I don't know, if the drop correspond with the damage done or whatever.
I mainly use 2 toons. A tactical and a science.
The tactical one got about 25 prototype borg salvage on 80 STF-runs, full MK XI ground maco-set and full MK XII space maco.
The science done about 140 STF-runs and got 2 prototype borg salvage and only a prototype shield tech.
I don't expect a satisfactory answer from Gozer on this.
We want guarantedd loot drops.
I find it funny how a lot people are saying that after a few runs, the STF's are boring and not worthy of the grind. I've said that since FtP beta. The rewards are not nearly good enough to justify people BORING THEMSELVES TO DEATH on the mere *chance* of getting good loot.
I think there are some mindless grind-lovers that influenced the lottery drop decision, in all honesty.
Honestly, like a few other people said, I could care less, just lower the drop rate on those damned boxes, I have like 30 of them on my klingon and at least 15 on my fed, I've gotten to the point I don't even pick them up i just leave them floating there. Sure, its a nice way to get certain things...but most of the time its a waste of credits...infact I was going to log in and destroy the ones I have except for this crash
well so for I've run 563 STF elite missions and have 781 EDC, 76 rare borg salvage, 21 prototype salvage and have only gotten 6 prototype shield tech.come on 563 STF elite runs and all i have is shield tech really Cryptic that is insane how many more do i have to run to get the deflector and engine to make at least one set at MK XII?
And as far as the mystery boxes go you can please tone those down nobody really wants them.I can understand one at the end or one or two drops but when my screen is covered in green letters of everybody passing on the 20 that dropped come on stop already.And another thing in all those 563 runs i have yet to see a gold box every box within a box is green so thanks for nickle and dimeing us to death for every cent.
I am quite happy with drop rates overall. I only need 3 more MK XII weapons (or was it 4?) and need one item to complete the MACO set. And I have only played STFs for real for the last two weeks... If I had completed everything by now where would be the motivation to play them again and again? Just to shave of some more seconds from the timer for the optional objectives?
I would prefer more predictable drops and less crappy items in STFs, but overall it is fine as it is.
I think that after you get the MK XII weapons for ground and space along with the MK XI special reserves for your ground and space sets on the toons you want them on, your grind is done. After that you are either goofing off or under the delusional impression that you actually have a change at MK XII sets.
That is the time that you should go back and start playing all of the other wonderful and captivating content the devs have put in the game before you started your girndfest last December.
Your stf's have become a complete joke and since for a year and a half between accolade hunting you have ruined my fun. Do you honestly expect me to play 6000 stfs for an accolade you give to fools on their first attempt. Eat me crypic, after 12400 accolade points, you can stop spamming me with your stupid news, you lost a player who has once enjoyed the over 500 stfs. peace!
well so for I've run 563 STF elite missions and have 781 EDC, 76 rare borg salvage, 21 prototype salvage and have only gotten 6 prototype shield tech.come on 563 STF elite runs and all i have is shield tech really Cryptic that is insane how many more do i have to run to get the deflector and engine to make at least one set at MK XII?
And as far as the mystery boxes go you can please tone those down nobody really wants them.I can understand one at the end or one or two drops but when my screen is covered in green letters of everybody passing on the 20 that dropped come on stop already.And another thing in all those 563 runs i have yet to see a gold box every box within a box is green so thanks for nickle and dimeing us to death for every cent.
have you run all the STFs? They drop specific pieces depending on which one you do, for example, infected only has the shield tech.
The drop rate needs to be adjusted badly. 95% of the drops are those God forsaken Cardassian lockboxes; every single mystery box I've gotten has been a Cardassian lock box. WTF?
A slightly higher drop rate on prototype Borg salvage would be appreciated as well.
There ARE quite a few additional EDC drops from commander and captain mobs, butt the problem is ... they're invisible! You have to actually walk over the spot of the fallen enemy and sumtimes "Take Item" shows up, and then you have found a single additional EDC drop (20% chance to get it, as there are 4 others needing it as well).
Usually, in a single Elite run, I get 3 EDC (one of five additional drops average for me) and one rare or prototype salvage, sometimes 2 rare salvage or at least a purple MK XI or a blue MK XII item.
