I don't have the heart to remove any of my mail. I have in my mailbox almost 2,000 Tribbles that I have been given over the past 3 years in many messages.
This is sad, but its because people like you that action has been taken. Really? 2k tribbles, who the heck keeps that kind of useless items in their mail boxes.
What can you possibly do with 2k tribbles?
You are not the only one, I have heard of players using the mail system as a virtual bank for worthless or low end stuff - up to 10k worth of items.
The mail system has become a nightmare and has turned into a very long and bad episode of hoarders.
Players hoard, hoard, hoard like mindless lemmings and they do not know what to do with those items.
Some things are worth keeping, but many stuff in STO should be auto food for the NPC merchants, just don't sell to the NPC Ferengi Merchants. :P
If everyone on the map starts hopping over that wall, I have to go patch it.
.
If everyone is 'hopping over that wall', it's because they all want to get to the other side. The solution is not to build a bigger wall, it's to put in a door.
I actually found it funny to be honest, Taco, so no offence taken
As for using the mail as storage, I'm not sure if what I have is considered using the mail as a storage per se or trying to abuse the storage system (which is never anything I had intended in this). I never sent items to myself to "store" items in the mailbox. I did in the past before account bank was introduced to move items between characters, but that was it.
All the mail in there are from other players, not to myself. If I had the inventory space to actually claim them all I would, but I don't so they had to stay in my mailbox.
This was in innocence and there is actually background to my character as to why she is obsessed with these furballs. She also owns and manages two facilities; the "Tribble Adoption Agency" for adoption services and the "Tribble Rehabilitation Center" for Cannibal Tribbles.
Ha!
Well I thought the idea of using the Foundry to create a "Tribble Sanctuary" in post #20 of this thread was brilliant and right up your alley allowing you to clear out your mail and giving all those Tribbles a nice place to live.
Heck, and not only you can visit your Tribbles afterward in a nice place far from any nasty Klingons, but many others can too. You might even get 'support/admission' fees for your "Sanctuary Planet" in the way dilithium tips from folks who do visit. :eek:
Mail is used to send items to others, and in that sense, IS temporary storage. But I believe it was always the intent that it was TEMPORARY only. Once the mail is opened, the item should be retrieved to your inventory. That was the intent of the system. True, there was (previously) a very high limit on the number of items that could remain in the mail system for any given player. In general, these kinds of things come about because the person who implemented the system knows that there has to be a hard cap someplace, and so they put in whatever their best guess is for a limit that won't be inconvenient.
People to saw that they could send things through the mail, but not move them into their inventory. I think it is pretty natural for people to then transition into using that as extra storage. I think that most people were not doing so out of some malicious or devious intent, but because the system allowed it.
However, just because the system allowed it, does not mean that was the intent of the system. The original limit was likely set at the number it was, because the original creator had no idea how people would use it. We see this ALL THE TIME! You are a creative lot. You will always find ways around things that we never expected. We make a map with a wall around it, players will ALWAYS find those couple of boxes that let you hop up and over it. It's fine, that's what you guys do. I have no problem with you testing the system like that. I have no problem with the fact that people have used mail for storage in the past.
However, when that starts becoming a problem, we have to correct it. If everyone on the map starts hopping over that wall, I have to go patch it.
And in this case, mail as storage has obviously become a problem.
Regardless of whether the storing of items in the mail is or is not a problem and needed to be changed, many if not all players have a problem with how it was done. IF we had been warned in advance of the change we could've emptied our mailboxes and possibly eliminated the need for emergency patches to fix the newly overloaded system.
The new attachment limit is only a small problem compared to the problem the Devs created by not informing the players (warning is a better word) and needing a continuous stream of patches to fix, and THAT has created a new problem for the devs- TRUST.
We should be able to have Page buttons for our mail so we arn't trying to go threw 1000+ messages all in 1 window. 100 messages per a page will keep the game client from bogging. Can you pass this idea along Tacofangs?
It would have been so much better, if the mail changes were officially discussed well in advance. People react better to changes that are discussed or advised of beforehand.
The storage issues must be addressed. Borg Neural Processors, Lobi Crystals and the like should not take up inventory or bank slots.
There should be a dedicated pet slot on captains, bridge officers, and ships.
Well I thought the idea of using the Foundry to create a "Tribble Sanctuary" in post #20 of this thread was brilliant and right up your alley allowing you to clear out your mail and giving all those Tribbles a nice place to live.
Heck, and not only you can visit your Tribbles afterward in a nice place far from any nasty Klingons, but many others can too. You might even get 'support/admission' fees for your "Sanctuary Planet" in the way dilithium tips from folks who do visit. :eek:
Yea I have been thinking of that after I saw that post. I thought it was an excellent idea and do plan to follow through on that.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
STO Member Since November 2010 | Tribbles are Friends NOT Food!
