The Reputation System is going to be a big drain on our EC since there are large demands for material that require EC to obtain (large hypos, provisions, etc...); the amount of EC I saw spent on Tier 0 makes me wonder how much is going to be demanded for the top tiers.

If there is going to be an EC drain then at least add some EC rewarding activities or Doff missions that will provide more of the resources needed for Reputaion tasks.

Many folks are saving EC to make purchases on Exchange or to buy items that will be used during play, as opposed to dumping into the Rep "blackhole". Reduce the pain and avoid unnecessary complaints about the feeling of being robbed by the system grind.

Well honestly, there was really no need for EC at VA anyways.... Except for the XII consoles but other than that, nothing. So this is actually a good move.

Your not buying hypo's on the exchange are you? Cause there is a sucker born everyday....

not everyone is rich

Hasn't been much of a drain for me. Selling your loot will more than cover the costs, especially if you get your commodities at discounted vendors.

Thank you Tuffli freighter for making it much easier.

for the first 2 rep deposits, meaning the first 2 projects needed to get to t1, took maybe...100k ec out of me. thats it.

this includes 2 projects for romulan, and 2 for omega, so total of 4 projects done, waiting is the sucky part.

wish they would adjust it properly.

I have more EC than I know what to do with....I already got all the lockbox ships off the exchange I even give it out at time on ESD if someone can find me outside the window. I wish I was this rich in real life....now I know why people buy gold plated things.

it's so easy to make EC in this game it's not funny

Consoles
Weapons and equipment (especially relevant now)
DOFFs!!
Ships
Crafting materials
Contraband
Reward packs of a thousand flavors
Keys
Unusual consumables

The exchange becomes a thousand times more relevant when you hit VA because now you can start getting things that are going to stick with you and not be outdated in five hours. And EC is the language of the exchange.

I do have a kind of pet theory that with all the fuss and bother over dilithium, Cryptic is very quietly stabbing EC in the back. It's the only currency we have that is transferrable between players, and as a result, it's the only currency they don't directly control the distribution and acquisition of. They could prove me wrong by adding some reasonable ways to earn EC beyond Tour the Universe, which is incredibly boring and only available at some hours.

True.Who would want to buy a lockbox ship with ec or other things from lobistore,or equipment when you can spend 200000000000000000 years trying to find a mk XII DHC accx3 ....

*facepalm*

I use to use the loot from STFs to get EC, now they have taken this away from us. Since the EC requirement is now higher, they need to bring back loot drops to STFs.