I'm here to test. I want my moneys worth out of STO, which means STO has to be better then it is, especially on the KDF side of the fence..
I'm enjoying the playing, but Tribble is a server specificly to test new features of what will be a Free to Play build. Some things will not be really testable untill we actually have non-subscription players in the game.
SO we do the best we can.
Many of the features players are complaining about are not final versions. Much needs adjusting, some additional feaures need to be implemented. The exchange needs more functionality. Better search ability, seperation of BOFF's and DOFF's into KDF and Federation catagories.
We still have not seen any implentation of CP-Dilithium trading.. There's still issues on Dilithium costs for weapons, and a great many other little issues with the in game economy.
And while we've seen new KDF features, other then the revamps on the STF we haven't really yet seen any actual Content. The Crafting changes that players have seen Federation side have NOT been implemented KDF side.
All of us need to push on helping to get the economy straited out, and better suggestions then "You gotta do this or I quit" statements are in order.
We're not even half way to F2P, and theres a lot of bug fixes and refinements need to be done. We need to do our part to keep the devs focused and stay "Eyes on the Prize" ourselves, and not get lost in the sand.
Remember that WE are going to be the people showing the F2P gamers the game, how to do things, sharing the little "secrets" of STO of which there are legion.
The games population could easily double with F2P, and I personally expect a massive increase in KDF population. The die hard trekie trypes may say no way but I point out to you all the other multi faction MMO's based apon established fictional universes where there is an establish antagonist faction don't seem to have to may problems with having "bad guy" players,, (would the Dark Jedi in the audience please raise thier hand... Horde players, WH2k Orcs..etc)
SO its gonna happen, and the game needs to be ready.
Lets get serious STO'ers. Because if its not done right this game IS doomed. SO lets make sure its done right!
Well to be truthful, this is the internet. People tend to not quite understand how to be polite or understand exactly what's supposed to be happening on Tribble, so of course, internet nature, the trolls are going to gripe.
That said, a lot of what a lot of people are saying here is also valid, even if a lot of them don't present their views in the most constructive and polite nature possible. So, a lot of thick skin and reading between the lines is important here, to understand what a lot of people are saying.
But yes, there are a very small vocal minority that have nothing constructive to say, and are just going to be in their nature to be immature little twits. Don't let it get you down.
I understand the mindset here. And I'm not the type to get worked up about changes I don't like in this game. Though I would have to say you get what you pay for. If' Cryptic wants clear feedback without emotional investment then they should hire play testers. If they want to crowd source like this then they are just going to have to deal with people who have no interest in being helpful at all and are already so upset with how the game has gone that nothing would make them happy anymore.
When you get down to it I have nothing on the line here. If they go f2p with bad ideas and the game tanks, I don't lose my job, they do. Cryptic has more to lose here then we do. So I would say they should suck it up and look for useful feed back. And if it is a little bit of work to find it in the forest of flames, to bad, if your job was supposed to be fun they wouldn't have to pay you.
They can make it easier on themselves. Set up some filters so the devs don't even see anything from people who are so upset they have an avatar defacing the company logo. These people are lost causes there is no pleasing them and no reason to waste development time with what they have to say.
These people are lost causes there is no pleasing them and no reason to waste development time with what they have to say.
Well aren't we judgmental. I may bare a flaming cryptic logo for an Icon but its because I see a burning ship, not because I cannot be pleased. It's a warning sign, not a threat. Feedback is why I'm here, and if I get a bit emotional about it, well maybe thats because I feel like I've been wasting the past year worth of time and money at the moment while giving the requested feedback that's been ignored.
The icon is a warning, a sign that a man sees a house burning, and is doing all he can to save it before it burns into ash due to the neglect of the occupants. Maybe its a fools errand, after all Kang did say only a fool fights in a burning house. But even if it is a fools errand I feel it must be done. And simply because you do not feel the method I use is correct does not invalidate it. It is simply another individual giving their feedback based on their testing.
Well aren't we judgmental. I may bare a flaming cryptic logo for an Icon but its because I see a burning ship, not because I cannot be pleased. It's a warning sign, not a threat. Feedback is why I'm here, and if I get a bit emotional about it, well maybe thats because I feel like I've been wasting the past year worth of time and money at the moment while giving the requested feedback that's been ignored.
