Well, there is the old saying "You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time."
I thought it was a very nice episode. The attention to detail was definitely there. I even noticed that when you powered down the satellite into economical mode that the plasma flowing through those lower pipes stopped flowing.
I've liked almost every mission STO has thrown at me. Until Coliseum, the latest weekly. I spent an hour and a half getting more and more bored as I had to jump through stupid, time-consuming hoops. They didn't even make any sense sometimes. I have a fully-functioning Medic Kit but I still have to pick up stupid plants in order to make an analgesic for Slapfacek? An hour and a half in, I got stuck in the map at the downed ship. The /stuck command didn't work (as it rarely does), and so in a desperate attempt to get it over and done with I beamed up and back down again - and it put me right back at the beginning of the Marooned map, not even putting me back at the cave. I now face having to do all of that stupid horticulturalism over - and that's before I even think about whether to bother doing it with my other characters. This mission is a terrible, terrible piece of junk. Avoid like the plague.
You spent an hour and a half wow what was you doing all that time, my first time though took me about 45 minutes and that was getting lost once in the desert and i read every thing and i am a slow reader, maybe some time you should run it again with some one and see it can be dome alot faster, personaly and i hate to give them credit hehehehehe but i think this is the best mission yet
MillyBun, you said that somebody had worked hard on it, but I'd say yes and no. Somebody had bolted together an interesting plot, and then somebody else had got their grubby fingers all over it and added in a million useless micro-tasks that dragged it out unbearably. It was already too long by the time I walked out of the Arena. I've liked the other episodes in this series. The one in the shuttle was especially ace. But this was bloated and should have had its play-time halved by removing the more boring "collect x items" quests. This is the first time I've come out of an STO mission (other than an STF) and thought: that was a waste of two hours (I've now finished the mission, and the ending was a predictable, clich
This mission, to me, was like a real episode. It reminded me of the Tamarian episode of TNG, or the one where Picard and Dr Crusher are stuck on that planet sharing a mind link. To me, this was Star Trek, pure and simple. the only thing that could have made it better was if there was some quirky subplot that you would get to see your BO's deal with on your ship, trying to find you while dealing with a major malfunction on the ship.
Now, it wasnt perfect, might I add. some of the "Go here and click here" felt too easy. the math was great. Made me have to bust out the calculator since I suck at math. the Herbs thing needed a minigame. somthing hard with a time limit where you had to do it fast or the reman would croak, and thus adding a complete change to the adventure if he does so. but This is an MMO and not mass effect. But I digress
great stuff cryptic. Kudos and keep up the good work.
As stated before you're allowed you opinion and I respect that. On another note though I have to say that I loved the mission. All the new missions they've been adding to the game have felt more and more like a true trek mission. I felt sad that they don't have more missions like it, infact missions that envolve your BOs would be nice so that you could truely feel attached to them. Perhaps you crash land on a planet and have to survive with one of your BOs. To me Coliseum was an eye opener about what STO can be in the future. I'm looking forward to seeing more.
The Coliseum mission plays more like an TV episode more than most of the featured episodes and definately more than any of the pre-FE missions. Coliseum is an example of how missions should be done.
The problem was that there was no choice in the matter. How we escape, even how we avoid the search parties, everything was scripted. It was hoop after hoop. Do it the way we want you to, or you can't do it.
First I have to do some math to free my ship. Boring. How about some interesting puzzles?
Next I'm in a cell with a Reman to talk to. Unless I say exactly what he wants to hear, I can't progress.
Next I have to fight a few critters (yay for more melee weapons!). He's trapped in stasis and I'm told to do as I'm told or I'll be punished. NOT. I hung around out there checking all the doors, wandering aimlessly... No punishment. Nothing. They left me completely alone. How about opening up one of the several panels out there? Nope, all you can do is meekly go back to your cell (sounds like what a Klingon would do, doesn't it?).
