I don't ever get upset or tired of seeing this response/question - be it here or over on reddit. It's a perfectly natural thing to ask that after 30 mins into a faction event - faction events are the only event you can use straight cash money to speed up and instantly increase your score. Every other event type requires some form of time, resources or effort.
It can also be disconcerting for some people new and old that, as time goes on, the window for finishing high in an event and getting that achievement grows smaller and smaller. As the game continues on, it's rare to get an opportunity where a shuttle event with no real interest pops up - that's as fine a chance as any to gun for it. Sadly, what you'll see, is that the top 50 is nearly unreachable in the end without spending *something*. I say nearly, because VIP0 has made it to the top 50 of a faction - more than once - but it requires 4 shuttles, amazing crew and all the boosts.
This has been a tremendous thread to read. I am very glad the O.P. asked the question with such wonder, because I believe there are many of us who are simply dumbstruck by such results. I am also thankful eXo | Frank took the time to give some very personal explanations; not justifications, explanations.
I do find this fascinating, because this shows precisely how a whale and a newer player like myself see this game completely differently. I see that the upcoming weekend event is a faction event and I just hang my head because I know before it starts I have no chance, whereas the advanced players like eXo | Frank see it as an opportunity for domination. Seeing here in the quoted section exactly what it takes to be great at a faction event gives all of us a glimpse into what we need to do to compete, and I cannot help but think how my views of faction events might change over time as I continue to grow, get better, and progress.
Why do I stay in a resort hotel when I could stay in a Motel 6, because both have beds and suit my immediate needs?
Why do I drive a premium luxury car, when a used domestic car still gets me from A to B?
Why, in Vegas, did I play $50 a pull slot machines vs. $0.25 a pull - when both give me the same odds of winning?
Because I can.
Some people have different valuations, budgets and overall outlooks on money than the next person. Doesn't make them wrong, guilty, or any less of a person than the next.
Fair enough, I mean yes, if I literally had money to burn, I would probably spend more in this game. But if you've been lucky enough in life to be successful and financially well-off, does it really matter if you see your name at the top of some leaderboard in a mediocre event that people will forget as soon as its over, in some random Star Trek game that very few people have heard of?
I mean, you'd think for this hypothetical version of myself, all of the achievements I had in life would be far more meaningful to me than any in the game.
Let’s also be clear about another thing. Luck had nothing to do with where I am in life. Nothing was ever handed to me
Nobody's attacking you, please try not to take this so personally. You volunteered all of this information yourself. I assure you, no one said you were lucky, or got something you didn't earn.
You know you’re right. Perhaps I was a little over reactive to that and I do apologize. I struggled with life but worked and worked and kept at it. It wasn’t until I was 38 that it paid off and I was given a chance to either climb the ladder or fall off of it. The very day I started the best position I ever had, my wife left. I was devastated yet I had to push through or I would fall off that ladder. I did push through and I climbed. So I’m sorry to have been snippy. The road was not laid out for me with rose petals so I take pride in where I am.
I apologize for stirring up any topics that bothered you. It's very good to be proud of your achievements, I personally wish I had more. At 34, my life still feels a bit like a "failure to launch." But perhaps it's time to consider ending this thread before we offend any more people?
We can see that it costs 297 DIL to speed up a normal 3 hr mission. 196 for a 1:30. 147 for 1:00. And 85 for 30 min.
So, that gives us the following:
21384 DIL spent if not using boosts
14112 DIL spent if using 3* time boosts
10584 DIL spent if using 4* time boosts
6120 DIL spent if using 5* time boosts
This, clearly, doesn't consider any DIL cost for acquiring said boosts.
EDIT: And, since someone suggested they were +Reward boosting, a 9hr mission costs 524 DIL to speed up, so that would take half as many missions (36) and would cost 18864 DIL. So, a 2500 DIL savings on unboosted shuttles, but 4700 more than 3* time boosts.
Before if possibly this thread closes, I'd like to give a bow to Peachtree Rex for his perfectly tuned mathematical brain waves and inescapable logic. You have my vote for the real life Spock.😉
I see no real reason to close this. I think we've steered the ship back toward civility. There is always room in this world for places that help us understand each other better, especially when we disagree.
Why do I stay in a resort hotel when I could stay in a Motel 6, because both have beds and suit my immediate needs?
Why do I drive a premium luxury car, when a used domestic car still gets me from A to B?
Why, in Vegas, did I play $50 a pull slot machines vs. $0.25 a pull - when both give me the same odds of winning?
Because I can.
Some people have different valuations, budgets and overall outlooks on money than the next person. Doesn't make them wrong, guilty, or any less of a person than the next.
