The fact is there is no way in game to get them a side from when the lobi hunts are active so getting 800 lobi crystals next to impossable I think 489 was the max I have ever had. I could buy a shuttle pet for my guy whoop de do. In the end I traded them all in for Q-autographs.
If we could buy lobi crystals packs at 2,000 latnum a pack I could see the lobi store being a hit and it would bring back people to the dabo tables. 2 to 10 crystals in a pack your looking at 200,000 latnum to get a rare ship.
I think thats better than lobi crystal hunts that get you 5 a day.
So, the majority of the playerbase which does not do this is penalized and boned in the TRIBBLE because they are afraid people will exploit this very time consuming and VERY dull method of getting 'free lobi'?
Again, REMOVING that free lobi and making lobi account bound makes a ton more sense.
Not might, will.
When the Mission Architect launched in CoX they had multiple badges for doing various things like clicking different amounts of glowies in MA missions. People made maps that consisted of nothing but glowies for people to click in order to farm these badges to the point where they ended up removing most of the badges they added with the MA.
And that was merely for their equivilent of Accolades, imagaine what people will do for the ships and stuff in the Lobi store, hell, i'd be tempted to do it.
I would really like to see GPL become account bound currency, and have a lobi crit success reward for DABO where GPL is used to play the game.
This way there is means of getting Lobi without opening boxes, GPL has its use, and since you first need to earn the GPL, and then convert it into Lobi, which only happen at Crit success i don't see how this could be abused by clickbots or anyone else.
So, the majority of the playerbase which does not do this is penalized and boned in the TRIBBLE because they are afraid people will exploit this very time consuming and VERY dull method of getting 'free lobi'?
Again, REMOVING that free lobi and making lobi account bound makes a ton more sense.
This!
I am paying cash for my lock boxes and the last thing I want to hear is that I can't use the 220 Lobi I have on my Engineer because my Tactical needs something and has zero. Or that I can't purchase something by that Engineer and move it to my Tactical.
Cryptic is EXPLOITING us by expecting us to open lock boxes enough to get 250 Lobi for the item in question while the original 220 just sits there.
This is the reason that I stopped purchaing lock boxes before the temperal lock box came out. As long as I have a cash investment tied up by Cryptic Studios over 25 free Lobi to free players, I will keep the rest of my cash away from Cryptic. We will just have to call it a fair exchange of your greed vs. my determination not be exploited by you.
actually if I read the amount of lobi drop, it is only 200 hours, and that is assuming your luck is terrible, as I believe you get a minimum of 4 lobi per box opened.
All joking asside
No no no, I was just making a joke about getting 800 Lobi from the free Lobi thing per character. I suppose it could be faster if it's during Replays and you can do the Scavenger Hunt, but then you'd be playing through a ton of content...
I already own a Recluse, got it off the Exchange for 60 mil. I switched back to it when I hit T5 Rom Rep and got myself 2 Elite Scorp hangers.
I'm also not adverse to spending money, since I was in a Vesta for all of a week prior to switching back.
No no no, I was just making a joke about getting 800 Lobi from the free Lobi thing per character. I suppose it could be faster if it's during Replays and you can do the Scavenger Hunt, but then you'd be playing through a ton of content...
I already own a Recluse, got it off the Exchange for 60 mil. I switched back to it when I hit T5 Rom Rep and got myself 2 Elite Scorp hangers.
I'm also not adverse to spending money, since I was in a Vesta for all of a week prior to switching back.
Lol, don't worry, I didn't take it serious. Although my response was somewhat serious (in that it featured correct math as I understand it) it was done tongue and cheek. Hence the "all joking asside".
Honestly I don't expect someone to repeat the beginning missions 200-800 times, Unless they are a real glutton for punishment.
Why not just put some kind of lobi care package in the C-Store? 50 Crystals for 100 C-points, or whatever. That way people could get lobi crystals in a way that is much less aggravating and Cryptic/PWE can make their profits.
Simple solution in my eyes.
"Correction. Humans have rules in war. Rules that make victory a little harder to achieve, in my opinion."
Elim Garak
I don't really bother with the Lobi. Looking at the prices of the keys. That would wipe out what I Zen saved up so far, just for 10 keys! Granted I mainly play when I have time allowed. So to me I don't see the time justified to grind it out or pay for. Just for an item out of the store. Specially when the item costs way more than its worth. Outfit on C store is like 550, why pay over that for something similar. Makes no sense to me on that end.
