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Free Respec for us all?
baudl
Member Posts: 4,060 Arc User
I was wondering if with the introduction of the new trait system a complete and free respec for each existing character was planed in may.
On a related subject, are there any plans to reduce the cost for a single respec? 5 dollars seems way too much considering the constant changes to the game.
Also the way the game works with ship types and powers, it nearly is obligatory to buy a respec together with a new ship.
On a related subject, are there any plans to reduce the cost for a single respec? 5 dollars seems way too much considering the constant changes to the game.
Also the way the game works with ship types and powers, it nearly is obligatory to buy a respec together with a new ship.
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As for the costs, what "constant changes?" The Skill Tree hasn't changed since FTP. This is the first Trait change since launch. And since most people get to VA/LG in a week or two they've basically established themselves into their end-game identity fairly quickly. It's not Cryptic's fault if people decide to play several different ships at end-game.
good news, thx
on "the constant changes", the reputation skills pop into mind...i think atleast 2 changes since they released those.
If you can improve the play experience by making re-specs cheaper (or free), you'd be crazy not to.
Maintaining it as a currency sink or a revenue source is short-sighted.
They should want me playing several different ships at endgame, because I'd be more inclined to spend more money on that than I would be if I'm also facing a $5 surcharge every time I want to switch ships so that I can suitably customize my skills.
Similarly, they should want me playing multiple characters at endgame, because I'll spend more cash on ships. Antiquated mechanics such as per character reputation bars undermine this.
Second, at 8k refined Dilithium per day anyone can get a free Respec in less then 1 week. The people who grind more, like me, can do it even quicker - I routinely refine 15-20k per day so for me it's a standard 2-3 days of playing to get a free Respec.
It's not a major hardship.
Most players aren't going to go through the hassle of going to Tribble to test. I don't even know what it entails. I'm also not interested in wasting hours on a test server when I could be spending those hours on the live server.
Most players, as per dev statements, don't hit the 8k refining cap; I know I don't bother to any longer (I'd sooner leave the game than chase the 8k daily again). With the rising zen exchange rate, it's going beyond a week of daily capping for a single respec token.
The whole point is to get players to part with their cash. They'll spend it more willingly and in greater quantities if they're spending it on things they want, like ships. Respec costs (and rep bars) are antiquated holdovers from older subscription MMOs, and warrant being designed out of the genre, especially as it moves towards F2P. Respecs are not a service players are eager to pay for, but rather a service that developers feel they can get away with attaching a punitive price upon.
There's no justification for a respec cost other than "because we can." Next they'll start slapping cash pricing onto in-game mail and the exchanges, "because they can." I'm sure you'll be the first to tell me that it's not a big deal.
you will just NEVER succeed in building an all-around "uber" toon for everything,
but there is a way how to do an " average allrounder" which will do average to good in PVE, and any ship. If that is enough for you.
If not, either pay 5, grind for it OR buy a LFT, we are getting like 7 respecs for every toon.
I picked the wrong, class, wrong traits and placed my skillpoints wrong.
Playing with it to this day. Unless you got bored enough to pvp it won't matter, at all. Belee dat.
simply put...NO. the average joe does not plan his "next" toon for a specific ship. The average player of this casual MMO sees a ship he likes and buys it. Now the tricky part is that he may had skillpoints in a science power that isn't even possible to slot on his new ship, ergo those skillpoints become USELESS.
and YES you can succeed in building an "uber" all around build...simply by not going for specific sci powers like particle generators, etc...
There are skills you will allways max (mainly in the tac and engi section), or keep high since they are allways in use on any ship. What you are unable to have is a highly specialized build like tricobald bomber and so on.
Anyway this is going offtopic.
trying out something new with my main character shouldn't have a price on it (regardless of f2p or lts), and sure as hell not one of 5 dollars for each time i want to try something new. I agree that testing on tribble is an idea (i actually did that twice in 2 years) but it still leaves me with buying one on the live server once i got it setup just right.
i loved the respec mechanic back then, when it did cost the stuff that is now expertise (i think it was 40k or so?)
I could even understand if it cost a few thousand dilithium (15k-20k), or a million EC, or a million Expertise.
in my opinion skilltrees are stuff from MMOs from the last millenium, and STO doesn't even need them since consoles or kits could easily be that customisation factor every RPG must have.
An interesting if somewhat misguided post. First lets clear up your biggest error. The respecs you get by grinding Dil across multiple characters for 3 days (or more depending on Zen/Dil rates) are not free.
You have to use time that could otherwise be spent actually playing the game, rather than having it be like a second job. Secondly there is the fact that if you have to use Dilithium to trade up to Zen to pay for the respecs, then that is Diithium that you do not have available for other things, like Fleet weapons, Fleet projects or Reputation items.
You then have to spend more time getting more Dilithium to replace the amount you just used on respecs. That's what? 6 days, maybe more if you don't have 3 or 4 characters to grind Dil on and by that point you would probably be more than a little annoyed at not having been able to play the actual game.
Now to your point about using Tribble to test on. While I and most others would agree that it is a good place to test out ship fittings and skill setups, it has absolutely nothing to do with the point the other poster made. If Cryptics goal is to make as much money as possible, then offering free respecs would get people buying a great deal more ships than I suspect they do at present. This would also encourage people to play as different careers, knowing that they could fly multiple ships on their Sci, Eng and Tac characters.
Or we could stick with your idea and limit both the players options and Cryptics funding.
