Fix the horrible voyage reward drops
DavideBooks
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Once more, I have received 5* replicator rations as “reward” for a dilemma on a voyage. I have complained about this for years. I have not sought for compensation. I have requested that if they didn’t get rid of the rations, that my concerns be passed on to the Game Makers. Most of the customer service agents somehow missed my entire point and assumed I was demanding massive compensation, despite the fact that I constantly told them I simply want the assurance that my grievances were being heard and passed on to the right people. I’ve been told that they are sorry I’m upset and that the game is working according to intentions, and a whole lot of other placations. I have also been assured many times that they are passing on my concerns.
The last time I reported this as a problem to customer service, I was specifically directed to bring it up in the engineering section of the forums so the Game Makers can see it more easily.
Let’s logically consider that directive. This brings up a few concerns. The directive to take my concerns to the forums implies that my concerns have not been passed on to the proper people. Had they been passed on, why would I be directed to repost? I was also directed to post specifically to the engineering forum. This implies that the Game Makers do not look at anything else. If they did look at anything else, they would already know and I wouldn’t need to specifically post in a particular place. It isn’t as if I’ve only complained once in passing. I have rather annoyed several of the people on the forums with my repetition. Logically, the directive I received implies that our forum community manager—who is definitely not a robot—also does not pass on players’ concerns to the Game Makers. So, supposedly, the Game Makers should have had multiple ways and multiple times of getting this information which I was absolutely assured gets to them, but it still has to be posted here or they won't know about it.
Can people begin to see why I have trust issues here? And I haven’t even gotten to the point yet in this post.
Let us look at what the Game Makers are implicitly telling us regarding voyages: “Here are some bright shiny rewards that you can get through voyages. Now please improve your crews in order to make longer voyages so that you have a better chance to get the shiny rewards. Here, let us make voyages even more appealing by helping them last longer if you work hard in boss battles.” They want us to spend time and money to obtain crew capable of lasting longer in voyages. We have lots of obvious incentives for this. They even introduced new 5* crew into voyages. This is obviously a plea—practically begging—for us to do more voyages. And if we do more voyages, we are likely to log in more and while there to watch more advertisements and spend more money with the hope of getting a pretty reward.
And the rewards promised are, indeed, nice and shiny. And exceptionally rare. When the new 5* crew were added to the voyage rewards, we were given the understanding that they would be popping out all over the place. We were told that they could come from any dilemma, even (on rare occasions) one that would normally give exclusive 4* crew. So lets look at how that turned out. Based on what has been reported in the forums and what I’ve seen in in-game chat, no one has ever received the 5* crew from anything other than a dilemma that would normally drop a 4* crew. Since the Game Makers have said it could happen, I think we need to assume that they are telling the truth and that it is theoretically possible. (Of course, since the distribution or oxygen atoms in the air is random, it is also theoretically possible that they could all move away from where a person is standing, resulting in suffocation for that poor individual. Granted that we never hear stories of random asphyxiation, the theoretical possibility is not zero.)
Having a low probability of receiving the bonus crew is good. It makes us work for it. But having the likelihood so low will only result in frustration for the players. Why should I work hard for good crew and carefully plan my time to keep voyages going when the possible reward has only slightly better odds than the government lottery jackpot?
Lest the Game Makers think that I am only complaining about the ridiculously poor odds of getting the new reward, I have been complaining about a different issue for a long long long long time.
I specifically refer to the absolutely useless replicator rations given as a “reward” for dilemmas. I will be charitable and assume that when it was originally put into the reward tables, it was assumed that it would be a good thing. I am not certain of this. I think it more likely that it was added as a filler so better rewards would be less common. What does the reward do? It stops someone from getting a 4* crew. The rations are ONLY available as a reward for dilemmas that should be dropping 4* crew. They are ONLY available for voyages after a certain amount of time has passed. But let us be charitable for the purposes of this discussion. So once upon a time the “reward” of rations might have been justified. Perhaps a new player could actually use the rations—Never mind that I have never known a new player who could use the rations more than they could use a 4* crew. Even the honor from a duplicate 4* crew is far more valuable than the rations, even to a new player. But let’s assume I am completely wrong and the rations were once desirable to anybody. They are absolutely useless now. Not that they cannot be used, but that we have so many sources for rations that there is absolutely no justification for replacing something useful with them.
