Should you melt your entire fleet to pick up the 2 Dragonflies + 1 Caterpillar Pack - then CCU them to save $$$ ?

[VoA]

Should you melt your entire fleet to pick up Dragonflies then CCU them?

• Yes you should if you don't have LTI on your ships. 
• The reason why it is beneficial besides LTI is that CIG mentioned that they will discount buying more than one Dragonfly at a time so you will save money on your overall pledge by doing so.   Mentioned today on RTV by Ben.
• You should be able to pick up all these CCUs that you need during the anniversary sale in November however be careful because not all ships will have them available like the larger ships such as the Javelins,  Idris  or 890 jump.
• Definitely get one Dragonfly  to the CCU to the Caterpillar since the caterpillar will go on sale as well for $245 and then subsequent sales will end up costing more so you can get more Per ship dollars this way as well.
• Be careful and do not melt large packages such as the Armada pack for trying to save money this way.
• Keep in mind that the dragonfly won't be flyable right away and you may want to keep the few ships just to play with in the PU otherwise you'll end up with no ships to play for a while
• Congratulations to those who also followed Ben's advice about getting the buccaneer to pick up the extra weapon X during that sale and hopefully you held on to them prior to Melting them this Monday.  I will end up with 6 extra weapons this way hopefully you got as many as you hope for as well.

==========

EXAMPLE:

Let's say you have a $1,100 pledge (to achieve concierge status + a bit more)..... and you were savvy and realized the opportunities in the Buccaneer and Dragonfly sales.

• You Melted all your Ships (say you have no packages for this example) and picked up 10 Buccaneers to get the Weapon X's.
• Dragonfly goes on sale (let's say hypothetical sale that CIG discounts every Dragonfly $15 off of the first one - NOTE hypothetical example - CIG hasn't revealed the sale discount info yet) and you melt 9/10 Buccaneers for buying 1 Dragonfly at $35 and buy 47 Dragonflies at $20 each
• You then (that same week) CCU some of your Dragonflies to other ships..... (including two Caterpillars since they will likely be on sale with the Dragonfly) then save the rest for ships that are on Limited Sale - but should be available during the Anniversary Sale in November (the caution here is some ships like the Phoenix and 890 Jump may not be available even during the Anniversary sale).
• Your current fleet after CCUing (so you have LTI on all your ships from the Dragonflies and melting some to get more store credit back) (you save the RSI discount they have for each extra Dragonfly per ship)......is now hypothetically...
• 1 Buccaneer $110
• 1 Dragonfly $35
• 2 Caterpillars $490 ($460 with CCU)
• 1 Mustang Beta $40 ($25 with CCU)
• 1 Avenger $60 ($45 with CCU)
• 1 Hull A $60 ($45 with CCU)
• 1 315p $65 ($50 with CCU)
• 1 Reliant Sen $75 ($60 with CCU)
• 1 Herald $85 ($70 with CCU)
• 1 Gladius $90 ($75 with CCU)
• 1 Freelancer Dur $125  ($110 with CCU)
• Then after the Caterpillar Price increases (lets say $350 for a hypothetical increase)
• You Swap your 2 Caterpillars for 1 Hull D and 1 Reclaimer (or keep a Caterpillar instead of the Hull D - whatever you like)

==========================

In the End of this "Savvy" (thinking ahead) scenario....... you now have $1,445 worth of ships and 10 Weapon X's (at $180 value) = $1,625 Value for a $1,100 Pledge (remember we don't know the discount they plan on giving us for the Dragonfly yet so scenario is hypothetical)

More on RTV... just now...

11:30 
- [They wanted to give peole the ability to get two Cats and a Dragonfly at a discount, and it came down to either give the package, or have to bash things together brokenly. Within the confines of the system, the Cat has to have LTI.

11:29- One of the packages today is two dragonflies and a Caterpillar. There's no way to have separate insurances in a package, they're all LTI. 

11:28- [If we get LTI with the Dragonfly can we upgrade later to a larger ship and keep LTI?] Yes.