Mailbox limits have the side effect of messing with the exchange, junior.
If you are referring to me as junior because of I don't have as many posts as you it's because I only speak when I have something to say, instead of having diarrhea of the mouth.
Regardless, I couldn't care less about the effect on the exchange.
If you are referring to me as junior because of I don't have as many posts as you it's because I only speak when I have something to say, instead of having diarrhea of the mouth.
Regardless, I couldn't care less about the effect on the exchange.
NP, was just pointing that out since the entire game economy is intertwined with the mail system. Since you don't care about either there's no point trying to explain.
Don't misunderstand, I agree that the game economy is effected by the mail system, I just don't think it's significant. I'm sure neither of us can prove that either way.
I also believe that more of a warning on this would have been better, but as a STO player for years and having zero issues other than the recent inability to delete mail bug, I have no complaints.
Considering this isn't Yahoo mail or something I think that's a pretty good track record.
Just as I keep track of my emails and attachments, I expect players here to do the same instead of exploiting it.
Don't misunderstand, I agree that the game economy is effected by the mail system, I just don't think it's significant. I'm sure neither of us can prove that either way.
I also believe that more of a warning on this would have been better, but as a STO player for years and having zero issues other than the recent inability to delete mail bug, I have no complaints.
Considering this isn't Yahoo mail or something I think that's a pretty good track record.
Just as I keep track of my emails and attachments, I expect players here to do the same instead of exploiting it.
I wasn't trying to be elitist, but it is significant to my way of playing this game. Just because you don't see it as a problem doesn't mean it isn't a problem.
Or am elitist because I do more in this game than just pew-pew stuff ? I like many others just want to know why NOW is a change necessary.
Oh please, the devs could fix that if it was really important.
They could allow sales to last indefinitely, although that would encourage hoarders to use the exchange for storage.
Or instead of emailing unsold items back to the seller they could send a warning that the item hasn't sold an it will be deleted in say 30 days if it isn't retrieved.
That's just two ideas off the top of my head but there are probably a number of solutions that I didn't mention.
It's MUCH more important to them to give you something to spend money on than fix a broken mechanic.
Your mommy's credit card is burning a hole in your pocket, and they know it.
:cool:
Everytime someone with mail opens the mailbox it sends a request to the server, and the server has to then send back all the data on all the mail and all the attachments on all those mails, and all the stats about all the things in all the attachments in all those mails.
Now imagine thousands of people with thousands of mails with thousands of attachments opening mailboxes all the time.
Hoarders cause server lag and instability. You don't need all that TRIBBLE, and you don't have a right to make the game crappy for everyone else because you won't get psychological help for your hoarding.
what's psychological about preparing for a future toon, I knew that one day the Romulans would come to game although it happen a lot quicker that I expected, the point is I was keeping that so called stuff you call TRIBBLE for this and any other future species they decide to put out not that it matters cuz I still have all that TRIBBLE in the mail once I got it all back I went thru the mail, it looks to all be there so I am not concerned, the whole thing about the mail disappearing then being put back must not be a big of issue as you say or they would not have returned the items, now putting a limit on the mail I can deal with all I have to do is keep track what I have sent to my self and my 26 toons. No big deal.
For all those of you who obviously know the ways to do this better. Who obviously have some way of looking at the code and programming behind things, as many say "it would be easy to do it this way.... yadda yadda yadda"
You people DO NOT know anything about the code they are working with, how the mail system is affecting stability, or any of the metrics being used to make this decision. NOR do you 'deserve' to know.
Why now ? because in the grand list of priorities, established by the people who work day in and day out with the metrics and information used to decide the priorities, handling the issues with the mail system was what needed to happen.
But why did it need to happen ?
Because information that they have, that we do not, showed that it was TRIBBLE things up somehow.
Was that server stability ?
Was that them wanting more money from us ?
Was that because someone had a dream ?
We don't know.
AND more importantly they have no reason to tell us.
None. It's not our business.
You want it to be your business. To understand why they make the decisions they do.
For all those of you who obviously know the ways to do this better. Who obviously have some way of looking at the code and programming behind things, as many say "it would be
easy to do it this way.... yadda yadda yadda"
{snip}
Because some of you seem convinced you know how to do this better.
So much win...
Edit: And they are looking for a Content Designer, and Systems Designer... here is your chance guys... get in there and fix it all
Ok, my 2 cents:
On the one hand, like I stated before, when the first mail change came, in ANY reasonable person's opinion, using mail for storage on even a medium length of time, IS AN EXPLOIT. Just because there was nothing being said or done about it, for a lengthy amount of time, does not change that. An exploit, by the way, is using something in a manner for which it was never intended.
