I did see that. And I agree it breeds "ill will" in the community. But that still doesn't change the fact that I understand why they do it from a business perspective. They would rather have a little forum drama(since we only make up a small percentage of the community) than sacrifice all of the potential sales by giving away the free T6 ship to all current players.
This sounds logical on the surface, but in most cases I've experienced with my clients it's actually a logical fallacy. Giving an incentive of some form to an active purchaser encourages more purchasing, not less. While you may, in theory, lose one specific purchase, you gain much more from keeping that person buying.
On the converse, someone you had to give something to ("pay" them) to make a conversion is less likely to have significant lifetime value or more likely to lapse again.
Also remember that active player does not equal active purchaser, or that the active player would ever have had any interest in purchasing the said item (the ships being given away have been in the store for a few months now).
I suspect the answer is really in the RFM selects, or just a data error. Things happen, sometimes files get pulled weeks in advance of send, it's just the nature of the business. Unless you're on the inside, you'll never know for sure.
I did see that. And I agree it breeds "ill will" in the community. But that still doesn't change the fact that I understand why they do it from a business perspective. They would rather have a little forum drama(since we only make up a small percentage of the community) than sacrifice all of the potential sales by giving away the free T6 ship to all current players.
This sounds logical on the surface, but in most cases I've experienced with my clients it's actually a logical fallacy. Giving an incentive of some form to an active purchaser encourages more purchasing, not less. While you may, in theory, lose one specific purchase, you gain much more from keeping that person buying.
I do understand the strategy of giving someone a little something for free to get them to spend more. But that would apply more to something like zen. Let's say you give someone a small amount of zen for free. Not enough to purchase what they want, but close. That might motivate them to buy the extra that they need to actually get what they want.
But in the case of giving someone an entire ship, they either wanted that ship or they didn't. If they did, then you did actually lose that sale. If they didn't, they still aren't motivated to buy anything that they weren't going to buy before you gave them a ship they didn't want.
On the converse, someone you had to give something to ("pay" them) to make a conversion is less likely to have significant lifetime value or more likely to lapse again.
I'm not sure what type of business you are in(nor am I asking, for the sake of privacy), but in Cryptic's case giving away a free ship to someone who is not currently playing cost them nothing, because it is a digital item with no "real" value and unlimited copies. This is different than giving away a physical item, with real value. So Cryptic can give away all of the free ships they want to inactive people, and never actually lose any physical stock or money.
I'm not upset either, getting any of the T6 ships would cost me more. The way I see it. You can get all three for 5-6k and even cheaper when on sale, now if you got one, well you can no longer buy the 3 pack so its 3000 each or 2600 when on sale. So its cheaper for me not to get them. until I'm ready to buy, I need the ship slot first which is on sale as of this post. Why well who doesn't have a few ships already. Also I will need a dry dock which on sale as of this post. Dry dock is for when I level the ship up and maybe dock it for some time cause I don't want to lose the leveling I did on the ship. I like to change ships from time to time.
So if you got the ship call i will say is I'm very happy for you, its nice they give it out even if I didn't get it. T6 at that, looks to be one bad TRIBBLE ship, its the last in the line I need, I got the others, the cannons and consoles already. All in good time I say. Now back to my grinding, daddy needs to upgrade a few things and the omega kits are just the thing I need right now.
I do understand the strategy of giving someone a little something for free to get them to spend more. But that would apply more to something like zen...
No, not really. You're thinking too literally and missing the forest for the trees. Most reactivation campaigns are just trying to get people interested again - and that's what is of true value. Think of it as an investment - you give away a little something in the hopes of a bigger pay-off down the road. You're not losing anything, you're gaining (hopefully). It shouldn't have absolutely anything to do with "they weren't going to buy anyway."
I'm not sure what type of business you are in(nor am I asking, for the sake of privacy), but in Cryptic's case giving away a free ship to someone who is not currently playing cost them nothing, because it is a digital item with no "real" value and unlimited copies. This is different than giving away a physical item, with real value. So Cryptic can give away all of the free ships they want to inactive people, and never actually lose any physical stock or money.
Again, forest for the trees. The actual incentive has nothing to do with the philosophy. If you have to give someone X to do something, they're less likely to do X than someone else who happily does it on their own.
Anyway, if you actually are interested in learning more about these, here are some links that can explain better than I will.
blazeritter's explanations have been good even if I don't agree nor understand the science & art of it all. & I do realize there is science & art behind all that marketing mumbo jumbo.
That being said I'm enough of a rebel where a deal like this, & Cryptic's previous similar doings, would inspire me to not spend money anymore. The game can be fun it turns out without spending a dime :-)
All these people that say but you are given all those opportunities to get such & such services & items for playing .. cough cough grinding. Well, those inactive players were given those same opportunities, but didn't participate so it is not the same. A 3000 Zen ship & however amount of time it takes to earn 10 Specialization Points is a valuable freebie actual & perceived. Is anyone entitled to it? No. Not the inactive players nor the active players that participate, apparently too much, so Cryptic diminishes the participating players' efforts.
