CAPTAIN'S BLOG

Dude I'm glad I could help with this topic.

I'm actually in favour for a universal marks system. It can be used for ALL stf's and should be converted to fleet credit. We should get a bit more per STF though. I thing currently it can vary per STF. and should be a set figure!

But I still don't want the dilithium but if we did I think that we should get more so that the grind isn't so long. if you are like me and only get time for an hour or so play per day 960 dilithium for a elite STF is not enough so you have to do 33 STF's for just 1 (yes 1!) ship component! now for a lot of us, life is just too busy to spend more that an hour a day playing this game. so the grind of getting dilithium is just too much... (end of rant! lol)

Latinum isn't too bad you just spend 20 mins. or so at a gambling table and all is good

Well that's my 2 pence worth!

Definition: Reputation: The estimation or name of being, having, having done, etc., something specified.

If one only does STF's, how does one gain a reputation in Nukara, etc? The idea about separate marks is to get you to play the content. Fleet marks come from Fleet events (i.e. playing with other fleet members). Yes, I know just being in a fleet qualifies you for these events, but ideally, you gather YOUR OWN FLEET to do the events.

Too many players want to specialize - space only, no ground. Well, I'm thankful for the new R&D. Makes you play ground missions to gain the very rare materials needed to craft.

Players at max level are always asking for content. In my opinion, there is plenty of content. If you take away the necessity to visit New Romulus or Tau Dawa, then what is the purpose of the creating the content and the associated marks?

Well the problem would be that with universal rep marks people would only do ISE for all reps, unless they would limit the number of ISEs (as an example) you could do to get the rep mark to once a day, then you'll have to do other maps.

In all honesty, I would prefer to have universal Marks as well. In terms of getting the Reputation-specific stuff and thusly playing the new Content, you still need to get Borg Neural Processors, Voth Cybernetic Implants and Isomorphic Injections. Of course, this would mean to introduce something similar for the New Romulus and Nukara Strike Force Reputations for balance.

I agree with everything Attilio is saying (other than, for me, Latinum is simply a gimmick to separate the suckers from their Energy Credits. It can only be used to buy vanity items that do nothing for your ability to play the game). Viewed as a form of currency, Reputation Marks are way too complicated. Having one form of marks would simplify the game immensely without making it overly easy to advance your reputation.

As for the idea that having one type would discourage people from playing the various Reputation content, I beleve people will plaay whatyever parts of the game they want to play. You can get almost every type of mark now simply by doing the right PvE missions. For instance, I've almost completed tier five in Nukara just by doing the Chrystaline Entity mission. I've got several toons at tier five Omega doing Infected:Conduit. Anyone can do it.

I think the universal marks are a great idea. I'm trying to grind up marks for various sets and console, but it takes so long because I do all the missions and then have to wait for the timeout to finish.

Davistator says it well to me. With the current format, expect several more Rep Marks in the future.

I do not consider Rep Marks to be "currency", per se. I cannot use Dyson Marks for anything but Dyson gear (naturally). Rep Marks are designed to focus the player into specific content. From my point of views, players want it and rewards from the content. So, Cryptic has devised a way to "force" players to play specific content to get at specific rewards.

Thus, if I don't want to play Omega-style content, then I will not be able to get Omega-styled rewards. I do not think this is unfair at all.

So I am opposed to the idea of Universal Marks, yet again it's not currency to me.

The reputation mark system should stay. As far as Cryptic "forcing" people into specific content, I disagree. It's a game. No one is "forced" into anything.

You can see the idea behind the mark system: if you're interested in battling the Tholians, here's a whole series of scenarios to do it in. And just to keep it interesting, here's a reputation system to help you get better and better at battling Tholians. That's the reason the marks need to stay reputation-specific: so you preserve choice/diversity in content. If all marks were the same, I wouldn't need to absorb any of the "flavor" that goes along with each specific reputation. I'd just mechanically grind out the easiest ones and skip some potentially engaging content. You can always try content in a reputation system and decide that grinding it is not worth it.

As far as the multiple currencies in the game, what difference does it make if there are two or twenty? It all boils down to: I want that thing. What kind of currency and how much does it cost? What do I need to do to get that currency so I can buy that thing I want? It doesn't really matter if it's lobi crystals or latinum, energy credits, or dilithium. If you want that thing bad enough, you'll grind out the currency, doing even the dumbest of tasks if you want that thing bad enough. But maybe it shouldn't be a grind to begin with. Maybe it's a game and people should appreciate that it's a leisure activity. If it's boring, don't do it.

In summary, having different currencies and reputation marks in the game encourages diversity of experience. If there was only one currency, some people would just stick to the most efficient way of generating that currency and never experience the breadth and depth of a truly engaging game. And that would be their loss. The goal of this or any other MMO should be to bring as many different players together and present them with as many different experiences as possible, so they can all find something they enjoy and explore it further.

I feel the same about the rep marks. I also feel Dilithium and latinum should be switched since that would be considered canon to Trek. In the game, we spend more dil than latinum whereas in Trek it was the opposite. Matter for fact Dil wasnt even a currency, it was a resource. So since when is a resource, currency and therefore why is it required for fleet gear? With the exception of warp cores since they need dilithium. You also forgot to mention Lobi. In-game, Lobi is a Ferengi currency.... isnt latinum suppose to be the ferengi currency? I propose, that if they dont switch dil and latinum, they get rid of lobi and make "lobi" items purchasable with latinum and that we have universal marks for rep AND fleet. Thanks for your time.