I found a tribble in our breeding bank that buffs you for a short time. So as it turns out, tribble breeding is actually worthwile.
Tribbles are amazing. For those people not in the know, tribbles can provide a variety of buffs (which last around the order of an hour):
1) Out of combat heal (this is your default tribble; pretty worthless)
2) A health regen buff (seems kinda worthless too)
3) Combat damage buff
4) Damage resist buff
Not only that you can breed tribbles that have a mix of the actual buffs (Best Buy preorders get a tribble with all 3). The special tribbles are usually different colors and/or patterns. You need to right click a tribble and select "Info" before you can see their actual buff.
The official STO forums has breeding faqs on how to get specific tribbles.
Oh I think Klingons don't get the tribble buff when they use them, but they do get a different tribble animation and sound.
Dropping it on the floor and stomping it to death?
The one I gave my Klingon Bridge Officer acts scared when he takes it out and it jumps around in his hand.. I haven't taken it away because it's funny...
I like that they went to the trouble to put that in there.
video
42:40 in that video. Tribbles don't like Klingons.
One of the best episodes in the game involves Tribbles.
I've been looking into buying this game but have heard there are a few kinks left to work out. I was hoping to get a chance to experience the gameplay a bit before deciding to buy it. I don't suppose there are any buddy keys left?
Aye >.> same for me. Already got the game downloaded but no buddy key. Can anyone help out please? ... I play Champions online regulary and i'm probably going to buy Startrek later on, but it'd love to see state of game first. Buddy key would be greatly appreciated :]
I'm guessing there's approximately zero communication between the Cryptic (devs) and Atari (corporate). If there was, Cryptic would have probably told them, in no uncertain terms, that knocking $10 off the retail price of STO and throwing in an extra 30 days of playtime (60 total) for new players was going to cause an epic shitstorm among the existing player base.
Yeah, official forums is already going nuts over that. Only way they could have avoided it was if they credited EVERY account with an extra month. And given the likelyhood of that getting approved, they should have just not done it. 10$ off? Fine, kind of annoying for so soon, but it wouldn't have done much. The extra time is REALLY pissing off the existing players though.
You know, after the Vibora Bay hellstorm over in CO, and this, I'm of the opinion their marketing guy was hired off the street. Cause he kinda sucks.
Yeah, official forums is already going nuts over that. Only way they could have avoided it was if they credited EVERY account with an extra month. And given the likelyhood of that getting approved, they should have just not done it. 10$ off? Fine, kind of annoying for so soon, but it wouldn't have done much. The extra time is REALLY pissing off the existing players though.
You know, after the Vibora Bay hellstorm over in CO, and this, I'm of the opinion their marketing guy was hired off the street. Cause he kinda sucks.
I prefer to believe that it's not Cryptic's decision, and that Atari is the one making them do this.
I'm guessing there's approximately zero communication between the Cryptic (devs) and Atari (corporate). If there was, Cryptic would have probably told them, in no uncertain terms, that knocking $10 off the retail price of STO and throwing in an extra 30 days of playtime (60 total) for new players was going to cause an epic shitstorm among the existing player base.
Wait, what?
And Teth, if this happened, like, two or three months down the road I wouldn't see anything wrong with it. But we're still within the initial month, and this just signifies to me that Atari doesn't really care about anything but more box sales.
korodullin on
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
I'm guessing there's approximately zero communication between the Cryptic (devs) and Atari (corporate). If there was, Cryptic would have probably told them, in no uncertain terms, that knocking $10 off the retail price of STO and throwing in an extra 30 days of playtime (60 total) for new players was going to cause an epic shitstorm among the existing player base.
Wait, what?
It's exactly as I said. If you buy STO now, it's $39.99 for the regular edition, and you get two free months of game time.
This is causing much nerdrage on the official forums.
It is being perceived as a slap in the face to two overlapping groups: Those who bought the game at release, and those who were already upset at having their free month plagued with bugs/downtime/etcetera.
I'm not raging over any of this, but I can sympathize with the players who are upset, and it would take an epic degree of disconnect on the part of the decision makers to not realize that people would be pissed.
