or anything.;)
This made me laugh thou isn't it cynical?
Well I can say this much, I spent the eve in another game, I was gonna come in but the game crashed (oh boy what a surprise, I'd been waiting ALL DAY) I'll try to get in the game soon, who knows I may just get a lock box!
And throw it away, again.
Does the game developer world have some sort of "group" for lack of a better term or a society? Just wondering
"Hmmm, should we fix it?"
"No, it'll take ages, just retcon the information and say we meant it like that all the time."
Not that I'm synical or anything.;)
nope
If they admit to the bug, they have to fix it (not a big deal)
But then they would be required to find a way to compensate all the people who opened a gold (holy hell we can't do that! we would LOSE $$$ not to mention they probably can't tell who opened what and what exactly they got out of it (short of the ships im sure that is logged)
So cost wise, easier to say they just forgot to list it in the FAQ (and in the gold boxes info itself)
this leads into a bait and switch problem for them (false advertising) but they are sure that hardly anyone will actually do anything about it.
I still have a Life sub with Anarchy Online and I poured a lot of money into that game since 1999 and they recently Invited me to free closed Betaof The Secret World, even though I havn't played AO since 2009. I checked in on my account and I have a massive amount of FunCom store credits and more collectable items then a lucky dip barrel that wowed me.
I still have life subs with 3 other games and store credits abundant in each, recurring monthly games in suspense like Aion, WoW, Requiem Bloodymare (love blood n guts) but I am hooked on STO being a trekkie fan.
I could choose to go back to any of these game, except WoW but I am staying put, although will sneak a peak at The Secret World or maybe TERA in a few days when they go invite open beta.
But in the mean time I have a Pre-Order for Lollipop Chainsaw FTW! on PS3 which I can take numerous frustrations out on. :mad::mad::mad:
It just shows that every player in this game (STO) has a choice of what to play and where to spend and I like a lot of older, mature or any demographic really has more then 1 p2p game and plenty of f2p's.
< WHAT THEBLUE SKINWOULD ASK THEPINK SKINSTO DO >
What I would like to see out of this fiasco now is DSTAHL to recognise that there is problems surrounding the 'lotto' albeit a nasty word for random (although chosen because we pay real currency to buy keys, to by subs etc) does have its fails and this time round with poor PR, misleading FAQ, ridiculous Lobi crystal implementation, FAQ cover up by rewording it instead of fixing and compensating is FAIL FAIL FAIL.
<BLUE SKINWENT RED SKIN OVER RECENT GM RESPONSE >
On another note a recent reply to a ticket about 1 lobi crystals in Gold lock boxes was left with a cut n paste from the new FAQ and nothing else, so they are not addressing the 1 lobi crystal even thought BranFlakes says to submit a ticket.
All in All you will get no where with GM ticketing unless BranFlakes or some other Community Mod informs the GM team to DO something about it and stop sending the same messages.
Being around you pink skins to long has corrupted me
You owe me one
Thy'lek Shran
Everyone wants to hear from DStahl. Meh. At thist point, I'm beginning to question his character. I mean, c'mon--we all know he's aware of the backlash. I have some words for him that I'll save for Vegas.
Oh well, I pre-purchased Guild Wars 2, the first beta weekend event is starting soon, STO becomes irrelevant in 7 days. (it makes me kinda sad, but Cryptic gives me no real choice)
I'm also hooked on GW2, especially since I watched their MMO Manifesto video some time ago - especially their stance on grinding ("not fun", "nobody enjoys it", "it's boring", "everybody is doing the same thing all the time", ...) is very interesting and I hope they can pull it off.
The sad part is that I care about STO the game, unfortunately; CRYPTIC has made a mockery of the only Star Trek MMO.
So true. And ST:IS is still on hold... hmpf.
Perhaps CBS should grow another braincell, retract the license from Cryptic/PWE and hand it over to a company that can actually do the IP justice and doesn't butcher it with stupid mechanics, nonsensical missions and cheap cash grabs that are about as anti-IP as it can get (seriously, how did the Ferengi hide their boxes in Borg torpedos? ). Some poster said that by now he'd rather have seen EA purchase Cryptic than PWE and as much as it pains me to say that, I agree.
The whole thing really reminds me of the Incarna debacle EVE Online went through several months ago (you know... the $70 monocle...). Apparently, CCP learned from their mistakes, listened to the players and added the features the community has been asking for for a long time instead of pushing stuff into the game nobody wanted. We can only hope that Cryptic learns as well.
