Going back to the topic, maybe if the transactions were a little more micro I would start spending again. Ships cost too much and I'm tired of lockboxes.
Personally I think they should sell content, not ships. Sure, a lot of people may complain about paywalls but at the moment we get more and more powerful ships faster than we get content to use them with. This results in being able to do the content faster and faster, which means more repetition and for some (me included) more boredom.
If content was the main income source for Cryptic then maybe, just maybe, they'd be more inclined to release more of it AND make sure it's of the highest quality as people won't want to pay for rubbish.
Remembering that it's F2P I feel that each season they should release a full story arc with 10 awesome adventures. F2P get 1 or 2 for free. Ships, viable ones, get made available by actually playing the game.
Again, whilst people may complain about it I feel it would be the best thing for the game. That being said it will never happen because of the vast amount of complaining and it probably won't be the most profitable system.
For people that doubt this method, think of it this way. If STO were a racing game we'd be in the position where we've been getting faster and faster cars but the tracks we've been getting are still designed for go-karts. Me, I'd rather race a go-kart on an epic track than race a Porsche on a simple loop that takes me a minute to do.
At one point I thought of a way that they could've done it, but honestly it would probably require significantly retooling the way they handle ship costumes and unlocks, and probably would never happen.
Conceptually at least, it's this simple: don't sell ships, sell spaceframes and modular parts.
Spaceframes: determine the number and disposition of the console/device/gear slots, the ship ability/mastery package and trait (if any) and hull/crew/turn/etc stats. Price target for a unique T6 spaceframe with a uni console and trait: $15
Bridge modules: determine the number and type of boff stations, and that's it. Price target for a T6 bridge module with two hybrid seats: $10
Costume package: visual attachment points and valid costume parts. Ideally you would have a lot more freedom to mix-and-match than you do now, although I recognize that making various different permutations of parts mesh together cleanly is not a trivial task. But since ships are basically just alternate character avatars, and ship parts use the costume system, it seems doable. Price target for a named ship costume package (to be in line with existing costume packs): $5.50
The whole notion of bridge modules is even canon--very much so. Breaking it down this way would still let them sell new boff layouts, new consoles and traits, and so on, and they could still sell "packs" that brought the whole thing together--but it would let people customize their ships a lot more than they can now, and it would mean that if someone just wanted the cool new bridge layout, that's what they could get; if they wanted the traits and console, they could go for the spaceframe, and if they were really into the looks of the ship, they could get the costume. Or any combination of the above.
Doing it this way would also make it a lot clearer what people like and don't like. If they had, for example, released the Intel ships this way, people who really wanted to fly an Intel Cruiser but hated the way the Eclipse looked could've foregone the costume package and just bought the spaceframe and bridge module, and slapped their Sovvy costume on it. Or if they didn't care about the cloaking device and console and just wanted the Intel hybrid seating, drop that bridge module into their favorite ship. It's one thing for there to be a ton of forum noise about the looks of a ship. It's another thing entirely to see, from the usage metrics, whether people like something more for the costume or for the abilities.
I know there are plenty of people who didn't buy Intel or Pilot ships because of the looks. Those no sales would turn into sales if players could just use a costume they liked on top of the spaceframe and bridge module they wanted.
Fleet Admiral L'Yern - Screenshot and doffing addict
Eclipse Class Intel Cruiser U.S.S. Dioscuria NX-91121-A - Interactive Crew Roster
At one point I thought of a way that they could've done it, but honestly it would probably require significantly retooling the way they handle ship costumes and unlocks, and probably would never happen.
Conceptually at least, it's this simple: don't sell ships, sell spaceframes and modular parts.
