To me, this suggests that the lower cost items are either lower quality, or less quantity than the higher cost items. All things being equal, if content of any particular type such as the SHIP SKINS should all have the same cost, should they not?
I don't care much for ship skins and bridges. I have enough of those, and unless they add alien ship skins and matching bridge packs, I won't buy any more of those.
I bought Pakleds tho because I considered playing one for fun a bit ago. After seeing they still have the belly issue that spoiled Tellarites for me, I didn't roll one.
I'm curious why Rigelians disappeared completely from the calendar. I think besides the wrong skin color palette, they are pretty interesting, from looks and traits. Means I would buy them, if they ever show up again.
C-Store species... All but the Klingons have flaws of some sort, so the quality-price theory makes sense. Ferengi are majorly flawed and the cheapest. Tellarites and Pakleds have the same cosmetic problems are the same price. So yeah, the circle closes.
Dude, why would you even give them more money? Do they deserve it, after reading some of your threads regarding the most recent patch...
Nope. But I have a lifetime sub, so I'm not going anywhere. And I didn't have enough merits or whatever to respec in-game. So was I to gimp around without a respec after that season 1.1 update? Yeah, it stinks, but as much as I hate the latest work on STO I still play it because of my sub and my fleet. They should have given free updates.
Haven't spent a single point so far.
There simply isn't anything currently in the C-store that I want.
Now if Cryptic were to add clothing such as skirts, one piece off-duty clothing, clothig with slider settings such as sleeve length I'd buy it without a second thought.
I'm not a fan of the C-Store. I don't enjoy the thought of paying for what should rightfully be in the game already due to my monthly subscription and initial purchase of the game itself. My Deluxe Edition came with 500 "free" Cryptic points, which I used to buy 2 new character slots when that feature was released. Though in my opinion.. why do we only have 3 slots to begin with? That's way low. I'd say 5 should be the bare minimum.
I also purchased the Imperial Class ship costume and I regret making that purchase. Nothing particularly wrong with the ship itself, and I bought it during the Tax Day sale... but seriously, no one should have to pay for things like this when we have a monthly subscription.
"But how else is Cryptic going to make money with so few subscribers! We need the C-Store to boost revenue!" My counter to such an argument is this; Subscriptions wouldn't be so "low" if more people felt their monthly subscription actually bought something worthwhile. Add these items to the core game. When the experience is more complete and there isn't a lack of content, then we can worry about adding superfluous items to the C-store. But this game is in drastic need of content, and having some of it divided behind a wall of micro-transactions is a crime. Not in the legal sense, of course.
If this game was Free-to-Play or didn't cost the amount of typical MMOs per-month, this wouldn't be an issue with me. Before long, Micro-transactions are going to rule MMOs; you'll need to pay X amount of money to hit a certain level, or unlock certain classes, or to buy adequate items for your level, or to access whole swaths of content. Ontop of buying the game, paying a monthly subscription, and purchasing Expansion packs. :mad:
I bought:
The Ferengi playable race (I think I broke my mouse finger clicking that so fast)
2 Char slots (I'm a lifer so I'm entitled to Alt-itis)
Imperial Skin
Hephaestus Skin
Various costume pieces on CO
Things I'd like to see in the store:
Quality of Life upgrades like a Transwarp module
Borg Officer
Constitution-class ship
Skins for an entire class as a bundle (Escort bundle or Cruiser Bundle)
Pets (Targ, Dog, Selot, Mr. Homm, whatever)
I admit I wasn't keen on the C-Store at first. But many versions of Champions and Star Trek came with Cryptic points to customize your experience. The variety of in both stores can cover that. Some player play escorts some play cruisers so they use their points for ship skins... some rp and spend their points on bridges and costume pieces (or pets).
Questions: [*]How much you have spent on Cryptic Points to date?
Somewhere in the neighborhood of $100
[*]How many Cryptic Points have you spent in game?
All but 665 of them, but that includes about 1000 points I've gotten for promotion, and Champions Online stuff.
[*]What C-Store products have you purchased?
Er... not including Champions?