Scenario: Cryptic gave away a free T4 escort ship, amazingly not just for one side but included all 3. By the way Cryptic that is inclusion you know thinking about your decisions affecting everyone & not just your exclusivity approach. Okay then if you have the T4 then everyone had received the T6 tactical escort too I'm guessing those that hadn't already purchased the T5 would be VERY tempted to complete the set. Those that already have it all, sorry I have no good scenario for you.
Just thought of one! Stagger the offerings to where everyone gets a little something something useful :-) Sure Cryptic give away a valuable ship to only those that don't participate enough & backhand those us of that do. But for goodness sakes include us active players those Specialization Points. Those are always useful.
Not to get too side tracked here but, anyone who thinks discounting(especially in the retail sector) is a bad idea, really should google the "J.C. Penny effect".
What I'm really interested to know now is if any lifetimers got it?
Retired. I'm now in search for that perfect space anomaly.
I am certain elegibility is contingent on the amount of money you have spent. the more you spend the less likely you are to get anything free, since they alreay have you spending money they dont need to provide incentive to aquire your patronage.
I am certain elegibility is contingent on the amount of money you have spent. the more you spend the less likely you are to get anything free, since they alreay have you spending money they dont need to provide incentive to aquire your patronage.
I'm inclined to agree with this perspective, having spent a lot of money in this game not only with subscription, but also numerous Zen purchases and C-Store purchases as well.
That said, I'll either continue to spend so long as I'm enjoying the game or content- or I won't. Lately, my view has been somewhat adverse but I'm really trying to hold out to see what they do with future plans for the game. The seeming lack of content for those who've reached maximum rank and the spec system (which I view as a "cop out" and a reason to avoid developing higher end content) is a big part of this, at least to me. You can only run so many STF's, dailies, replays etc. before you become completely bored out of your skull.
It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
I am certain elegibility is contingent on the amount of money you have spent.
In that case, I can forget about getting a free T6 ship mailed to me, ever. LOL.
... the more you spend the less likely you are to get anything free, since they alreay have you spending money they dont need to provide incentive to aquire your patronage.
Very true... And so very, very wrong. It's like saying "Let's do away with Mother's Day, and be nice to a total stranger instead, because mom's love is guaranteed already." There's a fallacy in there, somewhere. :P
Personally I'm not really all that interested in the Defiant series escorts, so unless there was a choice offered (different ship perhaps, like the Pathfinder or something else) I likely would never use it anyhow.
The only thing I'd like would be a choice between ship types, but it's definitely an interesting query as to the qualifications for the offer being given indeed. Then again, I'm the sort of person who would gift cash or a card with a receipt so people can choose what they'd like to have as a gift. It's not that I don't "put thought into it", but rather I know the unpredictability of humans in general. People change their minds and views all the time.
It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
Not to get too side tracked here but, anyone who thinks discounting(especially in the retail sector) is a bad idea, really should google the "J.C. Penny effect".
What I'm really interested to know now is if any lifetimers got it?
Not me.
Got 2 fed toons 1 52 1 54 & dont play them. 1 rom 60, 1 kdf 60.
Interested to no where the people who got them are from like is this just a US thing or world wide.
From what i have read on here its looks more like a lucky dip.
Notice how all these threads appear regarding the email yet no admin, dev or moderator has responded? Why isn't there anything in the galactic news thread regarding the "promo"? I also don't mind saying I'm annoyed by this. If PWE is gonna throw free zen ships at select people then I'm personally not gonna be throwing money at them for Zen any longer. If people are getting ships worth 3k zen why did we bother buying ships? Crazy promo is annoying ppl. Period.
At the risk of throwing gas on a fire, I'm going to go ahead and answer as well as clarify.
I'm one of the players who received the promotional email. I am a lifer but I hadn't played STO in over two months. In fact I had uninstalled the game. This is the second time in two years I have taken a long break from STO. Last year it was more like 3 months. I didn't care for DR at all and I felt like too many things I enjoyed were getting removed from the game. Prior to my first break last year, I was one of those players who spent anywhere from $50-$200 a month on STO. Starting last year, both the amount and frequency I spent diminished. As I said, I uninstalled the game in November and wasn't thinking of coming back until the summer event.
Friday afternoon I got an email with a code giving me a free T6 ship, 10 specialization points and 400 of the anniversary tokens. The promo was enticing enough to get me to reinstall the game and start playing again. I spent several hours today just playing and getting reacquainted with the game. Even spent $20 which allowed me to pick up the new Tarantula dread (had some keys left over in my bank & key prices are crazy now).