Fair enough, I mean yes, if I literally had money to burn, I would probably spend more in this game. But if you've been lucky enough in life to be successful and financially well-off, does it really matter if you see your name at the top of some leaderboard in a mediocre event that people will forget as soon as its over, in some random Star Trek game that very few people have heard of?
I mean, you'd think for this hypothetical version of myself, all of the achievements I had in life would be far more meaningful to me than any in the game.
Let’s also be clear about another thing. Luck had nothing to do with where I am in life. Nothing was ever handed to me
Nobody's attacking you, please try not to take this so personally. You volunteered all of this information yourself. I assure you, no one said you were lucky, or got something you didn't earn.
You know you’re right. Perhaps I was a little over reactive to that and I do apologize. I struggled with life but worked and worked and kept at it. It wasn’t until I was 38 that it paid off and I was given a chance to either climb the ladder or fall off of it. The very day I started the best position I ever had, my wife left. I was devastated yet I had to push through or I would fall off that ladder. I did push through and I climbed. So I’m sorry to have been snippy. The road was not laid out for me with rose petals so I take pride in where I am.
I apologize for stirring up any topics that bothered you. It's very good to be proud of your achievements, I personally wish I had more. At 34, my life still feels a bit like a "failure to launch." But perhaps it's time to consider ending this thread before we offend any more people?
I was 38 before I had something I could even consider a career. You’re still ahead of me. Current age 44.
Hi, I'm SilverRose. You may remember me as the person who lit my money on fire in order to net 7 million VP in the last shuttle event.
Before starting that event, I had Georgiou maxed. But, I decided to gun for the lead anyway, battling it out, to the nubby fingers and empty wallets, with Scooby, who is currently in the lead in this event.
Why?
Without sounding like a cronut hole, although I probably will, it was really because I could and it presented a new challenge. I hadn't gunned for first in an event in well over a year, and it was fun to do something different in this game for a change.
Frankly, there is a different game being played if you're competing for the top 5 in any event. You know the psychological warfare that is played with turning in rares on galaxy events where you're balancing how much to turn in vs keep and wondering what everyone else around you is holding? It's kind of fun, isn't it? Basically, you can do the same thing with shuttle speed ups in a faction event. There's budgeting of time, money, other resources (like boosts). And then constantly mathing how much the guy behind you might have and how best to position yourself to not be overtaken.
Do you put up an insurmountable lead so everyone has to calculate the opportunity cost of overtaking you (like what I did last event and Scooby's doing now)? Or, do you sneak up from behind when someone logs off and overtake them, forcing them to play catch up?
Despite being billed as a strategy game at times, there is very little strategy in STT aside from who to airlock as your slots fill up. Events provide one of the only ways to get that little bit of chess in.
Plus... we laugh about blowing that kind of money for glory, but it is nice to see your name up in those big, shiny lights. Y'all may laugh or scoff, but I'm really happy with my STT Super Bowl Ring.
Hi, I'm SilverRose. You may remember me as the person who lit my money on fire in order to net 7 million VP in the last shuttle event.
Before starting that event, I had Georgiou maxed. But, I decided to gun for the lead anyway, battling it out, to the nubby fingers and empty wallets, with Scooby, who is currently in the lead in this event.
Why?
Without sounding like a cronut hole, although I probably will, it was really because I could and it presented a new challenge. I hadn't gunned for first in an event in well over a year, and it was fun to do something different in this game for a change.
Frankly, there is a different game being played if you're competing for the top 5 in any event. You know the psychological warfare that is played with turning in rares on galaxy events where you're balancing how much to turn in vs keep and wondering what everyone else around you is holding? It's kind of fun, isn't it? Basically, you can do the same thing with shuttle speed ups in a faction event. There's budgeting of time, money, other resources (like boosts). And then constantly mathing how much the guy behind you might have and how best to position yourself to not be overtaken.
Do you put up an insurmountable lead so everyone has to calculate the opportunity cost of overtaking you (like what I did last event and Scooby's doing now)? Or, do you sneak up from behind when someone logs off and overtake them, forcing them to play catch up?
Despite being billed as a strategy game at times, there is very little strategy in STT aside from who to airlock as your slots fill up. Events provide one of the only ways to get that little bit of chess in.
Plus... we laugh about blowing that kind of money for glory, but it is nice to see your name up in those big, shiny lights. Y'all may laugh or scoff, but I'm really happy with my STT Super Bowl Ring.