Spaceframes: determine the number and disposition of the console/device/gear slots, the ship ability/mastery package and trait (if any) and hull/crew/turn/etc stats. Price target for a unique T6 spaceframe with a uni console and trait: $15
Bridge modules: determine the number and type of boff stations, and that's it. Price target for a T6 bridge module with two hybrid seats: $10
Costume package: visual attachment points and valid costume parts. Ideally you would have a lot more freedom to mix-and-match than you do now, although I recognize that making various different permutations of parts mesh together cleanly is not a trivial task. But since ships are basically just alternate character avatars, and ship parts use the costume system, it seems doable. Price target for a named ship costume package (to be in line with existing costume packs): $5.50
The whole notion of bridge modules is even canon--very much so. Breaking it down this way would still let them sell new boff layouts, new consoles and traits, and so on, and they could still sell "packs" that brought the whole thing together--but it would let people customize their ships a lot more than they can now, and it would mean that if someone just wanted the cool new bridge layout, that's what they could get; if they wanted the traits and console, they could go for the spaceframe, and if they were really into the looks of the ship, they could get the costume. Or any combination of the above.
Doing it this way would also make it a lot clearer what people like and don't like. If they had, for example, released the Intel ships this way, people who really wanted to fly an Intel Cruiser but hated the way the Eclipse looked could've foregone the costume package and just bought the spaceframe and bridge module, and slapped their Sovvy costume on it. Or if they didn't care about the cloaking device and console and just wanted the Intel hybrid seating, drop that bridge module into their favorite ship. It's one thing for there to be a ton of forum noise about the looks of a ship. It's another thing entirely to see, from the usage metrics, whether people like something more for the costume or for the abilities.
I know there are plenty of people who didn't buy Intel or Pilot ships because of the looks. Those no sales would turn into sales if players could just use a costume they liked on top of the spaceframe and bridge module they wanted.
this sounds like a good idea,BUTT what u wanna bet that they would lock certain shis out of being able to use it ( miranda, constitution)
If you don't make 2000 zen in 3-4 hours at an exchange rate around 175... your doing something very very wrong.
At 175 that used to be around 350,000 D... 20 toons,
Ah, I see where our disagreement is coming from. You have 20 characters, and most people do not. Therefore your methods and time frames for earning zen do not apply to most people.
Really? I would have thought Groot would be a stumbling block as well.
Yes and no.
I can get the head of Groot pretty similar with an alien, and the uniform covers the body portion up.
Won't be perfect, but will be close enough for me. :cool:
Any game that has children playing is going to have parents with deep pockets with no idea of what things are worth. That is what drives the crazy pricing in this game. My sister spends at least $1000 a month on her kids toys. A lot of crazy people out there.
My idiot sister then wanted me to give her $20,000 for a down payment on a house. LOL. My brother is even dumber, I am very afraid to reproduce...
I've wondered myself how they can justify doing things like this.
It's amazing to me that people spend so much on essentials (because let's face it, it's essential to have a good ship and you can't get one from the in game store without buttloads of dilithium that you've spent years building up).
So when people claim this game is Pay to Win they really aren't far off because of the pricing model and because of the essential need of having these ships.
I've wondered myself how they can justify doing things like this.
The same way any other company "justifies" their prices - the consumer is willing to pay.
It's amazing to me that people spend so much on essentials (because let's face it, it's essential to have a good ship and you can't get one from the in game store without buttloads of dilithium that you've spent years building up).
So when people claim this game is Pay to Win they really aren't far off because of the pricing model and because of the essential need of having these ships.
.....huh?
essential
Not to beat a meme to death, but.... you keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
(also, a 3000 zen ship, at the current ~240 exchange rate, would by 90 days at 8k dil, one single character. Bit of an annoyance, yes. But "buttloads of dilithium that you've spent years building up"? Really?)
It's a little funny but there is nothing in this post that will make a company justify its pricing. very good f2p model I must say cryptic. Wish a few other games followed it.
I actually don't mind a mountain to climb but straight out demanding money for a dlc is a bit cheapa$$ Ala swtor and the other never ending early acess types.
May iadd with your model and relatively easy acess to dil the only challenge I suppose is to make sure most gear isn't outdated.
I believe however the new meta for the ap build is iconian .. top dps teams on tribble have begun reporting that it's the way to go for ap builds hmmmmm.
