> @azrael605 said: > > @djf021 said: > > I mentioned this on the initial announcement thread (and I can't imagine it wasn't mentioned here yet), but I might as well mention it here too. I'm very disappointed in this development. These items really should have been added to the Phoenix prize pack. Here's why: > > 1. New items for the Phoenix store have been requested for a long time now, but I doubt anyone requested a new zen-based store. > > 2. Adding new items to the Phoenix store would have helped the dilithium exchange, but now zen has gone up even more. > > 3. Did I mention the dilithium exchange? Zen has now nearly reached the maximum. We really need something else that is a dilithium sink, not a zen sink. > > Lol, you should check your info, the Dillex has dropped by 30 points since yesterday. >
Haha, the evening before I commented, it was at 496 I think. I saw that it had dropped when I got home from work 🤦♂️
Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
-Captain James T. Kirk
Anyone know if Mudds Market is PC only? Haven't seen it on console yet.
As with most things the consoles get updates just released to PC a few weeks/months afterwards. I wouldn't expect it to be on consoles yet and there's nothing about the design that would prohibit it's implementation (operative phrase: "join the club.")
____________________________________
Also going to put 2+2 together for some folks in general and point out that a rotating store front of special items has been the go-to loot box replacement for the biggest F2P games on the market (Fortnight, Apex, Destiny, even Anthem.) It's proven to be a very successful psychological hook to spur more sales (without invoking a gambling mechanic apart from spending more NOW because who knows when an item's going to be available again?) Cryptic adopting that isn't a surprise. The surprise: simply that they're using near-prohibitive pricing as the locking mechanism rather than removing the items from the store. For most it'll have the same effect.
Why the qualification? Well, I saw what some were posting around the DSC connie and spending >100 for a guaranteed ship (of a very certain kind) and Mudd's "normal" pricing seems in line with that particular feedback. It's also in line with points from Kael that releasing special ships to the [traditional] c-store wouldn't generate enough revenue to keep the game afloat. People systematically don't spend enough on the c-store, over the years they've gravitated to the shiniest of ships found in the most special of RNG packs (a point of escalation and exactly what STO's focus pushes player psychology towards.) There needs to be a major structural re-adjustment to what we spend money on in order to sustain the game (as we expect it to) without promo packs (the announcement pages for which we keep setting fire to.)
Where do I think this is headed? Andre mentioned a new method for obtaining (without loot boxes) long desired ships arriving around the anniversary. I'll let you do the math from there, knowing that the "what's next after loot boxes" mechanic has been added to STO.
And some itemized recommendations for Cryptic:
Add a positive incentive mechanic (ex. like a certain amount of lobi for zen spent), ATM Mudd's mechanics are just heavy sticks and if you're not keen on any of the items the point about "here's some really special items!" doesn't land
Add items below the 1,000 price point (rotation stores best leverage impulse buys)
Add fun items that perhaps wouldn't be sanctionable in any other format, don't let FOMO and high prices for chances missed be the only things that characterize this storefront
Post edited by duncanidaho11 on
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Same price as the previously bundled 3 pack of T6 ships, if you keep the coupons instead of gifting them, you basically get a "build your own bundle" at the risk of breaking one of the established bundles.
A drop of 30 isn't that good compared to previous phoenix fluctuations and pretty woeful given how much the exchange has been affected by cryptics manipulations since the summer.
The 4500 for three t6 gifts tokens is a fairly good deal but its also another in a growing line of dilex manipulations to push folk into buying zen. Might be good for the financial side of the game, up until it gets taken too far and people walk away in disgust at the practice or dismay that they'll never be able to make the conversion to buy zen stuff once the exchange seizes up entirely.
A drop of 30 isn't that good compared to previous phoenix fluctuations and pretty woeful given how much the exchange has been affected by cryptics manipulations since the summer.
The 4500 for three t6 gifts tokens is a fairly good deal but its also another in a growing line of dilex manipulations to push folk into buying zen. Might be good for the financial side of the game, up until it gets taken too far and people walk away in disgust at the practice or dismay that they'll never be able to make the conversion to buy zen stuff once the exchange seizes up entirely.
If a number of dil farmers walk away, the dil supply will drop and zen will become cheaper again. That might not hurt the game at all. The farmers who remain will be happy again too.
It might hurt the game if there are people who buy zen for cash monies sometimes and with dil at other times, and too many of those people walk away.
