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Darth_Osor
Member Posts: 1,089
By "popular" demand, this topic gets its' own thread:
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=155130
This thread was started by the same guy that a few days ago said bugs were the players' fault, so we're talking card carrying fanbot here. Best part about this promo is new players have to sub past the first month for people to get this perk. Even die-hard CDF know they can't get 5 people to buy, much less sub, to this pile.
Surprised this offer didn't pop on Friday, like the rest of their not-well-received marketing ploys.
/popcorn
Comments
anyone else get the feeling cryptic is pulling out all the stops to try and get enough subs for there 20 mil bonus?
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
Yup i do
Was the 20 mil bonus not for getting the game out by a certain date which Cryptic did?
Pretty sure it was based on revenue numbers, but I don't care enough to look for the story.
"Additionally the performance-related bonus could see as much as USD 20 million paid in cash or stock if Champions Online and Star Trek's 2010-11 revenues outperform set undisclosed targets, payable in August 2010 and May 2011."
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/274313/STO-The-Bonus-Money.html
dont know if this is accurate, but there is other posts about it
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
I strongly believe that I remember the bonus is dependent on Cryptic hitting a specific profit generation target by a certain date. I know I read it in a Atari/Infrogames financial document, but can't be arsed to go look for it again. It is available for the public to see though, since it's a publicly traded company.
I do agree we are starting to see sweat on their upper lip alright. Too bad it wasn't because CBS was threatning to pull the lisence though, but since all that was done regarding the scam of a release was about that bonus ........
That explains all the c-store crap and lack of any real content via patches. Cryptic are nickle and diming it big time to leach as much income from players as they can..
I think they had to hit certain goals by may and I think august to get the dough. They've got plenty of peole willing to throw money at them so who knows.
quote about the new galaxy:
I would gladly put down 20 bucks to fly this baby. As for buying copies of the game and subbing them...ehhh , not so much. I hope to see this changed, but I doubt it.
$20 for a ship? I'd rather spend it on booze but whatever.
The intial buyout deal was for 27.5M US but Cryptic was only given 4M Euros upfront according to the financial reports whatever that equals to US. This was an adjusted amount after they readjusted expected earnings. It's hard to understand but revenues through April fiscal eoy played a part in the initial performance buyout deal/bonus. That seems to be the reason for launching STO so early. Now they have 20M on the line through Apr 2011 to exceed undisclosed revenue targets.
This guy tries to explain it as well.
http://www.alltern8.com/library/cryptic_studios_-_a_pre_post-mortem/l-4840.html
http://corporate.atari.com/infogramesgb/
Outlook for fiscal 2009/2010
The Company has decided to recognize a significant portion of revenue generated by massively
multiplayer online (MMO) games over the estimated term of subscriptions rather than when these are sold.
Its decision concerning the recognition of revenue, together with other factors, has led the Company to
anticipate at this stage that it will break even or report a small loss in terms of current operating income for
the current six-month period, as opposed to breaking even or slightly better in terms of operating income,
as previously expected, in both instances net of non-recurring items.
The latest report should be out soon so it will be interesting to see how well STO did at launch which will determine their first bonus.
I guess I could be arsed to go find the document again afterall.
http://corporate.atari.com/event/120909_Cryptic_PR_final_GB_def.pdf
DDO made quite a bit of burst profit when they went f2p. Cryptic needs to hit their numbers by Apr 2011. Stocking up the C-store ahead of time is not a bad idea.
LOL, I wonder what's next for Cryptic....do they start kidnapping peoples pets in order to get folks to sub to thier craptastic game.......
"Mrs. Smith, sign up for a 6 month subscription...or we'll be sending Fluffy back to you one rabbit paw at a time."
LOL that me a good belly laugh--wife is looking at me strangely
Taken from the announcement.
This is a dream list of what I love to see in game developers and gladly pay premium prices for.
This transaction is expected to create value for shareholders, with a view to:
? significantly contribute to Infogrames’ revenues due to new games and a recurring revenue, subscription and micro transaction based business model;
? reduce development risks for future online games developed internally and improve margins due to the low cost structure of the Cryptic engine’s technology and tools;
? improve Infogrames’ sales to R&D ratio as Cryptic Studios is known for delivering on-time, on-budget, profitable titles and avoid significant investment to build this activity;
? enable the rapid and efficient integration of Cryptic and Atari as both entities are highly complementary;
? shift the business model from traditional publishing to a higher margin online business model.
The next logical stop would be F2P by EOY. The hardware is already in place for a higher population, the demo is coming and the C-Store continues to expand. Sounds like they at least are preparing for it if subs don't improve over the next few months.
Well its looking like the PR failure (part 3) that is the 3 nacelle variant T5 ship reward plan is hotting up some. Dstahl one of Cryptic monkies aka dev team posted the reward ship is not just a re-skin like those found in the c-store but comes with a aoe laser ability built in
Oh cryptic I love how you just don't learn
Ironic that in the world of Star Trek greed and pursuing wealth has been made extinct yet one of the most greedy nickle-and-dime companies has gotten hold of the IP.
One would think if the IP owners actually cared about the IP would not find it acceptable.
My gaming blog
The biggest joke is that if they'd just had it a reward for recruiting 1 new player to the game, like WoW's refer a friend, no-one would have complained about it at all. But as usual, the dollar signs lit up in Cryptics eyes and they decided to try to fleece the die-hard trekkies once more.
Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-pope.
welcome to star trek online!!!!
please check your credit card, cash,jewelry and any other valuables at the door.
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
Ha, yeah. Get ready for Coca Cola signs at Sol SB, and Leonard Nimoy adding "....Fifteen minutes could save you 15% off your car insurance!" after introducing a sector, lol.
I can hear the CDF now. "Well, in the future those companies might still exist!", lol.
Actually it'll be a 5.00 or 10.00 C-store decal pack that allows you to put corporate logos on your ship...
RELAX!@!! BREATHE!!!
I think we'll soon see Cryptic interns turned out on the street corner.
Keep the pimp hand strong Cryptic!
Posted this on the PR thread. Should have been on this one.
Cryptic's marketing head rebuttal to a poster for those who may not have read. Sounds alot like Zinc. Maybe Zinc = Ivan ?
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=156787&page=4
Nah, Ivan isn't Zinc.
Ivan was the dude that swore down was up, left was right, night was day (getting the idea yet?) over that player advisory council when players called him out on it for being nothing more than a publics relations stunt and for it being none representative of players aspirations for the game. Players were totally correct of course.
Ivan went on and made post after post defending the indefensible.
Guess what? He's doing it again.
Now you mentioned Zinc it's quite funny how the SOTGs dried up at the end of March 2010?
I thought the same right around when my sub ran out at the beginning of May. The still have the march one on the front page though. I thought he was going to be doing those every month or so?