test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
I unsubed, gold and lifetime bonuses.
guilli88
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
Hello.
I wonder if we could have a discussion about the merits of both gold and lifetime subscribers.
I recently unsubbed after being a gold member for two months. The bonuses it brought during leveling were nice. Skill respec tokens and extra inventory space.
However, now being max level, I find the subscription model just doesn't cut it. The veteran bonuses aren't that great, mostly titles and a ship or two. Nothing really useful.
This got me to two conclusions:
- Long term veteran rewards are horrible. The bonus you get for being subbed months/years is so little it's really not worth it.
- Gold subscription doesn't offer that many benefits and still requires you to spend additional money on the store for everything, even costume unlocks.
Discussion point? How does everyone feel about the current model? Do the benefits outweigh the cost?
Sure the monthly stippend is nice, but I can get three times the zen for the same price. Sinds I still need to pay for store stuff, why even sub at all?
Suggestion for gold accounts and lifetime accounts:
+50% credits from vendoring goods or -50% cost of all vendor EC prices
+50% refining cap on dilithium
+50% reputation and fleet marks earned
+50% loot drops for you in solo play (or; higher chance for rarer items)
+50% crafting material drops
+ 5 respec tokens/month
And so forth
Numbers are merely an example. I do not have data to formulate balanced numbers, but a better bonus would be great.
I wonder if we could have a discussion about the merits of both gold and lifetime subscribers.
I recently unsubbed after being a gold member for two months. The bonuses it brought during leveling were nice. Skill respec tokens and extra inventory space.
However, now being max level, I find the subscription model just doesn't cut it. The veteran bonuses aren't that great, mostly titles and a ship or two. Nothing really useful.
This got me to two conclusions:
- Long term veteran rewards are horrible. The bonus you get for being subbed months/years is so little it's really not worth it.
- Gold subscription doesn't offer that many benefits and still requires you to spend additional money on the store for everything, even costume unlocks.
Discussion point? How does everyone feel about the current model? Do the benefits outweigh the cost?
Sure the monthly stippend is nice, but I can get three times the zen for the same price. Sinds I still need to pay for store stuff, why even sub at all?
Suggestion for gold accounts and lifetime accounts:
+50% credits from vendoring goods or -50% cost of all vendor EC prices
+50% refining cap on dilithium
+50% reputation and fleet marks earned
+50% loot drops for you in solo play (or; higher chance for rarer items)
+50% crafting material drops
+ 5 respec tokens/month
And so forth
Numbers are merely an example. I do not have data to formulate balanced numbers, but a better bonus would be great.
sig
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/5451/om71.jpg
It is a peculiar phenomenon that we can imagine events that defy the laws of the universe.
Post edited by guilli88 on
0
Comments
I'm sure other people could come up with additional things.
-
and then theres the p2w thread where people complain about those who pay to have an advantage.
I think most people would rather not feel that they had to pay to really have the most fun playing the game. Personally, I think it's worth it for me because I have a lot of characters, and like to make new ones and level them up, and I like to show my support.
While I would of course be happy with more benefits with my subscription, I also don't want it to be so good that anyone who can't afford one feels like they're really missing out, or are forced to grind so much more for the same things.
But paying $15 a month every month for gold membership makes no sense to me.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
I killed my sub once F2P went live because they already started to snatch things like the free retrofit on VA away from subscribers - this is just unbearable. As a "paying customer" you are treted really badly in this game. Gold membership has no wothwhile benefits whatsoever.
So I'd suggest NO extra charges for Gold subscribers and extra charges for F2P players. What do you say? It would be stupid to be NOT a subscriber then, if you want to play the game? EXACTLY! That's why F2P is a pest.
Askind for a "discount" doesn't really make sense. It's like "yes, I am willing to constantly pay for nothing in return, but I want a discount on the extra charges" - which is, bottom line, exactly the same amount you'd pay if you wouldn't subscribe.
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
Now that would be a really bad model. Reminds me of what EA did to TOR. You cant take the money off the free players if you make the game that bad. They simply wont have the motivation to get a lockbox key or a c-store ship if the game penalises them too much.
Or are you suggesting that a gold membership should make c-store ships free? That would be a huge loss of money for the company either.
And for the last, what are you talking about? You still get the VA ships as a vetaran reward.
Plus if you are subscribed, you get a lot of bonuses for levelling as OP have pointed out.
