Incline Official codex Star Trek Online topic :salute:

[Norfleet]

- Currently the best way to make money seems to be Prototype Consoles, which means more work is put into getting the necessary Particle Traces first, but this is easily combod with getting Alien Artifacts through Explore Ruins assignments.

This is actually a not-trueity. We ran the expected value calculations, based on the present market value of all prototype consoles, and concluded that the average purple console is worth approximately $432K, taking into account all possible consoles you can get out and their resale value. Non-purple consoles are worth a negligible fraction of that. Given 24% odds of a purple for a standard 1-trait team (no Krindas or anything crazy), your expected value is therefore ~104K per attempt.

In contrast, just dumping the powered artifact on the market for suckers nets you 1M. An unpowered artifact produces a profit of 170Kish if you power it, based on the market value of all 10 traces required plus the value of the underpowered artifact. You could argue that you can get the traces for free, but this doesn't matter, because by powering, you'd still consume the value you could have gotten by dumping. However, it remains profitable, if not extremely so, to power the artifact, as you can collect a 170K hassle fee for doing so...not a huge profit by any means, though.

In short, whether you actually WANT one of those consoles, or are just dumping them on the market, making an actual console is presently schmuck bait by a factor of 2. Expect consoles to either appreciate, or, more likely, artifacts to fall, based on this, if it becomes widely known that it's actually a sucker's game. My console team has been retasked to doing supports instead.

As for the best way to make money, my present explorations suggest either Kerrat Farming, in which you assemble a full team of Fed and KDF combined to block all mutants out of a single instance of Kerrat, then proceed to farm it without ending the mission and forcing a redo of the unprofitable part, or an exploration of the Foundry, once it goes back online. I am going to explore this avenue and see how it pans out.

Interesting that you bring this up, drakron, because the only other fleet member I've seen in days has been Slop. Are you all playing less right now or am I just getting online at the wrong times?

What am I, chopped liver? I'm there about as much as I usually am, trying to stave off insolvency. Don't get much opportunity to speak, though, cuz usually the channel is inhabited by crickets. I've seen you around, but...well, I didn't have anything to say. TOO BUSY! MUST PILLAGE!

Also, I would like to suggest some amendments to the KDF base: That the Tribble Gulag be repurposed into a second O GAWD MOAR MATERIALS bay, since all the tribbles have died and I've had to use the space as overflow for materials, as I have been playing the Klinks a lot more lately because that's where the money is. It helps that this tab is contiguous, unlike on the Fed base.

We may optionally open a new replacement Gulag.

The unborking of systems may enable our usual run group to begin turning profit again, so we might have dilithium solvency again by the weekend and be able to fill our projects. Need more doffs, though, which is your specialty.

 

[Drakron]

Yes, the Purple Mk XII consoles vary, some are extremely valuable (Disruptor/Phaser/Antiproton) as other are a complete and utter shit (Stealth/Force Fields) so its kinda of a gamble, Powered Artifacts sell because buyers are gambling on the results and likely have a DOFF team to have decent odds of getting a Purple and dont mind paying not having the hassle of powering it up since they can afford that.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Well, personally I've got a doff team that nets a good chance at purple.

 

[Norfleet]

Even if you had a 100% chance of purple, the EV would still only be 430K-ish vs. 1M for dumping artifact. The more realistic numbers make throwing your money at a casino sound like a good investment strategy.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Well, in my case the method hasn't costed me anything, for besides a select type of Particles I've got good personal reserves, and lots of artifacts. And I did hit twice, making over 75 million with twelve artifacts.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Alright bros, the first Recruitment tier up project is now available. Only needs Dilithium and Marks.

 

[Norfleet]

Done. Project should be moving now. Gotta get back to restocking my mineral buffers now.

Well, in my case the method hasn't costed me anything, for besides a select type of Particles I've got good personal reserves, and lots of artifacts. And I did hit twice, making over 75 million with twelve artifacts.

A popular argument that tends to ignore the concept of "opportunity costs", which states you do lose money, the money you would have gained by simply unloading the materiel. And 12 artifacts is...not exactly a large sample size. Gamblers tend to overestimate success and underestimate failure, particularly when their costs are not out of pocket.

 

[Drakron]

A popular argument that tends to ignore the concept of "opportunity costs", which states you do lose money, the money you would have gained by simply unloading the materiel. And 12 artifacts is...not exactly a large sample size. Gamblers tend to overestimate success and underestimate failure, particularly when their costs are not out of pocket.

It is a gamble, one I would not even enter because if I tried I would want the console for my personal use.

However the market exists because there is a supply, some people are gambling because of the high payoff that causes the Powered Artifacts to actually sell, if nobody was gambling on the results then the Artifact market would not be as profitable, considering a Purple Mk XII is always a gamble your options are the DOFF assigment and Cryptic's crapastic loot tables or the Exchange, if I have to gamble at least its the ones that have somewhat higher results.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Who dares wins.

(EDIT: Though there really isn't any daring involved, since it's risk-free for me. Only thing consumed is time.)

 

[Norfleet]

Well, either way, the bases are out of money, so I can't do any more procurements. Got the embassy projects rolling with the last bit of change and some stuff I stole.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Okay, I'll put up 4 mil at the Fed bank when I log today.

