When the games 'Lead Content Designer' pretty much lies to all of us and then doesn't even the courtesy to revisit the topic?
Where has he been? Where are the Cryptic staff that are supposedly interested in opening better communication? How long does a thread have to get? how many outraged posts before they say something?
Honestly, I'm starting to see the root of the problems this game is having. If you want to know why this game is suffering so much, look no further then our Lead Content Designer.
If this is the guy in charge, this game can't last much longer. Of all the stuff they have done since DR, this is by far the most ridiculous. From the confusing structure of the post, to the lie that we'll level at the same rate, to just blowing it off and saying nothing when it backfires.
Was Jeff Hamilton the one that did some work on DR? On November 19th, he said he no long works for Cryptic but left on goodwill. I am just curious because of recent events and him leaving.
Was Jeff Hamilton the one that did some work on DR? On November 19th, he said he no long works for Cryptic but left on goodwill. I am just curious because of recent events and him leaving.
While there are a lot of numbers changing, we have taken extra care to make sure that the speed at which players level up will remain the same as it is now. This means that if a player chooses to level up from level 51 to 52 using exclusively missions and it currently requires that they play 3 missions to do so, then after the update it will still take 3 missions to level up from 51 to 52 if you use them as your sole source of skill points. This is true for whatever method a player might choose for leveling up whether it is missions, duty officer assignments or critter kills.
Which is a lie. Previously, it took 12 Argala patrols to gain a skill point. Now it takes 21. So yeah, the whole OP is essentially a lie - he wrote a lot of text, most of which doesn't mean much, but the main point was "all the changes will not impact time to level" - and it does.
People probably leave the STO team and join every month. Unless there's a connection I'm missing, it probably doesn't add up to much.
Hamilton has actually been around for quite a while and had some big plans for rebalancing weapon mods. It does seem odd that he left so abruptly. I admit it is suspicious that he left before a big number change and he is the number guy. But I prefer to avoid such speculation, so pretend I didn't say anything.
Which is a lie. Previously, it took 12 Argala patrols to gain a skill point. Now it takes 21. So yeah, the whole OP is essentially a lie - he wrote a lot of text, most of which doesn't mean much, but the main point was "all the changes will not impact time to level" - and it does.
Exactly.
It was a bunch of double speak intended to confuse players into thinking they weren't nerfed.
If it was a mistake, someone would have said something or fixed it by now. They're at the point where they not only won't admit they're putting in a nerf, but they flat out lie about it.
Which is a lie. Previously, it took 12 Argala patrols to gain a skill point. Now it takes 21. So yeah, the whole OP is essentially a lie - he wrote a lot of text, most of which doesn't mean much, but the main point was "all the changes will not impact time to level" - and it does.
It's true but it's deceptive (or grossly misinformed) since it was never possible to use missions as your sole source of skill points and, since Delta Rising, we have relied on the kills inside missions as our primary source of skill points.
I would probably believe that this was all done to curb what they perceived as level grinding and exploiting going on in very extreme cases and DOff leveling (which I think is a bad idea since it's how casual players NEED to level; DOffing should be seen as STO's counterpart to rested XP in WoW or City of Heroes).
I think they said, basically, "We want people playing content. We don't want people grinding enemies and avoiding content and we'd like people to play patrols and missions a few times since they have alternate branches."
So they decided to stealth nerf kill XP and DOff XP by hiding it inside a bunch of numbers increases. (Mistake #1. Don't pull stealth tactics.)
Here's the thing, though. I can't believe they'd do this if they understood that our primary XP from missions is not the mission reward, even on normal, even when only killing required targets.
His example was completing 3 missions to attain a level. At no point is it possible to complete any level with just three missions.
Every level takes much more than that. 59-60 probably takes 40-50 missions at the new rate. It was largely only possible in a full evening's play before because of kill XP from queued content and patrols.
I think they probably DID intend a stealth nerf and it probably wasn't targeted at the average player. I also think they had to have completely lost touch with how and how much the average player takes to progress.
The idea that it takes 80 hours using the most optimal methods to get from 50-60 is absurd. I am not convinced Cryptic realizes this just yet.
For reference, a typical WoW expansion (based on my previous conversions and estimates) has around 4x the content of Delta Rising (per faction but we'll ignore that) and takes about 15 hours to hit the new level cap usually, in which time you can complete about half of the questing content. (Based on the assumption of doing repeatable patrol type content once.)
