Well, I wanna thank Cryptic for giving something back to me after all the money I spent on this game.
But hell, couldn't they told me a bit earlier, bought Andromeda Class Exploration Cruiser 3 days ago (!!)
Thanks for the xp boost though, my FED ENG was only lvl 51 so that solved alot of grinding
Cheers Cryptic!
Comments
Same here. Logged in with my 57th level character and no ship. When I go to the store, it says I can buy it. Gee, thanks.
Fleet Admiral Ventaxa Proxmire, U.S.S. Shaka Walls Fell
Blog: http://www.sarbonn.com/?page_id=1990
Foundry series: Bob From Accounting & For the Sake of the Empire
"Elite Rewards for Veterans like You!"
"As a thank you for your support, we are giving you a powerful gift that will help you on your journey! Use the code below to claim your FREE Andromeda Class Exploration Cruiser and 10 Specialization Points to help you jump start your character's progression!" ... it also has a code that you then redeem when you log-into the Arc site. If all goes well you then log-into your STO game & select C-Store & look under Promotion tab for the 10 Specialization Points & the free Tier 6 Andromeda.
"Login today and enjoy an incredibly smooth Star Trek experience, Captains!"
... three of my friends that I got to begin playing STO got this email & one of them hasn't spent any money on the game besides the initial month subscribing while leveling-up nevermind they don't play STO that much anymore. Meanwhile I didn't qualify for the enticement though I've spent hundreds of dollars over the years, have the Lifetime subscription, & continue to play a little still but definitely not as much as I used to. PWE/Cryptic should've at least offered contributing current players a carrot as well. And this type of approach by PWE/Cryptic is why I stopped buying Zen with real money last summer.
I believe the Andromeda ship is for only 1 character, Fed of course, & you must be level 50 to claim. It's a great deal for a player that hasn't logged-in in awhile & has never spent any money on STO for sure.
Short-Sighted? The intention is getting people that haven't played in a while to log back in. Nothing short-sighted about that.
And such a gesture would sure have gotten you back into spending Zen? If you play the game but stopped spending money on it, you at least broke part of your addiciton, and it seems unlikely that any action on Cryptic's part can really get you back to spending money. But getting someone back into playing the game - well, that could change a lot.
Let's not forget they also gave existing players something with the last round of giveaways. This included 2 spec points per character - I don't know about you, but I got more than 5 characters on my account. And I already got the Andromeda.
mustrumridcully0
To your: "Short-Sighted? The intention is getting people that haven't played in a while to log back in. Nothing short-sighted about that." ... very true if you are only considering that particular target audience hence why I stated, & you must've glanced-over, " It's a really nice enticement for possible returning players!" Besides everyone is going to learn of this offering, those that did receive & those that didn't, so you are either ignorant of that or ignoring that truth.
Not to go all Defari, but there should be an attempt at balance. I think that would've been achieved by offering those that didn't qualify for whatever criteria PWE/Cryptic decided the Specialization Point bundle or something too. The cause & effect with this example shows me that if I stop altogether playing for a month or two maybe I can get a free T6 ship & some Specialization Points.
Would this alone bring back my mood to purchase Zen whenever there was sale even though I didn't need it like I used to? I never said it would, but it is a possibility that same possibility that you seem to think, along with PWE/Cryptic, that offering this deal to players no longer playing will cause them to play & buy again.
The 2 Specialization Points giveaway was part of a separate giveaway altogether so bundling that with this giveaway doesn't reinforcement any argument pro or con. It's simply presenting false evidence with a false argument because everyone was included with that opportunity right?
Enticing new or used to be players is a good thing no doubt. Ignoring the current players is just a lack of appreciation & effort. That free T6 with 10 Specialization Points definitely would've warmed my current perspective about PWE/Cryptic & helped some of my 16 toons. Yes I used to play a lot, but now I don't, & now maybe I'll take a month or two break LOL.
For example - every few months there is a Zen sale. And a Lobi sale.
And since Delta Rising, the first week or so when a new ship is released, it is available with a discount.
SInce Delta Rising, there have been 3 Tier 6 ships available in game, and anyone that wasn't there then will not get the ship anymore.
Occasionally, there are give-aways like this week-end.
Then there are repeatable events like the Crystalline Entity event, where active players can get lots of Dilithium.
