How much will new offers increase pay-to-win on Faction events?
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in The Bridge
Special offers available in the portal today:
I'm sure these are going to make first place more expensive, but I'm really curious to see to what degree they make top-1000 more difficult to attain.
I don't feel like they're a good investment, and as a result my suspicion is that I'm no longer going to be able to place top-1000 whenever I wish in the faction events; I'll have to pick and choose.
I'm not really complaining - I don't begrudge DB their money - but if I'm right a lot of players will change their strategies.
- For $33.99 CAD - 10 shuttle rentals, 25 varied time boost cards, 500 dilithium (max. 1 purchase)
- For $12.99 CAD - 15 shuttle rentals, 15 varied 9-hour reward boost cards (max. 5 purchases)
- For $12.99 CAD - 10 shuttle rentals, 10 3-hour reward boost cards (max. 5 purchases)
I'm sure these are going to make first place more expensive, but I'm really curious to see to what degree they make top-1000 more difficult to attain.
I don't feel like they're a good investment, and as a result my suspicion is that I'm no longer going to be able to place top-1000 whenever I wish in the faction events; I'll have to pick and choose.
I'm not really complaining - I don't begrudge DB their money - but if I'm right a lot of players will change their strategies.
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Comments
I think this will push the new top 1000 rank to 380-400k vp within 2 or 3 events.
But yeah. Hopefully other people are looking at those offers and going... "yeah, no." Otherwise, you may be better off buying character packs than competing for stars, if that's your jam. And that may be exactly what DB was hoping would happen anyway with these changes.
Proud Former Officer of The Gluten Empire
Retired 12-14-20. So long, and thanks for all the cat pics!
Part of me thinks that I should just accept that I will not make top 1000 in this event (I have completed the quick start and have my usual stash of time reducers); put part of me is also concerned that the time I've invested in this game developing a really good core of crew so that I can compete in faction events, is now for nought.
I don't want to throw my toys out of the pram just yet, but my success on this event and maybe the next faction event (one presumably without a much wanted character) will make me evaluate if I continue to play this game for much longer.
Now that's just gone. There's no more progress, no more pretense. If a new player comes in today, it's flat out pay to win. If I started in that environment, I know I would have left quickly. And I doubt I'm unique there. I think this structure today is VERY unfriendly towards growing the population.
I am going to try my usual strategy this time and see what happens. Maybe most ppl wont have the crew to make much of a difference. Maybe I will fail to make it to 1000. I am ok either way. If I don't make it to 1000, that's just the new normal. I am not doing P2W. At least it saves me from accumulating 1/5s that are mostly useless. And I can get better sleep during faction events
I don t think it will affect Top 1000 much. But i can tell for sure, after 1-2 Factions, since 2/3 of my toons toons are monthly card only and never spend on boost packs or anything, and they always made top1000 past faction events.
Btw even without the new introduced tokens and boosts, this event would have been harder than usual, since i assume many want a Spock.
No money for DB before, certainly no money now. So simple philosophy and the only one which guarantees mental comfort.
However, for the newer players, who are very under-represented on the forum, the new rewards and rental shuttles (remember, they also drop from the threshold and can be hoarded) mean more tactical possibilities, they can decide if using those additional rewards is worth it.
Unlike the threshold crew from recent weeks, Penk is a very powerful character as far as super rares go, both voyage and arena stats are really good - so this event would be a good example for one to go all-in, even as a newbie!
By skipping a few events you should easily be able to play a few hundred 90 minute time reductions, which can amount to huge points.
Keep in mind also, the game cannot continue to run and develop new content on F2P, seems like a pretty good trade off to me to play a game 100% free and the only downside is that you cannot get the gold star every week.
I disagree. I'm fairly new - about 6 months. I don't try to hit the top 1k but there is plenty of progress to be made for me. There are hundreds of crew I don't have which I earn during voyages and events that I quit at threshold. Shuttle events I often don't make threshold but I still get some new crew. I'm not getting 5*'s necessarily but I still get a few from time to time and I have a lot of purples needing to get fused. I get a lot of enjoyment out of the game without having to be in the upper echelon.
Fully agree. And it not goes only for F2P. Everyone has to pick the right "battles" cause of resource management and to have the right reserves in the "tank". In advance I would have liked this version of Spock as well. But the stats are so yesterday, the card would mainly collect virtual dust. So I use this event to simply build up further reserves for another day. When I attack an event, like you said, I build up time reductions boosts etc. for weeks - or longer.
