Asakara's post above illustrates Cryptic/PW's hopes for STO F2P; that people will spend, a little here and a little there, and before realizing it they've dropped $25-$30 in the C-$tore (I'm surprised they haven't quietly taken the confirmations out of the in-game C-$tore purchase system). It doesn't matter if players never come back because (theoretically) more people will show up to replace them and (hopefully) repeat the cycle. Gold accounts can trade their stipends, but most of those will probably be Lifers so Cryptic doesn't make money on that. People will buy C-Points to trade in Dilithium. But will enough people do so? I'm with you on that. I think it's a bad bet and STO players are going to be the losers.


Z

cryptic will keep the cap on dil/points verry low because it creates a value for the cpoints. if they removed the cap or raised it then people would sell 1 cpoint for 1000 dilitium (or higher) and all of a sudden cpoints have no real value wich means people will buy and sell less of them in order to outfit there ships with the goodies they want. if they regulate the cap of what you can sell your cpoints for then it forces cpoints to have value and therefore people will buy and sell more cpoints in order to outfit there ships with goodies. smart thinking on cryptics part... make the players think they have a free economy, tell them its a player driven economy but yet at the same time force a real world monetary value on the ignorant sheep.... verry nice indeed.

Here's my issue:

It's supposed to be a market rate decided by our actions, now, ask yourself this: Is there any possible way, under this system, where Dilithium can become more valuable than Cryptic Points? Where a person buying C-points with Dilithium can get more C-Points than they used Dilithium, trading, say, 300 Dilithium for 350 C-Points?

Under this system, it's simply not possible for players to get more value from in-game efforts than they can by just forking over cash.

In other words, the game is fixed, the table is rigged, the odds are stacked, we lose, the bean-counters at PWE/Cryptic win.

never going to happen good sir. this deflates there money making model. cpoints will always be more valuable then dilithium because dilithium is free to obtain as to were cpoints are purchased with real world money. simple cryptic wants you cash not your dilithium

That's exactly right. That's my problem, they call it a market, but it's not, it's a currency purchase system with a variable rate.

It's putting in-game currency up for sale for real cash, just not directly on the C-Store.

Can you honestly say you're surprised? Every change in F2P has lead players to the cash shop by way of repetitive, boring grind or time-gated refining. Now, Cryptic's much-vaunted Dilithium exchange is revealed as the player's much-feared C-$tore extension. And not only is it rigged, it infects C-Points, too. If you use C-Points in the Dilithium exchange at all they become STO-only points, even if you cancel your offer ('Oh, you were thinking about using those in CO? Guess you better buy some more). [sarcasm]If only these STO points lost value over time, as well...[/sarcasm]


Z

even if that was an option. no one would ever trade their 350 c-points they paid good money for for such a small sum that could be earned in 5 minutes.

at the moment the minimum they can put that up for is 50 dilithium per point at 17'500 dilithium total. thats still a small amount of dilithium. with three characters anyone can earn that in one day. no one will ever sell them for 50 dilithium. certainly no one will sell it for less. perhaps they could remove the lower cap but it would make no difference as no one with any sense would ever go lower than 50.

if anything people want the upper cap increased so the value of their c-points is even more.

In the most direct sense yes, and that is a point I stand with myself. This system, torn down to the bones, is a stamped and commissioned gold spammer. With the benefit of it working in reverse too.

I don't really see it as it. You now have a chance to let someone _else_ buy C-store items for you.

That's not the same as doing something in game and earning it that way. The only thing you earn is the right to take C-Points from someone else.

STO is becoming a C-Point Clearing House...

I for one, am not interested.