BUT, on the other hand, some people, mainly one's who have been playing this game for years, have gotten used to being able to do this, and likely passed on that habit to newer people, who then, got used to being able to do that as well. Thus, getting used to doing something, and then only being given approx 12 hours notice that they are losing this ability. So in that sense, I do understand there is a cause to be angry at having little (and for some, depending on how often they play, no) time to be able to get their mail and inventories in order. Thus, if their auctions, inv, and mail are all full (and in mail's case overloaded according to the new limits) there is likely no place to even retrieve items to. So for them, it literally does jam them hardcore.
Overall, I don't think the new hard cap is a bad thing, just should NOT be account based, but rather should be character based. THAT's the point where I'll agree with some, that the new limits are bad. If you spend the zen on new slots for characters, you should be able to fully utilize them, instead of being capped based on the account level. That is the bad point. Along with that, there should have been 3-7 days worth of warning, that these changes were going to be implemented. Sure, some ppl would still cry that it's not enough time, but honestly, for a change of this nature, I feel that amount of time would have been more than fair.
On a side note, to those jerks saying that "you should play a certain way", especially in regards to soloing a fleet, where the hell do you get off? Keep in mind, I'm not one of those soloing a fleet (or only having a small amount of ppl in it), but you really have no right to tell others how to play. And so what if it's an "MMO"? Is there single player content? Yes there is. So by your terms, if everything's meant to be done in social groups, why does that content exist? So in short, take a long walk, off a short pier, into some shark-infested waters, because your opinion counts for nothing on this.:cool:
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
butcher suspect, "What'd you hit me with?"
Temperance Brennan, "A building"
But why did it need to happen ? Because information that they have, that we do not, showed that it was TRIBBLE things up somehow.
Was that server stability ?
Was that them wanting more money from us ?
Was that because someone had a dream ?
We don't know.
AND more importantly they have no reason to tell us.
None. It's not our business.
Prove it.
Post a quote from somewhere to back that up.
There wouldn't be as much frakkin' hoarding if more items were allowed to be account bound than character bound. Reasonable items: Armors, Lobi, etc. Increase the account bank by 1 bar and release most of the reasonable items to account bound and we wouldn't be forced to hoard so much TRIBBLE!
Prove it.
Post a quote from somewhere to back that up.
Um ... Don't have to.
What part of "information that they have, that we do not" is lost on you ?
They have no responsibility to share said information.
Something was TRIBBLE up.
Maybe it was server stability.
maybe it was that they decided that they weren't maximizing profit ( Gasp a business thinking about ways to make money ! The Horror !)
Maybe it was data corruption.
The point is that unless you are working with the code and metrics and actually know what is going on, and why the decisions are made, all this screaming and flailing about makes you sound like a petulant child.
Again I give you http://crypticstudios.com/openings
You seem to know way more about game design then they do.
You obviously understand the code they are using.
You obviously understand the customers opinions better than they do.
In all seriousness though, thanks for this clarification. However, I stand by my notion that releasing multiple items to "account bound" over "character bound" status would keep allow people with alts - most of us -to reduce the amount of cruft we keep on-hand.
I don't have a problem with the mail limit - just don't expect me to buy inventory slots...
My complaint is, out of the 10,000 things they SHOULD have been working on they decided to break the mail system, like people aren't already giving them 100's of dollars for ships already - it's over the top pitiful and miserable.
If they were sitting there, everything running smoothly with an open schedule and nothing to do hey no problem.
Putting the bugs on hold for the outside chance they can squeeze a few more pennies out of people for inventory slots AND creating new bugs in the process... I don't even know a word that rightfully describes it.
Um ... Don't have to.
What part of "information that they have, that we do not" is lost on you ?
They have no responsibility to share said information.
<snip>
It was the
showed that it was TRIBBLE things up somehow.
that YOU lost that I had issue with.
I AM surprised that you believe Cryptic owes no explanation to paying customers. I might believe that attitude toward free-to-play players, but to subscription owners as well ?
Would you have been so forgiving if they didn't warn anyone when they changed from the borg data sample scheme to the BNP/REP scheme of Omega gear purchase ?
(Don't sweat it, I don't expect a truthful answer from you)
Would you have been so forgiving if they didn't warn anyone when they changed from the borg data sample scheme to the BNP/REP scheme of Omega gear purchase ?
(Don't sweat it, I don't expect a truthful answer from you)
Had they never said anything about it, I would have been angry at the time, sure.
