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warbird1988
Member Posts: 40 Arc User
This game has continually gone to the dogs since Free 2 Play was released. The problem is now, pretty much EVERYTHING in the game requires money if you want to be a decent player and Cryptic has taken a road of blatant exploitation of their player base. This has unfortunately become the literal translation of a Chinese sweatshop in which you grind and grind to get little reward that has really any value.
So I think Cryptic should abandon the Free 2 Play model and go back to the Subscription Model which they had when this game came out. Sure, there were problems back then too but at least they developed some new content without the incessant need to get greedy and try to make the player, even subscribed players like myself now, pay for everything.
Its unfortunate that such a game like this has gone the way it has, however if people stopped buying zen and focused on only the free features, then this game would rapidly change back to the subscription base and free stuff that we used to have because we were PAYING for the game back then.
This game could easily survive on subscriptions alone, even with the amount of lifetimers but Cryptic want their new coffee machine or water cooler so they do not actually want to change back. Why change if the sheep are buying into it?
So I think Cryptic should abandon the Free 2 Play model and go back to the Subscription Model which they had when this game came out. Sure, there were problems back then too but at least they developed some new content without the incessant need to get greedy and try to make the player, even subscribed players like myself now, pay for everything.
Its unfortunate that such a game like this has gone the way it has, however if people stopped buying zen and focused on only the free features, then this game would rapidly change back to the subscription base and free stuff that we used to have because we were PAYING for the game back then.
This game could easily survive on subscriptions alone, even with the amount of lifetimers but Cryptic want their new coffee machine or water cooler so they do not actually want to change back. Why change if the sheep are buying into it?
Post edited by warbird1988 on
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Yes but that 45% of players that do quit would be a lost cause to the 55% who stay and keep paying for the game to be properly developed and not botched because they need to constantly release stuff like lockboxes to keep profits up.
I fail to see how a game like this can sustain itself financially and still be a balanced and fun experience?
If the argument is they are being greedy, go check out the other sci-fi game that went FTP and then tell me how greedy Cryptic is in comparison. :P They are Saints compared to most of these other FTP MMO's out there in free content. lol
And i hate the way there putting all the nice ships in the boxes thats putting me right off getting in tot he game again, last ship i bought was the multi vector and there doesn't seem to be anything better on the store and i aint gambling to get one i dont mind buying one but gamble nah.
Did you have to experience the difficulties of getting your RL friends to play after they heard the incredibly bad reviews, or maybe tried for a month and found it buggy/non-trek/repetitive/etc? Also, don't forget the C-store existed in the F2P model and there were plenty of complaints about prices back then and the availability of items and missions.
I dunno, I will admit that I liked certain aspects of the pre-F2P model. But after a year of F2P my fleet is active again, my RL buddies are in the game, I'm finding in-game currency much easier to come by, and even lock boxes and other zen items I'm able to get for free. And the game was just voted best free MMO of the year, so there are clearly some who like it.
Don't forget all the benefits the F2P model has brought when you are considering going back to the old model. Sure, the monetization is a nasty side-effect, but the benefits it brings and if you are having fun, you should want the game to make some money.
Join Date: Sept 2008
"Holographic tissue paper for the holographic runny nose. Don't give them to patients." - The Doctor
this is working a lot better for them than the $15 a month approach.
with PWE at the helm, it is unlikely to change (they do this with almost all their games, spare Torchlight), and if the F2P model stops working they probably would just shut the game down and work on the next one instead.
i agree that there could be way better incentives to be a monthly subscriber without changing anything on the F2P side... but obviously Cryptic does not care, or they REALLY are that disconnected from their Playerbase that they think that their Subscription option is a good deal for anyone.
I can for the life of me not see why anyone who does not have a LTA yet would keep subscribing monthly, there is no benefit to it whatsoever.
Just spend your $15 a month on Zen and buy/unlock the few things that you loose (in fact you loose pretty much nothing, if you were gold once almost all the gold perks will stay with you, like EC limit, Inventory/Bank Slots etc. etc.).
The only real choice we players have is to Support what is currently there because we like it, or to get the hell out and not support what they are doing, of course if enough people do that the game may be shut down at some point.... sadly we have no option to tell them to do it differently with our money.
Voting with your wallet is the only option we have but it's a yes/no option, not a multiple choice poll. There is no "support the KDF more"-subscription. Or a "we want more mission content"-LockBox.