There was the Delta Recruitment event - anyone not an active player then can't make a Delta Recruit and is missing out on plenty of rewards.
Then there are other special promos, like the R&D or DOFF promos - some just grant some extra rewards, some come with Lobi and the tiny chance of winning a rare ship.
That's all stuff that an inactive player is missing out.
But if he's lucky - he might get an email with 10 spec points and a free Tier 6 ship. If you've been playing since DR, you likely have made much more then 10 spec points (and if you were around for the giveaway and have more than 5 characters, you got at least 10 spec points), and 3 free Tier 6 ships. And your Tier 6 ships will likely not be available again. If you really want the Andromeda, you can just buy it.
Does nothing of that counts, and the only thing that counts is a reward code in an e-mail that? All the advantages people have in the game from playing the game and being around for all the special events, promos and sales is meaningless?
add to this the line "As a thank you for your support" well no.... they have shown no support to the game unless they have been playing every day.
if it had said "Elite Rewards for lapsed players like You!" and "in the hope of your renewed and continued support" then yes I would have been fine with that.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
And hell, keep the cruiser, I just want the spec points.
see the ship and spec points I don't care about, I have plenty of ships I enjoy flying and some I have still not used and spec points will come in time as I play.
i can fully understand how they might offer gifts such as this to get players back in the game, hopefully to stay.
as I said in my last post its just the wording of the offer that makes me upset.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
No, the privilege of grinding down events, many of them boring minigames, is not equal to getting 30 bucks send over and being told how awesome you are for not being around.
Know what the proper approach would have been? Give the active players a present too that does not revolve around jumping through a hoop. Because thats what events are. Hoops.
Once in a while a little recognition for all the hoops we jumped would be a nice gesture.
im not overly concerned as i have many tier 6 ships.
but those who did get it i ask do any of you have other t6 ships you paid for, maybe its a incentive to those who are playing but haven't upgraded yet.
"It appears we have lost our sex appeal, captain."- Tuvok
So if you don't like doing something in the game - don't do it.
mustrumridcully0:
"For example - every few months there is a Zen sale. And a Lobi sale.
And since Delta Rising, the first week or so when a new ship is released, it is available with a discount.
Since Delta Rising, there have been 3 Tier 6 ships available in game, and anyone that wasn't there then will not get the ship anymore.
Occasionally, there are giveaways like this week-end.
Then there are repeatable events like the Crystalline Entity event, where active players can get lots of Dilithium.
There was the Delta Recruitment event - anyone not an active player then can't make a Delta Recruit and is missing out on plenty of rewards.
Then there are other special promos, like the R&D or DOFF promos - some just grant some extra rewards, some come with Lobi and the tiny chance of winning a rare ship.
That's all stuff that an inactive player is missing out."
The Delta Recruitment event was fantastic. I enjoyed it immensely & it was one of the more innovative ideas implemented in STO in a good while.
All your reasons you cited are/were available to current & former players alike. The difference is that current contributing players didn't get an email with approximately $30.+ worth of value opportunity for no effort. All your examples could be had by any player, this specific enticement is not.
You mention the Crystalline Entity event which is a decent reward for the effort & can be fun. mustrumridcully0, do you think it would be fair if the players that never did the event got the same rewards as the players that accomplished the event the 14 times?
Following the logic you've stated you probably do. However, I do not. As you stated though, none of the special items in STO are "needed", but they do help.
Funny, because they could have gotten them too if they had bothered to log on like the rest of us. Instead, they didn't have to do anything to make level 60. I don't care about the ship, im bothered by the fact that I have to grind to level, and they get to head over to the C-store (not to buy, but just as a reward for showing up) just because the decided not to log in. Maybe I missed other instanced, but this is the first instance I've seen of someone getting to completely skip levels for nothing, while loyal/active players still have to grind their way through them.
Please note that I am not arguing a "side" of this issue. However, in regards to your comment, there is a huge difference between something free that you simply log in to get handed to you(like the various free items this week, and the 'return rewards' in question), compared to the event ships which required weeks of play to get. For that matter, I spend a lot of time earning dilithium to convert to zen to buy various items from the game store, but Cryptic didn't "give me those items for free"; I put in the time to get them. The same is true of the event ships.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
I don't think we're talking about 2 equal groups here, which is what a half is.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008