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felt like a kid in a candy store today

whistlerdavidwhistlerdavid Member Posts: 415 Arc User
today was fantastic got everything i wanted from mudds market. been waiting a long time for some kind of big discount and was finally on when it happened no way i was paying the normal prices. now the only thing i would pay full price now is the 10th anniversary bundle. i was wondering does any one know why the prices are so high in mudds market. i have aways thought of it has a major scam. sorry arc if you read this but its true . if you need cash up ships by 1k thats not a bundle and raise the prices in mudds market to the price ships are now . and add 1 hanger bay and 1 universal slot to every legendary and sale them sepretlly and make them a cool 10k or 12k each. they will sale like hot cakes
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on

Comments

  • protoneousprotoneous Member Posts: 2,952 Arc User
    i was wondering does any one know why the prices are so high in mudds market
    Pretty sure they're artificially high so that you feel like you're getting a good deal whenever they're put on sale. Aside from that hope you enjoy your new stuff.
    now the only thing i would pay full price now is the 10th anniversary bundle
    The only reason I bought this bundle when it came out was a zen discount + bundle sale. It had to be both to get it into a price range I could (barely) afford.

    Think it worked out to about $195 usd. Still not cheap despite the romance of the word "legendary" but not bad for 10 ships.
  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    i was wondering does any one know why the prices are so high in mudds market.

    It kind of seems like you answered your own question.

    It's so when they do these sales and lower the price from insanely overpriced to just extremely over priced, you jump on it like it's a great deal.

    They do it because it works.
    Insert witty signature line here.
  • thegrandnagus1thegrandnagus1 Member Posts: 5,165 Arc User
    edited November 2021
    protoneous wrote: »
    i was wondering does any one know why the prices are so high in mudds market
    Pretty sure they're artificially high so that you feel like you're getting a good deal whenever they're put on sale. Aside from that hope you enjoy your new stuff.

    This.

    The sale prices are what the normal prices really are/should be. The non-sale prices are supposedly a "joke", but also a way to cash in on suckers who can't wait or don't know they are supposed to.

    Fortunately the OP waited.

    The-Grand-Nagus
    Join Date: Sep 2008

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  • maniac20#5251 maniac20 Member Posts: 263 Arc User
    The Mudd's Tabb is supposed to represent Harry Mudd the con artist from disco and TOS. (hint the reason for the high prices)
  • protoneousprotoneous Member Posts: 2,952 Arc User
    edited November 2021
    The Mudd's Tabb is supposed to represent Harry Mudd the con artist from disco and TOS. (hint the reason for the high prices)

    Con artist - A person who tricks other people in order to get their money
  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    The Mudd's Tabb is supposed to represent Harry Mudd the con artist from disco and TOS. (hint the reason for the high prices)

    Which is extremely unethical marketing that should be illegal. Putting things in the store for prices that are ridiculous (with no note in the actual store that the prices are intentionally high) just to use the excuse 'well, we don't honestly expect people to pay it, you're supposed to wait for a sale' is reprehensible and bordering on a total scam.
    Insert witty signature line here.
  • whistlerdavidwhistlerdavid Member Posts: 415 Arc User
    protoneous wrote: »
    i was wondering does any one know why the prices are so high in mudds market
    Pretty sure they're artificially high so that you feel like you're getting a good deal whenever they're put on sale. Aside from that hope you enjoy your new stuff.

    This.

    The sale prices are what the normal prices really are/should be. The non-sale prices are supposedly a "joke", but also a way to cash in on suckers who can't wait or don't know they are supposed to.

