Am I outta line?

[Agathon55]

Just came across some upset people who spent real money on the currency to buy new ships and are pissed off that the real money has been wasted as they cannot use it on new ships.

That's a really crappy situation for those individuals involved but I can't help but think that was a risk they chose to take. When the 5th anniversary came around (my first event), I asked around whether the same currency would be used next year. There wasn't a resounding yes. It was always "if they continue the trend...". That, to me, meant that Cryptic could change their minds at any time. I certainly wouldn't have spent money on an uncertainty.

Without Cryptic publicly announcing that the current currency was going to be used for the next event, spending real money on it was their risk to take. Now if they had announced it and then went back on their word, that would be cause for riot, and possibly a lawsuit.

Still, Cryptic really needs better PR skills. They could have used this as a transition year, allow players to use their saved pearls towards this year's ship for the last time but make clear that moving forward, event currencies would be exclusive to the event. The problem with that is that their metrics would have taken a nosedive - those with saved up pearls would have zero reason to participate.

It'd be interesting to know the % of the player base that actually participates for the full 30 days.

[Husker]

So let me see if i understand this... You log in on one toon, grind all the pearls (or whatever) for the ship, then all alts require a single login. What's wrong with that???

So you can't use the pearls from the year before, so what. What else would you be doing in game??? Ah yeah, grinding.

I don't see the difference. You either grind for the ship or grind for dil/marks and you still have something to spend your pearls on.

What would happen if there was something in that store that everyone wants??? Nobody would care that the currency has changed, they just want that new item.

[seraph]

Brother husker welcome to the order I have your monk robe here and we begin the chanting at 3 am...no matter the time zone just awake at 3 am and begin the hymns..

[Sorotia]

I'm kinda upset about the changes...but mostly because it kinda dashes my hopes for a T6 Risian Science ship

Probably be a T6 Corvette with a Pilot hybrid station now...

[Allegiance86]

I get why theyre doing it. But this is just another thinly veiled 'you cheaters' sort of thing without outright calling people cheaters.

Its another example of a game mechanic they knowingly put in place and then when players use it to their best interests. Cryptic has to step in and change it. Cause their metrics arent looking all that pretty.

If Cryptic would provide content that is replayable, doesnt feel grindy and expects the player to do it for 2+ weeks day in and day out. Then they wouldnt need to manipulate the gameplay and the reward system to pad their metrics.

This isnt about making things right. Theyve allowed this to go on for years. But it seems over the last year PWE has come down hard on Cryptic about their metrics. And now we the players are paying the price. At some point. Push comes to shove. The playerbase is going to have enough of this nonsense and slowly but surely theyre going to bleed themselves out of players to pad those metrics.

[adastra1930]

I personally think the controversy is much ado about nothing. I don't hold my special thingies over to the next event because I can't be bothered to wait and I don't want them clogging up my precious bank space But I totally understand why people are upset if they were banking on being able to use what they'd stored up, even if that was the risk they took for themselves.

The thing I don't get it why everyone seems to be upset that they can't get that special ship that was in last year's event. I'm a newbie (ish, now) player and I wasn't here for the last summer event, and I couldn't care less that I don't have last year's ship. I wasn't here, why should I? I think, and it seems the devs agree with me, that you should only be able to get the special ships if you participated in the special event. Otherwise, get yourself a "normal" ship! If everyone could have the old ships, then the game would stagnate, no one would have any impetus to try new things, and we'd all be worse off.

And finally, since this year's special events were my first, I did feel kind of crap that people were out flying (for instance) the Breen carrier on day 1, when I had to wait for it I felt really disadvantaged. Although I do think that Cryptic/PWE ought to give some free ones to "partners" who broadcast on YT/Twitch so that players can see them in action and make the decision on how bad they want them.

[Mike]

Ah people cry about the grind they have to do now, and say they won't go for the ship.
But 99.9% of those will go for the ship anyway...

[Prototype_No.98]

Arnt Cryptic kind of contradicting themselves? Because in order for people to get a ship with less playtime, people would have had to grind extra from the previous year... Or in my case, grind half way through one year and then decided that the ship isnt worth grinding for or it turns out its completely rubbish, so I save what I have grinned for next year in the hopes that a better ship comes out [1], its not my fault that they give us a crap ship.

Other than that, I cant see the reasoning behind their logic when they are saying that playtime has reduced...
They have obviously shot themselves in the foot by having a ship unlocked account wide, they gave us the opportunity to grind on our mains and merely collecting the ship for our alts [1], rather than grinding on all our toons, and once again they are blaming us for something as a result of their own doing, as if we are cheating the system.

I really dont like the fact that Cryptic have offered us something and then stated that we are not playing EXACTLY the way they want us to play, and then making changes to enforce that we do, just so it makes their numbers look good.
It reminds me so much of the TV show "Bridezillas"...



[1] Which was obviously the case for me and the last 3 winter events, I didnt like any of the Breen ships until they released the Carrier and then updated the Raider, this gave me the opportunity to grind for the carrier on toon and the raider on another, which meant I was able to get both the carrier and the raider for all my toons at the same time.

[Agathon55]

Because of the alt discount, you can earn the full amount needed for the next event, and still get the current ship on your alt.

My understanding is that their metrics have indicated that participation has fallen. That means people who have saved up the currency have gotten the ship on day 1 (or however early) and then they're done. Sure there are players who continue to grind for the rest of the event (no doubt for currency to buy the next ship on day 1), but their metrics suggest that the majority of players aren't doing that. If everyone who saved up got the ship and then continued to participate throughout the event, I doubt Cryptic would have seen it as a problem.

The purpose of the discount was so that players could get event ships on their alts without having to grind the event on multiple toons. It had the unintended effect of allowing players to save up currency so they don't have to grind during a future event. That actively messes with their metrics and now they're fixing that.

[Husker]

They should have seen that coming.