Firstly let me say that I have absolutely no issue with the concept of C-Store ships. My only issue with the most recent releases is the way that they total destroy all concepts of game balance. To put this idea into context it is like being able to pay FIFA to allow you to field 15 players in a game of football (soccer to our poor American cousins) against a team of 11.

This is why I believe that if they are to remain in game as they currently stand they are UNDER-priced rather than over-priced. If the cost were to be increased DRAMATICALLY they would be far less common and as such have much less of an overall impact on gameplay for the majority of people in this game.

What the Celestial Steed (and other bought mounts) in WoW has taught me is that the people who will pay microtransactions will do so for something different. It isn't necessary to destroy game balance by making them any more or less powerful than the things in game that are free. People will still pay to have a “unique” mount. Until, of course, everyone has one then they will gladly pay for the next “unique” mount. They just like to look at something different on their screen periodically.

Now before people jump down my throat and dismiss me as being “an entitled whiner” or some other such nonsense, allow me to tell you a little story. Bear with me, if you will, for the telling of it is not as brief as the ADHD/TLDR brigade would like...

Picture if you will.




A long time ago, FAR, far away from the Alpha Quadrant, in a region of space long since closed off behind the collapsed EVE gate lay a small, insignificant star system by the name of Egghelende. This was the home of some of the most despicable, low-life denizens the universe has ever had the misfortune to create. Unfortunately for many who lived nearby, this system was also the destination for some very lucrative missions for those brave (spelled foolhardy) enough to travel there.

In order to access this system to begin work on behalf of the various, adjacent mission agents it was necessary to travel from the protected system of Jel, through a fixed jump-gate into the insecure Egghelende system. The inhabitants of that system knew this and so, true to their Somalian ancestry, would spend eight hours or more each day stationed with a huge fleet of immense and powerful ships at the arrival point of the aforementioned jump-gate and, with cries of glee and the imagination of skill, instantly vapourise any and all ships that appeared.

Ultimately though, even these easily pleased campers would tire of this practice and return their mighty battlefleet to the station dock from whence it had originated. This would be the cue for the emergence of a small, peculiar little creature.

Unsupported by the huge battlefleets that were the norm in this part of the universe this “wee, timorous beastie” would appear in space in the form of a lone, tiny, paper-shelled assault frigate. Sharing a hull with some of the weakest vessels in the known universe this daring pilot would scan the area around him in search of any mission runners who had, at last, been able make their way into this small, insignificant system.

Having identified one on long range scanner he would set about determining the exact location of this missioneer within the vastness of space and, with the exact location pinpointed and the coordinates set, this tiny frigate would silently enter warp.

A few brief moments later this puny vessel would exit warp to find itself 10km away from a huge, tremendously armed and heavily armoured Megathron battleship. A ship so awesome in its destructive firepower that one shot from its gargantuan guns would instantly vapourise both frigate and pilot.

Undeterred the frigate pilot would set an oblique course and close the distance for he knew that within this hulking monstrosity lay a hitherto undetected weakness. Powerful and huge as the battleship guns were they were designed to deliver battleship-sized damage to battleship-sized vessels and so had been constructed in such a manner that they did not track fast-moving objects very well.

So it would be that the Megathron pilot, feeling totally unthreatened by this new, puny arrival would open fire with a broadside salvo of such devastating magnitude as to make the whole heavens shudder. Imagine, then, the consternation as he watched this concentrated firepower explode harmlessly in an area of space behind the fast-moving frigate. Time and again the huge guns would belch forth their vile load and time and again they would hit only void.

But fear not, dear reader, for this mighty battleship, this leviathan of doom had other tricks up its proverbial sleeve, other weapons in its arsenal. With the briefest of commands this vast ship of ultimate destruction would puff out a cloud of Hammerhead II medium combat drones and set them upon their way to destroy this tiny interloper. The battleship pilot had seen these drones make very light work of cruiser-sized vessels in the past and so felt supremely confident of their ability to handle this new arrival in a similar manner. Though lacking the awesome firepower of the onboard guns these drones were known to fare better at tracking vessels below the size of other battleships and sure enough the Megathron pilot would start to see the tell-tale signs of damage begin to appear on the small frigate.

With all damage control systems running at maximum capacity this frigate pilot would barely be able to offset the incoming damage from the Hammerhead IIs but offset it he would. With shields torn to shreds and hybrid weapon damage impacting the vessel's armour all looked hopeless for the tiny vessel but all was not lost. For this tiny assault frigate was an Ishkur and the Ishkur, unlike many vessels of its ilk also had a drone bay. Though much smaller than that of the Megathron it could still house a convenient number of tiny drones.