No one can honestly say that rations from voyage dilemmas are good.
And if they were good, then they should be set up in the same way as voyage schematics. Voyage dilemmas have the possibility of dropping schematics for ships. For the most part, there are of no value to players, but they have the potential to be useful, particularly to new players. Personally, I never intentionally get them as I already have all the ships they represent. However, I do not complain about their inclusion as rewards for voyages. Why? Because they are avoidable. Schematics fall from dilemmas in a predicable way. If I don’t want them, I simply choose a different choice at the dilemma and I get something else. No issues. If the useless replicator rations were the same—that is, if they were predictable—then we wouldn’t have any issues. If we knew that we would only get rations if we wanted them, then we might believe whatever justification can be given for their inclusion in the first place instead of wondering if they are only there to keep us form getting proper rewards.
Once upon a time replicator rations might have been good. Maybe. But can the Game Makers give an honest justification for why they are still there? We know that the rewards tables can be changed. They have been changed many times. Remember at the beginning when chronitons dropped like crazy from voyages?
Frankly, I would have more confidence with Richard Dawkins as my pastor than with the Game Makers fixing something that truly benefits the players.
Thank you very much
The last time I reported this as a problem to customer service, I was specifically directed to bring it up in the engineering section of the forums so the Game Makers can see it more easily.
Let’s logically consider that directive. This brings up a few concerns. The directive to take my concerns to the forums implies that my concerns have not been passed on to the proper people. Had they been passed on, why would I be directed to repost? I was also directed to post specifically to the engineering forum. This implies that the Game Makers do not look at anything else. If they did look at anything else, they would already know and I wouldn’t need to specifically post in a particular place. It isn’t as if I’ve only complained once in passing. I have rather annoyed several of the people on the forums with my repetition. Logically, the directive I received implies that our forum community manager—who is definitely not a robot—also does not pass on players’ concerns to the Game Makers. So, supposedly, the Game Makers should have had multiple ways and multiple times of getting this information which I was absolutely assured gets to them, but it still has to be posted here or they won't know about it.
Can people begin to see why I have trust issues here? And I haven’t even gotten to the point yet in this post.
Let us look at what the Game Makers are implicitly telling us regarding voyages: “Here are some bright shiny rewards that you can get through voyages. Now please improve your crews in order to make longer voyages so that you have a better chance to get the shiny rewards. Here, let us make voyages even more appealing by helping them last longer if you work hard in boss battles.” They want us to spend time and money to obtain crew capable of lasting longer in voyages. We have lots of obvious incentives for this. They even introduced new 5* crew into voyages. This is obviously a plea—practically begging—for us to do more voyages. And if we do more voyages, we are likely to log in more and while there to watch more advertisements and spend more money with the hope of getting a pretty reward.
And the rewards promised are, indeed, nice and shiny. And exceptionally rare. When the new 5* crew were added to the voyage rewards, we were given the understanding that they would be popping out all over the place. We were told that they could come from any dilemma, even (on rare occasions) one that would normally give exclusive 4* crew. So lets look at how that turned out. Based on what has been reported in the forums and what I’ve seen in in-game chat, no one has ever received the 5* crew from anything other than a dilemma that would normally drop a 4* crew. Since the Game Makers have said it could happen, I think we need to assume that they are telling the truth and that it is theoretically possible. (Of course, since the distribution or oxygen atoms in the air is random, it is also theoretically possible that they could all move away from where a person is standing, resulting in suffocation for that poor individual. Granted that we never hear stories of random asphyxiation, the theoretical possibility is not zero.)
