PvP Weekly Update 06/15/2012
This weeks question :
What if anything do you actually like about the current PvP system ?
Im not asking what you dont like, just if there is anything that you do like about it.
Hmm...
I Don't know why this question is so tough to me.. Maybe I'm over thinking it..
Where Open PVP System is concerned (Ker'rat, N'vak, etc.. etc..) I like being able to run around in a big open map and find people to fight. And I wish there was more then 4 Open PVP areas (1 Space FvK, 1 Ground FvK, 1 Space KvK, 1 Ground KvK) Heck I wish Sector space was one big Open PVP area!
I do like that we can either create Private, or join the Random Que system in order to have Matches that are more organized. With Space Arena being the most enjoyable of the map types lately.
I some times Like that there isn't a seperate function of Items, ships, powers, or gear in PVP if only for the ease if getting into PVP right away.
I like that there is a scoring in PVP matches.. even if the scores aren't always accurate enough.
I'm sure there is something I'm missing about what I like about the PVP Systems currently in place.. Could probobly come up with a list of what I don't like eaiser.. maybe.. Hard to say since it was directed towards PVP System and not maybe something other then that.
I like that healintg other players actually matters and is important.
I like cap and hold and that an objective exists beyond a cluster Fu...
That said I also feel it can use serious improvement.
I like crowd control, I like crowd control that actually works/isn't countered more often than not. Tractor Beam is likely my single favorite power in pvp.
1 KERRAT (open pvp)
2 Objective PVP (Cap N Hold)
3 Sense of ownership and uniqueness in my builds and the ability to modify it (ITS MINE!)
4 Skill is more important than the gear you equip (you dont need top end gear to pvp in this game really you dont)
5 PVP community
5 Star*Dagger
What if anything do you actually like about the current PvP system ?
Ground PvP works and is fairly well balanced.
Ground PvP is quick and vicious which leads to (at least this is how I feel) more bitter rivalries. I don't have to spend an hour or more to get one set of three matches done.
War Zones. The dynamic of being jumped by the opposing faction (or your own guys if they use that "red fed" bug) is a major rush when doing the war zone daily.
I don't have to choose one god like race/species to be able to compete. The races are fairly balanced and I see a nice variety in ground combat.
Ground is simple to learn, difficult to master. That's how Space should be, but it unfortunately doesn't feel like it.
Tactical
I like how you can choose which kit you want and still succeed. There isn't one kit that is the end-all-be-all. There are a few that don't work in PvP, but that's by the design of their abilities.
Tactical Initiative is probably the best thing about ground PvP.
Different weapons work well with the class, and bar a few weapon subtypes, all are acceptable. There are definitely favourites, but you don't need to use them to win.
Grenades. Enough said. (one issue I have with them is that my character seems to drop them at her feet whenever I press the button and I lose line of sight before the grenade leaves my hand)
All of the damage buffs in space make Cruisers/Science vessels (especially science vessels) usable for this class. They don't square off with an escort, but you can still put out respectable (and even broken when it comes to science ships) damage.
Engineer
I love the potential to shut the enemy down as an Engineer. Weapons Malfunction has saved my life or the lives of my team mates dozens of times.
Kinetic damage from explosives feels about right. If someone is stupid enough to walk over a bunch of mines, they die. I like that.
Medical Generators make life much easier. I can count at least two dozen matches where a well placed medical generator saved the day.
Equipment Diagnostics + ED duty officers = amazing team play, especially when all of those buffs are dumped on a tactical captain.
Unfortunately, no space stuff from me here. My only experience with Engineering in space has been at level 10-19.
Science
I love being able to heal people, break shields, set people on fire and overall ruin a person's day. This is by far the most diverse, fun, and oddly enough, balanced of the three classes on the ground. To heal is to sacrifice damage. To deal damage is to be a glass cannon. To debuff and control is to sacrifice both.
Scientific Aptitude is the greatest. Even if I'm not a healer, I can still pump out respectable healing with this, and best of all, through walls and without range. The slow/root/control resistance is nice as well.
Nanoprobe Infestation/Dampening Field are what I'd argue as the most useful and powerful ground abilities, even above Tactical Initiative. These often turn the tides of entire battles.