All in all, I'd have to say the promo was a success. I'm playing again and don't have any plans to take another break. I'm still not entirely happy about how the game has changed but it's been fun to jump back into the daily Romulan & Breen space missions. I also really like how the Iconian finale played right into setting up the Temporal Cold War seen on ENT.
At the risk of throwing gas on a fire, I'm going to go ahead and answer as well as clarify.
I'm one of the players who received the promotional email. I am a lifer but I hadn't played STO in over two months. In fact I had uninstalled the game. This is the second time in two years I have taken a long break from STO. Last year it was more like 3 months. I didn't care for DR at all and I felt like too many things I enjoyed were getting removed from the game. Prior to my first break last year, I was one of those players who spent anywhere from $50-$200 a month on STO. Starting last year, both the amount and frequency I spent diminished. As I said, I uninstalled the game in November and wasn't thinking of coming back until the summer event.
Friday afternoon I got an email with a code giving me a free T6 ship, 10 specialization points and 400 of the anniversary tokens. The promo was enticing enough to get me to reinstall the game and start playing again. I spent several hours today just playing and getting reacquainted with the game. Even spent $20 which allowed me to pick up the new Tarantula dread (had some keys left over in my bank & key prices are crazy now).
All in all, I'd have to say the promo was a success. I'm playing again and don't have any plans to take another break. I'm still not entirely happy about how the game has changed but it's been fun to jump back into the daily Romulan & Breen space missions. I also really like how the Iconian finale played right into setting up the Temporal Cold War seen on ENT.
Honestly I DO understand what your saying, and I agree it will get people who aren't playing to come back for a while. Yet at the same time it's still a huge kick in the teeth for people who haven't taken breaks and still continued to spend money. Had I not played over xmas and not bought zen then I wouldn't have needed to as now I'd have a T6 Valliant and after some days farming a Krenim Science ship. We have been farming and doing missions for the krenim ship you skipped the mission and got them through email (or does your Time and Time again mission also give 400? Putting you ahead of those who played?) But yes I agree the promo will work to bring players back but it's also gonna leave such a bitter taste to those who activley play and spend so much so that like myself will not buy zen any longer. What it more worrying at this point like i said is that there is nothing official posted about the promo. It is as though they tried slipping it in under our noses and hoped we didn't notice that being inactive for months actually rewards you. This the last post I will make on this coz it's pointless, no devs, admins or Mods are responding to them anyway, no information on the site regarding actual criteria and no chance that we get the 3000 zen difference either. As I said if not buying zen or playing less rewards you then congrats but next promo it will probably be people who stopped buying/playing as a result of this very bad and despite how it sounds, "Unfair" promo.
Honestly I DO understand what your saying, and I agree it will get people who aren't playing to come back for a while. Yet at the same time it's still a huge kick in the teeth for people who haven't taken breaks and still continued to spend money. Had I not played over xmas and not bought zen then I wouldn't have needed to as now I'd have a T6 Valliant and after some days farming a Krenim Science ship. We have been farming and doing missions for the krenim ship you skipped the mission and got them through email (or does your Time and Time again mission also give 400? Putting you ahead of those who played?) But yes I agree the promo will work to bring players back but it's also gonna leave such a bitter taste to those who activley play and spend so much so that like myself will not buy zen any longer. What it more worrying at this point like i said is that there is nothing official posted about the promo. It is as though they tried slipping it in under our noses and hoped we didn't notice that being inactive for months actually rewards you. This the last post I will make on this coz it's pointless, no devs, admins or Mods are responding to them anyway, no information on the site regarding actual criteria and no chance that we get the 3000 zen difference either. As I said if not buying zen or playing less rewards you then congrats but next promo it will probably be people who stopped buying/playing as a result of this very bad and despite how it sounds, "Unfair" promo.
I know you don't want to write more on this, but I wanted to actually give kudos to you for being honest and no got the passive-aggressive way with that.
But take a look at the bolded part. Does "not playing" reward those Cryptic seeks to reactivate over those that played to the point you even speak of a "3000 zen difference" and more or less demand compensation? As a regular player in the last three months you got a winter event with a "free" ship and lots of vanity items, a free anniversary ship with lots of vanity items, you earned more than 10 spec points/levels by doing doffing and admirality daily, you got dilithium reward weekends to earn more dilithium which you can turn into zen - by playing you got that stuff and in addition you played the game which supposedly is fun for you.
If you only play it to amass ships with whom you might not even play the same content you play for years because it annoys you, honestly, where is the point?
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
Does "not playing" reward those Cryptic seeks to reactivate over those that played to the point you even speak of a "3000 zen difference" and more or less demand compensation?
Not seeing anyone 'demand compensation.' Still, if you go into a store and buy an expensive TV set, only to see the next customer getting one entirely for free, you tend to raise a few eyebrows.
