I think you can blame that guy who started "Where's our relativity uniform?!?!" thread on the forums.

Cryptic saw his posts and the many people who read the posts and then they got an idea: There's a demand...lets make a killing!

So.. you see, you have to blame that guy for making the post and giving cryptic a hint that there's actually something they can profit from.

"A fool and his money are soon parted" - old English proverb

Here is a small thought with big implications;

All the lobi and lockbox items are entirely optional purchases.

You have another choice and that is not to play. That is what the OP is discussing.

What gives you the right to write off his choice as invalid in favor of the choice of giving PWE money?

The game is optional.

Funny how this same silly argument keeps getting brought up even though the hard counter is so obvious.

You might as well ask why play the game. Character progression is the substance of the game. No progression, no game. Which brings us here and people choosing not to play.

Actually, your argument is merely a spin of the OP, which is that the substance of the game is pointless suck. You are just trying to make it sound reasonable.

4000 zpoints is $50. For $50 you can buy more than one brand new game, or several months of sub time in a sub-based game. You can buy a lot more stuff than some pixels in a grindy MMO.

If your stated goal is to make me miserable, doesn't that mean you're just trolling?

Shouldn't you get actioned for it? Will you?

Why do the same people keep saying this in the same voice? The game is optional.

Silly argument is silly. By this logic you must agree with the OP for choosing not to do something optional, no?

PWE has a long habit of doing this and they also spam-edited the Memory Alpha page on the Wells before it appeared in lockboxes.

Find ways to squeeze $$$ from consumers then pretend the community "demanded" worthless kitsch instead of real content.

I can understand the problem if people are excited for something to be added to the game, only to have it gated behind Zen and/or an annoying grind. Some will put up with the costs, others will be upset.

Personally, I don't get excited about anything new unless I find out that I'll enjoy it, and I'll have access to it either immediately or in a way that's fun for me. It helps that I'm not obsessive about Star Trek lore. For example, I'm fine with the ships that are available to me for free in the game. Gate something behind lobi crystals, STFs, lots of Zen, etc, and I'll just pretend it doesn't exist.

Says the guy, who has a "Carrier Officer" title...
What's this? A 300 dollars for a lifetime sub?
My friend, you make me laugh on so many levels...

But, seriously...
Just have fun with the game. Or don't.
If you don't have fun with the game and the way people play it, pay for it, etc., don't call them "idiots who pay $$$ for pixels"...
You just make fun of yourself this way.
For real.

Gentle reminder... No "Forum PvP", guys...

Use good sense, a sense of humor, and when in doubt re-read the forum rules.

PS. Implied insults are still insults and thinly-veiled hostility is still hostility. There's plenty of that kind of provocation going on from more than one person in this thread and I'm going to ask everyone doing it to stop before it escalates any further. Please sincerely respect other peoples' opinions, politely agree or disagree, and get back on topic, or this thread will be closed and moderation will be meted out accordingly.

I decided that I wouldn't open any lock boxes when they first came out. Gambling is gambling, and gambling's very purpose is for the gambler to lose. Why would I take part in something that I'm going to lose in?

If cryptic ever wants me to spend anything on this game again, then they will have to put its in the c-store. I play the game to have fun, not because I'm broke and/or cheap, I'm not going to grind for dilithium (and I'll never pay for it) or ec for hours and hours to buy stuff.

All the people continuing to foolishly buy key after key is just supporting this behaviour by cryptic

The forums aren't 'acting weird', the posts were merged because we're not supposed to make multiple threads about the same thing.

I don't really like the lockboxes any more than the next guy. But we were told when the 29th century Federation uniform was officially announced that it would be a lobi store release. The lobi store is where anything that doesn't fit the prime elements of the KDF and UFP factions goes to supposedly keep them rare. The idea is that if we want those elements badly enough we can throw money at them until we get them. The fact that so many people actually would do that justifies the method from a business perspective.

Businesses will do what makes them the most money so long as people are willing to pay. I do not blame PWE for this. I blame the gottahaveitall crowd that keeps throwing money at these things. If they stop throwing money at lockboxes, then lockboxes won't be profitable. But we know this will not happen.

Also... let us not forget that the containers for a lockbox grand prise ship can also be sold on the exchange, as can lockbox keys. So just like Dilithium, players can get access to everything by just playing the game. They just have to play it a lot.