Fleet Escort
Research bridge
Emote Pack
Advanced Escort
2 additional character slots
Battle Cruiser Bridge
*maybe* the Assault Cruiser, I don't recall. there was a point I was thinking of going Tac/Cruiser.
[*]What is your opinion on the C-Store Products you have purchased?
I prefer the CO approach. Far more costumes, but moreover, all are in-game achievable.
[*]What are your Suggestions for future C-Store Products?
Make all in-game achievable. Just because I work 2-3 jobs and have more money than time doesnt mean my college student guildies do.
[*]What do you think should, and should not be available in the C-Store for real money?
C-Store is NOT real money, technically, as C-Store points are often earn-able through promotions!
That said: Primarily Vanity items, but really any "bonus" box items should appear there - meaning, as future box promotions come about, bring them to the C-store as well after a few months (see the NCsoft COH Booster Packs for a prime example of this)
[*]What is your favourite suggestion in the OP from the feedback and why?
I like so many of them! Genetic Alteration is my favorite I suppose, changing traits (expensively, and therefore rarely) is necessary!
I want to make two things clear-
1) I never, ever want to see "exclusive" promotions here, or in the Vet reward list. TCT is not a big deal to me, but the rest of the LTS, RAF, Tribble test, and pre-order promotions need to remain exclusive to retain value to the customer. SIMIULAR items are fine, "bronze medals" if you would, but keep exclusives the "gold medal" reward they are now. What this means for items on this list that are exclusives is simply this: Have the Mirror Universe uniforms... but from Enterprise and DS9. if you must include TOS, have the Kirk shirt, but keep the Spock shirt we CO LTSers have out of the mix. If you must make Liberate Borg a race available elsewhere, make it visually different - reserve the Borg headgear for us LTSers, but give the non-exclusive LB race the basic borg plates on the cheek and so on that came with the original pre-order Borg BOff.
2) ALL items in the C-Store should have a way to unlock them in-game. Be it through a vet program, through Accolades, or through other means. If need be, make C-Store points purchasable with in-game currency or points (merritts come to mind), but make sure you never exclude a person because they have more time than money.
My last thought as I read this list is this:
Once per quarter, half, or year, run a promotion with existing players. The "Everything in the game, period" promotion. This should be a reward system for players already in the game. Simply put, if a promotional item is in the game, exclusive, C-Store, pre-order, or vendor-specific, then that one person per year gets it, for the life of their account. Even if STF items start appearing in the C-Store, they have the ability to obtain it.
I havce my 240 points from the survey and have yet to use them on anything. The only things that I might use them for is the playable races and character slots.
The reason I have not spend any is I'm a little P'Oed about the playable races being in the C-store. I mean this is Star Trek, right. These races are in the Star Trek Universe, right. You get to play others for free, right....
So why do you have to play for others when you get most for free?
If the race is in the Star Trek Universe and is playable my your faction, you should be able to play that races without having to pay for it.
Ive gotten the playable Klingon and Im about to get the 2 extra character slots. Once I get a tac captian to Admiral I'll get the ship skin for the fleet escort.
Im not a huge fan of the Bridges. Theres really no point right now to go to your bridge, and I just dont like the way they all look. But if they had bridges from the shows/movies, Id buy those just to look at'em.
If they added, and hopefully when they add, the pre order items like the TNG uniforms, whatever the rifle was, and those things, Id buy'em all.
If they had some kind of an option to make my Borg boff something other than an engineer, Id buy that to.
Once per quarter, half, or year, run a promotion with existing players. The "Everything in the game, period" promotion. This should be a reward system for players already in the game. Simply put, if a promotional item is in the game, exclusive, C-Store, pre-order, or vendor-specific, then that one person per year gets it, for the life of their account. Even if STF items start appearing in the C-Store, they have the ability to obtain it.
Reward the faithful.
So a sort of lottery with a prize of 'everything, period'? I could get behind that. That sounds pretty neat.