I'm guessing there's approximately zero communication between the Cryptic (devs) and Atari (corporate). If there was, Cryptic would have probably told them, in no uncertain terms, that knocking $10 off the retail price of STO and throwing in an extra 30 days of playtime (60 total) for new players was going to cause an epic shitstorm among the existing player base.
Wait, what?
And Teth, if this happened, like, two or three months down the road I wouldn't see anything wrong with it. But we're still within the initial month, and this just signifies to me that Atari doesn't really care about anything but more box sales.
Wow time flies when you work too much (well, or grinds by slowly). I thought we were already past the first month. In that case, I think it would be a tremendous show of good will for Atari/Cryptic to extend the offer for an additional 30 days to the current subscribers.
And while we're on this topic, why does Cryptic keep stumbling so much in the PR department? I'm guessing there's some business divisions that just aren't communicating efficiently right now.
Well, i've been playing Champions online [aka another Cryptic game] and can't really say i have any complains. You should have seen Age of Conan support :}.
On other note i'd still love to give Startrek online a try. If anyone can spare Buddy key and help fellow trekkie, please do. It'd be greatly appriciated. 8-)
I'm guessing there's approximately zero communication between the Cryptic (devs) and Atari (corporate). If there was, Cryptic would have probably told them, in no uncertain terms, that knocking $10 off the retail price of STO and throwing in an extra 30 days of playtime (60 total) for new players was going to cause an epic shitstorm among the existing player base.
Wait, what?
And Teth, if this happened, like, two or three months down the road I wouldn't see anything wrong with it. But we're still within the initial month, and this just signifies to me that Atari doesn't really care about anything but more box sales.
Wow time flies when you work too much (well, or grinds by slowly). I thought we were already past the first month. In that case, I think it would be a tremendous show of good will for Atari/Cryptic to extend the offer for an additional 30 days to the current subscribers.
...
Well that would obviously cost them gobs of cash. OTOH if they really think they'll add meaningful stuff in in the next 30-days it might help them in the long run. It might allow them to keep some customers that would otherwise permanently leave at the end of the current month.
Unfortunately I'm not particularly hopeful there will be that much more in in 30-days though. In another 3-6 months, sure, but given the fact that the first Raid-i-sode/Special Task Force is now over a week and a half behind schedule -- and they are no longer even talking about releasing it, just putting it up on the test server -- I'm doubtful they'll be able to add enough to satisfy hardcore players in 30-days.
Unfortunately I'm not particularly hopeful there will be that much more in in 30-days though. In another 3-6 months, sure, but given the fact that the first Raid-i-sode/Special Task Force is now over a week and a half behind schedule -- and they are no longer even talking about releasing it, just putting it up on the test server -- I'm doubtful they'll be able to add enough to satisfy hardcore players in 30-days.
I would be surprised if Cryptic ever added enough of anything to satisfy hardcore players, that's just not their style, if anything their stuff is marketed at casuals who spend a few hours a week playing at most. Fighting for the hardcore players seems like a lost cause.
Right, the game isn't selling terribly well and they've already decided that they don't have enough content to hold hardcore player (who tend to be early adopters). There's no way they don't already realize those things.
So they push box sales significantly more, because I would bet you 100 tribbles that the game showed decent pre-sales and day 1 sales, and then hit a certain point where sales numbers juts plummeted. Dropping the price significantly gets them bumped up to "sales" sections of ads, like on Steam. Additionally, sustained sales numbers get them ranked higher on game sales tracking, which in turn provides more publicity for sales.
Those new players probably won't maintain long-term subscriptions, just as current subscribers don't maintain long-term subscriptions. However, some players will resub later down the line based on new marketing.
Think of it this way: Very few people buy an MMO for the first time a year after it launched. However, plenty of people will resubscribe when a company puts out a huge marketing push that they've updated the content, added this or that, or are running a great promotion. Additionally, sometimes people who have already bought the game will buy new content packs just to run through them before unsubscribing again.
It makes perfect sense: front-load sales as much as possible, even if it pisses off the existing user base a bit. Then use clever marketing to sustain a trickle of subscribers that return in waves every 3 months. It's the new MMO sales strategy, and you see lots and lots of games doing it. MMO's just aren't profitable enough compared with blockbuster single player games to not try different tactics.