    Fortunately the OP waited.
    yeah for the things i got i save 400 dollars

  • dixon#4204 dixon Member Posts: 55 Arc User
    Mudd's merch is mostly the stuff you can get for free if you invest the time in events. I for one would be exremely annoyed if I do a 3 week grind for an item, just for it to turn up on the market a couple of months later for a couple of thousand zen. If the whales can't be arsed to earn the rewards, make them pay for it through the nose. Keep those prices high Crptic!
  • whistlerdavidwhistlerdavid Member Posts: 415 Arc User
    dixon#4204 wrote: »
    Mudd's merch is mostly the stuff you can get for free if you invest the time in events. I for one would be exremely annoyed if I do a 3 week grind for an item, just for it to turn up on the market a couple of months later for a couple of thousand zen. If the whales can't be arsed to earn the rewards, make them pay for it through the nose. Keep those prices high Crptic!
    the thing is people get burnt out and take a few months off. so me miss a few of them

  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,501 Arc User
    Some reasons Mudd's exists in my opinion:
    - Make piles of money from impatient whales
    - Make piles of money from patient minnows
    - Be nice-ish to players who missed events by giving them a second chance
    - Remind players that if they skip events they must wait months and then pay an arm and a leg to buy the reward for cash. Fear that missing out! Grind! Grind!

    Yes, Cryptic could offer choose-your-own-reward for events to let players catch up on old rewards, but then players would lose their FOMO (fear of missing out) since if you miss event A you can just do event B instead. Cryptic wants you grinding in event A.
  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 4,754 Arc User
    protoneous wrote: »
    i was wondering does any one know why the prices are so high in mudds market
    Pretty sure they're artificially high so that you feel like you're getting a good deal whenever they're put on sale. Aside from that hope you enjoy your new stuff.
    now the only thing i would pay full price now is the 10th anniversary bundle
    The only reason I bought this bundle when it came out was a zen discount + bundle sale. It had to be both to get it into a price range I could (barely) afford.

    Think it worked out to about $195 usd. Still not cheap despite the romance of the word "legendary" but not bad for 10 ships.

    It's actually more than 10 ships. You don't just get the legendary Oddy for example, but also the three regular versions with all related ship parts, traits and consoles. Same with the Sovereign, Defiant and Galaxy.

    It wasn't cheap, but I never regretted buying that pack. From Mudd's store on the other hand, few ships truly appealed to me. I only got the Klingon pilot ship, T'laru carrier and Jellyfish. So far I've only really used the Jellyfish's console because it's an easy phaser damage bonus - I had been switching to phasers on several toons recently. That the effect from using it looks nice is a good bonus.

    [4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother

    [3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 4,754 Arc User
    edited November 2021
    I have some (alien-)Voth characters so I had considered getting the Rampart and that Elachi dreadnought with its splitting ability seems fun too. But at these prices? No way.

    I actually own some of those ships on one toon because they fit the theme on those characters. I'm not going to pay insanely high, full prices just to use it on other toons where it doesn't really make sense to use them on all characters anyway and when it would be just a bonus being able to use them there. Especially not going to do that when I've already bought those ships for high prices to get them on one toon.


    What they should do is create a new product that allows players to make a character-bound ship account-wide unlocks. We paid high prices for unique ships because they were rare and unique. They're not so rare and special anymore apparently, so those high prices for single-character unlocks are no longer justified. That means the reasonable thing to do is either making character-bound ships become easier to obtain, or giving players the ability to remove the restriction on its use.



    Apparently 7500 Zen or so is reasonable for an account-wide unlocked special ship like a Rampart.
    Well then, since most ships like Ramparts already costed that much or even more if you wanted to get them by selling keys, they should be account-wide unlocked ships then, right?


    Of course, it's their decision whether to do this or not. I'm fine with either. If no changes are made, I'll simply see it as a reason not to try and get unique promo or lockbox ships anymore, since they - or actually, better, less-restricted versions of those - will likely end up in the Mudd store at similar prices at some point anyway.
    So yeah. That would mean I'd stop spending on keys and promo packs because I'll no longer be interested in anything that can come out of it.
    If they want to maintain key and promo pack sales to as many people for as long as possible, they may at least want to consider giving people some incentive to keep trying to get those. Beyond being able to fly a ship a year earlier, before they're made available as account-wide unlocked ships.
    [4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother

    [3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 4,754 Arc User
    reyan01 wrote: »
    dixon#4204 wrote: »
    Mudd's merch is mostly the stuff you can get for free if you invest the time in events. I for one would be exremely annoyed if I do a 3 week grind for an item, just for it to turn up on the market a couple of months later for a couple of thousand zen. If the whales can't be arsed to earn the rewards, make them pay for it through the nose. Keep those prices high Crptic!
    the thing is people get burnt out and take a few months off. so me miss a few of them