As a regular player in the last three months you got a winter event with a "free" ship and lots of vanity items, a free anniversary ship with lots of vanity items, you earned more than 10 spec points/levels by doing doffing and admirality daily, you got dilithium reward weekends to earn more dilithium which you can turn into zen
By working for it, yes; and grinding. That is not on par with getting good stuff mailed to you for free. So, indeed, to ask the same question, if doing nothing just gets you stuff for free, then what's the point of actually doing the grind?!
Yeah, people always cite the anniversary ship as an example of what the active people get for free, but they never mention the grinding involved. If someone can give an example of a T6 ship that active people get for free with no grinding at all, then that will actually be a valid comparison to the free email ship.
Don't forget the 400 Qmendations. Takes some of the grind out there but really too late for that unless you were a latecomer to the Anniversary. A respected Veteran player mentioned in another thread that the code was mailed to her. Got the Krenim Science Vessel a bit early thanks to that. I don't think she was at all interested in the other stuff.
Seems to be a mixed lot. And the criteria can't be having spent money on this game. Trust me on that.
No problem with not getting the code. Unless it was for a ship that was just releasing I have them all anyway. Spec Points - the Character I am currently playing maxed out the Spec Trees a little under two weeks ago and is sitting on +11 (which later today will be +13). Qmendations, only five days left there. So not a big deal at all. More power to those that got it.
Post edited by ltminns on
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
Not seeing anyone 'demand compensation.' Still, if you go into a store and buy an expensive TV set, only to see the next customer getting one entirely for free, you tend to raise a few eyebrows.
The poster I quoted said one of the reason he/she will stop posting is that there is "no chance to get the 3000 Zen difference" paid off. To me this sounds like demanding 'equal treatment' here.
There might be raised eyebrows, but objectively there's no reason for that. You weren't a candidate for the promo, you didn't miss out on anything. Where I live a big electronic depot chain will now and then start a promotion in which the xth customer a day gets their purchase for free. If you pay full and the gal next in line gets hers for free of course you can roll your eyes, bad luck. But that doesn't mean you were ever entitled to that prize nor do you personally miss out on anything.
By working for it, yes; and grinding. That is not on par with getting good stuff mailed to you for free. So, indeed, to ask the same question, if doing nothing just gets you stuff for free, then what's the point of actually doing the grind?!
Ignoring the fact that this "work" you speak of consists of five minutes tops of effort for logging in anyway I at least agree with you that these grind task are boring. However, the task is completed during the course of logging in anyway which I just assume you do since otherwise indeed the argument wouldn't work. So if you now consider the reactivation promo a superior reward for playing the game for three or so months, I ask you - what is the point of playing the game in the first place? You'll get the free T6 ship and then go inactive for the next one? Reaching that point you clearly gain little joy from playing the game at all at this point. Why bother?
@thegrandnagus1 : Same reply as above. The grind game is tedious and not fun, I agree with that. However, speaking of "work" and actually claiming serious effort is needed to get a competetive and fleet level T6 ship for basically minimal in-game presence goes a bit too far in my opinion. So unless we are simply arguing about semantics then yes, players aren't treated equally here. But as with the electronic depot example above, you can take your chances and stop playing for the next three months and see wether it helps or just go on and play the game. And if playing the game is no fun to you any more, why mourning a missed T6 ship?
Now, if you are not inactive long wnough to get the promo and not active long enough to grind for the event ships then yes, you get nothing. But - yeah, it's the way it is.
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
One more post for clarifiation and I'm a he First no, I see no point in the average ranting. I would ignore people who spoke to me in an angry mannor irl so I would expect to be ignored moreso over the internet taking an aggressive stance. I find people listen or atleast read better when things are calm and collected.
The main reason for not posting is because there simply isn't any point 2bh. I know at this point no-one official is going to respond, and no action will be taken to appease those who are quite annoyed by these events, I am not "demanding" compensation as such but the ships I fly I had to buy with Zen, had I known if I didn't play often I could have a T6 ship free I doubt I would have put the effort in. Yes we have had lots of things free, lots of events but we worked for them, we logged in everyday to grind the things we have but those things we had free were available to ALL players if they worked at it, if they logged in. The problem I am having here is that this seems to be available ONLY to select players who either haven't played in a while which means they haven't bought Zen or supported the game or as forums suggest have been active and still recieved it. Couple with that 400 vouchers, if they log in now and do time & time again do they also get another 400? Either way they are caught up with regular players meaning this promo gives them 2 t6 ships as a reward for not playing the game. I'm a logical person (live long) and this simply doesn't make sense to me at all when players who play daily and spend money on zen get the one, and some t4 ships (nice gesture but I can't really do Korfezz with a t4 ship).
Really last post on the subject just wanted to clarify that not really demanding anything but shouldn't equal treatment be given? I think equality is something that shouldn't be questioned the things we have got from ingame are available to all players if they logged in but for logging in we have lost out on a relatively new t6 ship, as I said the word unfair makes it sound childlike but it's the only word that truely describes this situation.
