It is very good to hear more of the reasoning behind the new economy, especially how EC is mainly for casual play while DL is more fore hard core play. That definitely helps me see exactly what your going for here, and how DL isnt even "needed" if you just want to play casually.
That said, the lack of a VA token is still an issue for people who are going to be subscribing every month. So how about this as a solution to that issue?
Do I want to make the game "grindy"? Not at all. I certainly don't want it that way for a casual player. But I do want to make it so having top end gear and having extra starships takes some real work. I want for those top end targets to be brag-worthy. I want them to have actual value to the players who achieve these goals. Some time after the game goes free-to-play, I would like to have a handful of people bragging that they have a full set of starships or that their flagship is equipped with top end gear... knowing that only people who were subscribers before F2P or who worked as hard as they did could say the same.
How does letting people "buy" their way to the good gear make something an achievement?
Because thats essentially what you get if people can buy the dilithium they need for the so call brag-worthy gear.
Rich kids simply buying their way through the game instead of earning things.
You'll never hear me accuse Cryptic of nickle and diming us anymore.
Thank you for proving my fears to be groundless. In fact, I'm also done complaining about F2p.
If you'll remove the 'more on the way' from the website or just give lifers the more you've promised on the website for the last 18 months, then you'll pretty much knock out my last concerns.
Looking forward to trying this and some kind of information on fixing Crafting so we can again make Blue & Purple Quality items at Even Mk's.
If you've indeed made it no longer a grind or pay system then I too and done complaining about the F2P economy.
If "bragging rights" and playing longer to make items "have more value" is more sugar coating for Grind of Pay... And if VA Ship Tokens are not given back for subscribers (vet reward) then my Pitchfork Team will NOT stand down.
Will there be any changes to the in-game stores other than price adjustments? For instance, will white Mk gear be added to EC stores so there is more variety for our EC, and will green/blue gear be added to crafting/dilithium stores at lower cost their their purple counterparts? I'd like to see more white gear added to the stores to buy with EC. We shouldn't be able to just buy phaser beam arrays and photon torpedos. I'd like to see the ability to buy canons, quantums, tetryon gear for EC, but at the common level. Also add in even marked items (although I will settle for just odd mked items).
But you are in fact locking out content by setting it to a daily, when in fact you could perfectly well keep it as it was but give a choice in the award. The Diithium Ore or a level appropriate item, with the former only being offered once a day.
This is not a good thing for an already, relatively, poor amount of content game.
You take away the option of repeatability and reward for exploration. Sure we can still explore a system, but for what when we are max level? I am honestly not sure what the purpose of having the star clusters now is in game.
Linear Mode
