There is at least 30 different interiors. It's clearly not possible to create anything with that. Interiors will never be used, it'd be too much resource consuming for very little return.
Gee, it's not like the creators of the show kept redressing sets constantly with various props and decorations, thereby expanding the various locations exponentially with minimal effort. :rolleyes:
Honestly, I don't buy many costumes since most of them don't offer what I want. And I suspect that's a trend they can't really beat. I mean, I'd kill for a good long dress or long skirt in game, but that's not going to sell for everyone.
All of the non-standard costumes I do have, I got for "free" from collector's editions, bundles, or from the winter event, basically as a bonus to what I was really buying, so it a way, that is where I would go.
Honestly, if ships sell, I would start to bundle costumes with ships, maybe as as add on package, so normally it would be 400 zen, but if you buy the Gal-X first, you can buy it for only 200 zen more, but leave the option to just buy the costumes. Maybe pair it up so the defiant gets the DS9 uniform, etc.
I would not pair up costumes with ground armor or weapons unless the devs are willing to sell something equal to a MK XI STF set. Maybe MK X. Honestly every ground weapon you can buy suffers from this, and I know it is because the devs are bending over backwards to not look like Pay 2 Win on ground. Why I honestly don't know. I mean, I can get Mark XI weapons for nothing but playing the game that outperform just about anything I can get from the zen or lobi stores. If I buy a weapon, it should at least match the stuff I can get from loot drops at end game. If its not going to, then I should be able to have a space on my ship where I can display all my useless stuff, because its not going anywhere else.
There is at least 30 different interiors. It's clearly not possible to create anything with that. Interiors will never be used, it'd be too much resource consuming for very little return.
My argument there is that they can be useful but you need some standard reasons to get people aboard other ship interiors.
I keep saying to make all the basic ship interiors and then have a sortof "gryphon ride" mechanic where ships travel in patrol groups. You're aboard the static map interior of the lead ship in a group with 75 odd other players in the instance and a bunch of semi-random activities aboard the lead formation ship. You have a personal travel timer. And you can access a cinematic of your ship at warp in the group via a button on the lower right.
Honestly, I don't buy many costumes since most of them don't offer what I want. And I suspect that's a trend they can't really beat. I mean, I'd kill for a good long dress or long skirt in game, but that's not going to sell for everyone.
All of the non-standard costumes I do have, I got for "free" from collector's editions, bundles, or from the winter event, basically as a bonus to what I was really buying, so it a way, that is where I would go.
Honestly, if ships sell, I would start to bundle costumes with ships, maybe as as add on package, so normally it would be 400 zen, but if you buy the Gal-X first, you can buy it for only 200 zen more, but leave the option to just buy the costumes. Maybe pair it up so the defiant gets the DS9 uniform, etc.
I would not pair up costumes with ground armor or weapons unless the devs are willing to sell something equal to a MK XI STF set. Maybe MK X. Honestly every ground weapon you can buy suffers from this, and I know it is because the devs are bending over backwards to not look like Pay 2 Win on ground. Why I honestly don't know. I mean, I can get Mark XI weapons for nothing but playing the game that outperform just about anything I can get from the zen or lobi stores. If I buy a weapon, it should at least match the stuff I can get from loot drops at end game. If its not going to, then I should be able to have a space on my ship where I can display all my useless stuff, because its not going anywhere else.
This is why I think it has to be paired with kits.
The weapons themselves should be fun weapons you consider using with your "off-weapon" slot.
But novelty kits don't have as much competition since there are no novel Mk XII kits aside from the Romulan ones and kits are separate from item sets. (Ie. there's no Omega/MACO/Jem'Hadar KIT you need for a set.)
Also, given that the stated goal with ships is to, in a sense, sell extra classes to play, the ground counterpart of that is selling KITS, since Kits are really more like playing different classes.
Well for a start they would actually have to add uniforms to my chosen faction, fixing the multiple clipping issues with the current uniforms would be a start to.
I wouldn't spend the same as I'm willing to spend on a ship on ground costumes. Ships have more than just cosmetic benefit. I would generally spend the same as I spent on the ship costumes for ground costumes though.