However I love the idea of using the Dabo tables to turn EC into GPL. And use that to cash in for lobi or use GPL instead of Lobi. You will see me at the Dabo table like crazy. Instead of the simple missions your required to do it. This will get me to the table, and to use my "off duty" outfits as well. And give me a reason to hang around a Station for a while. Other to vendor/exchange items to make room.
As for now, I have no use or interest in the Lobi market.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
The devs had stated before that the reason they don't make lobi account bound is because the items you can get with them are transferable.
As this has turned out to be false, I think we know the real reason.
Also, I think it's awesome that lobi crystals are introduced in Star Trek as a scam Quark runs.
I have been thinking about this and I might have an answer. Cryptic needs to purchase back the Lobi that we don't need on one character with Zen or Dillithium, and then we can do whatever we is required to get what we need from the Lobi store on another character.
This seems like a good compromise as it allows you to get something for it, even if you have to purchase more keys for the toons to build the Lobi reserve up again.
At least this way it isn't Cryptic just sticking it to you in an obvious exploit of its customers. They can keep everything character and pick up bound, which seems to be more important than customer impressions of their company.
Why not just put some kind of lobi care package in the C-Store? 50 Crystals for 100 C-points, or whatever. That way people could get lobi crystals in a way that is much less aggravating and Cryptic/PWE can make their profits.
Simple solution in my eyes.
Good idea. Cryptic sells lockbox keys for 125 (106 now because of the sale) and you get 4 Lobi from a box opened with that key. I'm sure it makes perfect financial sense to sell 10x the amount of Lobi for less real money. Cryptic will certainly stay in business giving things away far far cheaper.
Those saying that people wouldn't farm missions for the Lobi during events, of course people would. I'd do it. Not for the ships, that would be too long and boring. But I'd get an Energy Whip or two. But I'm sure there's plenty of people who would go for the ships. The solution to that was already said. Just get rid of the free Lobi. At first I was thinking that's extremely selfish thinking. But I realized that the free 20 Lobi are completely useless (except for taking up an inventory space I could use for something else). There's absolutely nothing good that you can buy for 20 Lobi. Wow, some useless ground combat pets or useless consumables. Hell, even that stupid Golden Knowledge book would be better than the junk currently available. But that's 30 Lobi. I'd need to open a minimum of 2 boxes just for that useless book. Not going to spend a couple million EC for that thing.
___________________________________________________
I didn't ask to be President of the Balloon Enterprises! The Balloon Enterprises demanded it!
Good idea. Cryptic sells lockbox keys for 125 (106 now because of the sale) and you get 4 Lobi from a box opened with that key. I'm sure it makes perfect financial sense to sell 10x the amount of Lobi for less real money. Cryptic will certainly stay in business giving things away far far cheaper.
Those saying that people wouldn't farm missions for the Lobi during events, of course people would. I'd do it. Not for the ships, that would be too long and boring. But I'd get an Energy Whip or two. But I'm sure there's plenty of people who would go for the ships. The solution to that was already said. Just get rid of the free Lobi. At first I was thinking that's extremely selfish thinking. But I realized that the free 20 Lobi are completely useless (except for taking up an inventory space I could use for something else). There's absolutely nothing good that you can buy for 20 Lobi. Wow, some useless ground combat pets or useless consumables. Hell, even that stupid Golden Knowledge book would be better than the junk currently available. But that's 30 Lobi. I'd need to open a minimum of 2 boxes just for that useless book. Not going to spend a couple million EC for that thing.
If you would've taken a moment to actually read my post, you would've realized that my numbers for the lobi to C-Point ratio was just an example, and not serious.
And why not put lobi's on the C Store? Take them out of those boxes and put them on the C-Store. I'd be willing to bet that many people who would NEVER buy a lock box key would be far more willing to buy a lobi crystal package. Why? Because you're not gambling your hard earned money on something that is most likely going to be useless. And as long as you keep releasing cool stuff on the lobi store, you will always have someone willing to pay to get cool stuff.
Of course, buying enough lobi packs to get a lobi ship will still cost more than a c-store ship. That's a given.
But in the end you have something that is more desirable at a slightly higher price than a lock box key that more people would be willing to buy.
"Correction. Humans have rules in war. Rules that make victory a little harder to achieve, in my opinion."