It occurs to me, what I'd have done was have a couple of guards come out to fight me. If I beat them, FOUR guards. If I beat them, EIGHT then TWELVE and so on until I either go back to my cell or am defeated (which results in waking up in my cell...). Accomplishes the same goal, but makes it seem like we have a choice.
Next we fight worms. Then a big worm that can only be attacked one way (and that continues damaging you while the slow motion cutscenes play). Kill it the way we want you to! No, there's no other way.
Next we go outside. Patrols are looking for us, can we avoid them? Hard to say. I ran all the way to the cave and didn't get noticed, but it didn't matter, I hadn't hidden behind the specific rock they wanted me to.
But Slapstick is tired. Needs a rest. I'd better go scan some herbs for him so he can have an aspirin. But not any herbs, you have to scan THOSE THREE SPECIFIC herbs before you can collect or scan any other identical herbs. Fine, my Starfleet Captain is a Science Officer. He'd know about the medical properties of herbs. My Klingon Tactical Officer? NOT. Playing as my Klingon, my reaction was, "You want me to pick some plants for you? If your injuries are so minor that a few herbs are going to make you feel better, then you can damn well get on your feet before I stick a Nausicaan sword up your Reman Rear."
Then we have to find some water, food and firewood. First question, why is the Engineer the one that has the combat mission (killing warriguls)? Why isn't the Science officer smart enough to realize there must be water in the MANY cacti in the area, or supplying the many plants in the cave? Nope, got to open the spider gourds, because doing anything has to involve a predictable battle. NO, don't scan them for lifeforms, you'd spoil the suprise of the spiders... except there's not really any suprise...
Finally, we get to make a beacon to signal my ship. My first thought? Boy, sending a distress signal might not be too bright, considering the Romulans are already HERE and looking for us... Oh, look. There they are. Cure the last second beam... Oh look, there it is...
I was pretty unimpressed overall. A good effort, but this fell short in many ways.
The problem was that there was no choice in the matter. How we escape, even how we avoid the search parties, everything was scripted. It was hoop after hoop. Do it the way we want you to, or you can't do it.
First I have to do some math to free my ship. Boring. How about some interesting puzzles?
Next I'm in a cell with a Reman to talk to. Unless I say exactly what he wants to hear, I can't progress.
Next I have to fight a few critters (yay for more melee weapons!). He's trapped in stasis and I'm told to do as I'm told or I'll be punished. NOT. I hung around out there checking all the doors, wandering aimlessly... No punishment. Nothing. They left me completely alone. How about opening up one of the several panels out there? Nope, all you can do is meekly go back to your cell (sounds like what a Klingon would do, doesn't it?).
It occurs to me, what I'd have done was have a couple of guards come out to fight me. If I beat them, FOUR guards. If I beat them, EIGHT then TWELVE and so on until I either go back to my cell or am defeated (which results in waking up in my cell...). Accomplishes the same goal, but makes it seem like we have a choice.
Next we fight worms. Then a big worm that can only be attacked one way (and that continues damaging you while the slow motion cutscenes play). Kill it the way we want you to! No, there's no other way.
Next we go outside. Patrols are looking for us, can we avoid them? Hard to say. I ran all the way to the cave and didn't get noticed, but it didn't matter, I hadn't hidden behind the specific rock they wanted me to.
But Slapstick is tired. Needs a rest. I'd better go scan some herbs for him so he can have an aspirin. But not any herbs, you have to scan THOSE THREE SPECIFIC herbs before you can collect or scan any other identical herbs. Fine, my Starfleet Captain is a Science Officer. He'd know about the medical properties of herbs. My Klingon Tactical Officer? NOT. Playing as my Klingon, my reaction was, "You want me to pick some plants for you? If your injuries are so minor that a few herbs are going to make you feel better, then you can damn well get on your feet before I stick a Nausicaan sword up your Reman Rear."
Then we have to find some water, food and firewood. First question, why is the Engineer the one that has the combat mission (killing warriguls)? Why isn't the Science officer smart enough to realize there must be water in the MANY cacti in the area, or supplying the many plants in the cave?
Finally, we get to make a beacon to signal my ship. My first thought? Boy, sending a distress signal might not be too bright, considering the Romulans are already HERE and looking for us... Oh, look. There they are. Cure the last second beam... Oh look, there it is...
I was pretty unimpressed overall. A good effort, but this fell short in many ways.
unless you did't noticed, they did good job. but you SHOULD KNOW they are understaffed after 4 years but Atari still has't even given our Dev Team a plenty of room, technology, money to build up much more Larger team to make an best Episodes in any Capacity if Atari decided to give Cryptic Exactly What they need badly. remember.. Technology for Cryptic was't availble back then (ability to allow Various Things like Landing A Ship etc) so here you go. you see the problem. this is well made and clear point in why. :eek:
This mission, to me, was like a real episode. It reminded me of the Tamarian episode of TNG, or the one where Picard and Dr Crusher are stuck on that planet sharing a mind link. To me, this was Star Trek, pure and simple.
unless you did't noticed, they did good job. but you SHOULD KNOW they are understaffed after 4 years but Atari still has't even given our Dev Team a plenty of room, technology, money to build up much more Larger team to make an best Episodes in any Capacity if Atari decided to give Cryptic Exactly What they need badly. remember.. Technology for Cryptic was't availble back then (ability to allow Various Things like Landing A Ship etc) so here you go. you see the problem. this is well made and clear point in why. :eek:
"Did a good job?" I think my post illustrates how they didn't do a particularly good job, but we're speaking of opinions here. Are you saying, they didn't have the resources to make it not suck, so it's good? That's kind of strange logic...
I have no information with regard to their budget or personnel, so I can't validly comment on that (and I suspect neither can you).
The problem was that there was no choice in the matter. How we escape, even how we avoid the search parties, everything was scripted. It was hoop after hoop. Do it the way we want you to, or you can't do it.
First I have to do some math to free my ship. Boring. How about some interesting puzzles?
Next I'm in a cell with a Reman to talk to. Unless I say exactly what he wants to hear, I can't progress.
Next I have to fight a few critters (yay for more melee weapons!). He's trapped in stasis and I'm told to do as I'm told or I'll be punished. NOT. I hung around out there checking all the doors, wandering aimlessly... No punishment. Nothing. They left me completely alone. How about opening up one of the several panels out there? Nope, all you can do is meekly go back to your cell (sounds like what a Klingon would do, doesn't it?).
It occurs to me, what I'd have done was have a couple of guards come out to fight me. If I beat them, FOUR guards. If I beat them, EIGHT then TWELVE and so on until I either go back to my cell or am defeated (which results in waking up in my cell...). Accomplishes the same goal, but makes it seem like we have a choice.
Next we fight worms. Then a big worm that can only be attacked one way (and that continues damaging you while the slow motion cutscenes play). Kill it the way we want you to! No, there's no other way.
Next we go outside. Patrols are looking for us, can we avoid them? Hard to say. I ran all the way to the cave and didn't get noticed, but it didn't matter, I hadn't hidden behind the specific rock they wanted me to.
But Slapstick is tired. Needs a rest. I'd better go scan some herbs for him so he can have an aspirin. But not any herbs, you have to scan THOSE THREE SPECIFIC herbs before you can collect or scan any other identical herbs. Fine, my Starfleet Captain is a Science Officer. He'd know about the medical properties of herbs. My Klingon Tactical Officer? NOT. Playing as my Klingon, my reaction was, "You want me to pick some plants for you? If your injuries are so minor that a few herbs are going to make you feel better, then you can damn well get on your feet before I stick a Nausicaan sword up your Reman Rear."
