The reason why many people buy name brand over generic is status and brand confidence. People will pay extra money to not look cheap and to be risk averse. Established Branding avoids both of those psychological issues (mostly). Take the packaging (branding) away and the evaluations get really interesting.
Of course the price goes up when the amiunt of product in the bottle increases, that was actually my point. Sodas in the 1950-1970's were 12-16 ounses and cost xx cents, while todays bottle is 20 ounces. A previous poster stated that even with inflation accounted for, todays bottle of soda was more expensive (15% if I remember) when one looks at income differences. What they didnt take to account is that that percentage is negated because the soda bottle volume has increased by a greater percentage than the deficit in wage increase to inflation indexes (ie the bottle is now cheaper per ounce than the 1950-1970's.
Ps , why arent the quotes showing up for these responses?
If you want to fix the ec economy it is simple remove any way of transferring via trade or mail, and put a fee on the exchange
personally, I would love to just go back to a drop system from bosses and delete the exchange, the only thing the exchange did was give folks that want to swipe a credit card a short cut (time wise) to getting high end gear, for the rest of players it has turned into a unrealistic grind caused by exchange trolls
[/b]
at least then, the game's economy cant be killed off by a handful of troll players:)
anyways, you will see the next lockbox ships going for even higher, more insane prices then what we see now- and you will also get to read the exchange trolls trying to rationalize "why" the price should be as high on the forums and in game LOL
I just hope we can get into the hundreds of millions soon for everything, traits- ships- weapons- ALL of it... cause you know, you just know that the whales will throw a hissy fit if they cant get people to pay for the new lockbox ships in zone chat and on channels that they will simply, purposefully cripple the exchange with a mass markup
cause, that's what you can count on these trolls to do
for them, the pleasure of the game is imaginary money... its not about their build, its not about doing missions, stfs.. its not about pvp matches or creating foundry missions..
hell, its not even about roleplaying or having fun exploring the maps in the game
its about one thing only,
bragging to friends and the illusion that money equals "win" in the game
the sad part is,
with the whales "win" ...means everyone in the game loses the ability to enjoy what cryptic releases
ah well, it was fun while it lasted right?
So your fix is to replace one "unrealistic grind" with another? Playing a mission hundreds, maybe thousands of times, in the hopes that the specific piece you want will get dropped? And then all the other players want the same piece, so it becomes a random chance of getting said item? No, just no. I'd rather do the grind for EC than that option.
There isn't just a handful of "troll players" that control the market. Actually, if you know what to look for, getting EC is actually very simple. I'm not a "whale"(yes, I have spent RL money a few times to buy a ship I wanted) but with some diligence and smart trading, I went from having almost no EC to over 200 million in a month. And I'm no troll, I'm just(barely) smart enough to recognize trends in the exchange and then capitalize off those trends. Anyone can do the same with a little time and forethought.
This sounds like a "special little snowflake" post to me. Do you understand that those lockbox ships can cost a person hundreds of dollars of RL money? So, you just think they should then give them away to you for nothing? Besides that, you don't NEED any of those ships, unless you like it's appearance or whatever. You can take the free ship given to you at level 40 and complete most advanced content with it, if you take the time to understand builds,boff skills,etc. Besides that, Cryptic has given players free T6 ships just for participating in events.
The exchange is WAI and needs no fixing. Seems to me, it's your way of doing things ingame that's broken and needs the fix. Grind out some dilithium, trade it on the dil to zen market, take that zen and buy some keys from the C-store, then sell those keys for the going rate,which atm is around 4.5 million a piece. $5 of zen gets you 4 keys, which you then sell for 16-20 million EC. Rinse, repeat and voila! You have EC!!! There are other ways that are just as easy but I won't disclose those them. I'll leave that for you to figure out, unless your "gimme that I want it and I should get it for free just because I play the game" sense of entitlement won't allow you to.
Its really simple, if you dont like the prices that things are going for on the exchange, don't buy them!!! If you want it badly enough you can take the alternate route that the original sellers go through to get the ship.
Who is the greedier person, the person selling a luxury item for a price that some consider exhorbinant, or the one that wants to punish the seller because no one is offering the luxury item at a price that they would agree too?