    And given how old the game is, there are *LOTS* of events to have missed before a given player even started. It'd be less of an issue if players got to pick and choose (within reason) which rewards they wanted, instead of events giving a specific reward or set of rewards and that was it. Then you couldn't complain about missing out on some awesome reward from 5+ years before you started -- the next event would give you the option of getting it. And they even have event items conveniently broken down into categories -- ground equipment, space equipment, ships, and misc -- to keep different kinds of event rewards on even footing. Want shipX from some past event? Wait for a 'ship-event' reward and take it instead of the newest 'ship-event' addition. An old ground kit? Wait for an event that rewards a 'ground-kit' reward.

    But then they wouldn't get to monetize selling old freebies at inflated prices. And that is all the Cryptic bean counters see or care about anymore.

    This.

    It does seem as if their only avenue for making money is churning out (mostly prize box) ships, overpriced bundles, and running back-to-back FOMO fueled events to keep log-in metrics reasonably high. Even just having a player log on for 25 minutes to play a quick event TFO before logging out pads their metrics with "consistent" player numbers.
    Meanwhile the Dilex has hit an all-time worst, and they continue to demonstrate that they have no answer for it.

    To me, it feels like STO is in a strange 'limbo' state where it is just successful enough to float above life support but where neither parent companies (Paramount/CBS and PWE) are motivated to invest anything more than is absolutely necessary into it.

    Agree with both of you.

    That last sentence is probably also correct. It's odd though. We're told every year that the past year has been better than all previous ones for STO. There are currently three or four series running on various streaming services and TV channels. In that regard (so just looking at the amount of activity), Star Trek is doing even better than during its previous peak, back when TNG movies, Voyager and DS9 were all seeing new releases at the same time and Enterprise was following closely.

    Surely that must have led to an increase in popularity of this only Star Trek PC game that gets new, continuous releases?

    I don't have a full-fledged marketing department or data analytics working group to back up my statements and inform my perceptions, but I find it hard to believe that there are no investment opportunities here.
    [4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother

    [3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    That last sentence is probably also correct. It's odd though. We're told every year that the past year has been better than all previous ones for STO.

    I believe that is probably true, but as you also correctly stated, we don't have any in depth look at their financials. My assumption, and I admit it's just that.. an assumption.. is that one of the core reasons STO is so 'successful' is because they're putting so little money into the game to start. My guess is that STO has a certain amount they can count on making every month fairly reliably and that amount is enough to turn a profit as long as they don't spend a lot in development. This results in the current state which @reyan01 eluded to where you have a game that is technically 'successful' because it's making money, but isn't something that the developers are going to put a ton of money into. The development team for this game is smaller then some indie games you see on Kick Starter, the game has a skeleton crew keeping it going. I'll give these people credit, there is some massive talent on that team, especially the art team.. but it's a small team nonetheless. In order to grow in the way you or I would like to see, they would have to bring on more people and each new salary takes from that X amount of profit they count on every month. It's just a question of will PWE ever believe that investing in this title can increase profit yield and so far it seems that the answer is 'no.'
    reyan01 wrote: »
    I, personally, see little value in what their PR mouthpieces claim. Of course they say that what they're doing is successful -they can't say anything else.

    Same page my friend.. same page. :smiley:
    Insert witty signature line here.
  • naabal421#0722 naabal421 Member Posts: 162 Arc User
    reyan01 wrote: »
    and running back-to-back FOMO fueled events to keep log-in metrics reasonably high.
    So I have to ask, why do people keep referring to STO's events as FOMO events when you can not play them, and not actually miss out on anything? In every other game I've seen the term FOMO used its used because the events give out things you really do need to keep playing the game in at a reasonable pace. Yet STO's event prizes are near always pretty useless gimmick items that you can safely avoid, and not fall behind by missing. The only other things events reward are marks and dil, which are in such supply everywhere else in the game that its not even an issue. What exactly are people "missing out" on these events to make them FOMO?
  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    reyan01 wrote: »
    and running back-to-back FOMO fueled events to keep log-in metrics reasonably high.
    So I have to ask, why do people keep referring to STO's events as FOMO events when you can not play them, and not actually miss out on anything? In every other game I've seen the term FOMO used its used because the events give out things you really do need to keep playing the game in at a reasonable pace. Yet STO's event prizes are near always pretty useless gimmick items that you can safely avoid, and not fall behind by missing. The only other things events reward are marks and dil, which are in such supply everywhere else in the game that its not even an issue. What exactly are people "missing out" on these events to make them FOMO?