Are you a game developer? If so, then put in a application than just assuming they're lazy? :S The content after and before season updates is merely filler content, almost like a appetizer before the main course. If you constantly get main courses every month, then it becomes less special and overwhelming. Not to mention regardless how lazy they may or may not be, I doubt they have the man power to put out that much content in that little of time span.
Yes.
The increased revenue since they have gone F2P which has allowed them to more than double their team is bad.
I see what you are saying.
/sarcasm off
By the way, it's only a grind , if you grind it.
the content will all still be there tomorrow , and the next day , and the next day.
You could, bold idea here, just play what's fun for you at the moment.
You know playing a game because it's fun.
If you're not having fun, why are you still playing ?
STO has one of the best F2P models on the market.
Period.
have to agree with this
Bear in mind that this game was voted best "FREE TO PLAY" MMO by some website or magazine I've never even heard off. If they had a PC Gamer Gold Award I would be impressed . They were not voted BEST MMO and cannot even compete with the industry giants of WoW and EvE which are considerably better games in a multitude of different ways.
1. Limited Pay 2 Win Options
2. More Group Content (WoW has 50+ Instances)
3. Better PvP (EvE has the best PvP going)
Oh and lets mention another Free 2 Play MMO called Luna Online that I played for a bit that had the same number of endgame instances and raids that WoW did over STO's Eight. When you compare them, its laughable just how lazy Cryptic are.
I'm sorry but when people make excuses for Cryptic's incompetent behavior, I have to giggle. Even Single Player Star Trek Games like Bridge Commander and Starfleet Commander III trounce this feeble attempt.
Using your argument, Should Cryptic get rid of the life timers as well ? After all, once they have paid the initial fee, they contribute nothing.
There are a great number of f2p players that have paid for various features of the game, I myself buy a gold membership occasionally and have paid for ships using real money. I resent the ramblings of an elitist idiot like yourself that would rather remove over 50% of the players and blame them for any game shortcomings instead of asking Cryptic why there hasn't really been any major changes in the game for 2 seasons now.
Apparently I cannot call Cryptic "lazy" which they are so who else is left to blame but the players, its the players fault for putting up with the lack of content and not talking with their wallets and feet.
Bolded for emphasis.
If you really believe that, you should start again at the tutorial and read up on some advice/guide threads. Being a decent player, in this game, is perfectly doable with half a brain and the free equipment obtained through the course of a single playthrough of the story content.
Really, the costly real-money stuff is nowhere near as important as learning how to play effectively. The benefits from the c-store stuff, or even the lockbox/fleet stuff, is only an 10-15% performance increase at best.
This model offers really decent stuff for free, really free. If you want a little better stuff, you can go and obtain it either through dilithium-grinding or from the exchange. If you want the better stuff faster, you can pay real money. Really, a rather decent f2p model, particularly in comparison with some of the other ones out there.
Edit: Oh, disregard that, I just realised you're one of the "everything was better when the only people playing were paying monthly, because now freeloaders are getting everything for free, while we who pay anyway have to pay more to get the same stuff"-camp.
Ok then...
Let me list the ways...
- Bug Ship
- Breen Cruiser
- Cardassian Galor
- Dominion Dreadnaught
- Tholian Orb Weaver
- Tholian Recluse Carrier
- Ferengi D'Kora
- Fleet Weapons (Dilthium needed which can be produced in small amounts in game or converted from zen)
- Temporal Warfare Set
- New Jem'Hadar Mark XII Set
- Ferengi Set
Not to mention that Fleet ships require Modules which are absurdly expensive on the exchange or 500 Zen each.
ALL OF ABOVE preform above and beyond other ships at that level and all of them involve some form of real life money.
This is an opinion, not a declaration of fact.
There is nothing wrong with making a *GAME* accessible to as many people as are willing to play it. BUT, it cannot sustain itself without income.
So if you want the community to talk with wallets and not pay for anything in any way then given enough time you will not be able to play the game.
Look at City of Heroes and it was f2p too. Be thankful you are able to play the game you enjoy.
If you really want to play a game that is not f2p but still has ship-to-ship combat and NO ground action, EVE Online is your game.
Or perhaps would collapse STO as we know it and someone would come along and make a better one maybe... Who knows... gotta be better then this eh?
