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Originally posted by ThreeSixty
Do you have a link to them getting caught?  I definitely don't dispute it... just wondering if "caught" was just the threads on the STO forums or there was some sort of actual confession from Cryptic.  I am curious how they spammed the names of players who don't exist.

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I think the first post about it was here. IIRC there was a follow up via the patch notes after this where the phantom/non-winner name spamming was "fixed".

It would be very simple to spam fake names. All they need is some code to generate random names to flash across the screen as winners.

Follow all the threads about this. The ship win spam was so frequent, it equated to thousands upon thousands of "winners" per week. If this were really true, every player would have one by now.

Originally posted by lizardbones

The difference between evil Cryptic playing with the numbers and just regular random behavior is indistinguishable to the players.

Why would they bother with mucking about with drop rates, when they could do absolutely nothing and get the exact same results? That's why gambling is such a money maker. The house will always make more money.
 

 

Remember, Cryptic did get caught "inflating" the drop rate via blasting account names as "winners" across the screen that were no longer playing the game, did not exist or never won a ship.  Of course they are mucking with numbers. 

Originally posted by Cacaphony

The point I was trying to make was that finally, the podcast community is finally starting to see what Cryptic really is, and STOked is finally, yet slowly, coming down from la-la land in happy go lucky Cryptic-can-do-no-wrong world, to reality. I could see it a long time ago. I didn't need Chris at STOked to tell me.

 

STOked has been less and less in la la land since they shed Jeremy's massive girth.  I do not fault Chris for trying to remain positive.  He may not focus on negativity as much as others do, but he does get the point across.  Players are fed up with the state of the game, lack of content, excuses, lockboxes, the list goes on.

More and more I am inclined to side with the folks who have said PWE is putting STO in stasis and just milk the IP for what they can. 

Originally posted by Kiljaedenas

The link is invalid dude, can't see what was posted there.

Sorry.  It should be correct now.

Link to STOked 124 "Perfect World Disappoints"

Chris and the folks over at STOked hit the nail on the head IMO with regard to the state of STO. Great feedback in this episode, although I would not lay all the blame on PWE here. As has been said a few times, the only constant in STO's problems is Cryptic Studios.

I found this blurb from Chris most telling in the comments;

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ChrisLAS
I'll leave it up for you. But you can check the dev tacker your self.   I won't disclose my private email conversations with PW. But I understand more about the situation that I can really share. -Chris

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In other words, do not be getting your hopes up about a bright future for STO.

Edit:
Fixed the link.

Originally posted by Torvaldr

I don't really like the lockbox idea either, but I don't see how they're much different than the Yu-Gi-Oh cards my son buys.  Those packs advertise 1 "x" quality card (where x is typically a rare desirable card) or better and 14 more "y" quality or better cards.  There are different packs and different offerings that have better or lower value.

Lockboxes in STO have no guarantee on anything, such as the rare or desirable card.  A gold lockbox could yield a common battery.

Originally posted by Darth_Osor

TBH I can't see how they get away with not telling you the odds on winning at least the top prize, when you have to spend real money to play. 

Cryptic/PWE will claim that "technically" you do not have to pay real money.  A player can grind dilithium in STO to convert to C-Store points to buy keys OR single keys can be purchased on the exchange for EC.  The amount of time needed to do all this grinding is overly prohibitive of course, so players plunk down the real cash instead for the instant gratification.

Originally posted by udon

I am personally torn here.  As much as I hate state gambling laws on the whole I think I might hate the lockboxes and what they are doing to MMO's more.  I hope one or more states goes after these companies and sends a message that the boxes are not worth the hassle because nothing short of that is going to stop this trend from spreading across MMO's like a plague.

I wonder if companies would be allowed to keep the T ESRB rating if these are ruled to be gambling?

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Originally posted by adam_nox
uhh, what does D3's rmah have to do with lockboxes or gambling? 

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Gah, sorry.  Bad editing on my part. I meant to include this quote from the article there.

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Well, if the game allows you to sell anything you find in the lockbox to other players, you've got a quick way to make a virtual buck with a real one. Say you buy a pack of in-game trading cards (SOE is famous for these) or a lockbox and find a very rare treasure. You can then sell the item you bought with real-world cash for in-game currency, and the RMT gods smile down on you.

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Sorry for that.

Original article on Massively.

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If anyone tries to refute the above claim to you, then be prepared to listen to a chain of logic so twisted and bent that it's probably been run through a yoga class. The simple truth of all this is that you're plunking down a set amount of real-world money for a possibility of getting a reward you desire. It's gambling.