This looks kinda neat, but unfortunately, my current system specs are below minimum (P4 3.0 GHz, Geforce 7600). I'm hoping to get a new computer in the near future, so I'll check back to mooch a trial code then.
Unfortunately I'm not particularly hopeful there will be that much more in in 30-days though. In another 3-6 months, sure, but given the fact that the first Raid-i-sode/Special Task Force is now over a week and a half behind schedule -- and they are no longer even talking about releasing it, just putting it up on the test server -- I'm doubtful they'll be able to add enough to satisfy hardcore players in 30-days.
I would be surprised if Cryptic ever added enough of anything to satisfy hardcore players, that's just not their style, if anything their stuff is marketed at casuals who spend a few hours a week playing at most. Fighting for the hardcore players seems like a lost cause.
I figured their best hope of satisfying the hardcore would be to create compelling PvP. There is simply no way to create sufficient mission content fast enough to keep them satisfied.
Darkewolfe that sounds like a reasonable analysis.
Right, the game isn't selling terribly well and they've already decided that they don't have enough content to hold hardcore player (who tend to be early adopters). There's no way they don't already realize those things.
So they push box sales significantly more, because I would bet you 100 tribbles that the game showed decent pre-sales and day 1 sales, and then hit a certain point where sales numbers juts plummeted. Dropping the price significantly gets them bumped up to "sales" sections of ads, like on Steam. Additionally, sustained sales numbers get them ranked higher on game sales tracking, which in turn provides more publicity for sales.
Those new players probably won't maintain long-term subscriptions, just as current subscribers don't maintain long-term subscriptions. However, some players will resub later down the line based on new marketing.
Think of it this way: Very few people buy an MMO for the first time a year after it launched. However, plenty of people will resubscribe when a company puts out a huge marketing push that they've updated the content, added this or that, or are running a great promotion. Additionally, sometimes people who have already bought the game will buy new content packs just to run through them before unsubscribing again.
It makes perfect sense: front-load sales as much as possible, even if it pisses off the existing user base a bit. Then use clever marketing to sustain a trickle of subscribers that return in waves every 3 months. It's the new MMO sales strategy, and you see lots and lots of games doing it. MMO's just aren't profitable enough compared with blockbuster single player games to not try different tactics.
That's marketing for you. I'm also wondering if Atari is playing a role in the box sale vs. Cryptic. I mean I'm curious on how the spilt works between retail sale and subscription. I would imagine Atari gets more of the retail pie and a smaller % of the subscription rate. While Cryptic gets more of the subscription rate to maintain the servers, development, etc.
Under that theory Atari may be trying to get out now with as much $$$ as they can carry. Seeing as how the game isn't really pulling WOW style numbers, which trust me as someone that works in marketing, they wanted to obtain some WOW-Lite numbers as a goal after launch.
With that said, I will likely let my sub run out in 5 days. I just can't see myself paying for what is there, too bad I lied on the survey :winky:
Right, the game isn't selling terribly well and they've already decided that they don't have enough content to hold hardcore player (who tend to be early adopters). There's no way they don't already realize those things.
So they push box sales significantly more, because I would bet you 100 tribbles that the game showed decent pre-sales and day 1 sales, and then hit a certain point where sales numbers juts plummeted. Dropping the price significantly gets them bumped up to "sales" sections of ads, like on Steam. Additionally, sustained sales numbers get them ranked higher on game sales tracking, which in turn provides more publicity for sales.
Those new players probably won't maintain long-term subscriptions, just as current subscribers don't maintain long-term subscriptions. However, some players will resub later down the line based on new marketing.
Think of it this way: Very few people buy an MMO for the first time a year after it launched. However, plenty of people will resubscribe when a company puts out a huge marketing push that they've updated the content, added this or that, or are running a great promotion. Additionally, sometimes people who have already bought the game will buy new content packs just to run through them before unsubscribing again.
