Using a T6 ships high cost in comparison to the outrageous prices of some of the most requested clothing from the IP is nonsensical.
There are other reasonable options available to acquire those particular ships and other ships like them in the game that are much less expensive and work just as well if not better in some cases.
There is only ONE WAY to get these particular 'desired' items and it is more than extremely time consuming for the average player on the order of many months to a year or more.
Contrary to what appears to be popular belief in these forums, "Binge Farming" is not a typical play style for most STO gamers.
OK, I'll bite. Other than the previous cost of outfits, why is it nonsensical to compare the two?
I have no idea of the relative programming effort required for an outfit or a ship, but I will guess it's comparable. Ultimately you're buying a virtual service because it makes the game more fun to play. The MACO outfit would represent a better spend for me (personally) than 90% of ships in game, because the latter would be no fun to me; however I'm a big ENT fan and already have a pseudo-MACO team of BOffs using the Mercenary uniform, so this would actually have a lot of play value. (Not sure I will actually buy it, but that's why I am tempted when I can earn the dil / zen).
So to borrow your argument, if you want "outfits like them" there are already close alternatives available; the Mercenary or WoK Z-store sets, if you want ground tactical or movie-era uniforms.
OK, I'll bite. Other than the previous cost of outfits, why is it nonsensical to compare the two?
Z-store purchases are account-wide. Dilithium Store purchases are per character. Seems a bit much to pay for a triple-pack for EVERY character you own.
As a life long Trek fan I'm calling **** on you claiming the Trek fans ate gone from STO.
I said "Vast majority" and I'm calling **** to your post as well.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Oh, shut up already. Save the invective for Cryptic.
'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.'
Oh, shut up already. Save the invective for Cryptic.
Really..., we should be attacking THEM, not each other!
Why does that sound like it's a quote from a movie...?
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Bizarrely, the more I think this one over, the more it makes sense to me.
Cryptic want to put some downwards pressure on the dilithium exchange rate, so they are providing a dilithium sink.
To stand any chance of being successful, this dilithium sink must have three main properties:-
1. It must cost an awful lot of dilithium. (Like, nearly two years' worth of refining on a single toon.)
2. It has to be something that won't affect gameplay. Because if this whatever-it-is gives massive bonuses in regular play, like some super-ship, super-console or super-weapon, the people who can't afford it (which is going to be the vast majority of us, see point 1) will - quite rightly - protest that they're being disadvantaged, that there's no longer a level playing field, that the well-off can "pay to win". So the dil sink must be a pure vanity item. Like, say, a costume.
3. It has to be something that, despite the obscene price tag, people will still want to buy. Something like... costume pieces people have been asking for practically since the game came out. Sure, you could put in things like monocles or gold plating on your spaceship, but those are silly frills that virtually nobody will be interested in. But beaming down with your away team and looking like Jim Kirk in TWOK when you do it... that's Star Trek, man, Trekkies want that. (I know. I'm a Trekkie and I want it.)
So... I see their reasoning, here. I may not like it very much (I'm not a whale, I'm barely even a malnourished porpoise, I can't afford this stuff), and it's too early to tell if enough people will want this to take a significant amount of dilithium out of the exchange. But I definitely see the reasoning. It is logical, Captain.
Of course it is. If they were targeting the "average joe", it would be a lot less expensive. If they wanted something that someone a little less casual could earn over some number of months, it would be cheaper. The current pricing is clearly aimed at 2 segments of STO. Those sitting on piles of Dil and those that spend real cash to get dil. This is not aimed at probably 95% of the STO population, which, has filled 15 pages with crying. Interestingly, we've seen the people targeted for these items in the thread posting that they bought them. Those that spend cash, and those sitting on lots of Dil. So at least part of the goal has been achieved for Cryptic. So while so many people can cry about it, they can't say the price is too high anymore since people are buying them. It's simply too high for the whiners.
is "damn near 100 percent" the same as vast majority? hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
1) Cryptic for thinking enough people would want to pay millions of dil' for Space Barbie, and how they wont really look like a few million dil' Space Barbie when they wear the outfits.
2) The Space Bernie' crowd that has been beating the drum, complaining about how the F2P concept of the dil'/Zen exchange is unfair, and now will complain about how Space Barbie prices are unfair.
3) All of the people crying about the need for another "dil' sink" and then complain about the Space Barbie Zen dil' sink.
The only value I see in these outfits is the enterntainment of watching the chaos of the realization that all parties considered have shot themselves in the foot.
I'm going to just set up this lawn chair, and pop a bowl of popcorn, and watch this "must see TV" type entertainment. I just hope no one owns the property and tries to charge me 1 million dil' to watch!
If this was their attempt at a Dilithium Sink then the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. To get the Dilithium Exchange rate down with a sink is one thing but to then run a Key and Services sale at the same time that is driving the Dilithium Exchange rate back up has you scratching your head.
As I have said before this was a pretty stupid sink anyway. To draw Dilithium away from people that have too much they don't know what to do with it and that are not doing anything with it anyway wouldn't be affecting the market anyway. How many people would be buying Zen to buy Dilithium anyway for this overpriced stuff? If you were going to entice some into doing so that are on the fence, then a Zen Charge Bonus would help with that. None seen.
'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.'
Bizarrely, the more I think this one over, the more it makes sense to me.
Cryptic want to put some downwards pressure on the dilithium exchange rate, so they are providing a dilithium sink.
Doesn't a sink actually have to be used wide spread, to actually be a sink?
