Thinking of becoming a lifer

galaxicon · September 2016

I am coming back to the game after a long break. Left shortly after Delta. Life time subscription offers a lot of perks but it is not cheap

So I wanted to hear from a few of you lifers out there!

If you would be deciding today, with the state that the game is in now and with whats coming (good/bad/balanced - matter of opinion), would you do it? Yes, no, why?

Thanks! Fedor

mustrumridcully0 · September 2016

Maybe it's worth it, maybe not. Chances are the game will be around for at least another 2 years, unless the console launch was a total failure, quite possibly longer. I got it many years ago, it paid off for me, whether it will for you cannot be predicted.

But wait for the next sale before you actually buy it. It might take some while, but is there a need to rush?

davefenestrator · September 2016

I use enough of the perks that I don't regret buying it.

- I like the T6 cross-faction ship
- the tier 5 token is nice for adding a ship with a console you want, or for trying something fun like the KDF smoky carrier
- the android boff with self-res has superior creative so is nice for either sci or eng on the away team
- the +5% XP is nice for leveling alts, it gets rid of any need to grind
- extra respec tokens! an even better perk for alts
- extra account bank slots, character slots, ship slots
- fireworks, woot!

If you have or plan to have captains in all 3 factions the value goes up. If you only play 1-2 fed characters the value is a lot lower.

lighte007 · September 2016

You should wait until its on sale on PC if you are getting it. Since 199 dollars is cheaper than 300 dollars. lol

I love the Lifetime perks.

galaxicon · September 2016

coldnapalm wrote: »

Right now...no. It has nothing to do with the state of the game...it's just that this game has gotten quite a bit long in the tooth...and the chances of me getting my money's worth from a life time sub at this point is pretty small...and getting that amount in zen would net me better rewards for this game.

Good point. I do feel that there is a lot more for me to get out of this game, as long as its still up. Is it worth the life sub, maybe.

tigeraries · September 2016

pc or console? pc if you like it sure why not it has free zen each month just buy when it's on sale... console? not worth it at all. you can get the perks cheaper by buying direct when on sale... only thing is the T5 and T6 ships but you can get the fleet versions from vendor... think you can get the regular version as well but not sure about that. course game needs to be around long enough to recoup the cost of the membership... need like just over 3 years? that of course is just looking at the zen value while ignoring all the other "perks".

baldrick8 · September 2016

You missed the LTS sale by a few months. I didn't regret my purchase, nice goodies to have, but you should wait for the next sale imo.

fovrel · September 2016

When it is on sale, 199 $, it is really a good bargain. I like to create and roll alts, so whenever I do it, I have all the perks. Deleting an alt is also no pain. The new guy got everything you had again. Before I was a lifer, I took a sub for a month sometimes. I don't have to do it anymore.

sylveriarelden · September 2016

Right now? Only if it's "very disposable" cash to you... otherwise I'd wait for a sale.

Perks are nice, but not "ZOMG wow". Stipend is a bit low- but you shouldn't be looking at an LTS for the stipend alone, anyhow. The T6 heavy destroyer is OK, but others outshine it, especially Z-Store purchases.

At sale price, it's pretty much a no brainer, IMO. You get all the perks, immediately- for the life of the game. (plus stipend monthly, etc.)

galaxicon · September 2016

mustrumridcully0 wrote: »

Maybe it's worth it, maybe not. Chances are the game will be around for at least another 2 years, unless the console launch was a total failure, quite possibly longer. I got it many years ago, it paid off for me, whether it will for you cannot be predicted.

But wait for the next sale before you actually buy it. It might take some while, but is there a need to rush?

Oh yeh, I would wait for a sale for sure. I don't think the game would die after 2 years even if console launch was a complete disaster though. There is a renewed interest in Star Trek IP with movies and TV show coming so that has to amount to somewhat larger population of gamers picking up STO. Plus it does not look like this game is so expensive to maintain. I think they got it down how to keep things alive across different titles, shared tech, teams and so on.

galaxicon · September 2016

lighte007 wrote: »

You should wait until its on sale on PC if you are getting it. Since 199 dollars is cheaper than 300 dollars. lol

I love the Lifetime perks.