Yeah, people always cite the anniversary ship as an example of what the active people get for free, but they never mention the grinding involved. If someone can give an example of a T6 ship that active people get for free with no grinding at all, then that will actually be a valid comparison to the free email ship.
But then other people always then bring up the grind and say "It's not really free, it requires grinding".
What it requires is playing the game. Not working a job. The game is not a job. If you think otherwise, you're doing it wrong. Cryptic has not hired you to mine Dilithium or kill made-up bad guys.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Yeah, people always cite the anniversary ship as an example of what the active people get for free, but they never mention the grinding involved. If someone can give an example of a T6 ship that active people get for free with no grinding at all, then that will actually be a valid comparison to the free email ship.
But then other people always then bring up the grind and say "It's not really free, it requires grinding".
What it requires is playing the game. Not working a job. The game is not a job. If you think otherwise, you're doing it wrong. Cryptic has not hired you to mine Dilithium or kill made-up bad guys.
A job, a chore, a task: a grind, by any other name, remains a grind.
Yeah, people always cite the anniversary ship as an example of what the active people get for free, but they never mention the grinding involved. If someone can give an example of a T6 ship that active people get for free with no grinding at all, then that will actually be a valid comparison to the free email ship.
But then other people always then bring up the grind and say "It's not really free, it requires grinding".
Maybe, but *I* didn't say that, and you are replying to *my* post. So if you are trying to make some kind of counter argument to my point, you'll have to rely on what I actually said. Otherwise you are just creating a strawman to argue against.
Yeah, people always cite the anniversary ship as an example of what the active people get for free, but they never mention the grinding involved. If someone can give an example of a T6 ship that active people get for free with no grinding at all, then that will actually be a valid comparison to the free email ship.
But then other people always then bring up the grind and say "It's not really free, it requires grinding".
Maybe, but *I* didn't say that, and you are replying to *my* post. So if you are trying to make some kind of counter argument to my point, you'll have to rely on what I actually said. Otherwise you are just creating a strawman to argue against.
I disagree. You're creating an overly specific requirement to try to make a point.
Why is it important that you grind for it with a trivial daily task? You still don't need to spend any real world money to get it, not even the money of other players (by getting Zen via the Dilithium Exchange). And this requirement also guarantees that it's only available to people playing the game.
Heck, why does it have to be relevant whether it's Tier 6? To exclude the Tier 4 ship giveaway for the Anniversary? If you actually were to acquire those ships in the C-Store, it would be more expensive than a Tier 6 ship. Sure, it's not an actual Tier 6 ship - but those ships come with items that you can use on other ships, so they are even useful if you actually don't want to fly that specific Tier 6 ship. And if you happen to fly a Tier 5 or Tier 6 version of those ships, you might now have additional costume options for a ship you already have.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Yeah, people always cite the anniversary ship as an example of what the active people get for free, but they never mention the grinding involved. If someone can give an example of a T6 ship that active people get for free with no grinding at all, then that will actually be a valid comparison to the free email ship.
But then other people always then bring up the grind and say "It's not really free, it requires grinding".
What it requires is playing the game. Not working a job. The game is not a job. If you think otherwise, you're doing it wrong. Cryptic has not hired you to mine Dilithium or kill made-up bad guys.
It'd be one thing if the content was different each time you played & enjoyable.
To be honest, I'd rather pay for the ship than have to grind for it and get it "free".
Retired. I'm now in search for that perfect space anomaly.
You know maybe giving out freebies like they did with the Groupees/Chase Masterson Charity Giveaway. Not what was behind it but some different variation Account Unlocks to entice back or Reward. There you could get, in addition to some C-Store Ships, a Mirror Guardian Cruiser, a Mirror Danube Runabout, a Leeta Boff. Not the same stuff as in the C-Store but slightly different, if not Unique.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
I'm actually quite curious how many of those awarded the free ship and marks are Arc software users and/or use AMD Evolved or any of the other clients. Personally I use Steam or just the base game client, although I've tried the other launchers.
I've found using launchers (even Steam at times) actually cause more problems than solutions with other software operating, so I tend to stay away from them.
It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
Yeah, people always cite the anniversary ship as an example of what the active people get for free, but they never mention the grinding involved. If someone can give an example of a T6 ship that active people get for free with no grinding at all, then that will actually be a valid comparison to the free email ship.
But then other people always then bring up the grind and say "It's not really free, it requires grinding".
Maybe, but *I* didn't say that, and you are replying to *my* post. So if you are trying to make some kind of counter argument to my point, you'll have to rely on what I actually said. Otherwise you are just creating a strawman to argue against.
I disagree. You're creating an overly specific requirement to try to make a point.
I am not "creating" anything. Cryptic created the situation I mentioned. The email gives someone a free T6 ship with no grinding or time sink requirement. There is no T6 ship available under those conditions to active players.