It makes perfect sense: front-load sales as much as possible, even if it pisses off the existing user base a bit. Then use clever marketing to sustain a trickle of subscribers that return in waves every 3 months. It's the new MMO sales strategy, and you see lots and lots of games doing it. MMO's just aren't profitable enough compared with blockbuster single player games to not try different tactics.
That's marketing for you. I'm also wondering if Atari is playing a role in the box sale vs. Cryptic. I mean I'm curious on how the spilt works between retail sale and subscription. I would imagine Atari gets more of the retail pie and a smaller % of the subscription rate. While Cryptic gets more of the subscription rate to maintain the servers, development, etc.
Under that theory Atari may be trying to get out now with as much $$$ as they can carry. Seeing as how the game isn't really pulling WOW style numbers, which trust me as someone that works in marketing, they wanted to obtain some WOW-Lite numbers as a goal after launch.
With that said, I will likely let my sub run out in 5 days. I just can't see myself paying for what is there, too bad I lied on the survey :winky:
I have no idea, but I'd be willing to bet that it's more like record production. Cryptic doesn't get much money out of anything ever, they just get the development investment that Atari made, and then get to keep their jobs and occasionally bonus as things go on. Any profit whatsoever made probably belongs to the publisher, who fronted all the development money.
Darkewolfe on
What is this I don't even.
0
Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
I have no idea, but I'd be willing to bet that it's more like record production. Cryptic doesn't get much money out of anything ever, they just get the development investment that Atari made, and then get to keep their jobs and occasionally bonus as things go on. Any profit whatsoever made probably belongs to the publisher, who fronted all the development money.
This makes no sense.
Just_Bri_Thanks on
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
I have no idea, but I'd be willing to bet that it's more like record production. Cryptic doesn't get much money out of anything ever, they just get the development investment that Atari made, and then get to keep their jobs and occasionally bonus as things go on. Any profit whatsoever made probably belongs to the publisher, who fronted all the development money.
This makes no sense.
What he's saying is thus: Cryptic, if wholly owned by Atari, is basically making a game based off of their investment, and as such, all profits go to Atari, who then pays Cryptic based upon their contract (which will be bonuses plus a share of the monthly fees). This is because all of the money they used to finance production (and thus the existence of the product at all) was given to them by Atari in the first place, and they are contractually obligated to repay them in this fashion, essentially letting them control the flow of any money generated by the sales/services.
Now, that may or may not be the case with Cryptic, I haven't looked it up, but such an arrangement is not uncommon.
And as a rule, business in general makes perfect sense on a certain level, and is completely insane on another.
I have to admit, that sale is actually making the game tempting. I've been messing around with it on the 5 day trial, and even though I can already see how repetitive (MMOs, am I right?) it is, 40 bucks for 2 free months seems worth it.
Quick questions though: the 240 store points for that subscriber survey, is that still going on? And if so, do Federation Klingons use a bat'leth, or the standard kung fu stuff?
do Federation Klingons use a bat'leth, or the standard kung fu stuff?
Both. If you have no weapon equipped at all, you do kung fu, and battleths are the only melee weapon in the game atm that I'm aware of.
I really wouldn't recommend melee though, unless you are a buffer type sci captain, since they get a buff that raises melee damage by 50%.
Astale on
0
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited February 2010
The qhole Cryptic's fault, Atari's fault, thing is completely irrelevant given that it was Cryptic who signed the deal with the devil. It wasn't like Cryptic didn't know that Atari was a shady as hell shadow of itself when they signed the deal. They were so quick to get away from NCSoft, they signed their soul away to get a publisher and money. Now they get to reap the "benefits". You can blame Atari, but don't forget Cryptic knew what they were doing when they signed on.
I have to admit, that sale is actually making the game tempting. I've been messing around with it on the 5 day trial, and even though I can already see how repetitive (MMOs, am I right?) it is, 40 bucks for 2 free months seems worth it.
Quick questions though: the 240 store points for that subscriber survey, is that still going on? And if so, do Federation Klingons use a bat'leth, or the standard kung fu stuff?
The sale looks good on the surface, until you realize that 40$ is still a fair amount of money, and you can experience 100% of the content in about a week and a half maybe 2 weeks, making two months of free play time kind of unnecessary.