Overall, this class is versatile and can adapt to nearly every situation.
Science space... is tricky. It has the potential with all of that healing, control and damage, just like on the ground, but... with the resists so cheap skill point wise, I often feel like a liability even in the chaotic, uncoordinated mess that is Ker'rat.
One think I like about the current PvP system is that if you want to test something out or try to train a new person on moves you can quickly hop in and demonstrate it. Even Is we don't finish the kill count I found it worked well.
Things I like about the system as it is currently:
Open PvPvE zones
Private queues
Highly customizable ship setups
Tier 3 ship layouts: they have just enough BOFF ability slots to create an effective build, but not enough to support a "stacking overkill" build or a "cover all of my weaknesses" setup. Low-tier space PvP is much more centered on positioning and timing where Tier 5 is all about them danged clickables.
Things I used to like (that have been compromised since):
Low gear dependency (before the advent of sets)
Faction differences (back when cloaking and carriers were exclusive to Klingons, and science ships were exclusive to Feds)
More spaced-out objective-based maps where you need to make strategic decisions about splitting up the group, ie. the Space Assault map that got removed (the Salvage Operation C&H is not bad, but it can still be easily won by a balled-up team roving between the Asteroid Refinery and the Astrogeology Lab)
I hate PvP......in every other MMO I have played. I am no good at it in any capacity. That having been said, I must be honest: PvP is the only reason I still play STO. It is very rare that I am actually "good" at something, as I tend to be more average in a lot of areas, but master of none of them. STO PvP has been one of my badges of pride, in that I know that I am far from the best, but I am good at what I do.
What do I love about STO PvP? I love the fast paced firing and flying, the quick thinking it takes to out maneuver someone and catch them at the critical moment when the right amount of buffs that you have calculated and saved up now become the finishing move to take someone out. I love working with a coordinated team against an equally coordinated team (not a team that relies on "Oh TRIBBLE! Timmy is about to bite it! He is at 2% hull!!! *Extend Shields* Whew...that was a close one. Don't worry about Timmy anymore....he is in near Godmode now..." *Cough* *Cough* Extends shield resist is busted as Hades....*Cough*)
I love evenly matched fights, or as close to even as possible. Despite what many may think, a steamroll match where one side grossly outskills the other is no fun. There is no challenge, and no sense of accomplishment afterwards. I can clearly remember a time when evenly skill teams...even PUG teams, ended up in the same arena, and 45 minutes and carpal tunnel in both wrists later, everyone is slapping each other on the back and shouting "Good Game" at the top of their lungs. I can honestly say it has been over a year since I have had the joy in being in such a match, but even today, I take every PUG match as MAYBE today will be the day I have one of those matches again. Fleet members,RL friends and I knew this was going to happen when F2P came out: players with almost two years of experience were going to go up against two week old Vice Admirals and slaughter them....usually over and over and over again. There were a few that shined and stuck it out, rose through the PvP ranks and have earned their names is the fictional PvP Hall of Fame, but many cried "Hackers! OP! This sucks and is pointless!" and were never heard from again.
What do I love about PvP? Something I haven't had in a long time: a true sense of a well played game against a group of people who know what it is to loose 15-14, but still able to say that it was a well fought and well earned victory. Epic battles that at the end of the fight, we all respect each other a little more. How do you program PvP matches to include respect and dignity? I don't know....that is why you guys are the designers, and I am just the Merc with a Mouth who love a good fight. Not an Extends circle jerk, not a match where I just hit spacebar and roll through the opposition, but a match that after it is over, I have to go smoke a cigarette just to give my arms a break and watch OPvP explode with "OMG! We just had this awesome match! Player X, damn good flying! Player Y, way to hang in there and survive all that damage! Damn GG all!"
That is what I love about PvP, and I want it back....some way, some shape, some form. I want a game of skill where we all respect each other in the end, not scowl and spit venom.
And taquitos........................taquitos in every players ship. Only because taquitos is just fun to say..............taquitos.......
THIS....................................
Couldn't have said it better myself Deadpool kudos......
The question last week was if this update should continue on a weekly basis or perhaps change. I read through all the replies and weekly looks like the overall favorite.