However, given how underutilized the ground game, I can see that as a part of the problem.
Also, ground costumes get buried quickly by kit gear.
Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure the game code could do it.
Technically you can code anything. That's not the issue. But we know that the game is developed according to metrics and profitability. Of course they could design a completely new game on top of the two current ones (ground and space) but they'd need a very, very good reason to pour so many resources into that, especially since other types of content can be developed faster (new space and ground missions).
They needed 5 years to produce a decent game with 2 types of gameplay (since the first seasons weren't really additions to the game but filling blanks), how long would it take to create a new one almost from scratch? :rolleyes:
They needed 5 years to produce a decent game with 2 types of gameplay (since the first seasons weren't really additions to the game but filling blanks), how long would it take to create a new one almost from scratch? :rolleyes:
You're very generous in the way you consider the game finished.
If ground missions were far more fun, and there were a couple hundred planets, each with different reasons to visit them, I think costumes would sell better.
The gist I have heard is that little dev time is given to ground costume assets as they don't pay as much or earn as much. I believe that is a false comparison to ships as A) Ships *do* more and the pricing is whacked out for what you get. The EV suit is a GLARING example of how not to do it. The TNG Admiral Uniform is a step in the right direction insofar as it is an account-wide unlock, but otherwise offered too little for what they gave back. Same goes for the racing outfit and the cadet uniform. The Admiral Set should have ad ALL the TNG variants (including the skant. Ha!) and the racing outfit should have come with perhaps something similar to the impulse blast uni console. Like the OP said, if they just added a bit more, I'd be ok with PAYING more.
...they also need to unlock the color wheel ffs. I mean, in for a penny, in for a pound, right?
The gist I have heard is that little dev time is given to ground costume assets as they don't pay as much or earn as much. I believe that is a false comparison to ships as A) Ships *do* more and the pricing is whacked out for what you get. The EV suit is a GLARING example of how not to do it. The TNG Admiral Uniform is a step in the right direction insofar as it is an account-wide unlock, but otherwise offered too little for what they gave back. Same goes for the racing outfit and the cadet uniform. The Admiral Set should have ad ALL the TNG variants (including the skant. Ha!) and the racing outfit should have come with perhaps something similar to the impulse blast uni console. Like the OP said, if they just added a bit more, I'd be ok with PAYING more.
...they also need to unlock the color wheel ffs. I mean, in for a penny, in for a pound, right?
Yeah. This is why I think the closest thing to a ship loadout is probably a kit and the closest thing to a weapon is... a weapon... and the closest thing to a special console is having at least one mechanically novel kit power in addition to having an oddly laid out kit. And I see the big way to make layouts unique is to make them class agnostic and appropriate to the costume.
It might also help if Cryptic defaulted armor and kit visuals to the "off" setting as many seem to have no clue this is possible and it's probably better for people to learn how to enable them than how to disable them.
Yeah. This is why I think the closest thing to a ship loadout is probably a kit and the closest thing to a weapon is... a weapon... and the closest thing to a special console is having at least one mechanically novel kit power in addition to having an oddly laid out kit. And I see the big way to make layouts unique is to make them class agnostic and appropriate to the costume.
It might also help if Cryptic defaulted armor and kit visuals to the "off" setting as many seem to have no clue this is possible and it's probably better for people to learn how to enable them than how to disable them.
I would prefer if kit and armor visuals were removed entirely, and replaced by little accessories in the tailor.
I've bought all the costumes (mainly to support Cryptic) but really dont use them. Pretty much only use the MU outfit and on occasion the S31 (modified - MU belt). I really would love for more flexability in the character system (still cant make a Roumlan with a LB captain) and shared account access since the price is pretty high for such stuff to be frank.
If you are looking for an excellent PvE fleet consider: Omega Combat Division today.
Former member of the Cryptic Family & FriendsTesting Team. Sadly, one day, it simply vanished - without a word or trace...
For me the costumes come down to the simple issue of quality over cost. Something cryptic clearly has issues with over the span of all of their games. Costumes I can understand take a good amount of work for the design and creation, but a single suit to me isn't worth 700z dollars, especially if they don't want to even make a see through face plate. Regular ground costumes as well shouldn't cost more than 100z each for a single version (male and female), but no more than 300z if that costume contains variants. It would also be nice if they would go through and fix the issues with clipping, floating parts, and being unable to use any piece with any piece.
