Last year I got bored after season 9 launched and took a break, skipping the summer event.
I was planning on grinding the Luxury Cruiseliner and the new ship this year since I never got last year's new ship.
I'm fine with pearls being retired and a new currency being required (whoah, that rhymes LoL). I don't have any pearls left over from 2013 anyway, and even if I did I'd still be fine with a new currency.
What I do have a problem with is the older ships being retired. I got the Corvette for only 4 characters in 2013 and I was planning on getting it for the rest of my characters along with the Cruiseliner and new ship for all of them.
I think this decision was made to spite our delta recruits. There's still no way to get the Kobali Samsar cruiser for them, not even from the lobi store. Which means delta recruits have no way to complete the console set that goes with the c-store T6 Command Battlecruisers.
And now we won't be able to get the old Risa ships for our delta recruits and I suspect all 3 breen ships from the winter event later this year are going to be retired. God forbid our recruits ever get any free fun ships to pilot.
I'll be blunt: if the Corvette and Luxury Cruiseliner are being retired I'm going to skip the event again. I don't give a damn how awesome the new ship is going to be. It's not worth my time.
honestly, didn't think that, perfect idea, THEY SHOULD add an option, (cause others already pointed out the prospect of lag caused by all this emote stuff)
SOLID idea, keep that pushing bro,
no sarcasm, no joke, great sound idea
cause really, not everyone wants to see some stupid smile face above a ship, it breaks the immersion, I get that,
DUDE they gotta do this, this is mandatory- MAKE it optional to even see the effect
think of when nimoy died? what were folks complaining about? those stupid disco balls, SAME THING there, just make it an option in the menu... "I don't want to dance when a disco ball is dropped" IT JUST MAKES SENSE in an MMO to have that feature
100000% behind this option (even tho, I love emotes, and will be happy to see them, BUT AGAIN its not about me, its about those that want to play the game and immerse themselves in it, how hard can it really be to have an option to "check" click it off??)
I'd like to see good emotes. Such as AFK powers down the ship, something tasteful rather than a holographic icon in mid space.
"I will make the Orion Syndicate face the light of justice or burn them with it." - Captainl Kyle Nathaniel Locke, U.S.S. Excalibur NCC-98105-C
It's a good idea to be pushing for players to stay in the event, however that won't matter at the moment if so many of us can't play on Risa. I need to ask if reinstalling the game might be a solution to the corrupted files.
As for Risa, I do have to ask why the ships are being pulled at the start of the event, rather than the end. This would give all new players a chance to earn them one last time, along with the new ship. I also like the idea of using a new currency each year, though I'd also like to ask if the new currency can be exchanged for new items following the end of this event or at the start of the next summer event?
I'm also curious to see if there will be new swimwear available for this year, since it seems to be a hit. Maybe some mix and match items this time?
True, but this is a game. What could have been working 6 months ago might not be now, so forward planning in software development cannot always be done by planning ahead and keeping with any decisions or plans that had previously been thought of!
Games are supposed to feel rewarding. If players did more work than was necessary last year, in anticipation that they would not need to work as much this year, then that says two things to me.
1: The players in question can be reasonably expected to play this game for another year, if for no other reason than to return next year. If players are complaining about this, then this is more than just the usual "Cryptic bad!" echo chamber, because at the very least the people complaining are expecting to stick around the game for at least another year.
This is a good thing.
2: The players in question are smart enough and clever enough to plan ahead. Since this is a positive trait more people should have, then this is something that should be nurtured and planned around -- not planned for.
If Cryptic sees this as a problem, that says two things to me.
1: Cryptic does not care (or care enough) whether or not players can be reasonably expected to stick around for another year. This hurts player morale.
2: Cryptic does not care (or care enough) that players are smart enough or clever enough to plan ahead. This is a bad thing because it punishes the idea that people should think of their own future. In a Star Trek game, I think this sets a bad example ethically, morally, and socially, and in terms of gameplay.
Yes, I could put money I've earned into investments and they could turn out toxic and worthless. However, there is a reasonable expectation that what I am investing in would net me gains instead of losses.
If Cryptic is sending a message, it is that they simply are not reliable or dependable on a long-term scale. If the summer/winter events are anything to judge by, it is that Cryptic is saying they do not care if I stick around for another year. That I should not be reasonably expected to believe they are thinking beyond a 6 month timetable.
They are hurting the faith that the players are putting in them. Players want to know the time and effort they put into the game will pay off for them in the end. Since the Lobi Store allows players to bypass the grind for event ships, then clearly it is intended that players are able to get new ships faster than usual.
But since this would hurt Lobi Store sales, this is not a matter of time spent in the game -- it is a matter of monetization.
This is a clear case where monetization is more important than a rewarding gameplay experience. Cryptic, I sincerely believe is deserving of every bit of scrutiny they are getting from this.