And that is exactly what I tried to point out. None of these things are necessary to be a decent player. Nor will they make a crappy player a semi-god. I've been happily blowing up players using those things in 'regular' ships using weapons picked up ingame, without feeling disadvantaged.
Also, the Breen ship was in fact free for everybody willing to invest some 2 hours' worth of playing, total.
Available via the exchange for varying amounts of EC which is easily obtainable in game by playing the Free content, and never spending a dime :
- Bug Ship
- Cardassian Galor
- Dominion Dreadnaught
- Tholian Orb Weaver
- Tholian Recluse Carrier
- Ferengi D'Kora
- Not to mention that Fleet ships require Modules which are absurdly expensive on the exchange or 500 Zen each. (absurdly expensive is subjective. EC is very easy to make in this game.)
Obtained by playing the FREE Winter Wonderland Content (far as I know not available any other way)
- Breen Cruiser
Bought with Dilithium and Fleet Credits obtainable via the FREE Content in game:
- Fleet Weapons
LOBI crystals ! Oh Noes I can only get them out of lockboxes which I can only open with master keys that I can buy on the exchange for EC(freely obtained), or buy with zen I converted from the Dilithium I got playing the FREE content.
- Temporal Warfare Set
- New Jem'Hadar Mark XII Set
- Ferengi Set
Your argument is invalid.
it's a videogame, published by a company. that company offers you the opportunity to play their game.
that game is an economical intended product which have to generate money to keep it online.
the f2p play model obviously generates more money than a subscription-based would.
more money means more reason for developing the game to keep it online to generate more money...
...so... f2p generates more money than subscriptions-only would (which was mirrored by lack in development...) and therefore give more reason to keep on developing it.
can't see what's wrong with that as a trekkie who's an lts and still keep on putting some money in it from time to time...
because i also want it staying online. at least cause of reasons that were already stated, like: NO NEED FOR THE SHINYS TO PERFORM WELL
a friend of mine leveled his 1st char to endgame within 2 weeks and got phased tets and nice gear off the exchange without spending any dime. also, before season 7 he got his space-maco, so we can pvp in pugs when he's got time (actually he does not
Just because Bob didn't spend a dime doesn't mean Doug didn't have to spend that dime.
For the items to exist in the game world, somebody had to spend that dime.
Say Bob grinds EC to buy a ship from Doug on the Exchange. How did Doug get the ship?
Maybe Doug ground EC to buy a Key from Eric on the Exchange. How did Eric get the Key?
Maybe Eric ground Dil to trade for Zen from Jake on the Dilithium Exchange? How did Jake get the Zen?
Maybe Jake got it from a stipend - where he spent money to get that stipend. Maybe he broke out the wallet and just bought it. Maybe he even ended up with more Zen than he really needed after grinding Dil to exchange for Zen from Jill. How did Jill get the Zen?
There are countless paths...but in the end...unless real money was spent...
You Sir, just made my day with this comment
Winston Churchill
1st Lt, M.A.C.O. Foxtrot Squadron
I fail to see how this is bad.
Real money was spent by people who have more money than time.
Virtual money was spent by people who have more time than money.
So...what?
Its a bad thing the game is making money?
btw you lost OP.
Look at this guys user name. Look at what his comment is.
Lol.
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The difference is "Having to spend" and "Wanting to spend". At the end of the day no one HAS to spend money but they choose to because they want to spend that money. In other words, the game doesn't really force you to spend money to enjoy it but you can choose to spend money to enjoy it even more.
Where did I say it was bad? All I did was correct the person saying that items could exist in the game without any money being spent. That's all.
Didn't say that the game did force anybody to spend money and even gave examples of how folks that are willing to spend money create a form of symbiotic relationship with those not willing to spend money.
The people buying Zen to sell or to use for items to sell - couldn't do so without the people that are farming EC or Dil in turn.
People farming EC/Dil, are in a sense - working - for Cryptic. They're producing a product that has some real world monetary value to other players. It's a work while you play sort of thing unless the player's turning it into some sort of factory thing (but that's on the player)...they're enjoying the game, working toward what they want, somebody else is looking to buy, Cryptic pockets the money, and the game lives on.
you didn't say it was bad, you didnt say it was good either.
you didn't even say if it was an agreeable thing, an egregious thing. you didnt say you were correcting someone or even quoted a more relevant part of the thing you were replying.
makes it too open to interpretation don't you think?
but yea if THAT was your point, ofc yr right.
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