Whoever said it looks like they're way more interested in box sales, rather than subscriptions looks to be right so far.
Honestly, I think this is going to become the norm with MMORPG's. No one can dislodge the WoW behemoth, so why not try the box sales approach instead? Why try to sustain a dwindling community, rather than have games that sustain online communities for a few months and slowly die off?
I see the free MMO structure becoming the norm down the road. Why give out content patches for subs when you can charge 5-10 dollars for them since you can't convince people to spend 15 on a monthly sub. But of course they would nickel and dime us with little stuff to close the gap in costs/profitability. Seems to have worked for Turbine to pull some profit out of the whole DDO mess.
The fact that Cryptic thinks doing both is some how a good idea baffles the hell out of me.
I don't think they're really doing that with STO though, at least not for awhile. They do seem to be aware that everyone knows it was released early missing content, and are going to be adding that in before they talk of paid content.
And if one good thing came out of the Vibora Bay nonsense, it's that they are WELL AWARE of what will happen if they try and sneak in paid content before the community feels it's time.
If you get any of the food items required for upper-end tribbles (the ones on the left side of the chart), keep them or sell them on the exchange. Just don't vendor them. Hearts of Targ are going for like 250k and up.
Damn, I know I sold at least 1 heart of targ early on heh...
Under that theory Atari may be trying to get out now with as much $$$ as they can carry. Seeing as how the game isn't really pulling WOW style numbers, which trust me as someone that works in marketing, they wanted to obtain some WOW-Lite numbers as a goal after launch.
Whoever in their company came up with that illusion should be shot ... seriously. They actually looked at the game and thought they'd be pulling in WoW-ish numbers? Really... those numerous shitstorms their PR fuckups caused on the forums didn't give them the slightest clue, that they are not even in the same galaxy as WoW?
That is not an attack directed at you Golf153 ... I just can't fathom the idea that Cryptic/Atari actually thought they'd have a cash cow ala WoW on their hands.
Under that theory Atari may be trying to get out now with as much $$$ as they can carry. Seeing as how the game isn't really pulling WOW style numbers, which trust me as someone that works in marketing, they wanted to obtain some WOW-Lite numbers as a goal after launch.
That is not an attack directed at you Golf153 ... I just can't fathom the idea that Cryptic/Atari actually thought they'd have a cash cow ala WoW on their hands.
Cryptic probably understood this, but Atari might not have.
WoW is popular because it caters to casual players. STO can't do that as effectively because it's hamstrung by the Star Trek license.
Cryptic did not help matters by releasing a game about a month too soon (bug/polish-wise) and with a near-criminal lack of content. Essentially, they've given us a beautiful world with mostly fun mechanics, but very little to do in that world.
I have to admit, that sale is actually making the game tempting. I've been messing around with it on the 5 day trial, and even though I can already see how repetitive (MMOs, am I right?) it is, 40 bucks for 2 free months seems worth it.
Quick questions though: the 240 store points for that subscriber survey, is that still going on? And if so, do Federation Klingons use a bat'leth, or the standard kung fu stuff?
The sale looks good on the surface, until you realize that 40$ is still a fair amount of money, and you can experience 100% of the content in about a week and a half maybe 2 weeks, making two months of free play time kind of unnecessary.
...
Two points:
1) Even if your week-and-a-half to two-week number is correct, that's still not a bad deal by gaming standards. Just to give a few well regarded examples: Mass Effect 1 takes about 8 hours to run through, and Batman Arkham Asylum can be finished in two weeks. I believe both originally retailed for $59.99. There are plenty of other games which are considered quite good with much shorter play times than STO.
2) The vast majority of players are going to get a hundred plus hours out of a complete play through STO's current content. It's only the elite, hardcore that can get through in a week to a week and a half. For example, I'm currently at Captain 4 and my played time is 3 days 21 hours and 50 minutes. My fleet has over 25 people. We have two players who hit Rear Admiral in the first week. Everyone else is taking much, much longer to get through the content. I'm second along with another player at 34. We've got one more Captain at 32. We've got a handful of Commanders. Everyone else is Lt Commander and below.
