Beta/Demo idea

[koraQ]

Before you all start throwing tribbles at me, hear me out :P

Could Cryptic do something similar to what Spore and apparently Earth and Beyond have done?

Release the starship customiser (or as some others have said on irc, the race creator/designer) with limited parts and options as a beta/demo for the forum goers. Anything we create could be used by cryptic as NPC's or competitions could be run with the winner getting their peice in the game as an NPC.

This could help cryptic see how the creators/customisers work in the "real world" and how their servers would handle the influx of hundres and thousands of people creating stuff. It would give us an awsome insight to the game which Cryptic could receive a ton of feedback on, and then tweak things if needed.

Please Crytpic? :cool:

[Tamgros]

Yeah, a lot of us here think this makes sense for those who pre-order. How awesome would that be!?!?

I want to spend a lot of time on character customization and get playing on release day right away. This way I can do both!!!!

[Dext]

I would not count on this but it would be cool. I will also add that we should all keep an eye on what CO duz.

[vipeness]

I would love for a game designer or game producer to see this idea. this would just really be an awesome PRE-ORDER bonus for all fans alike!

If i was a producer or designer, i would jump on this like hot cakes.

[DracoPalin]

I know I am absolutly ALL for this idea,tho am not sure I would limit it to Pre-Orders,mabey to forum members but not to pre-orders.that just seems to limiting for such a good idea.

[RunnerChase]

I wish!! Ive already drawn up most of bridge crew and gave them name's .:D

[laladiel]

everquest 2 did something like that, for those that preordered, you got software to create your char, name it, etc. to let you get used to it and get ideas for when the game came out.also to test your computer and make sure you had all the requirements.another cool thing they did, is they let you save your character so you can just import it onto your game account.

[The-Raver]

Good idea that would keep people interested while waiting for the game. I tried knitting, but it hurt my fingers. The devil makes work for idol hands you know.

[koraQ]

Pre-orders would be fine but i dont see how they would govern that, as in who has pre-ordered and who hasnt.

If they made a disk that would cost to much and be a hassle or they could make it if you pre order from cryptic or who ever they go through then you get a download code or something.

I would like to see it just released for forum goers or even publiclly. It would increase awareness of the game.

[dinendae]

Pre-orders would be fine but i dont see how they would govern that, as in who has pre-ordered and who hasnt.

If they made a disk that would cost to much and be a hassle or they could make it if you pre order from cryptic or who ever they go through then you get a download code or something.

I would like to see it just released for forum goers or even publiclly. It would increase awareness of the game.

It could work the same way that EQ2's character generator worked; the disk shipped in the pre-order box, which sold for $5 or $10. The cost of that pre-order box was deducted from your final purchase price. On the disk, along with the usual pre-order goodies, was the character generation that was used in the game. You could play around with making a character look the way you wanted, and then save that character's look to be imported once you installed the game so that you could import your characters looks and jump into the game quicker than normal.

[Beaver8]

It sure would be awesome to beable to create the look of your character and possibly your crew in advance so you could get right into the game. Although they probably rely on people taking some time to make their characters upon login so the server isn't slammed with everyone at the same time.

Even if you couldn't upload your characters it would still be nice to see what your options are and have a general idea as to how you want them to look.

[mendal]

Here is a similar thread that may be of interest to you: A Marketing Idea. (http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=14484&highlight=marketing)

[Leonidusroar]

I could definitey get into something like this.... But please people, don't bug and complain, if they don't they dont...
But man I hope they do!

[mendal]

I could definitey get into something like this.... But please people, don't bug and complain, if they don't they dont...
But man I hope they do!
Completly agree.
The devs themselves spend a lot of time customizing their chars. It's just that once the game comes out you want to boldly go where no man has gone before right away. Customizing your char will feel like an obstacle, however a pleasant one at that (at least for some). So releasing char creator will resolve this and get a lot of people interested beforehand. Also based on high-technology marketing theories perceived risks by potential costumers may be reduces (if char creator is a very exciting tool which I believe it is) if costumers have strong positive experience with part of a product bundle (bundle in this case is char creator maybe even with the ship customization tool and the game itself as the rest of the bundle = total of game client). (Sarin S et al, 2003)

Reference:
Sarin S, Sego T, Chanvarasuth N, summer 2003, Strategic use of bundling for reducing for reducing costumers' percieved risk associated with the purchase of new high-tech products. Journal of marketing Theory and practice pp71-81

[jfolds1]

I'm not preordering till the collectors edition goes up

Have cancelled so many regular orders months down the line for a colectors edition, i must break the cycle

[ransomwk]

I normally don't preorder, but if it got me a character creator that would let me make my toons early so i get get right into the game on launch, I'm all over it. Especially if they have a PvP server so I can round up some other Klingons players to go bumb rush the Fedie's newb zone on opening day. :D

[Spade0]

Yes I think we can all agree that any type of designer tool, be it character or ship would be very much welcomed by the community. We are all eagerly awaiting any thing we can get from the game. It’s pretty bad when you have dreams about playing STO, but you have never even played it before. I guess that’s how much I want it! :D

[Leonidusroar]

