Sam on Maui

49,000 Dilithium just went out of my hands! I just bought 49 Uncommon Unreplicatable Materials at 1,000 Dilithium each. Pricing for them seems to be 150k each on the low-ball, and 250k being about normal. Well, I, not being normal, didn't price that way. When I re-evaluated my selling prices for UMs , I decided that 1 Zen to 10k Energy Credits minimum price was agreeable. I would be getting what I felt was a worthwhile price on my time and effort while my buyer was getting a relative deal compared to the rest of the pricing on the market. Even after adding a premium to the price, both of us would be coming out ahead!

Well, its now been 4 weeks tracked! My first month! And, as such, I’m finally getting a view of the “bigger” picture. It was rather nice to get up, log on, and see the 64 Zen I placed for sale at 1:165 had sold, leaving me with a nice sum of over 10,000 Dilithium. Knowing that when rates go back down I’ll be able to make a small profit on that is even better. I know, I know, you want charts, don’t you?

Come this Thursday I'll have hit 4-weeks worth of tracking. On top of that, the price of Zen has gone up from the low to mid 150's to 160. I'm hoping, if not betting a little, that it'll hit 165 before the end of the month. One of the nice things about the Dilithium Exchange is you can place offers and let them sit there. I currently have offers to buy a total of 68 Zen at 1:154. I also have an offer to sell 64 Zen if it should reach 1:165. Right now 1:154 is the highest price I'll buy Zen at, with more than a bit done at 153. This, in turn, should get me a nice little profit when the pendulum swings back the other way (about 704 Dilithium, or 4 Zen at 1:154). Sure, its not a lot, but it is a reasonable amount for not doing anything other than being patient. My stipend hits towards the beginning of next month, so I'm debating whether or not I'll hold onto it or not. We'll see.

Cryptic/PWE just unveiled the latest lockbox for Star Trek Online: the Temporal Lock Box . Its time-travel themed, with all sorts of neat ships, consoles, etc., both to be won on random chance and via Lobi. You should really take a look - they're very cool looking . Now, given that Master Keys cost $1.25 each (well, less if you buy 10-packs), you might be hesitant to go after them. You might also be leery of the whole lockbox scheme. And, that's understandable. Goodness knows Pavlovian responses aren't limited to just dogs! So, how to play without paying...?

Earlier on I posted my excitement over Unreplicatable Materials . It looked like a gold-mine, but I was also wondering if what I saw might be a bit too good to be true. Well, a quick look-over this morning and yes, it was indeed so. The weekend market had been emptied out, leaving only the highest priced posts in the Exchange. Whoops.

In Season 5 of Star Trek Online, Cryptic introduced the Duty Officer system. I love this part of the game; its quick, its easy, and is perfect for lunch breaks. With various categories to focus on, assignments varying by sector, and the timed nature of it, DOFFs are a fascinating way to progress your character (and crew) while offline, to have an alternative means of leveling, and just provide a great flavor to the game. Moreover, its how I've been doing the vast majority of my Dilithium Earning. "But what if I don't like DOFFs?"

Follow-up post! If you've watched the show at all, you know they can do a whole lot with their replicators. Need a meal? A hot drink? Feline food supplement? Go to the replicator, tell it what you want, and off you go! Sure, it can't making living things, and it seems they tone some stuff down (synth-ale doesn't seem to be the "good stuff"), but it seems it can make just about anything. Star Trek Online's crafting system has two unique crafting materials that bear examining: Common and Uncommon Unreplicatable Materials. Costing 10 and 1,000 Dilithium each, they represent something that can't simply be ordered up on demand. As such, they represent an obstacle to crafters because the players must earn Dilithium to buy them, buy Dilithium with Zen to buy them, or have someone else get it for them.

Upon logging in and hitting DS9, I was welcomes by someone standing around, talking in the local channel: Welcome to ***********, Cheap&fast STO Credits 10M only $12.99 with 10% bonus STO Credits, 30mins delivery guaranteed. Really? Oh, that's fantastic. I've been selling Master Keys the past few days between 1.4-1.6 million a piece. Right now, Cryptic is selling the 10-packs of keys for under $10. So, while not as fast: I can buy as much Energy Credits as they're offering for less than their asking price. I can actually buy it with Zen. I can actually buy the Zen with Dilithium. And my account plus credit card is totally safe in the meantime. Moreover, I just got introduced to the fact that Fleet Ship Modules can be bought in the Z-Store and sold on the Exchange. A quick check, and I saw they're selling for 6-9 million EC each. I don't know about you, but that's pretty good, too!

Three weeks of tracking! :D This has been a pretty big week for me, though. The Tholian Lock Boxes are coming to an end, but Cryptic is bringing back the Ferengi and Cardassian Boxes for a limited time. But, what’s even bigger, and better, than that is they’ve put the Master Keys on sale for 15% off! As a result, I’ve managed to buy a few extra keys and sold them on the Exchange. Right now I’ve got over 14 million Energy Credits stashed away, which is nice considering I started with well under 100,000 not that long ago. Tracking chart after the break!

Today, Cryptic/Perfect World announced the return of Ferengi and Cardassian lock boxes . Not only have they improved the box winnings overall, there’s a chance that D’Kora Marauders and Cardassian Galor Cruisers will be cheaper on the exchange should their availability increase. The flip side of this would be that Master Keys are a bit more popular in the Exchange right now! When I took a look, there were a lot of keys being offered for 5 million Energy Credits on the first page alone, with a handful being available under 2 million. The Master Keys I had on the market were practically steals compared to the others. I sold one at 1.6 million, and three at 1.4 million. So, 500 Zen (a subscriber’s or lifetimer’s monthly stipend) got me 5.8 million Energy Credits! But, I didn’t buy those keys with my stipend! I bought them with Zen bought with Dilithium :D ~77,000 Refined Dilithium, converted at 1:154 rate or better, bought 500 Zen which then bought 5.8 million Energy Credits. Yes, i...

Not everyone is into crazy Z:D currency exchange shenanigans, and its easy to understand why. I can be boring, it’s a slow process, and you really have no control over it. However, if you buy Zen at all, and have any left over, its worth looking at. Why? The Dilithium Store.

I’ve been slowly working towards amassing Dilithium and Zen, but pretty much want to keep it on a low-effort basis. Generally, when I’m playing, I want to sit back and relax. I’m just as likely to go away from my keyboard, chat with friends, etc., as anything else during my STO time. As such, going through Task Forces really doesn’t work for me. If I need to pay active attention, I’m not going to be doing it. Thankfully, I’ve found that the Duty Officer system helps me work towards my goals. And, at least for the time being, I’ve got a reasonable way to bring in dilithium with relatively little effort. It does, however, take some time per-session.

Another week has come and gone, and here we are again! So far prices have been pretty stable, so I’m not sure why the prices during the week of August 27 were so high. How has the past week fared? Tracking is after the break...

So, since I’ve started trying to make Zen through the Dilithium Exchange in Star Trek Online , a simple Excel file has been incredibly useful for me. The old adage, “buy low, sell high” is very useful and easy in this situation. Care to see? Tracking after the break.