By single-player standards this is not at all a short game, it's only by MMO standards that it's low on content. So IMO $40 for two months of free play is an excellent deal.
I recently got to Lt. Commander and got myself a cruiser. What's a good Lt Engineering skill? I heard earlier that you didn't think that directed modulation skill was any good. Should I just get the improved power to engines/weapons/shields II skill?
Under that theory Atari may be trying to get out now with as much $$$ as they can carry. Seeing as how the game isn't really pulling WOW style numbers, which trust me as someone that works in marketing, they wanted to obtain some WOW-Lite numbers as a goal after launch.
That is not an attack directed at you Golf153 ... I just can't fathom the idea that Cryptic/Atari actually thought they'd have a cash cow ala WoW on their hands.
Cryptic probably understood this, but Atari might not have.
WoW is popular because it caters to casual players. STO can't do that as effectively because it's hamstrung by the Star Trek license.
Cryptic did not help matters by releasing a game about a month too soon (bug/polish-wise) and with a near-criminal lack of content. Essentially, they've given us a beautiful world with mostly fun mechanics, but very little to do in that world.
From the looks of things Atari does own Cryptic, since 2008, so I withdraw my theory as to Atari's plan to get more retail before the bottom drops. Now it just looks like they are not making their goals period, and are putting it on sale to generate more numbers.
I recently got to Lt. Commander and got myself a cruiser. What's a good Lt Engineering skill? I heard earlier that you didn't think that directed modulation skill was any good. Should I just get the improved power to engines/weapons/shields II skill?
I'd recommend going "Engineering Team" and "Emergency Power to Shields" for two of the choices.
The third choice depends on your play style. For defensive skills, consider getting "Reverse Shield Polarity". There's a lot of people that like "Auxiliary to Structural" which can put on a very high damage resistance, but for a rather short time (15 seconds IIRC). Aux to Structural also requires you to tweak your power level settings though -- maxing out Aux will have a huge impact on how well this skill works. If you group up, you could try "Extend Shields" -- I haven't heard too much about how effective it is.
For an offensive skill consider going with "Emergency Power to Weapons". This will boost your damage output 10-15%. I've heard Directed Energy Modulation is pretty useless, but have not tried it myself.
Under that theory Atari may be trying to get out now with as much $$$ as they can carry. Seeing as how the game isn't really pulling WOW style numbers, which trust me as someone that works in marketing, they wanted to obtain some WOW-Lite numbers as a goal after launch.
That is not an attack directed at you Golf153 ... I just can't fathom the idea that Cryptic/Atari actually thought they'd have a cash cow ala WoW on their hands.
Cryptic probably understood this, but Atari might not have.
WoW is popular because it caters to casual players. STO can't do that as effectively because it's hamstrung by the Star Trek license.
Cryptic did not help matters by releasing a game about a month too soon (bug/polish-wise) and with a near-criminal lack of content. Essentially, they've given us a beautiful world with mostly fun mechanics, but very little to do in that world.
From the looks of things Atari does own Cryptic, since 2008, so I withdraw my theory as to Atari's plan to get more retail before the bottom drops. Now it just looks like they are not making their goals period, and are putting it on sale to generate more numbers.
I haven't checked in a while, but at least a few years ago, Atari's financial health was not very good. They might be willing to cripple the game long term if it meant improving their current financial numbers short term.
Posts
One of the best episodes in the game involves Tribbles.
You know, after the Vibora Bay hellstorm over in CO, and this, I'm of the opinion their marketing guy was hired off the street. Cause he kinda sucks.
I prefer to believe that it's not Cryptic's decision, and that Atari is the one making them do this.
I'm surprised early adopters still get enraged over post launch promotions.
Wait, what?
And Teth, if this happened, like, two or three months down the road I wouldn't see anything wrong with it. But we're still within the initial month, and this just signifies to me that Atari doesn't really care about anything but more box sales.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
It's exactly as I said. If you buy STO now, it's $39.99 for the regular edition, and you get two free months of game time.
This is causing much nerdrage on the official forums.
It is being perceived as a slap in the face to two overlapping groups: Those who bought the game at release, and those who were already upset at having their free month plagued with bugs/downtime/etcetera.