The icon is a warning, a sign that a man sees a house burning, and is doing all he can to save it before it burns into ash due to the neglect of the occupants. Maybe its a fools errand, after all Kang did say only a fool fights in a burning house. But even if it is a fools errand I feel it must be done. And simply because you do not feel the method I use is correct does not invalidate it. It is simply another individual giving their feedback based on their testing.
I wouldn't call it judgmental. You've got every right to feel how ever you like about the game. I'm just calling it as I see it. The rest of your reply goes on to prove my point. This level of melodrama about a game is a bit much. There is no burning house, there is no looming threat. The game is changing. Some would say for the worst some would say for the better. But the simple fact is they are changing it for the free players who don't know any better anyway. These changes are not to make people who are subbing now happy. They are to make the new players spend money.
Griping and Complaining are forms of complaint. The Developers know this, and the best ones will be able to take a gripe or a complaint and pull all the details they need to know from it.
People will give their feedback how they give their feedback. Some will rip a new one on the forums, others will make complete fools of themselves, others still will give detailed information, those not following the rules will be penalized regardless of this thread. The best you can do is continue to give feedback in a constructive form.
Let Stormshade worry about the rest, it's his paycheck, not yours
Then whatever limited time I have to "test" became "grinding" and I've spent what little time I DO have grinding Dilithium at SFA or the Mirror Event rather than playing missions or patrols or explorations (except the "Explore New Worlds" thing that rewards the almighty Dilithium) just to get some decent gear.
Sure, I've leveled up between the DOFF awards and the accelerated level progression, but the toon I started on teh Tribb-lay is a freakin' Vice Admiral and I'm not even halfway through the Romulan missions.
Whilst the Mirror Event is fun, I ran my whatever-eth (I stopped bothering to count a while back) SFA event and realized how absolutely bored I was with the grindfest.
Not enough to start frothing at the mouth and call for obscenely violating the rectal bits of whatever hypothetical Communist Chinese gentleman the stupid-hairless-ape-think contingent of the disenchanted feels is responsible for the new monetization mandate, but enough to consider it not worth my limited time to log into Tribble.
Unlike the other hypothetical power-gamer contingent Stormshade and the other devs feel have a weekend to power-level for 72 hours straight with a steady supply of Red Bull or slightly more illicit substances, folks like me tend to be beholden to things like "Jobs" and "Social Obligations" with those other humans sometimes referred to as "Friends" and "Acquaintances" and "Relatives," or have "Other Interests" outside of STO.
As has been pointed out, when playing a game feels more like a second job rather than a fun bit of decompression, you tend to not want to play said game anymore. Some of us non-workaholic types like to not work when we're not working, especially if the actual "day-job" is a high-pressure, high-stress environment where overtime and/or non-billable hours is the norm rather than the exception.
So it's become more attractive to me to spend whatever time I DO have logging on to Holodeck and crafting the hell out of stuff for friends and alts before whatever F2P deviltry in its final form hits (if I'm even still around by that time, dependent upon the coming changes), and occasionally hit up teh Tribble to DOFF a little bit-- but even some parts of that seem like a chore rather than a fun bit of Trek.
Past experience with "testing" things on Tribble has caused me to learn that Cryptic starts out fixing a few bugs and making a few changes, and then halfway through they stop listening and just rush out a release. I'm skeptical that even half the gripes will be addressed before the game goes F2P.
Actually this test seems worse than any previous one because Cryptic's idea of where they want to go with a lot of things seems totally out of line with what makes for a fun game, and they're simply starting too far off to be able to "adjust" back to a good result.
I wouldn't call it judgmental. You've got every right to feel how ever you like about the game. I'm just calling it as I see it. The rest of your reply goes on to prove my point. This level of melodrama about a game is a bit much. There is no burning house, there is no looming threat. The game is changing. Some would say for the worst some would say for the better. But the simple fact is they are changing it for the free players who don't know any better anyway. These changes are not to make people who are subbing now happy. They are to make the new players spend money.