Then we have to find some water, food and firewood. First question, why is the Engineer the one that has the combat mission (killing warriguls)? Why isn't the Science officer smart enough to realize there must be water in the MANY cacti in the area, or supplying the many plants in the cave? Nope, got to open the spider gourds, because doing anything has to involve a predictable battle. NO, don't scan them for lifeforms, you'd spoil the suprise of the spiders... except there's not really any suprise...
Finally, we get to make a beacon to signal my ship. My first thought? Boy, sending a distress signal might not be too bright, considering the Romulans are already HERE and looking for us... Oh, look. There they are. Cure the last second beam... Oh look, there it is...
I was pretty unimpressed overall. A good effort, but this fell short in many ways.
The problem was that there was no choice in the matter. How we escape, even how we avoid the search parties, everything was scripted. It was hoop after hoop. Do it the way we want you to, or you can't do it.
First I have to do some math to free my ship. Boring. How about some interesting puzzles?
Next I'm in a cell with a Reman to talk to. Unless I say exactly what he wants to hear, I can't progress.
Next I have to fight a few critters (yay for more melee weapons!). He's trapped in stasis and I'm told to do as I'm told or I'll be punished. NOT. I hung around out there checking all the doors, wandering aimlessly... No punishment. Nothing. They left me completely alone. How about opening up one of the several panels out there? Nope, all you can do is meekly go back to your cell (sounds like what a Klingon would do, doesn't it?).
It occurs to me, what I'd have done was have a couple of guards come out to fight me. If I beat them, FOUR guards. If I beat them, EIGHT then TWELVE and so on until I either go back to my cell or am defeated (which results in waking up in my cell...). Accomplishes the same goal, but makes it seem like we have a choice.
Next we fight worms. Then a big worm that can only be attacked one way (and that continues damaging you while the slow motion cutscenes play). Kill it the way we want you to! No, there's no other way.
Next we go outside. Patrols are looking for us, can we avoid them? Hard to say. I ran all the way to the cave and didn't get noticed, but it didn't matter, I hadn't hidden behind the specific rock they wanted me to.
But Slapstick is tired. Needs a rest. I'd better go scan some herbs for him so he can have an aspirin. But not any herbs, you have to scan THOSE THREE SPECIFIC herbs before you can collect or scan any other identical herbs. Fine, my Starfleet Captain is a Science Officer. He'd know about the medical properties of herbs. My Klingon Tactical Officer? NOT. Playing as my Klingon, my reaction was, "You want me to pick some plants for you? If your injuries are so minor that a few herbs are going to make you feel better, then you can damn well get on your feet before I stick a Nausicaan sword up your Reman Rear."
Then we have to find some water, food and firewood. First question, why is the Engineer the one that has the combat mission (killing warriguls)? Why isn't the Science officer smart enough to realize there must be water in the MANY cacti in the area, or supplying the many plants in the cave? Nope, got to open the spider gourds, because doing anything has to involve a predictable battle. NO, don't scan them for lifeforms, you'd spoil the suprise of the spiders... except there's not really any suprise...
Finally, we get to make a beacon to signal my ship. My first thought? Boy, sending a distress signal might not be too bright, considering the Romulans are already HERE and looking for us... Oh, look. There they are. Cure the last second beam... Oh look, there it is...
I was pretty unimpressed overall. A good effort, but this fell short in many ways.
I suppose an MMORPG isn't allowed to have a linear storyline progression according to you.
I suppose an MMORPG isn't allowed to have a linear storyline progression according to you.
Where did I say that? The issue was there was no way to have any variation. There was only one way to each story point.
Point one - ally with Slimer. Did it have to be by being nice to him? Maybe we could have had some browbeating options, some threats? It would reach the same point, but would take a different approach.
Point two - defeat the arena. Did it have to be by doing it only the one way? Maybe I could have overpowered the giant worm with careful footwork? Nope, you have to use the consoles.