For sure

centaurianalpha · September 2016

Wait for the next sale; I have no regrets about my LTS. You'll find that some ships become available for no additional cost, which also yield useful Admiralty "cards".

galaxicon · September 2016

sylveriarelden wrote: »

Right now? Only if it's "very disposable" cash to you... otherwise I'd wait for a sale.

Perks are nice, but not "ZOMG wow". Stipend is a bit low- but you shouldn't be looking at an LTS for the stipend alone, anyhow. The T6 heavy destroyer is OK, but others outshine it, especially Z-Store purchases.

At sale price, it's pretty much a no brainer, IMO. You get all the perks, immediately- for the life of the game. (plus stipend monthly, etc.)

Absolutely, got to wait till next sale. Stipend alone is very low but 3 T6 ships (1 per faction) is nice, worth at least 6,000 Zen right there. Would be nice to see them offer more rewards, going beyond 1,000 veteran or Lifer exclusives. I am sure that would generate even more subs. But I trust Cryptic got very good and watching the numbers and knowing whats sells and what does not and if it makes sense turning more sub rewards into cash, they will.

goodscotch · September 2016

Just recently pulled the trigger when there was a sale. I get 500 Zen every month plus additional perks. It's nice. And I play predominately Klingon. It doesn't mean that I no longer spend money in the game because I do, but it has its perks.

bobbydazlers · September 2016

if you are sure you wont take any more breaks and providing you wait for the next lifetime sale that should be up soon I would say yes its worth it.
if you take a look at the current perks you will see you surely get more then your money back there alone, add to this that if the game stays on line for only two years which is highly likely at this stage then you will also get 12000 zen in monthly stipend to spend on anything you want from the c store.
personally I think the way things are with sto being rated PW's No.1 game last week its highly likely to be around for a lot longer then that.

lucianazeta · September 2016

No, STO has too many years behind it for my taste, likely more behind then it still has ahead, and LTS takes years to earn itself back.

4 years ago when I got it, it was perfect for me, I had the money to waste on it, and STO was only a bit more then 2 years old.

bobbydazlers · September 2016

lucianazeta wrote: »

No, STO has too many years behind it for my taste, likely more behind then it still has ahead, and LTS takes years to earn itself back.

4 years ago when I got it, it was perfect for me, I had the money to waste on it, and STO was only a bit more then 2 years old.

quite on the contrary, if you take a look at Subscriber benefits breakdown here >
http://sto.gamepedia.com/User:Eklinaar/Subscriber_benefits_breakdown

you will see that the zen value of the lifetime subscription price is approximately 30000 zen, calculating the approximate value of the rewards for a player with 3 characters at 37075 you will see that the rewards alone are enough to cover the total cost.

also bear in mind that this was calculated in may 2013 long before cryptic added 3 T6 ships to the package 1 fed, 1 kdf and 1 rom or any of the other rewards that have been recently added in the last 3 years like the T5 upgrade token for example.

if you finally bear in mind that this assumes that lifetime is purchased at full price and not at half price as I suggested in my last comment you cannot dispute that the sale price of a lifetime sub is more then covered just on the veteran rewards alone before you take any monthly stipend in to account.

obviously the longer the game lasts from date of purchase the better for the buyer but given the sto's obvious high standing in PW's line up of games and the amount of new content we have been getting of late it is very unlikely that we will see the demise of sto for many years to come.

detheater · September 2016

I picked it up during the last sale. I totally think it is worth it at the sale price. Will the game last long enough to recoup that $199 price? Obviously there are no guarantees, but I considered certain facts when making my decision:

1. They expanded into the console so that tells me unless they are total flop Cryptic is committed for a while.
2. There is a huge Star Trek fan-base with more interest to come as more movies release and the new show launches. This should equal more money for Cryptic.
3. With such a fan base I have doubts that there will ever be a time without a Star Trek (or Star Wars for that matter) MMO unless MMOs become completely unpopular (SWG and SWTOR set a precedent: one launches the other shuts down). Since MMOs take several years to make and there hasn't been even hints at a new one I feel this one is safe for a while.
4. The stipend and the ships and items you get enhance my game-play.