Time will tell.
I think the prices are a bit too high, maybe 500k-1m dil would be more useful as a sink.
But, at the same time, it's very good to have stuff like this for people to covet and work toward.
It might be better if they'd made new stuff for it, widely desirable stuff, but there will still be a small core of people who covet these enough to earn them.
Comments
OK, I'll bite. Other than the previous cost of outfits, why is it nonsensical to compare the two?
I have no idea of the relative programming effort required for an outfit or a ship, but I will guess it's comparable. Ultimately you're buying a virtual service because it makes the game more fun to play. The MACO outfit would represent a better spend for me (personally) than 90% of ships in game, because the latter would be no fun to me; however I'm a big ENT fan and already have a pseudo-MACO team of BOffs using the Mercenary uniform, so this would actually have a lot of play value. (Not sure I will actually buy it, but that's why I am tempted when I can earn the dil / zen).
So to borrow your argument, if you want "outfits like them" there are already close alternatives available; the Mercenary or WoK Z-store sets, if you want ground tactical or movie-era uniforms.
250x 8k refinement = 1 awsome dili outfit ( cough cough )
5 toons = 50 days ( Normal F2P Account )
10 toons = 25 days
25 toons = 10 days
50 toons = 5 days
How badly do you want those PIXELS ?
If want to make propre DiliSink
it is better to make Ship Skins
for example
- Golden/Latnium Plated ship skins ( you already have those golden ferengi ships... )
Ground no much interest ...
I said "Vast majority" and I'm calling **** to your post as well.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
QFT!
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.'
Really..., we should be attacking THEM, not each other!
Why does that sound like it's a quote from a movie...?
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Cryptic want to put some downwards pressure on the dilithium exchange rate, so they are providing a dilithium sink.
To stand any chance of being successful, this dilithium sink must have three main properties:-
1. It must cost an awful lot of dilithium. (Like, nearly two years' worth of refining on a single toon.)
2. It has to be something that won't affect gameplay. Because if this whatever-it-is gives massive bonuses in regular play, like some super-ship, super-console or super-weapon, the people who can't afford it (which is going to be the vast majority of us, see point 1) will - quite rightly - protest that they're being disadvantaged, that there's no longer a level playing field, that the well-off can "pay to win". So the dil sink must be a pure vanity item. Like, say, a costume.
3. It has to be something that, despite the obscene price tag, people will still want to buy. Something like... costume pieces people have been asking for practically since the game came out. Sure, you could put in things like monocles or gold plating on your spaceship, but those are silly frills that virtually nobody will be interested in. But beaming down with your away team and looking like Jim Kirk in TWOK when you do it... that's Star Trek, man, Trekkies want that. (I know. I'm a Trekkie and I want it.)
So... I see their reasoning, here. I may not like it very much (I'm not a whale, I'm barely even a malnourished porpoise, I can't afford this stuff), and it's too early to tell if enough people will want this to take a significant amount of dilithium out of the exchange. But I definitely see the reasoning. It is logical, Captain.
Of course it is. If they were targeting the "average joe", it would be a lot less expensive. If they wanted something that someone a little less casual could earn over some number of months, it would be cheaper. The current pricing is clearly aimed at 2 segments of STO. Those sitting on piles of Dil and those that spend real cash to get dil. This is not aimed at probably 95% of the STO population, which, has filled 15 pages with crying. Interestingly, we've seen the people targeted for these items in the thread posting that they bought them. Those that spend cash, and those sitting on lots of Dil. So at least part of the goal has been achieved for Cryptic. So while so many people can cry about it, they can't say the price is too high anymore since people are buying them. It's simply too high for the whiners.
What is the problem?
If McDonalds decided to start selling gold 'flaked' burgers for £1000 (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/11143554/Chef-creates-worlds-most-expensive-burger-cost-1100.html) I would simply not buy it...
Cryptic is a private company and charge whatever they like. If you don't like it... don't buy it.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Join Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
1) Cryptic for thinking enough people would want to pay millions of dil' for Space Barbie, and how they wont really look like a few million dil' Space Barbie when they wear the outfits.
2) The Space Bernie' crowd that has been beating the drum, complaining about how the F2P concept of the dil'/Zen exchange is unfair, and now will complain about how Space Barbie prices are unfair.
3) All of the people crying about the need for another "dil' sink" and then complain about the Space Barbie Zen dil' sink.
The only value I see in these outfits is the enterntainment of watching the chaos of the realization that all parties considered have shot themselves in the foot.
I'm going to just set up this lawn chair, and pop a bowl of popcorn, and watch this "must see TV" type entertainment. I just hope no one owns the property and tries to charge me 1 million dil' to watch!
Who asked for Free? Those prices aren't on par with zen store pricing atm, even if we took the average from this year they are off by quite a bit.
Hence why I don't buy Lobi Store costumes either.
Doesn't a sink actually have to be used wide spread, to actually be a sink?
That still puts the pricing way off even with them being 'special'.
As I have said before this was a pretty stupid sink anyway. To draw Dilithium away from people that have too much they don't know what to do with it and that are not doing anything with it anyway wouldn't be affecting the market anyway. How many people would be buying Zen to buy Dilithium anyway for this overpriced stuff? If you were going to entice some into doing so that are on the fence, then a Zen Charge Bonus would help with that. None seen.
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.'
Again if that is the case, it defeats the purpose of being a sink. Key words, "small core of people".
500k dil at most seems reasonable for outfits.