Ill continue to do weekly updates, but just as a reminder some weeks may not have much information. This week for example is a small update. I also saw a great suggestion in last weeks thread that I think Ill incorporate into the weekly updates, which was if I dont have much to talk about I should pose a question to the PvP forum to discuss.
This weeks question :
What if anything do you actually like about the current PvP system ?
Im not asking what you dont like, just if there is anything that you do like about it.
ok, seeing that... the things I like...
The selectability, if I wish to PVP i can, if I wish not too, I can choose that too.
open options we all enjoy, we can select what we want to join and what we do not wish to join (space vs ground)
What if anything do you actually like about the current PvP system ?
I was going to list a bunch of stuff... then I logged in and played around in kerrat for awhile... and checked out the newest pay to win bs. There was more runabouts then cubes in kerrat this evening... I really really really considered deleteing all my toons tonight to keep myself from returning... I resisted for now... but I may still do just that tommorow. Night Gozer gl with all the hand sitting.
I like the concept of ker'rat. I like being able to enter a zone with no wait time and dont need a team. I like the concept of pve objectives, so if there are no enemy ships around you can at least do something. I like the quick nature of it (although there is room for a long time consuming map as well).
I like the pvp itself. i think its fun and enjoyable to play at its core. ship pvp is some of the best pvp ive played. it can get a bit hectic at max level, but lt. cmd to commander level pvp is great fun as there is just a right mix of abilities without it turning into a disco light show and you dont get killed in 2 seconds.
i like that even if you lose you get xp, rewards etc. its not critical to win a match, as pvp can be very one sided and no rewards for being beaten by a better team would suck.
Open pvp ie... Ker'ret ! i'd like to see more open combat zones like this please. one such zone could be the map from Op Gamma FE, have the roids with swarmers on as some sort of mineable roid and everything is fair game. this map would make for some awesome fights, escourts flying in and out of the main large roids after eachother... nom nom
Im not asking what you dont like, just if there is anything that you do like about it.
Gose dude... "IF"? PVP is the only reason i still play.
Everything else is just about leading to the PVP experience. And don't let your metrics fool you into thinking it can be cut out of the game. I hardly ever PVP anymore. Okay, the last three months was because I was couch surfing with my computer in storage, but before that. Fleet duties and grinding to stay competative keep me out of the queues way more than I want, but they are just a means to an end. Even the good story in a featured episode that I want so badly is just so that I can write my own characters' stories into the Trek Universe against stimulating opponents.
So to give a general principle that reflects a complex answer to your question, i would say that what I like about STO pvp are the elements that feed into good roleplaying. Anything that enhances this would be an improvement.
Specific examples would be:
- PvPvE. PVP maps are usually made "fair" by being made symetrical. This is tactically boring and doesn't reflect the IP, where there is usually some overriding objective that provides a direction to combat. Kerrat, for all its flaws, provides that. My dream is to one day see a featured episode that at some part of the story dumps me into a PvPvE queue. The story then continues on two separate tracts depending on whether your team wins or loses. :cool:
- A good mix of heal over time and instant heals. I know the "sluggers" hate the feel of having their progress negated, but those of us who prefer a "pitching and defense" style of play use instant heals for the tactics of deception. Zooming around with unhealed hull may be stupid against a TSI premade, but in a PuG match it can be a great way to lure a newbie off of his focus fire target. The bottom line for me is that the original IP all had instant heals, from improved structural integrity on Voyager at a power console tap to Scotty's miracle working. Stick with the IP.
- Character customization. Gear customization. Ship customization (ie. Universal B/O stations, consoles, and even alternate ship skins). The flip side of this is the way rules changes and new gizmos can invalidate a character concept overnight. I have always loved this game best when the rules were not changing faster than I could adapt my customizables. I get demoralized most when it seems that I will not be able to make the changes necessary before the rules and gear are likely to change yet again.
- Success comes from knowledge and teamwork. This totally reflects the IP experience.