While i don't like all of the costume pieces they've made, i do like that they've been catering to fans of the different shows, and i would love to see more in the way for the KDF as well. My main concern again is that the quality of the costumes isn't really worth the asking price just yet. By making the cost lower and raising the quality, they would easily make up any cost in the long run because at 100z for basic (full) costumes and 300z for costume packs, since more people would be willing to buy. That's why the one weapons pack failed, it wasn't worth what they were charging. That's the idea behind selling virtual items, you make it cool enough that they want it but charge so little that they can't justify not buying it.
For me the costumes come down to the simple issue of quality over cost. Something cryptic clearly has issues with over the span of all of their games. Costumes I can understand take a good amount of work for the design and creation, but a single suit to me isn't worth 700z dollars, especially if they don't want to even make a see through face plate. Regular ground costumes as well shouldn't cost more than 100z each for a single version (male and female), but no more than 300z if that costume contains variants. It would also be nice if they would go through and fix the issues with clipping, floating parts, and being unable to use any piece with any piece.
While i don't like all of the costume pieces they've made, i do like that they've been catering to fans of the different shows, and i would love to see more in the way for the KDF as well. My main concern again is that the quality of the costumes isn't really worth the asking price just yet. By making the cost lower and raising the quality, they would easily make up any cost in the long run because at 100z for basic (full) costumes and 300z for costume packs, since more people would be willing to buy. That's why the one weapons pack failed, it wasn't worth what they were charging. That's the idea behind selling virtual items, you make it cool enough that they want it but charge so little that they can't justify not buying it.
I used to collect action figures and I can relate this to some of what's happened with costumes. Basically, though, I think your post illustrates this.
A line of G.I.Joes that focuses on Duke, Snake Eyes, and Cobra Commander is generally seen as an inferior quality value line. A line of Transformers where every third figure is Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, or Megatron warms pegs in stores. Likewise with Star Wars and Luke/Leia/Han/Vader.
Manufacturers generally tend to view these things as safe bets and I think that's very much what Cryptic has done. They went for the iconic costumes at medium/entry-level quality for a fairly affordable price.
However, in doing so, there's no cheaper base level for them to produce less iconic costumes at and there's no higher level for them to produce higher quality, cadillac level service collectibles at. They took their best material in terms of uniforms they could do and they half-way churned it out at the lowest value price they could. If they really honed the pitch towards obscure items, they could charge more and devote more time to the recognizable items.
You definitely see this with Star Wars toys. Lines where the Millenium Falcoln is a basic unit tend to warm shelves in stores. But by focusing on minor and obscure characters at the value price, this buildsdemand for high quality and limited editition premium versions (quality and price) of the recognizable assets. The reason why Hasbro can get over $100 for a Deathstar or Millenium Falcon playset or multiple Cantinas at $20 a piece is because people collect the minor, affordable characters to populate those sets in big dioramas that they keep under glass in their house. Whereas if you release a $20 cardboard Millenium Falcon playset first, it diminishes the appeal of the things to populate it with.
I'd say this became a definite thing in something like Decipher's Star Trek CCG. They started with a set that included everything that was basic to the TNG setting and then struggled for awhile. Where they finally found their footing with expansions (and saved their license with money and clout they built up after awhile) was in not just mining the obscure things but building a market out of those. They had a lot worthy of study for STO because they even had ultra-rare ships (the Galaxy-X Enterprise first among them -- which cost about as much to obtain as a lockbox ship) and gradually found that it was the reference and interplay between items that drove big revenue. As the game really blossomed, people became fixated on things like Mott the Barber and Lal as much or more than the main characters. Finding value in the obscure elements bought the designers space to work magic on the prominent elements.
This allowed for expensive deluxe sets in some cases to promote iconic material. This developed nuance to the sales pitch which allowed them to do weird things like create Mogh (which was a 50/50 Michael Dorn/Tony Todd photoshop) or Dukat of Borg. Sometimes, this meant they could charge premiums for new iconic Picards or Datas (and DS9 expansion and second edition expanded that further by pushing premium "based on one episode where the character acted different but didn't look any different" costume cards) but by and large it meant that they developed a line where they routinized purchases aimed at obscure characters and created a value surplus when they highlighted known characters.
