This isn't Cryptic's NGE - STO would have needed lots of stuff in the first place to be able to remove lots of stuff.

Instead, they're jacking us in many other ways.  I expect the end result to be the same as NGE with mass quittings.  I'm holding off to see what Tribble changes reach Live - but with things going the way they are I will probably cancel my lifetime subscription as a message.

Originally posted by Grand_Nagus

Every time someone compares something to the NGE is just shows me how little they actually understand the NGE. The NGE removed the majority of SWG's professions. Those professions were gone forever, period. Nothing is actually being removed from STO. Things are being changed, and I dont like all of them. But chaning something and removing it are not the same thing. This is just another example of someone who doesnt truly understand the NGE trying to use its name for shock value.

To be honest, all your post shows me is you really fail to understand what the NGE was and is.  While the removal of the 32 profs were a part of the NGE, it was only a part.  It may have well been the part that affected you the most in your personal opinion, but it was still a part of the massive changes that came under the banner of NGE.

The original NGE also included the combat CHANGE to "benny hill" combat speeds which really is the thing that started it all according to Freeman and Rubenfield.  When SOE Austin started the NGE the removal of the 32 profs was not even into play, it came later. The NGE included the removal of the village. The NGE included taking jedi from unlocked and "earned" to "one-click" jedi.  The NGE included all the remaining alpha status of jedi removed.  The post NGE in-game economy was CHANGED overnight.  The NGE included the compete removal of the skil box system.  Visibility was removed.  The NGE made a permanant division of jedi classes in "elder" status and NGE jedi.  It included items for jedi that were promised to be better (for ever) for these "elders" which later was pretty much gone back on. etc etc etc etc etc.......... .  Many other CHANGES other than the loss of the 32 profs were also made a part of the NGE.

My daughter left SWG the day of the NGE patch and she played nothing more than a dancer.  Her prof was not removed but she quit just as much as some1 who loged in to get the respec screen.  It would seem that you misunderstand what the entire NGE actualy was.

The NGE was "massive changes" made to an existing game, post launch.  A term that Cryptic devs are now using to explain their list of "massive changes" also.  They full well know this is an NGE.  NGE was brought up specificaly by Cryptic devs on S-4 as they, at that time were trying NOT to have an NGE and stated the same.  If you remember right, no profs were removed with S-4.  Dstahl went out of his way to leave the existing combat system in S-4 to make the new development a choice and not an NGE.  But, Dstahl is now gone and I /agree with the poster above that believe Dstahl left knowing what was happening here.  Freeman and Rubenfield have been plagued by the original NGE many years after the fact and I would think that Dstahl was smart enough to know not to have his name connected with another NGE made by another company.  The NGE was a company trying to go after a playerbase they didn't have at the expence of a playerbase they did have.  You actualy believe this is any different in the stated motives for Cryptic's F2P?

NGE was all inclusive.  It got ev1.  There was something to hate about it for all.  If you can get by Cryptic's version of economy CHANGES, then the crafting CHANGE gets you.  If you can get by that, then the CHANGE to existing items gets you.  Pay to Win comes into play here also if you actualy like all the other CHANGES.  It is rumored that player skills will be NERFed by 75% of what they are now with the skill box CHANGE forthcoming and that will affect EVERY player in this nothing more than "pew pew" game that Cryptic has made..  It would seem that this round of CHANGES has something for ev1 to hate also.

Cryptic's version includes "take-away" development even to the extent of taking away abilities of C=Store ships people had bought and paid for.  Cryptic's version includes many CHANGES to existing systems, existing items, prof revamps (with the new skill-box revamp still coming), etc etc etc, right on down the line.

You can "spin" it how ever makes you sleep at night however, I am now convinced that even Cryptic knows what they are doing is the "quint essential NGE" and if you would even be honest with yourself, you would also.

Is there a release date for F2P release? I am looking forward to trying the game out very much.

Welcome to PWI!

:)

Well, the difference between the original NGE and this one is in the former there actually was a large paying subscriber base that fled the game when the NGE landed, whereas perhaps with STO there's nothing much (in terms of subs) to really lose if the original player base walks?

They've never published subs, but if they've got less than 20K (which I'd bet is realistic) then they're probably betting on making more from cash shop customers once it goes F2P.

Originally posted by Gdemami

Is there a release date for F2P release? I am looking forward to trying the game out very much.

