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kylethetrue
Member Posts: 205 Arc User
I've been hoping to see the MACO uniforms from Enterprise era and Khan Excursion jacket for a long time. But the prices are so crushingly high.
So reaching the refining cap on all 5 of my level 60 characters I can refine 40k dilithium a day. Assuming I can do that every day consistently, it would take me 43 days to earn enough to buy the MACO uniform.
The process takes about 5 hours per day assuming I concentrate on it. That's 35 hours per week. Almost a part time job. And it's not particularly fun.
STO is a fun game once I finish the daily grind. I enjoy it. And yet that daily grind is such a HUGE time sink I barely have time to enjoy the game. And if prices like this keep popping up combined with the over inflated Zen prices, I really don't feel that I am receiving a proper payment for my time spent.
This is leading me to wonder if I should just try to break the STO addiction and play something with better rewards and less grind.
So reaching the refining cap on all 5 of my level 60 characters I can refine 40k dilithium a day. Assuming I can do that every day consistently, it would take me 43 days to earn enough to buy the MACO uniform.
The process takes about 5 hours per day assuming I concentrate on it. That's 35 hours per week. Almost a part time job. And it's not particularly fun.
STO is a fun game once I finish the daily grind. I enjoy it. And yet that daily grind is such a HUGE time sink I barely have time to enjoy the game. And if prices like this keep popping up combined with the over inflated Zen prices, I really don't feel that I am receiving a proper payment for my time spent.
This is leading me to wonder if I should just try to break the STO addiction and play something with better rewards and less grind.
"Thou shalt respect the weak and shalt constitute thyself defender of them."
-3rd Commmandment of Chivalry
-3rd Commmandment of Chivalry
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I'd say set your sights a little further out - maybe 3-4 months and chip away at it at a pace and in a way that lets you enjoy the game for the moment-to-moment gameplay and its occasional long-term side benefits rather than relentlessly attacking that one aspect like it's a second job. While people say "oh it's a Dil sink!" I think the numbers make it very much "oh, it's prestige item intended to encourage you to grind out some new Dil and drop $20 to speed the process along."
What I've found works best for me is I play the game I want to play, not the one someone else wants me to play. I mean, I understand there is a benefit to the grinds and I try to do them catch as catch can when it's convenient, but decided long ago I wasn't going to let the daily grinds distract me from playing the gane I want to play. To be fair though, I rather enjoyed the Q daily winter event stuff and didn't mind doing those at all, so I guess it also depends on the specific grind.
BTW, I agree with the many people who have said the reputaiton grinds should be by account, not by characater. There is a lot to love about sto, but it is not the most alt-friendly mmo I've played.
That's funny. Cause for me as well, the leveling up from the start is always the most enjoyable which AoY reminded me of.
Cloaked with a vague title though, congrats on that. That way you can steal some of our time
Very interested to hear about your dil grind routine that maxes out on 10 chars in under 2 hours. Since i have little playing time per day this interests me.
Thanks.
Buy dilithium for Zen.
I know this is not likely to be a popular idea, but covering half the dilithium cost with Zen (or whatever percentage you personally believe is fair for the time and effort put into the creation of these outfits), you would simultaneously be able to support the continuing development of STO while maintaining a relatively free conscience that you did not pay the full Dil/Zen price for what you wanted.
Example: Other costumes on the C-store are 550 Zen. While it has been established that Cryptic does not generate as much money off of those costumes compared to the labor hours poured into them, at 400 Dilithium-per-Zen, it would cost 220,000 refined Dilithium to purchase a 550 Zen outfit on the store.
So, by simply buying 550 zen and selling it for ~220k dilithium, you could save quite a bit of time grinding the purple stuff away and refinining it, while showing your loyalty to the game -- although it is not likely to be recognized as unwavering loyalty, mind you.
This is what might be considered a "compromise", and therefore is probably a horrible idea that nobody should pay attention to, and I should have my Real™ Star Trek fan membership card revoked for suggesting it.