Having a low probability of receiving the bonus crew is good. It makes us work for it. But having the likelihood so low will only result in frustration for the players. Why should I work hard for good crew and carefully plan my time to keep voyages going when the possible reward has only slightly better odds than the government lottery jackpot?
Lest the Game Makers think that I am only complaining about the ridiculously poor odds of getting the new reward, I have been complaining about a different issue for a long long long long time.
I specifically refer to the absolutely useless replicator rations given as a “reward” for dilemmas. I will be charitable and assume that when it was originally put into the reward tables, it was assumed that it would be a good thing. I am not certain of this. I think it more likely that it was added as a filler so better rewards would be less common. What does the reward do? It stops someone from getting a 4* crew. The rations are ONLY available as a reward for dilemmas that should be dropping 4* crew. They are ONLY available for voyages after a certain amount of time has passed. But let us be charitable for the purposes of this discussion. So once upon a time the “reward” of rations might have been justified. Perhaps a new player could actually use the rations—Never mind that I have never known a new player who could use the rations more than they could use a 4* crew. Even the honor from a duplicate 4* crew is far more valuable than the rations, even to a new player. But let’s assume I am completely wrong and the rations were once desirable to anybody. They are absolutely useless now. Not that they cannot be used, but that we have so many sources for rations that there is absolutely no justification for replacing something useful with them.
No one can honestly say that rations from voyage dilemmas are good.
And if they were good, then they should be set up in the same way as voyage schematics. Voyage dilemmas have the possibility of dropping schematics for ships. For the most part, there are of no value to players, but they have the potential to be useful, particularly to new players. Personally, I never intentionally get them as I already have all the ships they represent. However, I do not complain about their inclusion as rewards for voyages. Why? Because they are avoidable. Schematics fall from dilemmas in a predicable way. If I don’t want them, I simply choose a different choice at the dilemma and I get something else. No issues. If the useless replicator rations were the same—that is, if they were predictable—then we wouldn’t have any issues. If we knew that we would only get rations if we wanted them, then we might believe whatever justification can be given for their inclusion in the first place instead of wondering if they are only there to keep us form getting proper rewards.
Once upon a time replicator rations might have been good. Maybe. But can the Game Makers give an honest justification for why they are still there? We know that the rewards tables can be changed. They have been changed many times. Remember at the beginning when chronitons dropped like crazy from voyages?
Frankly, I would have more confidence with Richard Dawkins as my pastor than with the Game Makers fixing something that truly benefits the players.
Thank you very much
3
Comments
Here is the rest:
The addition of the 5* crew only makes the situation with the rations worse. The rations randomly drop from the same dilemmas that theoretically drop the 5* crew. So now, along with the abysmal odds of getting the 5* crew, we have to contend with the much higher odds of getting absolute garbage.
And the odds of rations are not so miniscule. Since the 5* crew were introduced, I have had 10 (possibly more, but I got so frustrated that I didn’t properly document them all) instances of getting replicator rations. That could have been a few 4* crew I actually needed or 2000 honor plus the regular honor and chronitons. Not to mention the slim possibility of a 5* crew. I received one copy of Chakotay soon after the crew was added. This implies that the odds of the 5* crew are 1/10 the odds of replicator rations. Probably much worse. As I stated earlier, low odds of the 5* are not a bad thing. But odds so low you would have to send out 10 or 12 hour voyages for most of a year before getting even one copy of the 5* are so horribly bad that no one trusts the game.
My game play had suffered tremendously from my loss of confidence that I will actually get rewards by playing. I log in less. I care less about clicking on the advertisements. I participate less in events. I stopped gauntlet completely aside from when the mini-events demand it.
And I stopped spending. I stopped spending a long long time ago, specifically for this reason. I have repeatedly said that all you have to do to get me to spend again is to remove the worthless rations. Obviously, you care far more about keeping in the rations (which seems only reasonable if you are trying to keep us from getting rewards) than you do about getting my money. And that seems rather myopic considering the money issues the game is obviously having, what with losing most of the staff a while back.
