Equipment crates were usually inventory clutter for me, so that change is fine by me. That seems like a lot of ISM. The free track is over 600 per day. I'll probably end up using that for scans.
Yeah. The Crates are hit or miss. I've gotten some good 5⭐ stuff. And some Replicator fodder. I'm sure the Crates are much more useful overall early in the game. Not sure why it had to be an "either/or" thing. You wanna add 18,000 ISM to each track? Add 900 to every fifth Tier. Or 1,800 to every tenth Tier. Heck, do the 120 Tier thing, with 4,500 ISM at Tiers 105, 110, 115, 120 on the Basic Track, and Constellations at 110 & 120 of the Premium Track. 18,000 extra ISM a month would be plenty. Just add the needed Accolades to the Threshold in Events, like when they did the "test" 120 Tier Campaign.
Easy peezy nothing cheesy.
🥌🦞
"The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
Major dislike. The campaign equipment crates were one of my top reasons to purchase.
Same. I’m new and was considering buying the track just for equipment and *replicator rations*. I guess everybody was making so much noise for ISM. I could be wrong, but I think this is just going to slow newer players down while giving people ISM to burn through for random constellations while they wait for quantom for a somewhat customized (and likely disappointing) behold. Time will tell.
I liked the premium crates, even though they haven't always given me useful stuff.
I think it would have been better if they hadn't replaced just one item but left some of the crates and replaced some of the other stuff as well (trainers etc.).
That said, I'm looking forward to being able to get more ISM. My fleet hasn't even reached the 400 ISM for the past couple of days so another source of ISM is much appreciated.
Really like the theme. Bell is the perfect Sisko for this, and I'm glad Uhura is the legendary. I'd preferred Rescue Team Uhura, although Lt. Cmdr. does have great artwork. Stats-wise neither really helps my roster, but RT has an edge there, and I have her at 1/5.
Regarding equipment crates, I have a group of six crew with open equipment to reduce the chance of junk from those crates (and to a lesser extent, dabo and gauntlet). I don't mind this, but it's a bother I'd rather be rid of. That ISM will be far more valuable to me. However, I certainly recognize that folks who are still building lots of crew find far more use out of these than I do.
Six degrees in Inter-species Veterinary Medicine. Treating all manner of critters, from Tribbles to Humans.
Major dislike. The campaign equipment crates were one of my top reasons to purchase.
Same. I’m new and was considering buying the track just for equipment and *replicator rations*. I guess everybody was making so much noise for ISM. I could be wrong, but I think this is just going to slow newer players down while giving people ISM to burn through for random constellations while they wait for quantom for a somewhat customized (and likely disappointing) behold. Time will tell.
I would think that more ISM benefits new players just as much as older players. You can open more constellations and retrieve crew that really benefits your roster.
I'm all for replacing the crates. The last time I got something useful from them was during the very first campaign. Since then I've mostly gotten stuff for SR frozen crew.
Well, half or more of the reason I liked Campaigns is gone. I looked forward to the crates more than the crew, honestly. The 4/5* was guaranteed and was just a matter of waiting. Other than making sure I had a slot available on Monday after it began, I really don't think about it.
My crates though...those I typically figured which days I'd get one. I used nearly everything in them that day. Sometimes I took a day to decide who got it, if several needed it. I am going to have to do a serious revaluing of the premium track. It might still be worth it, but it will be a much closer thing.
Five portals (not nearly so valuable with retrieval and me being so close to having all in-portal purples), some dilithium, assorted other currencies, and a useful gold this time. I might buy, but not until later when I have more slots open. I want her, but I don't really need her right now.
If she pops up as event crew, I might pick her up sooner, but those CRATES are what I wanted ASAP. They let me finish and freeze crew quicker. She can sit at lvl 1 until needed and I don't need to buy her until March.
I know exactly which crew I want from retrieval and I don't open constellations unless they give me a chance at one of the Polestars I need. I need little ISM. Quantum maybe, but ISM? They took my candy and gave me rice cakes. NOT HAPPY.
Plus, is the end date wrong? Shouldn't it end on Wednesday, March 17 at 2359?