I'm not raging over any of this, but I can sympathize with the players who are upset, and it would take an epic degree of disconnect on the part of the decision makers to not realize that people would be pissed.
Wow time flies when you work too much (well, or grinds by slowly). I thought we were already past the first month. In that case, I think it would be a tremendous show of good will for Atari/Cryptic to extend the offer for an additional 30 days to the current subscribers.
And while we're on this topic, why does Cryptic keep stumbling so much in the PR department? I'm guessing there's some business divisions that just aren't communicating efficiently right now.
On other note i'd still love to give Startrek online a try. If anyone can spare Buddy key and help fellow trekkie, please do. It'd be greatly appriciated. 8-)
Well that would obviously cost them gobs of cash. OTOH if they really think they'll add meaningful stuff in in the next 30-days it might help them in the long run. It might allow them to keep some customers that would otherwise permanently leave at the end of the current month.
Unfortunately I'm not particularly hopeful there will be that much more in in 30-days though. In another 3-6 months, sure, but given the fact that the first Raid-i-sode/Special Task Force is now over a week and a half behind schedule -- and they are no longer even talking about releasing it, just putting it up on the test server -- I'm doubtful they'll be able to add enough to satisfy hardcore players in 30-days.
I mean they're normally bad, but this makes the regular stuff look downright jovial.
I would be surprised if Cryptic ever added enough of anything to satisfy hardcore players, that's just not their style, if anything their stuff is marketed at casuals who spend a few hours a week playing at most. Fighting for the hardcore players seems like a lost cause.
So they push box sales significantly more, because I would bet you 100 tribbles that the game showed decent pre-sales and day 1 sales, and then hit a certain point where sales numbers juts plummeted. Dropping the price significantly gets them bumped up to "sales" sections of ads, like on Steam. Additionally, sustained sales numbers get them ranked higher on game sales tracking, which in turn provides more publicity for sales.
Those new players probably won't maintain long-term subscriptions, just as current subscribers don't maintain long-term subscriptions. However, some players will resub later down the line based on new marketing.
Think of it this way: Very few people buy an MMO for the first time a year after it launched. However, plenty of people will resubscribe when a company puts out a huge marketing push that they've updated the content, added this or that, or are running a great promotion. Additionally, sometimes people who have already bought the game will buy new content packs just to run through them before unsubscribing again.
It makes perfect sense: front-load sales as much as possible, even if it pisses off the existing user base a bit. Then use clever marketing to sustain a trickle of subscribers that return in waves every 3 months. It's the new MMO sales strategy, and you see lots and lots of games doing it. MMO's just aren't profitable enough compared with blockbuster single player games to not try different tactics.
I figured their best hope of satisfying the hardcore would be to create compelling PvP. There is simply no way to create sufficient mission content fast enough to keep them satisfied.
Darkewolfe that sounds like a reasonable analysis.
That's marketing for you. I'm also wondering if Atari is playing a role in the box sale vs. Cryptic. I mean I'm curious on how the spilt works between retail sale and subscription. I would imagine Atari gets more of the retail pie and a smaller % of the subscription rate. While Cryptic gets more of the subscription rate to maintain the servers, development, etc.
Under that theory Atari may be trying to get out now with as much $$$ as they can carry. Seeing as how the game isn't really pulling WOW style numbers, which trust me as someone that works in marketing, they wanted to obtain some WOW-Lite numbers as a goal after launch.
With that said, I will likely let my sub run out in 5 days. I just can't see myself paying for what is there, too bad I lied on the survey :winky:
I have no idea, but I'd be willing to bet that it's more like record production. Cryptic doesn't get much money out of anything ever, they just get the development investment that Atari made, and then get to keep their jobs and occasionally bonus as things go on. Any profit whatsoever made probably belongs to the publisher, who fronted all the development money.
This makes no sense.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
What he's saying is thus: Cryptic, if wholly owned by Atari, is basically making a game based off of their investment, and as such, all profits go to Atari, who then pays Cryptic based upon their contract (which will be bonuses plus a share of the monthly fees). This is because all of the money they used to finance production (and thus the existence of the product at all) was given to them by Atari in the first place, and they are contractually obligated to repay them in this fashion, essentially letting them control the flow of any money generated by the sales/services.