But as I see the change has brought (my opinion) nothing but good as far as Omega Gear and endgame STF content, in the end I'd say that in looking out for the long term good of the game, they made a somewhat unpopular decision, took the flak for it, and these days I find getting myself the Omega /MACO/HG stuff I want for any toon that wants it far easier.
Which to me, means it's more approachable to new players.
Not sweating it, man, that's as truthful as I can get.
Regarding the mail change.
I think it was absolutely terrible PR decision making on their part to hold off on talking about the fact that it was coming.
I think it was AWESOME on their part to change the doff requirements for starbases from specific careers to broader acceptance, so that many of those stored doffs could get used faster.
I think it was awesome that they are doing everything they can to make sure that you do not lose items that are currently in the mail, and give you time to get the things moved around.
Overall, unless I understood the coding, stability issues, economy, etc surrounding the decision, I have no opinion about the whether the change is needed or not.
I also don't expect them to tell me why they are making the change.
Putting a hard cap on a mail limit is not devastating to anyone who was using the mail system as a "mail" system. And they are taking into consideration people that were using it as storage, by giving you time to move things.
It's not forgiving to assume that the company has the long term interests of the game in mind with all their decision making. Even if that means, finding ways to make more money from it. I expect them to do that, and encourage it.
Now, Maybe I am "forgiving" , but maybe it's because I think about the game I started playing going on 2 years ago now, and I think about the game that people just before me were dealing with. Then I look at the game now, and I think, we have a far more viable, healthy, likely to last a long time game, then we did then.
That's where I am coming from.
Well that, and I (despite appearances to the contrary) really do believe that the best way to deal with things is through talking, and communuication, not attacks and screaming at people about how bad and wrong they are from every channel possible.
Look, maybe this mail change is a bad thing. Like I said, I really don't care either way. But if it is a bad thing, then take the time to calmly and rationally compose your points, make it a community effort. List your complaints, propose alternate (and actually viable) solutions, and bring them to the table.
Reach out that way, instead of screaming about what bad people they are for making this change.
Think of it like this ...
You complete a job.
Unknown to you something is wrong/incomplete/whatever.
Person complains to you, telling you how incompetant you are, how they could do it better, how this means that you obviously don't actually care, etc etc.
Or
Person points out the error politely, and asks you to "fix" or reconsider or whatever
Would you have been so forgiving if they didn't warn anyone when they changed from the borg data sample scheme to the BNP/REP scheme of Omega gear purchase ?
(Don't sweat it, I don't expect a truthful answer from you)
I'm not HippieJohn, but I can honestly say I would have been quite forgiving. I decided to grind my #&$ of to get all my Borg equipment. It wasn't until AFTER a few days into that decision that I found out about the new reputation system. I had already determined my course of action, so it didn't affect me in the slightest.
As for another topic that has recently been discussed, I can tell you with absolute certainty that the sheer quantity of emails and attachments in the database were causing lag issues and request bottlenecks. See, database storage is like an Excel spreadsheet - there's a column for the player name, a column for the email subject, a column for the message text, a column for the attachments... You can't just "pull rows 10 through 501" and have all the emails for a particular player. You have to search through the ENTIRE database, and pull each row in which "player" matches the player who just opened their email. The more emails in the database, the more intensive the search becomes.
Also keep in mind that any item you "store" in your email takes up a lot more database space than the entire rest of the message. Cryptic, like any responsible game company, will have a bare minimum of "item name", "item quality", "item data (stats)", "date created", "player owner", "previous player owner (if applicable)", and "transfer history". That's PER ITEM. That adds a LOT of data to the mail database.
It gets better, though. Anyone here who currently has an empty mailbox has probably noticed the "phantom new mail" bug of late - opening your mailbox makes it stick on "you have new mail", even though it's empty. Have you noticed that it ALSO happens when you open your bank, even if you haven't touched your email at all that session? That's because personal bank storage resides in the same database as personal email storage. When the game polls your bank items, it also polls your email, and vice versa. For those still following along, that means every time you open your BANK, the game has to sift through EVERYONE'S emails to find all your items, including those with the 1000's of items in email "storage"!
I do not work at Cryptic, but I am also not stupid. All the information I have presented above has been derived from previous database experience combined with general observation. I can tell you with absolute certainty that database queries are the single biggest performance problem Cryptic has, and email storage is highly likely the biggest culprit. While it would have been polite (and good customer service) for Cryptic to warn everyone of the changes beforehand, there are two things you need to remember: first, while no one at Cryptic has OFFICIALLY used the word "exploit", they have tossed around plenty of other vocabulary such as "unintended". The definition of "exploit" is "the unintended use of a game mechanic for the player's advantage". That's precisely what email storage became by definition. It is standard practice in the industry to not warn players of exploit fixes.