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There is some hope as pointed out in the article. Blizzard had to kill Diablo III's RMT in South Korea. One can always hope the US and Europe will follow suit.

Originally posted by lizardbones


I'm not a big fan of random things in games. I especially don't like it when you spend real money on it.

 

Same here.  These cheapen the whole experience for me personally.  It is kind of sad to see MMO developers moving in this direction. 

Originally posted by Tyrranosaur

13 posts before Godwin's Law kicked in....is that a record?

 

LOL!  If yes, do I win a prize?

I would agree Cryptic has gotten (much) worse since the purchase by PWE.  IMO Cryptic went downhill when NC Soft bought out their half of the City of Heroes IP.  The real talented folk Cryptic had at the time (wisely) left to form what is today Paragon Studios.

Cryptic has been a joke ever since.

Originally posted by eyeswideopen

I didn't know anyone still gave a shit what Cryptic is or isn't concerned with?

It's not like I look in the bowl before flushing and ask my turd if it has any concerns.

This cracked me up!  LOL!

Originally posted by apocoluster

  I do see it a a scam, but just a little one and being entirely blown out of proportion

If my memory is right, Prime Minister Chamberlain said something similar about Germany invading Poland in 1933.   "It was only a "little" invasion...  "  

Conjecture aside, complacency over the "little" things is what can lead to the whole MMO market getting polluted with junk like these lockboxes.    Just my 2 cents.

Originally posted by lizardbones

Concerning lockboxes in the Netherlands, the correct course of action is to simply not have the game playable in the Netherlands. No reason that everyone in the game should be denied something they want just because one country has different views on virtual items.
 

It is possible that the EU law would apply here as well.  Cryptic would have to block access to any country in the European Union, which I would imagine is a significant chunk of income for them.  Is that worth it?

Cryptic knew full well what they were doing with the lockboxes.  They are a scam. 

Originally posted by apocoluster

   lol blowing this out of propotion aint yah...one employee does not an entire company make

Not at all.  Read the linked articles as well as the various other threads regarding the topic of Lockboxes.

You can buy keys in the C-Store yes.  You can also buy some on the in-game exchange.

I will try to find the posts/threads about it again (although I believe they have since been removed) where it was proven that the on-screen announcements when someone opened a box and received a ship were naming players that never won a ship.  In some cases, the accounts were for people who no longer played the game.

These lockboxes are a scam, plain and simple. 

Link to article on Massively

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Originally Posted by Suricata
Also, I got an email back from the Danish Justice ministry, the Danish Gambling Authorities are now investigating the lockboxes in STO in relation to Danish law, it should be noted that because the ships are tradeable and have shown up on some auction sites, like ebay, they can actually have a real world value, which really complicates the issue!

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Quote Originally Posted by Prower
Just imagine all that lost revenue from one of the richest areas in the world if this goes the worst case scenario.

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Quote Originally Posted by @borticus
Honestly? Probably less revenue than would be lost by not doing any more Lock Boxes.

...

I hope you realize that the most likely course of action here, if any is taken, is that the STO becomes unplayable in the Netherlands. IP blocks, proxy blocks, etc.

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Quotes from Borticus taken from here

So there you have it folks. Cryptic would rather take their toys and go home than give up their precious lockboxes.

Borticus did try to do the usual spin/backpedalling here, but personally I do not buy any of his whining. Anyone stupid enough to be making comments like he did in a public forum for all the world to see deserves what they get. Most companies have policies that forbid an employee from publicly expressing opinions on how the company operates or their feelings about management or representing the companies views. You see this all the time on TV here in the US where a program has a disclaimer to the effect of "the views in this program do not represent the network" etc. If he is dumb enough to publicly talk about how he thinks Cryptic might stop doing business in entire continents should the lockbox scams be ruled as illegal, he should not be crying about that opinion being published.

I could be wrong, but since EU laws may apply here to this kind of thing, it is likely that should the boxes be deemed illegal in Denmark, chances are good they will be all throughout the EU, which would mean STO would become unavailable in Europe. So Cryptic would just take their toy and go home.

Nice to know how little Cryptic values you as a customer, eh?

Thread on the STO forums is here.

Originally posted by ShadowMajere

I understand the Lock boxes are a way of bringing NON FACTION ships into the game, What I do not understand is the way you are doing it.

I understand it completely.  It is a much easier and faster cash grab than investing the time and effort into creating new factions for the game so you could actually play a Ferengi Trader or Uridian or whatever. 

Originally posted by AG-Vuk

This game has now become the test bed for Neverwinter game.

I agree completely.