c-store
Latest
STO's latest Ask Cryptic tackles War Targs, weekly episodes and free-to-play
It's the beginning of a new month, and that means another Q&A session between Cryptic and fans. Star Trek Online's Executive Producer Dan Stahl stepped up for a comprehensive Ask Cryptic that looked deep into the eyes of the void and came back all the wiser for it. The questions run across the board, with a large chunk devoted to future content: More bridge officer features? (Season Four.) New weekly episodes? (January, with more to follow.) Better deep space encounters? (The team is overhauling these after Season Three.) The ability to join factions? (Possible, such as a Ferengi trader faction.) Stahl also admits that there are "too many currencies" in the game at the moment, and the team will be paring those down. One of the most requested features by players is the addition of the classic Enterprise bridge layout from the 1960's series, and it looks as though Cryptic will be delivering: "I can see this getting done in the next several updates." And if you are among the crowd predicting that STO will quickly follow in Champions Online's F2P footsteps, it doesn't appear to be in the works (at least, not yet): "We're very excited to see Champs go F2P but this has no direct impact on Star Trek Online. Our subscription and C-Store model will continue forward without changes."
Star Trek Online rethinks microtransactions in the latest State of the Game
Upbeat but still working hard: That is the motto of Star Trek Online's Dan Stahl in the latest state of the game. STO's executive producer strikes a positive note by saying that the game is enjoying a "healthy subscriber base" as well as an increase in the number of lifetime subs. The team is also proud to be releasing more frequent content in the form of weekly episodes. Stahl then tackled three of STO's biggest complaints: the microtransaction shop (C-Store), ground combat and skimpy Klingon content. For players who are rankled that some of the better ships can only be purchased via the C-Store, Stahl reports that this will be changing: "I'm happy to say that we have been evaluating your feedback and looking at our internal resources and finding ways to ensure that coveted items such as ships can be be obtained in game as well as via micro-transaction." Improvements to both ground combat and the Klingon faction are on their way, he promised, stating that the team has struggled with the Klingon's "identity crisis" since the first day of the game. While the faction's content will grow to become more robust, Stahl admits that the team doesn't have the resources to beef up the Klingon side to be on par with the Federation, especially since only a fraction of the playerbase fight on that side. You can read the full state of the game on the official STO site.
Cryptic celebrates the holiday with a C-Store sale
If there's one feature of games from Cryptic Studios that's generated the most controversy, it's the C-Store. That having been said, it's hard to deny that the development team behind Star Trek Online and Champions Online takes any excuse to cut down the prices for a while. A holiday weekend combined with the one-year anniversary of Champions Online is the perfect opportunity to have a general sale for both game stores, lasting until 10 a.m. PDT on September 7th. For the remainder of the weekend and well into Tuesday, all items in both stores will be 20% off the listed price on the website. The only exceptions are the newest additions to the store -- the Millennium Costume Set for Champions Online and the Excelsior-class ship for Star Trek Online. If you've been putting off picking up one of the many vanity items for sale, now would be a perfect time to add them to your collection.
Behind the Mask: Two layers of toppings
"Microtransactions" is almost a taboo word in the MMO community. Everyone has a different opinion on it. Even here at Massively, our ideas on microtransactions vary widely. But perhaps even more frightening than the label of "F2P" is "double-dipping." Some games continue to charge a normal subscription, while still having some content featured as microtransactions. All of Cryptic Studios' current games support a double-dipping model, and Champions Online is no exception. A lot of players think this is a terrible, terrible thing. As a gamer, I understand that players want things to be free. I also understand that developers have to strike a real balance between content that's given for free and content that is sold as paid expansions or unlocked via microtransactions.