This seems like a perfectly reasonable change, the rewards for doing these events should feel unique to those that actually participated in that years event.
Ship emotes? what the hell does that mean?
If I see one pokemon-style emersion-breaking childish cartoon stupid smiley face on my supposed adult trek game there's going to be trouble.
Sorry MidlightShadow7, if you're still about, I understand you trying to allay the fears of everyone here but this was a far less than perfect introduction to the summer event this year. I, too, have to take a side of opposition here.
I understand that there are people who already have "tons" of the pearls... That's cool... If you go right ahead and dedicate your lives to the event thing every 20 hours like clockwork your reward IS to not have to wait around and do more for getting the ship. That can be it's own reward. Some of us, though, barely even squeak through as it is. For us, getting the ship on the last day or so is a MAJOR accomplishment even if it's just to us. So seeing this change, that looks like it only starts with the summer event but I have suspicions will be rolled over into winter and anniversary events I have my own points to make against this news.
1. If you keep changing the currency every year you also doom the idea that you "want players to play" your new content by them either not participating at all(because then it becomes a yearly "hassle" not a event) or even further compartmentalizing them into not playing any longer than necessary. Either way you'll have people playing STO, regardless of the event going on, and it will do nothing but make the players coming back a frustrated mess because they saved up(as every older blog told them they could) and now they have to start over. This can cause those players to turn right back off from STO, Especially the ones who came back for Delta Recruit.
2. Why open an exchange market for pearls and not tell us if there is any foresight about then making that store a "summer token exchange" because by admitting that they are changing the currency every year this means that the store as they've just introduced it is ONLY for Risian Pearl exchange. What about the players who have zero pearls? And those who wind up with an excess of new currencies? Putting stuff inthe GPL store? Funny. I've NEVER had the GPL to buy any of the "toys" they put in there for-cost... Will an emot turn into one of those ship holograms at 50k 100K, 250k 500k? HAH! What do I look like a lifeless Dabo Zombie? I'm not and it'll become another toy I'll never touch simply because it's insanely expensive.
3. Speaking of excess new currency you can almost forget that. As I normally consider myself a casual player, when they introduced the Feature Episodes that gave us 400 [event] tokens at the start of events, I laid back in my chair with approval and and said "Alt friendly indeed.... now I only need to do this on one character and get them to 1k. Then I just have to run the little event game for the 40 on all my other characters and not bother playing any more than I absolutely have to. Then i can go back to leveling my reputation/helping my fleet." Normally those feature episodes were/are tied into specific, time-gated rewards, like the one we have in Blood of the Ancients, and the ONLY characters I've really run that mission on has been my Delta Recruit, for the tech upgrade, and my KDF Orion, for the special reward (Disruptor) being the actual weapon type she uses. Unless the Summer Events Feature Episode(if there is one) is a universal reward, like the Engie console from Delta Flight I don't see myself running off to play that mission for the 400 pearls on every character. Hell I doubt I'd do that even if they DID open the pearl exchange for the other summer currencies unless they added a mark exchange package.
4. The one thing most people have just missed form the blog, and the design team as a whole, is that they've just admitted to handing us a live shrapnel grenade... That grenade bringing us an explosion in new, quickly outdated, currencies that will just as quickly fill up cryptic's storage debt(something they just cleaned to give us more bank, ship, character, and costume slots) as a grenade in a crowded market fills a hospital. If they do this with the Winter Event and then the Anniversary Event too that's going to be a 3-fold increase in currencies yearly on top of the introduction of all new currencies in the form of reputations, fleet holdings, or what ever other currency for season/expansion ideas they may provide going forward. We already have back-logged exchanges from the conversion of Nukara into the reputation system, the update of Andorian Phasers into the fleet holding upgrades, the Christmas bauble exchange, the Risan Favors exchange, Prototype Console exhange..... Now we want to add up to 3 yearly currencies that go absolutely nowhere after the event too? insane!
We don't want what the Feds have. We want the equivalent. We want fairer treatment. Concern, desire, greed to some extent, and passionate belief that the enough people would buy KDF items to make it worth Cryptic's while.
Ship emotes? what the hell does that mean?
If I see one pokemon-style emersion-breaking childish cartoon stupid smiley face on my supposed adult trek game there's going to be trouble.
This seems like a perfectly reasonable change, the rewards for doing these events should feel unique to those that actually participated in that years event.
Reasonable? Changing the currencies, I can live with, this part is 'reasonable'. Inconvienient, yes, though I can understand why Cryptic would do this, they want people to actually do the Event dailies to earn the prize, during the event, and not 'stockpile' resources for next year.
What is unreasonable is removing the Corvette, and Cruiser, this makes it impossible for new alts to get the ships that our older characters have...
