Right now you can only downgrade Phoenix price tokens at a 1:2 ratio. To put at least some convenience into it they should also be upgradable at a 5:1 ratio. 625 uncommon price tokens (2.5-2.8 mil dilithium) would transit into one epic token. That‘s more than enough to justify for a T6 event ship, which is not even unlocked account-wide. If you want to keep the Phoenix boxes attractive you can always add content, which some people might missed out on (Temporal Negotiator, Breen Plesh Tral Heavy Raider, Quad (Disruptor) Cannons obtainable by all factions...), but people spending 6 million dilithium on Lockboxes without getting even a single epic prize token out of it might not hold their motivation forever.
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Thing is, no, the phoenix boxes should not be upgradeable. They make for an extremely good dilithium sink in the game, while at the same time allowing players who missed various past events a chance, a small chance but still a chance, of aquiring ships and gear that they had absolutely no chance of getting before the phoenix box came out. If they were made upgradeable, the players sitting on multi-millions of dilithium will buy just enough boxes to get the ship/gear they want and then never buy another box again. Making the phoenix box pretty much worthless as a dilithium sink anymore.
As it is, the minimum you will get from a phoenix box is an upgrade token that gives you a much higher upgrade than spending the same amount of dilithium using normal upgrades. Which is the only reason I have spent so much dilithium on them. A UR or Epic token would be nice to have, but I have a few hundred phoenix upgrades in my bank so the boxes were well worth the price. Heck, I've had one of my epics in my bank for about 6 months now because I can't decide if I want one ship on one toon that's not even as good as the ships I already have and wouldn't get used anyway, or if I want to downgrade it to UR and get two ships just to complete a set...that I would still never use.
i have quite some dil, but not even thought about wasting them on a chance of 1:500 for an epic token - they are not even account wide lol
Which is: "I want a way to finagle getting the ship I want by Cryptic simply gifting it to me through a mechanic I made up all by myself. And anyone who disagrees with me is just a big meanie! So I'll use some wild speculations which I'll call facts to support my specious reasoning."
I AM one of those people sitting on a huge pile of dilithium. Which I acquired by NOT jumping every time Cryptic dangled the keys to a new shiny in front of me. Further, I decided a long time ago to use the multi-millions of Dilithium I have to either fund Fleet projects so my Fleet mates can get the gear and Fleet T6 ships they want. Or, to convert my Dilithium to Zen, so I can get the things I want.
Just like with the Lockboxes, the ships in the Phoenix Boxes are the least useful things in them. All the other stuff is much more beneficial. Like the Tribbles which award Rep Marks every hour. Or the specialty DOffs such as Mirror Hakeev. My very most favorite things are the Phoenix Upgrades. So I can have Epic gear without spending any of that Dil I worked my butt off to acquire.
Funny thing is, all I had to do to acquire the ginormous amount of Dil I have is just login and play the game long enough once a day to get to the refinement limit. Which anybody else can do just like I have.
I keep seeing these posts and they all take the same tone one side saying well we were there you get a slim chance in a random box of some sort. the other side saying open it all up so everyone can get all the stuff.
Placing the items and events rewards in the store takes care of it. Cryptic and pwi still get cash for it and players have access regardless of when they start or are here in game.
like the delta and AOY just add a drop down box when making the toons that qualify 2K zen and suddenly he is a delta AOY or any other event that comes along. Its a win for everyone involved.
Isn't there a cap of 10 million for dilithium? As the OP said, if it's at a 5:1 ratio you're still spending about 2 mil to get a epic token ship. I think that would still have substantial impact as a dilithium sink. It could even encourage people to open the required number of boxes to get the token. The 5:1 figure could just as easily by 6:1 or whatever. They could adjust it to suit their metrics.
I'm opposed to the gambling nature of it on principle. I have a tendency to splurge on my games, and it makes me a lot more comfortable when there's a "failsafe" in the prize boxes like the lobi crystals. A failsafe means I can think about it rationally and fit it into my budget. Otherwise I can get suckered into running on a treadmill and blow $ away. IMO all games with prize boxes should have a guaranteed win after X.
And you enforce the speculations. Except ships have a console and starship traits. Some consoles usable in any ship, and traits are awesome. With both of my chars I needed one ship each because of the trait alone. It's really funny, all you need is time, which you have. And if you have it that means everyone else has it. It's not a wild speculation which you call fact to support your specious reasoning. Everyone is entitled except you, who have everything. Why are they like this? Why can't no one be like you and be ok with having everything?