When I was gunning for first in the Kira galaxy event my strategy was to create such a lead it would demoralize others and get them to give up early. It worked on all but one person, who did finish first to my second. I still say that’s a solid strategy. I just chose to do it on the wrong event. If it were any other one I would’ve taken the gold.
Really, I don't see much difference between this or building a hot-rod or model or some other labor-intensive or time-intensive pastime. A lot of people would view it as a "waste" of money or time or whatever, but to the person doing it, the pride of setting a goal and following through with it is, I would think, more than enough to be worth it.
But in all seriousness, I enjoy this thread because it gives multiple views on the Events.
I am personally waiting for just the right event to open my wallet and go for the gold. In the mean time, we have fleet fun poking at the ridiculousness, but I still think it is worth pursuing at least once.
Hi, I'm SilverRose. You may remember me as the person who lit my money on fire in order to net 7 million VP in the last shuttle event.
Before starting that event, I had Georgiou maxed. But, I decided to gun for the lead anyway, battling it out, to the nubby fingers and empty wallets, with Scooby, who is currently in the lead in this event.
Why?
Without sounding like a cronut hole, although I probably will, it was really because I could and it presented a new challenge. I hadn't gunned for first in an event in well over a year, and it was fun to do something different in this game for a change.
Frankly, there is a different game being played if you're competing for the top 5 in any event. You know the psychological warfare that is played with turning in rares on galaxy events where you're balancing how much to turn in vs keep and wondering what everyone else around you is holding? It's kind of fun, isn't it? Basically, you can do the same thing with shuttle speed ups in a faction event. There's budgeting of time, money, other resources (like boosts). And then constantly mathing how much the guy behind you might have and how best to position yourself to not be overtaken.
Do you put up an insurmountable lead so everyone has to calculate the opportunity cost of overtaking you (like what I did last event and Scooby's doing now)? Or, do you sneak up from behind when someone logs off and overtake them, forcing them to play catch up?
Despite being billed as a strategy game at times, there is very little strategy in STT aside from who to airlock as your slots fill up. Events provide one of the only ways to get that little bit of chess in.
Plus... we laugh about blowing that kind of money for glory, but it is nice to see your name up in those big, shiny lights. Y'all may laugh or scoff, but I'm really happy with my STT Super Bowl Ring.
It's fun competing for top 25 too though I had to give up that quest for another day when I have more chrons stored up. It is fun to go all out and see how well you can do regardless of what position you are going for or end up at. Whales do make it harder to get high lvls but they also pay for this game and keep it going and getting better. So if the whales get my top 25 spot I will just try harder the next time and be glad the game continues. Congrats SilverRose on your victory. Well deserved.
When I see people spending thousands of dollars to get the top spot, I inevitably think of the high numbers of homeless people in my state. 40,000 last count. This makes me very sad.
I know we've all been taught to be single-minded individuals in a competitive society, and that we are worth every cent that we own, and that we deserve every cent that we own, but capitalism in an aggressive, me first - me only - system, that pits everyone against everyone else. Inevitably there must be losers.
I think that The Federation - the Star Trek Federation - teaches us, in some respects, that there is a better way. A way without money, and personal wealth, where community and working together is more important than individual achievements and personal glory.
This isn't a personal dig at anyone. I just want people to think a bit. We all get caught up in society's rules, we are encouraged to follow them and often rewarded for doing so - or more likely, punished for not doing so.
But, at the end of the day, are those rules the right rules? Could they be improved? Could we do better?
I personally think so. I'm only one woman, and I might be wrong. But I'd just like people to step outside the discourse, outside of the system (at least in our heads) and think for one moment about the poor and disadvantaged, and how we might be able to help them and the people of the future.
We don't want to be herding them into big communities in large, poverty stricken zones like they did in the Bell's Riots episodes, simply because we just carried on doing our thing because we didn't know what to do about it.
When I posed the question I was trying to understand if to get to that position it was
1. technique
2. technique plus some £££
3. technique plus a lot of £££
4. just £££
I think the answer is somewhere between 3 and 4 - maybe closer to 3
Also interesting to consider Silverrose's response about the mindset of players. I can see how the elite consider this almost like poker - where I've heard that you play the person rather than the just the cards .
Perhaps there is a large difference between the top 100 or so and the rest of the players. Now that I'm approaching middle age (50+) I just have other priorities to spend on and tbh I was never a fan of spending on "virtual stuff" anyway.
This game gets a lot of flak (some of it deserved) but what I think it is quite good at is keeping the distance between the big spenders and the FTP crowd reasonably close.