Please remove the rations and publicly state they are gone. Or give some reasonable justification for them.
I have posted this because I was told to. I delayed because I have absolutely no confidence that it will do any good, but I really must try.
Frankly, I would have more confidence with Richard Dawkins as my pastor than with the Game Makers fixing something that truly benefits the players.
Thank you very much
No. Replicator rations are not an issue for me. I use them every day. I won't join your "crusade" because, to me, it's not a game design issue. ANd it seems it's not an issue to WRG or the designers, else they would have looked into it.
The rest of what I was going to say will remain unsaid, in the interests of forum peace and harmony.
You obviously have no use for my childish tirade against this, and I can respect that position. I know that not all of us have the same playing style. I also appreciate your forbarance on calling me out. I was a bit strong in my post.
I would like to know--and this is a genuinely honest question--do you use rations enough that the few you would get from dilemmas are actually useful?
Could I get your support to at least request that the ration drops be made predictable? That would seem to me to be a reasonable compromise.
This voyage has produced mostly useless items and honor via crew dismissal upon return. I have 4 rare and 12 uncommon crew. Most certainly not worth the time and revival tokens Ive put into it. It is my choice to run the voyage, I'm not complaining about that. Im simply stating a fact that length past 8 hrs does not improve loot.
I do agree with Mr Brooks however, on the basic ideals of voyages. The game makers encourage us to invest our gaming resources into voyage crew in order to get a better return with lengthier voyages.
This does not seem to hold true. My lengthy voyage currently running would have produced similar loot tables had I simply recalled and run several smaller voyages. I have seen no evidence that lengthier, (over 8 hrs), voyages produce better loot. In the end it amounts to the same as several 8 hr voyages.
Rations or similar basic simple supplies should not be a dilemma reward ever. It is an achievement to get to the next dilemma without refills of AM or tokens. A dilemma is a milestone goal in a voyage. Each one getting you farther along in your voyage timer. The farther you go, the better the dilemma rewards should.
In this way players would be encouraged to advance voyage crew and artificially lengthen voyages more often.
I would also note that I run voyages 24/7, and about once a month traverse the entire universe in one voyage, until the it has run the course of all dilemma's. I have never gotten a Gold card (Chakotay or Black), and lengthening the voyage clearly has no impact on dilemma drops, rewards or loot tables.
So why should we extend passed 8 hours? I see no reason other than personal curiosity or satisfaction. It has no bearing on loot outcome.
Since voyages began there has always been the suggestion that the lengthier the voyage, the better the loot. Its just not true.
Also noted, is Mr Brooks description of trying to contact CS with a suggestion or issue that does not requiring compensation, a simple FYI. They always return with a simple “Im sorry to hear you are unhappy, but we can not give compensation when the game is working as intended” party line. They fail to read the context of the ticket often and just assume everyone is trying to get something for nothing. They do not take into account individuals issues. It is extremely frustrating to be treated as if you are attempting to leach supplies when your genuinely trying to input suggestions or have an individual disruption that goes beyond “standard compensation”.
As well I agree it seems less and less that anyone is fully aware of what is being discussed in the forums. At least the previous moderator interacted with us and made us feel we were heard.
Yet they persist. They don't even have the courtesy and honesty to say, "We know these are unpopular, buy we need some way to reduce the rewards you are getting." They don't even have the courtesy to say something dishonest and placating like "We know most people don't like it, but we are doing it to help the people that really need rations and for some inexplicable reason can't manage to get them from any other source."
And this idea of them being recieved only 5% of the time is a lie. I have yet to have a voyage behold of any type, yet I just got rations two voyages in a row.
Convince me that this isn't something intentional they are doing to punish me for complaining and for closing my wallet.
I can totally feel with you, but if WRG does this, they are more stupid than everyone thought.