Secondly, Cryptic is not required (legally, contractually, or even morally) to warn us of ANY changes to the game except for those which alter a product for which we have already paid money. Email storage is the same whether you're a freeper or a suber, so you cannot argue that you paid money for your email storage. (You can't make that argument if you were a subscriber prior to the F2P conversion, either, but that would require more explanation than I'm willing to type up at this time.) Email storage is a free feature, provided in good faith. Players chose to take advantage of a glaring flaw in it, creating database lag for everyone in the game. Cryptic noticed, and once they fixed most of the more noticeable problems, they turned their attention to it.
If you're still with me at this point, I also want to take a moment and say that I highly doubt DOFF prices will be affected very much by this change. "Stock rotations" are a joke - you can only list 40 items at a time (per character) anyway, so any extra storage you have has no bearing on the price of DOFFs. It gets more laughably inconsequential as your quantity of stored DOFFs increases. The ingame economy runs on what is visible to the players. They can't see your storage, they can only see what's currently up for sale, and their assumed chances at getting those items. Storage doesn't enter the equation, not even as "supply and demand".
You guys are desperately trying to find any possible way to convince Cryptic to change their minds, and it's not going to happen. Stop lying to everyone (and yourselves) and just admit email storage was a stupid idea in the first place.
It's not a big problem (this new cap), but as I've been asking about this for over a month now in every way I can imagine, we've FINALLY gotten an admission that the mail system has been changed (via the patch notes from yesterday). For MANY weeks I've been asking nicely, asking meanly, throwing insults, poking with sharp sticks, anything I can think of to get ANY response from anyone only to completely ignored. So now we finally have an answer, and after so many weeks I've grown impatient, belligerent, spiteful, and downright contemptuous toward Cryptic, PWE, their Devs, the mods, and to the Star Trek franchise.
Can the wounds be healed ? Do we want them healed ? Will anyone learn from this ?
Only you can answer that one, Man. Seriously, I am sorry that something you care about is the thing that is being changed and poorly communicated about right now.
Believe me, as a Foundry Author, and sometime very casual PvP fan, I understand.
All I can say is that I really do get the sense from the company that they really do care. That they are big Trek fans just like any of us, and really want this game to be a success. And not just because it's their paycheck.
We actually have a really approachable Dev team.
We actually get more communication than a lot of games.
And we can trust Flakes to convey community concerns when the Devs can't spend time in direct interaction with fans and players.
Will we always be happy with what they say? Aw hell no. But they do say more than some games Devs.
Basically, I'm saying, continue to care.
Or rather , I hope you do.
[12:35] Vessel Two of Two Unimatrix 01 deals 225232 (271723) Plasma Damage to you with Plasma Lance.
[12:44] Vessel One of Two Unimatrix 01 deals 1019527 (1157678) Kinetic Damage to you with Plasma Energy Bolt Explosion.
Comments
This is sad, but its because people like you that action has been taken. Really? 2k tribbles, who the heck keeps that kind of useless items in their mail boxes.
What can you possibly do with 2k tribbles?
You are not the only one, I have heard of players using the mail system as a virtual bank for worthless or low end stuff - up to 10k worth of items.
The mail system has become a nightmare and has turned into a very long and bad episode of hoarders.
Players hoard, hoard, hoard like mindless lemmings and they do not know what to do with those items.
Some things are worth keeping, but many stuff in STO should be auto food for the NPC merchants, just don't sell to the NPC Ferengi Merchants. :P
If everyone is 'hopping over that wall', it's because they all want to get to the other side. The solution is not to build a bigger wall, it's to put in a door.
Ha!
Well I thought the idea of using the Foundry to create a "Tribble Sanctuary" in post #20 of this thread was brilliant and right up your alley allowing you to clear out your mail and giving all those Tribbles a nice place to live.
Heck, and not only you can visit your Tribbles afterward in a nice place far from any nasty Klingons, but many others can too. You might even get 'support/admission' fees for your "Sanctuary Planet" in the way dilithium tips from folks who do visit. :eek:
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1203368/pve-content-a-list-of-gamewide-polishing-pass-suggestions
Regardless of whether the storing of items in the mail is or is not a problem and needed to be changed, many if not all players have a problem with how it was done. IF we had been warned in advance of the change we could've emptied our mailboxes and possibly eliminated the need for emergency patches to fix the newly overloaded system.
The new attachment limit is only a small problem compared to the problem the Devs created by not informing the players (warning is a better word) and needing a continuous stream of patches to fix, and THAT has created a new problem for the devs- TRUST.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
If mailbox limits cause you this much concern you should "go home and rethink your life"
The storage issues must be addressed. Borg Neural Processors, Lobi Crystals and the like should not take up inventory or bank slots.