As someone who doesnt buy keys or lockbox stuff, If you don't want to pay the price, its really none of your business to what someone is selling the item for to a person willing to pay the selling price! Its not like one has to have a lockbox ship to be competitive in this game.
The amount of entitlement thats growing here and in society is truely pitiful.
I will agree that something needs to be done to bring EC prices for items back under control. Pretty much everything hinges on the value of master keys, which have gone from 2mil each to over 4mil each in a very short time. High demand vs low supply I suppose... not as many people putting real cash into the game anymore, fewer keys on the market means they're pricier to obtain. But yes, the powers that be need to act and reign things in or keys will be going for over 10mil each in short order.
OR
If they're not going to fix the economy then remove the 500mil exchange price limit and increase the personal EC cap.
Man 10 million for a key, I would become a key seller at that point.
The effect a key at 10mil will have on the economy means things will cost the same relative to the price of a key. Instead of 150mil ships we'd be looking at 350mil ships.
Or, if people want lock box ships, and items, they can spend their own gorramned, money and buy their keys to get them, that was the implied intent of the lock boxes anyways. This whole taxing and fee nonsense is just a childish attempt to punish people, how will the pro-taxers react if something they want to spend money/EC/dil on things they normal buy/want to buy?
Personally, I would like to see keys be bound to account to begin with.
"Last note please try to keep the replies positive so that any possible changes will benefit the community as a whole. If you are one of the ultra rich or have access to virtually unlimited funds because of who you know please refrain from posting, as your perspective on this is most likely going to be askew. I would mostly like to hear the opinions of newer players, and players who feel the economy in this game is broken."
Humm I guess what I'm hearing is if your one of the people that we want to tax dont post...sounds familiar
Oh I missed that part.
Hey @fk21 of the thread, just what exactly do you mean by "have access to virtually unlimited funds because of who you know."
What exactly specifically?
I don't know where the OP is coming from, I was a new player once and was happy to gain all that I have through simply playing the game, not because of anyone who I know or because I wanted to alter the games economy to suit my own ends but by getting the stuff I have through selective spending of the in game currency, I cant afford to spend heaps of real money in the game but that doesn't stop me enjoying what I have without feeling the need to envy those that might have more then me for whatever reason they have it whether it be from spending real money or just playing the game for longer.
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.
Of course the price goes up when the amiunt of product in the bottle increases, that was actually my point. Sodas in the 1950-1970's were 12-16 ounses and cost xx cents, while todays bottle is 20 ounces. A previous poster stated that even with inflation accounted for, todays bottle of soda was more expensive (15% if I remember) when one looks at income differences. What they didnt take to account is that that percentage is negated because the soda bottle volume has increased by a greater percentage than the deficit in wage increase to inflation indexes (ie the bottle is now cheaper per ounce than the 1950-1970's.
Ps , why arent the quotes showing up for these responses?
While I would normally agree with this, it has it's incorrect view on some parts.
Back when I was young [38 currently], a bottle of soda was 12oz. @ $0.25-$0.50 depending on where you buy it, you could also trade back bottles @ $0.10 per bottle [not like today in most places] reducing your cost for a new 1.
Wages were lower back than as well, but by the time I was old enough to work legally, wages have since than increased by roughly less than 1/3, while the cost of a soda had increased by 1.5-2X what it was for the same bottle, and by that time bottles were no longer being traded in for $$$.
Years later, wages doubled, while again soda increaded by a factor of 2-3X, so product over wages = product increases typically faster, same as they can drop in price just as fast!!!
And yet, I can go into any grocery store and buy thier store brand 2 liter soda equivalent for 79 cents,and have the same utility of the name brand for wbout half the cost. 40 years ago, there wasnt store brands on the same level as they are now, store brand bread can still be had for 99 cents.What the other guy was saying about technology is true as well. I spent $2,400 for a Gateway GS400 computer system in 1998, the equivalent level of performance and features today would cost me less than $1,000.
The fact still stands that one doesnt need all of the nice shineys to do very well at this game, and complaining about the cost on the exchange for lock box items is only available to the "STO 1%" is ridiculous , and crying for punishment of the higher EC/Dil sale buyers is akin to a child's temper-tantrum when they dont get what they want for Christmas.
The OP can Cry out all they want for "Occupy Starfleet", its not going to work.