In answer to the OP's question: I have only purchased the ship models from the C-Store. I have not yet purchased any playable races from it. Nor have I purchased bridge packs or emote packs. I have not yet needed to purchase a respec, but it's a useful thing to have there.
I like a lot of the ideas in the list... but I admit I'm not fond of them being in the C-Store. I am not opposed to the C-Store; I just think that much of the stuff being slated for the C-Store -- and the stuff proposed here -- should really be in-game and available somehow. Make them unlocks tied to the Accolade system. Make them unlocked by episodes. Marks of Exploration/Valor. Give us goals to shoot for!
An example I made in another thread was for playable races: To unlock them, you need to conduct an episodic mission of some kind. Let's take the Caitans for example: Instead of just selling them on the C-Store, have an NPC in Earth Spacedock give a variety of missions to 'liberate' the various new playable races. Go to the NPC, and, using Caitans as our example, say that there's an episode called 'Mission to Cait,' and your mission -- should you choose to accept it, or not, as you choose -- is to go to Cait and foil a Klingon attempt at bringing them into their sphere of influence.
And it doesn't have to be a 'keep them from joining the klinks/freds' mission. SOME sort of mission that involves them. And upon successful completion of that mission episode... 'Congratulations, Lieutenant!' you have unlocked the ability to play a character of that race.
I *guarantee* that you will have people continuing to pay a monthly sub to pursue unlocking playable races this way. It not only caters to the 'gotta collect them all' mentality but it also keeps people playing and interested, and also, indirectly, promotes rolling up alts, which *further* keeps people playing. It's almost a content-generating technique, actually.
And, you know what... I'll put my money (so to speak) where my mouth is. I've been wanting Caitans as a playable race for a while. Cryptic, if you do this, you can feel free to start with the Caitans, even if that means a delay in their release, I won't raise a single word of fuss or furor. Go for it. Of course, it might be a little too late for them, but, well, if it isn't... by all means, doo eet!
So ,in summary: C-Store, not a bad thing, but a lot of the stuff sold in it will be better in the long term to be available in the game through unlocks, missions, accolades, etc. It'll keep people playing, enjoying the game, discovering new stuff, and keep people playing.
Things i've bought:
2x2 Charslots (2 Reserved for Caithian Char's)
1 Science Vessel Skin (i have forgotten which type)
Things i would like to see:
Borg Playrchar (My Credit Card got suspended while trying to buy the lifetime Membership on the last Day of the "Bonus-Period" because my Bank suspected CC Fraud, so no Borg for me...)
Caitian (Yay!)
Endgame Iconic Ships
"Unique" Bridge Officers
Pets
Ship Interiors (+decorations)
1. Federation Bridge Pack III: Research Science Vessel (during discount weekend)
Enjoying this very much. Using it with my assault cruiser, however, and would like the ship diagrams and plaques to reflect that.
2. Federation Assault Cruiser Imperial Class (during discount weekend)
Wish I didn't buy this. Using only the nacelle because the rest of the parts are freaking ugly.
What I'd like to buy:
1. Orion slave outfit and other sexy costumes. I'll even take them for BOffs only if you can't quell the prudes.
2. Jewelry pieces and other accessories... non-canon headbands, goggles, glasses, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, bracers, anklets, whatever.
What I'm least likely to buy:
1. Retrain. Utterly unconcerned with the skill system until it makes sense.
2. Additional playable races. Most Star Trek races are pretty uninteresting due to budgetary and ideological restraints of the series.
3. Additional character slots. For the foreseeable future, I'll be playing only one Federation character unless you guys come up with something extremely interesting.
I wish I could, After my last CP spending spree when the discount was on, I am now only left with 150 CP so not enough to get either of the two new items, but they can wait, that's the best part, what is in teh C-Store will stay in the C-Store.
I would very much appreciate another one of those Surveys right now, like the one we had before that rewarded us with 240CP.
I've spent £30 on CP in the past and I'm still unemployed, still lucky my girlfriend bought me the game and lifer sub, so I'm still poor. LoL
I would love to work for Cryptic, although my greatest weak point is that I have no goals in life, but my girlfriend has convinced me to go back to college, which I will do in September.
Correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't Cryptic once say that "anything that can be bought in the C-Store" will also be able to be earnt through playing the game? If this is true, when will we be able to start earning some of these new skins and access to new races through the game?
My bet is that the new skins and races will ONLY be available through the C-Store.
Comments
It makes me wonder if the price for the Cruiser is a mistake.
I got the new ship to, I dont't care for the Pakled though, and the price of the Cruiser does now seem quite odd indeed.
NEW RACES (Average cost 170 Cryptic Points)
Federation Pakled (160 Cryptic Points)
Federation Tellarite (200 Cryptic Points)
Federation Klingon (240 Cryptic Points)
Federation Ferengi (80 Cryptic Points)
NEW SHIP SKINS (Average cost 180 Cryptic Points)
Assault Cruiser Imperial Class (240 Cryptic Points)
Advanced Escort - Hephaestus Class (160 Cryptic Points)
Deep Space Science Vessel - Nimbus Class (160 Cryptic Points)
Fleet Escort Maelstrom Class (160 Cryptic Points)
NEW BRIDGES (Average cost 168 Cryptic Points)
Klingon Bridge Pack III: Carrier (80 Cryptic Points)
Klingon Empire Bridge Pack II: Bird-of-Prey (240 Cryptic Points)
Federation Bridge Pack III: Research Science Vessel (200 Cryptic Points)
Federation Bridge Pack II: Light Cruiser (120 Cryptic Points)
Federation Bridge Pack I: Star Cruiser (200 Cryptic Points)
To me, this suggests that the lower cost items are either lower quality, or less quantity than the higher cost items. All things being equal, if content of any particular type such as the SHIP SKINS should all have the same cost, should they not?
Would be nice to get free re-specs when they change game mechanics. Of course that would take away their income as I paid to get it.
Dude, why would you even give them more money? Do they deserve it, after reading some of your threads regarding the most recent patch...
I bought Pakleds tho because I considered playing one for fun a bit ago. After seeing they still have the belly issue that spoiled Tellarites for me, I didn't roll one.
I'm curious why Rigelians disappeared completely from the calendar. I think besides the wrong skin color palette, they are pretty interesting, from looks and traits. Means I would buy them, if they ever show up again.
C-Store species... All but the Klingons have flaws of some sort, so the quality-price theory makes sense. Ferengi are majorly flawed and the cheapest. Tellarites and Pakleds have the same cosmetic problems are the same price. So yeah, the circle closes.
Nope. But I have a lifetime sub, so I'm not going anywhere. And I didn't have enough merits or whatever to respec in-game. So was I to gimp around without a respec after that season 1.1 update? Yeah, it stinks, but as much as I hate the latest work on STO I still play it because of my sub and my fleet. They should have given free updates.
While the races are "fun" - they don't add much beside the unique traits.
The emotes? Sure, they're cheap but I prefer a large bundle for slightly more (12 for the same per emote cost). The ones in there aren't every useful.
Now, if we could assign emotes to power-slots, that'd be great.
There simply isn't anything currently in the C-store that I want.
Now if Cryptic were to add clothing such as skirts, one piece off-duty clothing, clothig with slider settings such as sleeve length I'd buy it without a second thought.
I also purchased the Imperial Class ship costume and I regret making that purchase. Nothing particularly wrong with the ship itself, and I bought it during the Tax Day sale... but seriously, no one should have to pay for things like this when we have a monthly subscription.
"But how else is Cryptic going to make money with so few subscribers! We need the C-Store to boost revenue!" My counter to such an argument is this; Subscriptions wouldn't be so "low" if more people felt their monthly subscription actually bought something worthwhile. Add these items to the core game. When the experience is more complete and there isn't a lack of content, then we can worry about adding superfluous items to the C-store. But this game is in drastic need of content, and having some of it divided behind a wall of micro-transactions is a crime. Not in the legal sense, of course.