Point three - get to Slimer's ship. Leave it up to us HOW we get there. Maybe we want to avoid detection, moving from rock to rock. Maybe we want to outrun the hunters, or lure them into an attack by the local wildlife. How about just plain overpowering them? There were many options with this.
And "healing" Slimey... He's so injured he can't move? If so, no herbal remedy is going to help him. How about some more browbeating? How about LEAVING HIS BUTT BEHIND? I mean, he doesn't DO anything for us on our trip to his ship, or anything once we're there.
There are three linear points that we could have attained any number of ways, but no. We're forced to do it ONLY the one way they made possible.
Try Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines or Knights of the Old Republic. You'll see the story gets told regardless, but can be told in different ways. Granted, it's more work, but that's why we're paying fees to play the game we already bought.
Where did I say that? The issue was there was no way to have any variation. There was only one way to each story point.
Point one - ally with Slimer. Did it have to be by being nice to him? Maybe we could have had some browbeating options, some threats? It would reach the same point, but would take a different approach.
Point two - defeat the arena. Did it have to be by doing it only the one way? Maybe I could have overpowered the giant worm with careful footwork? Nope, you have to use the consoles.
Point three - get to Slimer's ship. Leave it up to us HOW we get there. Maybe we want to avoid detection, moving from rock to rock. Maybe we want to outrun the hunters, or lure them into an attack by the local wildlife. How about just plain overpowering them? There were many options with this.
And "healing" Slimey... He's so injured he can't move? If so, no herbal remedy is going to help him. How about some more browbeating? How about LEAVING HIS BUTT BEHIND? I mean, he doesn't DO anything for us on our trip to his ship, or anything once we're there.
There are three linear points that we could have attained any number of ways, but no. We're forced to do it ONLY the one way they made possible.
Try Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines or Knights of the Old Republic. You'll see the story gets told regardless, but can be told in different ways. Granted, it's more work, but that's why we're paying fees to play the game we already bought.
Played both to the end and loved them. I honestly think you're trying to nit pick at an overall great story. Was it pretty linear? Yes it was, but it had a very good point in doing so. We get you don't like it and you're writing an essay over the fact that you didn't have "the freedom" to do as you will in ONE episode. You're making a mountain out of a molehill.
I thought this was the most involved and best mission yet. I'm glad Cryptic went way about and beyond the call of duty on this one. The puzzles and story were great. This mission really seems like it is setting the stage for things to come. Oh and the music was a nice touch.
Played both to the end and loved them. I honestly think you're trying to nit pick at an overall great story. Was it pretty linear? Yes it was, but it had a very good point in doing so. We get you don't like it and you're writing an essay over the fact that you didn't have "the freedom" to do as you will in ONE episode. You're making a mountain out of a molehill.
It amazes me what people will accept as "good" storytelling these days.
So... you're in the power of the Romulans. They get their Reman agent to trick you into escaping so they can capture you and kill you... which they could have done while you were in their power.
Do you see the problem with the story now? This is why the JJ Trek movie did so well. People will accept any garbage as "good" if it's got lots of cool effects.
Pretty sure Haveek(sp??) was testing you(since that's all the arena was), which is why you weren't killed in the arena. If you had taken the time to read through the logs, you would have known that.
Also, I don't believe special effects = cool story bro. If you think that I do, then shame on you.
This episode had good storytelling, even by the flaws that you pointed out. What it sounds like to me, is you by passed the logs completely. This leads me to believe that your flaws are merely nitpicking rather than actual flaws of the mission/storytelling. Go back and read the logs, then maybe this mission will make more sense to youl
Pretty sure Haveek(sp??) was testing you(since that's all the arena was), which is why you weren't killed in the arena. If you had taken the time to read through the logs, you would have known that.
Also, I don't believe special effects = cool story bro. If you think that I do, then shame on you.