A game that isn't especially fun isn't going to make people inclined to spend money.
I have taken the time to bring 1 fed to full rank and am working on my klink..... to many are here to complain without constructive suggestions.
The internet and the animity (sp?) It brings.....is like....well....let's just say that it allows the weakest humans to act like the strongest Klingon warrior!
A game that isn't especially fun isn't going to make people inclined to spend money.
Agreed here fully. This is the largest concern with F2P. They seem intent on slowing things down. Unfortunately the path to VA is not exactly fun to begin with. Reaching VA only provides a mild sense of accomplishment and no added fun.
Making things more difficult (gear to expensive, ships too expensive, poor loot drops) does not make the already dull content more fun. It just makes everything more painful to experience.
Many players are sensing this and their feedback has been colored by the poor experience in testing. Sadly the initial launch of systems was so bad that many of us will never understand what the real F2P model will be like until it launches. We nearly hit VA without Dilithium added to most missions. We are leveling at an accelerated rate where gear and EC can not possibly keep up. Drastic changes have been made, but so much of the leveling was done before any fixes.
To be honest, I'm not here much at all any more. I had been playing hard core on Tribble since it went live, but yesterday I pre-ordered TOR and signed up for Beta. Now I'm having moar fun trolling the forums over there and waiting for a beta invite or early access. I can barely manage to log in to STO long enough to pull a few DOFF missions once a day now. Which is sad, because I was fairly excited about all the new stuff when Tribble first went up, and was still more or less positive despite some missteps. But I think the balance has tipped at this point, especially with the way crafting and the STFs have turned out, and Cryptic apparently not giving a TRIBBLE about what anyone thinks on some of the worst mistakes.
All I can say at this point is, if your objective for the F2P beta was to drive loyal players away, at this point it feels like MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
I get the point that the OP was trying to make. Some of the griping does need to be reigned in some, especially since it often reaches such a level where devs are tuning out and dismissing it as yet another angry rant. In other words, moving to little less in volume coupled with more focused feedback. To be fair though, the bug reporting/ticket system had been out of order for quite some time on tribble - which seemed profoundly ridiculous considering people are there to test and provide feedback. This of course forced them to take to the forums.
Another point is that much of the griping wasn't so much about buggy stuff or mechanics that were broken or lack polish. The most serious of the complaints had to do with the direction of the game (the focus on grinding, taking away gold free ships at rank up, pervasive Di intrusion, etc.). While the OP has a good point that things are still in testing and can/will be adjusted, these things do give a strong indication on the direction they want to take with the game going forward.
I'm here to test. I want my moneys worth out of STO, which means STO has to be better then it is, especially on the KDF side of the fence..
I'm enjoying the playing, but Tribble is a server specificly to test new features of what will be a Free to Play build. Some things will not be really testable untill we actually have non-subscription players in the game.
SO we do the best we can.
Many of the features players are complaining about are not final versions. Much needs adjusting, some additional feaures need to be implemented. The exchange needs more functionality. Better search ability, seperation of BOFF's and DOFF's into KDF and Federation catagories.
We still have not seen any implentation of CP-Dilithium trading.. There's still issues on Dilithium costs for weapons, and a great many other little issues with the in game economy.
And while we've seen new KDF features, other then the revamps on the STF we haven't really yet seen any actual Content. The Crafting changes that players have seen Federation side have NOT been implemented KDF side.
All of us need to push on helping to get the economy straited out, and better suggestions then "You gotta do this or I quit" statements are in order.
We're not even half way to F2P, and theres a lot of bug fixes and refinements need to be done. We need to do our part to keep the devs focused and stay "Eyes on the Prize" ourselves, and not get lost in the sand.
Remember that WE are going to be the people showing the F2P gamers the game, how to do things, sharing the little "secrets" of STO of which there are legion.
The games population could easily double with F2P, and I personally expect a massive increase in KDF population. The die hard trekie trypes may say no way but I point out to you all the other multi faction MMO's based apon established fictional universes where there is an establish antagonist faction don't seem to have to may problems with having "bad guy" players,, (would the Dark Jedi in the audience please raise thier hand... Horde players, WH2k Orcs..etc)
SO its gonna happen, and the game needs to be ready.