Chronodynamic armour was a bonus from getting the game on steam and there's also an amazon preorder borg boff although that one might also be spliced into the LTS perks. Armour was locked to mk2 until a short while ago but not bothered upgrading to 12 on anything so don't know stats.
Well, I stand corrected. I checked the armor just a few months ago and it was still locked.
It instantly goes to Mk12 when you upgrade it (at least on my max level character). Not sure if there's intermediate levels.
Interestingly enough, it's still limited to one per character. You can claim a second Mk2 from the store, but if you try to upgrade it, it says "Item is already fully upgraded" even though it's not.
Here's what it is after upgrading (taken on ground map, unequipped):
Also, the Borg Boff isn't an LTS perk (if it were I'd expect the KDF one too, which isn't unlocked for me). However LTS does get playable Borg characters, that might be what you're thinking of.
I really like that armor. I do wish Cryptic would add that to the Phoenix over the Mudd's along with those other old-timed exclusives. Perhaps Cryptic is trying to phase-out the Phoenix with this Mudd's or just have an additional helpful outlet. I hope it is the latter.
Today I had a peek at the exchange and the bulk of the offers were around the 480 mark and the volume would suggest that it won't get the extra bump from the weekend traffic.
Usually the initial dip stays low, this time around it's struggling.
I really like that armor. I do wish Cryptic would add that to the Phoenix over the Mudd's along with those other old-timed exclusives. Perhaps Cryptic is trying to phase-out the Phoenix with this Mudd's or just have an additional helpful outlet. I hope it is the latter.
I'm not sure they can phase out phoenix without finding some other repeatable dil sink AND event type (not something I think the devs are keen on trying.) Remember that in order to justify adding Mudd's Cryptic has to be thinking it could provide a significant boost to the game's revenue (ie. something that opens up new avenues of expansion, justifying any amount of investment.) That's best accomplished when you're not shooting yourself in the foot by invalidating a difficult to replace population management system for marginal short term revenue gains.
I think long term Mudd's market could serve as a new channel for content that right now goes to the lobi store, promo boxes, or lock boxes (in line with feedback on any loot box announcement of JUST LET ME BUY THIS STUFF IN THE C-STORE!?!!) or content that's presently in any one of those (which incidentally would answer the question of account unlocked lock box/lobi/promo ships when?) The use of exclusives in this first outing seems to be testing the water (can you REALLY support STO with a system like this? We see it works with other games that opted against loot boxes...) with a minimum of investment and risk.
At worst, they fold this in with the c-store (at the sale price) and forget about it. That's less easy if they'd opened Mudd's with, say, the Franklin.
Post edited by duncanidaho11 on
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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Good point, the cosmetic shields would be ideal for something like mudds market.
Fairly easy to make, desirable for the space barbie and make much more sense than being buried in the gambleboxes chance of a chance BS the way that they currently are.
Some people have trashed the very idea of Mudd's Market but I think they've missed the point entirely. The phoenix pack has horrific odds to win actual ships and does not give you account wide unlocks like Mudd's Market. If you look at the sale price of the Vizier (3,500 zen) and you assume 500/1 dil to zen exchange rate, you're looking at 1,750,000 dilithium cost for the Vizier. BUT that gives you an account wide unlock.
1.75 Million dilithium is enough to buy about 435 phoenix packs. If and I mean IF you get lucky and land an epic phoenix token, congratulations! You've won a single character unlock ship instead of an account wide unlock. Now you will get a whole bunch of phoenix upgrades and probably have a bunch of Rare and VR tokens which all have TREMENDOUS value so it's not like you get nothing from phoenix packs even when you don't win a ship.
I don't think the Vizier is the last unobtainable ship that we'll see in Mudd's Market *cough T6 Nagus cough*. So I think that this is a very good precedent that has been set for us going forward.
When you see "TRIBBLE" in my posts, it's because I manually typed "TRIBBLE" and censored myself.
I really like that armor. I do wish Cryptic would add that to the Phoenix over the Mudd's along with those other old-timed exclusives. Perhaps Cryptic is trying to phase-out the Phoenix with this Mudd's or just have an additional helpful outlet. I hope it is the latter.