Elim Garak
Even if Lobi were account wide, it would not help. Case in point:
I did the math, and I made the shocking discovery that the several hundred Lobi needed for the Korath uniform comes out to be more Zen spent on keys than would be needed for the entire Bortasqu Set. Really? All that Zen spent on just an article of clothing? Why? :mad:
Well, you are ignoring the fact that "IN THEORY" you get an item of value in the lock box in addition to the crystals, not JUST the crystals.
Now... IN PRACTICE we all know that 99% of lock boxes are worthless duty office pack so... yes I see your issue
If I remember Cryptic correctly, the whole point of Lobi being character bound is the free lobi in the game. Lobi is considered a monetanized unit. Basically if you have Lobi, chances are either you or someone else paid real money to get it.
But, The game also has free lobi, free lobi you can even get for just an hour or so of gameplay. The result (if Lobi is acccount bound) is hundred of lobi Crystals without any real effort, except rerolling multiple character over and over.
Wait, so they bound Lobi crystals to character instead of account because of 20 (total!!!) crystals you can collect for free in the game???
If lobi was account bound more people would buy keys meaning a higher turnover for the developers.
or to put it this way:
ACCOUNT BOUND LOBI = MORE MONEY FOR CYRPTIC
:rolleyes:
I don't know about that.
What I do know is that Cryptic is locking it to each character so that you have to purchase
even more Lobi and not use what you already have. Exploit.
Maybe there's a potential for compromise that doesn't open the floodgates.
Cryptic is rightly concerned that making Lobi account bound will reduce sales of Master Keys, which seems to be their big cash item these days. With ways to get free Lobi in the game, it also constitutes an exploit.
Players are rightly concerned that they can't redistribute their Lobi in a way that makes sense for all of their characters. Since players with 5-10 characters are understandably reluctant to buy 5-10 times the number of Master Keys to get what they want, they're more likely to simply not bother with it.
So, here's a what-if:
What if the Lobi store sold a "Lobi Crate" that was account-bound containing 100 Lobi and that costs 120 Lobi (or so)? When the crate is opened, the Lobi are bound to the character that opened it. This crate could not be mailed or traded outside of the account.
This would mean that players who buy lots of Master Keys will have some ability to shift Lobi from one character to another 100 Lobi at a time, for a price (20%).
It would mitigate the loss of sales that could ensue if players were able to consolidate Lobi and make exploiting free Lobi much more difficult.
If that wasn't enough, the Lobi Crates could work like Lockboxes and require a Master Key to open. Since Master Keys aren't available for "free" (always need Zen to buy), that would really make exploits unprofitable and limited to how much Zen the player is able to accumulate.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
LOL !
I'd sooner let those lobi sit unused on my toons than pay 20% in lobis for a transfer to another toon THEN pay to open the box up with a key.
Why can't they simply put a few cheap items that are re-sellable in the lobi store so we can dump our 'loose change' lobis ?
Well, okay, then maybe buy a 100 Lobi crate for 100 Lobi and then unlock it with a key.
Point being, they're never going to make Lobi account bound outright... just not enough incentive for them in it and potentially exploitable.
Nor are they going to go for letting people freely move around those "loose change" Lobi and consolidate them. They might go for it if there's a cost attached to it and if the transfer of Lobi is large enough to warrant it.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Well, okay, then maybe buy a 100 Lobi crate for 100 Lobi and then unlock it with a key.
Point being, they're never going to make Lobi account bound outright... just not enough incentive for them in it and potentially exploitable.
Nor are they going to go for letting people freely move around those "loose change" Lobi and consolidate them. They might go for it if there's a cost attached to it and if the transfer of Lobi is large enough to warrant it.
Well, let's go ahead and nail this one down once and for all.
The Lobi isn't how cryptic makes their money. That comes from Zen and only Zen. For some reason, there is a small quantity of Lobi that is in the game for free. Cryptic wants to keep that, so they are exploiting their customers to protect themselves from that exploit. They seem to be okay with that, not suprising.
We the player base who are paying attention see it. Not allowing us to move Lobi that already purchased (ZEN) is an EXPLOIT by Cryptic to protect themselves from the free Lobi in the game that, what- some wild out of control stranger or 3rd party put there? No... This is putting a very very bad taste our (customer) mouthes, specifically if we want something new from the Lobi store on a different character and have to purchase it all over again. I just went through this yesterday and it looks like I have to do it again to get the MK XII augementation kit for my tactical crystaline set.