I mean yes, there are plenty of ways to spend our money. I personally waste a lot on food - I eat out way too often. I don't know if any of you have seen me do this on here, but I frequently "explain" that my expenditures in this game have to reflect what I "would" have spent on food that day, but am instead choosing to spend in here. But that's only because I've never really gambled.
And then I think about today's offer, the $24.99 for 5 super rare citations. I could spend $25 just to fuse some characters and then do what, put them in cryo? Get them out of my roster, free up a little space, be rid of them? I paid money just to have a single copy of these people. And even now, my biggest issue in the game is the all-immortalized beholds and all-honor pack results. So why would I pay money to make that problem even worse? The only reason I still play is to keep collecting, to spread out my enjoyment over months instead of one day.
I guess what I'm getting at is, when you spend a ton of money and meet all the milestones right away, then what? What drives you?
I mean yes, there are plenty of ways to spend our money. I personally waste a lot on food - I eat out way too often. I don't know if any of you have seen me do this on here, but I frequently "explain" that my expenditures in this game have to reflect what I "would" have spent on food that day, but am instead choosing to spend in here. But that's only because I've never really gambled.
And then I think about today's offer, the $24.99 for 5 super rare citations. I could spend $25 just to fuse some characters and then do what, put them in cryo? Get them out of my roster, free up a little space, be rid of them? I paid money just to have a single copy of these people. And even now, my biggest issue in the game is the all-immortalized beholds and all-honor pack results. So why would I pay money to make that problem even worse? The only reason I still play is to keep collecting, to spread out my enjoyment over months instead of one day.
I guess what I'm getting at is, when you spend a ton of money and meet all the milestones right away, then what? What drives you?
That is a darn good question. In another thread I stated that I have all the crew I want immortalized. At this point the only real thing I have to look forward to is events. The art on this one swung and missed so I’m just playing this one slow and steady with no sense of urgency which is also kinda boring. All I really do now is collect the resources and save them for event runs but even then, if the event crew doesn’t excite me I just continue to collect and save
Yes ... but, the next question then is ... there are currently only 2 players who could be that person with the most likely being [RR] WAR DOG ... why change your screen name? Who cares about that?
Wonder if that person's thinking was to jump out fast to discourage othera from trting and thereby invest less overall than he or she would trying to win from a more conventional start?
When I see people spending thousands of dollars to get the top spot, I inevitably think of the high numbers of homeless people in my state. 40,000 last count. This makes me very sad.
I know we've all been taught to be single-minded individuals in a competitive society, and that we are worth every cent that we own, and that we deserve every cent that we own, but capitalism in an aggressive, me first - me only - system, that pits everyone against everyone else. Inevitably there must be losers.
I think that The Federation - the Star Trek Federation - teaches us, in some respects, that there is a better way. A way without money, and personal wealth, where community and working together is more important than individual achievements and personal glory.
This isn't a personal dig at anyone. I just want people to think a bit. We all get caught up in society's rules, we are encouraged to follow them and often rewarded for doing so - or more likely, punished for not doing so.
But, at the end of the day, are those rules the right rules? Could they be improved? Could we do better?
I personally think so. I'm only one woman, and I might be wrong. But I'd just like people to step outside the discourse, outside of the system (at least in our heads) and think for one moment about the poor and disadvantaged, and how we might be able to help them and the people of the future.
We don't want to be herding them into big communities in large, poverty stricken zones like they did in the Bell's Riots episodes, simply because we just carried on doing our thing because we didn't know what to do about it.
I completely agree with you, the very concept of money has always made me cringe as it usually leads to greed.
That being said, I know a lot of wealthy people (not just rich) are doing a lot to help society in their philanthropy. I also have to acknowledge the fact that what they want to do for fun with their dough doesn't mean anything to me either way, as long as they are having a clean enjoyable fun. If they want to dominate a game such as this, why not let them, as it feeds the rest of the group with keeping it alive.
When I see people spending thousands of dollars to get the top spot, I inevitably think of the high numbers of homeless people in my state. 40,000 last count. This makes me very sad.
I know we've all been taught to be single-minded individuals in a competitive society, and that we are worth every cent that we own, and that we deserve every cent that we own, but capitalism in an aggressive, me first - me only - system, that pits everyone against everyone else. Inevitably there must be losers.
I think that The Federation - the Star Trek Federation - teaches us, in some respects, that there is a better way. A way without money, and personal wealth, where community and working together is more important than individual achievements and personal glory.
This isn't a personal dig at anyone. I just want people to think a bit. We all get caught up in society's rules, we are encouraged to follow them and often rewarded for doing so - or more likely, punished for not doing so.
But, at the end of the day, are those rules the right rules? Could they be improved? Could we do better?