So if this were WoW, the DR content we have would get you to 55. 55-60 would be another 20 missions. It would take around 15 hours total. And you'd have another 40 missions to go... But I'll ignore that since we're talking about pain/ease of leveling and aside from providing some more leveling options in WoW, that's not relevant.
(For reference, one STO mission typically has around 5 WoW quests' worth of activity packed into it.)
I think that's probably a fair benchmark for western players' expectations. 15-ish hours of play from 50-60. Not 80. Heck, 15ish would match the overall western paradigm that the last 10 levels take almost as long as all the levels prior to the last 10.
In 80 hours, I could go beat all the Batman: Arkham games. All of them. I could level 5 alts to 50. Allowing for paid services, I should be able to get a small army of ******** characters to level 100. Not allowing for paid services, I could still get 2+ characters from 1-100 in that time.
It was a bunch of double speak intended to confuse players into thinking they weren't nerfed.
If it was a mistake, someone would have said something or fixed it by now. They're at the point where they not only won't admit they're putting in a nerf, but they flat out lie about it.
Yeah, as would say Bioware "Speculation for everyone". No matter why he left, that doesn't change the current situation. And no matter on what he was tasked to work on, someone else is doing it now. I guess.
I'm lvl 60, just need about 26 more lvlup to complete my 1st toon and get 2k xp per Mission whatever i replayed Mission on lvl 3 or 60.
I need to play 75 Missions to level up and get 1 specpoint...
for 26 lvl i need to play 75x26=1950 Missions
every Mission is supposed to play in "ONLY" 20 Mins. Thats 3900 Min thats 650h. To complete 1 toon.
I go to work, and have also a social life. Just can play about 2-3 a day. so i need 216 Days
to max out 1 toon of 3 im playing with....
and Yes i leveld in Tau Dewa to 60 and above as it was intended before DR and an exploit after DR release.
So how long do you think a normal maxout per toon would be without
that so called xploit...
after reaching lvl 60 there are 50 more lvl to go and all with 150k xp thats 7,5kk xp and one just get 2k per Mission thats 3750Missions to play.
Instead of keep players playing because of raising the XP they need to lvlup the result will be that players stop playing because they dont see any progress.
Edit:
Just played Bug hunt "ELITE" and got totaly 2175 XP....
The more I play the more disenchanted I become with the levelling experience. I give up completely. Last weeks patch was a blatant shot in the arm for those using doffing as a substitute for the mindless xp grind.
Cryptic you haven't lost a player, but you most certainly have lost a paying customer. I'm not prepared to drop anymore rl cash on this game.
It's true but it's deceptive (or grossly misinformed) since it was never possible to use missions as your sole source of skill points and, since Delta Rising, we have relied on the kills inside missions as our primary source of skill points.
I would probably believe that this was all done to curb what they perceived as level grinding and exploiting going on in very extreme cases and DOff leveling (which I think is a bad idea since it's how casual players NEED to level; DOffing should be seen as STO's counterpart to rested XP in WoW or City of Heroes).
I think they said, basically, "We want people playing content. We don't want people grinding enemies and avoiding content and we'd like people to play patrols and missions a few times since they have alternate branches."
So they decided to stealth nerf kill XP and DOff XP by hiding it inside a bunch of numbers increases. (Mistake #1. Don't pull stealth tactics.)
Here's the thing, though. I can't believe they'd do this if they understood that our primary XP from missions is not the mission reward, even on normal, even when only killing required targets.
His example was completing 3 missions to attain a level. At no point is it possible to complete any level with just three missions.
Every level takes much more than that. 59-60 probably takes 40-50 missions at the new rate. It was largely only possible in a full evening's play before because of kill XP from queued content and patrols.
I think they probably DID intend a stealth nerf and it probably wasn't targeted at the average player. I also think they had to have completely lost touch with how and how much the average player takes to progress.
The idea that it takes 80 hours using the most optimal methods to get from 50-60 is absurd. I am not convinced Cryptic realizes this just yet.
For reference, a typical WoW expansion (based on my previous conversions and estimates) has around 4x the content of Delta Rising (per faction but we'll ignore that) and takes about 15 hours to hit the new level cap usually, in which time you can complete about half of the questing content. (Based on the assumption of doing repeatable patrol type content once.)
So if this were WoW, the DR content we have would get you to 55. 55-60 would be another 20 missions. It would take around 15 hours total. And you'd have another 40 missions to go... But I'll ignore that since we're talking about pain/ease of leveling and aside from providing some more leveling options in WoW, that's not relevant.