Everyone wants to hear from DStahl. Meh. At this point, I'm beginning to question his character. I mean, c'mon--we all know he's aware of the backlash. I have some words for him that I'll save for Vegas.
It's quite obvious that words don't mean diddly to Them at this point...
Folks are just passing the word around to their friends and acquaintances, to stop buying the keys.
It wouldn't be possible to stop the flow completely...,
... but with enough word-of-mouth, there could quite possibly be a rather sizable dent put in it.
It also seems that many more people are catching on..., on their own ...
At least in the chat discussions I've seen anyway.
Everyone wants to hear from DStahl. Meh. At thist point, I'm beginning to question his character. I mean, c'mon--we all know he's aware of the backlash. I have some words for him that I'll save for Vegas.
The next official response would likely be something that sounds like:
"We were not expecting the large amount of unhappiness"
Followed by Caitian Carrier lockbox mid-year and the forum population rioting
This starts to remind me of the Titanic. Iceberg? What iceberg? Pah, this ship is unsinkable.
Everyone wants to hear from DStahl. Meh. At thist point, I'm beginning to question his character. I mean, c'mon--we all know he's aware of the backlash. I have some words for him that I'll save for Vegas.
I think the reality is this lock box TRIBBLE comes straight from PWE. All the employees at Cryptic are basically either keeping their heads down, or issuing disingenuous justifications, simply so they can keep putting food on the table. I think it all more or less makes sense when you look at it from that standpoint.
Cryptic probably has no choice in the way these boxes are run, so they just want to pretend it makes some sort of business sense, when in fact if the boxes were just slightly more generous in their payouts (especially with the new Lobi crystal mechanics) they'd make as much money but generate much less ill will.
My idea of a quick fix for this issue cryptic...1000 lobi crystals given to each F2P'er and 2000 for every Sub and Lifer account. Not to mention a hearty "OOPS...Sorry guys"
This would decrease the number of the already no doubt lowered CP master key purchase, as no one would need to get crystals any more for the shuttle and uniforms etc. Since PWE/Cryptic/Whatever have already demonstrated that they would seemingly prefer to change the rules and risk the ire of the entire community, not to mention legal consequences if the guys on here are to be believed, than to risk losing money, I can't see this sort of give-back ever happening.
If this wasn't "Star Trek" I would have voted with my feet in 2010. I am now actually considering ditching it, which would not be an easy decision. I love Star Trek and all it entails, but there's only so much I can turn a blind eye to.
I think the reality is this lock box TRIBBLE comes straight from PWE. All the employees at Cryptic are basically either keeping their heads down, or issuing disingenuous justifications, simply so they can keep putting food on the table. I think it all more or less makes sense when you look at it from that standpoint.
Cryptic probably has no choice in the way these boxes are run, so they just want to pretend it makes some sort of business sense, when in fact if the boxes were just slightly more generous in their payouts (especially with the new Lobi crystal mechanics) they'd make as much money but generate much less ill will.
This is exactly what I have been thinking about the PWE/Cryptic relationship for the last few months.
I have the feeling that there are a lot of clenched teeth at Cryptic...(at least I hope there are)
This is exactly what I have been thinking about the PWE/Cryptic relationship for the last few months.
I have the feeling that there are a lot of clenched teeth at Cryptic...(at least I hope there are)
Haha yeah i would hope so as these lock boxes stink.
If all new ships are going to be in the form of a lock box i doubt i will ever be getting a new ship as i don't gamble and don't see why i should just to get a chance at some new ships its stupid.
I hope they get some new ones in the C-store soon.
If Cryptic will indeed be at vegas trek con, then that would be an excellent time to let other trek fans know about the scamboxes, in fact bringing a large stack of paper flyers to fellow trek fans detailing the issue might be a great way to demonstrate that support from the broader trek community would be appreciated in dealing with this issue.
Everyone wants to hear from DStahl. Meh. At thist point, I'm beginning to question his character. I mean, c'mon--we all know he's aware of the backlash. I have some words for him that I'll save for Vegas.
I'll be very interested to hear how they're going to gate that. They won't want too many "malcontents" to be able to ask the devs embarrassing questions, so they're going to have to have some way to prevent that from happening. They MUST know that this is the lion's den they're walking into; if they plan to just bear the brunt of it with good humor and grace, then my hat's off to them and I hope that folks do the courtesy of being professional, collected, and straightforward.
