LTS via in game means!!!

generalmoco · July 2014

Like the title sais it, should there be a way to let players buy an LTS, via in game means???

But first, to those of you that don't know what an LTS is or stands for... LTS means "Life Time Subscription"

The Current Legacy Pack is 16K ZEN, you could make it to where silver players can buy 1 month of Gold Membership for 10K ZEN or 15K zen, and having the ultimate LTS for the prize of 50K if not 100K ZEN... possibly even MORE Zen...

What do you guys think???

Should STO have this means via in game, for those players who can't afford to invest real life money to a game they love???

What are you thoughts... Yes or No, and why???

Would this make STO a P2P game?? or would it still be F2P if this where to be available... leave your thoughts...

medtac124 · July 2014

Won't happen. Subs are Cryptic/PWE's guaranteed cash.

razar2380 · July 2014

This is something I suggested before. If you think about it, they will be getting the same money, and here is why.

If you want to buy a 2,000 Zen ship from the C-Store, and have the real life money, then they get it.

If, on the other hand, you want to buy the same ship, and cannot afford it with real life money, then you can exchange Dilithium for Zen. You can get it free (meaning you don't need to spend real life money yourself), but someone else has already spent the money on the Zen. Therefore, Cryptic/PWE still get their money.

The same is true with the LOR pack. Whether you spend Dilithium, or real life money, they still get the same money for the sold product. The difference is that by opening it up to the C-Store has allowed more players access to it, so they can sell more.

It will be the same for the Lifetime Membership, or monthly subs. If put in the C-Store, it will open up business to more customers (players), and bring in more money than it otherwise would.

generalmoco · July 2014

razar2380 wrote: »

This is something I suggested before. If you think about it, they will be getting the same money, and here is why.

If you want to buy a 2,000 Zen ship from the C-Store, and have the real life money, then they get it.

If, on the other hand, you want to buy the same ship, and cannot afford it with real life money, then you can exchange Dilithium for Zen. You can get it free (meaning you don't need to spend real life money yourself), but someone else has already spent the money on the Zen. Therefore, Cryptic/PWE still get their money.

The same is true with the LOR pack. Whether you spend Dilithium, or real life money, they still get the same money for the sold product. The difference is that by opening it up to the C-Store has allowed more players access to it, so they can sell more.

It will be the same for the Lifetime Membership, or monthly subs. If put in the C-Store, it will open up business to more customers (players), and bring in more money than it otherwise would.

Exactly, and not only with the packs, but you also have countless amounts of LTS that have spend countless amounts of actual Real Life Money all above the LTS which is $300, you see many many subs already using real life money to buy, ships, respecs, boff, slots, doffs slots, etc etc...

But having the option for those of us who can't afford to spend real life money to buy an LTS, would be the most wonderful thing...

So I agree with you 100%

and having the LTS to the prizes that I listed above, are in my point of a view a reasonable prize, who in the world (despite the maniacs ofcourse) have 50K or 100K ZEN... I myself currently have 0 ZEN... Having the LTS at 100,000 ZEN is an ultimate reward, after countless amounts of time, working to obtain that..

But I would also like to see the other end of the conversation, like medtac said, it is their primary source to give us content, but there are countless other ways to get money... Like you have mentioned above...

mirrorchaos · July 2014

generalmoco wrote: »

Like the title sais it, should there be a way to let players buy an LTS, via in game means???

But first, to those of you that don't know what an LTS is or stands for... LTS means "Life Time Subscription"

The Current Legacy Pack is 16K ZEN, you could make it to where silver players can buy 1 month of Gold Membership for 10K ZEN or 15K zen, and having the ultimate LTS for the prize of 50K if not 100K ZEN... possibly even MORE Zen...

What do you guys think???

Should STO have this means via in game, for those players who can't afford to invest real life money to a game they love???

What are you thoughts... Yes or No, and why???