(For reference, one STO mission typically has around 5 WoW quests' worth of activity packed into it.)
I think that's probably a fair benchmark for western players' expectations. 15-ish hours of play from 50-60. Not 80. Heck, 15ish would match the overall western paradigm that the last 10 levels take almost as long as all the levels prior to the last 10.
In 80 hours, I could go beat all the Batman: Arkham games. All of them. I could level 5 alts to 50. Allowing for paid services, I should be able to get a small army of ******** characters to level 100. Not allowing for paid services, I could still get 2+ characters from 1-100 in that time.
Good post and summary of it all. I don't know how they think, with such a crowded and quality MMO market, they are going to keep or attract new players to such an unneeded and excessive grind.
If a premier IP like WOW isn't doing it, how the hell they think STO can or should is beyond me.
This thread needs to be on the very top and stickied. I doubt Cryptic/Dev will fix the XP scaling for Doffs and NPC's. It was broken actually so I don't expect it to scale at all.
Effectively nerfing npc and doff's for all players!
Eventually it'll be time for people to make a choice: jump off this train or stay on it as the people at the controls push forward the throttle and head it full-speed into a brick wall.
i am just seeing the possibly unfortunate before i get hit with everyone else, i will have fun long past this MMO, unlike PoTCO i won't get hit by the shutdown if there ever is one, not this time.
I can say that from my point of view, progression & leveling is currently way too slow to meet the "fun factor" for me.
Leveling: far too slow
Gameplay: too monotonous with enemies that seem to spam spawn like the old Foundry "Farm" missions did
Rewards: way too stingy
I think it was a mistake for them to do the double XP prior to releasing DR, as it may have skewed our perception a bit. That said, now leveling is painfully slow compared to anything I've ever experienced in this game since the early days of grinding a KDF character when there was no storyline for them.
Lately I've resorted to just logging in and keeping my crafting missions going on just 2 out of my 10 captains and grabbing an advanced/elite queue on one if I can get lucky enough to get in a group within a reasonable amount of time - more often that not though, I give up and log off until the next day.
Absolutely nothing about the current state of the game makes me want to spend any money whatsoever on T6 ships.
(when DR launched, I bought 5 T5U upgrades + and extra $30 in zen to trade for dilithium and I feel like a fool for doing that now)
I would say that they will leave things as they are now - considering the plan to soon double the Delta patrol exp.
However, people level 50-55 or so are in a real jam here. They will be in many cases 1 to 2 weeks between being able to play the story missions for casual players. I think they will simply log out and never return.
I say mate I hope you like your current level - you'll be enjoying it for quite a while!
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Cryptic really think players can be forced into playing their shiny new content don't they...
There's a storyline in The Office that I'm reminded of. Stick with me folks, I'm leading you on a journey.
Ryan is put in charge of setting up the new website, Dunder Mifflin 2.0
He makes a big push for customers to use the website - a flashy launch, an expensive marketing campaign - but customers still prefer things the old way.
So he makes all his staff log their sales as sales that were made on the website, to make it seem like he has done a much better job than he actually has.
The company eventually finds out and then he's fired.
I feel like some of this is just doublespeak for a nerf to critter XP and more blatantly, DoFF xp payout. "We're not nerfing, we're 'normalizing'!" "We're not cutting Doff XP, we're just bumping leveling requirements!"
1/2 dozen or six. Holy **** why does everything have to be a fight with you guys lately (Cryptic, et. al.)? Aren't we allowed ONE moment of joy? ONE quantum of solace?
Nope now get back to the salt mines and be happy they gave you ANY XP AT ALL!!!!!!!
Hehe. I say it's more like being sent to the Dilithium mines:
"This is the gulag Rura Crypthe. There is no stockade. No guard tower. No electronic frontier. Only a Lizard preventing fun. Punishment means having your XP nerfed. With our Chinese Overlords, logic cannot survive. Grind well, and you will be nerfed. Grind badly, and you will be left alone."
I'm finding that I log in less and less these days. I've been playing this game for years because it gave me some reward to do so. I work all day and have a family so playing time is limited.
Playing MMO's for me has always been about grind vs reward.
Before DR I would level up a toon as much as I could. Best fleet and rep gear. A nice lockbox/fleet ship. Complete all the reps. Then when done roll a new toon and start all over again. This is the style of play I enjoy. A feeling of reward every time I log in. I felt there was a nice balance and could achieve what I needed to achieve to move on in the game considering (as mentioned) my limited game time. It was a great way to chill and have fun of an evening.