Instead of punishing the free players who give dilithium for rich guy's zen on the exchange, why not simply give the subscribers and lifers more benefits?
Now, giving the subscribed players a zen package like lifers got does sound like a good idea.
Of course they would only get extra zen as long as they are paying, unlike life time members.
Or maybe they could get a monthly reputation stiped, with lets say 500 of all marks on all characters each month until they subscribed. This would again be a constant thing for lifetime characters.
Well, actually I'm talking about a Pay 2 Play game, like in the old days. No C-Store TRIBBLE whatsoever. This would also allow the devs do develop a freaking GAME instead of costumes and ship skins for people to buy. STO hasn't evolved a single bit in the last years, all content that is added is centered around new shinies for people to buy. If that's what the playerbase wants and is happy with it's fine with me, though this is not what I consider a rich gaming experience.
I also cannot stand the "you still get your VA reward ship" - for what, 600 days of subscribing? Yeah, these are roughly 300 bucks worth of content XD
It is very hard to proclaim such ideas since people seem to be very reluctant to even consider rolling some changes back. For most of us, there isn't even an idea of how STO could look if it wasn't about grab-bags and Zen.
A pay 2 play model works - if the game was any good. But the devs kinda stopped making a game called STO but istead keep a very simplistic lunch-break 'gamey experience' which does constantly get new minor items they hope people will buy. This is just a poor existence for a game bearing the name Star Trek Online, at least in my opinion.
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
Well most people do not share your opinion, and the game has been getting more support late from PVE because its doing better.
And unless you are an economical god who can fix this depression, you will find that a lot of people cant afford a steady monthy stipend of dollars.
Now with the current FTP model they can still play the game and invest later on it when they got some money to spare.
With a PTP model, they would not be able to play, and would never spend a dollar again in game, nor would they put stuff like dilithium and items on exchange for non-free players.
Do you think PWE would NOT Change back to a subscription model instantly if that got them more money? But it would not get them more money so they are not doing it.
And C-store ships were never free, and would never be free.
Life subber myself and one of the reasons for me choosing that, was because I really like the game. So I choose to support the development and future support for the game (the more money they get, the better equitment they can provide for stability). Aswell as buying a good amount of Zen every month I do not believe I've been cheated in any way. I carefully balanced the payment to the rewards and found it some what worth it. Granted I would like to see a little more basic rewards for the cash supply I bring in. But, I'm happy with what I get.
The 500zen package shouldn't be brought in to gold members, nor should it exsist for life members. I sell those Zen for Dil (last night brought me 65K Dil as the prizes are insane) and buying a load of zen to use on myself. They should rather remove that 2 day long extra 1K Dil exchange and rather allow Gold and Life members to refine 1500 extra per day in stead.
I do not understand some peoples suggestions to the Sub packages. You need to also determine if you're willing to pay for a great games future. PWE can't survive if they do it all for free and give handouts like crazy people. That would be a ''Perfect world'', but in reality we are far from it. So they survive on your contributions and we get something in return from it. How ever a small reward you believe it is. Take a look at the larger picture and make up your mind to support or not.
All those special ships bring in a lot of revenue, because they are the most powerful ones, and you need to pay a LOT of key to get them.
People can spend hundreds of dollars on getting even one of them. So handing them out to subscribers would be a big loss of money for them.
I think you need to hop on Tribble, if it weren't for LoR I would agree with you here but a lot of time and effort has gone into it and it shows.
Now if only Cryptic were to do more of it...
I dont care if ppl use the f2p option, but the benefits should be higher for subscribers to remain subscribed... Examples:
1. A lot higher dili rewards and refinement cap comes to mind... 25-50% on both.
2. Double or even triple the chance of getting any lockbox ships in comparrison to f2p.
For the last 2 months I spend about 12k worth of zen on master keys and generally I get:
A... 2 Months worth of mining claims (which regretably I cannot sell).
B... Loads of useless phased polaron weapons (how I know they are useless? Well all those groundweapons are always returned in mail).
C... Loads of DOFFs (already got 200 per character, why need more??).
D... 4-5 Consol pack from which I only get a Nadeon Detonator (for my build this item is useless and would prefer the Bio-neural warhead)...
E... When lucky 2-4 Mirror Vo'Quv.
F... A lot, but never enough lobi crystals.
