Not appreciated at all. Just another grind-monkey like I've not spent a dime on this game. If fact, they GIVE AWAY stuff that I bought and I get nothing, but the freeloaders get stuff for free.
Sometimes I think I play STO just to have something to complain about on the forums.
I feel like my TRIBBLE has been assaulted with a sandpaper TRIBBLE! This event has nothing to do with player appreciation or fun, it's all about showing off and they can't even get that right!
When it comes to MMO's Appreciation is where you find it I guess.
I praise Cryptic when they do things well and I'll hang them out to dry when I disagree with some of their choices.
I notice that when I praise their actions I sometimes get responses from Cryptic; however, when I voice my displeasure on an action or direction taken by Cryptic, I get crickets.
I won't say that I feel unappreciated by Cryptic but I do at times feel like I'm underappreciated by Cryptic.
I feel fine with it... They delivered some great content and some very unique ships and equipment. I don't feel bad at all doing a little work each day to get them.
I have 18 toons and I'm getting the ships on my 6 science officers and it takes me about a 1/2 hr or less to get through them all. I may after I play the FE on various toons to decide to get them on a few other career types. I may just save my qmmendations for next year to see if its a engineer hybrid or tac hybrid and have a head start.
There are things I'm not happy about mainly with the calendar but what are you going to do? I voiced my dissatisfaction, I explained my viewpoint rationally, but after all is said and done it's not up to me. I just choose not to play the things I don't like and do the things I do and hope their metrics speak the same language. I firmly believe that if the numbers are there they will change whatever they need to keep the metrics where they want them.
It's all way too easy. I think if you drown yourself in a pool of self-created misery then how do you expect to feel any other way but miserable? (We don't decide our circumstances but we do decide how we respond to them emotionally or otherwise.) I think at this point all the whining isn't really serving any purpose but to bring more people to commiserate in that pool of misery. What's done is done and it has been said that the qmmendations are the model for the foreseeable future. If you want that to change then the metrics need to reflect it.
Forum threads can of course be an outlet for constructive ideas but most of the time its just constant dribble and that was what was in a lot of that 1700 post thread. I know Brandon responded many times but what is he supposed to say? They obviously moved forward with their plan as it was with a few tweaks.
Gold Sub since March 2010
Lifetime Sub since June 2010
I really can't form a response to this question until February 2nd has come and gone. Something more or nothing more could still unfold to inform my opinion.
(/\) Exploring Star Trek Online Since July 2008 (/\)
I feel very appreciated for the reasons that the team gives us content, updates, a fun game to play, and they do it at a pretty good pace. The work that they all do shows and they are very active on the forums and give a lot of info of whats to come and what they are working to fix.
No game is perfect and everyone has a different view but from where I sit the game is great and really have enjoyed the direction the game is going. If any of you play other MMO's not many put in what this one does. Looking forward to see what is coming this year.
Bottom line its a game not a lifestyle and all the passion people seem to have good or bad shows just how much people are into this game and for me I really am thankful for what they do for I spend a fair amount of time in this world they have created for us the players to enjoy.
Games are an art form and not everyone will like the picture that the artist painted.
Thanks Cryptic for a fun game/world to run around in
For this event, not very. "We appreciate you, so we're going to give you a 'free' gift. Now here's how you work for your 'free' watered down gift..." As Khan would say, "Don't insult my intelligence."
Every other event, I get it. But this is supposed to be different, by definition. Just take out the word "appreciate" from all literature connected to the event completely, and simply say, "For our anniversary, we're offering a new ship you can earn." At least it would make expectations more realistic. Granted, 'free' is a lot more effective marketing-wise, whether it's true or not.
Forum threads can of course be an outlet for constructive ideas but most of the time its just constant dribble and that was what was in a lot of that 1700 post thread. I know Brandon responded many times but what is he supposed to say? They obviously moved forward with their plan as it was with a few tweaks.
Sorry, couple of facts.
Certainly, up to an hour or so ago, Bran had replied twice in that 1700 post thread, the latest being 643 or something a whole week ago.
As for tweaks. there absolutely none, apart from giving the Romulans a choice of either a warp core or a singularity.
The system that was leaked, days before the official announcements, was precisely the same system that was eventually released. Absolutely no tweaks to the system were made, merely one minor tweak on one reward.
So, please do not try to suggest that the long thread was acknowledged in any meaningful way by Bran or any other dev.