11:26 
- [What utility does the Dragonfly offer?] Special to the Caterpillar, nothing in particular really. The Cat will have the ability to scramble Dragonflies, but it's not exclusive to the Cat. They went into it with the idea of a space motorcycle gang with a Cat hauler that picks up loot.

11:22- [How many dragonfly's inside a Caterpillar?] Exact numbers are still being sorted out. A decent number. But like they said with the Endeavour sale, there will be hard limits as to how many you can store and scramble. It's not how many you can stack wall to wall, it's something that wont' make the servers melt. At least two, probably more per module. The Dragonfly is very tiny. The art from AtV makes it look bigger and longer than it is.

[GeraldEvans]

Only do this with standalone ships, not packages.  You can get LTI on your ship, but you'd then need to spend more money to get into a package since they're now split.

[Squirrel]

What I have done, and suggest people consider, is plan out your fleet for what you want in the game when it launches.  Then, figure out how to get there.  Sure, the Devs say LTI won't really mean that much.  And, even if they prove right, if it's free and 'easy' to get, shouldn't you get it anyway?  Just in case?

So, I melted a number of ships I decided I really didn't need.  I was going to unmelt some of my P-72's and CCU them to the ships I want.  Because I will be out of unmelt tokens (reserving for bigger ships), I would have to pay cash to unmelt.  Instead, I will now be able to use store credit for the Dragonfly and the CCU as well.  I will also throw in one of my subscriber coupons and get 10% off.  These actions allow me to have a more expensive (and better rounded) fleet.

We don't know if we'll get another inexpensive ship like this again.  I'd suggest buying a bunch even if only to melt them 'just in case' you have a strong desire later.  Personally, I plan to get 2 (for now) for my 'nefarious' account's caterpillar and 3 for my DUR, MAKO and SEN.  I may first get several to melt into my reserves.

 

Here is a 'snippet' of my spreadsheet:

Role		Ship		Price	Action1			Action2
----		----		-----	-------			-------
Exploration	Freelancer DUR	$125	Purchase Dragonfly	CCU Dragonfly to DUR
Escort		Avenger Warlock	$85	Nothing

It may be a little OCD, but it has helped me keep my budget somewhat under control since I started using it.

[Xeen]

It's not worth the headache/risking my ships to pick up a few extra guns.

 

Guns will be hella cheap to come by in-game plus those were ballistics.  I want energy weapons.  Start paying for those ammo bills and you will see how it adds up.

[Basard]

Package	Ship Value	Price	Saving
Battle Pack	$1,010	$1,100	-$90
Fleet Pack	$2,670	$2,700	-$30
War Pack Digital	$5,110	$5,000	$110
Wing Commander	$8,525	$10,000	-$1,475
Completionist	$13,415	$15,000	-$1,585
Speed Demon Pack	$375	$360	$15
Infamous Pack	$700	$650	$50
Alien Pack	$800	$750	$50
Connie Super Pack	$1,000	$1,000	$0
Blue Collar Pack	$1,300	$1,200	$100
Hull-A-Palooza Pack	$1,310	$1,250	$60
Explorer Pack	$765+$650	$1,300	$115
Transport Pack	$1,765	$1,600	$165
Armada Pack	$2,605	$2,500	$105

[VoA]

36 minutes ago, Xeen said:

It's not worth the headache/risking my ships to pick up a few extra guns.

 

Guns will be hella cheap to come by in-game plus those were ballistics.  I want energy weapons.  Start paying for those ammo bills and you will see how it adds up.

The Buccaneer was about picking up Guns..... Ben mentioned for the Dragonfly that they will give you a discount if you buy more than one  (no specifics yet though but it should save you  $$$$$$) 

[GeraldEvans]

@Basard The Wing Commander and Completionist are actually losses?  I guess I could see the Completionist being a loss that you gradually make up as they add the RSI Polaris, etc to it, but I'm surprised that the Wing Commander is as well.

[Irres]

I honestly don't think you should, if you have a lot of ships.  This is why:

"No one knows when they turn off the tap."

It takes 3 months to get a ship back with credit.

An Entire fleet could take longer than you have....because no one knows how long we have.