So considering all of these I decided it was worth the small (IMO) risk that the game would shut down before I recoup my original outlay of money. Would I pay $299? Probably not.

bobbydazlers · September 2016

detheater wrote: »

I picked it up during the last sale. I totally think it is worth it at the sale price. Will the game last long enough to recoup that $199 price? Obviously there are no guarantees, but I considered certain facts when making my decision:

1. They expanded into the console so that tells me unless they are total flop Cryptic is committed for a while.
2. There is a huge Star Trek fan-base with more interest to come as more movies release and the new show launches. This should equal more money for Cryptic.
3. With such a fan base I have doubts that there will ever be a time without a Star Trek (or Star Wars for that matter) MMO unless MMOs become completely unpopular (SWG and SWTOR set a precedent: one launches the other shuts down). Since MMOs take several years to make and there hasn't been even hints at a new one I feel this one is safe for a while.
4. The stipend and the ships and items you get enhance my game-play.

So considering all of these I decided it was worth the small (IMO) risk that the game would shut down before I recoup my original outlay of money. Would I pay $299? Probably not.

I agree totally, $299 is just too much to spend on any single game IMO, but seeing as they usually have a half price sale twice a year and one should be due very soon I don't think you can go wrong getting it at that price.

lucianazeta · September 2016

bobbydazlers wrote: »

lucianazeta wrote: »

No, STO has too many years behind it for my taste, likely more behind then it still has ahead, and LTS takes years to earn itself back.

4 years ago when I got it, it was perfect for me, I had the money to waste on it, and STO was only a bit more then 2 years old.

quite on the contrary, if you take a look at Subscriber benefits breakdown here >
http://sto.gamepedia.com/User:Eklinaar/Subscriber_benefits_breakdown

you will see that the zen value of the lifetime subscription price is approximately 30000 zen, calculating the approximate value of the rewards for a player with 3 characters at 37075 you will see that the rewards alone are enough to cover the total cost.

also bear in mind that this was calculated in may 2013 long before cryptic added 3 T6 ships to the package 1 fed, 1 kdf and 1 rom or any of the other rewards that have been recently added in the last 3 years like the T5 upgrade token for example.

if you finally bear in mind that this assumes that lifetime is purchased at full price and not at half price as I suggested in my last comment you cannot dispute that the sale price of a lifetime sub is more then covered just on the veteran rewards alone before you take any monthly stipend in to account.

obviously the longer the game lasts from date of purchase the better for the buyer but given the sto's obvious high standing in PW's line up of games and the amount of new content we have been getting of late it is very unlikely that we will see the demise of sto for many years to come.

I will not deny what you say is true -now-, but all these wonderful things you list, were not part of the deal when I got my LTS, that was before insta-Vet rewards, the value of an LTS then was in no small part that you never had to renew your gold subscription again, and that was also my motivation, that is also the basis on which I base an LTS paying itself back.

galaxicon · September 2016

bobbydazlers wrote: »

if you are sure you wont take any more breaks and providing you wait for the next lifetime sale that should be up soon I would say yes its worth it.
if you take a look at the current perks you will see you surely get more then your money back there alone, add to this that if the game stays on line for only two years which is highly likely at this stage then you will also get 12000 zen in monthly stipend to spend on anything you want from the c store.
personally I think the way things are with sto being rated PW's No.1 game last week its highly likely to be around for a lot longer then that.