It's the prototype tech that has a terrible drop rate. I get rare tech a lot from elite and have 5 prototype salvage so far, but no prototype tech yet.
I haven't done a ton of STFs like some others, but geez some have done hundreds of runs and barely seen any tech drops? That's insane and unacceptable.
There should at least be a way to buy elite requisitions like we can veteran requisitions. I wouldn't be opposed to 80 EDC per elite. That's still a lot of runs, between 30 and 40, but at least we know we can eventually achieve our goals vs be at the mercy of the RNG gods.
It's not that the drop rate is horrible. It's how they are dropped. Every player gets their own pile of loot and most of the time you never know what they got. My friend got super lucky and pulled proto shield and deflector on his first two elites as well as a proto salvage. I've run roughly 60 elites and have 16 proto salvages and 2 proto shield techs.
The best fix to this problem is to allow you to purchase the proto techs with datachips or possibly exchange proto salvages for them. 10 salvages - 1 tech sounds decent to me or continue with the same formula to exchange the datachips, 80 - 1 proto tech.
Cryptic may soon be forming an exploratory commission to begin to think about having an internal conversation if they should proceed with discussing the possibility of taking a look at the drop rates....... some day, down the road, maybe. But only when the planets are aligned in a lunar eclipse on a leap year. Just don't tell Gozer because he's already raised the rates - twice.
100 EDC = 1 MK XII Prototype Tech
2 Proto Shield, Armor, or Weapon = 1 MK XII Prototype Tech of choice
25 Prototype Salvage = 1 MK XII Prototype Tech
50 Rare Salvage = 1 MK XII Prototype Tech
Still need to grind like the want us to.... -.-
But does offer a light at the end of the tunnel...
How about that proto tech do not be bound so that people can trade them.
I bet that will help alot.
and make MK XII tech aviable via rare and proto salvage because they are useless
I got my MACO set after 209 stf's, got 2 prottype armor on my KDF, and that was 500 stf's ago.
so after 700 stf's 5 prototypes tech's. and yes i'm playing all 3 elite ground stf's.
Armor = Ka, weapon = Cure, PSG (shield) = Infected.
I've given up again on doing Elite STF missions yet again untill this mess delt with.. Its yet another good old fashioned MMO grind. Funny thing is, is that for waht you want even WOW has a better drop rate for the gear you want. And an option to earn gear from repeated runs.
So much for this being a "Casual" MMO.. when the non-casual players can't get the gear after far to many runs.
hell id like to see more tech drops to from what i was told ya have to get the optional mission to get tech drops witch i think is bs considering that most the time ya fail it
why not add them to crafting, but require edc and/or salvage to make? This way u can line your pockets with the dilithium sales as well :P
Seems the only solution to this would be to present cryptic with an option to 'cash out' because the way its set up is to force someone to play and play and play the same 6 maps over and over to have a chance to get what they want.
Buying/crafting from/with edc and salvage at least gives ppl something to work towards, even if they are horribly unlucky, they know after x runs they can get SOMETHING. The way its set up as is, one just see's how many it took 'most' to get the item, and either decide if they feel lucky(And keep trying) or just move on(IE: other games)
Oh and just incase the guys working this game aren't sure, people moving to other games means those 'other games' get any cash the player may have spent here.
Add my list to the complainers some here, especially with the Cardy boxes that are CLEARLY replacing loot tables in STFs, rather than working in conjunction. I see on average 8 - 10 boxes, for every 1 or 2 proper regular drops. Nevermind the fact I truly believe at this point, that the end run loot tables are badly skewed, as some players in my Fleet that I am with, barely see prototype drops, while I myself have nearly outfitted every cruiser I have, in mk XIIs.
Yes, you read the last part right. I sense there's more than a hint of luck involved in the loot tables, and the math behind it all clearly is broken, or more likely to my conspiring eye, steered in some code mathematical way. It's bad enough that invisible one shot torps, and suddenly automatic team drops that kill coordination in runs, are bugging STFs anymore, but the loot table problem IS a big fat problem. Given I suspect the devs are too focused on newer content once again, and have completely ignored STFs in general once again, there needs to be a louder community shout to fix all of this.
