30 Tetryon particles + schematic for a blue Mk V?
Above + 1k Dilithium for a blue Mk VI? (v 3.6k store price)

20 Tachyon's + schematic for a blue Mk IX?
Above + 9k Dilithium for a blue Mk X?? (v 15k store price)


GEE, that's TERRIBLE. We should all quit now, as no one can possibly afford those prices.
Nevermind that I earned 33k Dilithium in less than three hours. Crafting, and STO in general, is RUINED.
Seriously.

[*]T5 Intrepid Retrofit [list][*]Ablative Generator is now a Console item. [*]Added Engineering Console Slot.

the console item should be equipable at all sience ships

<Reads Release notes...>

The T3 Excel gets a TW Console, a Console Slot, and a modest Efficiency Skill buff. You're taking it out of the EC Game Store and putting it in the C-Store making it a P2W Tier+1 ship. So, I guess that's on par. I'm actually ok with that.

But then Wha-?!? Why are you nerfing the T5 Excelsior?!?

The T5 Excel gets a TW Console, but NO added Console Slot.
This doesn't appear to be an oversight, rather a conscious intention. Why? Nearly every other C-Store ship got an extra slot, including the T3, why didn't the T5 Excel? This means at the very least I have to lose a bank and/or inventory cell to keep my TW powers, but wait...

The T5 Excel loses three TW destinations.
I just don't even know what to say about this. Please explain it to me. The mass-TW was the whole reason I bought the ship. Sacreligious as it may be, I've never liked the look of the Excelsior! Near as I can figure it's some sort of scam to get me to buy the T3 and, what, lose another slot and/or inventory cell? God if you're going to do that, do it right, and at least throw in an extra Console slot to encourage me to carry both Consoles.

So what does that leave me:
A C-Store ship for which I paid a full-priced $15 of Real World Money that either:
A) Has no special abilities at all, meaning I got a skin for $15.
B) To get 2/3 of my TW back I have to give up an existing console to slot the T5 TW Console, and get a negligible boost to ship's power as a consolation.
C) To get all my TW back, I have to buy another ship, give up another console to slot the T3 TW Console with an even smaller power boost.
Where's the upside?

You know, I just can't believe this... I was trying to have hope. I was trying to assume things would get better. But Sweet Jumpin' Jebus on a Pogo Stick!!! - This up/down BS is for the birds... I so want to be happy about the DOff system, about Klingon Acadamy, about the Tour game and STF changes. Heck, prior to this completely unreasonable, unnecessary, and uncool nerf to the Excel, I was even getting on board with the P2W T+1 Ships.

You see, I've got money to spend. I'm far from rich, but I've got disposable income to pay my share into your coffers. Check my account, you'll see I already have. I was actually getting seduced my your wiley charms and wares. I liked the idea of modualized powers that could be slotted or not. I was planning to buy a couple of those neat new ships Captain Logan has been working on.


That means no more C-Store purchases here in STO (or in CO), or any other game you ever release. No more multi-hardcopies of new games, no more friend referrals, no more LTS/subs. You don't want to lose a customer like me, I'm just what you want. I've got an addictive personality, I'm a collector (even of digital "things"), and there's that disposable income I mentioned. This isn't a threat. It's a calm promise.


Sincerely,
PatricianVetinari

P.S. I was gonna comment on the Dilithium Crafting Fail, but F-it... For now, suffice it to say I'm against it.

10/31 Update: The Excel due to be restored.

You know, once upon a time, when the Galaxy-X was kinda powerful, and when the Excelsior was about to go into the C-Store with a much more powerful BOff layout.... Cryptic had said that the new BOff layout of the Excelsior was going to be representative of the changes made to existing and future ships. I noted that it would be extremely difficult to change ships once they were bought on the C-Store because people had paid real money for them. Once you sell something to someone, it's really shaky ground to reach over and change it, since it's no longer, strictly speaking, what they bought. So I felt, that any changes to the ships would have to be done BEFORE it got put onto the C-Store, since changing it after it's been in the C-Store and been bought by people would be ethically shaky, set a bad precedent, and just be plain scuzzy. Ergo, Cryptic wouldn't do that.

Wow, was I wrong.

If the Defiant and Galaxy class are gaining a console slot then they should certainly be converting their specials into consoles. You can't just give something that significant for nothing. Balance is hard to achieve but you guys are making it way harder than it has to be...

I agree 100%.

I must have missed something - how do I get that console for my excelsior retrofit? I copied it over from Holodeck.

The new interact image I like. However I think both the moving gears AND the flashing line is just too much.

I feel the slow flashing line currently on Holodeck is more than enough and was even way back when it first was implemented. As they say "If it ain't broke don't fix it". The gears are almost too out of place.

If you really want to help me find glowies on a map, instead of putting a glowing icon that, on very bright maps, will get washed out and lost anyway, make it so the interactive object has the current visual from Holodeck as well as an icon on the map/mini-map. Otherwise don't mess with it.