I personally think so. I'm only one woman, and I might be wrong. But I'd just like people to step outside the discourse, outside of the system (at least in our heads) and think for one moment about the poor and disadvantaged, and how we might be able to help them and the people of the future.
We don't want to be herding them into big communities in large, poverty stricken zones like they did in the Bell's Riots episodes, simply because we just carried on doing our thing because we didn't know what to do about it.
Capitalism has the potential to be wonderful or horrible. It requires our social awareness and compassion to be as well-developed as greed and profit motives. When those things are out of balance, people can suffer. But when it is done right, capitalist societies have greater economic freedom, less poverty, less disease, more political freedom, and more happiness.
There is only suffering in a truly socialist system. When greedy people have more than just a business to grant them power, when they have police and armies and control of the media...that’s when people die. I have spent many years thinking about what Gene Roddenberry’s utoptian vision of the future would really look like for the average person rather than the powerful and well-respected government and military officials the shows focus on...and without a drastic and fundamental shift in human psychology, it could never work as advertised. There would be a long string of Admiral Leightons running the Federation as a military dictatorship, with travel, communications, and anything more than the barest of necessities restricted to an oligarchy of the powerful and well-connected.
See also: Soviet Union, other eastern bloc nations from 1945-1990, China, Venezuela, Cuba, et. al. Further reading: How We Survived Communism & Even Laughed by Slavenka Drakulić, anything by Yakov Smirnoff before 1992, Animal Farm by George Orwell, Life is War: Surviving Dictatorship in Communist Albania by Shannon Woodcock, Surviving Communism in Ukraine: 1917 to 1941 by Olena Zvychaina and Mykhailo Mlakovyi, Venezuela Before Chavez edited by Ricardo Hausmann and Francisco R. Rodriguez, Mao’s Great Famine by Frank Dikötter, and more.
For what it's worth, I donate more money to charity every year than I spend on this game. It isn't some mutually exclusive proposition, and everyone has their own choices / priorities when it comes to where and how they spend. I'm not going to look back in five years and regret the time or money because the friendships that I've made and the chance to maybe be someone's next ex-wife outweighs that for me.
Part of the Star Trek philosophy is also IDIC. I play this game in 3 very different planes -- eXo, VIP0, and monthly card/minimal spend -- and each is enjoyable and a separate challenge. There's nothing wrong with any or all of them. It takes all three to keep the property afloat.
When I see people spending thousands of dollars to get the top spot, I inevitably think of the high numbers of homeless people in my state. 40,000 last count. This makes me very sad.
I know we've all been taught to be single-minded individuals in a competitive society, and that we are worth every cent that we own, and that we deserve every cent that we own, but capitalism in an aggressive, me first - me only - system, that pits everyone against everyone else. Inevitably there must be losers.
I think that The Federation - the Star Trek Federation - teaches us, in some respects, that there is a better way. A way without money, and personal wealth, where community and working together is more important than individual achievements and personal glory.
This isn't a personal dig at anyone. I just want people to think a bit. We all get caught up in society's rules, we are encouraged to follow them and often rewarded for doing so - or more likely, punished for not doing so.
But, at the end of the day, are those rules the right rules? Could they be improved? Could we do better?
I personally think so. I'm only one woman, and I might be wrong. But I'd just like people to step outside the discourse, outside of the system (at least in our heads) and think for one moment about the poor and disadvantaged, and how we might be able to help them and the people of the future.
We don't want to be herding them into big communities in large, poverty stricken zones like they did in the Bell's Riots episodes, simply because we just carried on doing our thing because we didn't know what to do about it.
Something I've learned in my life journey and enhanced by playing global games like this one, is that some of the folks that spend a great deal on entertainment are also some of the most generous.
I think we sometimes box folks up in thinking that the folks that spend here are only self-spending in all other aspects of their lives.
When I was playing an RTS back in the day, I had alliance mates donate significant amounts to the animal shelter I volunteered at, well, simply because they could and because of the connection.. and that was not an isolated incident. I've had alliance mates in another game sponsor me in charity bike rides for cancer research.
I tend to not mention as much to my current fleet, as there's a lot of F2P and I don't think we have any real whales just occasional spenders, about the other opportunities to give that I see, but maybe I'll change that.
Having seen the truly good hearts displayed by some of the heavy spenders here, and having benefitted from their kindness in non-material ways, I don't doubt that there are things we don't see and giving that we don't to help some folks somewhere. Lol, it does help that there are tax breaks for giving to non-profits as well in the US and I believe at least a few other countries.
That being said, if you aren't giving back to your communities, and you have the spare scratch, I implore you to do so even if only in a minor way.