3. A... Higher EC return for selling loot at a vendor.
B... Raise replicator prices to match vendor prices.
Make some people get more unbound stuff in exchange other unbound stuff invites to be abused by people transforming the transactions for other players for a fee or for being in the same fleet.
It might work, if the difference is negligible and not worth the time tranfering stuff, but then it would not be much of a perk.
The rest doesn't have this kind of a problem.
But this is a Freemium-game now, not a free trial to get people to subs and it should stay as such. Subs are better on the short run, Premium or lifetime are for the long run.
Nadeon Detonator are the KDF version of FED Bio-neural Warhead.
Seriously? What kind of looser can't afford a measly $10 a month?
People complain about subscription fees being too expensive but I bet a lot of the people who do go out drinking three times a week and/or smoke.
$10? Go donate blood or something. Seriously even a 10 year old should be able to aquire $10 a month.
If you can't I would say being unable to play an online game is the least of your problems.
Note: All the above assumes you are already a leech who does not pay their own rent, electricity and internet bills. If you do you must have plenty of income to allot $10 to a game.
Note 2: This is not a personal attack, just a critisim of everyone who claims they are unable to afford monthly fees.
I took a totally different view. I started playing only because it was f2p. After playing several months I decided to go lifetime even though for me it was difficult to arrange the money. I felt the rewards were maybe a little lacking for the cash needed, but I enjoy the game enough to consider it worth an investment in keeping it going. Now that I am LTS I have the desire to get more for my sizable investment, but I also want f2p folks to get the same enjoyment I did so they can perhaps also decide to buy some zen or even better go gold. With that in mind I would recommend things that are more indirectly beneficial like being able to double dilithium refining instead of just 1,000 more.
No. That is absurd
yes it is a personal attack, you even refer to such people as losers. and quite a few people can't afford such things
As far as Gold and LTS accounts go, they're worth it. Gold is worth it if you subscribe for single, select months, especially while leveling a new character. A one-month subscription is worth about $210 when you first join and level up your 3 free characters, ~$60 if you use it to level up a single new character. (especially so if you're using codes from old retail boxes).
It isn't about being able to afford $10 a month, it's about lowering the threshhold for people to join and stay and to prevent them from running over to the competition.
Do you seriously think the broad amount of players would pay a monthly $12 and play STO or Neverwinter while there are tons of high-quality, F2P-titles out there? Just look at how horribly STO was doing until F2P launched, where it was heading and how well it is doing after abandoning the sub-model and you got your answer.
Subscription systems are pretty much dead now, even in Western mmos. The only one who can keep pulling it off is Blizzard and WoW.
No, I don't think so because, I'm sorry, STO is not a good game. I get the feeling that people always consider it rude if someone says something like this, but this game doesn't offer a lot of content besides a hamster wheel in order to earn virtual stuff, but a game experience is almost non existent.
I've heard a lot of positive feedback from tribble players over the romulan expansion and I'm looking forward to it. Even if some people might think it, I don't ENJOY being the angry targ. I'd rather be a happy targ, but until now STO, Cryptic and PWE have made me angry
And IF the game works p2p works as well. Though the playerbase has changed and their standards are lower than 5-10 years ago. But F2P is not the answer because F2P games stagnate in terms of gameplay and just offer candies until they shut the whole thing down...
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
Give me bank statements from any person who claims they can't afford a paltry $10 a month and I will prove them wrong.
Sure, you could probably find $10 a month in somebody's budget... doesn't mean it would be a good idea for everybody to go ahead and spend it on shiny objects in STO. For many of the people you might do that for the $10 would probably be better off in savings.
'Course I'm dumb enough to blow it on STO instead of saving it, so I'm not one to talk.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
i remain F2P because sub has nothing that warrants 9 pound a month when F2P pretty much has everything minus these few minor special trinkets after 100 day marks have passed which i see no interest in getting anyway.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
The only thing subbing gets you after 1 month is the veteran rewards. Some are nice, some are arguably not worth it and some you can obtain by spending that money you save from subscribbing on Zen to unlock. Ultimately it depends on whether you have 1-3 characters or whether you have an army of them as to whether the veteran rewards are worth it.
Personally I'd like to see more things added for subs in general. I'd like to see some use for the captains table, it's meant to be special and while it looks nice I can get everything but the peace and quiet elsewhere.