Something I swear to heaven, is badly off here. I make this complaint on the behalf of the community, the part that is shafted by the loot table and bug situation here.
Add my name to the list of complainers. I've gone for a week now and haven't received a single piece of salvage or tech. Been running approximately 30 times per day. Even EDCs seem to be unreliable! :mad:
No I haven't been forgetting my loot bag and yes I have been getting the optionals most of the time.
I'm just infuriated because on both my previous builds I had a full set of mk xi stf gear (weapons included) within a day! I've been running STFs with my current build for just over a week now and have got 2 pieces of the borg set and nothing else.
There seem to be 2 reliable things in STFs at the moment : Borg and "mystery" boxes
Well on the upside, the Cardie Lockboxes are due to vanish from the drops in about 6 days.
But the prototype tech is still crazy low, instead of rasing the overall drop rate make it personalised. Say the current drop rate is 4% on the end of mission loot, at the end of each mission each person who doesn't get a prototype tech item has 2% added to thier personal chance. So by your 48th run of a particular STF you'd be guarented a drop, and if you are lucky enough to get the tech your counter reset and you start again. I don't think 96 runs per STF to get both possible sets is being over generous, at say 30 mins per STF run it would take 6 days of continous game play (no eating, no sleeping, no comfort breaks)to be assured of one space and one ground set, that's hardly over generous.
You know I would not mind scaled loot based on performance in the run. Like how star base 24, and the gorn actions run. That way team members get applauded for carrying a team, or junk for doing nothing.
Example:
I was running Cure Ground elite. the one sci we had said he was a medic, but I never saw a heal, and I was always reviving him. Then we get to Armek. He can't tank, and kept stains next to me while I attempted to snipe and hitting me with chain lightning. The group tried 5 times, and on the 5th time i realized I was the only one not respawned outside the cube. I kept hitting him with the sniper rifle, ticking his health down until he was dead. All the other 4 did was jump up and down outside the wall, and not a single heal or buff. Come to loot time and I got a stupid MK XI blue sword. You would think to take him down I would have gotten a better drop. Nope, and I think another team member got tech.
You know I would not mind scaled loot based on performance in the run. Like how star base 24, and the gorn actions run. That way team members get applauded for carrying a team, or junk for doing nothing.
Exactly. A great way of implementing this would be as follows: collect statistics on each team member for things such as:
Majority of damage done to a target (percentage, averaged from all mobs in the instance, favors dps).
Total damage done (raw number, favors dps).
Team heals (separate statistic, favors tanks and healers).
Self heals (favors tanks and healers).
Damage taken (favors those who take and hold aggro, so generally dps, also tanks).
Debuff damage (favors anyone who slots this stuff, predominantly healers; owners of procs/powers (disruptor proc, apb for instance) that increase team dps would have the bonus damage from all team members tallied here).
Each team member is rated from 1 to 5 (first place to last place on a five-person STF team). Each player's overall score is averaged out, and that average is divided by how many times they've died (so there is an incentive to learning how to tank, no matter what you're playing). That determines your overall score.
Loot rolls at the end would have a guaranteed prototype drop for first place, standard loot rolls for everyone else, with a bonus percentage chance applied for placement (say, 25%, 20%, 10%, 5%). A special consideration would apply for players that contribute NOTHING to the team by sitting AFK (or griefers that use shuttles, etc.), they would get no loot rolls whatsoever, and this could be easily determined by comparing raw numbers on the above statistics and anyone who falls outside of, say, a 30% margin from the rest of the team, will have effectively done diddly squat for the team and should get nothing from the STF.
These statistics should be collected and publicly displayed at the end of each STF, so that everyone has a concise explanation as to why they scored the way they did. Heck, for added incentive for learning to game this system, tie the statistics collected to personal accolades, so that, say, you get a special ship costume (hull material?) or title for getting first place in so many elite STFs.
I don't care if this makes me sound elitist. Us elitists are the people carrying teams of idiots through elites and not proportionally benefiting from it.