W.W. CarlislePlayed since January 20, 2019Captain Level- 99 (May 9, 2022)VIP 14Crew Quarters: 485/485Most recent/Lowest- Anbo-jyutsu Kyle Riker (1/5* Lvl 30) 5/29/23Immortalized x-866 5* x184, 4* x 490, 3* x91, 2* x62, and 1* x27Most recent Immortal - Tearful Janeway 4* 5/25/23Current non-event project- Improving my Science base skill. Retrieval Project- Mestral 1/5*
I would think that more ISM benefits new players just as much as older players. You can open more constellations and retrieve crew that really benefits your roster.
I'm all for replacing the crates. The last time I got something useful from them was during the very first campaign. Since then I've mostly gotten stuff for SR frozen crew.
I hope you’re right! I seemed to have excellent luck with the equipment. I was looking forward to a campaign where I could get a guaranteed gold card, star it up, and have a Legendary Citation at the end to use as I pleased. I was also looking forward to shuttle tokens and Replicator rations as well. I realize I am new, but collecting ISMs really doesn’t thrill me.
I’m not sure ISM will benefit new players all that much, because you still need a truckload of credits to narrow down your retrieval to a desirable legendary crew member. At the lower levels it takes a fairly long time (or £10/$10 of daily credit purchases) to get the 4.5m-5m of credits it will cost you for a decent shot at someone good.
I would have preferred that the trainers or rep fuel were the sacrificial lambs here, but I understand the crates getting the axe. They never worked very well and were a cause of a lot of strife.
Sometimes, if something continues to not work well, you just need to write off the idea and move on. It seems that may be what is happening with the crates.
Classic strategy of a game developer:
Create a controversy by replacing something some players really liked and found useful instead of merely adding the new change in and not replacing anything at all. I may not be purchasing the premium track because of this "replacement". Add it, don't replace anything.
No more equipment clutter would be welcome even if those spots in the campaign were replaced with credits or merits...to replace them with a hefty amount of ISM is a big plus.
And LtC Uhura is a great legendary option. The skill set itself is a little bland but she makes up for that with raw power and a very nice bit of crew art.
No more equipment clutter would be welcome even if those spots in the campaign were replaced with credits or merits...to replace them with a hefty amount of ISM is a big plus.
And LtC Uhura is a great legendary option. The skill set itself is a little bland but she makes up for that with raw power and a very nice bit of crew art.
How? I have so much ISM it isn't even funny. I have a decent set of polestars too, enough for many 5* cards. I need quantum not ISM. What is the justification in replacing rather than adding?
The wording in the announcement seems like it may not be permanent. Maybe after this they'll pull back and balance it a little bit. I bet they cut the ISM to less than half the total amount. This could be a "one time treat." Judging by the results my poll, if I were WRG, I would replace half of the equipment crates and replication rations with ISM. Oh, and double the amount of each credit drop.
No more equipment clutter would be welcome even if those spots in the campaign were replaced with credits or merits...to replace them with a hefty amount of ISM is a big plus.
And LtC Uhura is a great legendary option. The skill set itself is a little bland but she makes up for that with raw power and a very nice bit of crew art.
How? I have so much ISM it isn't even funny. I have a decent set of polestars too, enough for many 5* cards. I need quantum not ISM. What is the justification in replacing rather than adding?
Scan more. I believe it will be more useful to have as wide a variety of polestars as possible for the twice a month or so we can use it. You may have enough for several 5* crew, but the more you have, the more specific you can get. I have enough for several choices as well, but there are others I would rather have if the options were there.
ISM for people like me that has every crew done makes sense. Ism for players that are just a year or two in that can't save credits and have characters needing to finish, this change will hurt.
No more equipment clutter would be welcome even if those spots in the campaign were replaced with credits or merits...to replace them with a hefty amount of ISM is a big plus.
And LtC Uhura is a great legendary option. The skill set itself is a little bland but she makes up for that with raw power and a very nice bit of crew art.
How? I have so much ISM it isn't even funny. I have a decent set of polestars too, enough for many 5* cards. I need quantum not ISM. What is the justification in replacing rather than adding?
More ISM means more scans, which means more polestars to help further narrow down crew on which to spend your limited quantum. There are lots of good crew to be had and some require very specific polestars, which currently can’t be had without constellations from scans.