Just to point out..and see if most agree. I dont think our issue is having to work for the ship ONCE. I think the issue is the same as players primary rep system gripe....having the process being entirely alt unfriendly. Having some benefit to alts on the same account so that it is less mind numbing would be appreciated. Cryptic did some very positive things with rep in this regard but hasn't fully received the message it seems.
Also, there's an issue with how it was presented to us. Want to make us grind for a ship..cool...want to make us buy a C-store ship...cool...want to make us do both for the fully powered version of a ship? Very uncool. People spend money to avoid grinding, people grind to avoid spending money. Asking for both is a risk of pushing players tolerance threshold for either.
For example....I have 8 characters...the prospect of running this longish but very enjoyable episode 24 times plus party poppers a total of 120 times...all for the honor of being able to unlock a 4 set bonus on a 3-pack ship set I have to spend 5000 zen on borders on insanity to me. I think I'll likely skip the 3 pack, enjoy the EV suits and get one aniversary ship on one toon without a zen spend. Which is a shame because I was excited about these ships and have no issue spending the money.
I think I'll likely skip the 3 pack, enjoy the EV suits and get one aniversary ship on one toon without a zen spend. Which is a shame because I was excited about these ships and have no issue spending the money.
Not picking on you for the sake of it, but the piece I've quoted has been said a few times here and elsewhere, although I think you've nailed it for being succinct.
I do have one question.
If you had got the 9 console ship as a reward the first time you ran the FE. And then had to run it a few more times for the rest of the set, ala SoI, would you have been more or less likely to spend zen later on on a three pack?
If you had got the 9 console ship as a reward the first time you ran the FE. And then had to run it a few more times for the rest of the set, ala SoI, would you have been more or less likely to spend zen later on on a three pack?
I would have done that...and bought the 3 pack. No question.
If you had got the 9 console ship as a reward the first time you ran the FE. And then had to run it a few more times for the rest of the set, ala SoI, would you have been more or less likely to spend zen later on on a three pack?
I would have done that...and bought the 3 pack. No question.
May I pose this question to you all.
If there had been no miniQ games, if all the SoI model had been used, resulting in you having to run the FE four times. Once for the ship and the core, three times more for the rest of the space set.
Would you have been more or less likely to buy a zen store bundle of a ten console version of the ship?
* A development team that is obviously actively pursuing Trek Voice Talent for the game.
* 3 days worth of free c store items, and then a bonus of a 4th free costume item.
* very decent ship available by playing a silly Q game once a day for a couple minutes
* A company that is skilled at providing a cool free item with a tempting , get this other thing that costs money ( a very sound business strategy ) and has shown that money made from the concessions made to being a f2p game are put back into the game. reference quality of tech in most recent features.
* Them focused on continuing to provide things that entice people to spend money so that the game is still here for me to play.
* Amazing amount of content produced in the last year. Story and Game System.
* A development team that is obviously actively pursuing Trek Voice Talent for the game.
* 3 days worth of free c store items, and then a bonus of a 4th free costume item.
* very decent ship available by playing a silly Q game once a day for a couple minutes
* A company that is skilled at providing a cool free item with a tempting , get this other thing that costs money ( a very sound business strategy ) and has shown that money made from the concessions made to being a f2p game are put back into the game. reference quality of tech in most recent features.
* Them focused on continuing to provide things that entice people to spend money so that the game is still here for me to play.
* Amazing amount of content produced in the last year. Story and Game System.
yeah, I think I feel appreciated.
Actually, I'm very glad you do.
I'm curious as to whether or not the miniQ grind would have any bearing at all on your decision to buy a zen store bundle with a ten console version of the nine concole one you get from the grind.
If you got it purely from running the FE, as suggested, woyuld it make any difference to you?
Reason i'd particulary like your take on this is because the only answer to the question I have to date is from someone who doesnt feel as appreciated as you do.
I'm curious as to whether that metric means anything to your decision in this regard.
* A development team that is obviously actively pursuing Trek Voice Talent for the game.
* 3 days worth of free c store items, and then a bonus of a 4th free costume item.
* very decent ship available by playing a silly Q game once a day for a couple minutes
* A company that is skilled at providing a cool free item with a tempting , get this other thing that costs money ( a very sound business strategy ) and has shown that money made from the concessions made to being a f2p game are put back into the game. reference quality of tech in most recent features.
* Them focused on continuing to provide things that entice people to spend money so that the game is still here for me to play.
* Amazing amount of content produced in the last year. Story and Game System.
yeah, I think I feel appreciated.