Here's a further thought: implement a "mentor" system tied to, say, a player's personal title. Anyone wearing the "Mentor" title willingly forfeits their placement and end loot rolls in exchange for a single incrementing statistic accolade (once for each STF) that awards them something even more special (say, a combo space and ground costume set), so that people who already have what they want out of an STF and are more interested in leading teams to teach others how to do STFs can benefit from it without TRIBBLE up the loot roll chances for the rest of their team. And to prevent people from gaming this, the mentor counter won't increment if said player would otherwise not have gotten a loot roll from being AFK, so you can't AFK farm this.
As it is now I feel it far too easy to get the top end or best equipment. I'd like to see them add the tier or ranking system to stfs so better performers receive better loot. I think it should be based on where you score so say 2 escorts do equally well they both receive the same tier loot. Id also like to see much more diversity in equipment as a whole. With more diversity I want to see ultra rare loot. Ultra rare loot is something you have to be so lucky to get you feel honored to have and use it. They sorta have this but it in lock boxes that makes them money, I want it in game. Why should it be so easy to obtain the best items in game? Everyone has em the game is boring.
Yes, you read the last part right. I sense there's more than a hint of luck involved in the loot tables, and the math behind it all clearly is broken, or more likely to my conspiring eye, steered in some code mathematical way. It's bad enough that invisible one shot torps, and suddenly automatic team drops that kill coordination in runs, are bugging STFs anymore, but the loot table problem IS a big fat problem. Given I suspect the devs are too focused on newer content once again, and have completely ignored STFs in general once again, there needs to be a louder community shout to fix all of this.
Something I swear to heaven, is badly off here. I make this complaint on the behalf of the community, the part that is shafted by the loot table and bug situation here.
Agreed. Since I'm back playing STO, I have run about 50-60 STFs with different toons, and these are the techs I found
Proto Shield Tech x4
Proto Body Armor Tech x1
Proto Weapon Tech x1 Rare Shield Tech x1
Rare PSG Tech x1
Rare Weapon Tech x1
Rare Body Armor Tech x1
That's one tech about every fifth run. Hearing about people not getting any tech for hundreds of runs sounds totally contrary to my experience. There must be more to it than simple luck.
Agreed. Since I'm back playing STO, I have run about 50-60 STFs with different toons, and these are the techs I found
Proto Shield Tech x4
Proto Body Armor Tech x1
Proto Weapon Tech x1 Rare Shield Tech x1
Rare PSG Tech x1
Rare Weapon Tech x1
Rare Body Armor Tech x1
That's one tech about every fifth run. Hearing about people not getting any tech for hundreds of runs sounds totally contrary to my experience. There must be more to it than simple luck.
Like all chance mechanics, some people will get screwed over (fraction of a percent, mind you) or will get (unjustly) rewarded with 5 in a row. They're the outliers, and they're likely to report their unlucky circumstances.
Most will be fine, getting a tech every 5th run, but there is still a chance one won't.
In any case, perhaps the game should keep a behind scenes counter to ensure a tech drop every 5th run instead of relying on statistical averages
Like all chance mechanics, some people will get screwed over (fraction of a percent, mind you) or will get (unjustly) rewarded with 5 in a row. They're the outliers, and they're likely to report their unlucky circumstances.
Most will be fine, getting a tech every 5th run, but there is still a chance one won't.
In any case, perhaps the game should keep a behind scenes counter to ensure a tech drop every 5th run instead of relying on statistical averages
Every 5th run? You have to be joking. I've done waaaay more than that and I've not had even ONE tech drop.
I have a full MKXI ground set, full retro set, partially finished with a MKXI space set, and have just started on the other MKXI ground set, and I have never even seen a prototype tech item drop. And yes, I ground out most of those items in EDC.
Whatever percentage and loot table/assignment system they have going in regards to prototype techs is really screwed up from a balance point of view.
Comments
I mainly use 2 toons. A tactical and a science.
The tactical one got about 25 prototype borg salvage on 80 STF-runs, full MK XI ground maco-set and full MK XII space maco.
The science done about 140 STF-runs and got 2 prototype borg salvage and only a prototype shield tech.
What's wrong with the droprates?
We want guarantedd loot drops.