 

The better approach is....melt one ship....then buy/melt/buy/melt/buy/melt for the duration of the sale using the same credits....this still leaves you with Dragonflies....but on your buy back list...now you can use your never ending tokens to get them instead of losing a fleet.

 

*also keep in mind the ship you want back needs to be available in order to upgrade a dragonfly to it.

 

31 minutes ago, GeraldEvans said:

@Basard The Wing Commander and Completionist are actually losses?  I guess I could see the Completionist being a loss that you gradually make up as they add the RSI Polaris, etc to it, but I'm surprised that the Wing Commander is as well.

They were never worth the ship costs.  The Armada was the first package that "saved" on ship cost.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, VoA said:

The Buccaneer was about picking up Guns..... Ben mentioned for the Dragonfly that they will give you a discount if you buy more than one  (no specifics yet though but it should save you  $$$$$$) 

I am not sure any discount will make it worthwhile to risk buying in bulk for most people.  (And I would not be surprised if discounts only applied to cash purchases and not store credit, but let's see when they give details.)

 

[AstroJak]

1 hour ago, Irres said:

I honestly don't think you should, if you have a lot of ships.  This is why:

"No one knows when they turn off the tap."

It takes 3 months to get a ship back with credit.

An Entire fleet could take longer than you have....because no one knows how long we have.

 

The better approach is....melt one ship....then buy/melt/buy/melt/buy/melt for the duration of the sale using the same credits....this still leaves you with Dragonflies....but on your buy back list...now you can use your never ending tokens to get them instead of losing a fleet.

 

*also keep in mind the ship you want back needs to be available in order to upgrade a dragonfly to it.

 

They were never worth the ship costs.  The Armada was the first package that "saved" on ship cost.

 

 

 

I am not sure any discount will make it worthwhile to risk buying in bulk for most people.  (And I would not be surprised if discounts only applied to cash purchases and not store credit, but let's see when they give details.)

 

Well said... all good comments and as always; buyer beware, even with CIG !!!

thanks @Irres

Update; i read through the above posts and having not seen the recent RTV... also being a bit drunk!!! (try 1oz gin+1oz hypnotic with tonic...very good) 

i'll say the following; CIG is using the LTI Dragonfly to undermine the grey market by flooding the market with cheap LTI ships. 

just my opinion but it make sense.

[Irres]

Grey Market has been dead for some time now.  I posted my theory on this at RSI.

But it was the actual ability to "buy back with cash and still gift" that did this.  On the surface it seems to help re-sellers, it had an adverse effect.  While it is true that re-sellers no longer need to carry inventory...the flip side is neither does anybody else.  (I don't believe this was intended by CIG)

So there is essentially much more supply than demand.

eg. I no longer need to go to a store or reseller in the GM, I can just ask my friend what he has on buyback that he doesn't want.  

[VoA]

7 hours ago, Irres said:

I honestly don't think you should, if you have a lot of ships.  This is why:

"No one knows when they turn off the tap."

It is right to proceed with caution but I think you are a proponent of too much caution where people might miss a great opportunity.   We "know" they won't turn off the tap and do an "official" PU launch this year (and definitely not before this November's Anniversary Sale since S42 won't likely launch until December of this year).

6 hours ago, AstroJak said:

Well said... all good comments and as always; buyer beware, even with CIG !!!

It is all dependent on your specific pledge.  Per OP you should proceed with caution and not melt things like the Armada Pack - but most players don't have those large packages....... below is an example of what you could have saved recently with a $1,100 pledge.

EXAMPLE:

Let's say you have a $1,100 pledge (to achieve concierge status + a bit more)..... and you were savvy and realized the opportunities in the Buccaneer and Dragonfly sales.

