HERE WE GO!
And for those who didn't quite catch all the abbreviations used in the thread title, this is Intergalactic Aerospace Expo 2952 War Bond Cross Chassis Upgrade watch.
So we'll be updating and keeping a record of which ships got a WB CCU this year and how good a deal that was (so in the future you can also speculate with better questimates based on actual data).
PLEASE NOTE! As pointed out by @Raven_King the finale works a bit differently this year. Previously, all the WB CCUs offered during the event returned for the finale. This time CIG has stated that not every daily offer will.
Summary list (There's a more in-depth version by @Brictoria right below this one, this one is for brevity)
Finale - BIS (27th)
2nd time Carrack, 2nd Time Mercury... people really keep voting for these same ships year after year... Ah well. I'm real happy about the Pisces though. We got some smart Ferengi in the community.
I'm not 100% certain yet, but I'm pretty sure the paints and trinkets would stay even as you continue CCUing past these ships, like posters and models you get from some concept offers.
Finale - Finale? (28th-?)
Oh, this was somewhat unexpected. What an odd way of doing it. Did they not hit some secret funding goal or something? Ah well, more WB CCU extravaganza.
Bonus round:
Here's a few real old concepts that have an extremely good chance of going up in price by "alot."
Also check out this thread by @Raven_King for F5 wars dates and times: https://testsquadron.com/threads/iae-2952-faq-is-live-including-stock-limited-ship-sale-dates-and-times.20062/#post-383573
What are WB CCUs?
They're how CIG does discounts. They require new money (so no store credit) but you can get $5, $10, $15, $20 or more knocked off the price of a regular CCU.
"$5 dollars? Why bother" I hear you ask.
Well the cool thing about these is that you can combine the discounts if you can fit multiple WB CCUs in the same CCU chain. It's basically make your own discount. Now, you have to pay at least $5 for a CCU, so the smallest WB CCU you can buy is a $10 CCU discounted to $5, or a 50% discount. Not too shabby.
The thing to keep in mind here, is to always select the ship closest in value to the WB CCU discount point. So for example, let's say Arrow ($75 melt value normally) has a $5 discount WB CCU on it. You can't pick 325A to Arrow CCU, as that'd be $0 CCU and CIG doesn't do those. For obvious reasons. Instead, you could, and probably should, pick 315p ($65 melt value) for a $5 off, and pay $5 at 50% discount. Of course you could pick 300i ($60 melt), possibly because you own a 300i, and pay $10 at 33% discount. But you really shouldn't. This is for two reasons. Firstly, because WB CCUs are new money, so you'd have to put in $10 new money, when you could've just used $5 store credit for 300i to 315p and then used $5 fresh money for 315p to Arrow. Secondly, and more importantly, the smaller CCUs you use the better chances you have to fit some new future CCUs into the chain. Thirdly, specific to this and some other cases, 315p is permanently available. So even if you don't have store credits right now, you can get that normal 300i to 315p CCU whenever.
"Okey, but it's still just $5 dollars, like what are you going to do, keep doing this for years and, then what, get ships for next to nothing?"
Yes. Absolutely yes. This really is "build your own discount." If you have the patience to do this over several sale events, you can get something like my $155 Banu Merchantman CCU chain. That's quite a steal. Or if you got more money than patience, you can do this over like one event and walk away with perhaps a 30% total discount depending on the target ship and your luck. That's not bad either.
"But isn't the goal to support the development! Why not just pay the full price of ships?"
Well, if you get a ship for 50% off, you still got the option to buy a second ship also for 50% off. You'll still fund with the same amount, only you got twice the amount of ships now. Cool, right?
If you want an example of what has happened during a sale in the past, here is the Invictus Launch Week thread from earlier this year https://testsquadron.com/threads/friendly-reminder-that-warbond-ccus-are-a-thing.19713/#post-377748
They're how CIG does discounts. They require new money (so no store credit) but you can get $5, $10, $15, $20 or more knocked off the price of a regular CCU.
"$5 dollars? Why bother" I hear you ask.
Well the cool thing about these is that you can combine the discounts if you can fit multiple WB CCUs in the same CCU chain. It's basically make your own discount. Now, you have to pay at least $5 for a CCU, so the smallest WB CCU you can buy is a $10 CCU discounted to $5, or a 50% discount. Not too shabby.
The thing to keep in mind here, is to always select the ship closest in value to the WB CCU discount point. So for example, let's say Arrow ($75 melt value normally) has a $5 discount WB CCU on it. You can't pick 325A to Arrow CCU, as that'd be $0 CCU and CIG doesn't do those. For obvious reasons. Instead, you could, and probably should, pick 315p ($65 melt value) for a $5 off, and pay $5 at 50% discount. Of course you could pick 300i ($60 melt), possibly because you own a 300i, and pay $10 at 33% discount. But you really shouldn't. This is for two reasons. Firstly, because WB CCUs are new money, so you'd have to put in $10 new money, when you could've just used $5 store credit for 300i to 315p and then used $5 fresh money for 315p to Arrow. Secondly, and more importantly, the smaller CCUs you use the better chances you have to fit some new future CCUs into the chain. Thirdly, specific to this and some other cases, 315p is permanently available. So even if you don't have store credits right now, you can get that normal 300i to 315p CCU whenever.