So, the compromise then- if you want to the Lobi bound to character, but you still want your customers to purchase keys and open lock boxes, THEN PURCHASE THE LOBI BACK AND GIVE US CREDIT FOR IT AND THEN PUT THE CREDIT IN THE ZEN STORE TO PURCHASE LOBI!
As silly as that sounds, and it truley is ridiculous, it allows us to move the Lobi around and prevents BOTH parties from being EXPLOITED by the other. Because as it stands now, it pretty much unwarrented for Cryptic to be putting the screws to me over their game direction.
Thats boloney. Cryptic can pull the ONE lobi mission anytime they want and also rewrite or pull the 'scavenger hunt' missions permanently. There were put into the game to bait players into opening more boxes so they could buy something from the lobi store. If Cryptic were to allow a buy-back the exchange rate would be insulting since every lockbox awards at least 4 lobis per key (average is 5.3 lobi per box), so 125 zen per key/4 = 30 zen * 75 dilith = 2250 dilith.
I would be shocked if they offered 1/4 of that. (500 dilith per lobi)
Maybe if they had a single day where you could shuffle lobi between your toons, even a couple hours most would be happy.
Thats boloney. Cryptic can pull the ONE lobi mission anytime they want and also rewrite or pull the 'scavenger hunt' missions permanently. There were put into the game to bait players into opening more boxes so they could buy something from the lobi store. If Cryptic were to allow a buy-back the exchange rate would be insulting since every lockbox awards at least 4 lobis per key (average is 5.3 lobi per box), so 125 zen per key/4 = 30 zen * 75 dilith = 2250 dilith.
I would be shocked if they offered 1/4 of that. (500 dilith per lobi)
I agree with everything but the exchange rate. If you put in 50 Lobi as toon A, then you get 50 Lobi as toon B on the same account. You already paid for this Lobi. It isn't something that was given to you or you did a mission for it. It is something that you recieved when you used your key to open a box.
Also, I agree that they need to pull the free lobi and then unlock it to account bound.
I think the major problem with whatever solution we try come up with, it comes down to the problem (likely) of:
Players get Lobi, and buy their wanted items...
Players then get bored cause they got what they wanted, then leave the game emasse...
PW loses money on STO...
I think the whole system of lobi 'grinding' comes down to everything else in the game being grinding at end game, to make players stick around as long as possible, and so on and so forth... save the facepalms, you'll just welt your heads.
Personally, since all of this amounts to grinding anyway, I'd seriously prefer if the whole 'free' Lobi ferengi mission bit was removed, and instead, place them as 1 Lobi at a time, in the STF reward packages. Maybe 2 for Elites. Given it takes a WHILE to grind up all the rep for the reputation system anyway, why not give an incentive that will have players 'want' to go into Hive elite, and so on, far more often. (And want to play better teamwork too, to avoid CSE failiures. Lobi wouldn't be automatic except on completions.) Maybe throw in a few Lobi in storyline locations, for completing arcs, getting a top 3 placement in a 10/20 player instance, and so on. Give some extra incentive for certain places, that don't get as much attention as they used to. Sure, it'd still take awhile to get that 800 Recluse (or Dread in moi case,) ship you want, but at least it'd feel like were earning Lobi, and not... well, I don't feel the current store system is fair, as it stands, to be honest for my part.
And I myself 'am' a paying Gold player, by choice, and yet see this in an unfair light, how the Lobi system is handled. Lobi as Dabo rewards too, would be nice to see. A Lobi here or there, for Accolades (maybe,) or as a reward as Foundry tips, with or instead of Dil. There 'are' way to get more Lobi into the system, so we as players can earn the Lobi store items, in a decent, honest way. It'd still be grinding, since MMOs are the hallmark of such. (Don't ask me about my WoW WotLK grinds...) I... well... it feels like the current system will keep too many high end items, out of too many players hands. I realize there could be arguments of this flooding the system, but I worry that this system keeps certain items set behind an iron gate, just out of the reach of players.
It's been awhile now with the Lobi store. I think there needs to be another option, besides being forced to pay money on... well... internet gambling. (What this all comes down to, as well.) I just feel a fresher option could be utilized, besides the occasional FE reruns. (Looking for some new ones here, by the light.) I feel Lobi makes Latinum feel like fools gold. The current Lobi setup keeps feeling... off...