Have fun! And of course be excellent to each other right? (Movie #3 was green lit... )
I don't ever get upset or tired of seeing this response/question - be it here or over on reddit. It's a perfectly natural thing to ask that after 30 mins into a faction event - faction events are the only event you can use straight cash money to speed up and instantly increase your score. Every other event type requires some form of time, resources or effort.
It can also be disconcerting for some people new and old that, as time goes on, the window for finishing high in an event and getting that achievement grows smaller and smaller. As the game continues on, it's rare to get an opportunity where a shuttle event with no real interest pops up - that's as fine a chance as any to gun for it. Sadly, what you'll see, is that the top 50 is nearly unreachable in the end without spending *something*. I say nearly, because VIP0 has made it to the top 50 of a faction - more than once - but it requires 4 shuttles, amazing crew and all the boosts.
This has been a tremendous thread to read. I am very glad the O.P. asked the question with such wonder, because I believe there are many of us who are simply dumbstruck by such results. I am also thankful eXo | Frank took the time to give some very personal explanations; not justifications, explanations.
I do find this fascinating, because this shows precisely how a whale and a newer player like myself see this game completely differently. I see that the upcoming weekend event is a faction event and I just hang my head because I know before it starts I have no chance, whereas the advanced players like eXo | Frank see it as an opportunity for domination. Seeing here in the quoted section exactly what it takes to be great at a faction event gives all of us a glimpse into what we need to do to compete, and I cannot help but think how my views of faction events might change over time as I continue to grow, get better, and progress.
I think you hit something on the head here, not sure how much you realize it.
When I first started I was performing abysmally in events.
I'm coming up on two years in and well, I can hit top 1000 most events without dropping DIL. I have spent some in the past but not extensively.
If you're not dropping a ton of cash, your event performance, particularly on faction events is directly proportional to how long you've been playing and how you've used the resources (paid and/or free) that you've gotten.
That and frankly, I personally decided that fighting for #1 to really not be in my wheel house. Top 1000 is good for me. I can get the premium character, just may not max that particular one. Some of my favorites I have thanks to the feature they added on dismissals (honor), but I'm mostly content to not have em all maxed.
Really the only issue I tend to have is crew slots if I don't freeze up enough purples.
I really think they should just let you buy enough slots to hold all the crew. Even monthly card folks can save up for slots if they want.
For what it's worth, I donate more money to charity every year than I spend on this game. It isn't some mutually exclusive proposition, and everyone has their own choices / priorities when it comes to where and how they spend. I'm not going to look back in five years and regret the time or money because the friendships that I've made and the chance to maybe be someone's next ex-wife outweighs that for me.
Part of the Star Trek philosophy is also IDIC. I play this game in 3 very different planes -- eXo, VIP0, and monthly card/minimal spend -- and each is enjoyable and a separate challenge. There's nothing wrong with any or all of them. It takes all three to keep the property afloat.
Comments
This has been a tremendous thread to read. I am very glad the O.P. asked the question with such wonder, because I believe there are many of us who are simply dumbstruck by such results. I am also thankful eXo | Frank took the time to give some very personal explanations; not justifications, explanations.
I do find this fascinating, because this shows precisely how a whale and a newer player like myself see this game completely differently. I see that the upcoming weekend event is a faction event and I just hang my head because I know before it starts I have no chance, whereas the advanced players like eXo | Frank see it as an opportunity for domination. Seeing here in the quoted section exactly what it takes to be great at a faction event gives all of us a glimpse into what we need to do to compete, and I cannot help but think how my views of faction events might change over time as I continue to grow, get better, and progress.
I apologize for stirring up any topics that bothered you. It's very good to be proud of your achievements, I personally wish I had more. At 34, my life still feels a bit like a "failure to launch." But perhaps it's time to consider ending this thread before we offend any more people?
Before if possibly this thread closes, I'd like to give a bow to Peachtree Rex for his perfectly tuned mathematical brain waves and inescapable logic. You have my vote for the real life Spock.😉
I was 38 before I had something I could even consider a career. You’re still ahead of me. Current age 44.
3 Garaks
1 Ross
Event crew variants are slim. Adding dupes gives you a stronger bonus crew against those other players with one or none of these.
I dont judge whalish activity because I didnt earn the money they are spending. They did.
Before starting that event, I had Georgiou maxed. But, I decided to gun for the lead anyway, battling it out, to the nubby fingers and empty wallets, with Scooby, who is currently in the lead in this event.
Why?
Without sounding like a cronut hole, although I probably will, it was really because I could and it presented a new challenge. I hadn't gunned for first in an event in well over a year, and it was fun to do something different in this game for a change.
