Bonus crew and how many is too many?
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[STJ] Wendell
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We have had several events where bonus crew numbers are nearing 15-20 crew. Do you like that or dislike it. What would you suggest as a viable amount. Personally I tend to like it with shuttles and dislike with Galaxy events. With this many bonus crew it makes it very difficult to get your frozen members out in time. Especially since the bonus crew info doesn’t get released until 1 day before the event starts.
STAR TREK JUNKIES
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I like lots of players having a chance, increase competition and maybe some excitement.
I think that about 15 bonus crew is reasonable. The key is to give us enough crew to fill most of the shuttle slots, but not so many that everyone is loaded with bonus crew and it ends up being a bloodbath. Players who vault a lot of 4*s and have a variety of potential bonus crew should be rewarded in these events. Too many bonus crew negates that advantage.
Expeditions
Based on my experiences, I would say 6-8 bonus crew (plus 2-3 featured crew) is ideal for an Expedition.
Faction Events
I feel like 12-14 is the sweet spot here.
Galaxy Events
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It also makes a difference what kind of rarity distribution there is for the crew member in question. Consider Data, who is tied for the most number of event appearances (8). Data presently has nine personae, which sounds like a lot. But consider the actual breakdown:
1* x0
2* x1
3* x0
4* x2
5* x6
Realistically, that 2* Lt Commander Data is not going to be all that helpful. One of the two 4* Datas is Friar Tuck, who was just introduced in a special pack and isn't in general circulation at all. The others are all 5*'s. So even though there are 9 Datas in the game, the typical player is likely to go into an event featuring Data with 2* Lt Commander Data, maybe 4* Prospero (anywhere from 1/4 to 4/4), and if they're lucky, one of the six 5* Datas.
I do think Travis is right, crew distribution needs to be taken into account ... e.g. until recently, an event featuring Q only had 4* and 5*s possible, really rough on newer/f2p players.
Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of events where crew have common traits (e.g. the recent Brutal, Doctor, Spiritual event ... that was just silly, 1 of the 3 would have been fine). Based on species is something I find more viable (e.g. Klingon, Vulcan, Ferengi etc.).
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The breakdown matters, but I think previous event vs pack only is more significant than 4* vs 5*. At VIP3 I've never bought a pack with DIL, but I have Prospero, Detective, Mirror, and Tempted Data.
Of the Datas:
Friar Tuck: Pack
Prospero: Event
Detective: Event
Emotion Chip: Pack
Hollander: Event
Mirror: Event
Romulan: Event
Tempted: Pack(original crew or close to it I think)
So of those Datas, a lot have been available for players ranking in events or buying event packs, even if they are 5*. There are likely a lot more players with a 5* event Data than 4* Friar Tuck.
One of the flaws of this approach, though, is reward thresholds don't change. It would be nice if lower-bonus-crew events had somewhat lower point requirements.
Pack exclusivity is another important factor, and you're surely right about how few players are likely to have Friar Tuck.
There's yet another point to consider: when those events featuring him ran. I've included replays where he was still counted as Featured Crew and included in event packs, but was replaced in the rewards table.
2 June 2016 Frank Hollander ("A Brute Squad")
16 July 2016 Detective Data ("The Game's Afoot")
4 Nov 2016 Frank Hollander ("Dictators, Unite!" - Event Pack Only)
12 Nov 2016 Detective Data ("The Game's Afoot 2" - Event Pack Only)
8 Dec 2016 Frank Hollander ("A Brute Squad 2" - Event Pack Only)
7 Sept 2017 Romulan Data ("Second Act 2")
14 Dec 2017 Mirror Data ("Smoke & Mirrors 2: Imperial Decree")
For any player who started at any point in 2017, then, neither Frank Hollander or Detective Data has been attainable through an event or event pack. I'm pretty sure they've turned up in portal-specific themed packs at least once in that time, but even then they're still 5*'s and not dropping casually.
All of which is just to say that there's more to consider than the raw count of how many personae of a given character already exist when assessing how viable they are for the purpose of being bonus crew. It may sound generous to hear that there are 9 existing Datas, but when you look a little bit further, you see that Data isn't as ubiquitous as it may at first sound.
If there were more existing bonus crew you wouldn't feel the sting or pressure to level crew up right away.
What is annoying is the rate, sheer number of new cards and the choices of who best to level up...
Yes, for a high end/long time player, it means everyone can do well, making the competition tougher (more competitive) but I think it's more important to let the smaller player have some crew available so they stick around and can grow to become a high end/long time player.
And who really is afraid of some good competition?
Though the 'Brutal' and kitchen sink one I think really was too much. It was what 30% of the characters were bonus?
But I am not saying I want this kitchen sink one more than once a year.
Okay, this is intriguing, but what if: Everybody but Janeway?
Add Burnham to that list, and we’ve got a deal.
I agree with this. If nothing else, it might not help them be competitive, but would help them to hit the thresholds. For a long time, my hangup on factions was that I couldn’t hit thresholds.