1) The 'skill differential' is spelled "Grinding obsession." because of the constant influx of "newer, better, more powerful" going on, combined with the 'release/nerf/release' business model ripped from collectible card games (where sets are brutally nerfed with each new release to guarantee sales of the new release) and a fundamental inability to get the basic concepts of balancing on the developer end, what you're calling 'skill' is really just skill at grinding and accounting, it requires encyclopedic knowledge of the ACTUAL (as opposed to stated) stats of each piece in a catalog of thousands of pieces. As I noted, only obsessive grinders have a chance now to do more than flutter about. Further complicating things, is the element noted in the video-where things don't scale. Probes? easy. Spheres? harder than Cubes. how did this happen? because the devs really aren't paying good attention to how their own mechanics work-I would suggest that anyone in DPS 50k or higher leagues knows more about how the game works, than the guy responsible for developing it, or developing powers for it. The team has absolutely failed to handle the basic task of game-balancing, and doesn't show much indication of improving this, as they are more keen to be personally liked by their online friends and supporters, than to do good work.
No...skill in this game is not JUST about how to build a ship and grab the latest and greatest shiny. It is also about skill in piloting and timing. Something I am quite terrible at. I can take a build that Peter can do 200k in and I will manage to do like a third that because I am quite frankly quite bad at games. And I am considered one of the GOOD players in this game. That 3k average DPS you mentioned...yeah I can do 7x that with common gear and boff abilities from vendors that will cost me less than 1 mil EC to get together. And once again...BAD at game. It's not just gear disparity when I can do 10x the average with common gear of what the average player is doing with what I would assume is more than common gear. And that is the average player...the bad ones in this game can't even manage 1k using VR+ max mark gear. So when I can do more than 20x using common mark XII gear and vendor boff abilities and somebody like Peter or Fel or hellspawny can do 40x+ that...how the hell do you balance the game? No really...there is a SKILL disparity in this game that is obscene. The difference between say me and Peter or Fel...yeah that can be adjusted for. The skill difference between even me and the average players when I am using COMMON gear is not. The skill difference between me and the low end players...yeah that is laughable to try and overcome...much less the low end vs actual high end players. Remember, us "good" players can use COMMON gear and produce a disparity with the average player that is pretty much insurmountable to balance around. The skill gap between the players in this game is honestly too damn big to fix. The extra powerful gear is honestly needed by the low end player...because without it, they can't even do basic normal storymode. Hell even with all that stuff, there are people who can't do normal storymode.
As for grinding obsession...I play like an hour or less at this game. I can toss together a can obliterate anything normal with less than 1 million EC. Advanced ready for like 10 mil. Honestly 5 mil with mission rewards...but 10 is more comfortable. Elite ready with 50 mil EC and some 100k dil and some fleet creds and some mission rewards. That is not hard amounts to grind by any means. Yes it requires some build knoweldge...but it isn't as bad as you make it out to be. It's basic synergy building. So you have 6-8 weapon slots...and if they are all the same type, you can boost them all with the same stacking console and boost them all with the same boff abilities? Okay, sounds like a good plan from ship building 101. Yeah reaching top DPS does require that level of knoweldge...but for general play, no, you just need to build sensibly.
Precisely! Skill is not defined by DPS alone. Anyone can copy a build from a site and presume they have skill because they are now doing 50k with a build that someone else discovered on top of macro'ing abilities to Space bar. But asked why it works, and they will struggle to explain it.
Like you, I enjoy building off scraps and vendor boff abilities, because I know what works! There was a guy in chat last night claiming missions had become impossible and refused to accept it was his build and his lack of skill/knowledge, didn't even know about Reps and Specialisations, despite being lvl 60 and refused to do them when told about it because it was effort.
The thing is, even when I started all those years ago, I always built with self-sufficiency in mind right off the get go. Too many think 'glass-cannon' is a must, not to mention those that think they should be top-gun and everyone else should heal him and then goes on a mad rant because no-one helped! Hence, self-sufficiency
Whilst Cryptic could give some advice to help, there are a good number of players that won't pay attention to it and still cry foul that 'it's Cryptic's fault, when actually, a bit of common sense is all that is required when it comes to what goes on a ship.
"You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
Again wait look at that the federation more than nay other currently playable race wow wait I was right and wait you are wrong want to continue this argument I can do end game ships and watch you cry and get mad trying to defend yourself. When just these non end game ships prove my point yes the Klingons have less ships than federation and yes Romulans have even fewer so yes they have a ship problem in game. The company also needs to address along with the review of the game itself and many other problems the video puts out.