(This being said, the idea of delivering a pallet full of boxes, all of them locked, with various (completely safe) contents ranging in value, does sound hilariously appropriate as a form of protest. In Romulan costume, no less. How can we donate to this worthy cause? )
Comments
Exclusive =|= Compulsory
If enough people stopped buying them the powers that be might get the hint.
The only way to fight back is with our money, if suckers keep flushing money down the toilet on lockbox scams nothing will change except for the worse.
you do realize that by their own admission they had a 40% total sales rate on the first box, now, that was pre F2p, think about how much that went up?
its a sad state of affairs when they will do anything to make a quick buck instead of investing in the game for its LONG term health. Lock boxes will do more harm than good over the long run.
F2P did bring in a lot of new bodies, no arguing that. F2P did not provide enough incentive for the subbers to keep subbing. A hybrid business model has to strike a balance between micro-transactions and subs. STO failed to do that in favor of short-term money grabs. Going for the quick buck is what's going to kill this game faster than anything else.
I don't contribute to the business practice. I have an active sub and make c-store purchases when something catches my interest. The day I cancel my sub will be the day I delete the game from my computer and forget about it.
And that day is getting closer and closer with every money grab they make.
Take a look at the F2P/Sub matrix for City of Heroes. Perfect balance on every point. Long term players got a ton of rewards at the switchover and contimue to earn more with active subs. New F2Pers get something like 90% of the same content and can buy the rest directly from the market.
I fully agree, I've been playing and paying for some time now, and during the Jem ship event my wife and I both agreed that for Christmas we would give eachother $200 for the boxes.....$400 later...nothing, first try and last try....
I've been a fan of many things over the years but Star Trek has been a passion shared between my wife and I since we met.
.....as they say, live and learn...Now we ( as the community) have lived this nightmare.....now let PWE/Cryptic learn from our anger what NOT to do....there have been posts about how several other games let subs or lifers open similar boxes for free, while F2P members have to buy the keys....there is a sound practice that works wonders and doesn't upset people to the point they quit....unless they want everyone to quit so they can kill it off....
At least when the Cardassian Boxes were offered, I was able to obtain a few and saw them up for the Roll more often (Except when it changed the last few weeks of the promo).. Instead of calling them Very Rare (Purple) they need to call them Extremely Rare...:rolleyes:
This is how they hide stuff, this is how they silence people. This is the kind of treatment they're willing to use on people who have been fueling their profits on the lottery boxes. If this is the treatment they give to their best financial customers, just imagine how they're willing to treat customers like me who refuse to buy they're lottery boxes.
Mistakes are covered up, promises forgotten or ignored, people who shine a light on this are silenced one way or another. Is it any suprise that rather than fix the lotto box problem, they'd rather try to feed you a line that this is the intended result?
Oh well, I pre-purchased Guild Wars 2, the first beta weekend event is starting soon, STO becomes irrelevant in 7 days. (it makes me kinda sad, but Cryptic gives me no real choice)
*nods in agreement at Guild Wars 2* Also, The Secret World is just around the corner. So many choices...
All that profit can't seem to get them stable servers. STILL has issues with large loads in concentrated areas. I swear they have some of the worst servers around, I do know they're in Boston, I just wonder who the hell is their host so I know NEVER to use them.
That's...just...so...
That's exactly why casino boxes are in game, some people just can't help themselves. They are preying on those with addictive personalities that have lots of money to blow.
Just stop people, please, just stop. All of you, just stop! Don't play the fool.
You people responsible for this scam should be ashamed of yourselves.
Sorry to call you out, but Cryptic will contend that you got $400 of fun out of those boxes and if you did not, then it is a failure of you to have other expectations. Naturally I completely disagree with this.
As I measured 2,000 red holiday gift boxes, I know something of the drop rate.
320 Red Boxes would net you a 79.9% chance of getting the ship. Unfortunately with such a low drop rate, spending a lot of money can give you a "good" chance, but there is no sure thing. It is still easy to spend a lot of money and have a significant chance to get nothing.