    A couple reasons..

    1. Some people are completionists, they like to have everything.

    2. The nature of a constantly developing game. An item that's 'useless' today might become the 'go to' in a few months.. it happens more then you think.

    3. Sometimes, they really do give away some truly great stuff. Some examples would be the Cold Hearted starship trait.. a staple in any A2B build came from an event ship. The D.O.M.I.N.O. console, event reward, the Borg Slaying Thompson Submachine Gun was an event reward.. The Crystal Prisms.. there is a list of things that people really didn't even realize at the time were going to be great items until the event was over and people had a chance to test them out.

    Now, most of the time.. yes.. you're absolutely right. Most of the event rewards are things you an easily live without and the events can clearly be skipped. The current one is a great example, no one is ever going to consider the Akar console thing a 'must have,' these are only for people that want to collect everything. It's not the items usefulness that really gets people, it's the knowledge that once this chance to get it is gone, it will never ever come back.. ever.

    The fact that if you want it, you have to get it now, or it's gone forever, elicits a psychological response in people that keeps them logging in to get it. It's worked on me, I admit it.. and I am sure it works on thousands of others every day.

    Insert witty signature line here.
  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    reyan01 wrote: »
    reyan01 wrote: »
    and running back-to-back FOMO fueled events to keep log-in metrics reasonably high.
    So I have to ask, why do people keep referring to STO's events as FOMO events when you can not play them, and not actually miss out on anything? In every other game I've seen the term FOMO used its used because the events give out things you really do need to keep playing the game in at a reasonable pace. Yet STO's event prizes are near always pretty useless gimmick items that you can safely avoid, and not fall behind by missing. The only other things events reward are marks and dil, which are in such supply everywhere else in the game that its not even an issue. What exactly are people "missing out" on these events to make them FOMO?

    A couple reasons..

    1. Some people are completionists, they like to have everything.

    2. The nature of a constantly developing game. An item that's 'useless' today might become the 'go to' in a few months.. it happens more then you think.

    3. Sometimes, they really do give away some truly great stuff. Some examples would be the Cold Hearted starship trait.. a staple in any A2B build came from an event ship. The D.O.M.I.N.O. console, event reward, the Borg Slaying Thompson Submachine Gun was an event reward.. The Crystal Prisms.. there is a list of things that people really didn't even realize at the time were going to be great items until the event was over and people had a chance to test them out.

    Now, most of the time.. yes.. you're absolutely right. Most of the event rewards are things you an easily live without and the events can clearly be skipped. The current one is a great example, no one is ever going to consider the Akar console thing a 'must have,' these are only for people that want to collect everything. It's not the items usefulness that really gets people, it's the knowledge that once this chance to get it is gone, it will never ever come back.. ever.

    The fact that if you want it, you have to get it now, or it's gone forever, elicits a psychological response in people that keeps them logging in to get it. It's worked on me, I admit it.. and I am sure it works on thousands of others every day.

    That's not exactly the case anymore, per-se. There IS a chance that the reward will return - sadly it'd be in the Mudd's store with a preposterous price attached.

    Yeah, I intentionally didn't include that because I don't consider that a real option. But if anything it further drives home that 'FOMO' mentality.. you either will never see it again, or if you do it will cost you a ton of money.

    The option does technically exist, but it's random chance and it's massively overpriced. If anything, that pushes people even harder to do the events.
    Insert witty signature line here.
  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,501 Arc User
    Besides the usefulness of event items, there's also the theme and novelty aspects. Like the dino for Voth fans, section 31, mirror, discovery gear for those captains, fire, cold, electrical damage for those themes, etc.

