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Announcement About Upcoming Dilithium Changes - Nov 14, 2012

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  • carl103carl103 Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    This isn't perfect, but it's a big step up./ 'm stll going to post a long ost on feedback as there are still several issues unadressed IMHO, and this dosen't touch those.

    However i'm pleased with the acknowlagment of feedback. I will be whatching developments closely before i go playing much again.
  • khayuungkhayuung Member Posts: 1,876 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Call me ungrateful...

    But...

    This all sounds perfectly Ferengi.

    Sure we're all crying in gratitude... But what if this entire exercise was to lead up to this? Firstly saying that STF dil not dropping dil was a bug... then working as intended... then suddenly reversing the decision. Which btw ends up less that where we all started out.

    And we still haven't resolved where's the EC gonna come from amid all these smokescreens.

    Its a conspiracy theory... But there's a rather disconcerting amount of weight to it.


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  • thepantspartythepantsparty Member Posts: 431 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Good to hear.

    1) It just didn't seem to make sense to completely remove dilithium from STFs (yes, you could earn dil from STFs under the original change, but not until you'd reached T5 Omega rep) when the gear you earned from STFs (via the new rep system) also required dilithium.

    2) It completely sucked to not announce the change until the patch launched, when all the information leading up to the patch led people to believe STFs would still be awarding dilithium. I think this, more than anything, was what people were so angry about.
  • captyoung01captyoung01 Member Posts: 311 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    dastahl wrote: »
    Greetings!

    After many hours of deliberation and review of the post Season 7 player data, I've made the call to reverse the decision to remove Dilithium as a reward for running STFs. In addition, we've also decided to keep Dilithium as a reward in Fleet Actions.

    There have been numerous posts explaining the rationale that went into the reward changes and I can clearly state that our goal of getting more Dilithium into the average player has been very successful. As the data suggested, there is a huge contingent of players that simply do not play STFs but are eager to earn Dilithium in other content. These players are benefiting from the addition of Dilithium in the Fleet Actions, so that worked well.

    However, our concern that there would be too much Dilithium in the economy if we left Dilithium in both STFs and Fleet Actions has been outweighed by the frustration we've seen from STF fans since the launch of Season 7.

    Season 7 is an awesome content filled update that the team is very proud of that has been overshadowed by player frustrations over the Dilithium changes. Cryptic has and always will take player feedback into consideration when making decisions and this is a case where we agree with the players that Dilithium should be back in the STFs. It is more fun to run STFs when you can earn Dilithium towards end game gear and no amount of data driven logic can outweigh this.

    So here are the changes we'll be making in a maintenance build by the end of this week.
    • Normal STF runs will grant 480 Dilithium
    • Elite STF runs will grant 960 Dilithium
    • Space Fleet Action runs will grant 480 Dilithium
    • Ground Fleet Action runs will grant 640 Dilithium

    This is in addition to the other rewards that STFs and Fleet Actions grant.

    While this is still a change from Season 6, we hope that these new amounts will help the average player earn more Dilithium per day while maintaining the Dilithium that players who like to run STFs were receiving.

    The additional Dilithium may impact the player-to-player Dilithium exchange rates in the future, but we would rather you were having fun in Season 7 than worrying about the economy. We have enough of that to deal with in the real world.

    Thank you for your patience and for being the best community of any MMO.


    - dstahl


    (p.s. the web team has updated the blog I posted last night with these changes to help cut down on confusion.)

    What about the STF Loot Drops? I ran STF's solely for the Dilithium and Loot drops. The Loot drops in particular for conversion to Energy Credits.

    I realize that some in the community don't really care to much for the loot drops, but many of us still do, and relied on STF's for it.
  • ut47ut47 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Please don't nerf fleet actions so much, I enjoyed them being relevent again.:(
  • akrilonakrilon Member Posts: 137 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Thank you for reconsidering :)
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  • thef0xguythef0xguy Member Posts: 47 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    I find it extremely sad that the only reason the devs decided to "listen" to our feedback is because it was overshadowing the positvity of the S7 launch. They obviously dont want STFs to have dilithium, or they wouldnt have removed it in the first place. And they obviously dont care what we think, or they would have listened to what we said on tribble. It is only because of all of the heat they were getting that they reversed the decision, not because they actually agree with us.

    So if this whole incident has proven anything, it is that screaming loud enough works, and that constructive feedback doesnt.
  • wargibbonwargibbon Member Posts: 62 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    dastahl wrote: »
    So in other words - we stuck to our guns - left the change in - it accomplished exactly what we wanted it to (help players get more Dilithium) but that doesn't equal "fun" for the community. We needed to see the data after S7 launch in order to realize that players can have their cake and eat it too and the game will be ok.