Now, this plays with the lack of mechanical value of these packs in some non-intuitive ways.
Generally speaking, people want to get as much "play" out of purchases like this as possible.
And I stand by the kit idea. And marketing these as "The Riker Collection Action Pack" rather than "Mid-23rd century variant." I actually think they could market the tailoring variants of the First Contact style uniform (look closely, they were radically different for different body types) with a nuance approach.
But the way character slots work make uniforms inconvenient.
If costume packs included kits or active features, they'd sell more. If they included costume slots, they'd sell more. If bridge officers had costume slots, they'd sell more. If the costumes had a use beyond dressing yourself and bridge officers (ie. diorama creation potential), they'd sell more. If there was more focus on quality, detail and nuance, they'd sell more.
If the sales pitches were hinged on more emotional appeal, they'd sell more. A TNG labcoat uniform ala Doctor Crusher would probably be a very modest seller despite having the approval of costume nuts who have wanted it since launch. And a trailer showing somebody with a tricorder in the labcoat would, basically, just create awareness that the pack exists. Like a Wal-Mart sales flyer.
Now, if you make a trailer where you have an early middle aged woman in the labcoat flirting with her captain before beaming into a hazardous derelict ship, you've just done MORE THAN a Wal-Mart sales flyer. You've created an association to Doctor Crusher. And that's what a thematic kit/weapon/etc. with it would further do. That takes it from being a mild costume variant to "Don't you want to be like Doctor Crusher?"
And I suspect that pushes the Seven of Nine and Mirror uniforms more. They include sex appeal, sure, but a big thing they include is a PERSONALITY. Which brings things back around to play. (Heck, in a video game, that's what sexy characters are all about too: play.)
I mean, I want Wrath of Khan crewman jumpsuits to flesh out a crew with. And you might think Kirk's Star Trek V outfit would sell less because it's less utilitarian and because everybody hates Final Frontier. But I'd be willing to bet $50 it goes the other way. Why? Because an open suede jacket and a T-shirt that says "Go climb a mountain" has personality. And personality is play. And play is value. Likewise McCoy's neckerchief look or Kirk's flannel and jeans from "City on the Edge of Forever" versus something more visually iconic like the TNG dress uniforms or late TNG/DS9/Voyager Admiral uniform.
Heck, if they'd included a slightly rumbled, rolled up sleeves First Contact and Voyager uniform with the DS9 bundle instead of Vedek or TNG Admiral gear, I bet it would sell better. Because you look at it and see O'Brien's personality in it rather than something generic.
So... Spiraling OUT of that, here's a pitch for a uniform pack that shouldn't take 3 weeks and wouldn't be intuitive but which goes against the Cliff's Notes approach to costumes:
The Dirty Jobs Pack.
Take the First Contact uniform. Have an artist spend a week (not three, just one) doing the O'Brien "rolled up sleeves" version. Maybe an unfastened collar version. And then create a bunch of versions with phaser burns and fabric tears. Maybe grease blemishes for the face. A scar or two. Maybe some messed up hair if there's time.
And sell it for 500 ZEN... and include 1 costume slot with it.
I bet you'd see a bigger return on tweaking a FREE costume (the basic First Contact uniform) and it getting extra love than you'd see the average 3 week turnaround new costume get.
Because it would have personality and play and the inclusion of a costume slot helps guarantee that people will have the ability to play with it.
EDIT: A nice plus for this? More reflective/sweaty skin as an option. There's a Champions pack I nearly bought just for that.
I bought them all and i can't have enough of them.
They are not too expensive, they are what i consider on the cheap end of the C-Store.
I'd pay 800 Zen per outfit without thinking twice about it. BUT it needs to be account wide.
With 10 Characters i do not accept to buy 50 x 700 Zen Space Suits (BOffs need them too now!)
Anyway... imho it is a BULL**** excuse to not make more Uniforms.
