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Retrains should be FREE, for game health.

The concept and scope of this game has far extended its original limits I believe, captains are allowed to have ships from literally every walk of life but there's one thing holding them back. Retrains. You either have to build your skills for a specific purpose or a jack-of-all-trades purpose, because retraining costs money. NO, just "have a different captain for different builds" is not the answer, unless the devs plan to quit making "account-wide reward" a quality of life feature exclusive to the C-Store and Event ships. Lobi ships cost more "money" than most of the ships in the game and they're ONCE PER CHARACTER. So, if you're like me, and you own a wide range of ships and functions, retains should be as mercurial as my ship roster.

1. Building for a specific purpose is anathema to the dream of being fluid in playstyle. It locks you in to a specific ship type.

2. Jack-of-all-trades is a weak playstyle because it has no identity. It's attempting to compensate for most possibilities therefore you're not really ALLOWED to shine on any one ship.

Retrains should be free. It allows fluidity and freedom of choice instead of forcing a choice that could cost you money to fix. READ: FUN.

Also, skill tree loadouts would be pretty awesome too.
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Comments

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  • byozuma#0956 byozuma Member Posts: 502 Arc User
    Can't say this is something I can get behind. Not that I wouldn't mind retraining anytime I wanted, but this is a game that lives on it's microtransactions and retraining is something I'm sure alot of captains do when they find their latest 'build of the week' thus netting Cryptic a fair bit of money in the process. Not alot but enough. Even I've partook to fix a gaff in my skill spread (wasted 6 points on my main branch that could have gone to the other branches). Take away the pay aspect and Cryptic loses a not insubstantial source of income.
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  • tigerariestigeraries Member Posts: 3,492 Arc User
    most games where you can respec do it for free or cheap via in game currency like "silvers" (not gold) ie it's low cost. they sell you memory slots to keep you fav config/build.
  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,661 Arc User
    Create more captains.

    A SCIENCE! tree captain, a tactical captain, a tanktical (engy) captain.

    No need to respec.
  • leemwatsonleemwatson Member Posts: 5,469 Arc User
    This game has lasted 8 years without free respecs, so your claim has no basis OP.
    "You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
  • veeger#9876 veeger Member Posts: 52 Arc User
    Respec tokens would make for a good reputation reward. 500 marks + Tier 5 reputation standing for 1 respec token.
  • baudlbaudl Member Posts: 4,060 Arc User
    agree...would offer an incentive to hop ships according to the situation/mission and more frequently...as it is right now, the specc you choose forces you into a specific type of ship/playstyle. Or you are gimping yourself by having specc points wasted.

    yes, you could just reroll another captain and make that one specific to a build or type of ship. To me that is however an awefull solution in an RPG.
    Still, this was totally legit when there only were account unlock ships available.
    Now you have to choose carefully on which character you open that lock box ship.

    All in all, having those high respecc costs serve no real purpose to begin with, other than being restricitve when it comes to ship choice.
    And this is the main reason for me, why there shouldn't be a cost involved in respeccing. Being limited to one specc, limits you to one ship (if you cared about optimization). This goes totally against the actual business model, which relies on players buying ships to swap their ships frequently.

    wouldn't necessarely improve the game or be necessary, but would definitely be an incentive to swap ships more often without gimping yourself in the process.
    Go pro or go home
  • baudlbaudl Member Posts: 4,060 Arc User
    Create more captains.

    A SCIENCE! tree captain, a tactical captain, a tanktical (engy) captain.

    No need to respec.

    in science alone you can come up with at least 3 very distinct types of science builds, before even starting mix.
    Making respeccing easier would not stop you from having all sorts of specialized captains...it would just make it easier to experiment around with ships and builds.
    and that is primarely what an easier respecc option would provide, without taking away anything in the process.

    and I want to stress this last fact even more...nobody would be losing anything by making respeccing cheaper, not even Cryptic I'd guess, since respecc tokens can't be a big portion of their profit.
    Go pro or go home
  • warpangelwarpangel Member Posts: 9,427 Arc User
    Agreed. They've already removed paid respecs from all other systems, why the skill tree should be any different? It just encourages people to copypaste a "good" tree from somewhere and then forget about the whole mechanic, instead of actively playing with it.
  • postagepaidpostagepaid Member Posts: 2,899 Arc User
    The folk who do the copypaste metachase builds are only likely to respec when the meta changes significantly.