This episode had good storytelling, even by the flaws that you pointed out. What it sounds like to me, is you by passed the logs completely. This leads me to believe that your flaws are merely nitpicking rather than actual flaws of the mission/storytelling. Go back and read the logs, then maybe this mission will make more sense to youl
Oh, I read the logs, including the one that poointed out how "dangerous" I was, and how likely to escape (which of course, they engineered THEMSELVES). IT still makes little sense.
I've liked almost every mission STO has thrown at me. Until Coliseum, the latest weekly. I spent an hour and a half getting more and more bored as I had to jump through stupid, time-consuming hoops. They didn't even make any sense sometimes. I have a fully-functioning Medic Kit but I still have to pick up stupid plants in order to make an analgesic for Slapfacek? An hour and a half in, I got stuck in the map at the downed ship. The /stuck command didn't work (as it rarely does), and so in a desperate attempt to get it over and done with I beamed up and back down again - and it put me right back at the beginning of the Marooned map, not even putting me back at the cave. I now face having to do all of that stupid horticulturalism over - and that's before I even think about whether to bother doing it with my other characters. This mission is a terrible, terrible piece of junk. Avoid like the plague.
Out of all the episodes, this by far was the best one I have done to date. We need more episodes like this and if Cryptic could really get motivated, imagine the Doomsday Machine episode revamped with the same TOS music combined with crashing a repaired starship into the bloody thing !!!
It's so hard to please everyone these days, people are damn fussy.
I agree, some people are fussy, and Star Trek fans tend to be fussier than most. That's why they should be concentrating on getting things right the first time. If they do a halfway job, Star Trek fans will fuss over it, and they'll have to waste time fixing things they should have got right in the first place.
Witness the original Galaxy class the game had. The textures were wrong, and the players noticed. As a result, the devs had to go back and redesign the whole thing, time that could have been spent on other things.
I've been saying this stuff for years, but no one seems to listen.
You dont need to work out the maths puzzles, just cycle through the numbers with "cycle left" and the puzzle takes about 2 minutes to complete.
I know, there's not much "puzzle" to it.
I remember a time when games presented us with actual challenges to figure out. I spent hours pondering some of the riddles in one of the dungeons in the Elder Scrolls: Arena, and took ages figuring out things in Star Trek a Final Unity.
Gamers today don't seem to want to have to THINK or EARN anything. There seems to be a sense of entitlement and impatience that is undermining so much of what was great in so many older games. I shake my head when I consider how todays gamers would handle something like Zork or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the old text games). I'll bet some of these games are older than some of the devs working on this game...
Next we go outside. Patrols are looking for us, can we avoid them? Hard to say. I ran all the way to the cave and didn't get noticed, but it didn't matter, I hadn't hidden behind the specific rock they wanted me to.
This was the most irritating part of the mission for me. 'hide behind a rock'. There are a gazillion rocks and they all look the same!
Playing as my Klingon, my reaction was, "You want me to pick some plants for you? If your injuries are so minor that a few herbs are going to make you feel better, then you can damn well get on your feet before I stick a Nausicaan sword up your Reman Rear."
...well now I'm looking forward to playing this on my Klingon. Did they bother changing anything?
little cheat i found (by accident honist) if you use a trebbel with a passive effect on the first ground map, you keep the bonus on the second, where you cant use tribbles, might be a dev oversight just drewing attention to it.
anyway the biggest (and only except the walking) fail in this epp is - i saved 4 prisoners, who suvived, but just stay in the arina. but our reman friend wont leave me alone
Comments
I thought it was a very nice episode. The attention to detail was definitely there. I even noticed that when you powered down the satellite into economical mode that the plasma flowing through those lower pipes stopped flowing.
You spent an hour and a half wow what was you doing all that time, my first time though took me about 45 minutes and that was getting lost once in the desert and i read every thing and i am a slow reader, maybe some time you should run it again with some one and see it can be dome alot faster, personaly and i hate to give them credit hehehehehe but i think this is the best mission yet
I fail to see your reasoning, but you are entitled to your own opinion as am I....
