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josephkerr
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
Many moons ago (and before PWE forced me to permanently adopt this alter-ego), not long after PWE took over and the forums were working themselves into a frenzy demonising the evil step-dad known as Atari, I told a cautionary tale about how PWE operates and hinted at some chilling possibilities for STO's future.
Using experiance gleaned from playing a number of PWE games and from other companies that work in a similar way (Aeria, gPotato etc), I went on to explain that PWE thrive on "member churn", how they made a number of poor quality and incredibly similar MMO's designed to keep you under their Umbrella. You'd get bored of one game and then go try out the other they've been flashing in your face all the while. A few titles later and you return to check on your old character from the first game and the cycle starts again.
These games, and those of their competitors, were not of a standard that they could stand on their own two feet, they were simply cogs in the larger machine and would rust into oblivion without it. They did not receive regular, quality updates in playable content (comparative to the scale or frequency of titles not developed for this model) but there was no end to the stream of re-skinned, re-coloured and increasingly expensive shinies they could sell to you. Some of these companies are even brazen enough to charge outright $200 for a 3 item set! Then change the colour, stats and repeat it the next month!
I also made the glaringly obvious point that PWE wasn't a suitable caretaker for this IP, but that was so readily apparant it was a a bit self indulgent to say so.
Everything they did, from the games to the forums, was of a poor quality. All very much cheap and tacky. PWE even call their cash shop currency "Zen", something in such poor taste even I don't find it funny!
Now we're seeing the influence of "Perfect" World "Entertainment" pervert STO. From lockboxes to re-coloured cash shop items and a cheap, tacky forum crowbarred into their larger site (without even some basic, out of the box, one-click-to-activate functionality!). To me it seems like a clear abandonment of integrity and quality to force STO to serve the greater whole, a whole that is singularly interested in maximum profit for the least possible effort in as short-sighted and limited way as possible (which also ignores the benefit of a quality product selling itself).
HOWEVER! There may be hope, someone always has some. Do you feel STO's future still has some brightness to it? I'm serious, if you've got a reasonable, intelligent point to the contrary, please do share. Can STO live up to the potential it has so far failed to do so far, even under PWE? Personally, I can still play the game while the price is right, there's worse ways to kill time without spending a penny after all
"Always end on a joke" they say, and here it is: I might actually have been right.
Using experiance gleaned from playing a number of PWE games and from other companies that work in a similar way (Aeria, gPotato etc), I went on to explain that PWE thrive on "member churn", how they made a number of poor quality and incredibly similar MMO's designed to keep you under their Umbrella. You'd get bored of one game and then go try out the other they've been flashing in your face all the while. A few titles later and you return to check on your old character from the first game and the cycle starts again.
These games, and those of their competitors, were not of a standard that they could stand on their own two feet, they were simply cogs in the larger machine and would rust into oblivion without it. They did not receive regular, quality updates in playable content (comparative to the scale or frequency of titles not developed for this model) but there was no end to the stream of re-skinned, re-coloured and increasingly expensive shinies they could sell to you. Some of these companies are even brazen enough to charge outright $200 for a 3 item set! Then change the colour, stats and repeat it the next month!
I also made the glaringly obvious point that PWE wasn't a suitable caretaker for this IP, but that was so readily apparant it was a a bit self indulgent to say so.
Everything they did, from the games to the forums, was of a poor quality. All very much cheap and tacky. PWE even call their cash shop currency "Zen", something in such poor taste even I don't find it funny!
Now we're seeing the influence of "Perfect" World "Entertainment" pervert STO. From lockboxes to re-coloured cash shop items and a cheap, tacky forum crowbarred into their larger site (without even some basic, out of the box, one-click-to-activate functionality!). To me it seems like a clear abandonment of integrity and quality to force STO to serve the greater whole, a whole that is singularly interested in maximum profit for the least possible effort in as short-sighted and limited way as possible (which also ignores the benefit of a quality product selling itself).
HOWEVER! There may be hope, someone always has some. Do you feel STO's future still has some brightness to it? I'm serious, if you've got a reasonable, intelligent point to the contrary, please do share. Can STO live up to the potential it has so far failed to do so far, even under PWE? Personally, I can still play the game while the price is right, there's worse ways to kill time without spending a penny after all
"Always end on a joke" they say, and here it is: I might actually have been right.
![http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af154/vector7_bucket/Batman-Arkham-City-The-Joker-Trailer-Banner-614x239.jpg[/SIGPIC]](http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af154/vector7_bucket/Batman-Arkham-City-The-Joker-Trailer-Banner-614x239.jpg[/SIGPIC]){kind=link}
Post edited by josephkerr on
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no, but:
"i would like a second opinion."
Doctor says "Ok, you're ugly too"
*badoom boom*
Registered: Oct/2009 , LTS : Feb/2011
Fleets: Warriors of the Phoenix, Kirian Industries[/SIGPIC]
Three years and still no Captain Klaa hair...
Right there with you. I wish we hadn't have been right.
It's all bottom line.
Did you post a thread yourself or post in an existing thread? If you posted one yourself we can still find it just by google searching the title.
The.Grand.Nagus
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: NPW Forums
It was in response to many threads, and I didn't always make all the above points in each one, this is the collection of my scattered finger-wagging.
Besides the great new forums and other than c-store items is one featured episode and the Doff system all the game has got since PWE bought Cryptic? Not much of a good year since PWE bought Cryptic. Now I guess it will be the years of hell.