If Cryptic made the old Corvette, and Cruiser available by some other means outside of the event daily I'd be ok with this, or at the very least less upset with it...:(
It's a good idea to be pushing for players to stay in the event, however that won't matter at the moment if so many of us can't play on Risa. I need to ask if reinstalling the game might be a solution to the corrupted files.
As for Risa, I do have to ask why the ships are being pulled at the start of the event, rather than the end. This would give all new players a chance to earn them one last time, along with the new ship. I also like the idea of using a new currency each year, though I'd also like to ask if the new currency can be exchanged for new items following the end of this event or at the start of the next summer event?
I'm also curious to see if there will be new swimwear available for this year, since it seems to be a hit. Maybe some mix and match items this time?
It says that you can exchange the currency for items in the second paragraph and it is fair to say that the Buyback store will change the currency after each event during the maintence period to close it however I can only see things being added such as small boosts.
"I will make the Orion Syndicate face the light of justice or burn them with it." - Captainl Kyle Nathaniel Locke, U.S.S. Excalibur NCC-98105-C
Games are supposed to feel rewarding. If players did more work than was necessary last year, in anticipation that they would not need to work as much this year, then that says two things to me.
1: The players in question can be reasonably expected to play this game for another year, if for no other reason than to return next year. If players are complaining about this, then this is more than just the usual "Cryptic bad!" echo chamber, because at the very least the people complaining are expecting to stick around the game for at least another year.
This is a good thing.
2: The players in question are smart enough and clever enough to plan ahead. Since this is a positive trait more people should have, then this is something that should be nurtured and planned around -- not planned for.
If Cryptic sees this as a problem, that says two things to me.
1: Cryptic does not care (or care enough) whether or not players can be reasonably expected to stick around for another year. This hurts player morale.
2: Cryptic does not care (or care enough) that players are smart enough or clever enough to plan ahead. This is a bad thing because it punishes the idea that people should think of their own future. In a Star Trek game, I think this sets a bad example ethically, morally, and socially, and in terms of gameplay.
Yes, I could put money I've earned into investments and they could turn out toxic and worthless. However, there is a reasonable expectation that what I am investing in would net me gains instead of losses.
If Cryptic is sending a message, it is that they simply are not reliable or dependable on a long-term scale. If the summer/winter events are anything to judge by, it is that Cryptic is saying they do not care if I stick around for another year. That I should not be reasonably expected to believe they are thinking beyond a 6 month timetable.
They are hurting the faith that the players are putting in them. Players want to know the time and effort they put into the game will pay off for them in the end. Since the Lobi Store allows players to bypass the grind for event ships, then clearly it is intended that players are able to get new ships faster than usual.
But since this would hurt Lobi Store sales, this is not a matter of time spent in the game -- it is a matter of monetization.
This is a clear case where monetization is more important than a rewarding gameplay experience. Cryptic, I sincerely believe is deserving of every bit of scrutiny they are getting from this.
Just finished reading all 47+ pages of this thread.
Posting to say THIS is the best analysis of the situation yet.
Also, I know two people who are in the same situation as takeguru. Meaning they only log in weekly and have spent two years working on the risian corvette project. Because the project gets removed at the beginning of the event, not the end, they lose two years of work for nothing. Beingnless than level 60, they can't get spec points either.
Y'know what, every time they make a boneheaded move from now on, I'm not going to bother spending my time shouting in a vacuum. I'll just say "You're fired." and go on with whatever else I was doing. Far more efficient.
Just chiming in to add my voice to the choruses of:
1) Please give us the option to disable the client-side view of starship emotes, and
2) Please reconsider the decision to retire older event-locked starships.
I don't mind a starship being event-locked. Previously, if I missed an event (as I've done with the previous Risian events, due to summertime obligations IRL), it didn't sting so much knowing that I'd get another chance the following year. And the discounting of an event ship's price (when additional alts purchased it after it was unlocked on an account) had me very much looking forward to finally being able to participate in the Risian event this year, as my various alts would have the ability to get the older ships plus the new one if at least 3 of them did the currency grind.
The retirement of the old Risian ships would seem to foreshadow the same thing happening to other event starships. This would be VERY disappointing, especially for those of us who might be creating a new alt with a backstory specifically geared toward seeing him/her commanding one of those older event ships.
Ok dropping Lohlunt Pearls fine I can see the need for that. However I am begging here I have added 5 alts since last summer and I might still have more soon.
Having just started playing back in December I was gearing up all of my toons to pick up all of the summer event ships. I was really looking forward to the Risian event so I could pick up the ships that were offered before I was playing.
The fact that I wont be able to get the ships really pisses me off, but it is Cryptic that will be hurt by this. At least their all important metrics will anyway. Where I was going to run at least three different toons through the event in order to get all three ships now I will only run one and then get the ship on my alts with the reduced cost. I'm sure I'm not the only one that had this plan in mind.