- I LOVE the rare PuG match where you are thrown in with people you don't know, without voice comunication, and there is enough skill and awareness of team mates that you patch together a battle that's almost worthy of a premade. When it happens, it makes me feel like I would actually belong in Starfleet or the KDF... and since someone earlier expressed a similar sentiment I'd like to renew my call for split PuG and Premade queues. Make fleet starbase battles the place for premades, and split up all teams so that arenas and cap and holds, et cetera, are entered singley and grouped randomly. Think of pre-mades as the planned naval offences and the PuGs as the reactionary crisis response. After all you don't always get to choose your battle... sometimes the battle chooses you.
:eek: PVP should be the obvious objective for roleplayers.
It's buggy and gets a bit dull after awhile, but can be great fun. I'd like to see a few more reasons for new players to go there, and more areas like it.
Just to get this out there, I don't do ground PVP's, space only. So nothing I say applies to Ground
Gotta say that Kerrat is one of my favorite places. The idea of having a objective while you have "real" enemies trying to kill you is great. I think that Kerrat should be debugged and overhauled. Seperate the spawns when the map resets, fix the npc's ..etc. I would also love to see more of these types of maps.:D
The current format of Fed v Fed, Fed v KDF, KDF v KDF is good. Maybe adding the Fed+KDF v Fed+KDF team option would be good, but don't get rid of the others.
I love the current space maps, except for solar wind. This one should be trashed, unless of course you hate my graphics card :eek:. Why do you hate my graphics card? What did it do to deserve that punishment?:p
Capture and Hold was a good idea, but needs work. It should have a way to tell how close you are to capping areas. Maybe adding more maps for this would be good also.
And lastly, thanx for the work you are putting into this Gozer. We appreciate it.:)
I like to survive evade resist and escape other players. I like sensor jam, tractor beam them and fly behind an escort and laugh. I like to viral matrix, target and shut down systems, I like to surgically strike the enemy, pick him apart with small needle hits, wear him down. I like to debuff and drain. I like 1v1 duels of wits and tactic. I like to defeat brute force and pure dps with tricks, skill and timing. I am a science captain, hear me roar!
The OrganizedPVP community, and that's it so far heh.
Things I dislike?
no true 360 degree control of ships
weak warp core explosions (Should nearly one shot everything around it with bigger ships)
lack of proper balance especially for carrier pets
Excessive pets in PVP matches (For Example, 5 carrier teams.)
I would love to see a variety of warp core breaches based on ship size and critical hits complete with expanding ball of vaporizing light (that can hurt EVERYONE, regardless of team). Core breaches would have to be dealt with a bit differently, like the ship would have to sit crippled for a bit and as the respawn counter reaches the end you go critical, but still there are so many more fun things that could be done with this.
I like that all three classes are valuable and contribute on both space and ground.
I really like how tightly balanced Ground is between tac/sci/engineer, in both 1v1 and 5v5 play.
I like the importance of teamwork over individual prowess on both space and ground.
On the ground, I like the importance of terrain and cover. I miss its absence in Space.
I like being a healer for my team, especially on the ground.
I like it when I get a good, close match against a friendly opponent.
5v5 Arenas. While true it is abit on the small side, STO doesn't do objective based games which is where larger matches really start to shine. Team work is rewarded.
Repeatable Dailies for pvp.
I like the Cracked Planet and briar patch maps. Lag free and visually interesting. At least as long as the match doesn't spiral upwards in an attempt to abuse the cannon blind spot.
OrganizedPvP, the community there is incredibly helpful overall, humorous, and doggedly determined to stick this game out until either it kicks us all out by removing pvp, or they decide to pull the plug on sto all together.
The idea behind the build variations. I love to tinker with my ships and character builds, especially for pvp. Taking this away would be a great detriment to pvp. Even simple things like experimenting with weapon properties that are combined with certain officer abilities, to more complex stuff like sifting through the skill tree to get maximised bonus vs points invested.
the challenge, while most of the time this has sadly been removed for myself and many others due to a large portion of the playerbase not understanding the game mechanics what so ever, when we do get a challenging match, we enjoy it. Far more than any and every pve. STFs for us, are just a tool to get our gear and by gear I mean 3 Borg, and Maco /KHG, or two omega pieces. Then we never touch them again, because they do not provide any challenge what so ever compared to a human opponent.
the Concept, of kerrat. I love objective based games. Objective based games further open the build options on ships, and an open pvp instance just makes it all the sweeter.