• You Melted all your Ships (say you have no packages for this example) and picked up 10 Buccaneers to get the Weapon X's.
• Dragonfly goes on sale (let's say hypothetical sale that CIG discounts every Dragonfly $15 off of the first one - NOTE hypothetical example - CIG hasn't revealed the sale discount info yet) and you melt 9/10 Buccaneers for buying 1 Dragonfly at $35 and buy 47 Dragonflies at $20 each
• You then (that same week) CCU some of your Dragonflies to other ships..... (including two Caterpillars since they will likely be on sale with the Dragonfly) then save the rest for ships that are on Limited Sale - but should be available during the Anniversary Sale in November (the caution here is some ships like the Phoenix and 890 Jump may not be available even during the Anniversary sale).
• Your current fleet after CCUing (so you have LTI on all your ships from the Dragonflies and melting some to get more store credit back) (you save the RSI discount they have for each extra Dragonfly per ship)......is now hypothetically...
• 1 Buccaneer $110
• 1 Dragonfly $35
• 2 Caterpillars $490 ($460 with CCU)
• 1 Mustang Beta $40 ($25 with CCU)
• 1 Avenger $60 ($45 with CCU)
• 1 Hull A $60 ($45 with CCU)
• 1 315p $65 ($50 with CCU)
• 1 Reliant Sen $75 ($60 with CCU)
• 1 Herald $85 ($70 with CCU)
• 1 Gladius $90 ($75 with CCU)
• 1 Freelancer Dur $125 ($110 with CCU)
• Then after the Caterpillar Price increases (lets say $350 for a hypothetical increase)
• You Swap your 2 Caterpillars for 1 Hull D and 1 Reclaimer (or keep a Caterpillar instead of the Hull D - whatever you like)

==========================

In the End of this "Savvy" (thinking ahead) scenario....... you now have $1,445 worth of ships and 10 Weapon X's (at $180 value) = $1,625 Value for a $1,100 Pledge (remember we don't know the discount they plan on giving us for the Dragonfly yet so scenario is hypothetical)

[GeraldEvans]

If it's anything like last time, you can't upgrade into the 890.

[Xeen]

One should not expect 'gaming the system' to be without risks, yet many will cry out if they get caught in the process knowing that what they are doing is a bit of a loophole.

[VoA]

47 minutes ago, GeraldEvans said:

If it's anything like last time, you can't upgrade into the 890.

Correct - Phoenix was on sale in large packs (but not CCU if I remember correctly) and neither is the 890 Jump.

20 minutes ago, Xeen said:

One should not expect 'gaming the system' to be without risks, yet many will cry out if they get caught in the process knowing that what they are doing is a bit of a loophole.

It's not "gaming" the system - it's brilliant marketing strategy to sell more ships overall (CIG did the weapon X as they did for a reason - same with the discounted Dragonfly - that we will hear about next week).

Look at last ATV when Sandi mentions to Ben about melting the Buccaneers to get the Weapon X (it was planned to work that way so people increase their pledge)

 

Here is the RTV where they talk about the Dragonfly

 

[AstroJak]

It is all dependent on your specific pledge.  Per OP you should proceed with caution and not melt things like the Armada Pack - but most players don't have those large packages....... below is an example of what you could have saved recently with a $1,100 pledge.

EXAMPLE:

Let's say you have a $1,100 pledge (to achieve concierge status + a bit more)..... and you were savvy and realized the opportunities in the Buccaneer and Dragonfly sales.

• You Melted all your Ships (say you have no packages for this example) and picked up 10 Buccaneers to get the Weapon X's.
• Dragonfly goes on sale (let's say hypothetical sale that CIG discounts every Dragonfly $15 off of the first one - NOTE hypothetical example - CIG hasn't revealed the sale discount info yet) and you melt 9/10 Buccaneers for buying 1 Dragonfly at $35 and buy 47 Dragonflies at $20 each
• You then (that same week) CCU some of your Dragonflies to other ships..... (including two Caterpillars since they will likely be on sale with the Dragonfly) then save the rest for ships that are on Limited Sale - but should be available during the Anniversary Sale in November (the caution here is some ships like the Phoenix and 890 Jump may not be available even during the Anniversary sale).
• Your current fleet after CCUing (so you have LTI on all your ships from the Dragonflies and melting some to get more store credit back) (you save the RSI discount they have for each extra Dragonfly per ship)......is now hypothetically...
• 1 Buccaneer $110
• 1 Dragonfly $35
• 2 Caterpillars $490 ($460 with CCU)
• 1 Mustang Beta $40 ($25 with CCU)
• 1 Avenger $60 ($45 with CCU)
• 1 Hull A $60 ($45 with CCU)
• 1 315p $65 ($50 with CCU)
• 1 Reliant Sen $75 ($60 with CCU)
• 1 Herald $85 ($70 with CCU)
• 1 Gladius $90 ($75 with CCU)
• 1 Freelancer Dur $125 ($110 with CCU)
• Then after the Caterpillar Price increases (lets say $350 for a hypothetical increase)
• You Swap your 2 Caterpillars for 1 Hull D and 1 Reclaimer (or keep a Caterpillar instead of the Hull D - whatever you like)