Well, okay, then maybe buy a 100 Lobi crate for 100 Lobi and then unlock it with a key.
Point being, they're never going to make Lobi account bound outright... just not enough incentive for them in it and potentially exploitable.
Nor are they going to go for letting people freely move around those "loose change" Lobi and consolidate them. They might go for it if there's a cost attached to it and if the transfer of Lobi is large enough to warrant it.
Sorry man but that is just a really dumb idea.
Think of it from the player's point of view.
I buy keys to open boxes to get lobi.
Lobi is spread through different toons.
Lets just say the crate of lobi would match however much lobi I want to put in it (100 lobi at a time just means people would be forced to open boxes in one toon to get to 100 to be able to transfer).
...and I have to burn another key to be able to transfer it? What if I have 5 toons or so and they all need to transfer lobi? 5 keys? F that.
It is MUCH easier to remove the free lobi, make lobi account bound.
I dont see how they can think lobi on account bound is going to affect key sales. If anything they'd be increasing the key sales because people can now USE their lobi rather than finding themselves with lobi spread all over and going ' THIS IS TRIBBLE' and never buying keys again.
Keys are to open boxes. People open boxes to get the treats inside. Lobi is part of the treats and the lobi store is like a gift card.. you can choose your treat. But right now cryptic is literally giving out $5 gift cards for different stores (that only sell junk TRIBBLE for those $5) with every box and i can bet you that if you had 30+ $5 gift cards all for different stores, chances are you would never use them since it is not worth it.
So, how do you get free lobi in game? I know about the 20 crystals spread out amongst the FE missions, but you guys are talking like there is another way to get free lobi without opening lockboxes.
Ok, what about trading Lobi in for Dilithium, which you can then exchange for Zen with which to buy more Master Keys?
As much as I'd like to see Lobi account bound, I don't think Cryptic will go for it. And I don't think it's all about those "free" Lobi.
Lobi are meant to be an extra incentive to open lockboxes. Lots of lockboxes. Being able to freely shift Lobi around from character to character defeats that to some degree. Maybe if there was a built-in way to limit that without stopping it completely, Cryptic might go for that.
Personally? I think more people would open more lockboxes if they pulled the trigger and made Lobi account bound. If Cryptic thought so they would've done it by now, so I'm guessing they disagree with that theory.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
So, how do you get free lobi in game? I know about the 20 crystals spread out amongst the FE missions, but you guys are talking like there is another way to get free lobi without opening lockboxes.
So, how do you do it?
You can get one (and only one) per character by talking to a Ferengi named Grym at ESD (or going to Drozana) and doing the "TRIBBLE Lockbox" mission. Similar process KDF-side.
So if you did nothing all day except create new characters, fly them to Drozana, collect Lobi and put them in the account bank, delete the character and repeat -- theoretically, you could pile up an unlimited amount one Lobi at a time. That's the exploit Cryptic talks about. Since you can't put them in the account bank, they're only good for one character only and thus no exploit.
Anything that freely allows you to transfer one Lobi at a time from one character to another opens the door to that exploit. Thus, one way to fix it is to make sure that Lobi can only be transferred in large enough quantities that the freebies become meaningless.
I would have to be brain-dead to tolerate grinding alts for Lobi, but you know there are some people out there who'd do it.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Comments
If we could buy lobi crystals packs at 2,000 latnum a pack I could see the lobi store being a hit and it would bring back people to the dabo tables. 2 to 10 crystals in a pack your looking at 200,000 latnum to get a rare ship.
I think thats better than lobi crystal hunts that get you 5 a day.
Not might, will.
When the Mission Architect launched in CoX they had multiple badges for doing various things like clicking different amounts of glowies in MA missions. People made maps that consisted of nothing but glowies for people to click in order to farm these badges to the point where they ended up removing most of the badges they added with the MA.
And that was merely for their equivilent of Accolades, imagaine what people will do for the ships and stuff in the Lobi store, hell, i'd be tempted to do it.
This way there is means of getting Lobi without opening boxes, GPL has its use, and since you first need to earn the GPL, and then convert it into Lobi, which only happen at Crit success i don't see how this could be abused by clickbots or anyone else.
a history of sto pvp: 2010 - 2011
a history of sto pvp: 2012 - 2013
2 mode dabo...EC version or GPL version. with EC you only win EC, with gpl you only win gpl.
instead of introducing another currency, use the existing ones!
