Get ready for "Cardassian Lock Boxes"!   http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2864

So there is a chance you will get a Cardassian Ship or other cool stuff as a drop in game.... awesome right?  Well, keep on reading...

"To open one of the Lock Boxes, a character will also need an item called a Master Key. Master Keys can be purchased in the C-Store for 100 CP, or in a 10-pack for 900 CP. If you attempt to open a Lock Box without a Master Key, you will get a message explaining that you need one. If you have more than one Master Key, then only one key will be consumed each time you open a Lock Box."

So, in order to see what is in that spiffy loot box you just got... hand over 100 C-Points for it. 

 Iwas wondering when this would start. It was just way to easy to max out this game without spending a penny. Even so, 100 cpoints is only 2-3 days of grinding without paying. So its still a good deal.

Im waiting for the dilithium refining to cost c-points. Or expect Cryptic to start buying back the C-points on the exchange till it reaches a 300 to 1 ratio or more.

And I assume that this is also the case for SUBSCRIBERS?

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Originally posted by Robsolf
And I assume that this is also the case for SUBSCRIBERS?

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This applies to anyone, even lifetime subs I believe. Some people on the STO forums call it "A nice way to spend your stipend". Heh.

But hey, if you don't want to spend the CP's on a master key, you can put it up for sale on the auction house for EC's.

Be aware, however, that subscribers and lifetime subs get 400cp per month.

Funny enough, the issue that kept coming up in both Cryptic games was subscibers complaining that there was nothing worth while to spend the stipend on. 

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Originally posted by Leethe
Be aware, however, that subscribers and lifetime subs get 400cp per month.

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Right, but do you want to waste a stipend on a very small chance of getting the ship? I dunno if I would. /shurg

SOE have a similar thing with EQ2, you need to subscribe to be able to use the cooler loot you have collected.

Originally posted by Cacaphony

 

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Originally posted by Leethe
Be aware, however, that subscribers and lifetime subs get 400cp per month.

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Right, but do you want to waste a stipend on a very small chance of getting the ship? I dunno if I would. /shurg

I see your point. There is a similar thing going on with grab bags in CO at the moment. They are tradable so that makes it a bit easier to get what you want. Personalli I tend not to bother with that type of thing but I have 680 or so points that i don't know what to do with. I just don't buy much from the C-store so it wouldn't sting as much. 

No doubt they got this gem of an idea from KingsIsle Studios.  They do this in spades in their Wizard 101 game.  Kill the big bosses and they drop crap.  They have a 0.001% chance to drop something interesting, but lo and behold, there is a snazzy chest in the room and for some real money(Crowns), you can open it for a chance at some gear, usually crap.  Even worse is that you can keep doing it, like a slot machine, hitting those people with gambling fever where it really hurts.

When offering a game for free, companies need to appeal to people willing to spend money in as many ways as possible. Without those people, this game (and any free to play for that matter) would not last.

In STO, I started playing for free, and ended up having fun. I wanted to support the further development of the game, so I went gold for a month. Getting C-points and free respecs every 10 ranks on every character is a nice park too!

Some people are into gambling and have fun with the chance to get something ultra rare, so those people will spend money on that chance. People who don't have the cash to spend on it, are still able to do everything and buy everything in the game, thanks to the dilithium/c-point exchange.

All in all, I'd say they're making smart choices with their store.

Sorry but this is a crap way of getting people to support your game. There are plenty of ways to get people to spend money on F2P games that wont make it pay 2 win or a cheap gimmick like this. Reminds me of some kind of facebook game.

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Originally posted by Leethe

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Originally posted by Cacaphony
 

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Originally posted by Leethe
Be aware, however, that subscribers and lifetime subs get 400cp per month.

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Right, but do you want to waste a stipend on a very small chance of getting the ship? I dunno if I would. /shurg

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I see your point. There is a similar thing going on with grab bags in CO at the moment. They are tradable so that makes it a bit easier to get what you want. Personalli I tend not to bother with that type of thing but I have 680 or so points that i don't know what to do with. I just don't buy much from the C-store so it wouldn't sting as much. 

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I can understand your point of view. I just don't really understand why Cryptic doesn't take a little more time to rethink the method of how they do things like this.

Originally posted by keviebyo

All in all, I'd say they're making smart choices with their store.

I would not say  that.  They are much better off adding more content to the game first.  Give the playerbase something to actually do first, then worry about adding in all that leet gear for you to use it on.

Originally posted by GreenHell

Sorry but this is a crap way of getting people to support your game. There are plenty of ways to get people to spend money on F2P games that wont make it pay 2 win or a cheap gimmick like this. Reminds me of some kind of facebook game.

I agree.

Some intersting tweets being made by Thomasthecat about this.

Here

My guess is, this is just the beginning of the truck load of stuff to hit the c-store exclusively.  I was actually quite shocked Cryptic recently gave away a free ship to players. 

Originally posted by Cacaphony

Some intersting tweets being made by Thomasthecat about this.

Here

Utterly fascinating to read him trying to say these are different than the holiday gift boxes.

Originally posted by ShardWarrior

Get ready for "Cardassian Lock Boxes"!   http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2864

 

So there is a chance you will get a Cardassian Ship or other cool stuff as a drop in game.... awesome right?  Well, keep on reading...

 

"To open one of the Lock Boxes, a character will also need an item called a Master Key. Master Keys can be purchased in the C-Store for 100 CP, or in a 10-pack for 900 CP. If you attempt to open a Lock Box without a Master Key, you will get a message explaining that you need one. If you have more than one Master Key, then only one key will be consumed each time you open a Lock Box."

 

So, in order to see what is in that spiffy loot box you just got... hand over 100 C-Points for it. 

I'm ok with this.

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Originally posted by ShardWarrior

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Originally posted by Cacaphony
Some intersting tweets being made by Thomasthecat about this.
Here

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Utterly fascinating to read him trying to say these are different than the holiday gift boxes.

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I think he is enjoying this.

He's Loling at you guys!

Originally posted by AdamTM

Originally posted by ShardWarrior

Get ready for "Cardassian Lock Boxes"!   http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2864

 

So there is a chance you will get a Cardassian Ship or other cool stuff as a drop in game.... awesome right?  Well, keep on reading...

 

"To open one of the Lock Boxes, a character will also need an item called a Master Key. Master Keys can be purchased in the C-Store for 100 CP, or in a 10-pack for 900 CP. If you attempt to open a Lock Box without a Master Key, you will get a message explaining that you need one. If you have more than one Master Key, then only one key will be consumed each time you open a Lock Box."

 

So, in order to see what is in that spiffy loot box you just got... hand over 100 C-Points for it. 

I'm ok with this.

It is expected for the apologists to be ok with anything Cryptic does.