So I was thoroughly enjoying my summer yesterday, spending some time on my Klingon STO character in warzones, etc, and trying out some (stale) PvP arenas for the first time in a long time. Having recently capped my Klingon toon, I took advantage of the afternoon and picked up the B'rel Retrofit Bird-of-Prey with my *free* ship token (given to Gold Members of the game - subscribers or lifers) I received for capping a character.
The Broader Question
Aside from the ignorant accusing me of things of which I was not guilty, I think there is a more important underlying question here, one of the free-to-play model in general. If you're going that route, its accepted that there has to be a cash store to generate a profit, and to generate that profit you have to be willing to give the customer what they want. If the ships in the store offer no benefit for your money, who would buy them? The game would sink faster than Star Wars Galaxies.
So there has to be some benefit. And those ships do have a benefit, but its is game-breakingly unbalancing? I think not. A tool is only as good as the craftsman using it. I had the most advanced stealth in the game, yet I still haven't figured out an effective way to make use of it. If you pay for a ship with a seemingly powerful console, but don't have sound tactics, it'll just be wasting a console slot.
And I think the same could be said of any other game with a store. There may be a store. There may be good items in that store. But that doesn't mean the player will be paying to win. Should they get the benefit for their money? Sure. Does that mean they'll use it effectively? Heck no. And if the feddies I was toasting knew how to defend against a cloak, I was have popped like a balloon in my glass cannon. They just don't know where to shoot.
So I think the reaction to this whole concept is simply blown out of proportion. The game is still playable, is still enjoyable, and you don't have to spend a dime if you don't want to. But if you do, there are benefits for you, not the least of which is you know, the continuation of the game you feel so entitled to. Everybody wins.
Given that the only really viable build that takes advantage of its unique Enhanced Battle Cloak is that of torpedo boat, I decided to load her up with various strange builds, pop into Ker'rat (which you should try if you haven't) or an arena, and see what works best.
The Shock!
Upon entering my first arena and engaging a cowardly federation dog, I was immediately accused of being lame, cheating, being unfair, pay-2-win slander, etc. This amazed me for a few reasons:
- I didn't buy this ship through the C-Store. In fact, I doubt many people have. When you cap a character as a gold member, you received a token which can be exchanged for this ship. I chose to do just that. So I didn't 'pay-to-win' any more than any other subscriber of any traditional MMO might 'pay-2-win.' I mean, it's like accusing a WoW player for paying-to-win because he has a piece of geared bestowed upon him through a quest for capping his character. It makes no sense.
- I was the weakest link on the Klingon team. In fact, my DPS was lowest. By far. As in, I wasn't even close to being fourth in DPS. If anything, I hindered the team with my *experimental* build. But people insist on knee-jerk reactions.
- The Feds, as usual, have terrible tactics. They spent more time complaining in the arena chat than actually trying to play well. Cloak is relatively easily rendered useless through several means. Science officers have a skill to see through it. Science Bridge Officers also have a skill to see through it. (Which, I might add, makes it available to any career path.) Numerous federation ships have the ability to see through it. Yet I didn't see any of these used in the entire match. Nor did they act as a group. Nor did they focus fire any targets. There's a reason it was a slaughter, and I wasn't it, I assure you. In fact, it could have been four to five and the results would have been the same.
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| The I.K.S. Sneaky Snake poised to strike! |
Aside from the ignorant accusing me of things of which I was not guilty, I think there is a more important underlying question here, one of the free-to-play model in general. If you're going that route, its accepted that there has to be a cash store to generate a profit, and to generate that profit you have to be willing to give the customer what they want. If the ships in the store offer no benefit for your money, who would buy them? The game would sink faster than Star Wars Galaxies.
So there has to be some benefit. And those ships do have a benefit, but its is game-breakingly unbalancing? I think not. A tool is only as good as the craftsman using it. I had the most advanced stealth in the game, yet I still haven't figured out an effective way to make use of it. If you pay for a ship with a seemingly powerful console, but don't have sound tactics, it'll just be wasting a console slot.
And I think the same could be said of any other game with a store. There may be a store. There may be good items in that store. But that doesn't mean the player will be paying to win. Should they get the benefit for their money? Sure. Does that mean they'll use it effectively? Heck no. And if the feddies I was toasting knew how to defend against a cloak, I was have popped like a balloon in my glass cannon. They just don't know where to shoot.
So I think the reaction to this whole concept is simply blown out of proportion. The game is still playable, is still enjoyable, and you don't have to spend a dime if you don't want to. But if you do, there are benefits for you, not the least of which is you know, the continuation of the game you feel so entitled to. Everybody wins.
Agreed, on all counts. I was neutralized while cloaked just this afternoon, because that fed team actually knew how to fight klingons. It was a damn good match because of that fact.
ReplyDeleteThe overreacting, unfortunately, is going to happen in any pvp situation whenever a certain player or class (for example, rogues in WoW) have some kind of advantage that they can use against the uninitiated. The players will bemoan the edge, because they weren't ready for it...because, for some reason, war should be fought in straight, even lines on an open battlefield whenever everyone's ready at the same time?