The real kick to the teeth is this will probably be what awaits me at the winter event where I planned to do the same thing.
Can I slot a new project for a Risian Corvette or Risian Luxury Cruiser?
No. These ships are being retired with the start of the 2015 Lohlunat Festival.
What? There is no way that I can obtain either ship? I'm a lifetime sub from the first season, bought a lifetime sub for a friend, and have almost all the ships and 16 toons, play as much as possible between business trips, and just popped for the Pathfinder w/ interior, Delta Pack, vesta set, etc. RL does not allow me all the time I need to get everything in game, but a) I found time to get the Breen sets for seven toons at the winter event (when work is lighter) and b) this is finally the summer of Risa. This is extremely disappointing for me, and now also for the four friends that I finally got to play regularly. This is a GREAT game, and awesome that it's f2p for folks, but this is really crushing news.
PS: I don't mind grinding, STO is an escape after work. Currently, I have no Risian pearls nor Risian Event slotted and no problem with collecting a new event item every year. I think you all have been great caretakers of the ST universe, and certainly the corvette and cruiser did not exist before STO, but I do mind that something I looked forward to is taken away suddenly with no method whatsoever to obtain it ever again.
To paraphrase another poster: Because right now I'm feeling like we, the loyal long-term players who are invested deeply in STO and online whenever we can, were just given another giant middle finger.
Mirror, Mirror warns against a future where a Terran Empire ravages the galaxy led by the ISS Enterprise.
In the 2000s, the biggest space station we build is called the ISS.
I am concerned.
MMOs are always changing how they do things, just because they chose to do something last year does not mean they have to do it again next year.
An "event" reputation slot is provided whose purpose includes many slots (5 to be exact) to unlock special projects using marks that do not expire and carry on at the very least into the next season.
The "event" is scrapped without informing us neither:
A) some time back in 2014 before the summer event ended to queue them as a last-chance to get them for existing players
at the end of this 2015 summer event so we can decide whether to get them or to pass.
See the problem?
This "advance notice" is not advance notice whatsoever. It's the equivalent of this: don't have it slotted since last year's event? Looking forward to the Risa event and the Existing Risa ships all year? Well, you're never getting them.
Please reconsider this decision. Make it possible to queue the old Risa ships now knowing they will be retired after. That would be fair. This isn't.
Devs: Provide the option to Turn OFF full screen flashes from enemy ship explosions
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I can understand wanting to have each year's item be exclusive, kinda like showing you were around for a specific year. And I can understand each year's event needing a new currency. But suddenly changing the seasonal events to be this, when they weren't for quite a while, is just silly. We'd had previous years' ships and goodies available, for the previous years' currency, for a while now. It's right out of the blue switching everything on the fly like that. Not impressed.
The emotes are stupid. They're completely immersion destroying, and that's saying something given the lack of care towards Star Trek immersion that is already present.
Sorry MidlightShadow7, if you're still about, I understand you trying to allay the fears of everyone here but this was a far less than perfect introduction to the summer event this year. I, too, have to take a side of opposition here.
I understand that there are people who already have "tons" of the pearls... That's cool... If you go right ahead and dedicate your lives to the event thing every 20 hours like clockwork your reward IS to not have to wait around and do more for getting the ship. That can be it's own reward. Some of us, though, barely even squeak through as it is. For us, getting the ship on the last day or so is a MAJOR accomplishment even if it's just to us. So seeing this change, that looks like it only starts with the summer event but I have suspicions will be rolled over into winter and anniversary events I have my own points to make against this news.
1. If you keep changing the currency every year you also doom the idea that you "want players to play" your new content by them either not participating at all(because then it becomes a yearly "hassle" not a event) or even further compartmentalizing them into not playing any longer than necessary. Either way you'll have people playing STO, regardless of the event going on, and it will do nothing but make the players coming back a frustrated mess because they saved up(as every older blog told them they could) and now they have to start over. This can cause those players to turn right back off from STO, Especially the ones who came back for Delta Recruit.
2. Why open an exchange market for pearls and not tell us if there is any foresight about then making that store a "summer token exchange" because by admitting that they are changing the currency every year this means that the store as they've just introduced it is ONLY for Risian Pearl exchange. What about the players who have zero pearls? And those who wind up with an excess of new currencies? Putting stuff inthe GPL store? Funny. I've NEVER had the GPL to buy any of the "toys" they put in there for-cost... Will an emot turn into one of those ship holograms at 50k 100K, 250k 500k? HAH! What do I look like a lifeless Dabo Zombie? I'm not and it'll become another toy I'll never touch simply because it's insanely expensive.