No you are wrong. You mysteriously omit the top tier of ships to attempt to justify your argument! Literally all of the T1-T4 ships are canon ships, which backup my point! The T5 & T6 ships are mostly Cryptic made, and each faction has a vast array of choices! And since T1-T4 ships are discarded faster than toilet paper, they don't really matter except for Admiralty, of which Roms can use either faction on top of their own, so please stop misrepresenting 'lack of choice'.
There's no 'lack of choice'. Only less ships, but it's still a diverse choice for all. Only JH's have a 'lack of choice', but again, canon reasons, if it works, you don't need something new.
Edit: Since that original analysis, Roms gained access to most T5 and T6 ships too. In short, Roms have SUPERIOR choice than even Feds have.[/quote]
Since you refuse to use anything of a sorry I was wrong here are all the ships I can find that are actually faction based and not some cross faction thing that all have.
Federation 206 ships for the federation faction
Klingons 133 ships for the Klingons faction wait you theory of equal number of ships already blown apart lets see the Romulans
Romulans 96
Wait I know you will bring this excuse up so lets count all the non Faction like the Jem Hadr Cardassian cross faction ship in on it as I know you will use that excuse to justify the lack of ships.
Jem Hadar 14
Cross Faction 111 so if we add these to the original faction ships
Federation 331
Klingon 258
Romulan 221
Wait I was right wait me be right cause I actually counted theme on a neutral base and yet my original claim was justify ohhhh wait does that make me right yes it does, so yes the lack of ships for the Klingons and the Romulans are lacking let show that difference in total
Klingon 73 difference
Romulans 110 Difference to Federation and 37 difference to the Klingons
wow I was right also this is what I used as it has all the ships in game available.https://sto.gamepedia.com/Playable_starship Wait a direct source to the number of ships that where made for the game ohhh wow a source that you cant argue go ahead yell at your screen and argur with the Wiki source.[/quote]
No, you are not right, nor justified. Less ships does not mean lack of choice. Considering Feds have 40+ T6, Roms 30+, and KDF 30+, Cryptic have given ample choice. Romulans and KDF do not have the same ship build philosophy of the Feds, and considering both Roms and KDF have had less than 10 variants each in the ENTIRE run of ST, not including DSC, it is only shows how generous Cryptic have been in designing dozens upon dozens of new hulls for each faction!
"You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
Again wait look at that the federation more than nay other currently playable race wow wait I was right and wait you are wrong want to continue this argument I can do end game ships and watch you cry and get mad trying to defend yourself. When just these non end game ships prove my point yes the Klingons have less ships than federation and yes Romulans have even fewer so yes they have a ship problem in game. The company also needs to address along with the review of the game itself and many other problems the video puts out.
No you are wrong. You mysteriously omit the top tier of ships to attempt to justify your argument! Literally all of the T1-T4 ships are canon ships, which backup my point! The T5 & T6 ships are mostly Cryptic made, and each faction has a vast array of choices! And since T1-T4 ships are discarded faster than toilet paper, they don't really matter except for Admiralty, of which Roms can use either faction on top of their own, so please stop misrepresenting 'lack of choice'.
There's no 'lack of choice'. Only less ships, but it's still a diverse choice for all. Only JH's have a 'lack of choice', but again, canon reasons, if it works, you don't need something new.
Edit: Since that original analysis, Roms gained access to most T5 and T6 ships too. In short, Roms have SUPERIOR choice than even Feds have.[/quote]
Since you refuse to use anything of a sorry I was wrong here are all the ships I can find that are actually faction based and not some cross faction thing that all have.
Federation 206 ships for the federation faction
Klingons 133 ships for the Klingons faction wait you theory of equal number of ships already blown apart lets see the Romulans
Romulans 96
Wait I know you will bring this excuse up so lets count all the non Faction like the Jem Hadr Cardassian cross faction ship in on it as I know you will use that excuse to justify the lack of ships.
Jem Hadar 14
Cross Faction 111 so if we add these to the original faction ships
Federation 331
Klingon 258
Romulan 221
Wait I was right wait me be right cause I actually counted theme on a neutral base and yet my original claim was justify ohhhh wait does that make me right yes it does, so yes the lack of ships for the Klingons and the Romulans are lacking let show that difference in total
Klingon 73 difference
Romulans 110 Difference to Federation and 37 difference to the Klingons
wow I was right also this is what I used as it has all the ships in game available.https://sto.gamepedia.com/Playable_starship Wait a direct source to the number of ships that where made for the game ohhh wow a source that you cant argue go ahead yell at your screen and argur with the Wiki source.[/quote]
No, you are not right, nor justified. Less ships does not mean lack of choice. Considering Feds have 40+ T6, Roms 30+, and KDF 30+, Cryptic have given ample choice. Romulans and KDF do not have the same ship build philosophy of the Feds, and considering both Roms and KDF have had less than 10 variants each in the ENTIRE run of ST, not including DSC, it is only shows how generous Cryptic have been in designing dozens upon dozens of new hulls for each faction!