Also, consider this: let's say someone is an active player normally, but doesn't happen to log in during the *specific* week those T4 ships you just mentioned are being given out. In that case, that person gets *neither* the free T4 ships that the other active players get, *or* the free T6 ship that the inactive players get.
Comments
This sounds logical on the surface, but in most cases I've experienced with my clients it's actually a logical fallacy. Giving an incentive of some form to an active purchaser encourages more purchasing, not less. While you may, in theory, lose one specific purchase, you gain much more from keeping that person buying.
On the converse, someone you had to give something to ("pay" them) to make a conversion is less likely to have significant lifetime value or more likely to lapse again.
Also remember that active player does not equal active purchaser, or that the active player would ever have had any interest in purchasing the said item (the ships being given away have been in the store for a few months now).
I suspect the answer is really in the RFM selects, or just a data error. Things happen, sometimes files get pulled weeks in advance of send, it's just the nature of the business. Unless you're on the inside, you'll never know for sure.
I do understand the strategy of giving someone a little something for free to get them to spend more. But that would apply more to something like zen. Let's say you give someone a small amount of zen for free. Not enough to purchase what they want, but close. That might motivate them to buy the extra that they need to actually get what they want.
But in the case of giving someone an entire ship, they either wanted that ship or they didn't. If they did, then you did actually lose that sale. If they didn't, they still aren't motivated to buy anything that they weren't going to buy before you gave them a ship they didn't want.
I'm not sure what type of business you are in(nor am I asking, for the sake of privacy), but in Cryptic's case giving away a free ship to someone who is not currently playing cost them nothing, because it is a digital item with no "real" value and unlimited copies. This is different than giving away a physical item, with real value. So Cryptic can give away all of the free ships they want to inactive people, and never actually lose any physical stock or money.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
So if you got the ship call i will say is I'm very happy for you, its nice they give it out even if I didn't get it. T6 at that, looks to be one bad TRIBBLE ship, its the last in the line I need, I got the others, the cannons and consoles already. All in good time I say. Now back to my grinding, daddy needs to upgrade a few things and the omega kits are just the thing I need right now.
Enjoy your game!!
Tarran61
No, not really. You're thinking too literally and missing the forest for the trees. Most reactivation campaigns are just trying to get people interested again - and that's what is of true value. Think of it as an investment - you give away a little something in the hopes of a bigger pay-off down the road. You're not losing anything, you're gaining (hopefully). It shouldn't have absolutely anything to do with "they weren't going to buy anyway."
Again, forest for the trees. The actual incentive has nothing to do with the philosophy. If you have to give someone X to do something, they're less likely to do X than someone else who happily does it on their own.
Anyway, if you actually are interested in learning more about these, here are some links that can explain better than I will.
On the value of loyal customers:
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/downside-of-discounts/
On reactivation in general:
http://blog.marketo.com/2015/06/awaken-the-dead-how-to-re-engage-your-audience-with-reactivation-campaigns.html
http://www.experian.com/assets/cheetahmail/white-papers/reactivation_wp.pdf
And the potential harm of discounting and bad buying behavior:
http://www.priceintelligently.com/blog/bid/170106/How-Discounting-is-Killing-Your-Pricing-Strategy
That being said I'm enough of a rebel where a deal like this, & Cryptic's previous similar doings, would inspire me to not spend money anymore. The game can be fun it turns out without spending a dime :-)
All these people that say but you are given all those opportunities to get such & such services & items for playing .. cough cough grinding. Well, those inactive players were given those same opportunities, but didn't participate so it is not the same. A 3000 Zen ship & however amount of time it takes to earn 10 Specialization Points is a valuable freebie actual & perceived. Is anyone entitled to it? No. Not the inactive players nor the active players that participate, apparently too much, so Cryptic diminishes the participating players' efforts.
Scenario: Cryptic gave away a free T4 escort ship, amazingly not just for one side but included all 3. By the way Cryptic that is inclusion you know thinking about your decisions affecting everyone & not just your exclusivity approach. Okay then if you have the T4 then everyone had received the T6 tactical escort too I'm guessing those that hadn't already purchased the T5 would be VERY tempted to complete the set. Those that already have it all, sorry I have no good scenario for you.
Just thought of one! Stagger the offerings to where everyone gets a little something something useful :-) Sure Cryptic give away a valuable ship to only those that don't participate enough & backhand those us of that do. But for goodness sakes include us active players those Specialization Points. Those are always useful.
What I'm really interested to know now is if any lifetimers got it?
They also added Admiralty which hands out spec points at a decent rate along with piles of EC, dil and mats.
I'm inclined to agree with this perspective, having spent a lot of money in this game not only with subscription, but also numerous Zen purchases and C-Store purchases as well.
