Gifted characters and free crew slots.
Raijinmeister
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Why not along the gifted character we can't have a free crew slot? For too many, the new character instead of a gift becomes a liability because you will need to accommodate the new crew in your roster or in many cases because of the scarcity of slots the gifted crew will remain in the mail or even will be thrown away.
Make like DE(Digital Extremes) do in Warframe, every gifted item or event reward comes with their own item slot. And they give items to players in a much more regular pace than here and giving the extra slot in any shape or form is crippling their incomings. In fact, is probably helping to increase since it makes the game truly friendly to new and old players.
I can't believe that giving a free slot with a gifted crew would make DB lose any money at all, especially because we don't get as many free crews here. Also, it would be nice if the 5* crew from mega-events received a free slot as well for the same reason, to be immediately an asset rather than a problem.
Make it so!
Make like DE(Digital Extremes) do in Warframe, every gifted item or event reward comes with their own item slot. And they give items to players in a much more regular pace than here and giving the extra slot in any shape or form is crippling their incomings. In fact, is probably helping to increase since it makes the game truly friendly to new and old players.
I can't believe that giving a free slot with a gifted crew would make DB lose any money at all, especially because we don't get as many free crews here. Also, it would be nice if the 5* crew from mega-events received a free slot as well for the same reason, to be immediately an asset rather than a problem.
Make it so!
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Comments
I agree. But as Warframe shows you don't need to 'strong arm' your player base to make money.
They don't even have loot boxes as we have here but this is another can of worms for another topic.
If Star Trek Timelines would have a multi million userbase like Warframe I am quite sure this strong arming you speak of would also not be given here. Star Trek and this game appeal to a much much smaller userbase which is part of the "problem".
Millions of users buying a little something here and there creates nice revenue. Hence casual stuff like Candy Crush or Homescapes is so succesful. Not so many users for the most part buying (as good as) nothing like here and, boom, it is a challenge to make a game survive. Also for reasons of the costly licence etc.
I think most of the non-mobile games in the same basic genre do this. World of Tanks/Warships come to mind as another example.
I don't buy into the argument that DB needs to charge what the do for slots to stay afloat, it's just that the bar for mobile games is set so low that people are willing to put up with it.
I'd also probably be more sympathetic if they were more active in the bug fixing and development departments...
Well, they are a small team, not Electronic Arts. Even smaller after the downsizing last year. So, guess, for the time being things sometimes moving at snail pace is what we have to expect. Unless from investors etc. a huge revenue stream will burst open...
Be a small team is not an excuse especially with their model in which you pay more for the same number of crew slots. The cost of a game like this can't be so high even more with a brand like Star Trek behind it. Is like EA pouring all the worst of Pay2Win crap on a game that bears the name Star Wars and making it with the excuse the game is too expensive to develop, sell, etc... Is just an outright lie that only finds its way into the industry because many players seem to not has any idea how much the money really worth vs what these games offer and a lot of people probably driven by compulsion to simply buy anything that flickers on their screen end up supporting this 'business model' and cowardly the game industry use this to put in place some of the most insidious business practices.
Well maybe is time to stopping accepting unfinished/unoptimized/broken games that still charge you in any shape or form. This is a game called Star Trek, from the get-go you know you will have some good player base. Is not like they were doing any favor or 'giving things for free', even not spending anything here the mere fact you are playing the game gives to them visibility and all sort of meta-data about their own game. Is not free. In many ways, we are working for them and even paying to play.
A few gestures of goodwill would be more than appreciated.
Warframe was an underdog for years. I played since the closed beta and believe me is way easier sell this game than that one. A mobile game that needs 0 skill to play and you can buy your way to the top vs a looter/shooter that not only don't make life easier to you no matter you wallet size but also demands that you know how to play?
Also is a new IP vs Star Trek and a game that demands way more content than this one.
They never let any sort of RNG be in their business model dictates what you will get from the store. You get what you want, period. And later they introduced a way to trade in-game items for premium currency.
Now, it would be great a little bit of goodwill here. Because the 'free' crew and the event crew is basically a way to push you into buying more crew slots that for whatever the reason increase in price every time you buy them. Well, excuse me but to me this is really, really, not smart or honest, to stay polite enough.
If you're looking for a game without RNG you should look elsewhere. Perhaps a local pick up game.
Really dude? I'm trying to give a constructive feedback to make the game more transparent, fair and interesting and you say this? And I'm not talking about a game without RNG, I was talking about the game shop and that was just a mention in regards to the very successful business model used in Warframe.
This topic is about the possibility to give along free and event crew a crew slot. Period.
Perhaps they had to downsize because too many people want things for free
First, they swore up and down that the changes didn't affect the crew responsible for Timelines.
Second, it was a result of their game The Walking Dead: March to War being a flop.
Fortnite, Warframe, League of Legion, Path of the Exiles and every other successful Free 2 play game out there prove you wrong.