I agree with this...I think the STO team, to a great extent, care about the game, its players and Star Trek as a whole. The issue on this particular event is the implementation. In no way do I feel that the ship roll out was some high handed indication that we are unappreciated.
The thought and effort behind the FE is very evident and love the fact that they built some variability to it. Little touches like that can make things far more enjoyable. The longer term highlight for most of us, however, was a new and cool ship. I disagree with how they structured this and feel they'd have made more money doing it a different way.
I felt so appreciated by this event that so far, I haven't had the motivation to log in at all for this anniversary. Probably going to end up skipping the entire thing.
I'm curious as to whether or not the miniQ grind would have any bearing at all on your decision to buy a zen store bundle with a ten console version of the nine concole one you get from the grind.
If you got it purely from running the FE, as suggested, woyuld it make any difference to you?
So here's the thing. I'm someone who plays the game to have fun. To me , that is the only goal, FUN, plain and simple. Personally I found the FE FUN to play, it will be fun to play on the different factions to see the little differences.
The Q game is NOT a grind. It takes a couple of minutes. Tops.
IF someone decides that they have to have this ship for all (insert ridiculous # here) of their toons. That's kind of their own decision. I personally wouldn't find it fun, so I wouldn't do it.
A new ship is always neat, but in this case, I'm not loving the look, and I don't really run any Science toons anymore, so honestly , how I get the ship in any case makes no difference, if I have read your question correctly.
If I got the ship purely from running the FE (as suggested) i would expect it to have far fewer bells and whistles than the ship people are getting this anniversary. Simple as that.
I remember how basic the anniversary Oddy and Bort were, and how simple the Anniversary Ambassador was. This ship we are getting (for however many toons each of us choose to) is far superior to either of those.
Also, have we ever received a week of free gifts leading to the Anniversary before?
I'm curious as to whether or not the miniQ grind would have any bearing at all on your decision to buy a zen store bundle with a ten console version of the nine concole one you get from the grind.
If you got it purely from running the FE, as suggested, woyuld it make any difference to you?
I'm curious as to whether that metric means anything to your decision in this regard.
You know...thought about your question a bit more and came to the conclusion that had the MiniQ thing not had a daily cooldown...I might have gone for that as well. Which brings the question, is the real issue these daily cooldowns in these 2-3 week, make you log in daily grind fests. If you could get several of them done at once, would budgeting one's time make the whole experience much more enjoyable?
STO seems to have this myth that making players log in on a daily basis to grind things in pieces provides some benefit to them. Not sure it does. If I gotta grind, I'd rather budget some time and knock it out.
STO seems to have this myth that making players log in on a daily basis to grind things in pieces provides some benefit to them. Not sure it does. If I gotta grind, I'd rather budget some time and knock it out.
It provides benefit to their business metrics.
Being a realist, it's easy to see that if they can show X number of people logging in per day for X amount of time ... well basically , that's a good thing for an mmo to be showing, so while it may be inconvient for a number of the player base, an even smaller number will complain and their improved metrics amount to more money for the game, and the company.
At least that's what I see. If they continue to provide content on what is now starting to seem a fairly consistant basis, and show improvements in tech and gameplay as they have been doing of late. I for one am happy to be a part of those metrics for a silly, at max 5 minute Q game.
It's not that the grind makes me feel unappreciated. It just makes me feel like they made a bad call this time around.
A grind-for-prize setup for the longer events is all well and good and gives people a reason to log in, but the Anniversary Event should be a different sort of beast - a short but sweet event that doesn't necessarily need to progress plot or introduce new tech, but instead should be all about celebrating and thanking the players for helping the game grow like it has (and by god has it ever).
Turning the Anniversary Event into a Featured Episode event otherwise no different than the Winter Wonderland or Lohlunat Festival is... misguided. Unfortunatly, we the players are so (rightly) demanding of story content, that using this event to do so simply seemed logical. I don't think they should need an event to do that.
I feel rather well appreciated, when it's all said and done. But whether or not I feel appreciated has no bearing on whether this event is a good one or not.
Grinds are part of mmo gaming. I know for many people this is there first mmo so maybe they are unaware of the fact that grinding is part of the genre.
As far as STO grinds go, they are short and not too bad. The best part is you get something that is always worth while and does not latter make it worthless. Many other games have grinds that then get replaced with the new one that also make the previous one worthless.