That said, I'll either continue to spend so long as I'm enjoying the game or content- or I won't. Lately, my view has been somewhat adverse but I'm really trying to hold out to see what they do with future plans for the game. The seeming lack of content for those who've reached maximum rank and the spec system (which I view as a "cop out" and a reason to avoid developing higher end content) is a big part of this, at least to me. You can only run so many STF's, dailies, replays etc. before you become completely bored out of your skull.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
In that case, I can forget about getting a free T6 ship mailed to me, ever. LOL.
Very true... And so very, very wrong.
The only thing I'd like would be a choice between ship types, but it's definitely an interesting query as to the qualifications for the offer being given indeed. Then again, I'm the sort of person who would gift cash or a card with a receipt so people can choose what they'd like to have as a gift. It's not that I don't "put thought into it", but rather I know the unpredictability of humans in general. People change their minds and views all the time.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
Not me.
Got 2 fed toons 1 52 1 54 & dont play them. 1 rom 60, 1 kdf 60.
Interested to no where the people who got them are from like is this just a US thing or world wide.
From what i have read on here its looks more like a lucky dip.
I'm one of the players who received the promotional email. I am a lifer but I hadn't played STO in over two months. In fact I had uninstalled the game. This is the second time in two years I have taken a long break from STO. Last year it was more like 3 months. I didn't care for DR at all and I felt like too many things I enjoyed were getting removed from the game. Prior to my first break last year, I was one of those players who spent anywhere from $50-$200 a month on STO. Starting last year, both the amount and frequency I spent diminished. As I said, I uninstalled the game in November and wasn't thinking of coming back until the summer event.
Friday afternoon I got an email with a code giving me a free T6 ship, 10 specialization points and 400 of the anniversary tokens. The promo was enticing enough to get me to reinstall the game and start playing again. I spent several hours today just playing and getting reacquainted with the game. Even spent $20 which allowed me to pick up the new Tarantula dread (had some keys left over in my bank & key prices are crazy now).
All in all, I'd have to say the promo was a success. I'm playing again and don't have any plans to take another break. I'm still not entirely happy about how the game has changed but it's been fun to jump back into the daily Romulan & Breen space missions. I also really like how the Iconian finale played right into setting up the Temporal Cold War seen on ENT.
Honestly I DO understand what your saying, and I agree it will get people who aren't playing to come back for a while. Yet at the same time it's still a huge kick in the teeth for people who haven't taken breaks and still continued to spend money. Had I not played over xmas and not bought zen then I wouldn't have needed to as now I'd have a T6 Valliant and after some days farming a Krenim Science ship. We have been farming and doing missions for the krenim ship you skipped the mission and got them through email (or does your Time and Time again mission also give 400? Putting you ahead of those who played?) But yes I agree the promo will work to bring players back but it's also gonna leave such a bitter taste to those who activley play and spend so much so that like myself will not buy zen any longer. What it more worrying at this point like i said is that there is nothing official posted about the promo. It is as though they tried slipping it in under our noses and hoped we didn't notice that being inactive for months actually rewards you. This the last post I will make on this coz it's pointless, no devs, admins or Mods are responding to them anyway, no information on the site regarding actual criteria and no chance that we get the 3000 zen difference either. As I said if not buying zen or playing less rewards you then congrats but next promo it will probably be people who stopped buying/playing as a result of this very bad and despite how it sounds, "Unfair" promo.
I know you don't want to write more on this, but I wanted to actually give kudos to you for being honest and no got the passive-aggressive way with that.
But take a look at the bolded part. Does "not playing" reward those Cryptic seeks to reactivate over those that played to the point you even speak of a "3000 zen difference" and more or less demand compensation? As a regular player in the last three months you got a winter event with a "free" ship and lots of vanity items, a free anniversary ship with lots of vanity items, you earned more than 10 spec points/levels by doing doffing and admirality daily, you got dilithium reward weekends to earn more dilithium which you can turn into zen - by playing you got that stuff and in addition you played the game which supposedly is fun for you.
If you only play it to amass ships with whom you might not even play the same content you play for years because it annoys you, honestly, where is the point?
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
Not seeing anyone 'demand compensation.' Still, if you go into a store and buy an expensive TV set, only to see the next customer getting one entirely for free, you tend to raise a few eyebrows.
By working for it, yes; and grinding. That is not on par with getting good stuff mailed to you for free. So, indeed, to ask the same question, if doing nothing just gets you stuff for free, then what's the point of actually doing the grind?!
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
Seems to be a mixed lot. And the criteria can't be having spent money on this game. Trust me on that.
No problem with not getting the code. Unless it was for a ship that was just releasing I have them all anyway. Spec Points - the Character I am currently playing maxed out the Spec Trees a little under two weeks ago and is sitting on +11 (which later today will be +13). Qmendations, only five days left there. So not a big deal at all. More power to those that got it.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
The poster I quoted said one of the reason he/she will stop posting is that there is "no chance to get the 3000 Zen difference" paid off. To me this sounds like demanding 'equal treatment' here.