Relatively low gear dependency. I can roll in with Mk X equipment and still perform well in a given match. This is one of the strongest assets of pvp in sto. It's more about your build, and more about your team than it is your bling.
I like that all three classes are valuable and contribute on both space and ground.
I really like how tightly balanced Ground is between tac/sci/engineer, in both 1v1 and 5v5 play.
I like the importance of teamwork over individual prowess on both space and ground.
On the ground, I like the importance of terrain and cover. I miss its absence in Space.
I like being a healer for my team, especially on the ground.
I like it when I get a good, close match against a friendly opponent.
Too many Arena matches end up with everyone circling upwards to beat the 60° flight arc and 45° cannon arcs. Capture & Hold and Ker'rat are the only maps where cover could possibly work, because people have a reason (mission objectives) to stay near cover.
ON the rare occasions Arena does not devolve into the circling to the map ceiling tactic, the various asteroids can be awesome.
The question last week was if this update should continue on a weekly basis or perhaps change. I read through all the replies and weekly looks like the overall favorite.
Ill continue to do weekly updates, but just as a reminder some weeks may not have much information. This week for example is a small update. I also saw a great suggestion in last weeks thread that I think Ill incorporate into the weekly updates, which was if I dont have much to talk about I should pose a question to the PvP forum to discuss.
This weeks question :
What if anything do you actually like about the current PvP system ?
Im not asking what you dont like, just if there is anything that you do like about it.
I've been flogging my brain all weekend, trying to come up with clear answers to this; some of my thoughts aren't organizing themselves very well though. Still, here goes.
I like the variety of builds the game allows (although how useful a given build really is varies from balance pass to balance pass).
I like that newbies never have to find themselves going head to head with a VA in his T5+1 with full STF set.
I like the pace of the ground combat (right up until the stealthed shotguners start showing up anyway ).
I like that small things, like remembering to stick together, can make big differences.
I like the expose/exploit system.
I like the flanking system.
I like that (at most tiers of play) you can't easily be killed before you even know what hit you.
I like how unpredictable it can be.
I like the relative simplicity of lower tier PvP (I know, that's pretty vague; I've tried explaining what I mean in various threads, but have never really pulled it off ).
Comments
Hmm...
I Don't know why this question is so tough to me.. Maybe I'm over thinking it..
Where Open PVP System is concerned (Ker'rat, N'vak, etc.. etc..) I like being able to run around in a big open map and find people to fight. And I wish there was more then 4 Open PVP areas (1 Space FvK, 1 Ground FvK, 1 Space KvK, 1 Ground KvK) Heck I wish Sector space was one big Open PVP area!
I do like that we can either create Private, or join the Random Que system in order to have Matches that are more organized. With Space Arena being the most enjoyable of the map types lately.
I some times Like that there isn't a seperate function of Items, ships, powers, or gear in PVP if only for the ease if getting into PVP right away.
I like that there is a scoring in PVP matches.. even if the scores aren't always accurate enough.
I'm sure there is something I'm missing about what I like about the PVP Systems currently in place.. Could probobly come up with a list of what I don't like eaiser.. maybe.. Hard to say since it was directed towards PVP System and not maybe something other then that.
I like cap and hold and that an objective exists beyond a cluster Fu...
That said I also feel it can use serious improvement.
I like crowd control, I like crowd control that actually works/isn't countered more often than not. Tractor Beam is likely my single favorite power in pvp.
1 KERRAT (open pvp)
2 Objective PVP (Cap N Hold)
3 Sense of ownership and uniqueness in my builds and the ability to modify it (ITS MINE!)
4 Skill is more important than the gear you equip (you dont need top end gear to pvp in this game really you dont)
5 PVP community
5 Star*Dagger
Tactical
Engineer
Science
As it stands I can 1 on 1 with a friend or get a battle going on between any assortment of teams and levels I want to.
Things I used to like (that have been compromised since):
THIS....................................
Couldn't have said it better myself Deadpool kudos......
ok, seeing that... the things I like...
I was going to list a bunch of stuff... then I logged in and played around in kerrat for awhile... and checked out the newest pay to win bs. There was more runabouts then cubes in kerrat this evening... I really really really considered deleteing all my toons tonight to keep myself from returning... I resisted for now... but I may still do just that tommorow. Night Gozer gl with all the hand sitting.