I find it funny how a lot people are saying that after a few runs, the STF's are boring and not worthy of the grind. I've said that since FtP beta. The rewards are not nearly good enough to justify people BORING THEMSELVES TO DEATH on the mere *chance* of getting good loot.
I think there are some mindless grind-lovers that influenced the lottery drop decision, in all honesty.
And as far as the mystery boxes go you can please tone those down nobody really wants them.I can understand one at the end or one or two drops but when my screen is covered in green letters of everybody passing on the 20 that dropped come on stop already.And another thing in all those 563 runs i have yet to see a gold box every box within a box is green so thanks for nickle and dimeing us to death for every cent.
I would prefer more predictable drops and less crappy items in STFs, but overall it is fine as it is.
That is the time that you should go back and start playing all of the other wonderful and captivating content the devs have put in the game before you started your girndfest last December.
have you run all the STFs? They drop specific pieces depending on which one you do, for example, infected only has the shield tech.
A slightly higher drop rate on prototype Borg salvage would be appreciated as well.
Usually, in a single Elite run, I get 3 EDC (one of five additional drops average for me) and one rare or prototype salvage, sometimes 2 rare salvage or at least a purple MK XI or a blue MK XII item.
I haven't done a ton of STFs like some others, but geez some have done hundreds of runs and barely seen any tech drops? That's insane and unacceptable.
There should at least be a way to buy elite requisitions like we can veteran requisitions. I wouldn't be opposed to 80 EDC per elite. That's still a lot of runs, between 30 and 40, but at least we know we can eventually achieve our goals vs be at the mercy of the RNG gods.
The best fix to this problem is to allow you to purchase the proto techs with datachips or possibly exchange proto salvages for them. 10 salvages - 1 tech sounds decent to me or continue with the same formula to exchange the datachips, 80 - 1 proto tech.
Anyone remember Stormshade's post about adding grind? I'll link it for the lulz.
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showpost.php?p=3839410&postcount=21
Yeah this game is totally far from grindy! Honestly if the gear progression were any slower, we'd be going backwards.
Unfortunately Cryptic can't adjust the rates now because that would be totally unfair to the 5 people that already earned their mk12 gear. :rolleyes:
2 Proto Shield, Armor, or Weapon = 1 MK XII Prototype Tech of choice
25 Prototype Salvage = 1 MK XII Prototype Tech
50 Rare Salvage = 1 MK XII Prototype Tech
Still need to grind like the want us to.... -.-
But does offer a light at the end of the tunnel...
I bet that will help alot.
and make MK XII tech aviable via rare and proto salvage because they are useless
so after 700 stf's 5 prototypes tech's. and yes i'm playing all 3 elite ground stf's.
Armor = Ka, weapon = Cure, PSG (shield) = Infected.
So much for this being a "Casual" MMO.. when the non-casual players can't get the gear after far to many runs.
Take a look see what you think.
Seems the only solution to this would be to present cryptic with an option to 'cash out' because the way its set up is to force someone to play and play and play the same 6 maps over and over to have a chance to get what they want.
Buying/crafting from/with edc and salvage at least gives ppl something to work towards, even if they are horribly unlucky, they know after x runs they can get SOMETHING. The way its set up as is, one just see's how many it took 'most' to get the item, and either decide if they feel lucky(And keep trying) or just move on(IE: other games)
Oh and just incase the guys working this game aren't sure, people moving to other games means those 'other games' get any cash the player may have spent here.
Yes, you read the last part right. I sense there's more than a hint of luck involved in the loot tables, and the math behind it all clearly is broken, or more likely to my conspiring eye, steered in some code mathematical way. It's bad enough that invisible one shot torps, and suddenly automatic team drops that kill coordination in runs, are bugging STFs anymore, but the loot table problem IS a big fat problem. Given I suspect the devs are too focused on newer content once again, and have completely ignored STFs in general once again, there needs to be a louder community shout to fix all of this.
Something I swear to heaven, is badly off here. I make this complaint on the behalf of the community, the part that is shafted by the loot table and bug situation here.
No I haven't been forgetting my loot bag and yes I have been getting the optionals most of the time.