I'm not sure they can phase out phoenix without finding some other repeatable dil sink AND event type (not something I think the devs are keen on trying.) Remember that in order to justify adding Mudd's Cryptic has to be thinking it could provide a significant boost to the game's revenue (ie. something that opens up new avenues of expansion, justifying any amount of investment.) That's best accomplished when you're not shooting yourself in the foot by invalidating a difficult to replace population management system for marginal short term revenue gains.
I think long term Mudd's market could serve as a new channel for content that right now goes to the lobi store, promo boxes, or lock boxes (in line with feedback on any loot box announcement of JUST LET ME BUY THIS STUFF IN THE C-STORE!?!!) or content that's presently in any one of those (which incidentally would answer the question of account unlocked lock box/lobi/promo ships when?) The use of exclusives in this first outing seems to be testing the water (can you REALLY support STO with a system like this? We see it works with other games that opted against loot boxes...) with a minimum of investment and risk.
At worst, they fold this in with the c-store (at the sale price) and forget about it. That's less easy if they'd opened Mudd's with, say, the Franklin.
I like the concept of this Mudd's. I've only been tempted by a couple of the offerings so far, which I haven't bought, but they've tempted me. Good point about the need for a dilithium sink. I don't use that dilithium exchange a lot so I tend to over look it. If I buy something it is usually with zen I've purchased. With all/most of the various prices & currencies inflating lately though I've sort of hunkered-down & not bought much at all. I still don't think that Franklin is a proper Promo ship lol.
Good point, the cosmetic shields would be ideal for something like mudds market.
Fairly easy to make, desirable for the space barbie and make much more sense than being buried in the gambleboxes chance of a chance BS the way that they currently are.
Totally, I've never gone for shields beyond reputation (too much RNG, too high exchange prices.) Given those exchange prices it's probably fair to say that Mudd's wouldn't be a bad alternative (there's a window of opportunity but it beats existing mechanics.)
I'll also throw in to the suggestion pile the "lost" costumes that appeared in the Foundry (some of which were pretty damn cool but for whatever reason missed a release.) Ex. Hazari uniform (including the best bandoliers in the game), Ocampan uniform, Na'kuhl skin, armored version of Daniel's timesuit, additional starfleet academy skirts, additional Omega/Maco/Honor guard armor, prisoner uniform (including cuffs), primative fur suit, and Solanagen hands (probably my favorite, was just a crab-like claws under the "gloves" option. Zero knew her audience well.)
For a phoenix box none of that's probably worth the effort, c-store not worth the effort in promoting, but for Mudd's it could be a good fit (offbeat content plays to the store, questionable ethics apply to mad science experiments with crustacean claws versus price point, and the prisoner uniform is an easy call for Mudd.)
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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There is only one item of interest to me that I would want to purchase from Mudd's Market:
For whatever reason, I failed to unlock this ship account wide when it was available and I've been waiting ever since for a second chance to try again.
Naturally, I am irked significantly when the winter event ends up being a new Fek'liri ship instead of a repeat of this unlock.
So I want this one ship to be added to the Mudd's market as an account wide unlock.
I think all the other account unlocks in the store I've acquired, so I don't see any point in purchasing them, in my opinion, they're just for players who didn't get them the first time they were available.
And yes, I know the Phoenix box offers this ship, but as a singular character unlock only, which means I'd have to collect multiple copies of the relevant Phoenix token to simulate an account wide unlock and get a new token every time I created a new character.
That would be too expensive in terms of Dil or whatever, so I'm not interested in any suggestions relating to that incendiary meleagris gallopavo.
Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
Everytime someone makes a character that is an copy of an existing superhuman, Creativity is sad
Good point, the cosmetic shields would be ideal for something like mudds market.
Fairly easy to make, desirable for the space barbie and make much more sense than being buried in the gambleboxes chance of a chance BS the way that they currently are.
Totally, I've never gone for shields beyond reputation (too much RNG, too high exchange prices.) Given those exchange prices it's probably fair to say that Mudd's wouldn't be a bad alternative (there's a window of opportunity but it beats existing mechanics.)
I'll also throw in to the suggestion pile the "lost" costumes that appeared in the Foundry (some of which were pretty damn cool but for whatever reason missed a release.) Ex. Hazari uniform (including the best bandoliers in the game), Ocampan uniform, Na'kuhl skin, armored version of Daniel's timesuit, additional starfleet academy skirts, additional Omega/Maco/Honor guard armor, prisoner uniform (including cuffs), primative fur suit, and Solanagen hands (probably my favorite, was just a crab-like claws under the "gloves" option. Zero knew her audience well.)