Totally agree! I missed the #1 announcement, can you link? Thanks

galaxicon · September 2016

Now I have not read this anywhere and I am sure Cryptic would not advertise this but have lifers notices any priority treatment in support requests?

bobbydazlers · September 2016

lucianazeta wrote: »

bobbydazlers wrote: »

lucianazeta wrote: »

No, STO has too many years behind it for my taste, likely more behind then it still has ahead, and LTS takes years to earn itself back.

4 years ago when I got it, it was perfect for me, I had the money to waste on it, and STO was only a bit more then 2 years old.

quite on the contrary, if you take a look at Subscriber benefits breakdown here >
http://sto.gamepedia.com/User:Eklinaar/Subscriber_benefits_breakdown

you will see that the zen value of the lifetime subscription price is approximately 30000 zen, calculating the approximate value of the rewards for a player with 3 characters at 37075 you will see that the rewards alone are enough to cover the total cost.

also bear in mind that this was calculated in may 2013 long before cryptic added 3 T6 ships to the package 1 fed, 1 kdf and 1 rom or any of the other rewards that have been recently added in the last 3 years like the T5 upgrade token for example.

if you finally bear in mind that this assumes that lifetime is purchased at full price and not at half price as I suggested in my last comment you cannot dispute that the sale price of a lifetime sub is more then covered just on the veteran rewards alone before you take any monthly stipend in to account.

obviously the longer the game lasts from date of purchase the better for the buyer but given the sto's obvious high standing in PW's line up of games and the amount of new content we have been getting of late it is very unlikely that we will see the demise of sto for many years to come.

I will not deny what you say is true -now-, but all these wonderful things you list, were not part of the deal when I got my LTS, that was before insta-Vet rewards, the value of an LTS then was in no small part that you never had to renew your gold subscription again, and that was also my motivation, that is also the basis on which I base an LTS paying itself back.

basing lifetime on what was on offer when you purchased it is not sensible, that's like working out your cost of living today on prices from 50 years ago.
you must ignore what perks were there when you bought and look at what is on offer today.

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/3026853

as you get all of the perks from day 1 to day 1000 as soon as you buy take your time and work out the c-store cost for all of these items to calculate the value for money lifetime during sale time is.

galaxicon wrote: »

bobbydazlers wrote: »

if you are sure you wont take any more breaks and providing you wait for the next lifetime sale that should be up soon I would say yes its worth it.
if you take a look at the current perks you will see you surely get more then your money back there alone, add to this that if the game stays on line for only two years which is highly likely at this stage then you will also get 12000 zen in monthly stipend to spend on anything you want from the c store.
personally I think the way things are with sto being rated PW's No.1 game last week its highly likely to be around for a lot longer then that.

Totally agree! I missed the #1 announcement, can you link? Thanks

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/

just scroll down to the "Weekly Top Games" top 5 list, sto is no 2 this week but it was no 1 last week if I recall correctly, even at no 2 out of all the games PW has I think that's pretty impressive for a game that some say hasn't got long.

galaxicon · September 2016

bobbydazlers wrote: »

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/

just scroll down to the "Weekly Top Games" top 5 list, sto is no 2 this week but it was no 1 last week if I recall correctly, even at no 2 out of all the games PW has I think that's pretty impressive for a game that some say hasn't got long.

Thanks!

mustrumridcully0 · September 2016

bobbydazlers wrote: »

lucianazeta wrote: »

bobbydazlers wrote: »

lucianazeta wrote: »

No, STO has too many years behind it for my taste, likely more behind then it still has ahead, and LTS takes years to earn itself back.

4 years ago when I got it, it was perfect for me, I had the money to waste on it, and STO was only a bit more then 2 years old.

quite on the contrary, if you take a look at Subscriber benefits breakdown here >
http://sto.gamepedia.com/User:Eklinaar/Subscriber_benefits_breakdown

you will see that the zen value of the lifetime subscription price is approximately 30000 zen, calculating the approximate value of the rewards for a player with 3 characters at 37075 you will see that the rewards alone are enough to cover the total cost.

also bear in mind that this was calculated in may 2013 long before cryptic added 3 T6 ships to the package 1 fed, 1 kdf and 1 rom or any of the other rewards that have been recently added in the last 3 years like the T5 upgrade token for example.

if you finally bear in mind that this assumes that lifetime is purchased at full price and not at half price as I suggested in my last comment you cannot dispute that the sale price of a lifetime sub is more then covered just on the veteran rewards alone before you take any monthly stipend in to account.

obviously the longer the game lasts from date of purchase the better for the buyer but given the sto's obvious high standing in PW's line up of games and the amount of new content we have been getting of late it is very unlikely that we will see the demise of sto for many years to come.