Lets get serious STO'ers. Because if its not done right this game IS doomed. SO lets make sure its done right!
Khemaraa Iron Hand
Klingon Black Fleet
est: 2000
I came to test and plan... Cryptic can do us a favor by not bringing in obviously broken or wrong valued scenarios that are clearly not ready to be tested.
I'm here to test. I want my moneys worth out of STO, which means STO has to be better then it is, especially on the KDF side of the fence..
You're hardly getting your money's worth with their most recent slew of changes, taking away VA ship tokens forcing you spend more if you want a top-tier ship, forcing you spend more if you want to buy a tribble on more than one character, raising C-store prices across the board forcing you to spend more if you want something from it; placing more things behind the C-store paywall forcing you to pay for more in general, or forcing you to spend your time grinding dilithium otherwise (despite the 8000/day cap) to get the items you want.
You are in no ******* way getting your money's worth from F2P STO and they're not going to change a damned thing if we don't raise a storm about it. And probably not even then. And if they do they'll expect to be lauded as the good guys for having institued such a called-for change.
Normally I don't post anything, I just read what others have to say about certain subjects. That being said I can not sit silent anymore about F2P changes happening to this game. From what I've seen about 90% or higher of the playerbase is very unhappy with the changes as they are now on Tribble.
I have spent the last little while tesing the new changes coming into the game and some are really cool while others are just not worth the code to implement. Now I'm not an Insider who has special information about this and that but I do know what I've read here on the forums, WE ARE NOT HAPPY! :mad:
What really has me frustrated is that I like probably everybody else who plays am a diehard Star Trek fan and I am sadden by the apparent lack of appreciation that is taking over this game. While I agree that certain things need to be addressed(i.e. DL for crafting, mission grinding) there are so many other things that I can see that will help this game out (i.e. Doff system, daily events).
My hope is that certain changes will be made before this game goes live and that the new players coming in will get to enjoy this game as much as I have.:D
im here to test but its hard not to gripe about certain things. i generally really like the dilithium economy and while you wont please everybody i think they changes are an improvements but i think cryptic are shooting themselves in the foot with all the c-store related stuff.
there are a lot of changes that dont need to be done. they would be fine for silver players but not fine for golds. golds should not have to have their items become per character or lose va tickets or not be able to buy respecs and things.
there is no need to change what is already there, and i think they are trying to change things that while they probably have the right to do as its their game, its not morally right. players are easily put off and they are annoying and angering players and there is just no need. happy loyal players are just as valuable in the long run as trying to squeeze out more money.
i hold out hope they will see the light and as this is a test server and i dont have an issue with them trying stuff but when its all said and done many of these changes need looking at.
The OP is very short sighted. People are complaining in response to what has been seen while testing, if people didnt complain nothing would get fixed. Oh how companies love people like the OP who will be the Cog in the machine never voicing their feedback making everything seem O-OK. But this is the real world, we are all INVESTORS. We have a right to be upset if we disagree with that we have seen, I'd dare any of the fan persons to go into the real world and tell investors they have no right to complain about the direction of their investment. That doesnt work and it doesnt work here, its best to get over it, so long as things proceed this way people will keep complaining until things change or STO really sinks which it will at this rate.
The "griping" is apparently caused because some people do not perceive their complaints about the X-issue or Y-problem being addressed. It started civilized enough, considering there were some "gripers" already -- which may stem from the months of no content releases. But most people earlier were positive and/or constructive in their feedback.
But as the aforementioned problems and issues were seemingly unaddressed, by either lack of response, or by no patch note upon that issue, leaving the assumption is that the issue is not being addressed. So they raise their voice.
I don't necessarily "blame" people for the tone they have taken. I think it's overboard, but I believe there's reason to it. There has been a crescendo of emotion stemming from the biggest source of frustration: money. Not just real money but dilithium as well. The system has it's flaws because this will either slow character progression and/or actually cost the player more to play this game. So there is room for concern here. Most people get emotional where their pocketbook lay.
From analysis it would appear that STO will work a lot like CO. C-Store items will cost more, and be single character only items. This issue alone is enough to boil some people.