For a phoenix box none of that's probably worth the effort, c-store not worth the effort in promoting, but for Mudd's it could be a good fit (offbeat content plays to the store, questionable ethics apply to mad science experiments with crustacean claws versus price point, and the prisoner uniform is an easy call for Mudd.)
Excellent idea of yours, & others, about costumes for Mudd's. I always thought Cryptic would eventually expand more costumes into that latinum shop but that never happened. It was a small goal of mine I completed earning enough latinum to account-unlock that "TRON" costume. At least with this Mudd's or Phoenix there might be more of a incentive for Cryptic since it would be effecting in-game economy more directly by zen/dilithium. Also, your "lost costumes" description could easily slide into the Mudd's whimsical theme. Many of those you mentioned I'll have to look-up. If Cryptic implemented a good amount of universal costumes that would add a good variety to the uniform tailor, & there's probably a good variety already.
There is only one item of interest to me that I would want to purchase from Mudd's Market:
For whatever reason, I failed to unlock this ship account wide when it was available and I've been waiting ever since for a second chance to try again.
Naturally, I am irked significantly when the winter event ends up being a new Fek'liri ship instead of a repeat of this unlock.
We want to maintain the exclusivity and collectability of the event ships from the Summer Event each year, and in order to do that we will be retiring the existing Risian Lohlunat Pearls. When the 2015 Summer Event begins, an entirely new currency will be needed to acquire the event starship. This will be the process going forward – a new item to be collected each year.
Our goal for this change is to ensure that everyone participates on equal footing for the release of each year's new ship.
That's also the same time they removed the old ships from the event projects, leaving only the current event ship there.
Personally, I never liked that decision. I have all of them, but I still hope past event ships will eventually make it to Mudd's market as account unlocks (or even with some Phoenix account-unlocker token for ships), even if, say 5 years later. FOMO is strong in STO.
Exclusivity = no one wins
I missed the first year or two of events, and I got lucky as back then they were character unlocks, so I was able to slot the chel grett and plesh brek in the same year on different alts and complete them both, which unlocked them for my account when the devs made them account reclaim retroactively.
Seems like that exclusivity might be why we stopped getting regular reruns of the featured episodes (where the Cane and Shard came from). At least they're finally available again though.
Is this a good place to ask for stuff for mudds store?
I would like to see a Aegis doff. They can be hard to get because of 2 days to run, 2 day cooldown and randomness. Or maybe making no cooldown or less than 2 days to recruit.
@phoenix841
So Cryptic is basically saying to the new players of this game, you aren't getting these ships?
That's not exactly the way to encourage newbies to stick around and become regular players.......
I actually missed out on two Breen ships, but then Cryptic offered the T6 version of the Presh Trel Heavy Raider for one winter event and I got a second chance.
But apparently their generosity ended there and there was no second chance for the other ship I missed.
If you're curious, I was trying to assemble the entire Breen console set (just for fun!), but that's an impossible goal, considering the last console is on the ship I don't have access to.
To be honest, I'm only making a token participation in the ship unlock events because of what happened above, most of the time, I don't want the ship and never use it, but I can't afford for a miscalculation of that magnitude to happen ever again!
Just in case I change my mind later and there's something I want from the ship.
Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
Everytime someone makes a character that is an copy of an existing superhuman, Creativity is sad
If I purchase any item will it be account wide meaning the items will also be avialable for new characters I create?
It specifically states in the description whether per character or account-wide. These items, so far, are all account-wide. If you buy a pack with the upgrade token that is once use per account though. The Vizier ship & the TOS Holo-BOFFs are for Fed use only I believe. Again, it states the answer to your question in the description so if it is account-wide, pending any faction stipulation, even a new future character would be able to claim & use.
If they will be cycling ships that were long ago retired, then I'd likely buy the Kobali Samsar cruiser as I started in the game after it was gone. The fact that it would be an account unlock would probably be enough to pay the 3500 zen for it.
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Arroyos, Officer John Painter, K9 Jedi, K9 Maya, Deputy Constable Neil Adams, Officer Jorge
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If they will be cycling ships that were long ago retired, then I'd likely buy the Kobali Samsar cruiser as I started in the game after it was gone. The fact that it would be an account unlock would probably be enough to pay the 3500 zen for it.