3. Speaking of excess new currency you can almost forget that. As I normally consider myself a casual player, when they introduced the Feature Episodes that gave us 400 [event] tokens at the start of events, I laid back in my chair with approval and and said "Alt friendly indeed.... now I only need to do this on one character and get them to 1k. Then I just have to run the little event game for the 40 on all my other characters and not bother playing any more than I absolutely have to. Then i can go back to leveling my reputation/helping my fleet." Normally those feature episodes were/are tied into specific, time-gated rewards, like the one we have in Blood of the Ancients, and the ONLY characters I've really run that mission on has been my Delta Recruit, for the tech upgrade, and my KDF Orion, for the special reward (Disruptor) being the actual weapon type she uses. Unless the Summer Events Feature Episode(if there is one) is a universal reward, like the Engie console from Delta Flight I don't see myself running off to play that mission for the 400 pearls on every character. Hell I doubt I'd do that even if they DID open the pearl exchange for the other summer currencies unless they added a mark exchange package.
4. The one thing most people have just missed form the blog, and the design team as a whole, is that they've just admitted to handing us a live shrapnel grenade... That grenade bringing us an explosion in new, quickly outdated, currencies that will just as quickly fill up cryptic's storage debt(something they just cleaned to give us more bank, ship, character, and costume slots) as a grenade in a crowded market fills a hospital. If they do this with the Winter Event and then the Anniversary Event too that's going to be a 3-fold increase in currencies yearly on top of the introduction of all new currencies in the form of reputations, fleet holdings, or what ever other currency for season/expansion ideas they may provide going forward. We already have back-logged exchanges from the conversion of Nukara into the reputation system, the update of Andorian Phasers into the fleet holding upgrades, the Christmas bauble exchange, the Risan Favors exchange, Prototype Console exhange..... Now we want to add up to 3 yearly currencies that go absolutely nowhere after the event too? insane!
I'm still here!!
I do not recall any blog ever saying that they could keep them and use them next year. Player, including me, collected them on the off chance that we could use them again, but this was never guaranteed. Previously this was allowed, but sorry I do not see the issue with this changing!
I also not see how it hurts people coming in to play the event. So far we have only had this one bit of information about the event - we still do not know what other rewards, trade ins etc will be added for those players once they have done their 25 runs and got the ship - there could be other things up for grabs. What I'm saying is it is too early still to be shouting about it and that we should wait until we know about the rewards, about how long we'll get to play the event, what other rewards will be offered to players after collecting the new ship and hearing about what will happen to alts who don't have previous ships that another main/alt has already collected.
Until I know more facts, I am not shouting doom about this event.
We've had exchanges for items for many past events and even crafting... somethings will go to the GPL store, but I think they will be the smaller items imho. This is no different than before, except so far, this time, it is stuff that I actually like!
Again we do not know if any of the multiple featured episodes due out over the coming months will reward the new currency - again, I'll wait until I know more before screaming.
There are two Federation players, a Romulan, and a KDF player.
One Fed is in a Malon Battlecruiser.
The other Fed is in an Olaen.
The Romulan is in a Sheshar.
The KDF is in a Sarr Theln.
One Fed is named Capt Hairy Pants.
The other Fed is named xXxBoBxXx.
The Romulan is named LagMonster.
The KDF is named IceColdNinja.
...is the Romulan giving the thumbs up emote above his or her ship really going to break the Star Trek immersion one had been feeling up to that point?
There are two Federation players, a Romulan, and a KDF player.
One Fed is in a Malon Battlecruiser.
The other Fed is in an Olaen.
The Romulan is in a Sheshar.
The KDF is in a Sarr Theln.
One Fed is named Capt Hairy Pants.
The other Fed is named xXxBoBxXx.
The Romulan is named LagMonster.
The KDF is named IceColdNinja.
...is the Romulan giving the thumbs up emote above his or her ship really going to break the Star Trek immersion one had been feeling up to that point?
If you tried really hard, you could fit that in as multiple factions banding together... I guess now you can imagine that they are all texting each other too.
My sympathies to players that are being negatively affected by this change.
However, my question is about the currency exchange store. Is this going to be a permanent "thing" after every event? You can keep your gimmicky T6 Risen Tug. I might save up some of the new currency for this exchange.
Jellico....Engineer ground.....Da'val Romulan space Sci
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
There are two Federation players, a Romulan, and a KDF player.
One Fed is in a Malon Battlecruiser.
The other Fed is in an Olaen.
The Romulan is in a Sheshar.
The KDF is in a Sarr Theln.
One Fed is named Capt Hairy Pants.
The other Fed is named xXxBoBxXx.
The Romulan is named LagMonster.
The KDF is named IceColdNinja.
...is the Romulan giving the thumbs up emote above his or her ship really going to break the Star Trek immersion one had been feeling up to that point?
to be fair, for me, its a bit of a non issue in that environment.. but flying through the new 'designed to be more immersive' sector space maps.. yeah pretty much.