The other major issue with dilithium will not be a game-breaker, but could be a major deterrent to consistent play. In Live-STO, I can spend one night grinding exploration missions to obtain all of the materials to craft all the items one toon and maybe two, for the current level. With dilithium, it will definitely be impossible to do any of that in it's current incarnation. But what I think is overboard, is that it seems some people think the changes must be done immediately because of the impending F2P Launch. It's still down the road from here.
Is the "griping" tone necessary? I don't think so, but some obviously do.
The "griping" is apparently caused because some people do not perceive their complaints about the X-issue or Y-problem being addressed. It started civilized enough, considering there were some "gripers" already -- which may stem from the months of no content releases. But most people earlier were positive and/or constructive in their feedback.
But as the aforementioned problems and issues were seemingly unaddressed, by either lack of response, or by no patch note upon that issue, leaving the assumption is that the issue is not being addressed. So they raise their voice.
I don't necessarily "blame" people for the tone they have taken. I think it's overboard, but I believe there's reason to it. There has been a crescendo of emotion stemming from the biggest source of frustration: money. Not just real money but dilithium as well. The system has it's flaws because this will either slow character progression and/or actually cost the player more to play this game. So there is room for concern here. Most people get emotional where their pocketbook lay.
From analysis it would appear that STO will work a lot like CO. C-Store items will cost more, and be single character only items. This issue alone is enough to boil some people.
The other major issue with dilithium will not be a game-breaker, but could be a major deterrent to consistent play. In Live-STO, I can spend one night grinding exploration missions to obtain all of the materials to craft all the items one toon and maybe two, for the current level. With dilithium, it will definitely be impossible to do any of that in it's current incarnation. But what I think is overboard, is that it seems some people think the changes must be done immediately because of the impending F2P Launch. It's still down the road from here.
Is the "griping" tone necessary? I don't think so, but some obviously do.
For me, it's no longer about what's been done so far, but that no one from Cryptic is giving any assurances that the awful issues are not being fixed.
For me personally, if someone would tell us exactly why they did some of these changes, I'd be a lot less harsh in my critisms. I may not agree with everything, but it wouldn't be anger, but a "gentleman's disagreement."
Example: Is the forced mission progression meant for Silvers? Is it menat to make sure we test *every* mission so we can give our input on how to make it better and if they're bugged with something showstopping?
You know, that sort of thing. The Doff system wouldn't be as epic win if Heretic hadn't been open and receptive. Kudos to him.
Gold subscribers are an outdated concept in the new STO.
But I'll tell you this, if loyal players don't like these changes, there is a very good chance new players won't either.
Will free to play go off tremendously ? Maybe, at first, but if some of these "gripes" aren't addressed, the success might be very short lived. Just like it was right after launch...
Those who don't learn from history are destined to repeat it.
I've done all I care to on F2P tribble, met each goal set for each reward. I can't say I enjoyed my time there tremendously.
I'm off to pursue more entertaining endeavors on holodeck......while they last.
I think what a number of people on these forums need to realize is that there is a difference between providing useful feedback and griping. I'm a teacher, which means I've dealt with the occasional bad comment card from a student (thankfully not very often). So believe me when I say that gripey-type feedback doesn't work. All it does is tick off the people you're griping to and make them not want to listen to you (especially when the gripers are in the minority). Think about it - would you listen to someone who told you that you sucked at your job without telling you why or offering suggestions?
Saying that a system sucks isn't particularly helpful, and if you are actually here to be helpful, I would suggest that you keep your posts to the point and offer suggestions if you have them. It's okay to say you don't like a system, but it's even better to say what you think should be done instead. If you do that, you might actually find that the devs will talk to you here quite a bit. Heretic does a great job responding when I present an idea, suggestion, or question about the Doff system (typically to tell me why my idea won't work, but hey, that's life).
If you really think that Cryptic isn't listening to its players, ask yourself why there's a transporter room on ESD. Ask yourself why the STFs are being redone at all. Ask yourself why they're redoing the skill system. Ask yourself why ship interiors contain more than just a bridge. All of these things have been asked for by players. They may not be doing a perfect job and they may not get everybody's wish in, but they are listening.