Would this make STO a P2P game?? or would it still be F2P if this where to be available... leave your thoughts...

it wont ever happen, you want an lts like anyone else, save those pennies up for it one day.

generalmoco · July 2014

mirrorchaos wrote: »

it wont ever happen, you want an lts like anyone else, save those pennies up for it one day.

I understand that, but can you give a specific reason as to why it wont happen? Do you feel like having this mean, would take away from those who actually spend RL money???

On another note, this is not whether I want an LTS... I can afford it anytime, but it's for those who can't afford an LTS!!!

Unknown · July 2014

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mirrorchaos · July 2014

generalmoco wrote: »

I understand that, but can you give a specific reason as to why I wont happen? Do you feel like having this mean, would take away from those who actually spend RL money???

On another note, this is not whether I want an LTS... I can afford it anytime, but it's for those who can't afford an LTS???

why would they put this into the game for and miss out on potentially thousands of dollars a month? it got nothing to do what what i think and feel about the idea. simply put its one source of income or whatever it is in the business world they would loose out on.

for those who cant afford it, get a couple of jars, get the pennies together over time and cash it all in to the bank, then convert it into lts. there are ways to do it, you just need to find them.

ashkrik23 · July 2014

Not going to happen.

anazonda · July 2014

ashkrik23 wrote: »

Not going to happen.

...

Ever... They'd lose too much money off it, especially since it will eventually generate free Zen, once enough people got it, and bingo: No more money for Cryptic.

daan2006 · July 2014

never will happen as most have said

til027 · July 2014

To grind 100,000 ZEN (15million dilithium) on 3 characters with 8000 dili per day, would take you 625 days, just under 2 solid years, providing the dilithium exchange doesn't go up, which it likely will.

There is no way that subscriptions are Cryptics main source of income, I doubt they earn a quarter of the money from subs as they do from selling ZEN, or specifically, lockbox keys.

I see no reason why this isn't a viable idea, it would not in any way "bankrupt" STO as some of you seem to suggest, in fact I doubt they'd see much of a decrease at all. But it is unlikely that this will ever happen not because of the reasons listed above, probably just because they don't want to.

daan2006 · July 2014

til027 wrote: »

To grind 100,000 ZEN (15million dilithium) on 3 characters with 8000 dili per day, would take you 625 days, just under 2 solid years, providing the dilithium exchange doesn't go up, which it likely will.

There is no way that subscriptions are Cryptics main source of income, I doubt they earn a quarter of the money from subs as they do from selling ZEN, or specifically, lockbox keys.

I see no reason why this isn't a viable idea, it would not in any way "bankrupt" STO as some of you seem to suggest, in fact I doubt they'd see much of a decrease at all. But it is unlikely that this will ever happen not because of the reasons listed above, probably just because they don't want to.

300 or 200$ up front is why and to be frank it should never ever be made able to get in game by grinding no matter how long it takes be happy by what you can get in game for free by grinding lets not ask for the moon as well

coupaholic · July 2014

I see merit in the idea, but it wouldn't be terribly practical for everyone involved.

Cryptic for example could very well see their subs shrink. Whether or not subs are their main income is debatable, but it's still a guaranteed source they would prefer to see climbing.

Players on the other hand would no doubt need to push the boat out and grind forever if they wanted to purchase LTS - and with the grind already in game they'll probably be sick of everything you could do in STO by the time they can afford it.

PLEX works with EVE, but not here. STO just isn't set up for it.

Unknown · July 2014

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cuatela · July 2014

Not sure where people are getting these 10k, 50k, 100k zen numbers from. The reason the Legacy Pack is 16,000 Zen is because the pack normally costs $160.

Zen to Dollars is a static relationship of 100z = $1, which means your original proposal was for 100,000 zen, or $1,000. A Lifetime Subscription of $300 would only be 30,000 zen.

til027 wrote: »

To grind 100,000 ZEN (15million dilithium) on 3 characters with 8000 dili per day, would take you 625 days, just under 2 solid years, providing the dilithium exchange doesn't go up, which it likely will.