 

[Drakron]

Winter Event grand prize is a Breen Cruiser.

 

[Fens]

Winter Event grand prize is a Breen Cruiser.

and you can get it by completing a quest 25 times... while the quest is repeatable every 20 hours... i dunno... i'm a fan of the breen, but i doubt i'll be a) able and b) willing to grind that shit... why not make it at least a few different quests ffs

also: just played a quest that the last update claimed to be fixed... and of course it's still broken... craptic strikes again

 

[Cool name]

I am riven about the winter event. It is a lot of grinding. It is also Cryptic giving a ship for free and without a random factor involved. I do not want to encourage the former. I do want to encourage the later.

What to do?

 

[Subject37]

I wasn't around during the last Winter Event, so how long does "The Fastest Race on Ice" take to finish anyway? Are we talking a 5-minute quest or a 45-minute one? If it's closer to 5, grinding it every day for 25 days doesn't seem like a big deal for a free ship. I'd just add that to my daily rep/doff routine.

 

[Norfleet]

I am riven about the winter event. It is a lot of grinding. It is also Cryptic giving a ship for free and without a random factor involved. I do not want to encourage the former. I do want to encourage the later.

A thing given for free without a random factor must necessarily involve grinding. I don't mind a thing you grind for free. Grinding a thing you have to then PAY for, that is stupid.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

I wasn't around during the last Winter Event, so how long does "The Fastest Race on Ice" take to finish anyway? Are we talking a 5-minute quest or a 45-minute one? If it's closer to 5, grinding it every day for 25 days doesn't seem like a big deal for a free ship. I'd just add that to my daily rep/doff routine.

My personal bet is that it's probably something like 15-20 minutes, going by how long the holiday missions in Champions last.

For my part, I think I'll acquire one of those so I can sell it for mucho credits later.

 

[Subject37]

For my part, I think I'll acquire one of those so I can sell it for mucho credits later.

Yes, I think that'll be my plan as well, as I'm happy with my current ships. I wish I had never opened my Orb Weaver as I never use it. I'd much prefer the EC.

 

[Cool name]

@ Vaarna_Aarne:

I am affraid you will have to wait a little bit longer so that I can save all the credits again.

After a year I did forget all of my passwords. And all of the passwords for the hotmail accounts I did link my perfect world accounts to. And now Hotmail does ask you to fill a huge questionaire to recover your password instead of just your secret question. Did I already say all the information on these accounts was thoroughly false and I did forget it too? Lucky me.

So I am back at Starfleet as an extremely poor ensign. I do have no zen. I do have no credits. I do have no spider pets. I do have no pretty clothes. I do have no mirror universe cruisers. I do sleep in a cardboard box in an alley behind Starfleet Academy when I am to visit earth. I did have to duct tape the new torpedo launcher to my ship.

Presently the temptation to look for fat lonely nerds with too much money in their greasy paws on that perverted space station there is in the neutral zone is almost too big to bear.

Please do forgive the trouble.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

No problem, currently I'm loaded and there's no hurry.

EDIT: Newest devblog has the cruiser stats. It's a Cruiser-Escort hybrid:

• Rank Required: Rear Admiral / Brigadier General
• Hull Strength: 36,000
• Shield Modifier: 1
• Crew: 650
• Weapons: 4 Fore, 4 Aft
• Device Slots: 3
• Bridge Officer Stations: 1 Lieutenant Tactical, 1 Commander Tactical, 1 Lieutenant Engineering, 1 Lieutenant Commander Science, 1 Ensign Universal
• Console Modifications: 4 Tactical, 3 Engineering, 3 Science
• Base Turn Rate: 13 degrees per second
• Impulse Modifier: 0.18
• +10 Power to Weapons; +5 Power to Engines
• Can Load Cannons
• Breen Energy Dissipator Universal Console

EDIT2: Also, the ship's box is bound on pickup.

 

[Cool name]

Is there another Cruiser-Escort hybrid so that I can get an idea of how the gameplay is? I did spend too much time away from the game to understand what does it imply.

A cruiser with four cannons and four turrets as well as those tactical stations does sound like an interesting ship for a tactical officer with all the little turn rate buffs they can have. A more original choice than an escort as well.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Well, only the Vesta is something like the Breen ship, being able to have a combination of Tactical and Science in that manner. But the Vesta is statistically a science vessel through and through, and has a hangar bay.

 

[Norfleet]

EDIT: Newest devblog has the cruiser stats. It's a Cruiser-Escort hybrid.

It looks like the bastard child of an MVAE and a Patrol, with an extra gun and crappier turn. There's not much in it that says "cruiser", with its mostly nonexistent Engi slotting. Lt with Uni Ens option makes it barely cruisery at all. A quasi-cruiser requires at least a LtC Engi somewhere. The only thing Cruisery about it is the 8-gun loadout.

Still, it's unique and interesting.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Yea, in retrospect it's more like a mongrel of every ship there is.

 

[Subject37]

Yargh...too bad it binds on pickup, I was looking forward to picking up loads of space bux for these things. I'll get one for each toon to play with anyway. The chatter on the STO forums is that the daily quest you need to run is a 5-minute thing, so not a big deal.

Also...there's a new trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness out



I have to admit this looks even less like a Star Trek movie than the first one. I'm sure I'll see it anyway.