This!
I am paying cash for my lock boxes and the last thing I want to hear is that I can't use the 220 Lobi I have on my Engineer because my Tactical needs something and has zero. Or that I can't purchase something by that Engineer and move it to my Tactical.
Cryptic is EXPLOITING us by expecting us to open lock boxes enough to get 250 Lobi for the item in question while the original 220 just sits there.
This is the reason that I stopped purchaing lock boxes before the temperal lock box came out. As long as I have a cash investment tied up by Cryptic Studios over 25 free Lobi to free players, I will keep the rest of my cash away from Cryptic. We will just have to call it a fair exchange of your greed vs. my determination not be exploited by you.
No no no, I was just making a joke about getting 800 Lobi from the free Lobi thing per character. I suppose it could be faster if it's during Replays and you can do the Scavenger Hunt, but then you'd be playing through a ton of content...
I already own a Recluse, got it off the Exchange for 60 mil. I switched back to it when I hit T5 Rom Rep and got myself 2 Elite Scorp hangers.
I'm also not adverse to spending money, since I was in a Vesta for all of a week prior to switching back.
Same sad story. All that Lobi sitting on my engineer when tac is the one that needs it.
Lol, don't worry, I didn't take it serious. Although my response was somewhat serious (in that it featured correct math as I understand it) it was done tongue and cheek. Hence the "all joking asside".
Honestly I don't expect someone to repeat the beginning missions 200-800 times, Unless they are a real glutton for punishment.
Simple solution in my eyes.
Elim Garak
However I love the idea of using the Dabo tables to turn EC into GPL. And use that to cash in for lobi or use GPL instead of Lobi. You will see me at the Dabo table like crazy. Instead of the simple missions your required to do it. This will get me to the table, and to use my "off duty" outfits as well. And give me a reason to hang around a Station for a while. Other to vendor/exchange items to make room.
As for now, I have no use or interest in the Lobi market.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
As this has turned out to be false, I think we know the real reason.
Also, I think it's awesome that lobi crystals are introduced in Star Trek as a scam Quark runs.
This seems like a good compromise as it allows you to get something for it, even if you have to purchase more keys for the toons to build the Lobi reserve up again.
At least this way it isn't Cryptic just sticking it to you in an obvious exploit of its customers. They can keep everything character and pick up bound, which seems to be more important than customer impressions of their company.
Good idea. Cryptic sells lockbox keys for 125 (106 now because of the sale) and you get 4 Lobi from a box opened with that key. I'm sure it makes perfect financial sense to sell 10x the amount of Lobi for less real money. Cryptic will certainly stay in business giving things away far far cheaper.
Those saying that people wouldn't farm missions for the Lobi during events, of course people would. I'd do it. Not for the ships, that would be too long and boring. But I'd get an Energy Whip or two. But I'm sure there's plenty of people who would go for the ships. The solution to that was already said. Just get rid of the free Lobi. At first I was thinking that's extremely selfish thinking. But I realized that the free 20 Lobi are completely useless (except for taking up an inventory space I could use for something else). There's absolutely nothing good that you can buy for 20 Lobi. Wow, some useless ground combat pets or useless consumables. Hell, even that stupid Golden Knowledge book would be better than the junk currently available. But that's 30 Lobi. I'd need to open a minimum of 2 boxes just for that useless book. Not going to spend a couple million EC for that thing.
I didn't ask to be President of the Balloon Enterprises! The Balloon Enterprises demanded it!
If you would've taken a moment to actually read my post, you would've realized that my numbers for the lobi to C-Point ratio was just an example, and not serious.
And why not put lobi's on the C Store? Take them out of those boxes and put them on the C-Store. I'd be willing to bet that many people who would NEVER buy a lock box key would be far more willing to buy a lobi crystal package. Why? Because you're not gambling your hard earned money on something that is most likely going to be useless. And as long as you keep releasing cool stuff on the lobi store, you will always have someone willing to pay to get cool stuff.
Of course, buying enough lobi packs to get a lobi ship will still cost more than a c-store ship. That's a given.
But in the end you have something that is more desirable at a slightly higher price than a lock box key that more people would be willing to buy.
Elim Garak
Well, you are ignoring the fact that "IN THEORY" you get an item of value in the lock box in addition to the crystals, not JUST the crystals.