I believe that vessel is offered in the Phoenix Gold token, unless they removed it from there, but have not heard it was removed. I doubt they will place ships from the phoenix events in the MUDD store - Unless they are rotating ships in there.
Event Ships have gone to the Phoenix Store. The ship (Vizier) available in Mudd's Market was a special, extra-Crpytic release. You will probably find the Mirror Guardian and Mirror Danube eventually make their way to this Market as they were also special extra-Cryptic promotions as well.
Who knows if the Nagus will make its way here.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
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.'
@phoenix841
So Cryptic is basically saying to the new players of this game, you aren't getting these ships?
That's not exactly the way to encourage newbies to stick around and become regular players.......
I actually missed out on two Breen ships, but then Cryptic offered the T6 version of the Presh Trel Heavy Raider for one winter event and I got a second chance.
But apparently their generosity ended there and there was no second chance for the other ship I missed.
If you're curious, I was trying to assemble the entire Breen console set (just for fun!), but that's an impossible goal, considering the last console is on the ship I don't have access to.
To be honest, I'm only making a token participation in the ship unlock events because of what happened above, most of the time, I don't want the ship and never use it, but I can't afford for a miscalculation of that magnitude to happen ever again!
Just in case I change my mind later and there's something I want from the ship.
You used to be able to pick and choose from the current, or past event ships to slot for the current years' event. Now you can't.
Read into it what you will, but for the record, I agree with you.
EDIT: Also, keep in mind, that in your case, all the ships were free event ships. The real gut punch is that the Ho'kunn, Krenim, Denorios, Samsar, and T5 Solanae ships have consoles that complete sets for multiple paid C-Store ship packs (T6 Multimission, Flagship, Allied Escort, Command cruiser, and T5 Dyson mega bundles, respectively).
New players can never complete a set for a paid purchase. Add to that the fact you need one of those event ships to complete the set is not disclosed when you buy the aforementioned packs. That's unacceptable, IMO.
(Yes, the T5 Solanae ship is at least available in the Lobi store, but that's a separate, per character purchase, though it's easier to get than an Epic Phoenix token.).
If I purchase any item will it be account wide meaning the items will also be avialable for new characters I create?
If you look at the C-Store description it explicitly says that.
I don't understand the confusion. If the description ends up being wrong (which has happened), then you take it up with support. They're pretty helpful if want a refund for an incorrect description.
@phoenix841
So Cryptic is basically saying to the new players of this game, you aren't getting these ships?
That's not exactly the way to encourage newbies to stick around and become regular players.......
I actually missed out on two Breen ships, but then Cryptic offered the T6 version of the Presh Trel Heavy Raider for one winter event and I got a second chance.
But apparently their generosity ended there and there was no second chance for the other ship I missed.
If you're curious, I was trying to assemble the entire Breen console set (just for fun!), but that's an impossible goal, considering the last console is on the ship I don't have access to.
To be honest, I'm only making a token participation in the ship unlock events because of what happened above, most of the time, I don't want the ship and never use it, but I can't afford for a miscalculation of that magnitude to happen ever again!
Just in case I change my mind later and there's something I want from the ship.
You used to be able to pick and choose from the current, or past event ships to slot for the current years' event. Now you can't.
Read into it what you will, but for the record, I agree with you.
If I purchase any item will it be account wide meaning the items will also be avialable for new characters I create?
If you look at the C-Store description it explicitly says that.
I don't understand the confusion. If the description ends up being wrong (which has happened), then you take it up with support. They're pretty helpful if want a refund for an incorrect description.
I still don't understand some players' & Cryptic's mentality of "exclusivity mine mine mine" & how that makes it better especially with a dominant PvE game . If Cryptic offered an opportunity for previous event ships, & maybe items, once, a year it would have very little affect on the Phoenix gambling, & now even Mudd's spending, & it would inspire newer & previous players that had missed out for whatever reason. I'll admit though I think Cryptic has made some strides as of late in applying more "inclusive" approaches in STO.
I still don't understand some players' & Cryptic's mentality of "exclusivity mine mine mine" & how that makes it better especially with a dominant PvE game .
None of this is the point of so-called "exclusivity." The point is to keep you constantly logged in by getting you to play the event NOW instead of skipping it with the knowledge that you can just pick it up next year.