Comments
I was planning on grinding the Luxury Cruiseliner and the new ship this year since I never got last year's new ship.
I'm fine with pearls being retired and a new currency being required (whoah, that rhymes LoL). I don't have any pearls left over from 2013 anyway, and even if I did I'd still be fine with a new currency.
What I do have a problem with is the older ships being retired. I got the Corvette for only 4 characters in 2013 and I was planning on getting it for the rest of my characters along with the Cruiseliner and new ship for all of them.
I think this decision was made to spite our delta recruits. There's still no way to get the Kobali Samsar cruiser for them, not even from the lobi store. Which means delta recruits have no way to complete the console set that goes with the c-store T6 Command Battlecruisers.
And now we won't be able to get the old Risa ships for our delta recruits and I suspect all 3 breen ships from the winter event later this year are going to be retired. God forbid our recruits ever get any free fun ships to pilot.
I'll be blunt: if the Corvette and Luxury Cruiseliner are being retired I'm going to skip the event again. I don't give a damn how awesome the new ship is going to be. It's not worth my time.
I'd like to see good emotes. Such as AFK powers down the ship, something tasteful rather than a holographic icon in mid space.
As for Risa, I do have to ask why the ships are being pulled at the start of the event, rather than the end. This would give all new players a chance to earn them one last time, along with the new ship. I also like the idea of using a new currency each year, though I'd also like to ask if the new currency can be exchanged for new items following the end of this event or at the start of the next summer event?
I'm also curious to see if there will be new swimwear available for this year, since it seems to be a hit. Maybe some mix and match items this time?
Games are supposed to feel rewarding. If players did more work than was necessary last year, in anticipation that they would not need to work as much this year, then that says two things to me.
1: The players in question can be reasonably expected to play this game for another year, if for no other reason than to return next year. If players are complaining about this, then this is more than just the usual "Cryptic bad!" echo chamber, because at the very least the people complaining are expecting to stick around the game for at least another year.
This is a good thing.
2: The players in question are smart enough and clever enough to plan ahead. Since this is a positive trait more people should have, then this is something that should be nurtured and planned around -- not planned for.
If Cryptic sees this as a problem, that says two things to me.
1: Cryptic does not care (or care enough) whether or not players can be reasonably expected to stick around for another year. This hurts player morale.
2: Cryptic does not care (or care enough) that players are smart enough or clever enough to plan ahead. This is a bad thing because it punishes the idea that people should think of their own future. In a Star Trek game, I think this sets a bad example ethically, morally, and socially, and in terms of gameplay.
Yes, I could put money I've earned into investments and they could turn out toxic and worthless. However, there is a reasonable expectation that what I am investing in would net me gains instead of losses.
If Cryptic is sending a message, it is that they simply are not reliable or dependable on a long-term scale. If the summer/winter events are anything to judge by, it is that Cryptic is saying they do not care if I stick around for another year. That I should not be reasonably expected to believe they are thinking beyond a 6 month timetable.
They are hurting the faith that the players are putting in them. Players want to know the time and effort they put into the game will pay off for them in the end. Since the Lobi Store allows players to bypass the grind for event ships, then clearly it is intended that players are able to get new ships faster than usual.
But since this would hurt Lobi Store sales, this is not a matter of time spent in the game -- it is a matter of monetization.
This is a clear case where monetization is more important than a rewarding gameplay experience. Cryptic, I sincerely believe is deserving of every bit of scrutiny they are getting from this.
If I see one pokemon-style emersion-breaking childish cartoon stupid smiley face on my supposed adult trek game there's going to be trouble.
I understand that there are people who already have "tons" of the pearls... That's cool... If you go right ahead and dedicate your lives to the event thing every 20 hours like clockwork your reward IS to not have to wait around and do more for getting the ship. That can be it's own reward. Some of us, though, barely even squeak through as it is. For us, getting the ship on the last day or so is a MAJOR accomplishment even if it's just to us. So seeing this change, that looks like it only starts with the summer event but I have suspicions will be rolled over into winter and anniversary events I have my own points to make against this news.
1. If you keep changing the currency every year you also doom the idea that you "want players to play" your new content by them either not participating at all(because then it becomes a yearly "hassle" not a event) or even further compartmentalizing them into not playing any longer than necessary. Either way you'll have people playing STO, regardless of the event going on, and it will do nothing but make the players coming back a frustrated mess because they saved up(as every older blog told them they could) and now they have to start over. This can cause those players to turn right back off from STO, Especially the ones who came back for Delta Recruit.