    While i welcome this intervention and common sense approach with the returning dil rewards, the other main area of complaint must surely be the DOFF dil requirements. Why are they so high? I mean seriously, 5000 dil to change blue to purple? Love to hear the rationale behind that one
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  • daharmasterklagdaharmasterklag Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    It's still a massive net loss in dilithium with almost every element of the game converted into a dil sink. No more rewards for STFs (the honor to waste untold thousands of dilithium for rewards you should have already earned?), the new "mark" systems, the horrific decisions on the doff system...

    Reverting back to allow dilithium for STFs doesn't make up for the net loss of many thousands of dil per day. THOSE changes need to be reverted as well.
    diotw wrote: »
    What about those of us who don't enjoy STFs OR Fleet Actions? We're still stuck with more fees and less opportunities to earn Dilithium.

    I agree with the above sentiments. While it's nice to have a little dilithium added back into the game rather than none at all, unfortunately there are so many new dil sinks in the game after S7 that it's still a huge hit for some players.

    It hits casual players particularly hard who simply don't have four plus hours a day every day to grind away working at a game. I work enough hours in the real world as is and go home to game for fun and entertainment... not to login to a pretend second job I don't get paid real money to do. :(
  • solomacesolomace Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Beep, beep, beep, Warning, Cryptic truck reversing.


    And the masses are thankful for the return of the crumbs and all is right?

    I gotta give it to Cryptic, you're one slippery devil.:) Just look at all the "thanks Cryptic" on this thread alone.

    Genius...
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  • dontdrunkimshootdontdrunkimshoot Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    EARTH TO DAN, you cant do both a fleet action and an STF at the same time! :mad: why the hell is the fleet action dil being slashed so hard!

    the problem with stfs in season 7 is that there is 0 items awarded at all, no item drop ant the end, no lock box, no dil too but the fleet action dil makes up for this, there is nothing but omega marks or a neral processor. were is the actual loot? at the very least it was a good source of EC.
  • bubblygumsworthbubblygumsworth Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Awwww isnt this nice, finally a thread the feels like a warm fuzzy hug.


    If only the community would pick up the pick forks and torches and go on a rampage about the lack KDF content/ships... then again good things come to those who wait and S8 might be the KDFs golden season :P
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  • solomacesolomace Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Awwww isnt this nice, finally a thread the feels like a warm fuzzy hug.


    If only the community would pick up the pick forks and torches and go on a rampage about the lack KDF content/ships... then again good things come to those who wait and S8 might be the KDFs golden season :P

    The thing is, where do you find this Commnity? It's not these forums as Cryptic say's it's a drop in the ocean the people who come here. Are we to believe that maybe, just maybe, the negative vibes on here, have moved on to other media?

    Not sure why Dan decided to post here and not at Massively or PC gamer or Priority 1.
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  • diogene0diogene0 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    What about the STF Loot Drops? I ran STF's solely for the Dilithium and Loot drops. The Loot drops in particular for conversion to Energy Credits.

    I realize that some in the community don't really care to much for the loot drops, but many of us still do, and relied on STF's for it.

    I think the loot drops from fleet actions are clearly more than enough. They are way better than what we used to get in STFs. Actually I like the current design: ECs in fleet actions (with some dil), and dil with marks in STFs. It gives me a reason to play both.
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  • lordhooklordhook Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Will you also undo this?
    If you try the Vulcan, Andorian, or Telerite exchange officers it costs 6k Dilithium!!!!

    Upgrading 25 uncommon duty officers to 5 rare and then to 1 very rare now costs 17,500 dilithium... Upgrading from 125 common duty officers to 1 very rare costs 20,000 dilithium....

    To turn common duty officers into very rare would require at least 2.5 days of dilithium harvesting... Basically I'm enraged beyond comprehension at this amount of grinding...
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  • bubblygumsworthbubblygumsworth Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    dastahl wrote: »
    it wasn't until we looked at the data today and saw that everyone had more Dilithium on average and still weren't happy

    Maybe the data was wrong, it may be from when we cashed all of our stf loot in before season 7 release



    Just a thought, I could be wrong haha
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  • pveheropvehero Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    dastahl wrote: »
    However, our concern that there would be too much Dilithium in the economy if we left Dilithium in both STFs and Fleet Actions

    And the fact that you added insane Dilithium costs for about all items that people need, items that used to cost no Dilithium, was not expected to impact the Dilithium economy?
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  • darkenzedddarkenzedd Member Posts: 881
    edited November 2012
    dastahl wrote: »
    So in other words - we stuck to our guns - left the change in - it accomplished exactly what we wanted it to (help players get more Dilithium) but that doesn't equal "fun" for the community. We needed to see the data after S7 launch in order to realize that players can have their cake and eat it too and the game will be ok.