Also agree with the rest. Compared to monster hits like Fortnite, Candy Crush etc. this game has a limited userbase. And of this limited userbase many are F2P or monthly card only. With only that kind of revenue coming in not only would we not get new features anymore, STT would long be on the spaceship graveyard by now. And as you say: With no or tiny spendings you simply cannot expect the "jackpot" each and every week. And those who keep the servers running obviously deserve certain advantages...
Yeah, but there are none. Which is why you have people like AA Sisko quitting and me no longer spending after DB outright stole my money.
Proud Former Officer of The Gluten Empire
Retired 12-14-20. So long, and thanks for all the cat pics!
I normally do my kickstart (11 x 3* speed boosts & 2 x 4* speed boosts) and then set my alarm to repeat every 3 hours for 4 days, day and night. I don't use any other speed boosts, and have never used dil during a faction event. Unless I miss some waves of shuttles, I usually finish in the 300-600 range. I'm going to see how I do with the same approach this event, even saving my stash of rental shuttles (14 from faction achievements + whatever we get from event thresholds).
I'm currently sitting around 1600, with my first standard wave of 3-hour shuttles (4 @ 3,500 points) an hour away from returning. That's about what I would expect... I'll report back in after the event with my 2 cents about the impact of the additions/changes to shuttle missions.
It depends on what kind of advantages you're talking about. Some are quite neutral on other player's goodwill, some aren't. When you pay for a first class plane ticket you're certainly not getting there faster but you have better accommodation and the food is better. And people still pay for that.
Whether or not it affects rank is something I feel Admiral Patrick would be the best person to ask.
+1
Let's wait and see how much of an impact this actually has on ranking. It's perfectly possible that it will only affect the players in the top 25 or 50 or 100.
That being said, it took me two years (one of which as an f2p player) to get to a point where I can rank in the 1k with an acceptable effort and little or no extra investment and it's already become more competitive due to the new ranked rewards system. I really hope this change won't have the impact that some of you expect.
I think it will push the top 1000 down enough to not make it worth while.
I'm like you said, if I wanted to do all of those things, I could still, and most could still, rank under 1000.
But that is now the minimum requirement to get it.
Set alarms, don't miss the 3 hour mark by more than a few minutes, get the perfect jump start right as the event starts, spend all of those boosts.
With the crew slot limitation, those 1/5* can actually be a hindrance.
The reward to effort ratio is just so much farther away and the effort is no longer worth it.
I got called on and saw the addictive behavior, and it's not worth it to turn control of my life over to DB like that any more, so I won't.
The monetary investment to rank for a 1/5 is actually less to just buy an offer or buy packs till you get it, with a few exceptions for addicts trading in time.
Overall, things are much less engaging, and actually driving me and many I talk to in to spending less time in the game, not more. The reward to work and/or frustration ratio has been pushed too far out and too far apart to keep up serotonin and endorphin hits to make the suffering worth it.
On the plus side, I guess, I've lost countless hours without noticing it to other endeavors. Some even providing an IRL payback!
Jim
Joined: 11/2017
VIP-Level: 14
Fleet: [GER]StarFleet
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I usually do well in factions but I can't get a 5th shuttle comfortably above 80%
I agree. This will only change how to play for F2P (like me). For a few weeks there is very little chance to get above 1K spot, but that is not necessarily bad. This will get you some merits, one 3/4 character and some other stuff but not gold. Gives you more time to develop crew you already have. Actually that is good as I already have lot 1/5 golds that need honor.
And one carefully chosen weekend with many accumulated time reductions F2P can compete with P2P.
- having focused on leveling up bonus crew (biggest factor)
- Happening to be on vacation this week, so discipline in timing and not trying to kickstart in the middle of a workday
- Avoiding factions with “poison pill” (for my crew) missions
I can see this maybe making a big difference for the top 25, some difference for events with lots of bonus crew, and maybe for play if the new TBD ranked rewards put thresholds for things of substantial value outside the 1-25 and 1000 marks.
A solid and purposefully cultivated bench still seems a huge win factor...
Agreed on wondering where the bloodbath went...I burned through every shuttle requisition token, 4* time boost, and 5* time boost I had in the fear that 2000 other people were doing the exact same thing and am still somehow in the top 150. I can’t imagine that will last but still...I’ve never been this highly ranked for this long.