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Lockbox Ships: Would You Pay To Unlock It On All Your Alts?
ddesjardins
Member Posts: 3,056 Media Corps
From questions & suggestions from tonight's the SHOW and Lootcritter's blog:
AN INTERESTING CONVERSATION – LOCKBOX SHIPS: WOULD YOU PAY TO UNLOCK IT ON ALL YOUR ALTS?
Amidst the hubbub over the pearls and how you earn free ships during special events, an interesting discussion started to emerge around lockbox ships. Currently lockbox ships are ‘bind to character’ upon opening, unlike Zen store ships which become account wide assuming you meet the level and faction criteria.
For the purposes of this discussion, I’m talking about lockbox ships that fall into the 0.04% chance of getting during the launch of new lockboxes, or most recently the R&D packs. The Sheshars, Dominion Strike ships and the like.
For the vast majority of players, these ships are practically unattainable. While it’s not out of the realm of possibility that a single key could produce the magic golden ticket, the reality is that some players spend hundreds of dollars to attain them. They are status symbols, and with the addition of Ship Mastery traits a valued resource for more than just their pretty skins.
The discussion is this: Would you as a player, who already owns a valuable lockbox ship be willing to pay something extra to have that ship on another alt? For most of us, that answer is hell yes, but the real issue is how would they do it? Cryptic is a business, and like any business they need to extract value from this process. And if the current model is working why would they potentially dilute it?
How do we monetize this idea to catch the attention of the bean counters at Cryptic?
The boys over at The SHOW (the weekly conversation from Oden Knight with SarcasmDetecor, Timber Wolf, Snipey47 and SOB) poised this question in last weeks podcast and followed up with some great ideas which could make this work for Cryptic as a way to monetize it moving forward.
We already know that the coding required to rebox a ship isn’t in the realm of possibility at the moment, nor is making the lockbox ships an account-wide unlock for free. Neither would provide Cryptic with a way to make money, and while it would be an awesome quality of life move on behalf of the producers, it simply would do nothing to advance the games business model.
The SHOW offers this interesting idea: Allow players to ‘recover’ a boxed copy of the ship, bound to the account for a nominal fee in Zen. The mechanic might be a ‘Ship Recovery Token’ offered for sale in the Z-Store, or something similar. But how much?
All three of these ideas have merit. It accomplishes the goal of providing Cryptic with an additional revenue stream, it increases the chances that I will spend more to get them in the first place, and it maintains the rarity of the ships in game (The argument for long-term players is that we would not be introducing more alien ships, as we can only play one ship at a time.) Plus, it would be an incentive for me to play more.
What do you think?
AN INTERESTING CONVERSATION – LOCKBOX SHIPS: WOULD YOU PAY TO UNLOCK IT ON ALL YOUR ALTS?
Amidst the hubbub over the pearls and how you earn free ships during special events, an interesting discussion started to emerge around lockbox ships. Currently lockbox ships are ‘bind to character’ upon opening, unlike Zen store ships which become account wide assuming you meet the level and faction criteria.
For the purposes of this discussion, I’m talking about lockbox ships that fall into the 0.04% chance of getting during the launch of new lockboxes, or most recently the R&D packs. The Sheshars, Dominion Strike ships and the like.
For the vast majority of players, these ships are practically unattainable. While it’s not out of the realm of possibility that a single key could produce the magic golden ticket, the reality is that some players spend hundreds of dollars to attain them. They are status symbols, and with the addition of Ship Mastery traits a valued resource for more than just their pretty skins.
The discussion is this: Would you as a player, who already owns a valuable lockbox ship be willing to pay something extra to have that ship on another alt? For most of us, that answer is hell yes, but the real issue is how would they do it? Cryptic is a business, and like any business they need to extract value from this process. And if the current model is working why would they potentially dilute it?
How do we monetize this idea to catch the attention of the bean counters at Cryptic?
Whatever method it is, it has to increase interest in buying lockboxes. If I know that for a small fee I can ‘share’ the lockbox within my account, I will VERY likely spend more to try and get the lockbox ships. What I buy from the Zen store is irrelevant; keys to try my luck with the RNG Gods or items to sell to buy the ship off the exchange. The act of making the purchase is what counts.
It can’t reduce the value of the ships within the internal market. Part of the value of the original boxed ships are in their resell value. I’ve used my luck with ships to finance the upgrades for alts.
It has to preserve the limited nature of the ships. Cryptic does have some restrictions on it from CBS in terms of what it can and cannot sell. These ships were meant to be rare for a reason.
The boys over at The SHOW (the weekly conversation from Oden Knight with SarcasmDetecor, Timber Wolf, Snipey47 and SOB) poised this question in last weeks podcast and followed up with some great ideas which could make this work for Cryptic as a way to monetize it moving forward.
We already know that the coding required to rebox a ship isn’t in the realm of possibility at the moment, nor is making the lockbox ships an account-wide unlock for free. Neither would provide Cryptic with a way to make money, and while it would be an awesome quality of life move on behalf of the producers, it simply would do nothing to advance the games business model.
The SHOW offers this interesting idea: Allow players to ‘recover’ a boxed copy of the ship, bound to the account for a nominal fee in Zen. The mechanic might be a ‘Ship Recovery Token’ offered for sale in the Z-Store, or something similar. But how much?