    So grind away me hearties, or feel that FOMO!

  • naabal421#0722 naabal421 Member Posts: 162 Arc User
    edited November 2021
    A couple reasons..
    1. Some people are completionists, they like to have everything.
    2. The nature of a constantly developing game. An item that's 'useless' today might become the 'go to' in a few months.. it happens more then you think.
    3. Sometimes, they really do give away some truly great stuff. Some examples would be the Cold Hearted starship trait.. a staple in any A2B build came from an event ship. The D.O.M.I.N.O. console, event reward, the Borg Slaying Thompson Submachine Gun was an event reward.. The Crystal Prisms.. there is a list of things that people really didn't even realize at the time were going to be great items until the event was over and people had a chance to test them out.

    Now, most of the time.. yes.. you're absolutely right. Most of the event rewards are things you an easily live without and the events can clearly be skipped. The current one is a great example, no one is ever going to consider the Akar console thing a 'must have,' these are only for people that want to collect everything. It's not the items usefulness that really gets people, it's the knowledge that once this chance to get it is gone, it will never ever come back.. ever.

    The fact that if you want it, you have to get it now, or it's gone forever, elicits a psychological response in people that keeps them logging in to get it. It's worked on me, I admit it.. and I am sure it works on thousands of others every day.
    Well I would have to say that
    1. That's on you. The vast majority of games are not designed around the idea that you will do everything, or get everything, ever made/released for said game. Your desire to do so is not on them.
    2. This might make sense if STO required you to use those items to do well in the game. But STO's so easy that it doesn't.
    3. Much like #2, even if those items are "good" they are still entirely unnecessary to do well in the game. I have none of the things you listed, and haven't had any issue with any of the game's content.

    Everything you said here is more indication of you FOMOing yourself, by creating some false idea that you need the "meta" items, or w/e you want to call them, when the game isn't built around it. I could understand saying that the events are FOMO based if the situation was different, and you DID need them to do well, or if Cryptic had a history of making previously released event items necessary to do well months/years after they first came out. But neither of those situations is true, at least so far, so i can't really agree with that idea. How the term FOMO is used here isn't consistent with how I've seen it used everywhere else.
  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,501 Arc User
    Everything you said here is more indication of you FOMOing yourself, by creating some false idea that you need the "meta" items, or w/e you want to call them, when the game isn't built around it. I could understand saying that the events are FOMO based if the situation was different, and you DID need them to do well, or if Cryptic had a history of making previously released event items necessary to do well months/years after they first came out. But neither of those situations is true, at least so far, so i can't really agree with that idea. How the term FOMO is used here isn't consistent with how I've seen it used everywhere else.

    Space Barbie is the real endgame for many STO players. FOMO does apply to event gear that might be needed for a new Barbie (captain) or new theme for an existing one.

    FOMO also applies to trying other ships, powers, damage types. If you decide you want a Fek'irhi build then you probably want all the consoles from event ships and any fire-related gear and powers. If you decide you want a cold build then you want the Breen event ships. That isn't following the meta it's just building a theme.
  • angrytargangrytarg Member Posts: 11,001 Arc User
    The Mudd's Tabb is supposed to represent Harry Mudd the con artist from disco and TOS. (hint the reason for the high prices)

    Which is extremely unethical marketing that should be illegal. Putting things in the store for prices that are ridiculous (with no note in the actual store that the prices are intentionally high) just to use the excuse 'well, we don't honestly expect people to pay it, you're supposed to wait for a sale' is reprehensible and bordering on a total scam.

    I agree. If it was supposed to be a 'joke' then you wouldn't be able to buy it but get a witty text box telling you to wait for the 'sale', which is when it would be unlocked. But the fact that you CAN pay 600€ for that one ship bundle speaks a lot more than words.​​
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  • vetteguy904vetteguy904 Member Posts: 3,844 Arc User
    I really want but can't see paying 2K zen for the Dinosaur with a freaking laser on his head...
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This discussion has been closed.