I will not deny what you say is true -now-, but all these wonderful things you list, were not part of the deal when I got my LTS, that was before insta-Vet rewards, the value of an LTS then was in no small part that you never had to renew your gold subscription again, and that was also my motivation, that is also the basis on which I base an LTS paying itself back.

basing lifetime on what was on offer when you purchased it is not sensible, that's like working out your cost of living today on prices from 50 years ago.
you must ignore what perks were there when you bought and look at what is on offer today.

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/3026853

as you get all of the perks from day 1 to day 1000 as soon as you buy take your time and work out the c-store cost for all of these items to calculate the value for money lifetime during sale time is.

galaxicon wrote: »

bobbydazlers wrote: »

if you are sure you wont take any more breaks and providing you wait for the next lifetime sale that should be up soon I would say yes its worth it.
if you take a look at the current perks you will see you surely get more then your money back there alone, add to this that if the game stays on line for only two years which is highly likely at this stage then you will also get 12000 zen in monthly stipend to spend on anything you want from the c store.
personally I think the way things are with sto being rated PW's No.1 game last week its highly likely to be around for a lot longer then that.

Totally agree! I missed the #1 announcement, can you link? Thanks

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/

just scroll down to the "Weekly Top Games" top 5 list, sto is no 2 this week but it was no 1 last week if I recall correctly, even at no 2 out of all the games PW has I think that's pretty impressive for a game that some say hasn't got long.

Whether the ranking means anything relevant is of course debatable.

But what I always find interesting:
http://www.arcgames.com/en/social/image

The images (and also videos, but the link I posted is just the images) uploaded by players to Arc are strongly dominated by Star Trek Online.

Space Barbie is real in STO. And it seems more real then regular "Barbie" with sexy and cool character customes. Maybe it's just that Trek fans are different than fans of other types of games, but I tend to interpret this more as an indication how important Star Trek Online is for PWE.

captainkoltar · September 2016

If I were you I'd wait a bit. You've already taken one break from the game. I'd play for a good while to see whether you actually enjoy the game as it is before deciding to spend that much money.

As others have said, you'd want to wait for a sale anyway, so that might give you the time you need to make a sound decision.

-K

bobbydazlers · September 2016

mustrumridcully0 wrote: »

bobbydazlers wrote: »

lucianazeta wrote: »

bobbydazlers wrote: »

lucianazeta wrote: »

No, STO has too many years behind it for my taste, likely more behind then it still has ahead, and LTS takes years to earn itself back.

4 years ago when I got it, it was perfect for me, I had the money to waste on it, and STO was only a bit more then 2 years old.

quite on the contrary, if you take a look at Subscriber benefits breakdown here >
http://sto.gamepedia.com/User:Eklinaar/Subscriber_benefits_breakdown

you will see that the zen value of the lifetime subscription price is approximately 30000 zen, calculating the approximate value of the rewards for a player with 3 characters at 37075 you will see that the rewards alone are enough to cover the total cost.

also bear in mind that this was calculated in may 2013 long before cryptic added 3 T6 ships to the package 1 fed, 1 kdf and 1 rom or any of the other rewards that have been recently added in the last 3 years like the T5 upgrade token for example.

if you finally bear in mind that this assumes that lifetime is purchased at full price and not at half price as I suggested in my last comment you cannot dispute that the sale price of a lifetime sub is more then covered just on the veteran rewards alone before you take any monthly stipend in to account.

obviously the longer the game lasts from date of purchase the better for the buyer but given the sto's obvious high standing in PW's line up of games and the amount of new content we have been getting of late it is very unlikely that we will see the demise of sto for many years to come.