Sig by my better half.
thats how i spec, and it means i still have 4 tokens on my main, 5 on both alts, because i built and all rounder spec while leveling up.
TV guide did a survey a few years ago to find out why TV viewership was in decline. What they learned was that the 2.5 hours more people spent watching TV per day was being supplanted by many gamers using that time to play games instead - not just MMOs but all console and computer games. People were simply substituting one form of recreation for another.
If time has no intrinsic value, then why do people seek to "make the most" of said time? Why do people seek jobs with ever increasing pay grades? Why do so many people across the world use the phrase "Value for money"?
Free time has a very real value to a great many people, to say otherwise is disingenuous. Entire industries rely solely on that single, inescapable fact. Movie production companies, musicians, games companies and publishing houses base their production and distribution of products on the premise that they have to make and sell something that people are willing to spend both their money AND their time on.
Now as far as I can see Cryptic is a games company, Perfect World are a producer/publisher/distribution firm and as such they both have an inherent interest in convincing customers that their free time and money should be spent on one of THEIR products. This is even more important when a product is "Free to Play" and relies on consumers making many many small purchases.
It should also be noted that the study done by TV Guide indicated that viewing numbers actually increased, rather than decreased. It showed that out of the 10,000 people it polled (An astonishingly small pool to draw conclusions from I might add) 5,800 of those people responded by saying they had switched from watching traditional "live" broadcasts, to watching via catch up TV or time delayed viewing online.
Why were people making such changes to their viewing habits? Because companies were offering services that the end consumer deemed to be "better value for money" and a "Better use of free time". Viewers were able to choose when they watched a certain show, rather than being restricted to only viewing it at certain times and on certain days.
The lesson here is that if companies wish to survive in a market where consumers are becoming ever more savvy and ever more concerned with justifying how they spend their time and money, then said companies need to be aware that time really does have value as well.
Sig by my better half.
Why do you think most companies don't pay for lunch breaks and limit toilet breaks both in frequency and duration?
Sig by my better half.
Oh look, they're doing that. Oh look, they're giving us a free respec in the same patch that these changes come out in.
You may or may not be right, but you failed to prove your point with this example.
Since that average player "bought" the new ship, that same average player can also "buy" a respec token. From the same store he bought the ship.
Perhaps you mean last decade? The MMOs in the 1990s, namely Ultima Online and Everquest, weren't exactly utilizing skill trees the way World of ******** and the MMOs that followed it did.
so no skill respec? only trait respec?
They even go further down the rabbits hole and split respecs into trait,-reputation and skill respecs?
So those bundles they "offer at a discount" is basically what should be given any existing character for free in my opinion with the implementation of those changes.
well, everybody has to eat.
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Similarly, the reputation grind over multiple characters on an account is equally guilty of keeping me from giving Cryptic my money.
I'm sure the bulk of their business is in selling ships; they should be looking at ways to sell more ships, not ways to nickle-and-dime me away from the game entirely.
I should probably be thankful that not wanting to pay the $5 respec cost will probably keep me from spending 5-10x as much on an impulse purchase, and per character reputation grinds will probably keep me from spending $50-100+ exploring ships for my alts.
It does. The game's entire business model is built on that idea.
Ahh the joy of a LTS and veteran perks.
Since the trait system is what's changing, that makes sense. Just because you're switching from Soldier to Astrophysicist, doesn't mean you need to reallocate your Driver Coil points.
I think perhaps the point here is that offering a full respec would be a good idea. Being able to reallocate your points to enable you to fly more ships per character, more ships means more money for Cryptic, means more funding for future development. Now how can that possibly be a bad thing?
Sig by my better half.
Also means less character slots sold, less character specific items sold (storage, doffs slots, lockbox ships), etc.... Which means less money for Cryptic.
Only Cryptic and PWE have any clue which effect would be stronger. It's possible they're making the wrong decision, but they have much better information to base it on than a couple of forum posts saying "I would spend more if..."
My god people, there's a pretty big chance that in the next year they will change the skill tree. That will come with a free respec.
Simmer down. Have fun with the new trait system and the ability to change out your traits for free.
Also, show your love and support of the game and Cryptic, BUY those respec tokens! Just like you buy them ships! How else can the freemium model work if you're not willing to spend any money on the things worth buying?
good 4 u, and i 2 have more than enough respec tokens on my alts...but not on my 2 year old main which wants to change to a new ship 2 from time 2 time.
Problem is, i skilled particle generators and graviton generators since i used sci vessels on this one...now all ships with only a ensign or ltd sci boff slot kind of mean that those skillpoints are wasted on this ships...and i don't like going around with useless skillpoints.
I guess being encouraged to try out something new is also discouraged by those price tags.
Also i'm not criticising to buy respec tokens...it is the insane price. respeccing shouldn't even cost anything.
I should be able to play as a tank or supporter one encounter and the next as a DD in an escort, without having a pricetag attached to it each time i want to switch and still be most effective.
Thats waht the whole shipyard and multiple ship storage would suggest in the first place...a ship for each situation. As it is right now, that is not possible without spending zen or dilithium (in huge amounts) and is not encouraged by the way skill system work in this game.
i would even go as far as to say the skilltree in STO is redundant, if consoles would boost the abilities you use more directly. (tactical consoles for attack patterns, or targeting systems, ...)
but everybody has his own opinion, and i try to respect that. If cryptic has numbers to support that respec tokens gives them enough reveneu to keep them and even extend them, then they would be fools not to milk that cow even more.