One of the major themes I am seeing is people saying it's too much to grind on x amount of toons. I agree with you. So do not grind more toons then YOU want. If you choose to grind some 30 toons, that's not a Cryptic problem that is a YOU problem.
I feel very appreciated. They are adding in a event that's not too bad. A neat ship. A new mission I enjoyed. What else could you want? Maybe you would rather get a letter that says thanks for playing and nothing more. That's what many other mmo's do for you.
I do feel appreciated, because just about every other business I have ever interacted with in my entire life does not do a fraction of what cryptic does for me.
So I'm getting a free update, a great Star Trek VO, an amazing episode, better than any mission I've ever played in any MMO, three free ships that look awesome, 5 bits of unique ship gear all in all, new EV suits, a 4 day giveaway (unfortunately I did have them already) and a Khan outfit.
That's amazing for nothing.
So I have to do a little grinding for it. No problem. So they are going to release paid versions. Done it before with the odyssey and bortasqu. It's optional.
STO seems to have this myth that making players log in on a daily basis to grind things in pieces provides some benefit to them. Not sure it does. If I gotta grind, I'd rather budget some time and knock it out.
Why do you think its a myth? We are not guessing here. the people who run the game, who see the figures are telling us this is exactly what happens. They have flat out told us. The more time people spend in game, they more likely they we to spend (on average)
That's the whole point of the exercise. They would not do it if the metrics told them it was making things worse.
A question to all the players that are complaining about grinding this for every character they own: Do you REALLY NEED this ship on every character you have? I have 9 characters (1 empty slot) and I am grinding for only one character who could use the ship. They rest of my characters already are set in their ships and the ones that aren't, I alread have their ship planned. I understand the issue behind the equipment. I would not be surprised to see that equipment eventually end up in a fleet store somewhere. But the need to feel you have to have every item on every toon is setting yourself for failure and you are the target the Cryptic/PWE is going after.
Some people are working to get the warp core/singularity core and the secondary deflector that they stated will only be around for the anniversary. A core that has a gimmicky, but neat ability that I say so myself.
Getting back on topic, I feel pretty appreciated about all of this. I've done the Featured Episode once on two different characters and they have gotten the 400 point head start on the Qmmendations. I'm thinking of waiting until I've collected 600 Qmmendations on the other 5 characters I didn't run the FE on yet and then running the FE on each of them since we got time to run it. I do admit that it's a bit frustrating on star-fleet academy when I'm trying to catch mini Q and don't always get the timing right to press stop. Otherwise, I don't have a problem running it 7 times a day.
I'm essentially getting what I pay for, being that I'm a silver player. I always appreciate how quickly the devs work to get the game back up and I can't wait to see just how far they'll take us with the Delta Quadrant.
Comments
I feel like my TRIBBLE has been assaulted with a sandpaper TRIBBLE! This event has nothing to do with player appreciation or fun, it's all about showing off and they can't even get that right!
I praise Cryptic when they do things well and I'll hang them out to dry when I disagree with some of their choices.
I notice that when I praise their actions I sometimes get responses from Cryptic; however, when I voice my displeasure on an action or direction taken by Cryptic, I get crickets.
I won't say that I feel unappreciated by Cryptic but I do at times feel like I'm underappreciated by Cryptic.
I have 18 toons and I'm getting the ships on my 6 science officers and it takes me about a 1/2 hr or less to get through them all. I may after I play the FE on various toons to decide to get them on a few other career types. I may just save my qmmendations for next year to see if its a engineer hybrid or tac hybrid and have a head start.
There are things I'm not happy about mainly with the calendar but what are you going to do? I voiced my dissatisfaction, I explained my viewpoint rationally, but after all is said and done it's not up to me. I just choose not to play the things I don't like and do the things I do and hope their metrics speak the same language. I firmly believe that if the numbers are there they will change whatever they need to keep the metrics where they want them.
It's all way too easy. I think if you drown yourself in a pool of self-created misery then how do you expect to feel any other way but miserable? (We don't decide our circumstances but we do decide how we respond to them emotionally or otherwise.) I think at this point all the whining isn't really serving any purpose but to bring more people to commiserate in that pool of misery. What's done is done and it has been said that the qmmendations are the model for the foreseeable future. If you want that to change then the metrics need to reflect it.
Forum threads can of course be an outlet for constructive ideas but most of the time its just constant dribble and that was what was in a lot of that 1700 post thread. I know Brandon responded many times but what is he supposed to say? They obviously moved forward with their plan as it was with a few tweaks.