Store brand cola doesnt have the same utility as actual coca cola if you like actual coca cola and that's why you buy it.
I just want to say. I read this and I'm not sure what happened to my brain, but I'm pretty sure it not good.
Well, just like any good politician/business man would say. "It makes perfect sense, if you don't think about it"
No, it makes perfect sense if you -do- think about it.
Someone said store brand soda had the same utility as brand name soda.
Utility is the use or pleasure or whatever you get out of something, the benefit.
If you buy coca cola because you like the taste of it more than any other kind of cola, then buying store-brand cola doesnt have the same utility as coca cola- you dont enjoy it as much.
If you just want sugar and caffeine in a drink, and dont care about the taste as much as just wanting the sugar and caffeine, then any cola will do as long as it has the same amount of sugar and caffeine. In that case, sugar and caffeine is the utility you get from the cola, and name brand/store bought are the same.
For me, I like coca cola more than other colas, and hardly ever drink soft drinks anyway. So, if i'm going to buy a cola from the store, the extra utility from Coca Cola (i enjoy it the most) is worth the extra money.
Agreed, but for me there is no substiture for Mt. Dew, as in no store brand I have ever tried, is exactly as good in taste ever!!!
Some come almost close, but quality in this product, shows in regards to price, it's why it's Pepsi's #1 selling soda.
I have always suggested that in order to fix the economy the Devs should put ALL lockbox items into the Lobi store a period of time after the box is retired.
This would happen maybe 1yr - 6months after the lockbox is retired and they would have to come up with a pricing structure that makes sense (Luck box-ships would be 800/900 lobi in parallel to the true lobi ships, traits may be 200 like consoles, doffs might be 100 more frequent/likely things would be less). Things from this 'last chance lobi store' should be bound on pickup to encourage players to buy/use keys to get the item they want.
This would avoid the insane EC inflation on box 'must haves' like Inspirational leader/Fed leech/zemok etc, putting a theoretical cap on values and I can only see this benefiting players, the STO economy and PWE back pockets.
There will be 'space rich' players who hoarde these items that will 'poo poo' this idea (indeed I wouldn't stand lose out if values of such items tanked due to there being a way to purchase them directly at an implied capped value) but eventually it would benefit all players, allowing everyone to participate.
I have always suggested that in order to fix the economy the Devs should put ALL lockbox items into the Lobi store a period of time after the box is retired.
This would happen maybe 1yr - 6months after the lockbox is retired and they would have to come up with a pricing structure that makes sense (Luck box-ships would be 800/900 lobi in parallel to the true lobi ships, traits may be 200 like consoles, doffs might be 100 more frequent/likely things would be less). Things from this 'last chance lobi store' should be bound on pickup to encourage players to buy/use keys to get the item they want.
This would avoid the insane EC inflation on box 'must haves' like Inspirational leader/Fed leech/zemok etc, putting a theoretical cap on values and I can only see this benefiting players, the STO economy and PWE back pockets.
I wouldn't mind that happening, that I could just buy the items from Cryptic instead of either playing with the lockboxes or going to the exchange. Hell I would really love to be able to earn the lobi instead of opening boxes for it. It seems it always comes back to the boxes and the keys. Gamble or grind seems to be the two choices for the whales and the ftp. I am not a financial expert here but I do know the reality of the situation that I would face in game.
You need a well armed ship that can hold its own and an away team that can handle ground missions. That means you need components and weapons to do the job in space and on the ground. For a player with one captain, that's a daunting task, for a player with alts (and there is alot of us in this category) that's an almost impossible task. If I want a plasmonic leech for example for my main and my alts I would have to spend and ungodly fortune that I would have to grind for with every waking moment of my life to either make enough ec to get the item or grind dilithium to convert to zen to buy the keys to open the boxes to gamble for the leech or just sell the keys to make the ec to get the same thing. And its all about the dil too, if I want to craft items I need dil , but wait I have to make another gamble here because even if I have the dilithium to pay for getting my items upgraded there is no guarantee I will get the desired results. Sure if I had a overflowing bank account I could just throw alot of money at the situation and buy and sell keys to my hearts content but I think I would end up feeling like a stockbroker and not as starfleet captain, in short..
I wouldn't mind earning the items, whether from grinding or from a boss drop but the lockbox thing is getting out of hand.
