Fleet Starbases - exorbitant expensive!

c1cer0 · August 2012

Hello Captains,

i know there are some Threads about this subject, but I think its absolutely necessary to protest very directly against this stuff.

The grinding of Fleet Marks is a full time job for a Small Fleet... neither to speak of the other stuff, like dozens of DOFF s and so on...

Furthermore: even if the Fleet is able to start one Project as close as possible to the next, it would take another six months (perhaps more!?) to reach the End...!:eek:

So... i suggest this System needs a general overhaul!

flekh · August 2012

Hint: Starbases are NOT MEANT to be done with tomorrow.
The minimum time to finish one at tier 5 is 7 months.
For most players, they are meant to be something they can work on for a year or two.

Which, btw, is perfectly fine.
Having long-term projects is a nice addition to the game.

There's just wo problems with the starbase system:
a) Lack of other endgame content - if working on the starbase is the only thing you can do, it gets tedious and frustrating quickly.
b) The instant-gratification-crowd that always wants everything NOW! with little to no EFFORT, and if possible, even quicker and better than those people who put time and effort towards a goal.

Problem a) is quite serious in STO for long-time players ... it is, however, not remotely an issue for the majority of players, who could improve their characters and fleets in so many other ways if they'd just take a moment to turn away from that shiny new toy and remember what else is there.
Problem b) ... nothing you can do about it. They keep coming, keep making threads like this, and they think they're entitled to get every whim served. No use listening to them, they'll be gone for the next big thing that promises them anything soon anyway, and will get disappointed and whiney just as soon again.

System is basically fine as it is, except for some tweaks (DOff downgrade is coming soon, Fleet Marks might need a slight buff/more opportunies ... but that's it.). What this game needs is more other content, and what the whole of humanity needs is less of the instant-gratification-crowd.

Thanks for reading, have a nice day.

marc8219 · August 2012

Disagree, they should take a long time to complete. I think some of the requirements should be increased like expertise.

latinumbar · August 2012

c1cer0 wrote: »

Furthermore: even if the Fleet is able to start one Project as close as possible to the next, it would take another six months (perhaps more!?) to reach the End...!:eek:

This was the intentional design by the devs. They said 7 months minimum even if every project is started immediately one after another. They said their goal is for it to be a LONG term project.

abcde123123 · August 2012

I'm amused by the folks who are ready to commit themselves to grinding for the next 7 - 12 months.

Assuming those folks aint' on cryptiv payroll, the obvious solution would be to adjust the requirements based on fleet sizes: that way those who enjoy the grind will get the grind, and those who wants the weapons/ships in reasonable time would get what they want.

Simple, eh?

dshot79 · August 2012

It's really nice to actually have something you have to work for for a change. I think what we're experiencing is lack of variety. Which, considering how many avenues of leveling a character are available, and the many little things that you can do thus far (normal leveling missions, PvE events, PvP, DOFF assignements) there is quite a bit to do up until level 50. But once you get there, you start to feel like there is no goal really to look forward to. And unfortunately every MMO gets to this point. I understand this quite well, there is a slight goal for me in getting gear and trying out new ships (whcih takes time to get dilithium/c-points to minimize actual dollars spent), but not much past that.

I think it would be nice to be able to utilize mini-games as a way to accomplish a gathering goal (maybe like wagering dilithium or gold pressed latinum for instance?) for dabo or poker, or any other type of PvP situation that could be done.

One of STO's strenghts is its community and if Cryptic could harness that in game a bit more I think it would shine even better. Fleet starbases is a great start, allowing fleets to come together and interact with each to accomplish something. And something that isn't done immediately after 1 or 2 runs of an event. It really gives a sense of accomplishment when you reach that first Tier on your Starbase!

dkeith2011 · August 2012

As of earlier this afternoon I have basically abandoned the base system.

There is simply far too much grind required for far too little benefit.

I'll probably keep up with the vanity projects if resources allow, but unless/until the Devs get their heads out of their asses and totally overhaul the construction costs they will be all I do.

sollvax · August 2012

your choice of course

If I were costing them Id have made them cost less marks and a LOT more dilithium
but then I have my own reasons for that

Id like to see some future special projects like

"Admirals office" a personal office for EACH fleet member over RA rank at a cost of maybe 50k dilith EACH

"Hydroponics deck" a whole deck with growing green plants (perhaps 250k dilith)

"Stellar cartography" a room with a dome of stars (a 200k project)

but thats just me

baudl · August 2012

dkeith2011 wrote: »

As of earlier this afternoon I have basically abandoned the base system.

There is simply far too much grind required for far too little benefit.