I actually don't mind a mountain to climb but straight out demanding money for a dlc is a bit cheapa$$ Ala swtor and the other never ending early access types.
I'm on the opposite side of the pole on this .
A 15$ sub or 20$ for a DLC actually puts everyone willing to invest on the same footing .
Grinding for things OTOTH , puts you (and the citizens of many countries , not just western ones) at a significant disadvantage , as even with minimum wage you'd end up earning & buying things much faster than if you grind for them in game .
Simply put , those who support grinding have very little idea how much they are being used , manipulated and ultimately how much their time is actually worth in RL vs in Never Never Land of a video game .
... not to mention that the added physical activity of getting to work (whether a physically demanding job or not) benefits your health as a person , while grinding in a video game ...
Simply put , those who support grinding have very little idea how much they are being used , manipulated and ultimately how much their time is actually worth in RL vs in Never Never Land of a video game.
Unless they simply see it being a reward for playing the game instead of it being a grind...so they're not being used, manipulated, and if they're having fun - where is there an issue with the value of their time?
I mean, it's kind of straight forward...folks can try to paint things in all sorts of negative ways if they want, but perhaps they need to look at how they're looking at things - look at themselves...rather than others.
Tom plays the game...as Tom plays...he gets XP...he levels up...he gets new abilities/etc, etc, etc.
Jerry plays the game...as Jerry plays...he collects Dil...he exchanges Dil for Zen...he buys stuff.
Pretty straightforward...
...or is everybody that's playing the game being used, manipulated, and ultimately have no idea of how much their time is actually worth?
A 15$ sub or 20$ for a DLC actually puts everyone willing to invest on the same footing .
Grinding for things OTOTH , puts you (and the citizens of many countries , not just western ones) at a significant disadvantage , as even with minimum wage you'd end up earning & buying things much faster than if you grind for them in game .
Simply put , those who support grinding have very little idea how much they are being used , manipulated and ultimately how much their time is actually worth in RL vs in Never Never Land of a video game .
... not to mention that the added physical activity of getting to work (whether a physically demanding job or not) benefits your health as a person , while grinding in a video game ...
Hmm well thought throungh and I think quite well put. were are
Ittle grinding bit$ches at some point of time where ever we come from. I think grinding stuff is just a poor mans way to make sure the game keeps having value. but I'm hard pressed to see any other addition to sto that can balance out cryptics regular expenses. Ofcourse having a dev or so explain in some detail why the prices of ships are what they are would help alleviate all the the conspiracy theories ... Would that happen?
A 15$ sub or 20$ for a DLC actually puts everyone willing to invest on the same footing .
Grinding for things OTOTH , puts you (and the citizens of many countries , not just western ones) at a significant disadvantage , as even with minimum wage you'd end up earning & buying things much faster than if you grind for them in game .
The minimum wage comparison gets brought up sometimes, but... Star Trek Online is not a job. When you play it, you're playing a game. You have no superiors, no customers, no deadlines, no responsibilities at all. You do what you do for your entertainment only, and you can stop at any time without risking your health insurance or the ability to buy food or suffering any contractual fines.
And if it was a job, and you really try to put a monetary value on the time you spend in the game... How do you count grinding in non-F2P games? You actually have to pay for the privilege of grinding for stuff! That's much worse than working below minimum wage!
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Albeit prices are a bit high right now, you can get most things for free if you can't or don't want to spend money for the game. You actually "work" for someone else who is willing to pay for your commitment/playtime.
That's how F2P model works nowadays, and the fact it works is a thing that should make us happy, because if it wasn't that way, all the good MMO games would be sub-based like 10 years ago. And I don't really want that kind of commitment (because I would find myself playing a game because I'm paying for it and I don't want to "waste" money, rather than for enjoyment).
STO asks me to spend $30 on a ship (IF there is a ship I like, and IF I can afford it), but I also know that ship will always be there for all my characters to claim it, for as long as STO is alive. No strings attached. No time constraints.