I wouldn't mind just buying the rare item from cryptic because the exchange is getting out of hand.
I wouldn't mind that the amount of dilithium I spend guarantees the outcome of my crafting because the crafting thing seems out of hand.
I wouldn't mind the grind because the gambling thing is getting out of hand.
"There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life." - Ten Bears (Will Sampson)
Man 10 million for a key, I would become a key seller at that point.
The effect a key at 10mil will have on the economy means things will cost the same relative to the price of a key. Instead of 150mil ships we'd be looking at 350mil ships.
but eventually it would benefit all players, allowing everyone to participate.
They can already participate, this game is free to play. If people want the shines, pull a credit card and buy them. By pass the exchange completely.
How many ways are people going to keep coming on the forums and posting different ways on asking for stuff for free? Seriously, this might be a game for the players, but it is a business for Cryptic. Last time I checked Cryptic is not a non-profit.
I have always suggested that in order to fix the economy the Devs should put ALL lockbox items into the Lobi store a period of time after the box is retired.
This would happen maybe 1yr - 6months after the lockbox is retired and they would have to come up with a pricing structure that makes sense (Luck box-ships would be 800/900 lobi in parallel to the true lobi ships, traits may be 200 like consoles, doffs might be 100 more frequent/likely things would be less). Things from this 'last chance lobi store' should be bound on pickup to encourage players to buy/use keys to get the item they want.
This would avoid the insane EC inflation on box 'must haves' like Inspirational leader/Fed leech/zemok etc, putting a theoretical cap on values and I can only see this benefiting players, the STO economy and PWE back pockets.
There will be 'space rich' players who hoarde these items that will 'poo poo' this idea (indeed I wouldn't stand lose out if values of such items tanked due to there being a way to purchase them directly at an implied capped value) but eventually it would benefit all players, allowing everyone to participate.
That wouldn't 'fix' the economy so much as 'ruin and destroy it.'
Did you think about what the effects would be on people opening boxes? Try to think about it! Fewer boxes would get opened when suddenly you needed to open many fewer boxes to get what you wanted. Fewer keys would be sold. Less zen would be purchased.
Also, importantly, one of the of the reasons STO has such a great and generous free2play model is that none of the prizes from the boxes are account bound, and stuff like keys from the c-store aren't account bound.
There are really bad games out there where all the cash shop loot and gamble box loot are bound on pickup. STO should never imitate these terrible games, but should always oppose doing things that way.
It's not surprising that trying to 'fix' an economy that isn't broken and doesn't need to be 'fixed' would only end up damaging it.
I agree, putting ALL lockbox items on the lobi store would be devastating to the games income, imagine a player who desperately wants a lockbox ship, now he doesn't have to just keep buying keys to gain the ship once he has gained enough lobi he can just sit back and wait for the ship to hit the lobi store and buy it then.
even more handy if a player is sitting on a stash of lobi from a mission replay event then there are even less boxes he needs to open.
also players who might buy the last lockbox ship with lobi are going to be less likely to buy keys to play for the next lockbox ship in the game.
people seem to forget how random works, sure it could be said that the chances of getting a ship are say 200/1 but that does not mean if you open 200 boxes you are guaranteed to get a ship, you could open 1000 boxes and still not get a ship where some other lucky so and so could get a ship in his first box, therefor you cannot say once I have opened x amount of boxes I deserve to get the ship or any other lockbox item some other way.
if you don't want to spend money to get a lockbox ship just grind some dil exchange it for zen buy keys to sell for EC and when you have enough you can buy a lockbox ship with the EC you have saved from a player who has won the ship in the normal way.
its all very well for some players to say this person should not expect x amount of EC for this item but they cant say for sure how much that person may have spent to get that item, he might have spent $1000 and got nothing then all of a sudden got 2 ships on the trot, I am sure if I had spent that kind of money I would want to get as much EC as I can for the second ship if I don't want it.
I am pretty sure cryptic have access to better accountants then we will ever be and the dynamics of the games economy has been fine tuned to reap a sustainable income to keep the game running for as long as possible and any deviation from the projected income could be catastrophic.
as far as I am concerned the games economy is just fine as it is as long as I can log in every day and play, fiddling with stuff we don't really understand the consequences of could be the death knell for sto as we know it.