The first number suggested was 1000 Zen. For 1/3 the price of a new ship, I can have a Wells or a Dominion Strike Ship on another alt. For the long-term dedicated player, that would be very cost prohibitive. In my case would I drop $110 to have that same ship available to all my alts? Uh, no. I do love the game, but I have to draw the line when I can’t store all the ships I want.
The second number suggested was the very reasonable amount of 250 Zen. This would definitely entice me to buy the ship for all of my alts, AND I might even let go of some that are using up space in my collection knowing I could recover them later on should I so desire.
I’d like to offer a third possibility – 2000 Zen for an account wide unlock for any one lockbox. Same mechanic as above, a token from the Zen Store. No limits on how many alts can use the ship. No need to worry about keeping ANY lockbox ship in your inventory. Make the ship recoverable if they pay the unlock fee.
All three of these ideas have merit. It accomplishes the goal of providing Cryptic with an additional revenue stream, it increases the chances that I will spend more to get them in the first place, and it maintains the rarity of the ships in game (The argument for long-term players is that we would not be introducing more alien ships, as we can only play one ship at a time.) Plus, it would be an incentive for me to play more.
What do you think?
Post edited by ddesjardins on
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so idk if id go as far as unlocking for all my alts but if i had the money to do so i would gladly
Why wouldn't I want all my alts to have the Sheshar?
So if I wanted to outfit 5 alts with Elachi Sheshar Intel variants, I'd pay a total of 100 USD, 2000 Zen per alt. I've already spent a fortune getting at least 1 Sheshar, so I did the time.
If I wanted to outfit 3 alts with a Tholian Recluse, I'd pay a total of 30 USD; 1000 Zen per alt, since I also did the time getting a Tholian Recluse.
If nothing else, it would give Cryptic another means of countering that Lockbox ships aren't gambling.
Valid point. Fixing issues that impact existing ships should be the first step.
Or why not just increase the chances of getting the ships from the lockbox itself...? There are enough zen sinks in the game as it is.
Really? You've done that?
In my case I have ships I accidentally opened (the Wells) on the wrong toon. Or I'd like to try the Recluse on a Sci alt. My KDF Sci alt. Or the Palisade. 10+ alts
Rebuying on that scale isn't workable for everyone, even those of us who can pay hundreds monthly to feed our addiction. And some ships simply are not always available for rebuying.
I think the idea (or something like it) has merit. If Cryptic can make more money AND it solves QOL issues for long-term players, then why not?
If all of the sudden LB ships became an account bound thing... I don't think it would change my basic attitude but I'm certain I'm more willing to get a few more keys next time I go to the lottery with that in mind.
Except if the account binding price is much more than free or a token gesture around the price of a single key; would continue to mostly ignore it if more expensive than that.
To my mind, account unlock would push the purchase of said ships into the realm of the possible, instead of the 'never gonna do it' it is now. If enough players are in the same boat, that would mean more sales. On the other hand, those nuts that buy multiples of the same ship for many of their toons wouldn't need to spend that much. I guess it'd be up to Cryptic to determine which path was the way to more sales.
But with their track record, I'd bet on things staying the same. They have a hard enough time keeping the game running let alone revamp something that doesn't 'need' fixing. Hell, I still have to reset my ship's power tray EVERY DAY. They can't even fix that after so many years.
It might make me more likely to buy more lockboox ships if i knew their starship traits would be a account unlock.
Not so sure. How many people buy multiple copies of the same ship and would no longer need to, vs how many people don't buy lockbox ships at all but would start buying one or two? More likely it'd just move the demographic from the deep pocketed to a more general audience.
Zen or Lobi is fine.
The account unlock version in particular would make me more likely to buy new lockbox ships since then the box becomes much more valuable to me.
The character transfer option has value to me too. One reason I hesitate to buy any lockbox ships is because I might give a ship to one character then later wish I'd picked a different one.
So for me, some version of this would mean more money to Cryptic from both the unlock or transfer option, and from me or someone else buying the piles of lockboxes needed to get new ships.
I think I would accept paying 250-500z for an accountwide unlock. Provided it would be recoverable and/or not take up garage space.
e: this should include lockbox and lobi ships alike.
Depends on how much they're asking for it.
http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10052253
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Standard tactic now for me, summer or winter event, farm the hell out of it, get a ton of winter or summer outfits, then sell them a few months later, it's always worked for me and thus I will continue this.
So 250-500 zen to make a prior obtained box ship work like an c-store ship? HELL YEAH!:)
whole idea is pretty much dead before it even tried to take off. if these ships become account wide no matter what, you spend less money to get them and as a result cryptic gets less money to reach their next quota.
they want you spending 300 dollars per alt because they can make a lot more money from it. but if you make it account wide, you spend 300 dollars for the lockbox ship and from there you only need to spend a few hundred dollars to unlock on every other ship. so instead of getting thousands of dollars from whales you get a quarter of that dollar mark instead.
i would be willing to bet that pwe give cryptic a mark to make each month in money terms, cryptic has to make the mark or face possible staff cuts and other dooooommmm!!!!1!1!!!!! related stuff, they need money to survive and thats the simple fact in all this. what i think of your ideas is irrelivant this is simply what cryptic decided to do a long time ago and it has not changed since and i can see this going on for another few years at least.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
But if it was cheap enough, I might still pay for such an unlock to allow me to dismiss and reclaim them.
Being able to re-box them in a tradeable form, would be absolutely horrible. It would destroy the value of the ships, and with it the value of the boxes (or rather the keys).