Here are some ideas to make subs worth keeping up:
An expanded tailor that allows you all colours for both factions and to mix and match all costume pieces from your faction would be good.
1 account wide skill respec a month would be good so you can swap and change a bit more.
1 account wide trait respec a month...same as above.
Bonus 5% CXP or 10 bonus marks after each relevant mission.
Bonus duty officer recruiter in addition to the one at SFA.
Bonus trait(s), nothing game breaking but something kinda nice and optional.
The above would expire upon your subscription expiring with the exception of the traits and costume which would stay until changed, though saved costumes would still exist, you just can't re-create them. I think you should benefit from subscribing and miss it if you cancel but it shouldn't be a massive loss to playing the game if you choose to cancel.
It is through repetition that we learn our weakness.
A master with a stone is better than a novice with a sword.
Has damage got out of control?
This is the last thing I will post.
Go back to EVE.
Name a MMO that is NOT a hamster wheel?
All MMO are pretty much the same with exception on "how the wheel works"
Start at Base level with limited abilities
Fight stuff, retrieve stuff, deliver stuff, solve puzzle = get exp
get higher level with more abilities, buy more stuff to be more powerful
repeat
get top level and now doing "group/harder" missions to gain access to even more powerful stuff.
Once you get the "higher level stuff/epic" then you have option to go even harder content and get even higher level stuff.
rinse/repeat
side options:
Housing - spend in-game/money for housing. For us is our ship or fleet bases
mounts/ships - in STO it is ship. More ships. Does anyone at max level fly their 1st ship? with only 2 fore and 1 back?
Cosmetic/clothing - we all spend some money to look good for various reasons.
While the basic the same, the deliver differ from one MMO to another, but it is all about carrot approach and get people to go to the next carrot.
Please review my campaign and I'll return the favor.
not even this would appeal to me.
what i would like to se is
f2p:
* limited credits to 1m with additional unlock to 5m credits from z-store.
* limited dilithium refinement to 4k a day.
* requisition required from z-store to use very/ultra rare items of any types.
* no ability to use any boosters exception of xp unless unlocked from z-store, requisition needed.
* leveling experience penalty given when reaching a new rank, this would make xp boosters more valuable, additionally xp boosters need the xp cap points removed for a few hour cap instead. it can be found in missions via drops on a semi-regular basis or on the exchange.
* no dilithium store.
subs:
* they get everything now except LTS stuff.
* VA token.
* Rank upgrade respec token like they did before F2P.
you leave it like that and it would be worth going gold again.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Gold equals fifteen dollars a month. Do it once to unlock everything (character, inventory, bank and account bank slots). Make your characters, level up then go silver. The fifteen dollars you would have used a month for gold can instead be used to buy zen instead. Which equals three times the monthly stipend and little to no down side.
Lifetime subscriber is really nice, you do get some pretty awesome veteran rewards. With that said, what would you rather have. Lifetime benefits or 300$ worth of zen? Lifetime offers a lot of bonuses when you look at the veteran rewards. But, they are mostly just quality of life stuff you can buy with zen. The only reason I can see to go lifetime is for the monthly stipend, a few unique costumes, an android Boff, play as a liberated Borg, and the Chimera/Peghqu' class starships.
The costumes are nice, but are really just modified versions of the Jupiter set. As a huge fan of Data I would love to have an android Boff. But, bridge officers for ground stuff has become a little rare. Except for when you replay missions and foundry missions I hardly see my Boffs anymore except for when I visit my bridge. The Chimera/Peqhqu' class ships are awesome. Probably the best selling point of the incentive to go LTS. But, they are only 9 console ships and have direct competition from easily available z-store and lockbox ships. Playable liberated Borg is also a nice selling point. However, the lack of race change tokens has been a deal breaker for me. I'm too invested in my current characters with several lock box ships and lobi items/costumes. As long as there is no race change tokens I won't even consider going LTS.
instead you could use that 300$ to buy a Kumari+Vesta+Odyssey 3 packs and still have 150$ to buy costumes, lock box keys, fleet modules, Z-store ships or even the Romulan starter pack! Twice the deal at half the price
At this point I'm starting to see the Gold and LTS offers as a relics of the pay to play model. I really do feel that LTS needs an upgrade in general (nothing at the level the OP has suggested). Something that a person who is considering dropping 300$ into the game would feel is money well spent. What that could be? I don't know lol. Perhaps the option to buy paid race change tokens :P.