Uniforms are made when CONTENT (as in MISSIONS) is made, if they need new outfits for a new Mission, then they will see what Outfits they can sell to us.
If it needs to be made anyway it will be sold.
The real reason is... the amount of Missions that require new Outfits has been very low recently and we GOT an Outfit with everything that came out lately.
Nukara had the Space Suits, 700 Zen Suits AND the LobiStore upgrade for the SET.
Fleetbase had the "basic" Bortas and Odyssey outfits (pretty lackluster to just sell ONE outfit after all that Starbase grind...)
the Embassy on New Romulus had those weirdo Romulan Off Duty Pajamas that D'Tan was wearing...
If Ships is the only thing that makes financial sense, then why the hell do they even do anything else, other than Ships?
If the one Ship dude is the only one making money for the Company, then why have anyone else working on the game? If They don't make money they can go home!
STO is the sum of it's parts, not the amount of C-Store and LockBox Ships.
That Cryptic makes us pay outrageous prices only for Ships, is their own fault.
I would gladly pay regular Xbox-DLC prices for Mission Packs, Character Skins and DLC Items like Ships.
But ...who care what i think? Ships are working for them. They will continue to do so until they run out of Ships, then they will keep pushing them out (i hear blah blah about MORE 2409 Variants *ugh meh*)
Imho it will bite Cryptic in their rear end that they only have found Ships to be a viable way of milking the Star Trek IP for money, soon enough we will see if they can keep milking it on these Levels when they run out of Canon STAR TREK Ships (even the alien Species do not have that many left).
I give it one or two more years then we have all the TV Ships complete.
IMHO none of the Cryptic made Ships have been more than flavor of the month,
i don't even see the 1000 Day Vet Ship-Chimera that much anymore...
just another Flavor of the Month Ship that has been forgotten by most already.
There are 2 Types of Players.
One type just wants to look cool and wants to buy Visuals.
Then there are the competitive Players that would sell their mom for +2% phaser damage or +10% hull.
Ships appeal to both. (with a Star Trek Fan Bonus for the TV Ships)
But Uniforms only appeal to the first type of Player.
With the 700 Zen Suits they tried to appeal to both, and they got the response they deserved, massive negative Press, Forum rage and everything else you deserve for being that greedy.
And in this case i think it did not even sell well, because they were not even perceived to be better than the FREE alternatives.
Nukara wasn't that hot either (does anybody still go there?) and a Space Suit with *meh* Stats, per Character, and possibly (by now confirmed) to be required for BOffs... and only a hand full of missions where you will ever need it.
Of course that approach was bound to fail. (not to mention it seriously lacked blinking LED lights... can't sell to the visual fluff crowd if it lacks it original *bling*)...
Im sad to see that some good looking costumes are in the lobi store that are not following the regular starfleet style.
I would had bought them from the zstore instantly if they had been there.
I like to use many types of costumes for my characters, and change them often, but it has been very dry for a long time now, with less new stuff comming.
Comments
Gee, it's not like the creators of the show kept redressing sets constantly with various props and decorations, thereby expanding the various locations exponentially with minimal effort. :rolleyes:
It's just a plain t-shirt and trousers from the "off duty" set coloured right. I have it on my main along with a billion other costumes
Kirk's Protege.
All of the non-standard costumes I do have, I got for "free" from collector's editions, bundles, or from the winter event, basically as a bonus to what I was really buying, so it a way, that is where I would go.
Honestly, if ships sell, I would start to bundle costumes with ships, maybe as as add on package, so normally it would be 400 zen, but if you buy the Gal-X first, you can buy it for only 200 zen more, but leave the option to just buy the costumes. Maybe pair it up so the defiant gets the DS9 uniform, etc.
I would not pair up costumes with ground armor or weapons unless the devs are willing to sell something equal to a MK XI STF set. Maybe MK X. Honestly every ground weapon you can buy suffers from this, and I know it is because the devs are bending over backwards to not look like Pay 2 Win on ground. Why I honestly don't know. I mean, I can get Mark XI weapons for nothing but playing the game that outperform just about anything I can get from the zen or lobi stores. If I buy a weapon, it should at least match the stuff I can get from loot drops at end game. If its not going to, then I should be able to have a space on my ship where I can display all my useless stuff, because its not going anywhere else.
