Originally Posted by mankyspank

Is it true that cryptic and atari have relocated in china?

Originally Posted by DarthDozer

Call me a troll or whatever you need to in order to vent your frustration that should be aimed at yourselves for being to impatient and simply having to play on launch day. But the actions and reactions of those whining with unflagging resolve about the fact that you spent X amount and only got Y for it while those who waited spent less and got more reminds me of when USB flash drives first came out. I remember in like 2001 maybe 2002 when the first 1GB flash drives hit the market they were around $800 USD. In fact at that time I worked for a technology retailer and sold several of them myself to impatient ego centered individuals who simply had to have one before anyone else. The environment I worked in allowed me to create a loyal customer base who would seek me out when they came to this store. Those same people who spent $800 on a 1GB flash drive were whining to me every time they came in and watched as the price dropped month after month. I would just smile and say "Every month technology gets better, cheaper, and faster."

Those of you who are crying like unfed kittens because you had to have it before it was available in a store or whatever remind of those ego centered customers I used to laugh at when they left. If you simply have to be the first kid on the block to own it then know that you will pay more for those who have learned the wisdom of delayed gratification over instant gratification.

So either play or shut up in my opinion because I think I think Cryptic and Atari are probably doing the same thing to you on their way to the bank that I did to the morons who paid $800 dollars to be able to walk around with 300MB more of data in their pocket than a 50 cent CD/RW will hold.

Go ahead take your best shot, call me a troll or whatever else you want the bottom line is I spent less than you and got more allowing me to laugh at your folly and misdirected frustration born from your own lack of wisdom.

Originally Posted by dnarris

You don't quite get it, do you?

Originally Posted by mavgeek

I can't wait for it to be a few months from now when all the haters and qq'ers are gone. then we can get back to our game in peace and quiet, silence is friggin golden

Originally Posted by Kee-Bhor

I would like to know WHEN are we going to have an official response to our legitimate gripes? ARE they going to hide under the bed in the hope that it will just go away OR get off their collective backside and do something positive to show the fanbase some loyalty?

All this dithering just makes Atari/Cryptic look foolish and amateur-ish, cancelling refunds to lifers is shamefull and probably illegal being as the they are not following the terms of the agreement.

Originally Posted by Kee-Bhor

I would like to know WHEN are we going to have an official response to our legitimate gripes? ARE they going to hide under the bed in the hope that it will just go away OR get off their collective backside and do something positive to show the fanbase some loyalty?

All this dithering just makes Atari/Cryptic look foolish and amateur-ish, cancelling refunds to lifers is shamefull and probably illegal being as the they are not following the terms of the agreement.

Originally Posted by Dragonblade

So, while I guess there's no actual reason for Cryptic, Atari, or anyone else to reasonably compensate anyone who was an 'early adopter' or STO, there is a very real and understandable difference between obligation and just bad form.

This is really just bad form.

Yet another in a continual flow of decisions and ideas that comes from Cryptic and Atari (while there is an obvious difference between developers and publishers, the masses rarely see or care about the difference; this is a game that most see both companies as 'the ones who give you STO'), that honestly gives an impression of a small company feverishly racing to make revenue while trying to appear to be in control and looking for ways to get the most subscribers possible.

Which, from a business standpoint, makes sense. Of course they want to maximize subscriptions and eventually down the road, profits. It would be absurd for them not to have it as a focus.

I would wonder, however, if any thought at Atari was given by the 'powers that be' before this current offer was given the green light. I find it hard to comprehend that when the idea of the lower price and extended game time for new players was produced without the thought or weighing the balance of the current player base after a single month of the game being live.

One month.

I understand early adopters of games, hardware, everything, take risks. We pay premium prices, and eventually, I don't believe anyone thinks everything stays at first retail price. Over time, prices go down as the cycle of the 'next big thing' continues unendingly. That's fine, and anybody with an ounce of rational thought can understand with that.

The 'bad form', though, stems from all of these extra perks for new players happening just a month out of the game's release. Launch players worked through the carried over bugs from beta. Launch players experienced quite a bit of downtime the first few weeks, generally and predictably, weekends. The developers allege to read the forums, so not knowing what the past month held would be strange.

So how are the pioneers of STO shown appreciation by their community-based and focused STO team as they wait for the first endgame raid-i-sode to be released?

This.

If Cryptic and Atari cannot see why there is a bit of an issue, and that there are a wide-range of varied responses, a great deal of them negative, then I find it ironic that some of the player base are the ones being charged with just 'not getting it'.

I take both Cryptic games for what they're worth. The junk food quick-satisfaction of MMO games. I think there's actually a market for that, really, as not everyone looks for the complexity of Eve, or the familiar, tired time-consuming patterns of a WoW type game.

If vision and intention equaled content and resources, Cryptic would probably be an amazingly strong force in the MMO community and carve a widely-played niche and people would soak it up and, while not breaking any records, has the potential to really become a strong and relevant company over time.

That said, the questionable and sadly transparent attempt by Atari to rush to beg new players to subscribe for the sake of those who are already giving the game a chance after a single month, is in my opinion, a disappointing misstep.

I hope Atari gets what they wish for, and STO, the entire staff, and the remaining player base find nothing but fun and success in the future. Who knows, the sale could be a great success. After all, subscriptions at this point are obviously what matters anyway.

-Dragon

Originally Posted by Relict

Dragon, I don't see how anyone here is saying it's anything more than bad form. Bad form is still a wrong that needs to be righted.