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.
Comments
Ps , why arent the quotes showing up for these responses?
So your fix is to replace one "unrealistic grind" with another? Playing a mission hundreds, maybe thousands of times, in the hopes that the specific piece you want will get dropped? And then all the other players want the same piece, so it becomes a random chance of getting said item? No, just no. I'd rather do the grind for EC than that option.
There isn't just a handful of "troll players" that control the market. Actually, if you know what to look for, getting EC is actually very simple. I'm not a "whale"(yes, I have spent RL money a few times to buy a ship I wanted) but with some diligence and smart trading, I went from having almost no EC to over 200 million in a month. And I'm no troll, I'm just(barely) smart enough to recognize trends in the exchange and then capitalize off those trends. Anyone can do the same with a little time and forethought.
This sounds like a "special little snowflake" post to me. Do you understand that those lockbox ships can cost a person hundreds of dollars of RL money? So, you just think they should then give them away to you for nothing? Besides that, you don't NEED any of those ships, unless you like it's appearance or whatever. You can take the free ship given to you at level 40 and complete most advanced content with it, if you take the time to understand builds,boff skills,etc. Besides that, Cryptic has given players free T6 ships just for participating in events.
The exchange is WAI and needs no fixing. Seems to me, it's your way of doing things ingame that's broken and needs the fix. Grind out some dilithium, trade it on the dil to zen market, take that zen and buy some keys from the C-store, then sell those keys for the going rate,which atm is around 4.5 million a piece. $5 of zen gets you 4 keys, which you then sell for 16-20 million EC. Rinse, repeat and voila! You have EC!!! There are other ways that are just as easy but I won't disclose those them. I'll leave that for you to figure out, unless your "gimme that I want it and I should get it for free just because I play the game" sense of entitlement won't allow you to.
Who is the greedier person, the person selling a luxury item for a price that some consider exhorbinant, or the one that wants to punish the seller because no one is offering the luxury item at a price that they would agree too?
As someone who doesnt buy keys or lockbox stuff, If you don't want to pay the price, its really none of your business to what someone is selling the item for to a person willing to pay the selling price! Its not like one has to have a lockbox ship to be competitive in this game.
The amount of entitlement thats growing here and in society is truely pitiful.
OR
If they're not going to fix the economy then remove the 500mil exchange price limit and increase the personal EC cap.
The effect a key at 10mil will have on the economy means things will cost the same relative to the price of a key. Instead of 150mil ships we'd be looking at 350mil ships.
Personally, I would like to see keys be bound to account to begin with.
I don't know where the OP is coming from, I was a new player once and was happy to gain all that I have through simply playing the game, not because of anyone who I know or because I wanted to alter the games economy to suit my own ends but by getting the stuff I have through selective spending of the in game currency, I cant afford to spend heaps of real money in the game but that doesn't stop me enjoying what I have without feeling the need to envy those that might have more then me for whatever reason they have it whether it be from spending real money or just playing the game for longer.
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.
While I would normally agree with this, it has it's incorrect view on some parts.
Back when I was young [38 currently], a bottle of soda was 12oz. @ $0.25-$0.50 depending on where you buy it, you could also trade back bottles @ $0.10 per bottle [not like today in most places] reducing your cost for a new 1.
Wages were lower back than as well, but by the time I was old enough to work legally, wages have since than increased by roughly less than 1/3, while the cost of a soda had increased by 1.5-2X what it was for the same bottle, and by that time bottles were no longer being traded in for $$$.
Years later, wages doubled, while again soda increaded by a factor of 2-3X, so product over wages = product increases typically faster, same as they can drop in price just as fast!!!
Agreed, but for me there is no substiture for Mt. Dew, as in no store brand I have ever tried, is exactly as good in taste ever!!!
Some come almost close, but quality in this product, shows in regards to price, it's why it's Pepsi's #1 selling soda.
Praetor of the -RTS- Romulan Tal Shiar fleet!
This would happen maybe 1yr - 6months after the lockbox is retired and they would have to come up with a pricing structure that makes sense (Luck box-ships would be 800/900 lobi in parallel to the true lobi ships, traits may be 200 like consoles, doffs might be 100 more frequent/likely things would be less). Things from this 'last chance lobi store' should be bound on pickup to encourage players to buy/use keys to get the item they want.