"You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
Did you include cross faction? Because while they may not be of the specific design philosophy, they offer choices. On the other hand I would't count the set ships as three whole ships, they're somewhat different for sure, but still very similar in the end. And let's not forget that Roms and JH have access to faction ships. So it is a bit more complicated than just adding numbers.
But where Mr. "I am right and you were wrong" is wrong himself is, as stated before: this does not mean any way has a lack of options only because they have less. Everybody has a lot of options, easily enough to do multiple completely different viable builds.
But back to the video in the OP: while this certainly isn't a neutral and informed review, the style is atrocious, it is a review from the POV of somebody not totally into all the delicacies of the game and thus there can be taken something from it in terms of how a new player experiences things. While power level management may be a simple thing, there are so many simple things thrown at you that you can get overwhelmed. There simply are too many options and levers and buttons and numbers to be crunched for a new player to really get it. And yes, the whole user interface could be better. A lot.
I also agree with patrick on the "gameplay vs cutscene" problem. Case in point because it was very annoying to me: "Home", the final episode of the Gamma arc. Decisive ground battle raging for five minutes, I am spawn camping the enemies, shooting them down as they appear, cutscene: suddenly we are losing? And I certainly have no extraordinary ground build, because I cannot understand ground, so it's not just the "if you get too strong you can beat everybody" segregation between gameplay and story that's sometimes unavoidable.
But as for the "STO is close to maintenance mode" post (I though "doom" was out?): I think I've read the same post 7 years or so ago. And 5 years ago. And 2 years ago. And if it gets repeated often enough, one day it'll even be correct.
My mother was an epohh and my father smelled of tulaberries
Well, I think this one has run its course, and to be honest, only became "active" again due to the spam fix I made the other day. /Thread
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Views and Opinions May Not Reflect the Views and Opinions of Gearbox/Cryptic
Comments
Precisely! Skill is not defined by DPS alone. Anyone can copy a build from a site and presume they have skill because they are now doing 50k with a build that someone else discovered on top of macro'ing abilities to Space bar. But asked why it works, and they will struggle to explain it.
Like you, I enjoy building off scraps and vendor boff abilities, because I know what works! There was a guy in chat last night claiming missions had become impossible and refused to accept it was his build and his lack of skill/knowledge, didn't even know about Reps and Specialisations, despite being lvl 60 and refused to do them when told about it because it was effort.
The thing is, even when I started all those years ago, I always built with self-sufficiency in mind right off the get go. Too many think 'glass-cannon' is a must, not to mention those that think they should be top-gun and everyone else should heal him and then goes on a mad rant because no-one helped! Hence, self-sufficiency
Whilst Cryptic could give some advice to help, there are a good number of players that won't pay attention to it and still cry foul that 'it's Cryptic's fault, when actually, a bit of common sense is all that is required when it comes to what goes on a ship.
No you are wrong. You mysteriously omit the top tier of ships to attempt to justify your argument! Literally all of the T1-T4 ships are canon ships, which backup my point! The T5 & T6 ships are mostly Cryptic made, and each faction has a vast array of choices! And since T1-T4 ships are discarded faster than toilet paper, they don't really matter except for Admiralty, of which Roms can use either faction on top of their own, so please stop misrepresenting 'lack of choice'.
Here's a breakdown I did last January....
https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1237664/ships-and-episodes-per-faction
There's no 'lack of choice'. Only less ships, but it's still a diverse choice for all. Only JH's have a 'lack of choice', but again, canon reasons, if it works, you don't need something new.
Edit: Since that original analysis, Roms gained access to most T5 and T6 ships too. In short, Roms have SUPERIOR choice than even Feds have.[/quote]
Since you refuse to use anything of a sorry I was wrong here are all the ships I can find that are actually faction based and not some cross faction thing that all have.
Federation 206 ships for the federation faction
Klingons 133 ships for the Klingons faction wait you theory of equal number of ships already blown apart lets see the Romulans
Romulans 96
Wait I know you will bring this excuse up so lets count all the non Faction like the Jem Hadr Cardassian cross faction ship in on it as I know you will use that excuse to justify the lack of ships.