Now... IN PRACTICE we all know that 99% of lock boxes are worthless duty office pack so... yes I see your issue
Wait, so they bound Lobi crystals to character instead of account because of 20 (total!!!) crystals you can collect for free in the game???
I don't know about that.
What I do know is that Cryptic is locking it to each character so that you have to purchase
even more Lobi and not use what you already have. Exploit.
Cryptic is rightly concerned that making Lobi account bound will reduce sales of Master Keys, which seems to be their big cash item these days. With ways to get free Lobi in the game, it also constitutes an exploit.
Players are rightly concerned that they can't redistribute their Lobi in a way that makes sense for all of their characters. Since players with 5-10 characters are understandably reluctant to buy 5-10 times the number of Master Keys to get what they want, they're more likely to simply not bother with it.
So, here's a what-if:
What if the Lobi store sold a "Lobi Crate" that was account-bound containing 100 Lobi and that costs 120 Lobi (or so)? When the crate is opened, the Lobi are bound to the character that opened it. This crate could not be mailed or traded outside of the account.
This would mean that players who buy lots of Master Keys will have some ability to shift Lobi from one character to another 100 Lobi at a time, for a price (20%).
It would mitigate the loss of sales that could ensue if players were able to consolidate Lobi and make exploiting free Lobi much more difficult.
If that wasn't enough, the Lobi Crates could work like Lockboxes and require a Master Key to open. Since Master Keys aren't available for "free" (always need Zen to buy), that would really make exploits unprofitable and limited to how much Zen the player is able to accumulate.
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I'd sooner let those lobi sit unused on my toons than pay 20% in lobis for a transfer to another toon THEN pay to open the box up with a key.
Why can't they simply put a few cheap items that are re-sellable in the lobi store so we can dump our 'loose change' lobis ?
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Well, okay, then maybe buy a 100 Lobi crate for 100 Lobi and then unlock it with a key.
Point being, they're never going to make Lobi account bound outright... just not enough incentive for them in it and potentially exploitable.
Nor are they going to go for letting people freely move around those "loose change" Lobi and consolidate them. They might go for it if there's a cost attached to it and if the transfer of Lobi is large enough to warrant it.
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Well, let's go ahead and nail this one down once and for all.
The Lobi isn't how cryptic makes their money. That comes from Zen and only Zen. For some reason, there is a small quantity of Lobi that is in the game for free. Cryptic wants to keep that, so they are exploiting their customers to protect themselves from that exploit. They seem to be okay with that, not suprising.
We the player base who are paying attention see it. Not allowing us to move Lobi that already purchased (ZEN) is an EXPLOIT by Cryptic to protect themselves from the free Lobi in the game that, what- some wild out of control stranger or 3rd party put there? No... This is putting a very very bad taste our (customer) mouthes, specifically if we want something new from the Lobi store on a different character and have to purchase it all over again. I just went through this yesterday and it looks like I have to do it again to get the MK XII augementation kit for my tactical crystaline set.
So, the compromise then- if you want to the Lobi bound to character, but you still want your customers to purchase keys and open lock boxes, THEN PURCHASE THE LOBI BACK AND GIVE US CREDIT FOR IT AND THEN PUT THE CREDIT IN THE ZEN STORE TO PURCHASE LOBI!
As silly as that sounds, and it truley is ridiculous, it allows us to move the Lobi around and prevents BOTH parties from being EXPLOITED by the other. Because as it stands now, it pretty much unwarrented for Cryptic to be putting the screws to me over their game direction.
I would be shocked if they offered 1/4 of that. (500 dilith per lobi)
Maybe if they had a single day where you could shuffle lobi between your toons, even a couple hours most would be happy.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
I agree with everything but the exchange rate. If you put in 50 Lobi as toon A, then you get 50 Lobi as toon B on the same account. You already paid for this Lobi. It isn't something that was given to you or you did a mission for it. It is something that you recieved when you used your key to open a box.
Also, I agree that they need to pull the free lobi and then unlock it to account bound.
Players get Lobi, and buy their wanted items...
Players then get bored cause they got what they wanted, then leave the game emasse...
PW loses money on STO...
I think the whole system of lobi 'grinding' comes down to everything else in the game being grinding at end game, to make players stick around as long as possible, and so on and so forth... save the facepalms, you'll just welt your heads.