I'll probably keep up with the vanity projects if resources allow, but unless/until the Devs get their heads out of their asses and totally overhaul the construction costs they will be all I do.

at this point in the construction progress any fleet that is determined to build a fleet base is happy to take members that are willing to help, even if it is only a small contribution.

so, search for a big fleet that is recruiting and join them. you don't need to socialize with them if you don't want. just play the game as usual and contribute to the projects.

latinumbar · August 2012

sollvax wrote: »

your choice of course

If I were costing them Id have made them cost less marks and a LOT more dilithium
but then I have my own reasons for that

Id like to see some future special projects like

"Admirals office" a personal office for EACH fleet member over RA rank at a cost of maybe 50k dilith EACH

"Hydroponics deck" a whole deck with growing green plants (perhaps 250k dilith)

"Stellar cartography" a room with a dome of stars (a 200k project)

but thats just me

I find myself in the odd situation of actually agreeing with you, at least in principle. :eek: Making the 'grind' into dilithium instead of marks would alleviate some of the problems. There are only a handful of ways to make fleet marks. BUT, there are a lot of ways to make dilithium. I think there would be a lot less complaining about the grind if the costs were mostly dilithium cost rather than fleet marks. Also, this would gives options for those that don't have the time to grind, the option to 'pay' via dilithium exchange.

agentexeider · August 2012

latinumbar wrote: »

I find myself in the odd situation of actually agreeing with you, at least in principle. :eek: Making the 'grind' into dilithium instead of marks would alleviate some of the problems. There are only a handful of ways to make fleet marks. BUT, there are a lot of ways to make dilithium. I think there would be a lot less complaining about the grind if the costs were mostly dilithium cost rather than fleet marks. Also, this would gives options for those that don't have the time to grind, the option to 'pay' via dilithium exchange.

And with dilithium, we could just BUY our bases, and drive Zpoints into completely worthless catagory when people realize how much dilithium will suddenly be worth.

500 Z points for 1 Dilithium, hey hey, Ka-ching for Cryptic.

-AE

dkeith2011 · August 2012

sollvax wrote: »

your choice of course

If I were costing them Id have made them cost less marks and a LOT more dilithium
but then I have my own reasons for that

Id like to see some future special projects like

"Admirals office" a personal office for EACH fleet member over RA rank at a cost of maybe 50k dilith EACH

"Hydroponics deck" a whole deck with growing green plants (perhaps 250k dilith)

"Stellar cartography" a room with a dome of stars (a 200k project)

but thats just me

As I said elsewhere:

Starbases are big, expensive things that should take a long time to build. That much we can agree on.

The problem I see with the current economic system is that it focuses far too much on grinding a very small amount of content over and over when it should be encouraging play/replay of all content.

I don't have a problem with a project like this taking a lot of time. It took me years to get my bases in City of Heroes fitted out the way I wanted them

When I was building those bases I got everything I needed from regular game play of my various characters. I could play when I wanted for as long as I wanted and be guaranteed to get something useful for my base building project. Nothing needed was locked away behind 'exclusive' content.

But in STO, one absolutely essential material (FMs) is locked in a handful of missions and awarded in those missions only grudgingly unless you play them during randomly scheduled events for slightly enhanced rewards.

In CoH players earn Prestige (the main base building currency) simply by being in a super group and playing the game. Prestige, in combination with other salvage items (also earned during regular play), is used to craft and install everything in the base

Why not do FMs the same way here?

Make FMs the primary fleet currency by attaching them to each arc in the game with either a few per mission or a large lump sum at the end and allow them to be converted into other required materials (at a reasonable rate) to allow constant, measurable progress on base building. Materials could also be donated as they are now to allow additional flexibility.

This has the added benefit of making ALL content in the game desireable for replay. Given that the Devs have all but directly stated that 'play-it-once' content is dead, this is a good thing.

Have the current fleet events award larger numbers of FMs than they currently do but increase the cooldown accordingly to maintain balance. This would allow for larger crunches of materials to cover special projects like the interior decorating ones we've already had assuming they use something other than dilithium.

All of this should allow small (even solo) fleets to get more enjoyment, and less frustration, out of what is now the center piece of the game.

baudl wrote: »

at this point in the construction progress any fleet that is determined to build a fleet base is happy to take members that are willing to help, even if it is only a small contribution.

so, search for a big fleet that is recruiting and join them. you don't need to socialize with them if you don't want. just play the game as usual and contribute to the projects.

Contribute to a fleet that I'm ultimately likely to never get anything back from?

No thanks.

adabisi · August 2012

i feel the SB projects are not too bad. The biggest issue is the need for a specific DOFF i.e. Sensors or something. They need to tone that down.

I am not gonna be getting 30 sensors dOFFs anytime soon. At a million a doff it is a lil expensive too. And yes i sent 64million on 2 sets of them...not a dime more EVER.

More generic DOFF requirements is about the only thing I would wish for....

My fleet...me and 2 other people and we are almost tier 2...

We dun grind too much......Only during ther 2 hour blocks of extra marks x2 daily.

Fleet Starbases - exorbitant expensive!

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