I like the pvp itself. i think its fun and enjoyable to play at its core. ship pvp is some of the best pvp ive played. it can get a bit hectic at max level, but lt. cmd to commander level pvp is great fun as there is just a right mix of abilities without it turning into a disco light show and you dont get killed in 2 seconds.
i like that even if you lose you get xp, rewards etc. its not critical to win a match, as pvp can be very one sided and no rewards for being beaten by a better team would suck.
Gose dude... "IF"? PVP is the only reason i still play.
Everything else is just about leading to the PVP experience. And don't let your metrics fool you into thinking it can be cut out of the game. I hardly ever PVP anymore. Okay, the last three months was because I was couch surfing with my computer in storage, but before that. Fleet duties and grinding to stay competative keep me out of the queues way more than I want, but they are just a means to an end. Even the good story in a featured episode that I want so badly is just so that I can write my own characters' stories into the Trek Universe against stimulating opponents.
So to give a general principle that reflects a complex answer to your question, i would say that what I like about STO pvp are the elements that feed into good roleplaying. Anything that enhances this would be an improvement.
Specific examples would be:
- PvPvE. PVP maps are usually made "fair" by being made symetrical. This is tactically boring and doesn't reflect the IP, where there is usually some overriding objective that provides a direction to combat. Kerrat, for all its flaws, provides that. My dream is to one day see a featured episode that at some part of the story dumps me into a PvPvE queue. The story then continues on two separate tracts depending on whether your team wins or loses. :cool:
- A good mix of heal over time and instant heals. I know the "sluggers" hate the feel of having their progress negated, but those of us who prefer a "pitching and defense" style of play use instant heals for the tactics of deception. Zooming around with unhealed hull may be stupid against a TSI premade, but in a PuG match it can be a great way to lure a newbie off of his focus fire target. The bottom line for me is that the original IP all had instant heals, from improved structural integrity on Voyager at a power console tap to Scotty's miracle working. Stick with the IP.
- Character customization. Gear customization. Ship customization (ie. Universal B/O stations, consoles, and even alternate ship skins). The flip side of this is the way rules changes and new gizmos can invalidate a character concept overnight. I have always loved this game best when the rules were not changing faster than I could adapt my customizables. I get demoralized most when it seems that I will not be able to make the changes necessary before the rules and gear are likely to change yet again.
- Success comes from knowledge and teamwork. This totally reflects the IP experience.
- I LOVE the rare PuG match where you are thrown in with people you don't know, without voice comunication, and there is enough skill and awareness of team mates that you patch together a battle that's almost worthy of a premade. When it happens, it makes me feel like I would actually belong in Starfleet or the KDF... and since someone earlier expressed a similar sentiment I'd like to renew my call for split PuG and Premade queues. Make fleet starbase battles the place for premades, and split up all teams so that arenas and cap and holds, et cetera, are entered singley and grouped randomly. Think of pre-mades as the planned naval offences and the PuGs as the reactionary crisis response. After all you don't always get to choose your battle... sometimes the battle chooses you.
:eek: PVP should be the obvious objective for roleplayers.
i like:
- fraction vs fraction ( UFP VS KE )
- and Ker'rat as open PVP-PVE map
Thank you for the weekly update, and thank you for focusing your feedback machine.
To answer your question:
This list is very much like other posts here -- glad to see that the community values almost the same things as a whole.
Thanks
It's buggy and gets a bit dull after awhile, but can be great fun. I'd like to see a few more reasons for new players to go there, and more areas like it.
Because this is so not true, I love Forum PVP.
I must join the choir that sings: Ker'rat is cool!
Gotta say that Kerrat is one of my favorite places. The idea of having a objective while you have "real" enemies trying to kill you is great. I think that Kerrat should be debugged and overhauled. Seperate the spawns when the map resets, fix the npc's ..etc. I would also love to see more of these types of maps.:D
The current format of Fed v Fed, Fed v KDF, KDF v KDF is good. Maybe adding the Fed+KDF v Fed+KDF team option would be good, but don't get rid of the others.