There might be raised eyebrows, but objectively there's no reason for that. You weren't a candidate for the promo, you didn't miss out on anything. Where I live a big electronic depot chain will now and then start a promotion in which the xth customer a day gets their purchase for free. If you pay full and the gal next in line gets hers for free of course you can roll your eyes, bad luck. But that doesn't mean you were ever entitled to that prize nor do you personally miss out on anything.
Ignoring the fact that this "work" you speak of consists of five minutes tops of effort for logging in anyway I at least agree with you that these grind task are boring. However, the task is completed during the course of logging in anyway which I just assume you do since otherwise indeed the argument wouldn't work. So if you now consider the reactivation promo a superior reward for playing the game for three or so months, I ask you - what is the point of playing the game in the first place? You'll get the free T6 ship and then go inactive for the next one? Reaching that point you clearly gain little joy from playing the game at all at this point. Why bother?
@thegrandnagus1 : Same reply as above. The grind game is tedious and not fun, I agree with that. However, speaking of "work" and actually claiming serious effort is needed to get a competetive and fleet level T6 ship for basically minimal in-game presence goes a bit too far in my opinion. So unless we are simply arguing about semantics then yes, players aren't treated equally here. But as with the electronic depot example above, you can take your chances and stop playing for the next three months and see wether it helps or just go on and play the game. And if playing the game is no fun to you any more, why mourning a missed T6 ship?
Now, if you are not inactive long wnough to get the promo and not active long enough to grind for the event ships then yes, you get nothing. But - yeah, it's the way it is.
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
The main reason for not posting is because there simply isn't any point 2bh. I know at this point no-one official is going to respond, and no action will be taken to appease those who are quite annoyed by these events, I am not "demanding" compensation as such but the ships I fly I had to buy with Zen, had I known if I didn't play often I could have a T6 ship free I doubt I would have put the effort in. Yes we have had lots of things free, lots of events but we worked for them, we logged in everyday to grind the things we have but those things we had free were available to ALL players if they worked at it, if they logged in. The problem I am having here is that this seems to be available ONLY to select players who either haven't played in a while which means they haven't bought Zen or supported the game or as forums suggest have been active and still recieved it. Couple with that 400 vouchers, if they log in now and do time & time again do they also get another 400? Either way they are caught up with regular players meaning this promo gives them 2 t6 ships as a reward for not playing the game. I'm a logical person (live long) and this simply doesn't make sense to me at all when players who play daily and spend money on zen get the one, and some t4 ships (nice gesture but I can't really do Korfezz with a t4 ship).
Really last post on the subject just wanted to clarify that not really demanding anything but shouldn't equal treatment be given? I think equality is something that shouldn't be questioned the things we have got from ingame are available to all players if they logged in but for logging in we have lost out on a relatively new t6 ship, as I said the word unfair makes it sound childlike but it's the only word that truely describes this situation.
Live long yady yada..
What it requires is playing the game. Not working a job. The game is not a job. If you think otherwise, you're doing it wrong. Cryptic has not hired you to mine Dilithium or kill made-up bad guys.
A job, a chore, a task: a grind, by any other name, remains a grind.
Maybe, but *I* didn't say that, and you are replying to *my* post. So if you are trying to make some kind of counter argument to my point, you'll have to rely on what I actually said. Otherwise you are just creating a strawman to argue against.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
I disagree. You're creating an overly specific requirement to try to make a point.
Why is it important that you grind for it with a trivial daily task? You still don't need to spend any real world money to get it, not even the money of other players (by getting Zen via the Dilithium Exchange). And this requirement also guarantees that it's only available to people playing the game.
Heck, why does it have to be relevant whether it's Tier 6? To exclude the Tier 4 ship giveaway for the Anniversary? If you actually were to acquire those ships in the C-Store, it would be more expensive than a Tier 6 ship. Sure, it's not an actual Tier 6 ship - but those ships come with items that you can use on other ships, so they are even useful if you actually don't want to fly that specific Tier 6 ship. And if you happen to fly a Tier 5 or Tier 6 version of those ships, you might now have additional costume options for a ship you already have.
Interesting, that answers my question then. So some lifers are also getting it.
It'd be one thing if the content was different each time you played & enjoyable.
To be honest, I'd rather pay for the ship than have to grind for it and get it "free".
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
I've found using launchers (even Steam at times) actually cause more problems than solutions with other software operating, so I tend to stay away from them.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
I am not "creating" anything. Cryptic created the situation I mentioned. The email gives someone a free T6 ship with no grinding or time sink requirement. There is no T6 ship available under those conditions to active players.
Also, consider this: let's say someone is an active player normally, but doesn't happen to log in during the *specific* week those T4 ships you just mentioned are being given out. In that case, that person gets *neither* the free T4 ships that the other active players get, *or* the free T6 ship that the inactive players get.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008