Play Champions Online for a week without paying a dime
How much of a game can you experience in a week? Do you think you could hit the level cap? Could you make a full army of alts? Could you make friends and have a reason to keep playing? As part of its anniversary celebration, Champions Online is inviting players to see what they can do with a week of unfettered access to the game. From September 1st to the 7th, anyone can register and play the game completely free, whether or not the player has purchased the game in the past. All that players have to do to take part is sign up on the official page, which means registering an account if you haven't done so previously. Then, for the whole of that week, you'll be able to access everything in the game as if you were a normal subscriber. To sweeten the deal for existing players, there will also be a promotion running in the C-Store, with nearly everything at a 20% discount. It's hard to say no to a free week of a game, so if your interest is piqued, sign up for a free week's worth of Champions Online now.
Captain's Log: Per-character C-Store services ruin everything ever
Geez louise! It's time for another installment of your favorite Thursday Star Trek Online column, Captain's Log. Despite the lovely weather, the final volume of awesome, that crazy-good movie and a parasailing donkey, everyone seems to (still) be talking about one thing: the C-Store! In last week's Captain's Log, we glanced at micro-transactions in STO on our way to discussing the game's future in an increasingly freemium world. Readers had plenty of comments to share ... and that was before Cryptic Studios dropped a hydrogen bomb in the form of new per-character services. Players erupted late last week, and the flames are still burning in a forum thread more than 115 pages long. I would be remiss to gloss over the controversy, so let's examine why folks are so upset at Cryptic this time. It's not as if much else is happening in the pre-patch lull, amirite?
Champions' State of the Game: Demons, high heels and super supergroups for all!
While the summer days are hot and those hammocks in the shade are inviting, Cryptic Studios is choosing to spend the season gearing up for hefty content releases. In the latest State of the Game report, Champions Online's Executive Producer Shannon "Poz" Posniewski outlines a number of features, fixes and fluff that's going into the next patch and beyond. For August, Champions Online plans to implement a number of quality-of-life improvements to the game. These include more supergroup features (such as a better UI and supergroup advertisements), overhauling pet powers, an improved C-Store, and giving Millennium City's Ren Center a much-needed visual update. They're also slipping in a few new costume options, so if you've been waiting for the latest in Champions high heel shoe fashion, then wait no longer! Moving on to the fall, Posniewski is excited to announce a new adventure pack entitled "The Demonflame." The pack is based on a Champions pen-and-paper module, and involves bad people opening portals to places better left alone. Check out the full point-by-point Poz poetry at Champions Online's site!
Star Trek Online adds more C-Store options and controversy [Update]
There's a pattern that seems to repeat itself every time Cryptic adds new items to Star Trek Online's C-Store -- or at least, a sequence of events wherein players are at first excited, then angry or annoyed when the prices are revealed. A bunch of new items have been added to the store: two additional costume slots (not on the website at the moment), two additional ship slots, and two additional bridge officer spots. The trouble arises with the handling of the upgrades, particularly with the new costume slots, as they're counted on a per-character basis. A similar upgrade is available in the store for Champions Online, for the exact same price -- but it increases the number of costumes available on every character rather than just the character it's purchased on. The per-character upgrades, coupled with a reduced importance for costumes in Star Trek Online, all help make many players feel a bit shorted by the price tag. Others are arguing that the add-on is only $2.50, an argument that's gone on at length on the official forums. Controversy is nothing new to the game, but this much debate over a fairly minor item leads one to be a bit curious about what reception future items might find. [Update: Cryptic has contacted us with news on upcoming changes to this system, "We're going to change the way the costume slot purchases work so they become account-wide rather than per-character. And, of course, our customer service department will be able to assist anyone who purchased the upgrade multiple times to cover multiple characters."] [Thanks to Cap for the tip!]