==========================

In the End of this "Savvy" (thinking ahead) scenario....... you now have $1,445 worth of ships and 10 Weapon X's (at $180 value) = $1,625 Value for a $1,100 Pledge (remember we don't know the discount they plan on giving us for the Dragonfly yet so scenario is hypothetical)

Hi VoA, what u say is true and many members (mostly the grey market crew) took advantage of this when the P72s where sold. Of course, they didnt have a discount but if your a sub you likely had a dicount code anyways.

If your looking for deals and discounts there are far big ones out there but they do require some planning and work.

AstroJak

[pyro nl]

ya keep the gun while melting ??

[Basard]

14 hours ago, GeraldEvans said:

@Basard The Wing Commander and Completionist are actually losses?  I guess I could see the Completionist being a loss that you gradually make up as they add the RSI Polaris, etc to it, but I'm surprised that the Wing Commander is as well.

 

Which tbh is a bit of a shame really, I hope they fix the bigger packages to make them more bang for buck.

Still currently the Transporter pack is by far the best package in terms of value. (Happy now I got one and CCU'd my ships in it).

[Irres]

14 minutes ago, pyro nl said:

ya keep the gun while melting ??

only if you keep it till the Monday after the ATV was released.  Then melt....Ben's words from the ATV

 

 

 

@VoA  I am not saying don't do it, I am saying do it in a way so you are not left holding dragonflies or credit waiting for a sale to upgrade.

Having the dragonfly on your buyback just gives you more options than having it in your hangar.  Only melt ships when you know you can upgrade them right away.

 

 

[pyro nl]

ooh i should have bought loads then, ooh wel stil got 3

[Irres]

7 minutes ago, pyro nl said:

ooh i should have bought loads then, ooh wel stil got 3

I bought 44, but I melted them before monday, I did not know about the weapon

found out about it later.

[GeraldEvans]

44 Buccaneers. Wow.

[Squirrel]

Just to clarify, I don't advocate folks melt "everything".  I do strongly advocate folks figure out a plan of where they want to go with their fleet and how to get there.  That /might/ involve melting "everything" but probably doesn't.  I ended up melting my Blue Collar Pack.  It was a hard choice but ultimately, I feel good about it.  I had melted all my contents already in it to 'game the system'.  But, I have since decided to focus more on mid size ships than the large ones.  So, the ones I really want, I will just unmelt and use the remaining store credit for buying smaller ones and/or Caterpillar modules.

[Karmaslap]

On 6/10/2016 at 6:30 PM, GeraldEvans said:

Only do this with standalone ships, not packages.  You can get LTI on your ship, but you'd then need to spend more money to get into a package since they're now split.

I made this mistake. Had a 30$ package, melted for the buccaneer and now will need to pay 60$ for the same items I had. If I were thinking at all, I would have just bought the buccaneer outright, because that would cost the same amount of money as melting it is costing me if I want it + a package. 

[GeraldEvans]

7 hours ago, Karmaslap said:

I made this mistake. Had a 30$ package, melted for the buccaneer and now will need to pay 60$ for the same items I had. If I were thinking at all, I would have just bought the buccaneer outright, because that would cost the same amount of money as melting it is costing me if I want it + a package. 

Sorry.  At that point you could have bought another pair of Auroras or Mustangs.

[Wu Jen]

On 6/11/2016 at 2:26 PM, Irres said:

I bought 44, but I melted them before monday, I did not know about the weapon

found out about it later.

Paging @AstroJak we are both out this round lol.

@VoA the Phoenix was able to upgrade.