"Okey, but it's still just $5 dollars, like what are you going to do, keep doing this for years and, then what, get ships for next to nothing?"
Yes. Absolutely yes. This really is "build your own discount." If you have the patience to do this over several sale events, you can get something like my $155 Banu Merchantman CCU chain. That's quite a steal. Or if you got more money than patience, you can do this over like one event and walk away with perhaps a 30% total discount depending on the target ship and your luck. That's not bad either.
"But isn't the goal to support the development! Why not just pay the full price of ships?"
Well, if you get a ship for 50% off, you still got the option to buy a second ship also for 50% off. You'll still fund with the same amount, only you got twice the amount of ships now. Cool, right?
If you want an example of what has happened during a sale in the past, here is the Invictus Launch Week thread from earlier this year https://testsquadron.com/threads/friendly-reminder-that-warbond-ccus-are-a-thing.19713/#post-377748
And for those who didn't quite catch all the abbreviations used in the thread title, this is Intergalactic Aerospace Expo 2952 War Bond Cross Chassis Upgrade watch.
So we'll be updating and keeping a record of which ships got a WB CCU this year and how good a deal that was (so in the future you can also speculate with better questimates based on actual data).
Todays Ship(s) | Warbond CCU Price | Normal price | Permanently available starting point | Closest available starting point |
---|---|---|---|---|
Finale - Finale? (table below) | ||||
Finale - BIS (still available) | -- | -- | -- | <---- |
Corsair (Still available) | $225 | $250 | Taurus ($190) | San'Tok.Yãi (In production so others are better)/Terrapin/Defender ($220) |
C8R Pisces (Still Available) | $60 | $65 | ROC/Avenger Titan/Mustang Gamma/Cyclone ($55) | <---- |
PLEASE NOTE! As pointed out by @Raven_King the finale works a bit differently this year. Previously, all the WB CCUs offered during the event returned for the finale. This time CIG has stated that not every daily offer will.
Summary list (There's a more in-depth version by @Brictoria right below this one, this one is for brevity)
Date | Ship | Warbond CCU Price | Normal price |
---|---|---|---|
18th | Corsair | $225 | $250 |
Caterpillar | $305 | $330 | |
19th | 600i Explorer + Name reservation | $445 | $475 |
20th | Eclipse | $280 | $300 |
21st | BMM | $600 | $650 |
22nd | F7C-M Super Hornet | $165 | $180 |
C8R Piscess | $60 | $65 | |
23rd | Mole | $295 | $315 |
24th | Cyclone MT | $65 | $75 |
25th | Prospector | $145 | $155 |
26th | Mantis | $140 | $150 |
27th | Finale - BIS (table below) | ||
28th | Finale - Finale? (table below) |
Finale - BIS (27th)
Ship | Warbond CCU Price | Normal Price |
C8X Pisces | $40 | $45 |
Scorpius | $220 | $240 |
Mercury | $240 | $260 |
Carrack | $560 | $600 |
I'm not 100% certain yet, but I'm pretty sure the paints and trinkets would stay even as you continue CCUing past these ships, like posters and models you get from some concept offers.
Finale - Finale? (28th-?)
Ship | WB CCU Price | Normal Price |
Cyclone MT | $65 | $75 |
Freelancer MAX | $140 | $150 |
The Mantis | $140 | $150 |
F7C-M Super Hornet | $165 | $180 |
400i | $230 | $250 |
Mole | $295 | $315 |
Caterpillar | $305 | $330 |
Prowler | $410 | $440 |
Hammerhead | $675 | $725 |
Bonus round:
Here's a few real old concepts that have an extremely good chance of going up in price by "alot."
Ship | Why? |
Endeavor | Endeavor is an extremely old concept ship that hasn't budged an inch from the $350 price point. The completion of this ship is still far off in the future, but considering that it's an extremely modular capital ship going for mere $350 certainly gives an incredible amount of potential growth. The potential is, however, somewhat limited by the pricing structure where the modules are sold separately, so the actual price isn't quite $350 to begin with. |
Crucible | Another ship at the $350 point, the crucible is a large repair ship capable of repairing even larger ships. I'd give it quite good chances of getting to like $450 to $550 in the end. |
Genesis Starliner | A real mystery. At $400 this ship is the only ship that currently is designed to allow for mass-passenger transport. Yes, there are luxury VIP passenger transports for small number of VIP passengers, but this one you just fill with regular people. CIG could swing anywhichway with this one, either leaving it at $400 or running wild with it. |
Hull C & D (and B & E) | The hull series has had a round or two of price bumps, particularly C and D had a quite handsome $100 bump each. I'd be 0% surprised to see another $50 to $100 bump on C once it's flight ready, and $100 to $200 on D. |
Also check out this thread by @Raven_King for F5 wars dates and times: https://testsquadron.com/threads/iae-2952-faq-is-live-including-stock-limited-ship-sale-dates-and-times.20062/#post-383573
Last edited: