Why i don't understand the community and lockboxes.
 

Hello.

Now, let me get started with something positive. First of Cryptic, i love the latest promotion. Re-ordering the old lockboxes & upping their lobi count is a superb idea, not to mention having the Master Keys at a cut price - Is fantastic.

And now on to the complaining. Cryptic have actually listened to an extent (They can't do everything we ask, due to CBS's restrictions, And personally the idea of having Uber-rare ships is cool), the need/greed has been removed from lockboxes, and the chance of getting that sexy-ass D'kora (and the other ships, but they are not important!) has risen, which is brilliant for people like me.

Now, heres the bit that really gets me. "Ermagerd, i opened 100 lockboxes and got nothing!!! I hate this game!!!" - Random Facebook Commenter

What the f***? 1.) Im 17. I don't have that much money. Everytime a new lockbox comes out, i will get a 10 pack of keys, and open 10. If i don't get what i want, oh well. That works out as ?7 for me, every 2 or so months which is nothing on the ?60ish a month i earn. Why on earth (if you hate gambling and lockboxes so much) would you spend so much damn money on them? It's crazy! First off, they are not compulsory, if anything they are funding the game, keeping it alive, and getting new content added to it. (I Can't speak on behalf of KDF Players, as i prefer FED - But i'm aware you are slightly ignored in the content department) and 2.) Don't like them? DON'T BUY KEYS FOR THEM THEN. RIGHT CLICK AND "DISCARD ALL" Not that difficult.


Thank you Cryptic and Perfect world for a fantastic game, and it's bound to get better and better as time goes on. I'll continue to make microtransactions as and when something cool arises that i like, It's mine. Good job guys.


(also, VOYAGER BRIDGE PACK PLS.)

Im guessing its one of those 'people are stupid' kinda thing :P

Guess s/he was thinking 100 keys will guarantee something based of LUCK, and got butt hurt when they didn't get it.

I myself decided after hording 7000z points i'd just give it a go, on my second to last, got a tholian sci ship :), then got another 40 keys or so, for the carrier :P. (All from my hard earned DILITHIUM :p)

The truly funny thing? if that person sold their keys for 1mil a piece, (100 keys...) they could have BOUGHT the silly ship they wanted and had 20-30mil to spare :D

You may be smarter than many of your elders. :D

There are a lot of reasons why lockboxes aren't liked.

* Dilution of atmosphere
* Perception of constant money grabs
* Just plain annoying
* Ultra-rare ships
* Various issues with lobi
* Etc. etc.

However, from what I observe, the LOUDEST complainers essentially blame Cryptic for what amounts to a gambling addiction they have no inclination of even TRYING to contain or curb. They usually swear off lockboxes for all eternity... and then buy 200+ keys every time one comes out, rinse, repeat. Every. Time.

Some issues with the lock boxes are very much legit concerns IMO, but it's vastly overblown, and lock boxes are an important aspect of the game getting good revenue, something that a lot of people never consider may be a factor in whether or not a game exists at all to complain about.

Yeah, that's a perfect way of putting it. I like them, so i spent ?7 every two months. Spending ?50-60 on them when you "hate" them is just madness.

Those complaints are valid, although personally i don't find it breaks atmosphere for me because i loot literly everything anyway, most of the time i don't notice when ive picked one up untill later! Glad to see im not the only one who see's the fans as morons in this entire lockbox affair rather than cryptic!

Haha, that's pretty good on of you! (I find the "explore brave new worlds" so dry and dull, STF's are my only dilithium income nowerdays). And yeah, i have no idea why people traid Zen for dilithum, and who the hell pays real money for things (Lockbox key) and then sells them for the virtual credits O.o (Although, i'm not complaining that they do!)

This is a compelling idea, and I agree those people are loud. However, I actually think the loudest complainers are just people who expect to get everything for free/cheap (perhaps subsidized by fantastically generous advertisers) and don't understand that these lockboxes ships they can't afford allow them to enjoy their slightly-less-cool ship for free.

There are many things that can dilute the atmosphere for me (most notably being blown to smithereens). However, I consider lockboxes to be a very paltry thing in this equation. I notice them in my inventory and chuck 'em. My mental filters may just be able to throw them out better than most, although I suppose it helps that I have no interest in commanding a non-Starfleet ship.

That said there is a HILARIOUS take on the boxes in the Literary Challenges in Ten Forward. I forget where it is, and might edit this post if I find it later, but I think you would appreciate the humor.

EDIT: For wording, and for the URL - http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...47&postcount=2

I cracked up a little seeing it again. :)

It could just be that I'm noticing the ones who are complaining while purchasing keys more, because it hits the 'WHAT?!' button in my brain a little harder when someone says how they spent $250 on keys for every lock box before this and hates them horribly, and then the next time I see them they're grousing about how they spent $50 on keys on THIS lock box.

I agree that a lot of people are making too big a deal out of the lockboxes. I personally have no problem with them and think they are a great, fun way to excite the community and make Cryptic some money all at the same time. However, I understand the sheer disappointment of buying 50 keys and getting zip. It sucks. I know it's a game of chance, and I don't blame Cryptic one bit. But I had hoped that spending a decent chunk of money and increasing my chances would have landed me something more worthwhile than a low class stack of lobi crystals. I was wrong. So... yeah. No more lockboxes for me. I'm just buying the keys to sell now.

Yea, i understand the dissapointment side of things (Nothing like spending all day grinding dilithum to get your 14th Duty officer pack :@)