Now, it wasnt perfect, might I add. some of the "Go here and click here" felt too easy. the math was great. Made me have to bust out the calculator since I suck at math. the Herbs thing needed a minigame. somthing hard with a time limit where you had to do it fast or the reman would croak, and thus adding a complete change to the adventure if he does so. but This is an MMO and not mass effect. But I digress
great stuff cryptic. Kudos and keep up the good work.
First I have to do some math to free my ship. Boring. How about some interesting puzzles?
Next I'm in a cell with a Reman to talk to. Unless I say exactly what he wants to hear, I can't progress.
Next I have to fight a few critters (yay for more melee weapons!). He's trapped in stasis and I'm told to do as I'm told or I'll be punished. NOT. I hung around out there checking all the doors, wandering aimlessly... No punishment. Nothing. They left me completely alone. How about opening up one of the several panels out there? Nope, all you can do is meekly go back to your cell (sounds like what a Klingon would do, doesn't it?).
It occurs to me, what I'd have done was have a couple of guards come out to fight me. If I beat them, FOUR guards. If I beat them, EIGHT then TWELVE and so on until I either go back to my cell or am defeated (which results in waking up in my cell...). Accomplishes the same goal, but makes it seem like we have a choice.
Next we fight worms. Then a big worm that can only be attacked one way (and that continues damaging you while the slow motion cutscenes play). Kill it the way we want you to! No, there's no other way.
Next we go outside. Patrols are looking for us, can we avoid them? Hard to say. I ran all the way to the cave and didn't get noticed, but it didn't matter, I hadn't hidden behind the specific rock they wanted me to.
But Slapstick is tired. Needs a rest. I'd better go scan some herbs for him so he can have an aspirin. But not any herbs, you have to scan THOSE THREE SPECIFIC herbs before you can collect or scan any other identical herbs. Fine, my Starfleet Captain is a Science Officer. He'd know about the medical properties of herbs. My Klingon Tactical Officer? NOT. Playing as my Klingon, my reaction was, "You want me to pick some plants for you? If your injuries are so minor that a few herbs are going to make you feel better, then you can damn well get on your feet before I stick a Nausicaan sword up your Reman Rear."
Then we have to find some water, food and firewood. First question, why is the Engineer the one that has the combat mission (killing warriguls)? Why isn't the Science officer smart enough to realize there must be water in the MANY cacti in the area, or supplying the many plants in the cave? Nope, got to open the spider gourds, because doing anything has to involve a predictable battle. NO, don't scan them for lifeforms, you'd spoil the suprise of the spiders... except there's not really any suprise...
Finally, we get to make a beacon to signal my ship. My first thought? Boy, sending a distress signal might not be too bright, considering the Romulans are already HERE and looking for us... Oh, look. There they are. Cure the last second beam... Oh look, there it is...
I was pretty unimpressed overall. A good effort, but this fell short in many ways.
unless you did't noticed, they did good job. but you SHOULD KNOW they are understaffed after 4 years but Atari still has't even given our Dev Team a plenty of room, technology, money to build up much more Larger team to make an best Episodes in any Capacity if Atari decided to give Cryptic Exactly What they need badly. remember.. Technology for Cryptic was't availble back then (ability to allow Various Things like Landing A Ship etc) so here you go. you see the problem. this is well made and clear point in why. :eek:
I 100% agree
"Did a good job?" I think my post illustrates how they didn't do a particularly good job, but we're speaking of opinions here. Are you saying, they didn't have the resources to make it not suck, so it's good? That's kind of strange logic...
I have no information with regard to their budget or personnel, so I can't validly comment on that (and I suspect neither can you).
I think I found my new sig!!
lol
I loved every minute of it. Dont know what all the fuss is about.
I suppose an MMORPG isn't allowed to have a linear storyline progression according to you.