    Careful Dan, that almost sounds like an insult to your playerbase, we do not want our cake and eat it ,"as you put it" we just want a fair game.... :mad:

    Remember, you guys removed 1440 dilithium from the btran daily and then also from the stf's, despite us telling you it was too much.
    You then added unneeded dilithium costs acquiring doffs and other parts of the game, so you took away and also added costs which was double dipping! :rolleyes:

    You then lied to us for the second time regarding the conversion of all our saved up stf currency stating that we would get the same purchasing power. It took us the playerbase to work out your con, and 90% of the playerbase would have been ripped off of our dilithium.
    Thankfully we averted your ploy, held onto the minimum needed for the best value and then converted the rest into what we should have got in the first place....

    Work with us and this could have been avoided ;)
  • thegrimcorsairthegrimcorsair Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Cool changes, I didn't want to bother with Space Fleet Actions anyway. Now, they're REALLY not worth my time.

    Again.
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  • qjuniorqjunior Member Posts: 2,023 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    diogene0 wrote: »
    I think the loot drops from fleet actions are clearly more than enough. They are way better than what we used to get in STFs. Actually I like the current design: ECs in fleet actions (with some dil), and dil with marks in STFs. It gives me a reason to play both.

    Yep, I'm with that charming cardassian tailor on this. :)
  • maltinpolarmaltinpolar Member Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    It's still a massive net loss in dilithium with almost every element of the game converted into a dil sink. No more rewards for STFs (the honor to waste untold thousands of dilithium for rewards you should have already earned?), the new "mark" systems, the horrific decisions on the doff system...

    Reverting back to allow dilithium for STFs doesn't make up for the net loss of many thousands of dil per day. THOSE changes need to be reverted as well.

    This. This, please. Having to pay dilithium to reassign underperforming doffs is outrageous.
  • ozy83ozy83 Member Posts: 156 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Great news, definitely needed. Thank you.
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  • crioijoulscrioijouls Member Posts: 141 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Mr. Stahl and devs,

    First off, I'd like to say first that I do enjoy the STFs, and running them with other people especially for the Omega reputation system, as I ran several STF missions and only managed to get a single prototype-tech drop. Now I can work to getting the KHG / MACO / Omega Force gear that I've been wanting for a while. I can also appreciate the Fleet Actions, despite the fact that they can be (and probably are) buggy at times.

    However, I recall the statement made in the discussion about dilithium about your concern over players 'not refining enough dilithium ore', and that got me thinking...

    To make it more accessible to players, why not further increase the rewards given, particularly with the dilithium costs associated with the fleet starbase/embassy projects (especially the special projects, that eat up 200,000 dilithium) and the higher tier reputation projects (requisitions and unlocks). Here's what I'd like to propose:

    1. Leave the Fleet Action dilithium rewards and cooldowns where they are right now.

    Fleet Actions = 1,440 dilithium.
    Cooldown = 30 minutes

    2. STFs, which require serious amounts of teamwork just to complete and also achieve the optional objectives deserve large dilithium rewards for those who run them. Bump up the rewards for them to reflect the skill needed and reduce the cooldown for these missions by half.

    Normal STFs = 720 dilithium.
    Bonus objective = 10% bonus to dilthium and Omega Marks
    Base Omega Marks stay the same.
    Cooldown = 30 minutes

    Elite STFs = 1,440 dilithium
    Bonus objective = 25% bonus to dilithium and Omega Marks
    Base Omega Marks stay the same
    Borg Neural Processors stay the same.
    Cooldown = 30 minutes

    3. Raise the refining cap to 24,000 dilithium per day.
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  • tpalelenatpalelena Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    I know this is a compromise, but the extra dilithium goes to the Weapon requisitions and such for the things that were awarded previously dilithium free in the form of random STF Drops.


    So Dstahl and people, we are not getting "more dilithium" then before. We just get the amount we did so we can spend it on the new STF items store.

    Which is a compromise. Its still better then getting nothing from STFs save marks.

    But why do I think that more dilithium helps Cryptic?

    Its a simple thing. Or no, not really. I'll explain.

    A group: People with an ardous but rewarding job have a lot of money, but got no time. Logically they can't grind the Dilithium out, but buy Zen and go to Dilithium exchange.

    B group: People without a job, or with a part time job have little money, but got a lot of time. Logically they can not buy zen, but grind the dilithium.