2. Why open an exchange market for pearls and not tell us if there is any foresight about then making that store a "summer token exchange" because by admitting that they are changing the currency every year this means that the store as they've just introduced it is ONLY for Risian Pearl exchange. What about the players who have zero pearls? And those who wind up with an excess of new currencies? Putting stuff inthe GPL store? Funny. I've NEVER had the GPL to buy any of the "toys" they put in there for-cost... Will an emot turn into one of those ship holograms at 50k 100K, 250k 500k? HAH! What do I look like a lifeless Dabo Zombie? I'm not and it'll become another toy I'll never touch simply because it's insanely expensive.
3. Speaking of excess new currency you can almost forget that. As I normally consider myself a casual player, when they introduced the Feature Episodes that gave us 400 [event] tokens at the start of events, I laid back in my chair with approval and and said "Alt friendly indeed.... now I only need to do this on one character and get them to 1k. Then I just have to run the little event game for the 40 on all my other characters and not bother playing any more than I absolutely have to. Then i can go back to leveling my reputation/helping my fleet." Normally those feature episodes were/are tied into specific, time-gated rewards, like the one we have in Blood of the Ancients, and the ONLY characters I've really run that mission on has been my Delta Recruit, for the tech upgrade, and my KDF Orion, for the special reward (Disruptor) being the actual weapon type she uses. Unless the Summer Events Feature Episode(if there is one) is a universal reward, like the Engie console from Delta Flight I don't see myself running off to play that mission for the 400 pearls on every character. Hell I doubt I'd do that even if they DID open the pearl exchange for the other summer currencies unless they added a mark exchange package.
4. The one thing most people have just missed form the blog, and the design team as a whole, is that they've just admitted to handing us a live shrapnel grenade... That grenade bringing us an explosion in new, quickly outdated, currencies that will just as quickly fill up cryptic's storage debt(something they just cleaned to give us more bank, ship, character, and costume slots) as a grenade in a crowded market fills a hospital. If they do this with the Winter Event and then the Anniversary Event too that's going to be a 3-fold increase in currencies yearly on top of the introduction of all new currencies in the form of reputations, fleet holdings, or what ever other currency for season/expansion ideas they may provide going forward. We already have back-logged exchanges from the conversion of Nukara into the reputation system, the update of Andorian Phasers into the fleet holding upgrades, the Christmas bauble exchange, the Risan Favors exchange, Prototype Console exhange..... Now we want to add up to 3 yearly currencies that go absolutely nowhere after the event too? insane!
It's in the blog...
LL&P: http://images-cdn.perfectworld.com/arc/b1/26/b1267c430c3a4eeafbcf55690b4d27e41431539005.png
Thumbs Up: http://images-cdn.perfectworld.com/arc/a5/11/a511b6ce90d62b88330036de9df22f171431474052.gif
...as a pair of examples.
Where there are going to be four packs:
Reasonable? Changing the currencies, I can live with, this part is 'reasonable'. Inconvienient, yes, though I can understand why Cryptic would do this, they want people to actually do the Event dailies to earn the prize, during the event, and not 'stockpile' resources for next year.
What is unreasonable is removing the Corvette, and Cruiser, this makes it impossible for new alts to get the ships that our older characters have...
If Cryptic made the old Corvette, and Cruiser available by some other means outside of the event daily I'd be ok with this, or at the very least less upset with it...:(
It says that you can exchange the currency for items in the second paragraph and it is fair to say that the Buyback store will change the currency after each event during the maintence period to close it however I can only see things being added such as small boosts.
Just finished reading all 47+ pages of this thread.
Posting to say THIS is the best analysis of the situation yet.
Also, I know two people who are in the same situation as takeguru. Meaning they only log in weekly and have spent two years working on the risian corvette project. Because the project gets removed at the beginning of the event, not the end, they lose two years of work for nothing. Beingnless than level 60, they can't get spec points either.
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=23834671&postcount=402
Not a good decision in my opinion.
You're fired.
1) Please give us the option to disable the client-side view of starship emotes, and
2) Please reconsider the decision to retire older event-locked starships.
I don't mind a starship being event-locked. Previously, if I missed an event (as I've done with the previous Risian events, due to summertime obligations IRL), it didn't sting so much knowing that I'd get another chance the following year. And the discounting of an event ship's price (when additional alts purchased it after it was unlocked on an account) had me very much looking forward to finally being able to participate in the Risian event this year, as my various alts would have the ability to get the older ships plus the new one if at least 3 of them did the currency grind.
The retirement of the old Risian ships would seem to foreshadow the same thing happening to other event starships. This would be VERY disappointing, especially for those of us who might be creating a new alt with a backstory specifically geared toward seeing him/her commanding one of those older event ships.
--Chris
oh I see.
Then trouble it is.
Unless there's a client side disable option.
I don't remember Kirk having to deal with ship emotes, Janeway might have?
Having just started playing back in December I was gearing up all of my toons to pick up all of the summer event ships. I was really looking forward to the Risian event so I could pick up the ships that were offered before I was playing.