Personally, since all of this amounts to grinding anyway, I'd seriously prefer if the whole 'free' Lobi ferengi mission bit was removed, and instead, place them as 1 Lobi at a time, in the STF reward packages. Maybe 2 for Elites. Given it takes a WHILE to grind up all the rep for the reputation system anyway, why not give an incentive that will have players 'want' to go into Hive elite, and so on, far more often. (And want to play better teamwork too, to avoid CSE failiures. Lobi wouldn't be automatic except on completions.) Maybe throw in a few Lobi in storyline locations, for completing arcs, getting a top 3 placement in a 10/20 player instance, and so on. Give some extra incentive for certain places, that don't get as much attention as they used to. Sure, it'd still take awhile to get that 800 Recluse (or Dread in moi case,) ship you want, but at least it'd feel like were earning Lobi, and not... well, I don't feel the current store system is fair, as it stands, to be honest for my part.
And I myself 'am' a paying Gold player, by choice, and yet see this in an unfair light, how the Lobi system is handled. Lobi as Dabo rewards too, would be nice to see. A Lobi here or there, for Accolades (maybe,) or as a reward as Foundry tips, with or instead of Dil. There 'are' way to get more Lobi into the system, so we as players can earn the Lobi store items, in a decent, honest way. It'd still be grinding, since MMOs are the hallmark of such. (Don't ask me about my WoW WotLK grinds...) I... well... it feels like the current system will keep too many high end items, out of too many players hands. I realize there could be arguments of this flooding the system, but I worry that this system keeps certain items set behind an iron gate, just out of the reach of players.
It's been awhile now with the Lobi store. I think there needs to be another option, besides being forced to pay money on... well... internet gambling. (What this all comes down to, as well.) I just feel a fresher option could be utilized, besides the occasional FE reruns. (Looking for some new ones here, by the light.) I feel Lobi makes Latinum feel like fools gold. The current Lobi setup keeps feeling... off...
Sorry man but that is just a really dumb idea.
Think of it from the player's point of view.
I buy keys to open boxes to get lobi.
Lobi is spread through different toons.
Lets just say the crate of lobi would match however much lobi I want to put in it (100 lobi at a time just means people would be forced to open boxes in one toon to get to 100 to be able to transfer).
...and I have to burn another key to be able to transfer it? What if I have 5 toons or so and they all need to transfer lobi? 5 keys? F that.
It is MUCH easier to remove the free lobi, make lobi account bound.
I dont see how they can think lobi on account bound is going to affect key sales. If anything they'd be increasing the key sales because people can now USE their lobi rather than finding themselves with lobi spread all over and going ' THIS IS TRIBBLE' and never buying keys again.
Keys are to open boxes. People open boxes to get the treats inside. Lobi is part of the treats and the lobi store is like a gift card.. you can choose your treat. But right now cryptic is literally giving out $5 gift cards for different stores (that only sell junk TRIBBLE for those $5) with every box and i can bet you that if you had 30+ $5 gift cards all for different stores, chances are you would never use them since it is not worth it.
So, how do you do it?
As much as I'd like to see Lobi account bound, I don't think Cryptic will go for it. And I don't think it's all about those "free" Lobi.
Lobi are meant to be an extra incentive to open lockboxes. Lots of lockboxes. Being able to freely shift Lobi around from character to character defeats that to some degree. Maybe if there was a built-in way to limit that without stopping it completely, Cryptic might go for that.
Personally? I think more people would open more lockboxes if they pulled the trigger and made Lobi account bound. If Cryptic thought so they would've done it by now, so I'm guessing they disagree with that theory.
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You can get one (and only one) per character by talking to a Ferengi named Grym at ESD (or going to Drozana) and doing the "TRIBBLE Lockbox" mission. Similar process KDF-side.
So if you did nothing all day except create new characters, fly them to Drozana, collect Lobi and put them in the account bank, delete the character and repeat -- theoretically, you could pile up an unlimited amount one Lobi at a time. That's the exploit Cryptic talks about. Since you can't put them in the account bank, they're only good for one character only and thus no exploit.
Anything that freely allows you to transfer one Lobi at a time from one character to another opens the door to that exploit. Thus, one way to fix it is to make sure that Lobi can only be transferred in large enough quantities that the freebies become meaningless.
I would have to be brain-dead to tolerate grinding alts for Lobi, but you know there are some people out there who'd do it.
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