Unfortunately for Cryptic, it very much looks to be a sucker bet.
You may be right about that. I'm not sure. I think it's about 50/50. My point was that the focus isn't on us. They got our money and now they want new people's money. Leaving the game in the state it is in on Holodeck isn't making them enough money to keep the game afloat. You can yell greed all you want but the fact is if this game was profitable as it is now on the live server they would not be making this gamble.
I like the game so I hope it works out for them. Everything I've seen on tribble is about what I'd expect from a f2p game. From what I've seen I'll keep playing, they might even make some more money off me as well.
Comments
That said, a lot of what a lot of people are saying here is also valid, even if a lot of them don't present their views in the most constructive and polite nature possible. So, a lot of thick skin and reading between the lines is important here, to understand what a lot of people are saying.
But yes, there are a very small vocal minority that have nothing constructive to say, and are just going to be in their nature to be immature little twits. Don't let it get you down.
so I'm not perfect...
But I should be!
When you get down to it I have nothing on the line here. If they go f2p with bad ideas and the game tanks, I don't lose my job, they do. Cryptic has more to lose here then we do. So I would say they should suck it up and look for useful feed back. And if it is a little bit of work to find it in the forest of flames, to bad, if your job was supposed to be fun they wouldn't have to pay you.
They can make it easier on themselves. Set up some filters so the devs don't even see anything from people who are so upset they have an avatar defacing the company logo. These people are lost causes there is no pleasing them and no reason to waste development time with what they have to say.
Well aren't we judgmental. I may bare a flaming cryptic logo for an Icon but its because I see a burning ship, not because I cannot be pleased. It's a warning sign, not a threat. Feedback is why I'm here, and if I get a bit emotional about it, well maybe thats because I feel like I've been wasting the past year worth of time and money at the moment while giving the requested feedback that's been ignored.
The icon is a warning, a sign that a man sees a house burning, and is doing all he can to save it before it burns into ash due to the neglect of the occupants. Maybe its a fools errand, after all Kang did say only a fool fights in a burning house. But even if it is a fools errand I feel it must be done. And simply because you do not feel the method I use is correct does not invalidate it. It is simply another individual giving their feedback based on their testing.
I wouldn't call it judgmental. You've got every right to feel how ever you like about the game. I'm just calling it as I see it. The rest of your reply goes on to prove my point. This level of melodrama about a game is a bit much. There is no burning house, there is no looming threat. The game is changing. Some would say for the worst some would say for the better. But the simple fact is they are changing it for the free players who don't know any better anyway. These changes are not to make people who are subbing now happy. They are to make the new players spend money.
People will give their feedback how they give their feedback. Some will rip a new one on the forums, others will make complete fools of themselves, others still will give detailed information, those not following the rules will be penalized regardless of this thread. The best you can do is continue to give feedback in a constructive form.
Let Stormshade worry about the rest, it's his paycheck, not yours
I originally came here to test.
Then whatever limited time I have to "test" became "grinding" and I've spent what little time I DO have grinding Dilithium at SFA or the Mirror Event rather than playing missions or patrols or explorations (except the "Explore New Worlds" thing that rewards the almighty Dilithium) just to get some decent gear.
Sure, I've leveled up between the DOFF awards and the accelerated level progression, but the toon I started on teh Tribb-lay is a freakin' Vice Admiral and I'm not even halfway through the Romulan missions.
Whilst the Mirror Event is fun, I ran my whatever-eth (I stopped bothering to count a while back) SFA event and realized how absolutely bored I was with the grindfest.
Not enough to start frothing at the mouth and call for obscenely violating the rectal bits of whatever hypothetical Communist Chinese gentleman the stupid-hairless-ape-think contingent of the disenchanted feels is responsible for the new monetization mandate, but enough to consider it not worth my limited time to log into Tribble.
Unlike the other hypothetical power-gamer contingent Stormshade and the other devs feel have a weekend to power-level for 72 hours straight with a steady supply of Red Bull or slightly more illicit substances, folks like me tend to be beholden to things like "Jobs" and "Social Obligations" with those other humans sometimes referred to as "Friends" and "Acquaintances" and "Relatives," or have "Other Interests" outside of STO.