Now, that may or may not be the case with Cryptic, I haven't looked it up, but such an arrangement is not uncommon.
And as a rule, business in general makes perfect sense on a certain level, and is completely insane on another.
And yes, I'm taking economics right now. :P
Quick questions though: the 240 store points for that subscriber survey, is that still going on? And if so, do Federation Klingons use a bat'leth, or the standard kung fu stuff?
Both. If you have no weapon equipped at all, you do kung fu, and battleths are the only melee weapon in the game atm that I'm aware of.
I really wouldn't recommend melee though, unless you are a buffer type sci captain, since they get a buff that raises melee damage by 50%.
The sale looks good on the surface, until you realize that 40$ is still a fair amount of money, and you can experience 100% of the content in about a week and a half maybe 2 weeks, making two months of free play time kind of unnecessary.
Whoever said it looks like they're way more interested in box sales, rather than subscriptions looks to be right so far.
The fact that Cryptic thinks doing both is some how a good idea baffles the hell out of me.
And if one good thing came out of the Vibora Bay nonsense, it's that they are WELL AWARE of what will happen if they try and sneak in paid content before the community feels it's time.
Damn, I know I sold at least 1 heart of targ early on heh...
Whoever in their company came up with that illusion should be shot ... seriously. They actually looked at the game and thought they'd be pulling in WoW-ish numbers? Really... those numerous shitstorms their PR fuckups caused on the forums didn't give them the slightest clue, that they are not even in the same galaxy as WoW?
That is not an attack directed at you Golf153
Cryptic probably understood this, but Atari might not have.
WoW is popular because it caters to casual players. STO can't do that as effectively because it's hamstrung by the Star Trek license.
Cryptic did not help matters by releasing a game about a month too soon (bug/polish-wise) and with a near-criminal lack of content. Essentially, they've given us a beautiful world with mostly fun mechanics, but very little to do in that world.
Two points:
1) Even if your week-and-a-half to two-week number is correct, that's still not a bad deal by gaming standards. Just to give a few well regarded examples: Mass Effect 1 takes about 8 hours to run through, and Batman Arkham Asylum can be finished in two weeks. I believe both originally retailed for $59.99. There are plenty of other games which are considered quite good with much shorter play times than STO.
2) The vast majority of players are going to get a hundred plus hours out of a complete play through STO's current content. It's only the elite, hardcore that can get through in a week to a week and a half. For example, I'm currently at Captain 4 and my played time is 3 days 21 hours and 50 minutes. My fleet has over 25 people. We have two players who hit Rear Admiral in the first week. Everyone else is taking much, much longer to get through the content. I'm second along with another player at 34. We've got one more Captain at 32. We've got a handful of Commanders. Everyone else is Lt Commander and below.
By single-player standards this is not at all a short game, it's only by MMO standards that it's low on content. So IMO $40 for two months of free play is an excellent deal.
Enlist in Star Citizen! Citizenship must be earned!
From the looks of things Atari does own Cryptic, since 2008, so I withdraw my theory as to Atari's plan to get more retail before the bottom drops. Now it just looks like they are not making their goals period, and are putting it on sale to generate more numbers.
I'd recommend going "Engineering Team" and "Emergency Power to Shields" for two of the choices.
The third choice depends on your play style. For defensive skills, consider getting "Reverse Shield Polarity". There's a lot of people that like "Auxiliary to Structural" which can put on a very high damage resistance, but for a rather short time (15 seconds IIRC). Aux to Structural also requires you to tweak your power level settings though -- maxing out Aux will have a huge impact on how well this skill works. If you group up, you could try "Extend Shields" -- I haven't heard too much about how effective it is.
For an offensive skill consider going with "Emergency Power to Weapons". This will boost your damage output 10-15%. I've heard Directed Energy Modulation is pretty useless, but have not tried it myself.
I haven't checked in a while, but at least a few years ago, Atari's financial health was not very good. They might be willing to cripple the game long term if it meant improving their current financial numbers short term.