No microtransactions in Final Fantasy XIV, but many beta screenshots
There are plenty of contentious issues in the MMO field, but one of the biggest at the moment is microtransactions. Controversy over the C-Store, the $25 "sparkle pony" and subsequent imitators, and the general balance in the burgeoning free-to-play field have made the players of nearly every game form an opinion. But those who detest the practice can take heart -- according to Hiromichi Tanaka, Final Fantasy XIV will not be including any sort of in-game store. That's from a recent interview from JPgames.de, translated by the FFXIVCore fansite community. According to Tanaka, Square-Enix isn't necessarily opposed to the idea if the demand is present, but absolutely does not want in-game power to correspond to real-world money. He also confirmed that players will be allowed to pick their server at launch, unlike the server roulette present at Final Fantasy XI's launch. If the interview isn't enough to tide you over, the game's beta has been given a brief writeup from Famitsu (translated from the Japanese), and there's an excellent gallery of screenshots available here. There are just over two months until the launch of Final Fantasy XIV, and they look to be an exciting ride.
Rumor: Is Star Trek Online due for Turbine's business model?
Back in early June, Turbine surprised everyone -- for the second time in a year -- by announcing that Lord of the Rings Online would be moving to a free-to-play model akin to Dungeons and Dragons Online. It seems like a somewhat risky move on one level, but also quite understandable given the success the latter has enjoyed. Now we're hearing potential rumblings of another game heading in that direction -- specifically, from Star Trek Online's new Executive Producer Daniel Stahl. In the midst of a thread rather unhappy with some of the answers from the most recent Ask Cryptic outing, Stahl chimed in about Star Trek Online going free-to-play. Stahl mentions that he could easily see Cryptic's game adopting a similarly hybrid model, with the option for a subscription as well as the option to pay as you play. While he stops far from saying that it's in the plan, he does say the success enjoyed by Turbine is well worth taking note. Alternative subscription plans are gaining momentum, and with gamers complaining about the C-Store prices combined with a subscription fee, the idea might not be so far-fetched after all. [Thanks to Alexander for the tip!]
Cryptic Studios launches a sale and a new ship for holiday weekend
It's the 4th of July weekend for most people in the United States -- a chance to reflect soberly on the past of the country, or at least claim to do so whilst setting off fireworks and grilling hamburgers. Cryptic Studios is also hoping that it's time to put in a little more playtime, as they're having another sale in the Star Trek Online and Champions Online C-Stores to coincide with the holiday. Up through 10 AM PST on July 6th, all full costume sets and all existing ship variants are 20% off. A new addition has also been brought into the in-game store for Star Trek Online (although not listed at the time of this writing on the official page) -- the upgraded Galaxy-class ship from the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Dubbed the Galaxy-X following popular fan convention, the ship functions as a brand-new Tier 5 Cruiser with the option to equip Dual Cannons, as well as the ship's unique Phaser Lance. The lance can hit multiple enemies and deal high amounts of damage, but unlike most weapons in the game it has to be manually aimed via turning the ship. Although Cryptic has yet to recover from the last controversy with added items to the C-Store, the sale will hopefully ease at least a few hurt feelings.
Star Trek Online pushes pre-order bonus items to the C-Store
Are you a Star Trek Online player who wants a Borg bridge officer or access to the original USS Enterprise, but missed out on the limited-time offers for them? The good news is that you no longer have to be bereft of the pre-order perks just because you came into the game late. Cryptic is offering a variety of the pre-order items and bonuses on the C-Store as part of a large update to their stock. Among the new items are uniforms for Deep Space Nine and The Wrath of Khan, playable Joined Trill, and of course the original Constitution-class Enterprise. Understandably, there's a fair bit of furor about the new additions to the store. Lifetime subscribers are especially upset about the changes, as some of the additions were specifically aimed at them -- and unlike pre-ordering customers, they didn't pay the same price as everyone else. While the developers are understanding, they've stated repeatedly that they see this as best for the game and the players. It certainly is a net benefit for non-lifetime Star Trek Online players, but it certainly isn't going to tone down the controversy of the game's microtransaction system.