As has been pointed out, when playing a game feels more like a second job rather than a fun bit of decompression, you tend to not want to play said game anymore. Some of us non-workaholic types like to not work when we're not working, especially if the actual "day-job" is a high-pressure, high-stress environment where overtime and/or non-billable hours is the norm rather than the exception.
So it's become more attractive to me to spend whatever time I DO have logging on to Holodeck and crafting the hell out of stuff for friends and alts before whatever F2P deviltry in its final form hits (if I'm even still around by that time, dependent upon the coming changes), and occasionally hit up teh Tribble to DOFF a little bit-- but even some parts of that seem like a chore rather than a fun bit of Trek.
Actually this test seems worse than any previous one because Cryptic's idea of where they want to go with a lot of things seems totally out of line with what makes for a fun game, and they're simply starting too far off to be able to "adjust" back to a good result.
A game that isn't especially fun isn't going to make people inclined to spend money.
I have taken the time to bring 1 fed to full rank and am working on my klink..... to many are here to complain without constructive suggestions.
The internet and the animity (sp?) It brings.....is like....well....let's just say that it allows the weakest humans to act like the strongest Klingon warrior!
Well a lot of people at Cryptic seem to be betting their jobs that it will be fun for new players.
Agreed here fully. This is the largest concern with F2P. They seem intent on slowing things down. Unfortunately the path to VA is not exactly fun to begin with. Reaching VA only provides a mild sense of accomplishment and no added fun.
Making things more difficult (gear to expensive, ships too expensive, poor loot drops) does not make the already dull content more fun. It just makes everything more painful to experience.
Many players are sensing this and their feedback has been colored by the poor experience in testing. Sadly the initial launch of systems was so bad that many of us will never understand what the real F2P model will be like until it launches. We nearly hit VA without Dilithium added to most missions. We are leveling at an accelerated rate where gear and EC can not possibly keep up. Drastic changes have been made, but so much of the leveling was done before any fixes.
Even complaints are feedback.
All I can say at this point is, if your objective for the F2P beta was to drive loyal players away, at this point it feels like MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
Another point is that much of the griping wasn't so much about buggy stuff or mechanics that were broken or lack polish. The most serious of the complaints had to do with the direction of the game (the focus on grinding, taking away gold free ships at rank up, pervasive Di intrusion, etc.). While the OP has a good point that things are still in testing and can/will be adjusted, these things do give a strong indication on the direction they want to take with the game going forward.
Test the new ideas
AND
Gripe about bad game mechanics being implemented.
I came to test and plan... Cryptic can do us a favor by not bringing in obviously broken or wrong valued scenarios that are clearly not ready to be tested.
Wait, you mean I can't Test and Gripe?
I really can only do one or the other?
Awww....... That's so not fair! You should nerf Griping! it's OP!
You're hardly getting your money's worth with their most recent slew of changes, taking away VA ship tokens forcing you spend more if you want a top-tier ship, forcing you spend more if you want to buy a tribble on more than one character, raising C-store prices across the board forcing you to spend more if you want something from it; placing more things behind the C-store paywall forcing you to pay for more in general, or forcing you to spend your time grinding dilithium otherwise (despite the 8000/day cap) to get the items you want.
You are in no ******* way getting your money's worth from F2P STO and they're not going to change a damned thing if we don't raise a storm about it. And probably not even then. And if they do they'll expect to be lauded as the good guys for having institued such a called-for change.
Money's worth. Heh.
I have spent the last little while tesing the new changes coming into the game and some are really cool while others are just not worth the code to implement. Now I'm not an Insider who has special information about this and that but I do know what I've read here on the forums, WE ARE NOT HAPPY! :mad:
What really has me frustrated is that I like probably everybody else who plays am a diehard Star Trek fan and I am sadden by the apparent lack of appreciation that is taking over this game. While I agree that certain things need to be addressed(i.e. DL for crafting, mission grinding) there are so many other things that I can see that will help this game out (i.e. Doff system, daily events).