The other side of the coin is that the data gathered during the single 120-tier campaign apparently didn’t convince WRG to make that permanent. The design of campaigns seems to not allow for more than one reward per tier per track, so something else would have to been removed. And as equally worthless as replicator rations are to any veteran player, I would think they would be more meaningful to new players than random equipment they may never use. Trainers are even more important to new players, who would otherwise have to buy them with honor to keep up any kind of pace for leveling crew.
No more equipment clutter would be welcome even if those spots in the campaign were replaced with credits or merits...to replace them with a hefty amount of ISM is a big plus.
And LtC Uhura is a great legendary option. The skill set itself is a little bland but she makes up for that with raw power and a very nice bit of crew art.
Who knows, maybe I would have gone for Uhura under different circumstances
“What's a knockout like you doing in a computer-generated gin joint like this?”
Proud member of Patterns of Force
Captain Level 99
Played since January 2017
If WRG was smart, they would have made Maco Mayweather the 5* recurring for the premium campaign, made the campaign encompass 120 tiers instead of the usual 100, and given the premium tier away for free as a show of goodwill after the "Buy Now Debacle". But nobody has ever accused WRG of being smart.
You could have left half of the crates in place. We don't need tens of thousands of ISM.
You could lock down your equipment to force the level 0-3 crates to give you exactly what you want, by leaving no other equipment slots open. I used campaigns to mega farm Identification codes and social lessons this way.
I don't do the campaign for crates, but they did save me resources on equipping occasionally. My main motivation for the campaign is the other goodies. Of course, I'll be depriving myself of the premium campaign for a good while.
I know that if your crew is setup unequipped, you can get benefit from the crates. However, if you have even dozens of unequipped crew of the 4 or 5 star variety, (especially if they are 4*,) then you are wasting crew space like crazy to keep them unequipped. It would be better to equip them and freeze them. I, personally, have a number of 4* not fully equipped, but I have a lot of crew space and all of them are new or duplicates., and the duplicates can be dumped if I desire space. For most people, crew space is far to valuable. Instead, equip them and freeze them. If they are older crew, then this new feature is great because you can get 4* crew, too. Far from requiring crew space, it will free space quite well. And then your next 4* quantum crew will come sooner because 4* are cheaper. If, like me, you have just about ever 4* frozen that is currently available, then the new feature means you can add stars to current crew which will improve your game and cost you no space at all. A brand new 1/5 crew may have better final numbers than many of my 3/5 crew, but if I add to the 3/5 crew, I will mostly be better off. In my mind, the chance to add to my existing crew is a positive step. I would rather have another star on a targeted crew than a few equipment crates that might be of some benefit or might be duplicates.
Would I prefer some other option where we keep crates? Yes. But as someone else wrote (Byloband?), this change to ISM takes a good thing and replaced it with something better. It is too bad that we don't get to replace the trainers or rations, burning know that when I was new, those were indispensable.
Please understand that I understand your opinions that the crates can be very useful. I think if you give it a month, you'll find that the ISM will be more useful. It will allow more scans which will allow more targeted crew, even if not as often as we might like. This will help with crew management.
I learned this a few months ago. I equip nearly everything as soon as there's something to equip as I someone told me this can have an affect on what you get from your crates and dabo. They were right.
I know that if your crew is setup unequipped, you can get benefit from the crates. However, if you have even dozens of unequipped crew of the 4 or 5 star variety, (especially if they are 4*,) then you are wasting crew space like crazy to keep them unequipped...
Comments
Certainly some clunkers, but more often than usable equipment would drop for me, especially at the end when it was the 5* equipment.
Easy peezy nothing cheesy.
🥌🦞
I think it would have been better if they hadn't replaced just one item but left some of the crates and replaced some of the other stuff as well (trainers etc.).
That said, I'm looking forward to being able to get more ISM. My fleet hasn't even reached the 400 ISM for the past couple of days so another source of ISM is much appreciated.
Regarding equipment crates, I have a group of six crew with open equipment to reduce the chance of junk from those crates (and to a lesser extent, dabo and gauntlet). I don't mind this, but it's a bother I'd rather be rid of. That ISM will be far more valuable to me. However, I certainly recognize that folks who are still building lots of crew find far more use out of these than I do.