I purchased *many* (over a thousand, if we count in bundles) games, but there are very few I played for over 10 hours, and only a handful with over 100 hours. I didn't really have a good time with most $30-50 games, I got disappointed by a lot of them, I even raged at some, others I finished in less than 6 hours with no replay value. At least I know exactly what to expect with a new $30 ship purchase in STO.
Replay value hmmm stfs? Truth be told Ive been replayingg stuff for a while... Of course the same mission for the romulan set the same mission for the resonant set etc
And of course replaying r&d over and over again for that crit d beam.
This thread is a little long for me to read every single page but I thought I'd add my perspective on it.
Don't you think that maybe if the prices were lowered a little, more people would actually spend the money to pay for content and then you wouldn't have to depend so much on the whales to keep you afloat?
Ex:
If Jimmy can't afford a $30 pack of ships, he is less likely to spend the money on said ships and if the grind to get it for free is too much, he might even walk away from the game.
If Jimmy, Patricia, and Alex can afford $10 ships and decide they want them, you get more players AND you make the same money. At the same time, if Joe doesn't have the $10 to pay for the ship, he can grind it out and not get discouraged from playing the game.
Just my view on the matter. I want people to play, not walk away because they feel it is a grind to get anything to enjoy the game.
This thread is a little long for me to read every single page but I thought I'd add my perspective on it.
Don't you think that maybe if the prices were lowered a little, more people would actually spend the money to pay for content and then you wouldn't have to depend so much on the whales to keep you afloat?
Sure, it's possible.
But maybe they found that the current pricing system - including the occassional sale - works pretty well for them?
They know their conversions rates and can probably estimate how much they could improve compared to how much they need to improve with lower prices.
For example, if the yrealize that a large amount of people that spend money on ships at all buy most of them, making the ships cheaper will only lead to mkaing less money from them. To recoup that reduction, they need a large number of people that start buying. if that is unlikely to happen, given the sales behaviour of people, it's not a good idea for Cryptic.
Keep also in mind that lowering Zen prices also means that the Dilithium conversion suddenly becomes more attractive to get ships - instead of grinding for weeks, you might need only grind for days to get a ship. Even if that rises the Zen value on the exchange, the Zen/Dilithium conversion is capped at 500 Dil per Zen.
Maybe this is actually what is happening on Neverwinter? The stuff people want is cheap enough that it's relatively easy to grind for the amount of Zen you need, and so the Zen price is at maximum, and Zen availability is low - but low Zen availaibility whena at cap can also mean that fewer people are buying Zen, which is bad for Cryptic.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Unless they simply see it being a reward for playing the game instead of it being a grind...so they're not being used, manipulated, and if they're having fun - where is there an issue with the value of their time?
This.
I am very surprised every time someone informs me that I should feel exploited or used by Cryptic. Here I thought I was having fun. Shows what I know!
I'm not a victim with no agency. My time is worth quite a lot per hour, and how I choose to spend that time--or the money that I earn--is a choice that I make. If I grind, it's because I decided there's something I want at the end of that grind.
Fleet Admiral L'Yern - Screenshot and doffing addict
Eclipse Class Intel Cruiser U.S.S. Dioscuria NX-91121-A - Interactive Crew Roster
Something I'm just gonna throw into the mix here regarding the cost of CStore items, primarily ships and ship bundles...
Went and saw Mad Max : Fury Road earlier in the week, saw it in 3D, so paid an additional charge for that, and after popcorn and a drink it cost me $40 for about 2 hours of entertainment...
Again... It cost me $40 for 2 hours of entertainment...
Though I absolutely loved the movie and would probably go see it again given half a chance, given I paid $40 for 2 hours of entertainment, spending $30 on a ship which (if all goes to plan) could potentially provide (or at least improve) countless hours of entertainment, $30 really is not such a big cost when viewed in this light...
The mistake most people make is they view CStore purchases, ships especially, as an investment, when they really are nothing more than a (disposable given they have no intrinsic value) medium to improve your gaming experience...