No date as yet.  But, get out your credit card and "come on down".  You'll need it.

Originally posted by Esquire1980

Originally posted by Gdemami

Is there a release date for F2P release? I am looking forward to trying the game out very much.

No date as yet.  But, get out your credit card and "come on down".  You'll need it.

Yeah, I wouldnt think Cryptic would have to make a lot of changes. The cash shop has always been well stocked.

Originally posted by Rusty715

Originally posted by Esquire1980

Originally posted by Gdemami

Is there a release date for F2P release? I am looking forward to trying the game out very much.

No date as yet.  But, get out your credit card and "come on down".  You'll need it.

Yeah, I wouldnt think Cryptic would have to make a lot of changes. The cash shop has always been well stocked.

Have to give you that one.  But........,  you would be amazed.

Now it will be some1 has to go to the cash shop for at least something, subbed or F2P.  They even are putting in a system for ingame trading of C-points for one specific item that is time gated in game.  "Gold sellers", basicly.  And oh, BTW, they raised the prices.  lol

TOR is looking better and better. 

Esquire is spot on. STO is currently being re-engineered so that it makes the cash shop almost a requirement for any meaningful progression in the game. Under the current calculations it will take months of grinding 3-4 hours a day in order to get a top tier non P2W ship completely maxed out in top tier gear. So yeah STO might attract a few people when they go F2P but within a month or two everyone will figure out the game is a grindfest and a P2E (pay to enjoy) model.

---

Originally posted by Esquire1980

No date as yet.  But, get out your credit card and "come on down".  You'll need it.

---

Sure, everything costs money. Not particularly shocking news...

F2P will revive the games PVP, thats all I care about.

I never cared for the game; but it sounds more like a business model now, than a game to have fun in.

This is most CERTAINLY Cryptic's own "NGE".

And the remaining loyal fans are reacting accordingly. I have never seen such a mass exodus from the game since the days of...Star Wars Galaxies.

Frankly, it's almost comical how people continue to disregard the forum rule regarding No "I Quit" threads to voice their last desperate attempt to change the course of their beloved game, some not even realizing that the "No I Quit Threads" policy came about because of another period of discontent earlier on in STO's history that saw a mass exodus and so many I Quit posts, the devs had to put the damage control policy in place.

The future for STO is certain. If they continue heading down the path they are currently on, a year from now, maybe a year-and-a-half, we'll be reading the shutdown notice on this site and other gaming news sites indicating the end of the Star Trek MMO.

In this way, Cryptic has squandered their chance to make STO a viable product. Had their focus been on "relaunching" the game with a renewed dedication to fixing and polishing the game, addressing player concerns and revitalizing a failed product, perhaps STO as a F2P venture could have been an enjoyable attraction, and profitable for years to come. Instead, Cryptic has chosen the route of focusing on making as much money as possible, as quick as possible, and the consequences be dammed. The issues that plagued the game since launch, the numerous bugs that have gone unfixed and the polish this game sorely needs takes a backseat and afterthought to how Cryptic can maximize their bucks from the game, regardless of what it means for the future of their product.

To be perfectly honest, it's rather enjoyable and amusing to sit and watch the USS Cryptic STO go down in flames, as it happens, rather than from a hindsight perspective.

Originally posted by Kyleran

Well, the difference between the original NGE and this one is in the former there actually was a large paying subscriber base that fled the game when the NGE landed, whereas perhaps with STO there's nothing much (in terms of subs) to really lose if the original player base walks?

They've never published subs, but if they've got less than 20K (which I'd bet is realistic) then they're probably betting on making more from cash shop customers once it goes F2P.

 

 What Kyleran said for 100, Alex.

Before I make any rash pre-concieved opinions on the F2P model I'll play it 1st. They may or may not adjust things before it goes live based on players opinions.

***Cptn Raving Rabbid may or may not be reporting for duty...***

Originally posted by Kyleran

Well, the difference between the original NGE and this one is in the former there actually was a large paying subscriber base that fled the game when the NGE landed, whereas perhaps with STO there's nothing much (in terms of subs) to really lose if the original player base walks?

They've never published subs, but if they've got less than 20K (which I'd bet is realistic) then they're probably betting on making more from cash shop customers once it goes F2P.

 

The last tracking data I saw had them still around 58,000, but that was before the sale of Cryptic to PWI. The new data should be available in December or January.