There is no way that subscriptions are Cryptics main source of income, I doubt they earn a quarter of the money from subs as they do from selling ZEN, or specifically, lockbox keys.

I see no reason why this isn't a viable idea, it would not in any way "bankrupt" STO as some of you seem to suggest, in fact I doubt they'd see much of a decrease at all. But it is unlikely that this will ever happen not because of the reasons listed above, probably just because they don't want to.

Your timetable is a little off, since the dilithium exchange rates vary. Not to mention you're calculating for about 70,000 zen more than would actually be necessary to pay the cost of a LTS.

razar2380 · July 2014

I do understand that some people that have the real life money to buy things like this want to feel special, and keep F2P players from getting it. However, the "save your pennies" line only works for those that have them to save.

I know that there are others like myself that are disabled, and have no source of income. I don't want to take anything away from players that go to work to earn their money to pay for it. However, if you consider that most of the ones that earn money can usually make the amount in a week at most.

However, if you have no income, it will take almost a year of grinding Dilithium. To me, that does seem like a fair trade off.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Cryptic will still get the same amount of money as they would if someone paid real money for it. So, there is no loss there.

I do see how some might think they will loose money with over almost 2 years of the 500 Zen paid back. However, they still had the money needed to buy it to begin with. Therefore it doesn't hold water. Seriously, it will not be like every F2P player will end up with a LTS in a few months.

fraghul2000 · July 2014

In the end, it doesn't seem like it would make much difference for cryptic. Since the Dilithium exchange doesn't create Zen, someone did pay real cash for it. Tons of other games do work on the same principle and include the ability to purchase game-time from other players with ingame currency.

It doesn't make a difference weather a player buys 30.000 Zen through the dilithium exchange and buys the LT membership directly from cryptic or purchases keys/modules/doffpacks with Zen traded for Dilithium and sells them for RL-$$$ through outside channels, which he uses to buy the LT-sub.

Also it does seem ridiculous, that people who scammed Vet benefits by simply buying a LTS on sale (vs. being a real 1000-day sub) are trying to feel special...a bit more humility would seem appropriate for those people.

mirrorchaos · July 2014

razar2380 wrote: »

I do understand that some people that have the real life money to buy things like this want to feel special, and keep F2P players from getting it. However, the "save your pennies" line only works for those that have them to save.

I know that there are others like myself that are disabled, and have no source of income. I don't want to take anything away from players that go to work to earn their money to pay for it. However, if you consider that most of the ones that earn money can usually make the amount in a week at most.

However, if you have no income, it will take almost a year of grinding Dilithium. To me, that does seem like a fair trade off.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Cryptic will still get the same amount of money as they would if someone paid real money for it. So, there is no loss there.

I do see how some might think they will loose money with over almost 2 years of the 500 Zen paid back. However, they still had the money needed to buy it to begin with. Therefore it doesn't hold water. Seriously, it will not be like every F2P player will end up with a LTS in a few months.

i dont see it the way you do, in real ife i dont have the money for anything, over the past few years i built up some money for an lts that i got last year, just a few jars and putting the odd penny in each time i can, i got upto 160 pounds needed for the lts however at the time i also had bills to deal with, luckily the price was short of 6 pounds lighter then it should of been, those 6 pounds were useful to buy some food.

its not just ingame i have a habit of finding something from nothing, its also the same in the real world. its just luck of the draw how much one can find to survive.

conundrumnsa · July 2014

WAHHH!!! I want free stuff that other people paid for.

Did I sum up the thread?

daan2006 · July 2014

sopwithsnipe wrote: »

Now we get to wait for the inevitable "But time is money, so grinding dil isn't free!" argument.

well....... time is money lmao :P but still no to life time sub via ingame means

Unknown · July 2014

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Unknown · July 2014

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grouchyotaku · July 2014

til027 wrote: »

To grind 100,000 ZEN (15million dilithium) on 3 characters with 8000 dili per day, would take you 625 days, just under 2 solid years, providing the dilithium exchange doesn't go up, which it likely will.