The fact that I wont be able to get the ships really pisses me off, but it is Cryptic that will be hurt by this. At least their all important metrics will anyway. Where I was going to run at least three different toons through the event in order to get all three ships now I will only run one and then get the ship on my alts with the reduced cost. I'm sure I'm not the only one that had this plan in mind.
The real kick to the teeth is this will probably be what awaits me at the winter event where I planned to do the same thing.
Very bad decision Cryptic... Very disappointing.
No. These ships are being retired with the start of the 2015 Lohlunat Festival.
What? There is no way that I can obtain either ship? I'm a lifetime sub from the first season, bought a lifetime sub for a friend, and have almost all the ships and 16 toons, play as much as possible between business trips, and just popped for the Pathfinder w/ interior, Delta Pack, vesta set, etc. RL does not allow me all the time I need to get everything in game, but a) I found time to get the Breen sets for seven toons at the winter event (when work is lighter) and b) this is finally the summer of Risa. This is extremely disappointing for me, and now also for the four friends that I finally got to play regularly. This is a GREAT game, and awesome that it's f2p for folks, but this is really crushing news.
PS: I don't mind grinding, STO is an escape after work. Currently, I have no Risian pearls nor Risian Event slotted and no problem with collecting a new event item every year. I think you all have been great caretakers of the ST universe, and certainly the corvette and cruiser did not exist before STO, but I do mind that something I looked forward to is taken away suddenly with no method whatsoever to obtain it ever again.
To paraphrase another poster:
Because right now I'm feeling like we, the loyal long-term players who are invested deeply in STO and online whenever we can, were just given another giant middle finger.
Mirror, Mirror warns against a future where a Terran Empire ravages the galaxy led by the ISS Enterprise.
In the 2000s, the biggest space station we build is called the ISS.
I am concerned.
An "event" reputation slot is provided whose purpose includes many slots (5 to be exact) to unlock special projects using marks that do not expire and carry on at the very least into the next season.
The "event" is scrapped without informing us neither:
A) some time back in 2014 before the summer event ended to queue them as a last-chance to get them for existing players
See the problem?
This "advance notice" is not advance notice whatsoever. It's the equivalent of this: don't have it slotted since last year's event? Looking forward to the Risa event and the Existing Risa ships all year? Well, you're never getting them.
Please reconsider this decision. Make it possible to queue the old Risa ships now knowing they will be retired after. That would be fair. This isn't.
I can understand wanting to have each year's item be exclusive, kinda like showing you were around for a specific year. And I can understand each year's event needing a new currency. But suddenly changing the seasonal events to be this, when they weren't for quite a while, is just silly. We'd had previous years' ships and goodies available, for the previous years' currency, for a while now. It's right out of the blue switching everything on the fly like that. Not impressed.
I'm still here!!
I do not recall any blog ever saying that they could keep them and use them next year. Player, including me, collected them on the off chance that we could use them again, but this was never guaranteed. Previously this was allowed, but sorry I do not see the issue with this changing!
I also not see how it hurts people coming in to play the event. So far we have only had this one bit of information about the event - we still do not know what other rewards, trade ins etc will be added for those players once they have done their 25 runs and got the ship - there could be other things up for grabs. What I'm saying is it is too early still to be shouting about it and that we should wait until we know about the rewards, about how long we'll get to play the event, what other rewards will be offered to players after collecting the new ship and hearing about what will happen to alts who don't have previous ships that another main/alt has already collected.
Until I know more facts, I am not shouting doom about this event.
We've had exchanges for items for many past events and even crafting... somethings will go to the GPL store, but I think they will be the smaller items imho. This is no different than before, except so far, this time, it is stuff that I actually like!
Again we do not know if any of the multiple featured episodes due out over the coming months will reward the new currency - again, I'll wait until I know more before screaming.
There are two Federation players, a Romulan, and a KDF player.
One Fed is in a Malon Battlecruiser.
The other Fed is in an Olaen.
The Romulan is in a Sheshar.
The KDF is in a Sarr Theln.
One Fed is named Capt Hairy Pants.
The other Fed is named xXxBoBxXx.
The Romulan is named LagMonster.
The KDF is named IceColdNinja.
...is the Romulan giving the thumbs up emote above his or her ship really going to break the Star Trek immersion one had been feeling up to that point?
If you tried really hard, you could fit that in as multiple factions banding together... I guess now you can imagine that they are all texting each other too.
However, my question is about the currency exchange store. Is this going to be a permanent "thing" after every event? You can keep your gimmicky T6 Risen Tug. I might save up some of the new currency for this exchange.
I don't want to see anyones elses emote
period
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
Is someone grumpy today
to be fair, for me, its a bit of a non issue in that environment.. but flying through the new 'designed to be more immersive' sector space maps.. yeah pretty much.
That is all.