At the flick of a switch 5 Warrior II light combat drones would be ejected into space but unlike the Megathron pilot the pilot of the Ishkur did not set them upon the mighty battleship. Instead he liked to send them forth with instructions to target and destroy the enemy Hammerheads. With each Hammerhead destroyed the incoming damage to the frigate would lessen until no more Hammerheads remained in space.

With his huge guns still hitting only emptiness and his stock of medium drones depleted the options were narrowing for the Megathron pilot and so, almost in desperation, he would puff out his remaining Hobgoblin light drones. Though doing minimal damage these smaller drones could track small targets quite effectively and so the battleship pilot was gladdened to see the damage to his nemesis begin once more.

Again the frigate pilot would work frantically at damage control whilst once more repeating the tactic of pitting his own Warriors against the enemy Hobgoblins until none of the battleship's drones remained.

Realising that he now had no way of damaging the tightly orbiting frigate the battleship pilot would plot a course for the nearest station and issue the warp command. With a smile he would hear the familiar sound of his warp drive firing up to create the warp-envelope around his ship that enabled faster than light travel only this time there was a problem. The envelope refused to form and the fail-safe mechanisms kicked in taking the warp drive back offline. Once more the command was issued and once more the warp engines shut down without creating the necessary warp field.

The frigate pilot had known all along that this point would be reached and had activated an on-board device that sent out waves of interference and prevented any warp envelopes from forming. The battleship was now locked in space, unable to leave, unable to hit or outrun his attacker who would only now activate his short-range blasters and order his drones to target the enemy vessel.

This would be the beginning of a long, drawn out procedure as sliver by sliver the tiny vessel would chip away firstly at the battleship shields and then at it's armour.

Skip forward 30 minutes or so and the battleship pilot now has about 15% hull strength remaining and at this point the frigate pilot would hail the enemy vessel.

“It's going to cost you over 100 million Interstellar Credits to replace that ship and all your fitted modules. Transfer 75 million credits to my account and I will let you go.” the conversation would begin.

Cutting a horrendously long story short, those that did left with their ship (barely) intact but 75 million ISK lighter and with a new-found experience that was worth infinitely more. Those that didn't had their ship destroyed leaving only the battleship pilot floating helplessly in space in an egg-shaped pod.

“Give me 50m ISK and I wont destroy your pod. It's going to be a lot cheaper than replacing all those performance enhancing implants you've had fitted.”



The moral of this totally unnecessary tale?

It is infinitely more enjoyable and provides SO much more fun to win through skill than by just paying for an “IWIN” button. By buying those “IWIN” buttons you become complacent and with complacency comes hubris and with hubris comes vulnerability. For even though you sit securely within the shelter of your Pay to Win ship somewhere out there in the cold recesses of space is a small vessel piloted by somebody who, right now, is formulating ways to exploit the weaknesses that are inherent in each and every man-made ship. For what man creates, man can destroy.

And we will.

Isn't this why it's called a GAME?

The EVE story isn't total true, and I know who you are talking about. More than a "few" more or less the "trolls" of the internet that all went to play EVE.

Your EVE story has nothing to do with STO.

It is 100% true. What on earth would make you suggest otherwise?

Reports from members of that company and also interview's from the CEO of that company.

Also, STO has a different model than EVE. Our ships don't blow up and lost forever when they go down. A larger ship, higher tier ship is better than a lower tier ship. Try talking 5 tier 0 ships vs. a tier 5/6 ship. The higher tier will win unless they are a KDF bird of pray.

Since you continue to imply that I would be less than honest allow me to correct your error with this small example...


http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboar...hp?id=11101793

Yeah that a battleship of that size was killed, but some of the other facts are a bit off.

It appears two Grues have already found far edge of the light's reaches and are seeking a way to get at the adventurous OP.

you say they are cheap yes they are but klingon ship are even more cheaper since you can buy al 3 ship as a bundle for 4000 cp ,ans stf ship are 6000 what the grrr!

Unlike EVE, the other players in STO do not exist.

Each player in EVE exists - they're actually there.

Each player in STO...does not really exist.

While you may have thousands of players in EVE in a system, there are never thousands of players in STO - regardless of whether there are thousands of players there.

It is a different type of game.

STO's a single-player, co-op, somewhat multi-player game set in a persistent world.
EVE's a massively multi-player game set in a persistent world.

STO's a MMO, though, much as any other themepark chatroom single-player, co-op, somewhat multi-player game is...WoW, RIFT, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. So people can chat with people that are not there, trade with them, and all those other wonderful things.

In EVE, as far as the game is concerned, if there are a hundred battleships there - there are actually a hundred battleships there.

In STO, as far as the game is converned, if there are a hundred assault cruisers there - there are usually really only 1-5 assault cruisers there...a lot of times.

I've always found the complaints about too many of a ship type to be funny, considering this...