Nouveau riche LTS member
My argument there is that they can be useful but you need some standard reasons to get people aboard other ship interiors.
I keep saying to make all the basic ship interiors and then have a sortof "gryphon ride" mechanic where ships travel in patrol groups. You're aboard the static map interior of the lead ship in a group with 75 odd other players in the instance and a bunch of semi-random activities aboard the lead formation ship. You have a personal travel timer. And you can access a cinematic of your ship at warp in the group via a button on the lower right.
This is why I think it has to be paired with kits.
The weapons themselves should be fun weapons you consider using with your "off-weapon" slot.
But novelty kits don't have as much competition since there are no novel Mk XII kits aside from the Romulan ones and kits are separate from item sets. (Ie. there's no Omega/MACO/Jem'Hadar KIT you need for a set.)
Also, given that the stated goal with ships is to, in a sense, sell extra classes to play, the ground counterpart of that is selling KITS, since Kits are really more like playing different classes.
However, given how underutilized the ground game, I can see that as a part of the problem.
Also, ground costumes get buried quickly by kit gear.
Technically you can code anything. That's not the issue. But we know that the game is developed according to metrics and profitability. Of course they could design a completely new game on top of the two current ones (ground and space) but they'd need a very, very good reason to pour so many resources into that, especially since other types of content can be developed faster (new space and ground missions).
They needed 5 years to produce a decent game with 2 types of gameplay (since the first seasons weren't really additions to the game but filling blanks), how long would it take to create a new one almost from scratch? :rolleyes:
God, lvl 60 CW. 17k.
You're very generous in the way you consider the game finished.
Turning off the visuals for armor/kits is the first thing I do. The kits all look stupid, anyway.
...they also need to unlock the color wheel ffs. I mean, in for a penny, in for a pound, right?
Yeah. This is why I think the closest thing to a ship loadout is probably a kit and the closest thing to a weapon is... a weapon... and the closest thing to a special console is having at least one mechanically novel kit power in addition to having an oddly laid out kit. And I see the big way to make layouts unique is to make them class agnostic and appropriate to the costume.
It might also help if Cryptic defaulted armor and kit visuals to the "off" setting as many seem to have no clue this is possible and it's probably better for people to learn how to enable them than how to disable them.
I would prefer if kit and armor visuals were removed entirely, and replaced by little accessories in the tailor.
Parallels: my second mission for Fed aligned Romulans.
ingame: @.Spartan
Original Cryptic Forum Name: Spartan (member #124)
The Glorious, Kirk’s Protegè
While i don't like all of the costume pieces they've made, i do like that they've been catering to fans of the different shows, and i would love to see more in the way for the KDF as well. My main concern again is that the quality of the costumes isn't really worth the asking price just yet. By making the cost lower and raising the quality, they would easily make up any cost in the long run because at 100z for basic (full) costumes and 300z for costume packs, since more people would be willing to buy. That's why the one weapons pack failed, it wasn't worth what they were charging. That's the idea behind selling virtual items, you make it cool enough that they want it but charge so little that they can't justify not buying it.
I used to collect action figures and I can relate this to some of what's happened with costumes. Basically, though, I think your post illustrates this.
A line of G.I.Joes that focuses on Duke, Snake Eyes, and Cobra Commander is generally seen as an inferior quality value line. A line of Transformers where every third figure is Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, or Megatron warms pegs in stores. Likewise with Star Wars and Luke/Leia/Han/Vader.
Manufacturers generally tend to view these things as safe bets and I think that's very much what Cryptic has done. They went for the iconic costumes at medium/entry-level quality for a fairly affordable price.
However, in doing so, there's no cheaper base level for them to produce less iconic costumes at and there's no higher level for them to produce higher quality, cadillac level service collectibles at. They took their best material in terms of uniforms they could do and they half-way churned it out at the lowest value price they could. If they really honed the pitch towards obscure items, they could charge more and devote more time to the recognizable items.