I will not deny what you say is true -now-, but all these wonderful things you list, were not part of the deal when I got my LTS, that was before insta-Vet rewards, the value of an LTS then was in no small part that you never had to renew your gold subscription again, and that was also my motivation, that is also the basis on which I base an LTS paying itself back.

basing lifetime on what was on offer when you purchased it is not sensible, that's like working out your cost of living today on prices from 50 years ago.
you must ignore what perks were there when you bought and look at what is on offer today.

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/3026853

as you get all of the perks from day 1 to day 1000 as soon as you buy take your time and work out the c-store cost for all of these items to calculate the value for money lifetime during sale time is.

galaxicon wrote: »

bobbydazlers wrote: »

if you are sure you wont take any more breaks and providing you wait for the next lifetime sale that should be up soon I would say yes its worth it.
if you take a look at the current perks you will see you surely get more then your money back there alone, add to this that if the game stays on line for only two years which is highly likely at this stage then you will also get 12000 zen in monthly stipend to spend on anything you want from the c store.
personally I think the way things are with sto being rated PW's No.1 game last week its highly likely to be around for a lot longer then that.

Totally agree! I missed the #1 announcement, can you link? Thanks

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/

just scroll down to the "Weekly Top Games" top 5 list, sto is no 2 this week but it was no 1 last week if I recall correctly, even at no 2 out of all the games PW has I think that's pretty impressive for a game that some say hasn't got long.

Whether the ranking means anything relevant is of course debatable.

But what I always find interesting:
http://www.arcgames.com/en/social/image

The images (and also videos, but the link I posted is just the images) uploaded by players to Arc are strongly dominated by Star Trek Online.

Space Barbie is real in STO. And it seems more real then regular "Barbie" with sexy and cool character customes. Maybe it's just that Trek fans are different than fans of other types of games, but I tend to interpret this more as an indication how important Star Trek Online is for PWE.

personally I believe the top list to be accurate, possibly based on total collective time played by all players and as a weekly chart obviously based over stats for the previous week or maybe the total amount of individual players signing in to play that week.
I am sure if the list was nothing but a promotional aid it would be much newer games that featured most prominently in an effort to draw in new players.

I agree that "Trek fans are different than fans of other types of games", with the lack of any other trek game that offers the same kind of diversity of gameplay that sto does there is just no other trek game that can compete for our time.
sure there are other trek games out there but they just don't offer the same level of emersion that trek does.

with all of the other PW games there are many, many similar games from many different game companies that can compete for a players game time, its just a fact of life that sto is quite unique in the gaming world and this is why you cant base how long sto will last on what it usual in the gaming world, i believe sto's uniqueness will carry it for many years to come.

captainkoltar wrote: »

If I were you I'd wait a bit. You've already taken one break from the game. I'd play for a good while to see whether you actually enjoy the game as it is before deciding to spend that much money.

As others have said, you'd want to wait for a sale anyway, so that might give you the time you need to make a sound decision.

-K

I agree totally, in fact this is very similar to what I said in my first comment in a round about way.

galaxicon · September 2016

Thanks all, again, for your feedback. I will wait for next sale and join lifers! Looking forward to cruising in my Captain's Yacht!

galaxicon · September 2016

bobbydazlers wrote: »

I agree that "Trek fans are different than fans of other types of games", with the lack of any other trek game that offers the same kind of diversity of gameplay that sto does there is just no other trek game that can compete for our time.
sure there are other trek games out there but they just don't offer the same level of emersion that trek does.

I looked at other Star Trek games and there is no question, nothing else offers the variety you get with STO. Plus even a great single player ST game will run its course. There are no "DLCs" that keep players excited. So, if you are a Star Trek fan and a gamer, STO is the place to be.

Thinking of becoming a lifer

Comments

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.