Where did I say that? The issue was there was no way to have any variation. There was only one way to each story point.
Point one - ally with Slimer. Did it have to be by being nice to him? Maybe we could have had some browbeating options, some threats? It would reach the same point, but would take a different approach.
Point two - defeat the arena. Did it have to be by doing it only the one way? Maybe I could have overpowered the giant worm with careful footwork? Nope, you have to use the consoles.
Point three - get to Slimer's ship. Leave it up to us HOW we get there. Maybe we want to avoid detection, moving from rock to rock. Maybe we want to outrun the hunters, or lure them into an attack by the local wildlife. How about just plain overpowering them? There were many options with this.
And "healing" Slimey... He's so injured he can't move? If so, no herbal remedy is going to help him. How about some more browbeating? How about LEAVING HIS BUTT BEHIND? I mean, he doesn't DO anything for us on our trip to his ship, or anything once we're there.
There are three linear points that we could have attained any number of ways, but no. We're forced to do it ONLY the one way they made possible.
Try Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines or Knights of the Old Republic. You'll see the story gets told regardless, but can be told in different ways. Granted, it's more work, but that's why we're paying fees to play the game we already bought.
Played both to the end and loved them. I honestly think you're trying to nit pick at an overall great story. Was it pretty linear? Yes it was, but it had a very good point in doing so. We get you don't like it and you're writing an essay over the fact that you didn't have "the freedom" to do as you will in ONE episode. You're making a mountain out of a molehill.
It amazes me what people will accept as "good" storytelling these days.
So... you're in the power of the Romulans. They get their Reman agent to trick you into escaping so they can capture you and kill you... which they could have done while you were in their power.
Do you see the problem with the story now? This is why the JJ Trek movie did so well. People will accept any garbage as "good" if it's got lots of cool effects.
Also, I don't believe special effects = cool story bro. If you think that I do, then shame on you.
This episode had good storytelling, even by the flaws that you pointed out. What it sounds like to me, is you by passed the logs completely. This leads me to believe that your flaws are merely nitpicking rather than actual flaws of the mission/storytelling. Go back and read the logs, then maybe this mission will make more sense to youl
Oh, I read the logs, including the one that poointed out how "dangerous" I was, and how likely to escape (which of course, they engineered THEMSELVES). IT still makes little sense.
Out of all the episodes, this by far was the best one I have done to date. We need more episodes like this and if Cryptic could really get motivated, imagine the Doomsday Machine episode revamped with the same TOS music combined with crashing a repaired starship into the bloody thing !!!
I agree, some people are fussy, and Star Trek fans tend to be fussier than most. That's why they should be concentrating on getting things right the first time. If they do a halfway job, Star Trek fans will fuss over it, and they'll have to waste time fixing things they should have got right in the first place.
Witness the original Galaxy class the game had. The textures were wrong, and the players noticed. As a result, the devs had to go back and redesign the whole thing, time that could have been spent on other things.
I've been saying this stuff for years, but no one seems to listen.
I know, there's not much "puzzle" to it.
I remember a time when games presented us with actual challenges to figure out. I spent hours pondering some of the riddles in one of the dungeons in the Elder Scrolls: Arena, and took ages figuring out things in Star Trek a Final Unity.
Gamers today don't seem to want to have to THINK or EARN anything. There seems to be a sense of entitlement and impatience that is undermining so much of what was great in so many older games. I shake my head when I consider how todays gamers would handle something like Zork or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the old text games). I'll bet some of these games are older than some of the devs working on this game...
Damn, I miss the old days.
This was the most irritating part of the mission for me. 'hide behind a rock'. There are a gazillion rocks and they all look the same!
...well now I'm looking forward to playing this on my Klingon. Did they bother changing anything?
anyway the biggest (and only except the walking) fail in this epp is - i saved 4 prisoners, who suvived, but just stay in the arina. but our reman friend wont leave me alone