Frankly, there is a different game being played if you're competing for the top 5 in any event. You know the psychological warfare that is played with turning in rares on galaxy events where you're balancing how much to turn in vs keep and wondering what everyone else around you is holding? It's kind of fun, isn't it? Basically, you can do the same thing with shuttle speed ups in a faction event. There's budgeting of time, money, other resources (like boosts). And then constantly mathing how much the guy behind you might have and how best to position yourself to not be overtaken.
Do you put up an insurmountable lead so everyone has to calculate the opportunity cost of overtaking you (like what I did last event and Scooby's doing now)? Or, do you sneak up from behind when someone logs off and overtake them, forcing them to play catch up?
Despite being billed as a strategy game at times, there is very little strategy in STT aside from who to airlock as your slots fill up. Events provide one of the only ways to get that little bit of chess in.
Plus... we laugh about blowing that kind of money for glory, but it is nice to see your name up in those big, shiny lights. Y'all may laugh or scoff, but I'm really happy with my STT Super Bowl Ring.
Proud Former Officer of The Gluten Empire
Retired 12-14-20. So long, and thanks for all the cat pics!
When I was gunning for first in the Kira galaxy event my strategy was to create such a lead it would demoralize others and get them to give up early. It worked on all but one person, who did finish first to my second. I still say that’s a solid strategy. I just chose to do it on the wrong event. If it were any other one I would’ve taken the gold.
Now we know @GhostStalker is from Jersey. LOL
I am personally waiting for just the right event to open my wallet and go for the gold. In the mean time, we have fleet fun poking at the ridiculousness, but I still think it is worth pursuing at least once.
It's fun competing for top 25 too though I had to give up that quest for another day when I have more chrons stored up. It is fun to go all out and see how well you can do regardless of what position you are going for or end up at. Whales do make it harder to get high lvls but they also pay for this game and keep it going and getting better. So if the whales get my top 25 spot I will just try harder the next time and be glad the game continues. Congrats SilverRose on your victory. Well deserved.
When I see people spending thousands of dollars to get the top spot, I inevitably think of the high numbers of homeless people in my state. 40,000 last count. This makes me very sad.
I know we've all been taught to be single-minded individuals in a competitive society, and that we are worth every cent that we own, and that we deserve every cent that we own, but capitalism in an aggressive, me first - me only - system, that pits everyone against everyone else. Inevitably there must be losers.
I think that The Federation - the Star Trek Federation - teaches us, in some respects, that there is a better way. A way without money, and personal wealth, where community and working together is more important than individual achievements and personal glory.
This isn't a personal dig at anyone. I just want people to think a bit. We all get caught up in society's rules, we are encouraged to follow them and often rewarded for doing so - or more likely, punished for not doing so.
But, at the end of the day, are those rules the right rules? Could they be improved? Could we do better?
I personally think so. I'm only one woman, and I might be wrong. But I'd just like people to step outside the discourse, outside of the system (at least in our heads) and think for one moment about the poor and disadvantaged, and how we might be able to help them and the people of the future.
We don't want to be herding them into big communities in large, poverty stricken zones like they did in the Bell's Riots episodes, simply because we just carried on doing our thing because we didn't know what to do about it.
Check out our website to find out more:
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When I posed the question I was trying to understand if to get to that position it was
1. technique
2. technique plus some £££
3. technique plus a lot of £££
4. just £££
I think the answer is somewhere between 3 and 4 - maybe closer to 3
Also interesting to consider Silverrose's response about the mindset of players. I can see how the elite consider this almost like poker - where I've heard that you play the person rather than the just the cards .
Perhaps there is a large difference between the top 100 or so and the rest of the players. Now that I'm approaching middle age (50+) I just have other priorities to spend on and tbh I was never a fan of spending on "virtual stuff" anyway.
This game gets a lot of flak (some of it deserved) but what I think it is quite good at is keeping the distance between the big spenders and the FTP crowd reasonably close.
When he's in my fleet, the point is FUN, for me as a close spectator anyway.
And then I think about today's offer, the $24.99 for 5 super rare citations. I could spend $25 just to fuse some characters and then do what, put them in cryo? Get them out of my roster, free up a little space, be rid of them? I paid money just to have a single copy of these people. And even now, my biggest issue in the game is the all-immortalized beholds and all-honor pack results. So why would I pay money to make that problem even worse? The only reason I still play is to keep collecting, to spread out my enjoyment over months instead of one day.
I guess what I'm getting at is, when you spend a ton of money and meet all the milestones right away, then what? What drives you?