You definitely see this with Star Wars toys. Lines where the Millenium Falcoln is a basic unit tend to warm shelves in stores. But by focusing on minor and obscure characters at the value price, this buildsdemand for high quality and limited editition premium versions (quality and price) of the recognizable assets. The reason why Hasbro can get over $100 for a Deathstar or Millenium Falcon playset or multiple Cantinas at $20 a piece is because people collect the minor, affordable characters to populate those sets in big dioramas that they keep under glass in their house. Whereas if you release a $20 cardboard Millenium Falcon playset first, it diminishes the appeal of the things to populate it with.
I'd say this became a definite thing in something like Decipher's Star Trek CCG. They started with a set that included everything that was basic to the TNG setting and then struggled for awhile. Where they finally found their footing with expansions (and saved their license with money and clout they built up after awhile) was in not just mining the obscure things but building a market out of those. They had a lot worthy of study for STO because they even had ultra-rare ships (the Galaxy-X Enterprise first among them -- which cost about as much to obtain as a lockbox ship) and gradually found that it was the reference and interplay between items that drove big revenue. As the game really blossomed, people became fixated on things like Mott the Barber and Lal as much or more than the main characters. Finding value in the obscure elements bought the designers space to work magic on the prominent elements.
This allowed for expensive deluxe sets in some cases to promote iconic material. This developed nuance to the sales pitch which allowed them to do weird things like create Mogh (which was a 50/50 Michael Dorn/Tony Todd photoshop) or Dukat of Borg. Sometimes, this meant they could charge premiums for new iconic Picards or Datas (and DS9 expansion and second edition expanded that further by pushing premium "based on one episode where the character acted different but didn't look any different" costume cards) but by and large it meant that they developed a line where they routinized purchases aimed at obscure characters and created a value surplus when they highlighted known characters.
Now, this plays with the lack of mechanical value of these packs in some non-intuitive ways.
Generally speaking, people want to get as much "play" out of purchases like this as possible.
And I stand by the kit idea. And marketing these as "The Riker Collection Action Pack" rather than "Mid-23rd century variant." I actually think they could market the tailoring variants of the First Contact style uniform (look closely, they were radically different for different body types) with a nuance approach.
But the way character slots work make uniforms inconvenient.
If costume packs included kits or active features, they'd sell more. If they included costume slots, they'd sell more. If bridge officers had costume slots, they'd sell more. If the costumes had a use beyond dressing yourself and bridge officers (ie. diorama creation potential), they'd sell more. If there was more focus on quality, detail and nuance, they'd sell more.
If the sales pitches were hinged on more emotional appeal, they'd sell more. A TNG labcoat uniform ala Doctor Crusher would probably be a very modest seller despite having the approval of costume nuts who have wanted it since launch. And a trailer showing somebody with a tricorder in the labcoat would, basically, just create awareness that the pack exists. Like a Wal-Mart sales flyer.
Now, if you make a trailer where you have an early middle aged woman in the labcoat flirting with her captain before beaming into a hazardous derelict ship, you've just done MORE THAN a Wal-Mart sales flyer. You've created an association to Doctor Crusher. And that's what a thematic kit/weapon/etc. with it would further do. That takes it from being a mild costume variant to "Don't you want to be like Doctor Crusher?"
And I suspect that pushes the Seven of Nine and Mirror uniforms more. They include sex appeal, sure, but a big thing they include is a PERSONALITY. Which brings things back around to play. (Heck, in a video game, that's what sexy characters are all about too: play.)
I mean, I want Wrath of Khan crewman jumpsuits to flesh out a crew with. And you might think Kirk's Star Trek V outfit would sell less because it's less utilitarian and because everybody hates Final Frontier. But I'd be willing to bet $50 it goes the other way. Why? Because an open suede jacket and a T-shirt that says "Go climb a mountain" has personality. And personality is play. And play is value. Likewise McCoy's neckerchief look or Kirk's flannel and jeans from "City on the Edge of Forever" versus something more visually iconic like the TNG dress uniforms or late TNG/DS9/Voyager Admiral uniform.
Heck, if they'd included a slightly rumbled, rolled up sleeves First Contact and Voyager uniform with the DS9 bundle instead of Vedek or TNG Admiral gear, I bet it would sell better. Because you look at it and see O'Brien's personality in it rather than something generic.