There should be a dedicated pet slot on captains, bridge officers, and ships.
Mailbox limits have the side effect of messing with the exchange, junior.
:P
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Take the unwanted Tribbles, love for them and care for them and find them good homes. That's what :cool:
Yea I have been thinking of that after I saw that post. I thought it was an excellent idea and do plan to follow through on that.
STO Member Since November 2010 | Tribbles are Friends NOT Food!
If you are referring to me as junior because of I don't have as many posts as you it's because I only speak when I have something to say, instead of having diarrhea of the mouth.
Regardless, I couldn't care less about the effect on the exchange.
NP, was just pointing that out since the entire game economy is intertwined with the mail system. Since you don't care about either there's no point trying to explain.
carry on low post count person.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Don't misunderstand, I agree that the game economy is effected by the mail system, I just don't think it's significant. I'm sure neither of us can prove that either way.
I also believe that more of a warning on this would have been better, but as a STO player for years and having zero issues other than the recent inability to delete mail bug, I have no complaints.
Considering this isn't Yahoo mail or something I think that's a pretty good track record.
Just as I keep track of my emails and attachments, I expect players here to do the same instead of exploiting it.
I wasn't trying to be elitist, but it is significant to my way of playing this game. Just because you don't see it as a problem doesn't mean it isn't a problem.
Or am elitist because I do more in this game than just pew-pew stuff ? I like many others just want to know why NOW is a change necessary.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Fixed it for ya.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
It's MUCH more important to them to give you something to spend money on than fix a broken mechanic.
Your mommy's credit card is burning a hole in your pocket, and they know it.
:cool:
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
what's psychological about preparing for a future toon, I knew that one day the Romulans would come to game although it happen a lot quicker that I expected, the point is I was keeping that so called stuff you call TRIBBLE for this and any other future species they decide to put out not that it matters cuz I still have all that TRIBBLE in the mail once I got it all back I went thru the mail, it looks to all be there so I am not concerned, the whole thing about the mail disappearing then being put back must not be a big of issue as you say or they would not have returned the items, now putting a limit on the mail I can deal with all I have to do is keep track what I have sent to my self and my 26 toons. No big deal.
For all those of you who obviously know the ways to do this better. Who obviously have some way of looking at the code and programming behind things, as many say "it would be easy to do it this way.... yadda yadda yadda"
You people DO NOT know anything about the code they are working with, how the mail system is affecting stability, or any of the metrics being used to make this decision. NOR do you 'deserve' to know.
Why now ? because in the grand list of priorities, established by the people who work day in and day out with the metrics and information used to decide the priorities, handling the issues with the mail system was what needed to happen.
But why did it need to happen ?
Because information that they have, that we do not, showed that it was TRIBBLE things up somehow.
Was that server stability ?
Was that them wanting more money from us ?
Was that because someone had a dream ?
We don't know.
AND more importantly they have no reason to tell us.
None. It's not our business.
You want it to be your business. To understand why they make the decisions they do.
http://crypticstudios.com/openings
Because some of you seem convinced you know how to do this better.
So much win...
Edit: And they are looking for a Content Designer, and Systems Designer... here is your chance guys... get in there and fix it all
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
On the one hand, like I stated before, when the first mail change came, in ANY reasonable person's opinion, using mail for storage on even a medium length of time, IS AN EXPLOIT. Just because there was nothing being said or done about it, for a lengthy amount of time, does not change that. An exploit, by the way, is using something in a manner for which it was never intended.
BUT, on the other hand, some people, mainly one's who have been playing this game for years, have gotten used to being able to do this, and likely passed on that habit to newer people, who then, got used to being able to do that as well. Thus, getting used to doing something, and then only being given approx 12 hours notice that they are losing this ability. So in that sense, I do understand there is a cause to be angry at having little (and for some, depending on how often they play, no) time to be able to get their mail and inventories in order. Thus, if their auctions, inv, and mail are all full (and in mail's case overloaded according to the new limits) there is likely no place to even retrieve items to. So for them, it literally does jam them hardcore.
Overall, I don't think the new hard cap is a bad thing, just should NOT be account based, but rather should be character based. THAT's the point where I'll agree with some, that the new limits are bad. If you spend the zen on new slots for characters, you should be able to fully utilize them, instead of being capped based on the account level. That is the bad point. Along with that, there should have been 3-7 days worth of warning, that these changes were going to be implemented. Sure, some ppl would still cry that it's not enough time, but honestly, for a change of this nature, I feel that amount of time would have been more than fair.