„Oh, he doesn‘t spend anymore, so we punish him with crap rewards so he will spend even less in the future.“
Oh, wait…
The important point here is not that this happened when the odds (if true) say it shouldn’t. The important thing is that it should never happen in the first place. Having unavoidable rations drop from voyage dilemmas is malicious. Let’s pretend that there are players who would actually want rations despite how easy they are to get from all other aspects of the game. Fine. Make them avoidable, like the schematics. The system as it stands only makes sense if the game makers are TRYING to keep us from rewards.
I have thought long about the best analogy. I have found one that even the game makers can understand. Anyone of any intelligence should be able to understand it.
I have a rewards card/account from a popular convenience store that gives a free drink to anyone after the seventh drink they buy. This is good marketing. Anyone coming for a drink is likely to buy gas or snacks while they are at it. It is a good marketing tool. Imagine if they decided to give an old used cup with some ice water from the tap to their shoppers 5% of the time. How many people would continue to trust and frequent that convenience store? This is a good parallel. A cup, new or used, can be useful, depending on your circumstances. And ice water from the tap is good in many cases. Plus, they can claim it is more environmentally conscious and health conscious. Before you say it is a ridiculous analogy, let me share an absolutely true anecdote. About two weeks ago I pulled up to one of this store’s many locations. I was finishing a call with my boss, so I was in my car for a few minutes. I saw someone (who appeared to be a homeless man, but I can’t be sure and don’t want to judge) walk slowly up to the garbage can near the door, glance around, then reach in and pull out a cup. He checked the cup and walked into the store. A minute later, he walked back out drinking something from the cup. Knowing the store as I do, they freely and without question give ice water to anyone with a cup. For all I know, he just wanted the tiny discount on a refill. But he wanted that used cup. For him, it was a good thing, particularly since this was in Tucson in over 100 degree weather. And some people really like ice water and would chose it over other drinks, even if they pay full price. I have a daughter who does that. So the idea of offering ice water from the tap is not a bad thing. It is just a bad thing for it to be an unavoidable “reward” 5% of the time. No one would trust that store ever again.
The unavoidable rations on voyages are exactly the same. Sure, rations might possibly be of use to someone despite the glut of rations from other sources. And sure, there may be someone who would intentionally choose the rations, if given a choice. But the players work really hard and pay good time and often money for new crew to improve their voyages. And the “reward” they get is a used empty cup that they can fill from the tap with ice water.
The game makers ought to be ashamed of themselves. They ought to have trouble sleeping at night. If this were done anywhere else, no one would ever trust them.
It is LONG past time to remove the rations as “rewards.” The ONLY reason to keep them is if the game makers are trying to keep us from 5% of our rewards.
I would absolutely love an explanation from the game makers. As of now, years after I first complained about it, they have not so much as assured me that they even hear or read my concerns. I have been told by customer service people (repeatedly) that they pass my messages on. But the last time it was escalated, they told me that I had to post on the forums in order to be heard. And even there, no one has even said, “We are aware of your concerns.”
You shouldn’t wonder that I haven’t bought any offers in a very long time. You shouldn’t wonder that my participation and time in-game has dropped to about half of what it once was, which means less revenue from advertisements. I assume the game makers are fine with less money.
A greater chance of getting dumb rations instead of the new exclusive crew....which I still haven't gotten squat.
In addition, the blue 3* trainers also need to be removed from the gauntlet rewards. Or at a minimum, restricted to only one drop and not multiple drops at the conclusion of each gauntlet event. For example, 4 out of 7 reward boxes opening into blue trainers is infuriating to say the least.
But just in case no one actually read what I put out in detail, I will try to say it again in a short form that maybe will get back to the game makers since no matter how often I am assured the messages are being forwarded, they never seem to be.
As a "reward" for getting to the right dilemma, sometimes you get rations instead of a real reward. Once upon a time, it was conceivable that rations could have been thought of as good. Maybe. But they are more than abundant now.
So this is the basic issue: The rations are worthless to 99 out of 100 players. And when you "win" rations, you are missing out on rewards that are useful. But 5% of the time the rations pop up. And the really bad part is that they are unavailable. At first I thought it was an oversight. But this is intentional. They are purposely cheating us from rewards 5% of the time.