Lifetime Sub since June 2010
No game is perfect and everyone has a different view but from where I sit the game is great and really have enjoyed the direction the game is going. If any of you play other MMO's not many put in what this one does. Looking forward to see what is coming this year.
Bottom line its a game not a lifestyle and all the passion people seem to have good or bad shows just how much people are into this game and for me I really am thankful for what they do for I spend a fair amount of time in this world they have created for us the players to enjoy.
Games are an art form and not everyone will like the picture that the artist painted.
Thanks Cryptic for a fun game/world to run around in
Every other event, I get it. But this is supposed to be different, by definition. Just take out the word "appreciate" from all literature connected to the event completely, and simply say, "For our anniversary, we're offering a new ship you can earn." At least it would make expectations more realistic. Granted, 'free' is a lot more effective marketing-wise, whether it's true or not.
Sorry, couple of facts.
Certainly, up to an hour or so ago, Bran had replied twice in that 1700 post thread, the latest being 643 or something a whole week ago.
As for tweaks. there absolutely none, apart from giving the Romulans a choice of either a warp core or a singularity.
The system that was leaked, days before the official announcements, was precisely the same system that was eventually released. Absolutely no tweaks to the system were made, merely one minor tweak on one reward.
So, please do not try to suggest that the long thread was acknowledged in any meaningful way by Bran or any other dev.
It wasn't.
Also, there's an issue with how it was presented to us. Want to make us grind for a ship..cool...want to make us buy a C-store ship...cool...want to make us do both for the fully powered version of a ship? Very uncool. People spend money to avoid grinding, people grind to avoid spending money. Asking for both is a risk of pushing players tolerance threshold for either.
For example....I have 8 characters...the prospect of running this longish but very enjoyable episode 24 times plus party poppers a total of 120 times...all for the honor of being able to unlock a 4 set bonus on a 3-pack ship set I have to spend 5000 zen on borders on insanity to me. I think I'll likely skip the 3 pack, enjoy the EV suits and get one aniversary ship on one toon without a zen spend. Which is a shame because I was excited about these ships and have no issue spending the money.
Just one player's opinion. Thanks
Not picking on you for the sake of it, but the piece I've quoted has been said a few times here and elsewhere, although I think you've nailed it for being succinct.
I do have one question.
If you had got the 9 console ship as a reward the first time you ran the FE. And then had to run it a few more times for the rest of the set, ala SoI, would you have been more or less likely to spend zen later on on a three pack?
I would have done that...and bought the 3 pack. No question.
May I pose this question to you all.
If there had been no miniQ games, if all the SoI model had been used, resulting in you having to run the FE four times. Once for the ship and the core, three times more for the rest of the space set.
Would you have been more or less likely to buy a zen store bundle of a ten console version of the ship?
* 3 days worth of free c store items, and then a bonus of a 4th free costume item.
* very decent ship available by playing a silly Q game once a day for a couple minutes
* A company that is skilled at providing a cool free item with a tempting , get this other thing that costs money ( a very sound business strategy ) and has shown that money made from the concessions made to being a f2p game are put back into the game. reference quality of tech in most recent features.
* Them focused on continuing to provide things that entice people to spend money so that the game is still here for me to play.
* Amazing amount of content produced in the last year. Story and Game System.
yeah, I think I feel appreciated.
Actually, I'm very glad you do.
I'm curious as to whether or not the miniQ grind would have any bearing at all on your decision to buy a zen store bundle with a ten console version of the nine concole one you get from the grind.
If you got it purely from running the FE, as suggested, woyuld it make any difference to you?
Reason i'd particulary like your take on this is because the only answer to the question I have to date is from someone who doesnt feel as appreciated as you do.
I'm curious as to whether that metric means anything to your decision in this regard.
I agree with this...I think the STO team, to a great extent, care about the game, its players and Star Trek as a whole. The issue on this particular event is the implementation. In no way do I feel that the ship roll out was some high handed indication that we are unappreciated.
The thought and effort behind the FE is very evident and love the fact that they built some variability to it. Little touches like that can make things far more enjoyable. The longer term highlight for most of us, however, was a new and cool ship. I disagree with how they structured this and feel they'd have made more money doing it a different way.
So here's the thing. I'm someone who plays the game to have fun. To me , that is the only goal, FUN, plain and simple. Personally I found the FE FUN to play, it will be fun to play on the different factions to see the little differences.
The Q game is NOT a grind. It takes a couple of minutes. Tops.