This would avoid the insane EC inflation on box 'must haves' like Inspirational leader/Fed leech/zemok etc, putting a theoretical cap on values and I can only see this benefiting players, the STO economy and PWE back pockets.
There will be 'space rich' players who hoarde these items that will 'poo poo' this idea (indeed I wouldn't stand lose out if values of such items tanked due to there being a way to purchase them directly at an implied capped value) but eventually it would benefit all players, allowing everyone to participate.
...#LLAP...
I wouldn't mind that happening, that I could just buy the items from Cryptic instead of either playing with the lockboxes or going to the exchange. Hell I would really love to be able to earn the lobi instead of opening boxes for it. It seems it always comes back to the boxes and the keys. Gamble or grind seems to be the two choices for the whales and the ftp. I am not a financial expert here but I do know the reality of the situation that I would face in game.
You need a well armed ship that can hold its own and an away team that can handle ground missions. That means you need components and weapons to do the job in space and on the ground. For a player with one captain, that's a daunting task, for a player with alts (and there is alot of us in this category) that's an almost impossible task. If I want a plasmonic leech for example for my main and my alts I would have to spend and ungodly fortune that I would have to grind for with every waking moment of my life to either make enough ec to get the item or grind dilithium to convert to zen to buy the keys to open the boxes to gamble for the leech or just sell the keys to make the ec to get the same thing. And its all about the dil too, if I want to craft items I need dil , but wait I have to make another gamble here because even if I have the dilithium to pay for getting my items upgraded there is no guarantee I will get the desired results. Sure if I had a overflowing bank account I could just throw alot of money at the situation and buy and sell keys to my hearts content but I think I would end up feeling like a stockbroker and not as starfleet captain, in short..
I wouldn't mind earning the items, whether from grinding or from a boss drop but the lockbox thing is getting out of hand.
I wouldn't mind just buying the rare item from cryptic because the exchange is getting out of hand.
I wouldn't mind that the amount of dilithium I spend guarantees the outcome of my crafting because the crafting thing seems out of hand.
I wouldn't mind the grind because the gambling thing is getting out of hand.
Um you already are..
They can already participate, this game is free to play. If people want the shines, pull a credit card and buy them. By pass the exchange completely.
How many ways are people going to keep coming on the forums and posting different ways on asking for stuff for free? Seriously, this might be a game for the players, but it is a business for Cryptic. Last time I checked Cryptic is not a non-profit.
I agree, putting ALL lockbox items on the lobi store would be devastating to the games income, imagine a player who desperately wants a lockbox ship, now he doesn't have to just keep buying keys to gain the ship once he has gained enough lobi he can just sit back and wait for the ship to hit the lobi store and buy it then.
even more handy if a player is sitting on a stash of lobi from a mission replay event then there are even less boxes he needs to open.
also players who might buy the last lockbox ship with lobi are going to be less likely to buy keys to play for the next lockbox ship in the game.
people seem to forget how random works, sure it could be said that the chances of getting a ship are say 200/1 but that does not mean if you open 200 boxes you are guaranteed to get a ship, you could open 1000 boxes and still not get a ship where some other lucky so and so could get a ship in his first box, therefor you cannot say once I have opened x amount of boxes I deserve to get the ship or any other lockbox item some other way.
if you don't want to spend money to get a lockbox ship just grind some dil exchange it for zen buy keys to sell for EC and when you have enough you can buy a lockbox ship with the EC you have saved from a player who has won the ship in the normal way.
its all very well for some players to say this person should not expect x amount of EC for this item but they cant say for sure how much that person may have spent to get that item, he might have spent $1000 and got nothing then all of a sudden got 2 ships on the trot, I am sure if I had spent that kind of money I would want to get as much EC as I can for the second ship if I don't want it.
I am pretty sure cryptic have access to better accountants then we will ever be and the dynamics of the games economy has been fine tuned to reap a sustainable income to keep the game running for as long as possible and any deviation from the projected income could be catastrophic.
as far as I am concerned the games economy is just fine as it is as long as I can log in every day and play, fiddling with stuff we don't really understand the consequences of could be the death knell for sto as we know it.
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.