I'm just infuriated because on both my previous builds I had a full set of mk xi stf gear (weapons included) within a day! I've been running STFs with my current build for just over a week now and have got 2 pieces of the borg set and nothing else.
There seem to be 2 reliable things in STFs at the moment : Borg and "mystery" boxes
But the prototype tech is still crazy low, instead of rasing the overall drop rate make it personalised. Say the current drop rate is 4% on the end of mission loot, at the end of each mission each person who doesn't get a prototype tech item has 2% added to thier personal chance. So by your 48th run of a particular STF you'd be guarented a drop, and if you are lucky enough to get the tech your counter reset and you start again. I don't think 96 runs per STF to get both possible sets is being over generous, at say 30 mins per STF run it would take 6 days of continous game play (no eating, no sleeping, no comfort breaks)to be assured of one space and one ground set, that's hardly over generous.
Example:
I was running Cure Ground elite. the one sci we had said he was a medic, but I never saw a heal, and I was always reviving him. Then we get to Armek. He can't tank, and kept stains next to me while I attempted to snipe and hitting me with chain lightning. The group tried 5 times, and on the 5th time i realized I was the only one not respawned outside the cube. I kept hitting him with the sniper rifle, ticking his health down until he was dead. All the other 4 did was jump up and down outside the wall, and not a single heal or buff. Come to loot time and I got a stupid MK XI blue sword. You would think to take him down I would have gotten a better drop. Nope, and I think another team member got tech.
Exactly. A great way of implementing this would be as follows: collect statistics on each team member for things such as:
Each team member is rated from 1 to 5 (first place to last place on a five-person STF team). Each player's overall score is averaged out, and that average is divided by how many times they've died (so there is an incentive to learning how to tank, no matter what you're playing). That determines your overall score.
Loot rolls at the end would have a guaranteed prototype drop for first place, standard loot rolls for everyone else, with a bonus percentage chance applied for placement (say, 25%, 20%, 10%, 5%). A special consideration would apply for players that contribute NOTHING to the team by sitting AFK (or griefers that use shuttles, etc.), they would get no loot rolls whatsoever, and this could be easily determined by comparing raw numbers on the above statistics and anyone who falls outside of, say, a 30% margin from the rest of the team, will have effectively done diddly squat for the team and should get nothing from the STF.
These statistics should be collected and publicly displayed at the end of each STF, so that everyone has a concise explanation as to why they scored the way they did. Heck, for added incentive for learning to game this system, tie the statistics collected to personal accolades, so that, say, you get a special ship costume (hull material?) or title for getting first place in so many elite STFs.
I don't care if this makes me sound elitist. Us elitists are the people carrying teams of idiots through elites and not proportionally benefiting from it.
Here's a further thought: implement a "mentor" system tied to, say, a player's personal title. Anyone wearing the "Mentor" title willingly forfeits their placement and end loot rolls in exchange for a single incrementing statistic accolade (once for each STF) that awards them something even more special (say, a combo space and ground costume set), so that people who already have what they want out of an STF and are more interested in leading teams to teach others how to do STFs can benefit from it without TRIBBLE up the loot roll chances for the rest of their team. And to prevent people from gaming this, the mentor counter won't increment if said player would otherwise not have gotten a loot roll from being AFK, so you can't AFK farm this.
Agreed. Since I'm back playing STO, I have run about 50-60 STFs with different toons, and these are the techs I found
Proto Shield Tech x4
Proto Body Armor Tech x1
Proto Weapon Tech x1
Rare Shield Tech x1
Rare PSG Tech x1
Rare Weapon Tech x1
Rare Body Armor Tech x1
That's one tech about every fifth run. Hearing about people not getting any tech for hundreds of runs sounds totally contrary to my experience. There must be more to it than simple luck.
Most will be fine, getting a tech every 5th run, but there is still a chance one won't.
In any case, perhaps the game should keep a behind scenes counter to ensure a tech drop every 5th run instead of relying on statistical averages
Every 5th run? You have to be joking. I've done waaaay more than that and I've not had even ONE tech drop.
Whatever percentage and loot table/assignment system they have going in regards to prototype techs is really screwed up from a balance point of view.