I have 16 toons in all and pre DR had everyone of them fully kitted out.
When reading about the release of DR I thought it sounded great. But in reality the gring vs reward has ground to a halt. It seems like it will take me the rest of my natural life to get all my much loved toons up to 60 and beyond, max speciality points etc. let alone Mk14 gear, be it gold or not.
I understand they didn't want people to rush it but it's been taken to the extreme.
Anyway, my point is I no longer feel that gring vs reward is enough in STO for me to continue playing anymore. I would think about checking back in the near future to see if things get 'fixed' but it sounds like the level progression is working as they intended, so no change coming. Goes to show you just because you like a game and purchase a life time subscription it can all change in a heartbeat.
Great game it's just a real shame it's not for me anymore. On the flip side I can play all those other games i've been putting off over the years due to STO taking up all my game time.
Well its Sunday in the UK and before DR came out I would of spent it loged in game but guess what I've not even loged on today and I'm not going too do.
STO has got way to grindy for my liking and the new bugs TRIBBLE me off. STO feels more like a facebook game now and I wont play them any more.
Would I rather re-buy copy-pasted gear I already paid for worth MILLIONS of dil PER character
Or, buy an entirely brand new t6 ship worth 300,000 x 1.6 dil for ALL characters?
I mean I just laugh at them.
The investment-reward - time or money, is so off now it's not in question if I am going to play.
Take a look at leveling...
From day 1 it has been roughly 1 story mission = 1 level.
That was unless you came on for mirror event where it'd be 4-5 levels in an hour.
And it made sense didn't it?
People were spending and logging on for those events. It didn't matter you might finish one character faster because then you'd make a new one because you actually just enjoyed playing.
The developers have consistently been saying how great the game has been doing financially - so what gives?
I guess using the crafting milk-button, they concluded the whales have no upper limit on their stupidity and cryptic had been missing out on scamming those poor suckers.
I define it as a scam when weapons, items and ships are all copy-pasted, recycle blank stats with no new content.
You are essentially selling the emperor's new clothes.
And actually I believe upgrading and crafting was a giant success if you look at the amount of dil the whales put into it.
I believe the I-can't-help-myself crowd, in terms of dil, has made DR "the best expansion ever".
So while we sitting here, saying how stupid it all is, I think cryptic's only regret is not realizing there is another sucker born every minute, sooner.
Comments
When the games 'Lead Content Designer' pretty much lies to all of us and then doesn't even the courtesy to revisit the topic?
Where has he been? Where are the Cryptic staff that are supposedly interested in opening better communication? How long does a thread have to get? how many outraged posts before they say something?
Honestly, I'm starting to see the root of the problems this game is having. If you want to know why this game is suffering so much, look no further then our Lead Content Designer.
If this is the guy in charge, this game can't last much longer. Of all the stuff they have done since DR, this is by far the most ridiculous. From the confusing structure of the post, to the lie that we'll level at the same rate, to just blowing it off and saying nothing when it backfires.
This is absolutely ridiculous.
https://twitter.com/JeffAHamilton/status/535108017193091072
People probably leave the STO team and join every month. Unless there's a connection I'm missing, it probably doesn't add up to much.
Unfortunately, the whole OP is summarized as:
Which is a lie. Previously, it took 12 Argala patrols to gain a skill point. Now it takes 21. So yeah, the whole OP is essentially a lie - he wrote a lot of text, most of which doesn't mean much, but the main point was "all the changes will not impact time to level" - and it does.
Exactly.
It was a bunch of double speak intended to confuse players into thinking they weren't nerfed.
If it was a mistake, someone would have said something or fixed it by now. They're at the point where they not only won't admit they're putting in a nerf, but they flat out lie about it.
It's true but it's deceptive (or grossly misinformed) since it was never possible to use missions as your sole source of skill points and, since Delta Rising, we have relied on the kills inside missions as our primary source of skill points.
I would probably believe that this was all done to curb what they perceived as level grinding and exploiting going on in very extreme cases and DOff leveling (which I think is a bad idea since it's how casual players NEED to level; DOffing should be seen as STO's counterpart to rested XP in WoW or City of Heroes).
I think they said, basically, "We want people playing content. We don't want people grinding enemies and avoiding content and we'd like people to play patrols and missions a few times since they have alternate branches."