Jem Hadar 14
Cross Faction 111 so if we add these to the original faction ships
Federation 331
Klingon 258
Romulan 221
Wait I was right wait me be right cause I actually counted theme on a neutral base and yet my original claim was justify ohhhh wait does that make me right yes it does, so yes the lack of ships for the Klingons and the Romulans are lacking let show that difference in total
Klingon 73 difference
Romulans 110 Difference to Federation and 37 difference to the Klingons
wow I was right also this is what I used as it has all the ships in game available.https://sto.gamepedia.com/Playable_starship Wait a direct source to the number of ships that where made for the game ohhh wow a source that you cant argue go ahead yell at your screen and argur with the Wiki source.[/quote]
No, you are not right, nor justified. Less ships does not mean lack of choice. Considering Feds have 40+ T6, Roms 30+, and KDF 30+, Cryptic have given ample choice. Romulans and KDF do not have the same ship build philosophy of the Feds, and considering both Roms and KDF have had less than 10 variants each in the ENTIRE run of ST, not including DSC, it is only shows how generous Cryptic have been in designing dozens upon dozens of new hulls for each faction!
No you are wrong. You mysteriously omit the top tier of ships to attempt to justify your argument! Literally all of the T1-T4 ships are canon ships, which backup my point! The T5 & T6 ships are mostly Cryptic made, and each faction has a vast array of choices! And since T1-T4 ships are discarded faster than toilet paper, they don't really matter except for Admiralty, of which Roms can use either faction on top of their own, so please stop misrepresenting 'lack of choice'.
Here's a breakdown I did last January....
https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1237664/ships-and-episodes-per-faction
There's no 'lack of choice'. Only less ships, but it's still a diverse choice for all. Only JH's have a 'lack of choice', but again, canon reasons, if it works, you don't need something new.
Edit: Since that original analysis, Roms gained access to most T5 and T6 ships too. In short, Roms have SUPERIOR choice than even Feds have.[/quote]
Since you refuse to use anything of a sorry I was wrong here are all the ships I can find that are actually faction based and not some cross faction thing that all have.
Federation 206 ships for the federation faction
Klingons 133 ships for the Klingons faction wait you theory of equal number of ships already blown apart lets see the Romulans
Romulans 96
Wait I know you will bring this excuse up so lets count all the non Faction like the Jem Hadr Cardassian cross faction ship in on it as I know you will use that excuse to justify the lack of ships.
Jem Hadar 14
Cross Faction 111 so if we add these to the original faction ships
Federation 331
Klingon 258
Romulan 221
Wait I was right wait me be right cause I actually counted theme on a neutral base and yet my original claim was justify ohhhh wait does that make me right yes it does, so yes the lack of ships for the Klingons and the Romulans are lacking let show that difference in total
Klingon 73 difference
Romulans 110 Difference to Federation and 37 difference to the Klingons
wow I was right also this is what I used as it has all the ships in game available.https://sto.gamepedia.com/Playable_starship Wait a direct source to the number of ships that where made for the game ohhh wow a source that you cant argue go ahead yell at your screen and argur with the Wiki source.[/quote]
No, you are not right, nor justified. Less ships does not mean lack of choice. Considering Feds have 40+ T6, Roms 30+, and KDF 30+, Cryptic have given ample choice. Romulans and KDF do not have the same ship build philosophy of the Feds, and considering both Roms and KDF have had less than 10 variants each in the ENTIRE run of ST, not including DSC, it is only shows how generous Cryptic have been in designing dozens upon dozens of new hulls for each faction!
But where Mr. "I am right and you were wrong" is wrong himself is, as stated before: this does not mean any way has a lack of options only because they have less. Everybody has a lot of options, easily enough to do multiple completely different viable builds.
But back to the video in the OP: while this certainly isn't a neutral and informed review, the style is atrocious, it is a review from the POV of somebody not totally into all the delicacies of the game and thus there can be taken something from it in terms of how a new player experiences things. While power level management may be a simple thing, there are so many simple things thrown at you that you can get overwhelmed. There simply are too many options and levers and buttons and numbers to be crunched for a new player to really get it. And yes, the whole user interface could be better. A lot.
I also agree with patrick on the "gameplay vs cutscene" problem. Case in point because it was very annoying to me: "Home", the final episode of the Gamma arc. Decisive ground battle raging for five minutes, I am spawn camping the enemies, shooting them down as they appear, cutscene: suddenly we are losing? And I certainly have no extraordinary ground build, because I cannot understand ground, so it's not just the "if you get too strong you can beat everybody" segregation between gameplay and story that's sometimes unavoidable.
But as for the "STO is close to maintenance mode" post (I though "doom" was out?): I think I've read the same post 7 years or so ago. And 5 years ago. And 2 years ago. And if it gets repeated often enough, one day it'll even be correct.
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