If this game was Free-to-Play or didn't cost the amount of typical MMOs per-month, this wouldn't be an issue with me. Before long, Micro-transactions are going to rule MMOs; you'll need to pay X amount of money to hit a certain level, or unlock certain classes, or to buy adequate items for your level, or to access whole swaths of content. Ontop of buying the game, paying a monthly subscription, and purchasing Expansion packs. :mad:
The Ferengi playable race (I think I broke my mouse finger clicking that so fast)
2 Char slots (I'm a lifer so I'm entitled to Alt-itis)
Imperial Skin
Hephaestus Skin
Various costume pieces on CO
Things I'd like to see in the store:
Quality of Life upgrades like a Transwarp module
Borg Officer
Constitution-class ship
Skins for an entire class as a bundle (Escort bundle or Cruiser Bundle)
Pets (Targ, Dog, Selot, Mr. Homm, whatever)
I admit I wasn't keen on the C-Store at first. But many versions of Champions and Star Trek came with Cryptic points to customize your experience. The variety of in both stores can cover that. Some player play escorts some play cruisers so they use their points for ship skins... some rp and spend their points on bridges and costume pieces (or pets).
[*]How much you have spent on Cryptic Points to date?
Somewhere in the neighborhood of $100
[*]How many Cryptic Points have you spent in game?
All but 665 of them, but that includes about 1000 points I've gotten for promotion, and Champions Online stuff.
[*]What C-Store products have you purchased?
Er... not including Champions?
Fleet Escort
Research bridge
Emote Pack
Advanced Escort
2 additional character slots
Battle Cruiser Bridge
*maybe* the Assault Cruiser, I don't recall. there was a point I was thinking of going Tac/Cruiser.
[*]What is your opinion on the C-Store Products you have purchased?
I prefer the CO approach. Far more costumes, but moreover, all are in-game achievable.
[*]What are your Suggestions for future C-Store Products?
Make all in-game achievable. Just because I work 2-3 jobs and have more money than time doesnt mean my college student guildies do.
[*]What do you think should, and should not be available in the C-Store for real money?
C-Store is NOT real money, technically, as C-Store points are often earn-able through promotions!
That said: Primarily Vanity items, but really any "bonus" box items should appear there - meaning, as future box promotions come about, bring them to the C-store as well after a few months (see the NCsoft COH Booster Packs for a prime example of this)
[*]What is your favourite suggestion in the OP from the feedback and why?
I like so many of them! Genetic Alteration is my favorite I suppose, changing traits (expensively, and therefore rarely) is necessary!
I want to make two things clear-
2) ALL items in the C-Store should have a way to unlock them in-game. Be it through a vet program, through Accolades, or through other means. If need be, make C-Store points purchasable with in-game currency or points (merritts come to mind), but make sure you never exclude a person because they have more time than money.
My last thought as I read this list is this:
Once per quarter, half, or year, run a promotion with existing players. The "Everything in the game, period" promotion. This should be a reward system for players already in the game. Simply put, if a promotional item is in the game, exclusive, C-Store, pre-order, or vendor-specific, then that one person per year gets it, for the life of their account. Even if STF items start appearing in the C-Store, they have the ability to obtain it.
Reward the faithful.
The reason I have not spend any is I'm a little P'Oed about the playable races being in the C-store. I mean this is Star Trek, right. These races are in the Star Trek Universe, right. You get to play others for free, right....
So why do you have to play for others when you get most for free?
If the race is in the Star Trek Universe and is playable my your faction, you should be able to play that races without having to pay for it.
That's my 2¢.......
Im not a huge fan of the Bridges. Theres really no point right now to go to your bridge, and I just dont like the way they all look. But if they had bridges from the shows/movies, Id buy those just to look at'em.
If they added, and hopefully when they add, the pre order items like the TNG uniforms, whatever the rifle was, and those things, Id buy'em all.
If they had some kind of an option to make my Borg boff something other than an engineer, Id buy that to.
So a sort of lottery with a prize of 'everything, period'? I could get behind that. That sounds pretty neat.
In answer to the OP's question: I have only purchased the ship models from the C-Store. I have not yet purchased any playable races from it. Nor have I purchased bridge packs or emote packs. I have not yet needed to purchase a respec, but it's a useful thing to have there.