Starport
I would think that more ISM benefits new players just as much as older players. You can open more constellations and retrieve crew that really benefits your roster.
I'm all for replacing the crates. The last time I got something useful from them was during the very first campaign. Since then I've mostly gotten stuff for SR frozen crew.
My crates though...those I typically figured which days I'd get one. I used nearly everything in them that day. Sometimes I took a day to decide who got it, if several needed it. I am going to have to do a serious revaluing of the premium track. It might still be worth it, but it will be a much closer thing.
Five portals (not nearly so valuable with retrieval and me being so close to having all in-portal purples), some dilithium, assorted other currencies, and a useful gold this time. I might buy, but not until later when I have more slots open. I want her, but I don't really need her right now.
If she pops up as event crew, I might pick her up sooner, but those CRATES are what I wanted ASAP. They let me finish and freeze crew quicker. She can sit at lvl 1 until needed and I don't need to buy her until March.
I know exactly which crew I want from retrieval and I don't open constellations unless they give me a chance at one of the Polestars I need. I need little ISM. Quantum maybe, but ISM? They took my candy and gave me rice cakes. NOT HAPPY.
Plus, is the end date wrong? Shouldn't it end on Wednesday, March 17 at 2359?
She is not normally on my voyages, but almost always on a shuttle.
I hope you’re right! I seemed to have excellent luck with the equipment. I was looking forward to a campaign where I could get a guaranteed gold card, star it up, and have a Legendary Citation at the end to use as I pleased. I was also looking forward to shuttle tokens and Replicator rations as well. I realize I am new, but collecting ISMs really doesn’t thrill me.
That is probably the main impetus behind it.
🥌🦞
Proud member of Patterns of Force
Captain Level 99
Played since January 2017
TP: Do better!!!
Sometimes, if something continues to not work well, you just need to write off the idea and move on. It seems that may be what is happening with the crates.
Create a controversy by replacing something some players really liked and found useful instead of merely adding the new change in and not replacing anything at all. I may not be purchasing the premium track because of this "replacement". Add it, don't replace anything.
And LtC Uhura is a great legendary option. The skill set itself is a little bland but she makes up for that with raw power and a very nice bit of crew art.
How? I have so much ISM it isn't even funny. I have a decent set of polestars too, enough for many 5* cards. I need quantum not ISM. What is the justification in replacing rather than adding?
Scan more. I believe it will be more useful to have as wide a variety of polestars as possible for the twice a month or so we can use it. You may have enough for several 5* crew, but the more you have, the more specific you can get. I have enough for several choices as well, but there are others I would rather have if the options were there.
More ISM means more scans, which means more polestars to help further narrow down crew on which to spend your limited quantum. There are lots of good crew to be had and some require very specific polestars, which currently can’t be had without constellations from scans.
The other side of the coin is that the data gathered during the single 120-tier campaign apparently didn’t convince WRG to make that permanent. The design of campaigns seems to not allow for more than one reward per tier per track, so something else would have to been removed. And as equally worthless as replicator rations are to any veteran player, I would think they would be more meaningful to new players than random equipment they may never use. Trainers are even more important to new players, who would otherwise have to buy them with honor to keep up any kind of pace for leveling crew.
Who knows, maybe I would have gone for Uhura under different circumstances
Proud member of Patterns of Force
Captain Level 99
Played since January 2017
TP: Do better!!!
You could lock down your equipment to force the level 0-3 crates to give you exactly what you want, by leaving no other equipment slots open. I used campaigns to mega farm Identification codes and social lessons this way.
Second Star to the Right - Join Today!
I don't do the campaign for crates, but they did save me resources on equipping occasionally. My main motivation for the campaign is the other goodies. Of course, I'll be depriving myself of the premium campaign for a good while.
Would I prefer some other option where we keep crates? Yes. But as someone else wrote (Byloband?), this change to ISM takes a good thing and replaced it with something better. It is too bad that we don't get to replace the trainers or rations, burning know that when I was new, those were indispensable.
Please understand that I understand your opinions that the crates can be very useful. I think if you give it a month, you'll find that the ISM will be more useful. It will allow more scans which will allow more targeted crew, even if not as often as we might like. This will help with crew management.