When you see "TRIBBLE" in my posts, it's because I manually typed "TRIBBLE" and censored myself.
I still don't understand some players' & Cryptic's mentality of "exclusivity mine mine mine" & how that makes it better especially with a dominant PvE game .
None of this is the point of so-called "exclusivity." The point is to keep you constantly logged in by getting you to play the event NOW instead of skipping it with the knowledge that you can just pick it up next year.
While I have no doubt that's the real reason, Cryptic actually used the word "exclusive" in the blog post I linked above.
Comments
> > @djf021 said:
> > I mentioned this on the initial announcement thread (and I can't imagine it wasn't mentioned here yet), but I might as well mention it here too. I'm very disappointed in this development. These items really should have been added to the Phoenix prize pack. Here's why:
> > 1. New items for the Phoenix store have been requested for a long time now, but I doubt anyone requested a new zen-based store.
> > 2. Adding new items to the Phoenix store would have helped the dilithium exchange, but now zen has gone up even more.
> > 3. Did I mention the dilithium exchange? Zen has now nearly reached the maximum. We really need something else that is a dilithium sink, not a zen sink.
>
> Lol, you should check your info, the Dillex has dropped by 30 points since yesterday.
>
Haha, the evening before I commented, it was at 496 I think. I saw that it had dropped when I got home from work 🤦♂️
Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
-Captain James T. Kirk
As with most things the consoles get updates just released to PC a few weeks/months afterwards. I wouldn't expect it to be on consoles yet and there's nothing about the design that would prohibit it's implementation (operative phrase: "join the club.")
____________________________________
Also going to put 2+2 together for some folks in general and point out that a rotating store front of special items has been the go-to loot box replacement for the biggest F2P games on the market (Fortnight, Apex, Destiny, even Anthem.) It's proven to be a very successful psychological hook to spur more sales (without invoking a gambling mechanic apart from spending more NOW because who knows when an item's going to be available again?) Cryptic adopting that isn't a surprise. The surprise: simply that they're using near-prohibitive pricing as the locking mechanism rather than removing the items from the store. For most it'll have the same effect.
Why the qualification? Well, I saw what some were posting around the DSC connie and spending >100 for a guaranteed ship (of a very certain kind) and Mudd's "normal" pricing seems in line with that particular feedback. It's also in line with points from Kael that releasing special ships to the [traditional] c-store wouldn't generate enough revenue to keep the game afloat. People systematically don't spend enough on the c-store, over the years they've gravitated to the shiniest of ships found in the most special of RNG packs (a point of escalation and exactly what STO's focus pushes player psychology towards.) There needs to be a major structural re-adjustment to what we spend money on in order to sustain the game (as we expect it to) without promo packs (the announcement pages for which we keep setting fire to.)
Where do I think this is headed? Andre mentioned a new method for obtaining (without loot boxes) long desired ships arriving around the anniversary. I'll let you do the math from there, knowing that the "what's next after loot boxes" mechanic has been added to STO.
And some itemized recommendations for Cryptic:
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
What am I missing? That seems like a good deal.
The 4500 for three t6 gifts tokens is a fairly good deal but its also another in a growing line of dilex manipulations to push folk into buying zen. Might be good for the financial side of the game, up until it gets taken too far and people walk away in disgust at the practice or dismay that they'll never be able to make the conversion to buy zen stuff once the exchange seizes up entirely.
If a number of dil farmers walk away, the dil supply will drop and zen will become cheaper again. That might not hurt the game at all. The farmers who remain will be happy again too.
It might hurt the game if there are people who buy zen for cash monies sometimes and with dil at other times, and too many of those people walk away.
I really like that armor. I do wish Cryptic would add that to the Phoenix over the Mudd's along with those other old-timed exclusives. Perhaps Cryptic is trying to phase-out the Phoenix with this Mudd's or just have an additional helpful outlet. I hope it is the latter.
Usually the initial dip stays low, this time around it's struggling.
I'm not sure they can phase out phoenix without finding some other repeatable dil sink AND event type (not something I think the devs are keen on trying.) Remember that in order to justify adding Mudd's Cryptic has to be thinking it could provide a significant boost to the game's revenue (ie. something that opens up new avenues of expansion, justifying any amount of investment.) That's best accomplished when you're not shooting yourself in the foot by invalidating a difficult to replace population management system for marginal short term revenue gains.