That is a darn good question. In another thread I stated that I have all the crew I want immortalized. At this point the only real thing I have to look forward to is events. The art on this one swung and missed so I’m just playing this one slow and steady with no sense of urgency which is also kinda boring. All I really do now is collect the resources and save them for event runs but even then, if the event crew doesn’t excite me I just continue to collect and save
I completely agree with you, the very concept of money has always made me cringe as it usually leads to greed.
That being said, I know a lot of wealthy people (not just rich) are doing a lot to help society in their philanthropy. I also have to acknowledge the fact that what they want to do for fun with their dough doesn't mean anything to me either way, as long as they are having a clean enjoyable fun. If they want to dominate a game such as this, why not let them, as it feeds the rest of the group with keeping it alive.
Capitalism has the potential to be wonderful or horrible. It requires our social awareness and compassion to be as well-developed as greed and profit motives. When those things are out of balance, people can suffer. But when it is done right, capitalist societies have greater economic freedom, less poverty, less disease, more political freedom, and more happiness.
There is only suffering in a truly socialist system. When greedy people have more than just a business to grant them power, when they have police and armies and control of the media...that’s when people die. I have spent many years thinking about what Gene Roddenberry’s utoptian vision of the future would really look like for the average person rather than the powerful and well-respected government and military officials the shows focus on...and without a drastic and fundamental shift in human psychology, it could never work as advertised. There would be a long string of Admiral Leightons running the Federation as a military dictatorship, with travel, communications, and anything more than the barest of necessities restricted to an oligarchy of the powerful and well-connected.
See also: Soviet Union, other eastern bloc nations from 1945-1990, China, Venezuela, Cuba, et. al. Further reading: How We Survived Communism & Even Laughed by Slavenka Drakulić, anything by Yakov Smirnoff before 1992, Animal Farm by George Orwell, Life is War: Surviving Dictatorship in Communist Albania by Shannon Woodcock, Surviving Communism in Ukraine: 1917 to 1941 by Olena Zvychaina and Mykhailo Mlakovyi, Venezuela Before Chavez edited by Ricardo Hausmann and Francisco R. Rodriguez, Mao’s Great Famine by Frank Dikötter, and more.
Part of the Star Trek philosophy is also IDIC. I play this game in 3 very different planes -- eXo, VIP0, and monthly card/minimal spend -- and each is enjoyable and a separate challenge. There's nothing wrong with any or all of them. It takes all three to keep the property afloat.
Proud Former Officer of The Gluten Empire
Retired 12-14-20. So long, and thanks for all the cat pics!
Something I've learned in my life journey and enhanced by playing global games like this one, is that some of the folks that spend a great deal on entertainment are also some of the most generous.
I think we sometimes box folks up in thinking that the folks that spend here are only self-spending in all other aspects of their lives.
When I was playing an RTS back in the day, I had alliance mates donate significant amounts to the animal shelter I volunteered at, well, simply because they could and because of the connection.. and that was not an isolated incident. I've had alliance mates in another game sponsor me in charity bike rides for cancer research.
I tend to not mention as much to my current fleet, as there's a lot of F2P and I don't think we have any real whales just occasional spenders, about the other opportunities to give that I see, but maybe I'll change that.
Having seen the truly good hearts displayed by some of the heavy spenders here, and having benefitted from their kindness in non-material ways, I don't doubt that there are things we don't see and giving that we don't to help some folks somewhere. Lol, it does help that there are tax breaks for giving to non-profits as well in the US and I believe at least a few other countries.
That being said, if you aren't giving back to your communities, and you have the spare scratch, I implore you to do so even if only in a minor way.
Have fun! And of course be excellent to each other right? (Movie #3 was green lit... )
I think you hit something on the head here, not sure how much you realize it.
When I first started I was performing abysmally in events.
I'm coming up on two years in and well, I can hit top 1000 most events without dropping DIL. I have spent some in the past but not extensively.
If you're not dropping a ton of cash, your event performance, particularly on faction events is directly proportional to how long you've been playing and how you've used the resources (paid and/or free) that you've gotten.
That and frankly, I personally decided that fighting for #1 to really not be in my wheel house. Top 1000 is good for me. I can get the premium character, just may not max that particular one. Some of my favorites I have thanks to the feature they added on dismissals (honor), but I'm mostly content to not have em all maxed.
Really the only issue I tend to have is crew slots if I don't freeze up enough purples.
I really think they should just let you buy enough slots to hold all the crew. Even monthly card folks can save up for slots if they want.
Is @eXo | Frank not eating his carrots?
Well said.