    I think respecs shouldn't be free but having a way to earn them in game wouldn't hurt. Neverwinter has a setup whereby playing through the various zones to completion gives you tokens that can be spent so by the end you can get at least 3 respecs per character, STO could have something similar tied into the arcs.

    Lobi store would be another option.

    Or as suggested above using marks. If they wanted rarity then weekend tokens as an alternative to the dil box reward.
  • nimbullnimbull Member Posts: 1,564 Arc User
    I don't bother to respec much even with the free tokens I gathered over the years. Trying different things and hitting a pay wall to try other things is very discouraging. I just pigeon hole myself in to specific spec and avoid new items as well as ships that don't fit what I found to work best. Maybe there's something better out there but the cost to figure that out isn't worth it if I fail 10 or 20 times. I'd rather just put money in other games instead of ships and things since I can't try out different specs as easy.
    Green people don't have to be.... little.
  • postagepaidpostagepaid Member Posts: 2,899 Arc User
    I've the same kind of thinking although less about paywall and more about there's not really any need to unless you're running the top tier STFs, similar to the whole upgrade system.

    Having just checked some of my LTS characters I have on average 10 respecs to use on them.

    Because of how some boff manuals are tied into specs I do have alts specced deliberately for unlocks. No biggie as they're mothballed once repped up and only get used for manual crafting and maybe the odd bit of doffing for the junk during winter.
  • lordsteve1lordsteve1 Member Posts: 3,492 Arc User
    Yes i'd prefer "free" respecs. Or rather have some sensible way to earn them in-game, admiralty, reputation or whatever.

    Needing to buy them (for quite a price as well) hinders my willingness to try other styles of play so i just don't bother. Maybe i'd buy those new pilot escorts to play around with some builds, but the cost of the ships and then needing a respec for any captain i want to test on them is a lot to ask. So i just stick with a build i like now and don't bother with new ships or toys, its just not worth trying new things as i find the cost prohibitive.
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  • detheaterdetheater Member Posts: 79 Arc User
    I don't know if "free" is the right way to go, but I think it should probably have an in-game way to earn them and/or charge EC instead of zen. To be honest though I would be more happy with the ability to create profiles (like you do for you ships) that you purchase from the zen store to save different builds that I can switch between.

    My solution for this would be to lower the zen cost to 250 and offer an EC/game currency version (like most games do) and then sell profiles in the zen store for maybe 1,000 zen each and limit it to a max of 3 (original +2 purchased ones).

    I said game currency because I like the idea someone had above of making it a reputation project... Maybe make it a special project that only becomes available when all reps are at T5 (can use any rep mark) and put it on a 30 day cooldown. This would give incentive to ensure all of your reps are at T5 and when a new one releases to get it to T5 as well. This also means this "free" respec isn't quick but takes some time and grind. Not to mention with a 30 day cooldown if you TRIBBLE it up you'll have to purchase one from the store to fix it.
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  • nightkennightken Member Posts: 2,824 Arc User
    but they are free, earn dil, trade dil for zen, buy retrain. why are we talking about this?


    and on any, loadout, profile or anything else that translates to I want to be master of all/have godmode I'm against, sto is easy and simple enough as is.

    if I stop posting it doesn't make you right it. just means I don't have enough rum to continue interacting with you.
  • lordsteve1lordsteve1 Member Posts: 3,492 Arc User
    detheater wrote: »
    I said game currency because I like the idea someone had above of making it a reputation project... Maybe make it a special project that only becomes available when all reps are at T5 (can use any rep mark) and put it on a 30 day cooldown. This would give incentive to ensure all of your reps are at T5 and when a new one releases to get it to T5 as well. This also means this "free" respec isn't quick but takes some time and grind. Not to mention with a 30 day cooldown if you **** it up you'll have to purchase one from the store to fix it.