On Average, 320 boxes may get you:
151.04__Blue Box
37.44__1 Hour Skill Boost
27.84__Polytrinic Acid Horta
21.76__Exocomp
19.52__Gekli
17.6__Eisilum Crystal Horta
16.32__Photonic Tribble
10.24__8 Hour Skill Boost
8.96__Science Officer
7.68__Fed Junior Cadre
1.6__Jem'Hadar Ships
I can't imagine how much fun 28 Polytrinic Acid Hortas must be!
I still have a Life sub with Anarchy Online and I poured a lot of money into that game since 1999 and they recently Invited me to free closed Betaof The Secret World, even though I havn't played AO since 2009. I checked in on my account and I have a massive amount of FunCom store credits and more collectable items then a lucky dip barrel that wowed me.
I still have life subs with 3 other games and store credits abundant in each, recurring monthly games in suspense like Aion, WoW, Requiem Bloodymare (love blood n guts) but I am hooked on STO being a trekkie fan.
I could choose to go back to any of these game, except WoW but I am staying put, although will sneak a peak at The Secret World or maybe TERA in a few days when they go invite open beta.
But in the mean time I have a Pre-Order for Lollipop Chainsaw FTW! on PS3 which I can take numerous frustrations out on. :mad::mad::mad:
It just shows that every player in this game (STO) has a choice of what to play and where to spend and I like a lot of older, mature or any demographic really has more then 1 p2p game and plenty of f2p's.
< WHAT THE BLUE SKIN WOULD ASK THE PINK SKINS TO DO >
What I would like to see out of this fiasco now is DSTAHL to recognise that there is problems surrounding the 'lotto' albeit a nasty word for random (although chosen because we pay real currency to buy keys, to by subs etc) does have its fails and this time round with poor PR, misleading FAQ, ridiculous Lobi crystal implementation, FAQ cover up by rewording it instead of fixing and compensating is FAIL FAIL FAIL.
< BLUE SKIN WENT RED SKIN OVER RECENT GM RESPONSE >
On another note a recent reply to a ticket about 1 lobi crystals in Gold lock boxes was left with a cut n paste from the new FAQ and nothing else, so they are not addressing the 1 lobi crystal even thought BranFlakes says to submit a ticket.
All in All you will get no where with GM ticketing unless BranFlakes or some other Community Mod informs the GM team to DO something about it and stop sending the same messages.
Being around you pink skins to long has corrupted me
You owe me one
Thy'lek Shran
but they also stated:
"Please be aware that we are not able to provide reimbursement in all cases, however we are glad that we have ben able to assist you in this matter"
actually they are listening but i also think its just to much at this time...
a tip of mine is: take a screenrecord with fraps or smiliar when u open a GOLDBOX.. in case it is bugged you can sent this video to cryptic
greetings
Yeah I took screen shots of them all and provided the information in the tickets. Been playing mmorpg's a long time now and know how to CMA, Cover My A(backside).
But I do appreciate the information thank you
Being around you pink skins to long has corrupted me
You owe me one
Thy'lek Shran
I never defended CRYPTIC in regards to using R.G.L's (Random. Generated. Loot) - Let alone the fact that they are now forcing players to spend real money just to open an R.G.L
... and the few post I made promoting it, was to poke fun at the GREED and make it a mockery - akin to reverse psychology.
Its a BAD Business Practice and Model - no doubt it is. Defenders will say they need to do it to generate revenue - truth is there are far superior means and better models to adopt from. It just happenes to be that this bad practice is the quickest to captilize on the fans of Star Trek.
Trust me, they know when to feed you a bone and know that most Star Trek Fanatics will bite at it as if they were JAWS.
We can plee, we can cry, the truth is the Lock Boxes are here to stay - and for the most part they are far more devious than the Red Gift Boxes which I fell prey to in the beginning. There is no doubt in my mind that the face of STO has changed drastically, F2P has become a horror story for STO - its now all about gimmicks, hidden grinds, and little to no rewards for the playerbase.
The sad part is that I care about STO the game, unfortunately; CRYPTIC has made a mockery of the only Star Trek MMO.
I am still hoping for some major changes in the right directions - I am referring to business practice as well as providing solid content - since the last real solid content was the "2800" FE - everything else has been fluff and gimmicks - with the occasional ONE episode tease.
"No, it'll take ages, just retcon the information and say we meant it like that all the time."
Not that I'm synical or anything.;)
This made me laugh thou isn't it cynical?