I think long term Mudd's market could serve as a new channel for content that right now goes to the lobi store, promo boxes, or lock boxes (in line with feedback on any loot box announcement of JUST LET ME BUY THIS STUFF IN THE C-STORE!?!!) or content that's presently in any one of those (which incidentally would answer the question of account unlocked lock box/lobi/promo ships when?) The use of exclusives in this first outing seems to be testing the water (can you REALLY support STO with a system like this? We see it works with other games that opted against loot boxes...) with a minimum of investment and risk.
At worst, they fold this in with the c-store (at the sale price) and forget about it. That's less easy if they'd opened Mudd's with, say, the Franklin.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
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Fairly easy to make, desirable for the space barbie and make much more sense than being buried in the gambleboxes chance of a chance BS the way that they currently are.
1.75 Million dilithium is enough to buy about 435 phoenix packs. If and I mean IF you get lucky and land an epic phoenix token, congratulations! You've won a single character unlock ship instead of an account wide unlock. Now you will get a whole bunch of phoenix upgrades and probably have a bunch of Rare and VR tokens which all have TREMENDOUS value so it's not like you get nothing from phoenix packs even when you don't win a ship.
I don't think the Vizier is the last unobtainable ship that we'll see in Mudd's Market *cough T6 Nagus cough*. So I think that this is a very good precedent that has been set for us going forward.
I like the concept of this Mudd's. I've only been tempted by a couple of the offerings so far, which I haven't bought, but they've tempted me. Good point about the need for a dilithium sink. I don't use that dilithium exchange a lot so I tend to over look it. If I buy something it is usually with zen I've purchased. With all/most of the various prices & currencies inflating lately though I've sort of hunkered-down & not bought much at all. I still don't think that Franklin is a proper Promo ship lol.
Totally, I've never gone for shields beyond reputation (too much RNG, too high exchange prices.) Given those exchange prices it's probably fair to say that Mudd's wouldn't be a bad alternative (there's a window of opportunity but it beats existing mechanics.)
I'll also throw in to the suggestion pile the "lost" costumes that appeared in the Foundry (some of which were pretty damn cool but for whatever reason missed a release.) Ex. Hazari uniform (including the best bandoliers in the game), Ocampan uniform, Na'kuhl skin, armored version of Daniel's timesuit, additional starfleet academy skirts, additional Omega/Maco/Honor guard armor, prisoner uniform (including cuffs), primative fur suit, and Solanagen hands (probably my favorite, was just a crab-like claws under the "gloves" option. Zero knew her audience well.)
For a phoenix box none of that's probably worth the effort, c-store not worth the effort in promoting, but for Mudd's it could be a good fit (offbeat content plays to the store, questionable ethics apply to mad science experiments with crustacean claws versus price point, and the prisoner uniform is an easy call for Mudd.)
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For whatever reason, I failed to unlock this ship account wide when it was available and I've been waiting ever since for a second chance to try again.
Naturally, I am irked significantly when the winter event ends up being a new Fek'liri ship instead of a repeat of this unlock.
So I want this one ship to be added to the Mudd's market as an account wide unlock.
I think all the other account unlocks in the store I've acquired, so I don't see any point in purchasing them, in my opinion, they're just for players who didn't get them the first time they were available.
And yes, I know the Phoenix box offers this ship, but as a singular character unlock only, which means I'd have to collect multiple copies of the relevant Phoenix token to simulate an account wide unlock and get a new token every time I created a new character.
That would be too expensive in terms of Dil or whatever, so I'm not interested in any suggestions relating to that incendiary meleagris gallopavo.
Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
Everytime someone makes a character that is an copy of an existing superhuman, Creativity is sad
Excellent idea of yours, & others, about costumes for Mudd's. I always thought Cryptic would eventually expand more costumes into that latinum shop but that never happened. It was a small goal of mine I completed earning enough latinum to account-unlock that "TRON" costume. At least with this Mudd's or Phoenix there might be more of a incentive for Cryptic since it would be effecting in-game economy more directly by zen/dilithium. Also, your "lost costumes" description could easily slide into the Mudd's whimsical theme. Many of those you mentioned I'll have to look-up. If Cryptic implemented a good amount of universal costumes that would add a good variety to the uniform tailor, & there's probably a good variety already.