Completly agree.
The devs themselves spend a lot of time customizing their chars. It's just that once the game comes out you want to boldly go where no man has gone before right away. Customizing your char will feel like an obstacle, however a pleasant one at that (at least for some). So releasing char creator will resolve this and get a lot of people interested beforehand. Also based on high-technology marketing theories perceived risks by potential costumers may be reduces (if char creator is a very exciting tool which I believe it is) if costumers have strong positive experience with part of a product bundle (bundle in this case is char creator maybe even with the ship customization tool and the game itself as the rest of the bundle = total of game client). (Sarin S et al, 2003)

Reference:
Sarin S, Sego T, Chanvarasuth N, summer 2003, Strategic use of bundling for reducing for reducing costumers' percieved risk associated with the purchase of new high-tech products. Journal of marketing Theory and practice pp71-81

As I said, mendal, I would absolutely love the idea of messing around with a bunch of characters before launch. But, like all MMOs, all games, books, movies, whatever- I would SO much rather have completely developed a fleshed out game than one that looks asthetically supreme, but lacks in-depth playability. For me, this game should be more than just attack, shields up, and warp away. The character customizer, though, would be a great way to whet the chops of a lot of fans and get a lot of newcomers. Maybe give it the possibility to be downloaded off social networking sites? I don't know. Have faith in the devs.

[robinjimmy]

Yeah! Im really gettin bored of waitin! World of Warcraft can only fill time for so long lol! I agree with you, it would be good so on openin day we can get on with playin instead of takin hours gettin our characters just right!

[Veszvyr88]

I think this would be great for us and for Cryptic (as a sales generator).

[Veszvyr88]

Yeah! Im really gettin bored of waitin! World of Warcraft can only fill time for so long lol! I agree with you, it would be good so on openin day we can get on with playin instead of takin hours gettin our characters just right!

I've been filling my spare time with research into all things Trek...reading the technical manuals and novels...recording all the movies and episodes on my DVR (man my wife is PO'ed!) and playing all the old ST PC games (the good ones anyway...like Bridge Commander, Vulcan Academy, and Starfleet Command 1,2 & 3.

[jakeeyes]

*sees beta in title and grabs bag of flinging tribbles* ... Wait a second, this is actually a pretty good idea.;)

[jakeeyes]

I normally don't preorder, but if it got me a character creator that would let me make my toons early so i get get right into the game on launch, I'm all over it. Especially if they have a PvP server so I can round up some other Klingons players to go bumb rush the Fedie's newb zone on opening day. :D

Really? ...:rolleyes:

[jakeeyes]

Double post...sorry

[_red_shirt]

How about if they could release a character creator and you can "save" characters either on your drive or on their server. Then when the game comes out, you can upload these toons and start playing them?

[Tamgros]

Double post...sorry
Haha, there is an edit button.
How about if they could release a character creator and you can "save" characters either on your drive or on their server. Then when the game comes out, you can upload these toons and start playing them?

Yeah, that's kind of the idea. We wouldn't have to spend all the time day 1 creating our toons when we could be playing! This would be a nice pre-order incentive.

Anyone know if they are doing this for CO or if they did this for CoH/V?

[Rexen87]

So, I was also thinking that it would be cool to have your first mission be the Kobayashi maru for Federation members. Perhaps as a tutorial that could be pre-released as well? (Watching Wrath of Khan right now so that's why the thought came up)

[Loekii]

everquest 2 did something like that, for those that preordered, you got software to create your char, name it, etc. to let you get used to it and get ideas for when the game came out.also to test your computer and make sure you had all the requirements.another cool thing they did, is they let you save your character so you can just import it onto your game account.

I liked that aspect of the EQ2 Pre-order.

Imo, I feel that pre-orders and CE tend to be filled with fluff, rather than some tangible things. I think a 'Pre-Character Creation' DDL (digital Download) would be a strong motivator to pre-order.

On a side note, I would like to see this become more of a standard, and that games work on less items that end up in the landfills. For myself, I prefer Digital Downloads and Ingame content, to Box art, novelty trinkets and even art books. I have a number of that stuff that is just taking up space in the garage.

[Captain.Hunter]

Definately a good idea.

I think it would sure make a lot more people pre-order. I know I would!

[Loekii]

It could also have some 'Buzz PR' appeal, as Pre-Order Players can 'upload and share' their Creations -- sort of like the 'rate my hero' on the Champions website.

[dieuwe10]

Not as pre-order. I don't like pre-ordering. Prefer to play a trial to see if the game is worth buying (not like i think this won't be), but it is my hard earned money you know.

But for the rest I think it's a great idea. This will stop people form rushing their characters cause I got a feeling it will take an hour to really get your bridge crew done because there's so many.

[Loekii]

Well games do tend to offer 'free trials' a few months after the game has been released.

Personally, I am not a big fan of such 'free trials', as they tend to be abused by goldfarmers and griefers. I would hope that such trials would be restricted enough to prevent such abuse.

[mook42]

I know I am absolutly ALL for this idea,tho am not sure I would limit it to Pre-Orders,mabey to forum members but not to pre-orders.that just seems to limiting for such a good idea.

YOU ARE GOING TO BUY THE GAME any way so why not pre-order
.i hope they do something like this but. i would not count on it lol