And just to remind you, this is the internet. The mere fact you are accessing a service for 'free' creates some form of incoming. That's why Google, one of the most influential companies ever created is a titan among giants basically handing for 'free' their main products/services.
Is all about good business decisions and not stuck to 'how to milk users for dummies' and copy/paste every bad practice and lame excuse to not make your product friendly and reliable in the long-term.
I’m not worried about all those other games. I play this one. The comparisons mean nothing to me as I’ve never even heard of them
Is all about the business model. This game is based on a predatory one that for whatever the reason people supports and now thinks 'is the only way' which the reality plenty disproves.
I have to say, I think a lot of it was this latter remark. I mean, they hinged a LOT of advertising and just general hype on that game. I played it; it su c k ed (I can’t spell the correct word so I’m using that to get my point across).
It was incredibly boring. Had no real urgency or push to win in it. There was just no real incentive to keep playing. And I should point out, I like the Walking Dead, but it just wasn’t enough to keep me playing. I mean, if it had been a Star Trek game and was that lackluster I would have stopped playing, and I’m fanatical about Star Trek.
You obviously do not play PC games. That's ok, if you did play Warframe, you would be spoiled. I know exactly what OP is saying. I've played that game for years, the developers have real communication with players, have an awesome business model that is not pay to win, been in business over 5 years and still outputting quality material, etc.
Compared to a franchise with automatic fans, there is no excuse. STT is setup like most mobile games - a Skinner box of additction versus making a fun game people love. I do not get the feeling they care to be in business for years. They are not making a legacy to say I was a part of that games development. They are making a fast buck and fix only what the community will absolutely not put up with to save costs. As soon as the money stops, they will be out. They would never try to restructure and survive.
People put up with sub-par service because they are addicted / invested, not because the game is so much fun. I see things as developers will either try to make:
1) a good game people will always remember
2) an addictive (not nessesarily fun) game people spend money on
Look up Skinner box video game developing tactics and tell me that DB is not working on #2 above.
The problem, I think, is that the people who need the crew slot, are the ones who do not pay to play.
People who are willing to pay for crew slots have less of an incentive to do so, if the slots are free. I know I, personally, haven't bought any slots in nearly a year now. OTOH, now I also dump a 5* if I dont see any use for it. I didn't do that a year ago.
The whole idea is to make the game more friendly. Aside from your reason to not buy slots I'm sure a good portion of the f2p players would invest some money in the game if they perceived this game has fewer paywalls. Some free slots along gifted/event crew would be a nice way to display this.
True. But if you want the F2P players to become paying customers, this could also be achieved by selling slots at bargain prices. Like 5 slots for $2 every time one of those gift chars came up. Even I would buy that. I know many F2P players actually still buy the monthly card, so it's not a big leap to think there would be people buying a $2 slot deal.
The problem is, this game is based on collect things. You need to make your potential customer feel confidente in invest in the game thinking in the long run. A few free slots are given when you get a 5* from an event, for example, probably would give the taste of what is have a good crew member and then not only make the player buy slots but also packs.
Make up your mind
Either you want the F2P players to invest or you dont. We just agreed that the current pricing of $10, $50 and $100 is too heavy for most people to want to pay. If that's true, then You can't give the F2P things for free and expect them to pay at the same time. You can't even expect the paying costumers to do that
+1000
The root of the problem is they have created a situation where legendary crew are worth less to the f2p community than super-rares. It is virtually impossible to make progress towards immortalizing them, which makes them a terrible use of the few crew slots they have to begin with. In over a year I have only added a second * to two legendary crew, excluding those who were gifted or from mega events. And this goes far beyond the question of whether or not people should be getting "free stuff". A lot of people, myself included, don't even bother competing for the top 1000 in events anymore, not because they can't, but because the legendary crew they would win is seen as more of a burden than a reward.
By your logic, all MOBAS that allow all of their characters and most of their features being accessed for free and other f2p games like Fortinite or Warframe would never make money in giving, here and there, items for free to their player base and this are not what reality shows.
You don't need to be in the top 1000 to get 4/5 of a 5* during a mega event so I don't see the relevance here. And the point is just that, for most of the players, including people who are spending money immortalizing a legendary crew as the system works right now is no easy task, so in having a free slot along a gifted one or from a mega event legendary crew would make you fully appreciate to have that kind of crew on your roster without creating a problem to your roster management. I'm using here the same perspective as in Warframe when you gain a new weapon during an event or as a gift, it comes with a free weapon slot for the community as a whole appreciate that item without pushing players to buy more slots. It creates goodwill towards the devs and the game, you can enjoy the new item which is in some degree part of the playable content and eventually feels engaged enough to start making purchases or increasing what you already spend in the game.
That's why I included the gifted ones.
The idea behind the free slot along the legendary crew gifted or from the events is not to solve the crew slot problem is just to make sure you will have 0 struggle in accepting a gift or getting something acquired participating an event.
Is to prevent this kind of thing. My mailbox looks like Vault 1.5.