On a side note, to those jerks saying that "you should play a certain way", especially in regards to soloing a fleet, where the hell do you get off? Keep in mind, I'm not one of those soloing a fleet (or only having a small amount of ppl in it), but you really have no right to tell others how to play. And so what if it's an "MMO"? Is there single player content? Yes there is. So by your terms, if everything's meant to be done in social groups, why does that content exist? So in short, take a long walk, off a short pier, into some shark-infested waters, because your opinion counts for nothing on this.:cool:
butcher suspect, "What'd you hit me with?"
Temperance Brennan, "A building"
Prove it.
Post a quote from somewhere to back that up.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
YOU'RE NOT HELPING...
There wouldn't be as much frakkin' hoarding if more items were allowed to be account bound than character bound. Reasonable items: Armors, Lobi, etc. Increase the account bank by 1 bar and release most of the reasonable items to account bound and we wouldn't be forced to hoard so much TRIBBLE!
Um ... Don't have to.
What part of "information that they have, that we do not" is lost on you ?
They have no responsibility to share said information.
Something was TRIBBLE up.
Maybe it was server stability.
maybe it was that they decided that they weren't maximizing profit ( Gasp a business thinking about ways to make money ! The Horror !)
Maybe it was data corruption.
The point is that unless you are working with the code and metrics and actually know what is going on, and why the decisions are made, all this screaming and flailing about makes you sound like a petulant child.
Again I give you http://crypticstudios.com/openings
You seem to know way more about game design then they do.
You obviously understand the code they are using.
You obviously understand the customers opinions better than they do.
Please , go apply.
That's what SHE said...
In all seriousness though, thanks for this clarification. However, I stand by my notion that releasing multiple items to "account bound" over "character bound" status would keep allow people with alts - most of us -to reduce the amount of cruft we keep on-hand.
My complaint is, out of the 10,000 things they SHOULD have been working on they decided to break the mail system, like people aren't already giving them 100's of dollars for ships already - it's over the top pitiful and miserable.
If they were sitting there, everything running smoothly with an open schedule and nothing to do hey no problem.
Putting the bugs on hold for the outside chance they can squeeze a few more pennies out of people for inventory slots AND creating new bugs in the process... I don't even know a word that rightfully describes it.
Thanks for enhancing my game I guess
It was the that YOU lost that I had issue with.
I AM surprised that you believe Cryptic owes no explanation to paying customers. I might believe that attitude toward free-to-play players, but to subscription owners as well ?
Would you have been so forgiving if they didn't warn anyone when they changed from the borg data sample scheme to the BNP/REP scheme of Omega gear purchase ?
(Don't sweat it, I don't expect a truthful answer from you)
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Had they never said anything about it, I would have been angry at the time, sure.
But as I see the change has brought (my opinion) nothing but good as far as Omega Gear and endgame STF content, in the end I'd say that in looking out for the long term good of the game, they made a somewhat unpopular decision, took the flak for it, and these days I find getting myself the Omega /MACO/HG stuff I want for any toon that wants it far easier.
Which to me, means it's more approachable to new players.
Not sweating it, man, that's as truthful as I can get.
Regarding the mail change.
I think it was absolutely terrible PR decision making on their part to hold off on talking about the fact that it was coming.
I think it was AWESOME on their part to change the doff requirements for starbases from specific careers to broader acceptance, so that many of those stored doffs could get used faster.
I think it was awesome that they are doing everything they can to make sure that you do not lose items that are currently in the mail, and give you time to get the things moved around.
Overall, unless I understood the coding, stability issues, economy, etc surrounding the decision, I have no opinion about the whether the change is needed or not.
I also don't expect them to tell me why they are making the change.
Putting a hard cap on a mail limit is not devastating to anyone who was using the mail system as a "mail" system. And they are taking into consideration people that were using it as storage, by giving you time to move things.
It's not forgiving to assume that the company has the long term interests of the game in mind with all their decision making. Even if that means, finding ways to make more money from it. I expect them to do that, and encourage it.
Now, Maybe I am "forgiving" , but maybe it's because I think about the game I started playing going on 2 years ago now, and I think about the game that people just before me were dealing with. Then I look at the game now, and I think, we have a far more viable, healthy, likely to last a long time game, then we did then.
That's where I am coming from.
Well that, and I (despite appearances to the contrary) really do believe that the best way to deal with things is through talking, and communuication, not attacks and screaming at people about how bad and wrong they are from every channel possible.
Look, maybe this mail change is a bad thing. Like I said, I really don't care either way. But if it is a bad thing, then take the time to calmly and rationally compose your points, make it a community effort. List your complaints, propose alternate (and actually viable) solutions, and bring them to the table.