The solution is easy. Either remove the rations entirely, or make them avoidable. Make it so you can get the rations by choosing specific choices OR avoid the rations by making other choices.
Unavoidable rations 5% of the time is intentionally cheating us.
Also, I don't believe itnis really 5% of the time. I get them far more often. It just contributes to us not trusting you.
Now having once more stated the issue, I ask you a question. I don't expect an answer since no one has ever even acknowledged the issue. Here is the question: What is the justification for giving an unavoidable worthless reward 5% of the time? Is there any reason aside from intentionally cheating us to give an unavoidable false reward?
Hey @DavideBooks, as we always do, we're open to hearing your feedback and continually improving your game experience. We're a diverse community of players, and each one has their own vision of the game. Sometimes this vision aligns with others, and sometimes it doesn't. If there's something affecting the vast majority of players, we take the time to study how we can address the issue.
Some player suggestions may not be feasible because they directly impact game mechanics, and we have other priorities to consider.
However, words are important, and what we won't accept here are sarcastic comments, passive-aggressive remarks, or insults directed at other players or the team behind the game. That said, we're going to proceed to delete all comments that contain this type of content, and we encourage you to focus on constructive feedback that helps us enhance your gaming experience.
If you have any specific concerns, please feel free to share them, and we'll do our best to address them appropriately. Thanks for being a part of our community!
Nancy,
LLAP.
The fact is still there that no one has ever justified these rewards. And if you think they are good, then please justify why they are unavoidable. Your comments are the closest ever to anyone answering the issue.
I totally agree that some people play the game differently. Please make the worthless rations avoidable.
I have made some snarky comments, and I shouldn't have. All my other comments were completely ignored.
My posts where I laid out the reasons they are not good are still valid. My comparison of the rations to an empty used cup is still valid.
And I will continue to not invest in the game until the rewards are fixed so that rations are not randomly given and are at least avoidable. No mean comments, nothing snarky or passive aggressive. Just the way it is. You have a reward system that punishes (by my judgment) instead of rewards. It would be easy to fix that. You don't even need to completely get rid of the rations if you think some players' styles need them. Which is what I've been saying from the beginning and have had no response.
I like the rations.
It's just part of the game, I've long accepted that. I have various accounts that play the game in various ways, and sure - rations don't help Frank Prime, but Nightmare Mode(TM) Frank loves the heck out of them.
My main reason for playing is collecting and immortalizing all cards - which is what a lot of players will say - but it's unrealistic unless you spend tens upon tens upon tens of thousands of dollars.
That said, I do dislike the mechanic where I cannot buy or guarantee cards, leaving a hole in my collection. At this juncture, it's the 3 Legendary Voyage exclusive cards I have yet to see a single behold or copy of, on any account of mine.
5 new dilemmas double the previous chance I had to attempt to fetch a copy. I am forever grateful for any new or increased method of that. When it pops up as a ration or whatever, I just view that as the same as a 4* crew drop - it wasn't a behold so it doesn't matter.
Recent changes are positive and in the right direction, keep moving forward with that. No further changes needed.
I can understand that a few people might like them. I suppose particularly with the Nightmare mode. It is too bad that in all the other threads where this is mentioned, no one else seems to like them. I think the powers that be get the wrong idea.
But even if most people like it, can you agree with me that they need to make it a choice? Can we all agree to let the game makers know that this could be avoided by making it a choice? That is a reasonable compromise.
Why are we putting our trust (or not putting it) in a collection of code anyways?
Personally, I don't mind if Replicator Rations drop 5% of the time. I don't even care if I don't have a choice to get them or not. I'll just go ahead and discard them later if I don't want them.
Sure, it would be lovely to get exactly the reward we want. RNG be damned, perform a specific task and get a specific reward, sounds boring.
