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Lt. Commander
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 120
# 15
12-20-2011, 05:04 AM
Let me give you an example of who I think the majority actually is , and what they think of the 3 "bad choices" you say they are forced into, based on the people in my fleet.

The social player - plays the game for 2 reasons: 1. Likes star trek 2. has friends who like star trek and play the game. This is the sort of player who plays regularly but not daily, and only for extended periods when they schedule time with friends. For this player, PVP does not matter. They do not care to put in the time or effort to be good enough to play PVP with anyone but their friends. They do no care about having the best loot, beyond having gear of the appropriate level (e.g. Hmmm, I'm a captain now. I should probably replace that MkIV Deflector) Their interest in primarily in story content. They may not have leveled a Klingon to 51 yet. They have a LIFETIME SUB. They either don't or rarely post in the forums.

For this type of player, grind is irrelevant. They don't care about getting that badass Item Set, or if they do want it cause it "looks cool" and can get it "without any work" (e.g. the Breen Set)

For this type of player, pay does not matter. They have a lifetime sub. But even if they didn't, the game is going F2P, so they won't be paying either way. Heck, maybe now they can get other friends who love Star Trek (who don't have as much disposable income) to play with them.

For this type of player , quit isn't even on their map. As long as they enjoy some aspect of the game (story missions, DOFFs, etc) and their friends are still playing, they will keep playing.

If I am correct and this is the sort of person that is similar to the majority of players, I think you see why Cryptic is A. doing what they are doing B. only slightly changing their plans C. ignoring most the "vocal minority" complaints

Frankly, none of the F2P changes impacted that type of player beyond the new free stuff they get. "Oooh, I get the original series enterprise now? Neat!" "Doffs? Cool! An added level of realism!" "Random gifts for Xmas? They didn't do this last year! That's nice of them!"

Katic, your example precludes the possibility of there being mice outside of your lab that are immune to all three, and that triple immunity may actually be the most common state. There are are MANY players (like the type described above) who do not have to choose ANY of your poison pill options, and the forums would do well to remember that. It tends to be a bit insular around here on topics like this.

Additionally, to generalize from self is to risk making one of the first common mistakes of Human Research.
For example:
Just because the changes to the US mail system impact you negatively and you have a set of "bad" options because of the changes, it does not logically follow that all Americans are negatively impacted or that a majority of Americans are negatively impacted. Of the 300,000,000 of us in the USA it is entirely possible and likely that less than 1% will be impacted by the changes in any way shape or form and have to make your forced choice.

Can anyone blame Cryptic for not acceding to every demand of the 1%? At what percentage should they undo the F2P changes? 10%? 25%? Is the portion of the player base trapped in the forced choice more than 25%? Really?

To answer your rhetorical question Katic, Yes I think there are people for whom all three exceptions apply (i.e. don't have to answer your forced choice). I play STO with some of them weekly.