Well I can say this much, I spent the eve in another game, I was gonna come in but the game crashed (oh boy what a surprise, I'd been waiting ALL DAY) I'll try to get in the game soon, who knows I may just get a lock box!
And throw it away, again.
Does the game developer world have some sort of "group" for lack of a better term or a society? Just wondering
nope
If they admit to the bug, they have to fix it (not a big deal)
But then they would be required to find a way to compensate all the people who opened a gold (holy hell we can't do that! we would LOSE $$$ not to mention they probably can't tell who opened what and what exactly they got out of it (short of the ships im sure that is logged)
So cost wise, easier to say they just forgot to list it in the FAQ (and in the gold boxes info itself)
this leads into a bait and switch problem for them (false advertising) but they are sure that hardly anyone will actually do anything about it.
Everyone wants to hear from DStahl. Meh. At thist point, I'm beginning to question his character. I mean, c'mon--we all know he's aware of the backlash. I have some words for him that I'll save for Vegas.
So true. And ST:IS is still on hold... hmpf.
Perhaps CBS should grow another braincell, retract the license from Cryptic/PWE and hand it over to a company that can actually do the IP justice and doesn't butcher it with stupid mechanics, nonsensical missions and cheap cash grabs that are about as anti-IP as it can get (seriously, how did the Ferengi hide their boxes in Borg torpedos?
The whole thing really reminds me of the Incarna debacle EVE Online went through several months ago (you know... the $70 monocle...). Apparently, CCP learned from their mistakes, listened to the players and added the features the community has been asking for for a long time instead of pushing stuff into the game nobody wanted. We can only hope that Cryptic learns as well.
It's quite obvious that words don't mean diddly to Them at this point...
Folks are just passing the word around to their friends and acquaintances, to stop buying the keys.
It wouldn't be possible to stop the flow completely...,
... but with enough word-of-mouth, there could quite possibly be a rather sizable dent put in it.
It also seems that many more people are catching on..., on their own ...
At least in the chat discussions I've seen anyway.
The next official response would likely be something that sounds like:
"We were not expecting the large amount of unhappiness"
Followed by Caitian Carrier lockbox mid-year and the forum population rioting
This starts to remind me of the Titanic. Iceberg? What iceberg? Pah, this ship is unsinkable.
I think the reality is this lock box TRIBBLE comes straight from PWE. All the employees at Cryptic are basically either keeping their heads down, or issuing disingenuous justifications, simply so they can keep putting food on the table. I think it all more or less makes sense when you look at it from that standpoint.
Cryptic probably has no choice in the way these boxes are run, so they just want to pretend it makes some sort of business sense, when in fact if the boxes were just slightly more generous in their payouts (especially with the new Lobi crystal mechanics) they'd make as much money but generate much less ill will.
This would decrease the number of the already no doubt lowered CP master key purchase, as no one would need to get crystals any more for the shuttle and uniforms etc. Since PWE/Cryptic/Whatever have already demonstrated that they would seemingly prefer to change the rules and risk the ire of the entire community, not to mention legal consequences if the guys on here are to be believed, than to risk losing money, I can't see this sort of give-back ever happening.
If this wasn't "Star Trek" I would have voted with my feet in 2010. I am now actually considering ditching it, which would not be an easy decision. I love Star Trek and all it entails, but there's only so much I can turn a blind eye to.
This is exactly what I have been thinking about the PWE/Cryptic relationship for the last few months.
I have the feeling that there are a lot of clenched teeth at Cryptic...(at least I hope there are)
Haha yeah i would hope so as these lock boxes stink.
If all new ships are going to be in the form of a lock box i doubt i will ever be getting a new ship as i don't gamble and don't see why i should just to get a chance at some new ships its stupid.
I hope they get some new ones in the C-store soon.
I would hope so too and let's hope they're at least talking behind the scenes because they're sure not talking to us.
This might be fun!
I'll be very interested to hear how they're going to gate that. They won't want too many "malcontents" to be able to ask the devs embarrassing questions, so they're going to have to have some way to prevent that from happening. They MUST know that this is the lion's den they're walking into; if they plan to just bear the brunt of it with good humor and grace, then my hat's off to them and I hope that folks do the courtesy of being professional, collected, and straightforward.
(This being said, the idea of delivering a pallet full of boxes, all of them locked, with various (completely safe) contents ranging in value, does sound hilariously appropriate as a form of protest. In Romulan costume, no less. How can we donate to this worthy cause?