Per this post in 2015, if you missed a ship, you lose out on it forever (as an account unlock at least):
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9232203-star-trek-online:-retiring-lohlunat-pearls
That's also the same time they removed the old ships from the event projects, leaving only the current event ship there.
Personally, I never liked that decision. I have all of them, but I still hope past event ships will eventually make it to Mudd's market as account unlocks (or even with some Phoenix account-unlocker token for ships), even if, say 5 years later. FOMO is strong in STO.
Exclusivity = no one wins
I missed the first year or two of events, and I got lucky as back then they were character unlocks, so I was able to slot the chel grett and plesh brek in the same year on different alts and complete them both, which unlocked them for my account when the devs made them account reclaim retroactively.
Seems like that exclusivity might be why we stopped getting regular reruns of the featured episodes (where the Cane and Shard came from). At least they're finally available again though.
I would like to see a Aegis doff. They can be hard to get because of 2 days to run, 2 day cooldown and randomness. Or maybe making no cooldown or less than 2 days to recruit.
So Cryptic is basically saying to the new players of this game, you aren't getting these ships?
That's not exactly the way to encourage newbies to stick around and become regular players.......
I actually missed out on two Breen ships, but then Cryptic offered the T6 version of the Presh Trel Heavy Raider for one winter event and I got a second chance.
But apparently their generosity ended there and there was no second chance for the other ship I missed.
If you're curious, I was trying to assemble the entire Breen console set (just for fun!), but that's an impossible goal, considering the last console is on the ship I don't have access to.
To be honest, I'm only making a token participation in the ship unlock events because of what happened above, most of the time, I don't want the ship and never use it, but I can't afford for a miscalculation of that magnitude to happen ever again!
Just in case I change my mind later and there's something I want from the ship.
Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
Everytime someone makes a character that is an copy of an existing superhuman, Creativity is sad
It specifically states in the description whether per character or account-wide. These items, so far, are all account-wide. If you buy a pack with the upgrade token that is once use per account though. The Vizier ship & the TOS Holo-BOFFs are for Fed use only I believe. Again, it states the answer to your question in the description so if it is account-wide, pending any faction stipulation, even a new future character would be able to claim & use.
Arroyos, Officer John Painter, K9 Jedi, K9 Maya, Deputy Constable Neil Adams, Officer Jorge
David Alvarado, Sergeant Joshua Cordell, Trooper Martin Mack, Trooper Branden Sisca,
Lieutenant William Lebo
I believe that vessel is offered in the Phoenix Gold token, unless they removed it from there, but have not heard it was removed. I doubt they will place ships from the phoenix events in the MUDD store - Unless they are rotating ships in there.
Who knows if the Nagus will make its way here.
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 used to be able to pick and choose from the current, or past event ships to slot for the current years' event. Now you can't.
Read into it what you will, but for the record, I agree with you.
EDIT: Also, keep in mind, that in your case, all the ships were free event ships. The real gut punch is that the Ho'kunn, Krenim, Denorios, Samsar, and T5 Solanae ships have consoles that complete sets for multiple paid C-Store ship packs (T6 Multimission, Flagship, Allied Escort, Command cruiser, and T5 Dyson mega bundles, respectively).
New players can never complete a set for a paid purchase. Add to that the fact you need one of those event ships to complete the set is not disclosed when you buy the aforementioned packs. That's unacceptable, IMO.
(Yes, the T5 Solanae ship is at least available in the Lobi store, but that's a separate, per character purchase, though it's easier to get than an Epic Phoenix token.).
If you look at the C-Store description it explicitly says that.
I don't understand the confusion. If the description ends up being wrong (which has happened), then you take it up with support. They're pretty helpful if want a refund for an incorrect description.
I still don't understand some players' & Cryptic's mentality of "exclusivity mine mine mine" & how that makes it better especially with a dominant PvE game . If Cryptic offered an opportunity for previous event ships, & maybe items, once, a year it would have very little affect on the Phoenix gambling, & now even Mudd's spending, & it would inspire newer & previous players that had missed out for whatever reason. I'll admit though I think Cryptic has made some strides as of late in applying more "inclusive" approaches in STO.
None of this is the point of so-called "exclusivity." The point is to keep you constantly logged in by getting you to play the event NOW instead of skipping it with the knowledge that you can just pick it up next year.
While I have no doubt that's the real reason, Cryptic actually used the word "exclusive" in the blog post I linked above.