So they decided to stealth nerf kill XP and DOff XP by hiding it inside a bunch of numbers increases. (Mistake #1. Don't pull stealth tactics.)
Here's the thing, though. I can't believe they'd do this if they understood that our primary XP from missions is not the mission reward, even on normal, even when only killing required targets.
His example was completing 3 missions to attain a level. At no point is it possible to complete any level with just three missions.
Every level takes much more than that. 59-60 probably takes 40-50 missions at the new rate. It was largely only possible in a full evening's play before because of kill XP from queued content and patrols.
I think they probably DID intend a stealth nerf and it probably wasn't targeted at the average player. I also think they had to have completely lost touch with how and how much the average player takes to progress.
The idea that it takes 80 hours using the most optimal methods to get from 50-60 is absurd. I am not convinced Cryptic realizes this just yet.
For reference, a typical WoW expansion (based on my previous conversions and estimates) has around 4x the content of Delta Rising (per faction but we'll ignore that) and takes about 15 hours to hit the new level cap usually, in which time you can complete about half of the questing content. (Based on the assumption of doing repeatable patrol type content once.)
So if this were WoW, the DR content we have would get you to 55. 55-60 would be another 20 missions. It would take around 15 hours total. And you'd have another 40 missions to go... But I'll ignore that since we're talking about pain/ease of leveling and aside from providing some more leveling options in WoW, that's not relevant.
(For reference, one STO mission typically has around 5 WoW quests' worth of activity packed into it.)
I think that's probably a fair benchmark for western players' expectations. 15-ish hours of play from 50-60. Not 80. Heck, 15ish would match the overall western paradigm that the last 10 levels take almost as long as all the levels prior to the last 10.
In 80 hours, I could go beat all the Batman: Arkham games. All of them. I could level 5 alts to 50. Allowing for paid services, I should be able to get a small army of ******** characters to level 100. Not allowing for paid services, I could still get 2+ characters from 1-100 in that time.
I'm lvl 60, just need about 26 more lvlup to complete my 1st toon and get 2k xp per Mission whatever i replayed Mission on lvl 3 or 60.
I need to play 75 Missions to level up and get 1 specpoint...
for 26 lvl i need to play 75x26=1950 Missions
every Mission is supposed to play in "ONLY" 20 Mins. Thats 3900 Min thats 650h. To complete 1 toon.
I go to work, and have also a social life. Just can play about 2-3 a day. so i need 216 Days
to max out 1 toon of 3 im playing with....
and Yes i leveld in Tau Dewa to 60 and above as it was intended before DR and an exploit after DR release.
So how long do you think a normal maxout per toon would be without
that so called xploit...
after reaching lvl 60 there are 50 more lvl to go and all with 150k xp thats 7,5kk xp and one just get 2k per Mission thats 3750Missions to play.
Instead of keep players playing because of raising the XP they need to lvlup the result will be that players stop playing because they dont see any progress.
Edit:
Just played Bug hunt "ELITE" and got totaly 2175 XP....
my toon will be retired before it is maxed out.
Cryptic you haven't lost a player, but you most certainly have lost a paying customer. I'm not prepared to drop anymore rl cash on this game.
Good post and summary of it all. I don't know how they think, with such a crowded and quality MMO market, they are going to keep or attract new players to such an unneeded and excessive grind.
If a premier IP like WOW isn't doing it, how the hell they think STO can or should is beyond me.
Effectively nerfing npc and doff's for all players!
*bar progress sux, like they say in Secondlife, hire a new scripter*
Yea. I play Second Life and do some mesh building there.
As, for STO, like in Second Life. Time to hire a new mesh builder and scripter.
seriously, this game need some MEGA SIZED help lol
Free Tibet!
just planning for the possibility ...
Leveling: far too slow
Gameplay: too monotonous with enemies that seem to spam spawn like the old Foundry "Farm" missions did
Rewards: way too stingy
I think it was a mistake for them to do the double XP prior to releasing DR, as it may have skewed our perception a bit. That said, now leveling is painfully slow compared to anything I've ever experienced in this game since the early days of grinding a KDF character when there was no storyline for them.
Lately I've resorted to just logging in and keeping my crafting missions going on just 2 out of my 10 captains and grabbing an advanced/elite queue on one if I can get lucky enough to get in a group within a reasonable amount of time - more often that not though, I give up and log off until the next day.
Absolutely nothing about the current state of the game makes me want to spend any money whatsoever on T6 ships.