I also have absolutely no doubt that a very large portion, if not potentially the majority on these forums, would not hesitate to spend $20-$40 to see a movie on the big screen - which is money virtually pissed into the wind, in the grand scheme of things, as you get nothing back for that money, beyond a couple hours of amusement...
Yet many of those same people will scoff because Cryptic want $30 for an in-game object that the purchaser can utilise for an extended period, well beyond the 2 hour duration of most movies...
Tom plays the game...as Tom plays...he gets XP...he levels up...he gets new abilities/etc, etc, etc.
Jerry plays the game...as Jerry plays...he collects Dil...he exchanges Dil for Zen...he buys stuff.
Pretty straightforward...
...or is everybody that's playing the game being used, manipulated, and ultimately have no idea of how much their time is actually worth?
Well Tom and Jerry can (and did) do all that and had fun doing it ... , until they got a look at the Spec Trees and the rearranged XP awards across the game (rearranged XP for their benefit ... , or so they have been told) .
... then Tom and Jerry started looking around for the soulless minions of orthodoxy ... , 'cuz they figured that anyone who thought that the jump from the Reputation grind to Spec Tree grind was "normal" needed to have their heads examined ...
Comments
Personally I think they should sell content, not ships. Sure, a lot of people may complain about paywalls but at the moment we get more and more powerful ships faster than we get content to use them with. This results in being able to do the content faster and faster, which means more repetition and for some (me included) more boredom.
If content was the main income source for Cryptic then maybe, just maybe, they'd be more inclined to release more of it AND make sure it's of the highest quality as people won't want to pay for rubbish.
Remembering that it's F2P I feel that each season they should release a full story arc with 10 awesome adventures. F2P get 1 or 2 for free. Ships, viable ones, get made available by actually playing the game.
Again, whilst people may complain about it I feel it would be the best thing for the game. That being said it will never happen because of the vast amount of complaining and it probably won't be the most profitable system.
For people that doubt this method, think of it this way. If STO were a racing game we'd be in the position where we've been getting faster and faster cars but the tracks we've been getting are still designed for go-karts. Me, I'd rather race a go-kart on an epic track than race a Porsche on a simple loop that takes me a minute to do.
Conceptually at least, it's this simple: don't sell ships, sell spaceframes and modular parts.
Spaceframes: determine the number and disposition of the console/device/gear slots, the ship ability/mastery package and trait (if any) and hull/crew/turn/etc stats. Price target for a unique T6 spaceframe with a uni console and trait: $15
Bridge modules: determine the number and type of boff stations, and that's it. Price target for a T6 bridge module with two hybrid seats: $10
Costume package: visual attachment points and valid costume parts. Ideally you would have a lot more freedom to mix-and-match than you do now, although I recognize that making various different permutations of parts mesh together cleanly is not a trivial task. But since ships are basically just alternate character avatars, and ship parts use the costume system, it seems doable. Price target for a named ship costume package (to be in line with existing costume packs): $5.50
The whole notion of bridge modules is even canon--very much so. Breaking it down this way would still let them sell new boff layouts, new consoles and traits, and so on, and they could still sell "packs" that brought the whole thing together--but it would let people customize their ships a lot more than they can now, and it would mean that if someone just wanted the cool new bridge layout, that's what they could get; if they wanted the traits and console, they could go for the spaceframe, and if they were really into the looks of the ship, they could get the costume. Or any combination of the above.
Doing it this way would also make it a lot clearer what people like and don't like. If they had, for example, released the Intel ships this way, people who really wanted to fly an Intel Cruiser but hated the way the Eclipse looked could've foregone the costume package and just bought the spaceframe and bridge module, and slapped their Sovvy costume on it. Or if they didn't care about the cloaking device and console and just wanted the Intel hybrid seating, drop that bridge module into their favorite ship. It's one thing for there to be a ton of forum noise about the looks of a ship. It's another thing entirely to see, from the usage metrics, whether people like something more for the costume or for the abilities.
I know there are plenty of people who didn't buy Intel or Pilot ships because of the looks. Those no sales would turn into sales if players could just use a costume they liked on top of the spaceframe and bridge module they wanted.