    I like that idea. It allows them to be earned but not so easily that people just spam them all the time. You gotta work to get your respec but not sell your soul to the C-store any time you fancy trying a new FE weapon to the best effect for example.
    SulMatuul.png
  • nimbullnimbull Member Posts: 1,564 Arc User
    nightken wrote: »
    but they are free, earn dil, trade dil for zen, buy retrain. why are we talking about this?


    and on any, loadout, profile or anything else that translates to I want to be master of all/have godmode I'm against, sto is easy and simple enough as is.

    I have enough things to put DIL in to. It's easier just to play a different game that doesn't follow this model and therefore spend less time in STO and have less incentive to invest in buying ships or keys for lock boxes. Especially since new content comes out at a slow pace while old content can sit around broken for quite a while.
    Green people don't have to be.... little.
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  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    If you wanna see the DPS leagues go totally insane? let them respec at will...
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
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  • postagepaidpostagepaid Member Posts: 2,899 Arc User
    One of the teaser things for upcoming stuff with ViL was a store based VIP.

    They could add a per account respec token each month as one of the perks.

    Cstore token should stay either way. So there's both a quick way to get one, albeit expensive, as well as longer term goal via an earned option.
  • where2r1where2r1 Member Posts: 6,054 Arc User
    I want my Zen back on the piles of retrain tokens I have in stock.
    "Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
  • leemwatsonleemwatson Member Posts: 5,469 Arc User
    Aside from forced respec from Revamps, I've never had the need to respec.
    nightken wrote: »
    but they are free, earn dil, trade dil for zen, buy retrain. why are we talking about this?


    and on any, loadout, profile or anything else that translates to I want to be master of all/have godmode I'm against, sto is easy and simple enough as is.

    And precisely this^^. This game IS so easy as it is, and with the 'Personal Endeavours' giving 'account skill bonuses (such as to Crit hit)', which was briefly posted the other day and then removed, why oh why do people feel the need to respec so much, if at all? Yes maybe reduce the Zen cost, but free.....nah.
    "You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
  • nixie50nixie50 Member Posts: 1,343 Arc User
    leemwatson wrote: »
    This game has lasted 8 years without free respecs, so your claim has no basis OP.
    actually, subs and LTS get a few respec tokens for free
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    We Need BERETS in the tailor
  • asuran14asuran14 Member Posts: 2,335 Arc User
    I would not mind being able to buy afew spec/skill/talent loud-outs that i can switch between on the fly like we have for weapon/gear load-outs. Would it be nice to have respecs be free or at a reduced price? yeah of course, but having some load-outs we can switch between on the fly to suit the needs would be too. Also giving us two spec/talent/skill tree load-outs basis, and then allowing us to buy additional ones, while retaining the retraining tokens would be fine.
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  • scrooge69scrooge69 Member Posts: 1,108 Arc User
    what i dislike most is when u put 1 point in its perm

    means 1 missclick and u need another token....

    before the revamp u had to confirm the whole thing in the end


    they did this by intention if u ask me


    those money grubbers
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • ichaerus1ichaerus1 Member Posts: 986 Arc User
    valoreah wrote: »
    For a free, in-game method I wouldn't mind seeing something along the lines of what we had way back when with the Respecification Trials in CoX (Terra Volta or Tree of Thorns). Those were a lot of fun and worked pretty well.

    If that isn't feasible, then just lower the zen cost of them.

    I like your line of thinking there. Or perhaps they could be granted as one-time rewards for completing an arc? Like how the AoY/DR characters can unlock marks/dil care packages upon their own arc completions. If done like the ToT or Terra Volta trial, I would say put a once per week reward though for completing the mission/STF.
  • leemwatsonleemwatson Member Posts: 5,469 Arc User
    scrooge69 wrote: »
    what i dislike most is when u put 1 point in its perm

    means 1 missclick and u need another token....

    before the revamp u had to confirm the whole thing in the end


    they did this by intention if u ask me


    those money grubbers

    They give an awful lot of information. Mis-clicking is very hard to do.....if only people took their time. :lol:
    "You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
  • postagepaidpostagepaid Member Posts: 2,899 Arc User
    Indeed, only way to mess up is to double click through a build guide and not follow it correctly.

    You get asked for confirmation every single point, double clicking blitz's past that.
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