The Dirty Jobs Pack.
Take the First Contact uniform. Have an artist spend a week (not three, just one) doing the O'Brien "rolled up sleeves" version. Maybe an unfastened collar version. And then create a bunch of versions with phaser burns and fabric tears. Maybe grease blemishes for the face. A scar or two. Maybe some messed up hair if there's time.
And sell it for 500 ZEN... and include 1 costume slot with it.
I bet you'd see a bigger return on tweaking a FREE costume (the basic First Contact uniform) and it getting extra love than you'd see the average 3 week turnaround new costume get.
Because it would have personality and play and the inclusion of a costume slot helps guarantee that people will have the ability to play with it.
EDIT: A nice plus for this? More reflective/sweaty skin as an option. There's a Champions pack I nearly bought just for that.
I bought them all and i can't have enough of them.
They are not too expensive, they are what i consider on the cheap end of the C-Store.
I'd pay 800 Zen per outfit without thinking twice about it. BUT it needs to be account wide.
With 10 Characters i do not accept to buy 50 x 700 Zen Space Suits (BOffs need them too now!)
Anyway... imho it is a BULL**** excuse to not make more Uniforms.
Uniforms are made when CONTENT (as in MISSIONS) is made, if they need new outfits for a new Mission, then they will see what Outfits they can sell to us.
If it needs to be made anyway it will be sold.
The real reason is... the amount of Missions that require new Outfits has been very low recently and we GOT an Outfit with everything that came out lately.
Nukara had the Space Suits, 700 Zen Suits AND the LobiStore upgrade for the SET.
Fleetbase had the "basic" Bortas and Odyssey outfits (pretty lackluster to just sell ONE outfit after all that Starbase grind...)
the Embassy on New Romulus had those weirdo Romulan Off Duty Pajamas that D'Tan was wearing...
If Ships is the only thing that makes financial sense, then why the hell do they even do anything else, other than Ships?
If the one Ship dude is the only one making money for the Company, then why have anyone else working on the game? If They don't make money they can go home!
STO is the sum of it's parts, not the amount of C-Store and LockBox Ships.
That Cryptic makes us pay outrageous prices only for Ships, is their own fault.
I would gladly pay regular Xbox-DLC prices for Mission Packs, Character Skins and DLC Items like Ships.
But ...who care what i think? Ships are working for them. They will continue to do so until they run out of Ships, then they will keep pushing them out (i hear blah blah about MORE 2409 Variants *ugh meh*)
Imho it will bite Cryptic in their rear end that they only have found Ships to be a viable way of milking the Star Trek IP for money, soon enough we will see if they can keep milking it on these Levels when they run out of Canon STAR TREK Ships (even the alien Species do not have that many left).
I give it one or two more years then we have all the TV Ships complete.
IMHO none of the Cryptic made Ships have been more than flavor of the month,
i don't even see the 1000 Day Vet Ship-Chimera that much anymore...
just another Flavor of the Month Ship that has been forgotten by most already.
There are 2 Types of Players.
One type just wants to look cool and wants to buy Visuals.
Then there are the competitive Players that would sell their mom for +2% phaser damage or +10% hull.
Ships appeal to both. (with a Star Trek Fan Bonus for the TV Ships)
But Uniforms only appeal to the first type of Player.
With the 700 Zen Suits they tried to appeal to both, and they got the response they deserved, massive negative Press, Forum rage and everything else you deserve for being that greedy.
And in this case i think it did not even sell well, because they were not even perceived to be better than the FREE alternatives.
Nukara wasn't that hot either (does anybody still go there?) and a Space Suit with *meh* Stats, per Character, and possibly (by now confirmed) to be required for BOffs... and only a hand full of missions where you will ever need it.
Of course that approach was bound to fail. (not to mention it seriously lacked blinking LED lights... can't sell to the visual fluff crowd if it lacks it original *bling*)...
/just like my random thoughts to this
I would had bought them from the zstore instantly if they had been there.
I like to use many types of costumes for my characters, and change them often, but it has been very dry for a long time now, with less new stuff comming.
500-600z per full costume is an alright cost.