Score some Champions and STO stuff on the cheap
If you've been waffling on picking up some goodies for your Champions Online or Star Trek Online accounts, but wanted to wait until the prices dropped a bit, then you're in luck. Cryptic Studios has announced that they're offering a 20% discount in the C-store during the Memorial Day weekend here in the US. What's better is that this isn't just a handful of items that only a handful of people might want -- this is for everything currently available in the C-store. For Star Trek Online, this means you can pack your game full of shiny new ships, bridge packs, vessels, character slots, emotes, respecs and more. In Champions Online, the store offers heroes costume sets, emblems, character slots, action figures and (of course) retcons or name changes. (Note: the website doesn't immediately reflect the price drops.) Additionally, the sale runs until Tuesday, June 2nd at 10:00 AM, so you've got all weekend to ponder your options.
A Cryptic sale with new items for Star Trek Online
Tax day has come and gone for US residents, which means that several of us are either feeling the pinch of paying the government or looking forward to a nice big refund. Oddly enough, there's one thing that brings together both people wanting to save money and those looking to spend it: a nice sale. Which is no doubt why Cryptic is running an after-tax sale on the controversial C-Store in both Champions Online and Star Trek Online. It's not a little sale, either -- all items in both stores are 25% off until Monday, April 19th. If that alone isn't quite enough, a new pack of add-ons have just gone on sale for Star Trek Online: a new Admiral science vessel (to compliment the escort and cruiser models already released), a new Bridge Pack, and the first Emote Pack. Champions Online doesn't get any new items for the weekend, but their C-Store is fairly well-expanded as it is. Worth noting is that the price of the points used to buy items is the same -- that is, you still get the same number of points for $10, they just buy more. And in all practical terms, it spells a good opportunity for players of both games to get some new flair at a lowered price.
Players miffed over Champions Online's "kitchen sink patch" and Vibora Bay
It's an awkward time for Champions Online. After the last State of the Game post by Chronomancer, things were looking up. The latest patch was slated to fix Lemuria (colloquially known as Lagmuria, due to the extreme system hiccups), add more power to various power frameworks, nemesis changes, the addition of team looting, and changes to the crafting system. Furthermore, the same State of the Game post announced that Champions would be getting its first expansion -- Vibora Bay. However, with the deployment of the "kitchen sink" patch, most gamers have experienced more lag in all zones, some characters are locked in Lemuria, unable to log in, and there are issues with the crafting systems. If all of that wasn't bad enough, Cryptic Daeke has confirmed that Vibora Bay will be a "paid expansion" which will add more content for levels 37 to 40 -- a move which has sent many members of the community into what can only be described as "a frothing rage."
Anti-Aliased: I like walking into towering infernos (like the Champions Online C-Store)
Yes everyone, it's one of those articles. I promised you guys way back before the launch of Champions Online that I would talk about the C-Store when it finally came out. Well, it finally came out last week, and you guys certainly had a lot to say on the matter. To many, this is just another bad move on the part of Cryptic. However, according to the general MMO population, every move that Cryptic has made has been a bad move. (Yes Kdolo, Sakura Park, we heard you the last 50 times.) If I took every comment people told me about Champions Online as truth, then I'd think it was a buggy, unplayable mess that's powered by unsympathetic robots who want to do nothing more than suck all of the cash out of your wallet. Unfortunately for the naysayers, I actually play Champions Online. And, like I did before, I'm going to give my honest opinions on this next move from Cryptic.
Champions store getting new costumes, character slots and more
New costume pieces, additional character slots, retcons and more are all being added to the Champions Online C-Store this Tuesday. Using this exchange rate chart for Cryptic Points the price of a full retcon is $12.50, which isn't too high considering that a retcon allows a player to completely remake a character from the ground up. Costume pieces seem to cost around three dollars, which seems pretty reasonable considering that the Cyborg Beast and Epic Samurai are both rather impressive looking at that price. Lastly, buying four additional character slots costs the most at 1200 points -- which looks to be about $15 or so.Overall, the pricing is lower than what we expected for costumes. Sure, the points system isn't ideal but generally speaking there's not a lot to be overtly upset about here.
Champions Online's Bill Roper talks retcons, powers and more part 2
How will you be dealing with the high price of a substantial retcon? This then means we have to work with ratios of these numbers and address the relationship of economic ratios between synergistic and disparate systems.