I love the current space maps, except for solar wind. This one should be trashed, unless of course you hate my graphics card :eek:. Why do you hate my graphics card? What did it do to deserve that punishment?:p
Capture and Hold was a good idea, but needs work. It should have a way to tell how close you are to capping areas. Maybe adding more maps for this would be good also.
And lastly, thanx for the work you are putting into this Gozer. We appreciate it.:)
Things I dislike?
no true 360 degree control of ships
weak warp core explosions (Should nearly one shot everything around it with bigger ships)
lack of proper balance especially for carrier pets
Excessive pets in PVP matches (For Example, 5 carrier teams.)
I like:
btw, I'd l0ve to see mixed queues!
I really like how tightly balanced Ground is between tac/sci/engineer, in both 1v1 and 5v5 play.
I like the importance of teamwork over individual prowess on both space and ground.
On the ground, I like the importance of terrain and cover. I miss its absence in Space.
I like being a healer for my team, especially on the ground.
I like it when I get a good, close match against a friendly opponent.
5v5 Arenas. While true it is abit on the small side, STO doesn't do objective based games which is where larger matches really start to shine. Team work is rewarded.
Repeatable Dailies for pvp.
I like the Cracked Planet and briar patch maps. Lag free and visually interesting. At least as long as the match doesn't spiral upwards in an attempt to abuse the cannon blind spot.
OrganizedPvP, the community there is incredibly helpful overall, humorous, and doggedly determined to stick this game out until either it kicks us all out by removing pvp, or they decide to pull the plug on sto all together.
The idea behind the build variations. I love to tinker with my ships and character builds, especially for pvp. Taking this away would be a great detriment to pvp. Even simple things like experimenting with weapon properties that are combined with certain officer abilities, to more complex stuff like sifting through the skill tree to get maximised bonus vs points invested.
the challenge, while most of the time this has sadly been removed for myself and many others due to a large portion of the playerbase not understanding the game mechanics what so ever, when we do get a challenging match, we enjoy it. Far more than any and every pve. STFs for us, are just a tool to get our gear and by gear I mean 3 Borg, and Maco /KHG, or two omega pieces. Then we never touch them again, because they do not provide any challenge what so ever compared to a human opponent.
the Concept, of kerrat. I love objective based games. Objective based games further open the build options on ships, and an open pvp instance just makes it all the sweeter.
Relatively low gear dependency. I can roll in with Mk X equipment and still perform well in a given match. This is one of the strongest assets of pvp in sto. It's more about your build, and more about your team than it is your bling.
Too many Arena matches end up with everyone circling upwards to beat the 60° flight arc and 45° cannon arcs. Capture & Hold and Ker'rat are the only maps where cover could possibly work, because people have a reason (mission objectives) to stay near cover.
ON the rare occasions Arena does not devolve into the circling to the map ceiling tactic, the various asteroids can be awesome.
I've been flogging my brain all weekend, trying to come up with clear answers to this; some of my thoughts aren't organizing themselves very well though. Still, here goes.
I like the variety of builds the game allows (although how useful a given build really is varies from balance pass to balance pass).
I like that newbies never have to find themselves going head to head with a VA in his T5+1 with full STF set.
I like the pace of the ground combat (right up until the stealthed shotguners start showing up anyway
I like that small things, like remembering to stick together, can make big differences.
I like the expose/exploit system.
I like the flanking system.
I like that (at most tiers of play) you can't easily be killed before you even know what hit you.
I like how unpredictable it can be.
I like the relative simplicity of lower tier PvP (I know, that's pretty vague; I've tried explaining what I mean in various threads, but have never really pulled it off
That's all I got right now.
- At a very basic level, starship vs starship combat is still fun.
- Despite its flaws, Kerat, since it's the only World PvP area.
- Epic 10v10 (private) battles. If only there were 20v20, or 40v40. The more the merrier.
- Dilithium PvP Dailies. Something is still better than nothing.
- Due to the game's flexibility when it comes to builds and ships, a PvP match is often like a box of chocolates...
- Facing premades or partial premades, especially when teams are evenly matched.
- Blowing up Dev's.
- Having Dev's on your team.
- The PvP community, small as it is.
might be too simplistic an answer. but i like to shoot my friends. lol
I also quite like the idea that im contributing to the war effort.