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<""Logically, it is best that Prize Ships are RNG"">
repetitiveepic
Member Posts: 6,549 Arc User
With the great Infinity Promo in full swing, I think its important that people take a moment to think about *why* things like this have to come from RNG packs. It isn't venality on the part of the developers, there is a logical reason for why it is best for players and the community that it works this way.
To not run afoul of the no-necro rule, I post a new thread rather than bump an old one. It is what it is!
There are three good outcomes to look for with prize ships in STO.
1) The prize ships are rare and desirable. -If nothing is rare and desirable, the game is tepid and boring.
2) Everyone has a chance to get one. -If not everyone has a chance to get one, it is unfair, and pay2win.
3) The company earns revenue and profit. -This is absolutely necessary for the game to continue being run. Business has to earn profit.
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If we make them available to anyone who wants one at a fixed price in the c-store, but that price is low, then they are no longer rare and desirable, and we sacrifice outcome 1.
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The only way to make the promo ships very rare and desirable, if they are offered to anyone who wants one at a fixed price in the c-store, is to make that price very high.
The market prices them at about 15k zen, which takes into account the consolation prizes in the promo boxes as well as the odds of winning a ship. In terms of zen expenditure to get one, its closer to 25k zen.
However, if they were offered at that high price, almost no one would have a chance to get them, and also, the owners would not get much revenue.
-
Since having the ships rare and desirable is a good outcome, and the game earning profit is a good outcome as well, and everyone having a chance to get the prize ship is a good outcome as well, we should not give up any one outcome in order to secure two of the others, when instead we can get all three outcomes at the same time.
1) It is good that the ship is rare and desirable
2) It is good that everyone has a chance to get one
3) It is good if the company earns revenue and profit.
The good in these outcomes is cumulative. Having two outcomes is better than having one, and having all three is better than having either two or one.
We can only have all three of these good outcomes if the ships are awarded from RNG boxes.
Since all three outcomes is better than just two, or just one, we should unequivocally support the ships being released in RNG boxes, since it leads to the best possible outcome for the game.
To not run afoul of the no-necro rule, I post a new thread rather than bump an old one. It is what it is!
There are three good outcomes to look for with prize ships in STO.
1) The prize ships are rare and desirable. -If nothing is rare and desirable, the game is tepid and boring.
2) Everyone has a chance to get one. -If not everyone has a chance to get one, it is unfair, and pay2win.
3) The company earns revenue and profit. -This is absolutely necessary for the game to continue being run. Business has to earn profit.
-
If we make them available to anyone who wants one at a fixed price in the c-store, but that price is low, then they are no longer rare and desirable, and we sacrifice outcome 1.
-
The only way to make the promo ships very rare and desirable, if they are offered to anyone who wants one at a fixed price in the c-store, is to make that price very high.
The market prices them at about 15k zen, which takes into account the consolation prizes in the promo boxes as well as the odds of winning a ship. In terms of zen expenditure to get one, its closer to 25k zen.
However, if they were offered at that high price, almost no one would have a chance to get them, and also, the owners would not get much revenue.
-
Since having the ships rare and desirable is a good outcome, and the game earning profit is a good outcome as well, and everyone having a chance to get the prize ship is a good outcome as well, we should not give up any one outcome in order to secure two of the others, when instead we can get all three outcomes at the same time.
1) It is good that the ship is rare and desirable
2) It is good that everyone has a chance to get one
3) It is good if the company earns revenue and profit.
The good in these outcomes is cumulative. Having two outcomes is better than having one, and having all three is better than having either two or one.
We can only have all three of these good outcomes if the ships are awarded from RNG boxes.
Since all three outcomes is better than just two, or just one, we should unequivocally support the ships being released in RNG boxes, since it leads to the best possible outcome for the game.
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Comments
No.
As it is now, you can get infinity lock box ships by buying $30-50 worth of lock box keys, selling them for EC, then buying the ship from the exchange. That is a 100% chance to get the ship, while opening 50 keys with the standard lockbox 1:250 odds only gives you an 18.16% chance.
We all benefit from the people who are willing to do the work to open 1,000 boxes and sell all of the contents on the exchange just because they like being space rich.