Reach out that way, instead of screaming about what bad people they are for making this change.
Think of it like this ...
You complete a job.
Unknown to you something is wrong/incomplete/whatever.
Person complains to you, telling you how incompetant you are, how they could do it better, how this means that you obviously don't actually care, etc etc.
Or
Person points out the error politely, and asks you to "fix" or reconsider or whatever
Which person are you more likely to try and help.
Just the way my mind works
Peace Everybody
As for another topic that has recently been discussed, I can tell you with absolute certainty that the sheer quantity of emails and attachments in the database were causing lag issues and request bottlenecks. See, database storage is like an Excel spreadsheet - there's a column for the player name, a column for the email subject, a column for the message text, a column for the attachments... You can't just "pull rows 10 through 501" and have all the emails for a particular player. You have to search through the ENTIRE database, and pull each row in which "player" matches the player who just opened their email. The more emails in the database, the more intensive the search becomes.
Also keep in mind that any item you "store" in your email takes up a lot more database space than the entire rest of the message. Cryptic, like any responsible game company, will have a bare minimum of "item name", "item quality", "item data (stats)", "date created", "player owner", "previous player owner (if applicable)", and "transfer history". That's PER ITEM. That adds a LOT of data to the mail database.
It gets better, though. Anyone here who currently has an empty mailbox has probably noticed the "phantom new mail" bug of late - opening your mailbox makes it stick on "you have new mail", even though it's empty. Have you noticed that it ALSO happens when you open your bank, even if you haven't touched your email at all that session? That's because personal bank storage resides in the same database as personal email storage. When the game polls your bank items, it also polls your email, and vice versa. For those still following along, that means every time you open your BANK, the game has to sift through EVERYONE'S emails to find all your items, including those with the 1000's of items in email "storage"!
I do not work at Cryptic, but I am also not stupid. All the information I have presented above has been derived from previous database experience combined with general observation. I can tell you with absolute certainty that database queries are the single biggest performance problem Cryptic has, and email storage is highly likely the biggest culprit. While it would have been polite (and good customer service) for Cryptic to warn everyone of the changes beforehand, there are two things you need to remember: first, while no one at Cryptic has OFFICIALLY used the word "exploit", they have tossed around plenty of other vocabulary such as "unintended". The definition of "exploit" is "the unintended use of a game mechanic for the player's advantage". That's precisely what email storage became by definition. It is standard practice in the industry to not warn players of exploit fixes.
Secondly, Cryptic is not required (legally, contractually, or even morally) to warn us of ANY changes to the game except for those which alter a product for which we have already paid money. Email storage is the same whether you're a freeper or a suber, so you cannot argue that you paid money for your email storage. (You can't make that argument if you were a subscriber prior to the F2P conversion, either, but that would require more explanation than I'm willing to type up at this time.) Email storage is a free feature, provided in good faith. Players chose to take advantage of a glaring flaw in it, creating database lag for everyone in the game. Cryptic noticed, and once they fixed most of the more noticeable problems, they turned their attention to it.
If you're still with me at this point, I also want to take a moment and say that I highly doubt DOFF prices will be affected very much by this change. "Stock rotations" are a joke - you can only list 40 items at a time (per character) anyway, so any extra storage you have has no bearing on the price of DOFFs. It gets more laughably inconsequential as your quantity of stored DOFFs increases. The ingame economy runs on what is visible to the players. They can't see your storage, they can only see what's currently up for sale, and their assumed chances at getting those items. Storage doesn't enter the equation, not even as "supply and demand".
You guys are desperately trying to find any possible way to convince Cryptic to change their minds, and it's not going to happen. Stop lying to everyone (and yourselves) and just admit email storage was a stupid idea in the first place.
Can the wounds be healed ? Do we want them healed ? Will anyone learn from this ?
Do I even care anymore ?
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Only you can answer that one, Man. Seriously, I am sorry that something you care about is the thing that is being changed and poorly communicated about right now.
Believe me, as a Foundry Author, and sometime very casual PvP fan, I understand.
All I can say is that I really do get the sense from the company that they really do care. That they are big Trek fans just like any of us, and really want this game to be a success. And not just because it's their paycheck.
We actually have a really approachable Dev team.
We actually get more communication than a lot of games.
And we can trust Flakes to convey community concerns when the Devs can't spend time in direct interaction with fans and players.
Will we always be happy with what they say? Aw hell no. But they do say more than some games Devs.
Basically, I'm saying, continue to care.
Or rather , I hope you do.
Peace
[12:44] Vessel One of Two Unimatrix 01 deals 1019527 (1157678) Kinetic Damage to you with Plasma Energy Bolt Explosion.