My hope is that certain changes will be made before this game goes live and that the new players coming in will get to enjoy this game as much as I have.:D
there are a lot of changes that dont need to be done. they would be fine for silver players but not fine for golds. golds should not have to have their items become per character or lose va tickets or not be able to buy respecs and things.
there is no need to change what is already there, and i think they are trying to change things that while they probably have the right to do as its their game, its not morally right. players are easily put off and they are annoying and angering players and there is just no need. happy loyal players are just as valuable in the long run as trying to squeeze out more money.
i hold out hope they will see the light and as this is a test server and i dont have an issue with them trying stuff but when its all said and done many of these changes need looking at.
stop annoying current players. its not helping.
But as the aforementioned problems and issues were seemingly unaddressed, by either lack of response, or by no patch note upon that issue, leaving the assumption is that the issue is not being addressed. So they raise their voice.
I don't necessarily "blame" people for the tone they have taken. I think it's overboard, but I believe there's reason to it. There has been a crescendo of emotion stemming from the biggest source of frustration: money. Not just real money but dilithium as well. The system has it's flaws because this will either slow character progression and/or actually cost the player more to play this game. So there is room for concern here. Most people get emotional where their pocketbook lay.
From analysis it would appear that STO will work a lot like CO. C-Store items will cost more, and be single character only items. This issue alone is enough to boil some people.
The other major issue with dilithium will not be a game-breaker, but could be a major deterrent to consistent play. In Live-STO, I can spend one night grinding exploration missions to obtain all of the materials to craft all the items one toon and maybe two, for the current level. With dilithium, it will definitely be impossible to do any of that in it's current incarnation. But what I think is overboard, is that it seems some people think the changes must be done immediately because of the impending F2P Launch. It's still down the road from here.
Is the "griping" tone necessary? I don't think so, but some obviously do.
Unfortunately for Cryptic, it very much looks to be a sucker bet.
For me, it's no longer about what's been done so far, but that no one from Cryptic is giving any assurances that the awful issues are not being fixed.
For me personally, if someone would tell us exactly why they did some of these changes, I'd be a lot less harsh in my critisms. I may not agree with everything, but it wouldn't be anger, but a "gentleman's disagreement."
Example: Is the forced mission progression meant for Silvers? Is it menat to make sure we test *every* mission so we can give our input on how to make it better and if they're bugged with something showstopping?
You know, that sort of thing. The Doff system wouldn't be as epic win if Heretic hadn't been open and receptive. Kudos to him.
But I'll tell you this, if loyal players don't like these changes, there is a very good chance new players won't either.
Will free to play go off tremendously ? Maybe, at first, but if some of these "gripes" aren't addressed, the success might be very short lived. Just like it was right after launch...
Those who don't learn from history are destined to repeat it.
I've done all I care to on F2P tribble, met each goal set for each reward. I can't say I enjoyed my time there tremendously.
I'm off to pursue more entertaining endeavors on holodeck......while they last.
Saying that a system sucks isn't particularly helpful, and if you are actually here to be helpful, I would suggest that you keep your posts to the point and offer suggestions if you have them. It's okay to say you don't like a system, but it's even better to say what you think should be done instead. If you do that, you might actually find that the devs will talk to you here quite a bit. Heretic does a great job responding when I present an idea, suggestion, or question about the Doff system (typically to tell me why my idea won't work, but hey, that's life).
If you really think that Cryptic isn't listening to its players, ask yourself why there's a transporter room on ESD. Ask yourself why the STFs are being redone at all. Ask yourself why they're redoing the skill system. Ask yourself why ship interiors contain more than just a bridge. All of these things have been asked for by players. They may not be doing a perfect job and they may not get everybody's wish in, but they are listening.
You may be right about that. I'm not sure. I think it's about 50/50. My point was that the focus isn't on us. They got our money and now they want new people's money. Leaving the game in the state it is in on Holodeck isn't making them enough money to keep the game afloat. You can yell greed all you want but the fact is if this game was profitable as it is now on the live server they would not be making this gamble.
I like the game so I hope it works out for them. Everything I've seen on tribble is about what I'd expect from a f2p game. From what I've seen I'll keep playing, they might even make some more money off me as well.