I've gotten several ships from selling keys this way, I've never won a ship (aside from the T5 consolation prize) from opening boxes.
We haven't gotten any thing yet about Rule of Acquisition 18 yet, but it will come.
See Rule of Acquisition 239 - 'Never be afraid to mislabel a product' is the proper response to these Vulcan Logic statements.
I have noted that despite the time this Infinity has been in effect none of those ships are on the Exchange. Still in Private Channels, so they are getting/keeping their desired result.
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.'
You're talking about the inifinity R&D pack of course since infinity lock box ships are there in quantity.
That is partly because the expected cost of the ship to the seller is $250 (100 packs), or over 1 billion EC. And partly because people are willing to pay well over 750 million for them.
It is not robbing Cryptic, but it is making a profit off of Cryptic's hard work. If anyone else sold the ship, then all of the money would be in Cryptic's hands, but every Lockbox ship sold on one of those websites means that they won't put their money in Cryptic's hands, but some other company. Someone had to buy the keys and someone had to open up the lockboxes, but to maximize profits, it won't be those websites. If I win a lockbox ship and feel generous, then I might put it on the Exchange for 10 to 20% off of the going rate for the ship thinking that I will be helping some player that wants the ship. However, it is more likely that the ship will be bought up by one of those websites and makes 10 to 20 million Energy Credits off of the sale instead of helping someone that needs it.
They'll actually sell those things. If I get any somehow, I'll put them there, or give them to friends for nothing. I say sell em fair and square on the exchange, otherwise, I'll tell 'em where they can stick those ship boxes.....one corner at a time.
There is a difference between a gold seller and a powerleveller. This post is just about clarifying your mistaken impression about gold sellers and does not support trafficking with gold sellers. If you are getting your character powerlevelled or stupid enough to hand over control of your account to some stranger for some other reason like obtaining an extremely rare bind on pickup weapon, then you deserve to get your account messed up.
How is a gold seller able to gain access to your account and steal your ingame items when all they do is take your money and have one of their ingame characters transfer the gold to your character? So there is no risk of having everything stolen ingame when you deal with a gold seller, but there is a risk of them taking your money and not providing your gold or obtaining your credit card information. However, that is also possible with legitimate online stores like when Sony Online Entertainment got TRIBBLE and small online stores like those numerous handmade craft stores.
Gold sellers are a business with some people acquiring the gold or equipment through some method either by actual hard work and knowing how to play the game better than others or through some shady method, some people making the trade in the game, and some people that advertise their services on disposable accounts. So it is safe to say that while not every one of the gold sellers has the gold and equipment one of their customers want despite their claims and are a scam, some of them do since how else would they stay in business and be a pest in tons of MMOs. Gold sellers would be closer to certain businesses that provide an unsavory product in their type of job except there is less health risk dealing with gold sellers. They provide a product that some people desperately want. Some of the gold sellers are honest about their business transactions while others are dishonest just like those unsavory businesses.
The odds are 1 in 100 R&D packs. That means the eeeeeeviiiilll scammers are NOT "jackin' up the price yo!" if they price them at 1.25 billion. The only profit they get selling at that price is from the tedious work of selling the 100 packs worth R&D mats on the exchange.
But sure, if you get 1 ship from pure luck by opening a few packs, feel free to undercut them. The odds of you getting even 1 are low but go ahead.
People seem to ignore the actual cost to sellers to get the ships when ranting about the evil cartels of evil. It's like going into Best Buy and demanding they sell you a PS4 for $50 because your gut tells you that's the "fair price."
Some people like to win a luck-based game even if it is not profitable.
I find "The Customer is Always Right" saying to be complete BS. If the customer is always right, then they are able to set the price of their acquired goods to what they think is "fair". Usually, it will be 50 cents for $50 worth of groceries or some other insane price that would bankrupt businesses.
Why bother with phishing click baits when people will willingly provide that to get their services? Providing your personal information seems pretty standard in Credit Card forms. Disposable credit cards are the only way to protect your privacy, but they seem to have limitations on which companies will use them. Although, services like Paypal helps reduce the problems since you are only giving it to one online company instead of a bunch of online companies.