Nah, I don't think it should be a choice. The moment it's about to drop is a moment of excitement. Will it be a Behold? Will it be a straight drop of a Super Rare? Will it be "poison rations"? Oh, btw... "poison rations"? What are they poisoning?
Things are fine the way they are. If they were so bad, this thread would have hundreds of comments clamoring for the change. Instead, it's all one guy shouting into the void. Poison rations, indeed.
EDIT: Now that I've typed poison several times, it makes me want Hoisin sauce. I know, I know. It's so good.
Constructive suggestion: you have the ability to change rewards given the length of the voyage. Rations may be useful for 6 hours and under. Newer accounts that need rations do not exceed this point naturally. If someone uses tokens or dilithium to extend a voyage they do not want ration drops anymore in that voyage as it is not cost effective. Stronger accounts that naturally pass this point do not want rations ever.
I understand the need for “filler” rewards throughout any voyage. But after 4-6 hours rations should no longer drop. When voyages were first introduced, chrons drops were much more plentiful. That was reversed at some point and voyages became stingy with chrons. Every player needs chrons. Chrons instead of rations are more useful to everyone. Especially the little guy. Honor is also a more useful “filler”.
Rations should never drop within a dilemma.
As for some members “tone” i would remind everyone involved that the community in general feels ignored since Shan left. Interaction from a dedicated community manager has not been what was stated.
As well, previous to that change we asked for quality of life improvements repeatedly such as removing or limiting rations in voyages, fixing the chat system, adding a secondary command officer to fleets, the ability to place a faction event share prior to the event,…..plus….plus many things for years that have gone ignored. More recently Skirmish event intervals have been reduced just as chrons were reduced from voyages. We made notes and suggestions about voyage drops immediately when they were introduced or changes were made. Nobody seemed to care.
We made notes and suggestions when skirmish event frequency was reduced. Nobody seems to care.
An overwhelming majority has the same complaints (constructive ideas). We always offer ideas that go ignored.
People get frustrated when they suggest the same thing again and again and feel nobody is listening,…. Or, in other words, as pointed out in above posts, asking for suggestions already made in many posts clearly indicates the posts were not given any attention until someone gets frustrated and snippy.
Another suggestion of major importance to all players is the message system and increased game errors. It is noticeable that the graphics have been spectacularly improved. While this is great, I would point out that it is not a “profitable” use of resources if the game is frustrating because it doesn't work. The message system is an important part if the community experience. Many veteran players have quit the game and newer players can not the assist they need to advance without a stable message system so they quit. The instability if the game lately overall has caused more frustration causing players to quit. Graphics can not possibly be more profitable if the game itself doesn’t work or if players can not interact for group goals.
Additionally, we hear your complaints about the rations. What would be another reward/s instead of Chrons or Honor that you would prefer? Write it down and we will take notes on that!
At STT we thank you for your understanding, and please don't hesitate to write your thoughts in a kindly manner like this Captain, LLAP all.
Anything other than rations would be an improvement.
But may I ask in all politeness and sincerity: why replace them? If the justification is that some people need them, that is fine. Instead of replacing them with something else, just get rid of them and give us the chance at a 4* crew. Or make it so that they are a choosable reward for the few people who want them. Just replacing them with something else only works if that something else has a similar value to the crew and chronitons that would be the reward otherwise.
The way it stands, it gives the appearance (which is unintentional from what you said) that you are trying to keep us from 5% of our rewards. If you just swap out the rations for a small reward, say a hundred merits, it will still invite the appearance that you are trying to limit rewards at the same time that you are trying to get us to spend to extend voyages. I am careful here to say it is an appearance. I make no accusations that might be unfair as I have in the past and I apologize for.
So if you are unwilling to get rid of them or to make them a choice, then make it something that would be valuable to most players.
My recommendation for a replacement would be 1000 magnisite. If you did that, people would consider it a good reward. I would be HOPING for that 5% chance if it were 1000 magnisite. But it has to be a high number or it would invite the appearance that the game is trying to keep them from proper rewards.