There is no way that subscriptions are Cryptics main source of income, I doubt they earn a quarter of the money from subs as they do from selling ZEN, or specifically, lockbox keys.
.....

And this is exactly the reason why we will never see a LTS available through in-game resources. No doubt Cryptic/PWE views the Subscription Zen stipend as a long term expense for the company, and is not something that should be expanded for no costs...

Keep in mind that not all Zen is purchased. If 'Free' Zen is used to create more 'Free' Zen, you describing a death spiral for income for the company...

Unknown · July 2014

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tenkari · July 2014

been asked for several times. not gonna happen, as some of the zen on the market is free, it woulkd be gotten at a vastly reduced price for them.

til027 · July 2014

cuatela wrote: »

Your timetable is a little off, since the dilithium exchange rates vary. Not to mention you're calculating for about 70,000 zen more than would actually be necessary to pay the cost of a LTS.

Not my timetable, I just used a number that had been tossed around.

I do like the idea someone mentioned where the free ZEN is removed from the package. But I think this is about as likely to be implemented as a PvP revamp... (not possible in other words)

bobbydazlers · July 2014

though it sounds good, a move like that would be bad for the players, as everyone goes mad saving all of their dilithium to get enough together to buy LTS fleet projects would grind to a halt with no dilithium coming in to fill them, also when all the players who have saved enough dilithium to buy the zen they needed the exchange rate would shoot though the roof as its flooded with dilithium, so now instead of needing 30,000zen x 150dil = 4,500,000 dil you would need 30,000zen x 300dil = 9,000,000 dil or maybe more.
the same would be true if people just used dil for monthly subs.

also it would be bad for cryptic and perfect world as all the money that comes in for monthly subs and lifetime subs would end.

you also might find that there would be a shortage of zen in the exchange as people might not be so keen to change zen into dil to subsidise fleet members who are no longer contributing dilithium to the fleet.
so even less money would be coming into the game.

I honestly belive if they did that it would soon be the end of STO.

when I say everyone would go mad saving their dil I do of course mean every single free to play player and every single monthly subscriber who would no doubt stop their monthly sub and start saving dil.
what free to play player could possibly pass up the chance to get LTS for free and what monthly subscriber would still pay their fees when they could stop paying save their dil and get a free upgrade to LTS.

the only players that would not need to save dil would be any who already have LTS and as they are in the smallest minority of players that would be one heck of a lot of players who would be saving their dil.

the only reason they made the legacy pack available on the c-store was that the cash sale`s had virtually ground to a halt, do you honestly believe for one minute they would have been put there if they were still getting regular cash sales from them.

while they are still getting regular cash coming in from monthly and LTS they will never ever ever go on the c-store.

and of course why would anyone who doesn't have a lifetime sub but often pays money into the game to buy dil bother any more when they are desperately trying to save dil to buy zen.

no no no putting lifetime subscription on the c-store would be disastrous.

catoblepasbeta · July 2014

As has been pointed put before, zen one gets from the dilithium exchange has already been 'paid for', so Cryptic would still be making money. Plenty of money-for LTS (and normal monthly subscriptions as well, for that matter). With so many other things on the C-store, it makes perfect sense for Subscriptions to be on there as well.

anazonda · July 2014

catoblepasbeta wrote: »

As has been pointed put before, zen one gets from the dilithium exchange has already been 'paid for', so Cryptic would still be making money. Plenty of money-for LTS (and normal monthly subscriptions as well, for that matter). With so many other things on the C-store, it makes perfect sense for Subscriptions to be on there as well.

That only goes untill a certain point... Eventually, there would be enough stipends to entirely cover the demand on the Dil-exchange, especially since the sense of urgency would diminish more and more.

Quite simply: Because of the stipends, the supply would quickly be beyond the demand.

qjunior · July 2014

I got my LTS shortly before this game announced going F2P. I think Cryptic is paying me by now.

LTS via in game means!!!

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