I'd like to dispute the link between entertainment and ownership of shiny objects. This game is still tepid and boring even with rare prize ships in the mix. Once you've got your prize ship, what is there to do with it that you haven't already done a thousand times over? I stopped using my Temporal T6 Connie a week after I got it. Everything about the Constitution makes me think of the original Trek series in all its wonder and silliness, and I can't replicate that feeling while playing this game. I would've been happier buying a plastic model kit of the Connie like I did when I was 10 years old and painting it to perfection to have on display.
I don't believe owning rare objects increases happiness or a sense of excitement and fulfillment.
Just so happens that four Annoraxes and a Strike Ship made it onto the Exchange when this Promotion was announced but before it started. So it would seem that to those people the 750 Million wasn't so low. And we have had a few weeks of building up Supply.
Those five ships I mentioned above were gone the next day. What'll you bet that they were not scooped up by users but by the CBGC©® (Comic Book Guy Consortium).
While the Infinity Lockbox was the great Equalizer in driving ship (and other stuff) prices down. This R&D Infinity has not yet done so.
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.'
Let's talk now. Owning fancy swiss watches doesn't lead to happiness, having the power that comes with being rich does. Wearing fancy business suits doesn't lead to happiness, having the power in the business world that comes with affording to wear them does. Owning a fast car doesn't lead to happiness, the thrill of driving at 120mph on the autobahn does. Of course, happiness can also come from showing off these symbols of wealth and power to other people.
People don't covet rare things in themselves to make them happy, they covet rare things to show they have power and status. I don't have any power in STO that comes from owning prize ships, and I have quite a few of them. Nobody flocks to praise me or spit jealous venom at me because I have them when I show them off. I crave a good game experience. Considering the game is temporary, like everything in the world, I don't expect to be playing it in twenty years time, or even ten. Since I can't take any vanity items with me when the servers finally shut down, I'd rather have a good game experience now, like I did before with the awesome story content that was released in years past. I doubt I'm the only one.
When Agents of Yesterday was released, the element that made me happy wasn't owning a T6 Constitution. It was having the experience of the 23rd century Original Series content. The biggest tragedy and misstep by Cryptic was that it only lasted for a handful of missions. To have more of that experience, I would gladly give up my T6 Constitution and forfeit any chance of owning one ever again in the future.
About gold spammers: I don't know how "legit" they are, meaning: I don't know whether I would receive the goods if I paid them, or if they would just scam me out of my credit card information. I know from a friend who plays a different, somewhat well known MMORPG that some exist who actually do sell stuff. But the way they damage Cryptic depends on what goods you buy, assuming you'd get it:
If you buy stuff you could get with gameplay (like ec, almost exclusively), you stop playing as much, which means you're probably less likely to funnel money into the right pockets (i.e. Cryptic's). If you sell some ship though, Cryptic has already gotten their money (pretty much should average out over the gazillions of lock boxes), so they'll suffer no direct hit here (unless some gold seller has somehow TRIBBLE the code and can actually produce them without using keys or boxes). Where they suffer is that somebody willing to pay real money for in-game stuff will feed the gold seller with a surplus (otherwise they wouldn't be able to make a profit), this money is lost to Cryptic. They're not losing out on the actual stuff sold, they'll lose out here by just selling less other stuff because you already parted with your money.
(This is just a theoretical analysis, I do well know that external trades violate the TOS and possibly other rules and shouldn't be done at all, thus "legit" sellers got their quotation marks, since neither kind is legit.)
This said, I would opine that in the case of things like the MACO battledress, they then went and epicly violated your point #2... Surely they must know full well that not everyone is sitting on millions of units of refined dilithium, what with all the other things out there that need it (fleet projects, upgrades, et cetera).
A huge difference is in the consolation prize:
R&D pack = R&D mats. semi-worthless thanks to Admiralty and CCA.
Infinity lockbox = plasmonic leech (still worth 5 million EC), reciprocity, kemocite-laced weaponry, space and ground weapons, ...
The evil cartel gets a lot more EC from the losing lockboxes than from the losing R&D packs, so the ships can be discounted more.