Some players in small fleets want bilitrium. That is a reasonable reward for some players and would be welcome. It would still be an improvement over rations. But all players can use magnisite. A significant amount of magnisite would be easy for you to give and would still encourage players to extend. But as a competent fleet can easily get at least one Nightmare mode done each day, it would need to be a good amount for people to value it as much as the regular reward.
The following Dilemmas will feature updated arrangement of general rewards
Where Earth Meets Sky
The Cost of Living
Ladders and Chains
Blood-Red Tide
The Buried Years
I thought there was only a 5% chance of getting these from the dilemma. Getting it 2 out of 3 times from this list is NOT 5%. Has anything even changed?????
It certainly doesn't seem like 5% of the time, but I'm sure they can prove it is. In any case, complaining seems to fail completely. And implying that they are doing anything mean will get you a warning for being banned. So I have stopped anything accusing and mean. I will still express my opinion that the rewards are bad, but it is unlikely to help.
I recommend two things:
1. They just asked us what we would want instead. Everyone should respond with polite real suggestions.
2. Stop all spending until they fix it. And make sure they know what you are doing and why. Politely. They have lost hundreds from me.
Greetings Captain! We will inform and pass note to the devs regarding this issue. Kind reminder to structure your feedback in a more constructive way. Previous players with such conduct have been warned and out of the forum for some time. LLAP, we will be happy to receive all kinds of positive and constructive feedback in order to keep bringing you the most optimal game experience.
Tell me that you don't understand math without telling me you don't understand math.
Enough said..... I'll just end this conversation and close my wallet....
I have stopped spending...... others have complained about the same thing. I will continue to track what happens when I encounter these specific dilemmas (to see the percentages). I have better things to do with my money anyways (like pay the bills
Personally, I think that is good. Let them know what you feel with your wallet. Courteously. However, they have finally responded to the complaint. And they have asked for suggestions for alternative rewards. This is a great step on their part. I gave my input. I suggest you also give polite input. If they only get one or two responses, they are justified in saying no one cared enough. I hope everyone gives a response. I suggested 1000 magnisite. Another suggestion could be a behold with 1000 magnisite or 3 of the hard types of Bilitrium 2 and Bilitrium3 (players could choose what they need most). But I think it is abundantly clear that they are not just going to get rid of it. Nor does it look like they will make it avoidable. I still think that is myopic thinking. However, they are reaching out and appear genuine which is wonderful. Seriously, no sarcasm or anything. It is great.
I have been excessively vocal in my opinions. But I am still willing to meet halfway. And since they are reaching out, we should all reply with our suggestions. Politely.
Because if we don't, they won't change and it won't be on them.
What I would like to add is an opinion on the redundancy on drops themselves. I've run countless voyages, and the biggest issue I have is getting crew and/or ship schematics for things I already own. I realize that for the more seasoned players, the list of items we don't have may be smaller than what we do, but if the crew/ship drops could present beholds with at least one item that I don't have, it would make the voyage more profitable to me - and want me to keep running long voyages.
As a programmer, this is a trivial task - before generating the three options for the drop, check what the user has - and doesn't. From the "doesn't have" list, pick one random (unfinished ship or crew). The other two can be truly random. In the extreme case where the user has all ships maxed or all crew of level 4, then it has to be fully random.
The idea of any game is to keep the players interested. The longer they play, the more they spend. It's like a bar that gives out free chicken wings - people stay longer and order more drinks and give bigger tips.
It wouldn't take much, but it would definitely be something we could all enjoy.
And on a slightly tangental note -I do have another quality-of-life request regarding ship schematics. I tend to use extra schematics as replicator fuel, but there is no way of knowing on the screen whether that ship is complete or not. A simple color change, like showing the ship schematic icon in green, could let us know that the ship is complete and we can burn these extra schematics. If you really want to be nice, only show schematics for completed ships - why would anyone want to reduce the amount of ship schematics on an incomplete ship? Either way, this is also a minor change, but it would be helpful.
Just my thoughts.