IF someone decides that they have to have this ship for all (insert ridiculous # here) of their toons. That's kind of their own decision. I personally wouldn't find it fun, so I wouldn't do it.
A new ship is always neat, but in this case, I'm not loving the look, and I don't really run any Science toons anymore, so honestly , how I get the ship in any case makes no difference, if I have read your question correctly.
If I got the ship purely from running the FE (as suggested) i would expect it to have far fewer bells and whistles than the ship people are getting this anniversary. Simple as that.
I remember how basic the anniversary Oddy and Bort were, and how simple the Anniversary Ambassador was. This ship we are getting (for however many toons each of us choose to) is far superior to either of those.
Also, have we ever received a week of free gifts leading to the Anniversary before?
Just my two Slips of Latinum
You know...thought about your question a bit more and came to the conclusion that had the MiniQ thing not had a daily cooldown...I might have gone for that as well. Which brings the question, is the real issue these daily cooldowns in these 2-3 week, make you log in daily grind fests. If you could get several of them done at once, would budgeting one's time make the whole experience much more enjoyable?
STO seems to have this myth that making players log in on a daily basis to grind things in pieces provides some benefit to them. Not sure it does. If I gotta grind, I'd rather budget some time and knock it out.
It provides benefit to their business metrics.
Being a realist, it's easy to see that if they can show X number of people logging in per day for X amount of time ... well basically , that's a good thing for an mmo to be showing, so while it may be inconvient for a number of the player base, an even smaller number will complain and their improved metrics amount to more money for the game, and the company.
At least that's what I see. If they continue to provide content on what is now starting to seem a fairly consistant basis, and show improvements in tech and gameplay as they have been doing of late. I for one am happy to be a part of those metrics for a silly, at max 5 minute Q game.
A grind-for-prize setup for the longer events is all well and good and gives people a reason to log in, but the Anniversary Event should be a different sort of beast - a short but sweet event that doesn't necessarily need to progress plot or introduce new tech, but instead should be all about celebrating and thanking the players for helping the game grow like it has (and by god has it ever).
Turning the Anniversary Event into a Featured Episode event otherwise no different than the Winter Wonderland or Lohlunat Festival is... misguided. Unfortunatly, we the players are so (rightly) demanding of story content, that using this event to do so simply seemed logical. I don't think they should need an event to do that.
I feel rather well appreciated, when it's all said and done. But whether or not I feel appreciated has no bearing on whether this event is a good one or not.
I Support Disco | Disco is Love | Disco is Life
As far as STO grinds go, they are short and not too bad. The best part is you get something that is always worth while and does not latter make it worthless. Many other games have grinds that then get replaced with the new one that also make the previous one worthless.
One of the major themes I am seeing is people saying it's too much to grind on x amount of toons. I agree with you. So do not grind more toons then YOU want. If you choose to grind some 30 toons, that's not a Cryptic problem that is a YOU problem.
I feel very appreciated. They are adding in a event that's not too bad. A neat ship. A new mission I enjoyed. What else could you want? Maybe you would rather get a letter that says thanks for playing and nothing more. That's what many other mmo's do for you.
So I'm getting a free update, a great Star Trek VO, an amazing episode, better than any mission I've ever played in any MMO, three free ships that look awesome, 5 bits of unique ship gear all in all, new EV suits, a 4 day giveaway (unfortunately I did have them already) and a Khan outfit.
That's amazing for nothing.
So I have to do a little grinding for it. No problem. So they are going to release paid versions. Done it before with the odyssey and bortasqu. It's optional.
Why do you think its a myth? We are not guessing here. the people who run the game, who see the figures are telling us this is exactly what happens. They have flat out told us. The more time people spend in game, they more likely they we to spend (on average)
That's the whole point of the exercise. They would not do it if the metrics told them it was making things worse.
Getting back on topic, I feel pretty appreciated about all of this. I've done the Featured Episode once on two different characters and they have gotten the 400 point head start on the Qmmendations. I'm thinking of waiting until I've collected 600 Qmmendations on the other 5 characters I didn't run the FE on yet and then running the FE on each of them since we got time to run it. I do admit that it's a bit frustrating on star-fleet academy when I'm trying to catch mini Q and don't always get the timing right to press stop. Otherwise, I don't have a problem running it 7 times a day.
I'm essentially getting what I pay for, being that I'm a silver player. I always appreciate how quickly the devs work to get the game back up and I can't wait to see just how far they'll take us with the Delta Quadrant.