35 hours a week? If you were getting paid at least $12 an hour for that part time job as you put it, that would be $420 made per week before stuff is taken out. Why not just buy the damn thing by exchanging zen? To me the waste of that precious time seriously outweighs the waste of cash that would be spent just buying it right now.
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.'
Actually Iconians, Im actually going to renew your membership card for another 10 years. You looked for an alternative solution, that would be beneficial for both sides. You did explain before in another post, that you didnt agree with the prices, but also provided your feedback in a constructive way. To try and benefit both sides.
If that is not being a Starfleet Captain, in certain circumstances to comprise, but remain neutral for both sides, I dont know what is.
I personally sometimes don't agree on some of your stances regarding this game in certain areas. But i agree with you on this one.
35 hours a week is actually, by definition, a FULL Time job according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A part time job is considered 34 hours or less in the US. While in Canada, the UK and the EU it's less than 30 hours.
As another poster suggested, by parting with some cash you could alleviate a lot of that, since that is largely the point of these items being released.
OP, if sto is annoying you, take a break from it or reduce your playing time.
It's going to become a word stigmatized forever with exclusion.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
Unwavering loyalty is the best stigmatized term in STO ever and the players love it!
Apart from that, the moment you arrange your time in a game that it feels like work, you really should take a step back. Although I totally disagree with the first part of the post about which levels to enjoy most, I am totally a fan of this technique:
I know that admiralty is important but I only do it when I have the leisure and time. I don't feel like I have to do it today. I like the summer and winter events, so I played them and almost completely ignored bonux XP week even though I really could have used it for ship masteries across my toons. Well, now it'll take me twice as long to get them, but one day when I am in the mood, I'll do it.
The only thing that really needs some planning for the casual gamer (as in "it can be done later", not any of the other definitions), are events. You really should decide beforehand whether you have the time or motivation to do the daily stuff 2 out of 3 days (usual ratio) or whether you shouldn't just skip it. Yes, you may lose out on a shiny, but then again, there's only so many shinies you really use so your actual gameplay enjoyment shouldn't suffer too much.
So stop eating carrots.
The newest shinys only become available when they want to become available. Not one second sooner. It is also not needed nor required to own one of everything in the game. Those ships 'given away' during the Winter and Summer Events? I have exactly one of them. The Claw. The others? Could not care less. Further, how many people get those ships and use them only long enough to get the Trait? Which they promptly transfer to their favorite ship. Just how many Vorgon ships have you seen over the last week? Unh hunh. Thought so.
OP, I've said it many times and will doubtless say it many more. STO is a game. It should not become a lifestyle choice. Not now. Not ever. Chasing everything means you will acquire nothing. It also means you are allowing other people to dictate to you what your goals are in this game. People who only see you as part of a revenue stream. Strangers. Are you sure you want to do this? I don't.
Temporal Reputation. How many of these Reputations do we have now? Eight? Nine? I've lost track. Yet Cryptic is counting on us to all line up and say, "Please, Sir. May I have another?" Ever wonder they'd do if they started a Reputation and no one played it? I, for one, have begun to really really hate carrots. So I am not going to work on the Temporal Rep.
Are there things in this game I will grind for? Yup. Some things I want. Such as the Zefrem Cochran Shotgun. But those ridiculous uniforms for those ridiculous prices did not make the cut. Let them be. You don't need them, OP. They do nothing to improve your gameplay or your effectiveness as a player. They only mark someone as a fool who values his time and his money even less than the folks at Cryptic do.
When enough of the players of STO stop chasing every trinket and bauble maybe the Dev Team will get the hint and start making meaningful content more often. Those ridiculous uniforms for those ridiculous prices are not even valuable enough to be considered worthless. If I were a part of the Dev Team, I'd be ashamed right now. Because those ridiculous uniforms for those ridiculous prices say in no uncertain terms how little respect PWE/Cryptic has for our intelligence. Along with how gullibly stupid they really think we are.