I like a lot of the ideas in the list... but I admit I'm not fond of them being in the C-Store. I am not opposed to the C-Store; I just think that much of the stuff being slated for the C-Store -- and the stuff proposed here -- should really be in-game and available somehow. Make them unlocks tied to the Accolade system. Make them unlocked by episodes. Marks of Exploration/Valor. Give us goals to shoot for!
An example I made in another thread was for playable races: To unlock them, you need to conduct an episodic mission of some kind. Let's take the Caitans for example: Instead of just selling them on the C-Store, have an NPC in Earth Spacedock give a variety of missions to 'liberate' the various new playable races. Go to the NPC, and, using Caitans as our example, say that there's an episode called 'Mission to Cait,' and your mission -- should you choose to accept it, or not, as you choose -- is to go to Cait and foil a Klingon attempt at bringing them into their sphere of influence.
And it doesn't have to be a 'keep them from joining the klinks/freds' mission. SOME sort of mission that involves them. And upon successful completion of that mission episode... 'Congratulations, Lieutenant!' you have unlocked the ability to play a character of that race.
I *guarantee* that you will have people continuing to pay a monthly sub to pursue unlocking playable races this way. It not only caters to the 'gotta collect them all' mentality but it also keeps people playing and interested, and also, indirectly, promotes rolling up alts, which *further* keeps people playing. It's almost a content-generating technique, actually.
And, you know what... I'll put my money (so to speak) where my mouth is. I've been wanting Caitans as a playable race for a while. Cryptic, if you do this, you can feel free to start with the Caitans, even if that means a delay in their release, I won't raise a single word of fuss or furor. Go for it. Of course, it might be a little too late for them, but, well, if it isn't... by all means, doo eet!
So ,in summary: C-Store, not a bad thing, but a lot of the stuff sold in it will be better in the long term to be available in the game through unlocks, missions, accolades, etc. It'll keep people playing, enjoying the game, discovering new stuff, and keep people playing.
2x2 Charslots (2 Reserved for Caithian Char's)
1 Science Vessel Skin (i have forgotten which type)
Things i would like to see:
Borg Playrchar (My Credit Card got suspended while trying to buy the lifetime Membership on the last Day of the "Bonus-Period" because my Bank suspected CC Fraud, so no Borg for me...)
Caitian (Yay!)
Endgame Iconic Ships
"Unique" Bridge Officers
Pets
Ship Interiors (+decorations)
1. Federation Bridge Pack III: Research Science Vessel (during discount weekend)
Enjoying this very much. Using it with my assault cruiser, however, and would like the ship diagrams and plaques to reflect that.
2. Federation Assault Cruiser Imperial Class (during discount weekend)
Wish I didn't buy this. Using only the nacelle because the rest of the parts are freaking ugly.
What I'd like to buy:
1. Orion slave outfit and other sexy costumes. I'll even take them for BOffs only if you can't quell the prudes.
2. Jewelry pieces and other accessories... non-canon headbands, goggles, glasses, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, bracers, anklets, whatever.
What I'm least likely to buy:
1. Retrain. Utterly unconcerned with the skill system until it makes sense.
2. Additional playable races. Most Star Trek races are pretty uninteresting due to budgetary and ideological restraints of the series.
3. Additional character slots. For the foreseeable future, I'll be playing only one Federation character unless you guys come up with something extremely interesting.
TOS uniforms still in stock tday May 10th
I wish I could, After my last CP spending spree when the discount was on, I am now only left with 150 CP so not enough to get either of the two new items, but they can wait, that's the best part, what is in teh C-Store will stay in the C-Store.
I've spent £30 on CP in the past and I'm still unemployed, still lucky my girlfriend bought me the game and lifer sub, so I'm still poor. LoL
I would love to work for Cryptic, although my greatest weak point is that I have no goals in life, but my girlfriend has convinced me to go back to college, which I will do in September.
My bet is that the new skins and races will ONLY be available through the C-Store.