[PODCAST] Tribbles in Ecstasy Take 254: Arena of Conversation

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• alex1ger Member Posts: 141 Arc User

  March 2017

  Good morning, tribbles.
  
  
  Community questions:
  
  1.) I did not participate, so... *shrug* But from what I heard it sounded like a ground version of a... how do you say it... "no-win-scenario". A true no-win-scenario... You know, there are people who really enjoy that kind of challenge and if you implemented leaderboards and seasons (so the leaderboards reset every few months and the top... however many people get a season-specific reward), that could be very appealing to some players.
  The only issue I see with that idea is... the random part. If some random factors end up being more difficult than others, you definitely don't want to implement leaderboards and seasons.
  I wonder if they bring back no-win-scenario in a similar way. Nah. Probably not. I mean, if people can't win, then it's not fun, amirite?
  
  But at that point we're getting into game design philosophies and since I still need to e-mail you anyway... well, be afraid. Be very afraid.
  
  
  2.) I understand why some designers like to use RNG. And as long as the odds are reasonable... fine. But there is a reason why Blizzard implemented the option to get "extra rolls" for raid loot in World of Warcraft. Because RNG can be very un-fun, when there is no "bad luck protection".
  Let's take Hearthstone for example. I like playing that game. But when you face the umpteenth pirate warrior or aggro shaman and the game devolves into a coin flip whether or not you get the perfect answers within the first 5 turns... that is neither fun nor interactive. When I lose a game, well, when I misplay I have only myself to blame, but when I play as best as the draw lets me and my opponent makes one sub-optimal play after another and still wins because his RNG is just so much better... I don't call that fun. But I'm getting into game design philosophy again and I should probably save that for the e-mail.
  What were we talking about? Oh. Right. I'm still not playing Timelines.
  
  
  3.) Well, the original bridge crew seems like a fine suggestion. Certainly beats the seven dwarves... I guess every Star Trek crew offers at least 7 notable characters to choose from. You could also use seven X-Men... Let me think... Professor X, Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Rogue and... uhm... maybe Magneto, because Ian McKellen is awesome?
  
  
  
  Feedback:
  
  
  
  Oh boy did you touch on iffy subjects... Let's start with he who shall not be named. See, when I read the Star Trek Continues update and got to "we spent the money exactly how we said we would" and how they pointed out that they were non-profit, I thought to myself: "Shots fired." It might have been unintentional, but my mind immediately went there. And lo and behold, he who shall not be named could not resist the temptation. Which was to be expected. See, I may not know him personally, but from what I've seen so far his ego seems to be somewhat... spacious. Now there are people who have that kind of an ego and got a big personality to back it up. But those are the exception. Most people who sport that kind of an ego suffer from having an extremely tiny... no, dragon, not what you may think... personality.
  So... I understand why these statements were made, I just wish both sides had refrained from doing it. And just for the record, the statement made by the Continues crew happens to be entirely true, whereas there are... issues with the response you read out.
  
  And now a very brief excursion into european history. The other guy that shall remain nameless was not a war hero at all. He did serve in World War 1, but he was just a... what's the lowest rank called... private?
  Sure, he tried to associate himself with so-called war heroes, but even that classification has issues because some of them tried to "rewrite" history in their own favor by claiming that they could have won the war if they had not been "back-stabbed" by one of the political parties back then. That claim was untrue, but that's a whole different can of worms.
  The funny part about all of that is... this nameless guy tried to invoke the feeling that he was continuing the glorious tradition of prussia. As an austrian citizen. If you know something about european history, you might be smirking now. Until you remember who we're talking about.
  
  
  
  Btw., the... what's his position called... chairman of CBS? Les Moonves? talked to... investors I think. And he said they expect Discovery to launch late summer/early fall. And Star Trek is the "family jewels" and they decided to do this show because Star Trek is doing so well on Netflix.
  No, they are not doing it to revitalize/reinvigorate the franchise, they are not doing it because they believe in it, they are doing it because someone else proved that there is money to be made. Say what you will about "the mouse", at least they don't hide behind Netflix to justify re-doing some of their old IPs.
  
  
  
  Uhm... let's delve into STO's console version for a moment. You mentioned an issue with the temporal transponder. See, it's wonderful that people are gonna get their rewards whenever Cryptic manages to fix the bug, but... uhm... you do remember that there are those crates full of level appropriate gear whenever you reach a 10 level-milestone (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50). So... if you do what Cryptic wants you to do (play a lot during the event) you don't get the gear that is supposed to help you level when it would help you to level. So... uhm... Cryptic? How about you... I don't know... freeze the event until you fix this issue? No? Okay, that might not be possible. I understand. But surely you have an official statement that promises some sort of compensation. I mean, how long has the event been running now?
  Oh and I read something about a turn rate bug that does not seem to be listed in the known issues. Something about escorts turning like cruisers (or worse) and well... if I bought an escort and it turned like a cruiser I would be rather... displeased. I hope Cryptic has top men working on this case... TOP! MEN!
  
  
  
  And last but not least, Perfect World marketing strikes again... See, Agents of Yesterday launched on consoles on 14 february. Around the 16th, I noticed two STO ad banners on MassivelyOP. One of them advertising "Season 12: Reckoning". The other one advertising "Season 11: New Dawn". Or was it 11.5? It was definitely New Dawn. And I thought... well, the timing seems a little odd, since most companies like to hype up launch day or maybe a few days before to give new players time to download the client and returning players time to patch their client, but maybe I didn't pay enough attention, so that's fine.
  Then I realized... wait a second, season 12 is new on PC, but New Dawn is not the most recent content drop for consoles. That ad should have been an AoY banner. Oh well, maybe the ad company messed up.
  
  The following days I say a boatload of ad banners advertising... The Iconian War. Delta Rising. Season 9: New Accords.
  See, when you can't be bothered (or afford) to make new banners, make generic banners. That's fine. But no company EVER advertises old content. Blizzard does not advertise Wrath of the Lich King or The Burning Crusade anymore. The Old Republic does not advertise Rise of the Hutt cartel or Shadow of Revan anymore.
  You do not advertise old content because... well, new players won't know the difference anyway, but former players see those banners and if they remember that content they are gonna think that you're either cheap or lazy. Use generic banners if you have to, but for the love of whatever you believe in, you do NOT advertise old content.
  
  There was a time when I wondered how Perfect World's head of marketing got that job. Now I wonder how he/she manages to keep that job. But hey, apparently Smirk and Trendy were too expensive to keep. *shrug*

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