Eclipse Class Intel Cruiser U.S.S. Dioscuria NX-91121-A - Interactive Crew Roster
this sounds like a good idea,BUTT what u wanna bet that they would lock certain shis out of being able to use it ( miranda, constitution)
Ah, I see where our disagreement is coming from. You have 20 characters, and most people do not. Therefore your methods and time frames for earning zen do not apply to most people.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
Yes and no.
I can get the head of Groot pretty similar with an alien, and the uniform covers the body portion up.
Won't be perfect, but will be close enough for me. :cool:
My idiot sister then wanted me to give her $20,000 for a down payment on a house. LOL. My brother is even dumber, I am very afraid to reproduce...
It's amazing to me that people spend so much on essentials (because let's face it, it's essential to have a good ship and you can't get one from the in game store without buttloads of dilithium that you've spent years building up).
So when people claim this game is Pay to Win they really aren't far off because of the pricing model and because of the essential need of having these ships.
The same way any other company "justifies" their prices - the consumer is willing to pay.
.....huh?
Not to beat a meme to death, but.... you keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
(also, a 3000 zen ship, at the current ~240 exchange rate, would by 90 days at 8k dil, one single character. Bit of an annoyance, yes. But "buttloads of dilithium that you've spent years building up"? Really?)
I actually don't mind a mountain to climb but straight out demanding money for a dlc is a bit cheapa$$ Ala swtor and the other never ending early acess types.
May iadd with your model and relatively easy acess to dil the only challenge I suppose is to make sure most gear isn't outdated.
I believe however the new meta for the ap build is iconian .. top dps teams on tribble have begun reporting that it's the way to go for ap builds hmmmmm.
I'm on the opposite side of the pole on this .
A 15$ sub or 20$ for a DLC actually puts everyone willing to invest on the same footing .
Grinding for things OTOTH , puts you (and the citizens of many countries , not just western ones) at a significant disadvantage , as even with minimum wage you'd end up earning & buying things much faster than if you grind for them in game .
Simply put , those who support grinding have very little idea how much they are being used , manipulated and ultimately how much their time is actually worth in RL vs in Never Never Land of a video game .
... not to mention that the added physical activity of getting to work (whether a physically demanding job or not) benefits your health as a person , while grinding in a video game ...
Unless they simply see it being a reward for playing the game instead of it being a grind...so they're not being used, manipulated, and if they're having fun - where is there an issue with the value of their time?
I mean, it's kind of straight forward...folks can try to paint things in all sorts of negative ways if they want, but perhaps they need to look at how they're looking at things - look at themselves...rather than others.
Tom plays the game...as Tom plays...he gets XP...he levels up...he gets new abilities/etc, etc, etc.
Jerry plays the game...as Jerry plays...he collects Dil...he exchanges Dil for Zen...he buys stuff.
Pretty straightforward...
...or is everybody that's playing the game being used, manipulated, and ultimately have no idea of how much their time is actually worth?
Hmm well thought throungh and I think quite well put. were are
Ittle grinding bit$ches at some point of time where ever we come from. I think grinding stuff is just a poor mans way to make sure the game keeps having value. but I'm hard pressed to see any other addition to sto that can balance out cryptics regular expenses. Ofcourse having a dev or so explain in some detail why the prices of ships are what they are would help alleviate all the the conspiracy theories ... Would that happen?
And if it was a job, and you really try to put a monetary value on the time you spend in the game... How do you count grinding in non-F2P games? You actually have to pay for the privilege of grinding for stuff! That's much worse than working below minimum wage!
That's how F2P model works nowadays, and the fact it works is a thing that should make us happy, because if it wasn't that way, all the good MMO games would be sub-based like 10 years ago. And I don't really want that kind of commitment (because I would find myself playing a game because I'm paying for it and I don't want to "waste" money, rather than for enjoyment).
STO asks me to spend $30 on a ship (IF there is a ship I like, and IF I can afford it), but I also know that ship will always be there for all my characters to claim it, for as long as STO is alive. No strings attached. No time constraints.
I purchased *many* (over a thousand, if we count in bundles) games, but there are very few I played for over 10 hours, and only a handful with over 100 hours. I didn't really have a good time with most $30-50 games, I got disappointed by a lot of them, I even raged at some, others I finished in less than 6 hours with no replay value. At least I know exactly what to expect with a new $30 ship purchase in STO.
And of course replaying r&d over and over again for that crit d beam.
Don't you think that maybe if the prices were lowered a little, more people would actually spend the money to pay for content and then you wouldn't have to depend so much on the whales to keep you afloat?
Ex:
If Jimmy can't afford a $30 pack of ships, he is less likely to spend the money on said ships and if the grind to get it for free is too much, he might even walk away from the game.
If Jimmy, Patricia, and Alex can afford $10 ships and decide they want them, you get more players AND you make the same money. At the same time, if Joe doesn't have the $10 to pay for the ship, he can grind it out and not get discouraged from playing the game.
Just my view on the matter. I want people to play, not walk away because they feel it is a grind to get anything to enjoy the game.
Quoted For Truth. Someone should tack that up at the top of the board and above every post.
Sure, it's possible.
But maybe they found that the current pricing system - including the occassional sale - works pretty well for them?
They know their conversions rates and can probably estimate how much they could improve compared to how much they need to improve with lower prices.
For example, if the yrealize that a large amount of people that spend money on ships at all buy most of them, making the ships cheaper will only lead to mkaing less money from them. To recoup that reduction, they need a large number of people that start buying. if that is unlikely to happen, given the sales behaviour of people, it's not a good idea for Cryptic.
Keep also in mind that lowering Zen prices also means that the Dilithium conversion suddenly becomes more attractive to get ships - instead of grinding for weeks, you might need only grind for days to get a ship. Even if that rises the Zen value on the exchange, the Zen/Dilithium conversion is capped at 500 Dil per Zen.
Maybe this is actually what is happening on Neverwinter? The stuff people want is cheap enough that it's relatively easy to grind for the amount of Zen you need, and so the Zen price is at maximum, and Zen availability is low - but low Zen availaibility whena at cap can also mean that fewer people are buying Zen, which is bad for Cryptic.
I am very surprised every time someone informs me that I should feel exploited or used by Cryptic. Here I thought I was having fun. Shows what I know!
I'm not a victim with no agency. My time is worth quite a lot per hour, and how I choose to spend that time--or the money that I earn--is a choice that I make. If I grind, it's because I decided there's something I want at the end of that grind.
Eclipse Class Intel Cruiser U.S.S. Dioscuria NX-91121-A - Interactive Crew Roster
Went and saw Mad Max : Fury Road earlier in the week, saw it in 3D, so paid an additional charge for that, and after popcorn and a drink it cost me $40 for about 2 hours of entertainment...
Again... It cost me $40 for 2 hours of entertainment...
Though I absolutely loved the movie and would probably go see it again given half a chance, given I paid $40 for 2 hours of entertainment, spending $30 on a ship which (if all goes to plan) could potentially provide (or at least improve) countless hours of entertainment, $30 really is not such a big cost when viewed in this light...
The mistake most people make is they view CStore purchases, ships especially, as an investment, when they really are nothing more than a (disposable given they have no intrinsic value) medium to improve your gaming experience...
I also have absolutely no doubt that a very large portion, if not potentially the majority on these forums, would not hesitate to spend $20-$40 to see a movie on the big screen - which is money virtually pissed into the wind, in the grand scheme of things, as you get nothing back for that money, beyond a couple hours of amusement...
Yet many of those same people will scoff because Cryptic want $30 for an in-game object that the purchaser can utilise for an extended period, well beyond the 2 hour duration of most movies...
Well Tom and Jerry can (and did) do all that and had fun doing it ... , until they got a look at the Spec Trees and the rearranged XP awards across the game (rearranged XP for their benefit ... , or so they have been told) .
... then Tom and Jerry started looking around for the soulless minions of orthodoxy ...