    So B group grinds the Dilithium out, and A group buys Zen for money. Then they trade it on the Dilithium exchange.

    Now, making the Dilithium grind harder by removing STF Dilithium rewards, B'tran rewards or Investigate Daily Foundry missions reduces Group B's capability to earn Dilithium.

    So group B faces the trouble, do they sell the Dilithium for Zen, or spend it for gear? They can't grind enough to do both!

    And if they can't provide enough Dilithium for the Exchange, Group A will buy less Zen as a result.

    But now, re-adding the STF rewards with a little nerf now lets Group B grind out enough Dilithium to spend it on their own gear/starbase/reputation, and put it on the exchange for Group A.

    Which means even free to play players (group B) who never purchased Zen or a subscription still make Cryptic profits by providing Dilithium to be bought by Group A.

    So this change not only makes players happy, but also has a big chance of making Cryptic some profits.
    And that is before we factor in that Group B will be happier, and this may just persuade them to buy this or that C-store ship because their opinion have been improved.

    And as last, even free players help improve the game by putting items on exchange, being team members and doing foundry projects too.
    Which may improve the morale and the enjoyment rate of paying customers. That's a little help, but maybe it counts.
    Let us wear Swimsuits on Foundry maps or bridges please! I would pay zen for that.
  • crusader2007crusader2007 Member Posts: 1,883 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    THANKS....THANKS...THANKS...honestly for listening to the forums and twitters. You guys showed great maturity and responsibilty in hearing us the little people at the bottom :D
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  • bmoviequeenbmoviequeen Member Posts: 14 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Thank you Cryptic for listening to us and coming to some compromise. I understand we can't have everything, but hopefully this way we are both happy.
  • bubblygumsworthbubblygumsworth Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Cool changes, I didn't want to bother with Space Fleet Actions anyway. Now, they're REALLY not worth my time.

    Again.

    Lol ok. Today I picked up a Tactical-Disruptor Induction Coil MkXI Purple for coming first. Worth about 3 million ec. Easiest 10-15 minutes ever.
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  • gazurtoidgazurtoid Member Posts: 423 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    Many thanks for this - very welcome news
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  • toivatoiva Member Posts: 3,276 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    dastahl wrote: »
    It wasn't an easy decision by any stretch of the imagination and even though the Dilithium changes to remove STFs has been on TRIBBLE since the test weekend promo, it wasn't until we looked at the data today and saw that everyone had more Dilithium on average and still weren't happy - that I decided that the data driven approach was accomplishing the goal of giving players more Dilithium, but wasn't making some of our hardcore players happy at all.

    As others have pointed out, this is a more balanced approach that may have implications for Dilithium exchange rates in the future (because there will be much more Dilithium in the economy) - but we want players having fun with the new Season 7 content - not worrying about how to get Dilithium.

    So in other words - we stuck to our guns - left the change in - it accomplished exactly what we wanted it to (help players get more Dilithium) but that doesn't equal "fun" for the community. We needed to see the data after S7 launch in order to realize that players can have their cake and eat it too and the game will be ok.

    Easy decision or not, your last position on Tribble was 960 dil for elites and 480 dil for normals. And that's how Season 7 should have come to Holodeck. If for some reason you were to reconsider, first, you should let the players know and only then remove the dil. (Not saying I'd support it, I'd be very much against. I'm simply stating you shouldn't do unexpected changes that are on top of all detrimental to players.)

    And I haven't seen anyone else expecting a surplus of dilithium in game after this change except maybe some of your employees. By all logic, there should be less dilithium available in game even if you doubled dilithium rewards for STFs, simply because many new dilithium sinks have been added (general doff assignement, doff grinder, reputation stores, embassy) while only the fleet actions received (now a rather small) dilithium rewards.

    I can only thank you for posting here.
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  • chiisaumachiisauma Member Posts: 19 Arc User
    edited November 2012
    You still lied.

    You still thought it was a good idea to force your players/customers to play the game in a way you found acceptable; for an amount of time per day you found acceptable, not taking into consideration if it was what they wanted or would enjoy.

    You still completely ignored your player/customer feedback about your coming changes and did what you wanted, reguardless.

    This is in no way good business practice. You do not ignore what custmers tell you, then tell your customers what you have decided it is they want. And you most certainly never lie to them. Not if you wish for them to remain customers for long.

    As everyone else is; I am glad that you decided to re-think some of your recent decisions; and to actually take into account what it is the players/customers would like. This is definately an improvement we are all happy with.

    But this never should have been an issue in the first place; and the damage is done. Restoring players/custoners confidence in you is going to take time and considerably more then an "oops, our bad" post on your part.
This discussion has been closed.