(when DR launched, I bought 5 T5U upgrades + and extra $30 in zen to trade for dilithium and I feel like a fool for doing that now)
However, people level 50-55 or so are in a real jam here. They will be in many cases 1 to 2 weeks between being able to play the story missions for casual players. I think they will simply log out and never return.
I say mate I hope you like your current level - you'll be enjoying it for quite a while!
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
To hell with you, cryptic.
There's a storyline in The Office that I'm reminded of. Stick with me folks, I'm leading you on a journey.
Ryan is put in charge of setting up the new website, Dunder Mifflin 2.0
He makes a big push for customers to use the website - a flashy launch, an expensive marketing campaign - but customers still prefer things the old way.
So he makes all his staff log their sales as sales that were made on the website, to make it seem like he has done a much better job than he actually has.
The company eventually finds out and then he's fired.
*taps on my screen*
Free Tibet!
At least in Second Life stuff I buy actually goes towards something, instead of being a gamble.
And I love mesh too, btw!
1/2 dozen or six. Holy **** why does everything have to be a fight with you guys lately (Cryptic, et. al.)? Aren't we allowed ONE moment of joy? ONE quantum of solace?
Nope now get back to the salt mines and be happy they gave you ANY XP AT ALL!!!!!!!
*just kidding, if it actually was not funny, i sorry
Back To Grinding, Peasant!!!!
快回去工作 ！晚安！
从来没有！骗子动力切割光束的权力！激活！
game gets worse, suddenly.
射线真理，铸造，游戏固定的，也许...
lol
Hehe.
"This is the gulag Rura Crypthe. There is no stockade. No guard tower. No electronic frontier. Only a Lizard preventing fun. Punishment means having your XP nerfed. With our Chinese Overlords, logic cannot survive. Grind well, and you will be nerfed. Grind badly, and you will be left alone."
Playing MMO's for me has always been about grind vs reward.
Before DR I would level up a toon as much as I could. Best fleet and rep gear. A nice lockbox/fleet ship. Complete all the reps. Then when done roll a new toon and start all over again. This is the style of play I enjoy. A feeling of reward every time I log in. I felt there was a nice balance and could achieve what I needed to achieve to move on in the game considering (as mentioned) my limited game time. It was a great way to chill and have fun of an evening.
I have 16 toons in all and pre DR had everyone of them fully kitted out.
When reading about the release of DR I thought it sounded great. But in reality the gring vs reward has ground to a halt. It seems like it will take me the rest of my natural life to get all my much loved toons up to 60 and beyond, max speciality points etc. let alone Mk14 gear, be it gold or not.
I understand they didn't want people to rush it but it's been taken to the extreme.
Anyway, my point is I no longer feel that gring vs reward is enough in STO for me to continue playing anymore. I would think about checking back in the near future to see if things get 'fixed' but it sounds like the level progression is working as they intended, so no change coming. Goes to show you just because you like a game and purchase a life time subscription it can all change in a heartbeat.
Great game it's just a real shame it's not for me anymore. On the flip side I can play all those other games i've been putting off over the years due to STO taking up all my game time.
Grind vs Reward...
STO has got way to grindy for my liking and the new bugs TRIBBLE me off. STO feels more like a facebook game now and I wont play them any more.
Or, buy an entirely brand new t6 ship worth 300,000 x 1.6 dil for ALL characters?
I mean I just laugh at them.
The investment-reward - time or money, is so off now it's not in question if I am going to play.
Take a look at leveling...
From day 1 it has been roughly 1 story mission = 1 level.
That was unless you came on for mirror event where it'd be 4-5 levels in an hour.
And it made sense didn't it?
People were spending and logging on for those events. It didn't matter you might finish one character faster because then you'd make a new one because you actually just enjoyed playing.
The developers have consistently been saying how great the game has been doing financially - so what gives?
I guess using the crafting milk-button, they concluded the whales have no upper limit on their stupidity and cryptic had been missing out on scamming those poor suckers.
I define it as a scam when weapons, items and ships are all copy-pasted, recycle blank stats with no new content.
You are essentially selling the emperor's new clothes.
And actually I believe upgrading and crafting was a giant success if you look at the amount of dil the whales put into it.
I believe the I-can't-help-myself crowd, in terms of dil, has made DR "the best expansion ever".
So while we sitting here, saying how stupid it all is, I think cryptic's only regret is not realizing there is another sucker born every minute, sooner.