Does Anyone Miss Atari?

kirksplat

I can't believe that I'm asking this question. But I am.

What were the drawbacks? No investment in STO. Dumb marketing fiascos. No cups in the break room.

But, it did seem like Cryptic was left to do its own thing as an independent entity.

Does anyone miss Atari?

nyiad

As much as it pains me: Yes....I miss Atari a ton.

STO would be be under Atari if Atari didn't use STO to have themselves financially secured once more.

thlaylierah

Actually things seem to be getting better and more professional now that PWE has started to pay attention to STO.

More professional means better game support.

Atari's only mistake was expecting them to run their own shop unsupervised.

jkstocbr

No. Things seem to be moving a lot faster these days. Probably due to the new hiring that's been opened up.

boglejam73

Nope. Atari couldn't survive in the big-boy market anymore and would have had to fold up, taking STO along with them.

There are some STO haters who think that would have been fine, but I don't think another publisher/developer would be willing to touch the Trek IP MMO-style for a long time if that had hppened. If they ever did launch another Trek MMO, it would be JJ-Trek setting. <shudder>

sovereignman

No.

The only thing Atari contributed to the game was their logo.

oracle54

Not in the least. If you'll forgive the metaphor, I'd much rather have an overbearing mother a'la PWE than a deadbeat dad (aka Atari).

skhc

Okay. Lockboxes suck (penny has hopefully dropped with PWE on that one) and the new forums are worse then their predecessors. But the actual game is probably in better shape than it ever was, and there's major content coming within a month. So no, I don't really miss Atari.

Shall we pine for Perpetual too while we're at it? Incidentally, that's best name for a company ever considering STO's development cycle under them.

josephkerr

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I still remember how quick the community was to demonise evil old Atari, and hail their "Perfect" saviours! Not saying you did kirksplat, but the fact the question is being asked tickles me :biggrin:

Truth is, no I don't miss Atari. I don't like PWE either. Basically the choice given here is analogous to whether I'd prefer to be shot in the hand or the foot. Sure Atari may have well caused STO to die sooner but PWE is willing to sacrifice so much to keep it up.

Neither of them cares or has the tiniest shred or respect for the Star Trek IP. Not one bit, nothing, zero. Where Atari were negligent, PWE is happy to compromise the integrity of the IP on a grander scale so long as the laziest and cheapest ways to make a profit on it are viable. Lockboxes, half baked reskins of a species to make a species that was never in the shows or films, questionable marketing practices and so on. Still have persistant bugs that get ignored, customer support is still laughable and the opnions of the community are still discardable when they don't agree with them.

But as long as the price is right I'll make do. People love to point out at these moments that no one is forcing you to pay and they're right, so I don't! This game is absolutely worth $0.

What I'd settle for is for STO to be owned by poeple that gave a damn about Star Trek and had even the slightest interest in making a quality product that'd be worth spending money on. If PWE do that, I'd be happy but I reckons the devil and I will be having a snowball fight in his backgarden before that happens. I'd say my money is safe for now.

warmaker001b

For me, in terms of seeing things as a KDF player and avid PVP'er, there is no difference between Atari & PWE. The situation for the KDF and PVP has remained dismally the same.

Neglected development.

As an STO player? I don't like the turn with PWE. I know the game is F2P now, but I dislike how blatant it is in strongarming some of the worst practices of F2P. Then there's the absolutely horrible spamming of Lockboxes and some random dumb*** unlocking a ship.

Here's a clue Cryptic & PWE: None of us give 2 sh*ts about someone unlocking a ship from your adversely slanted lottery. And alot of us are sick and tired of of these Lockboxes infecting every single aspect of gameplay. Another related insult is picking a box that says, "Level appropriate item" as a reward. But lo and behold, you open that box and what's inside? Another ******N lockbox.

As a player, it's insulting to receive a Lockbox as a quest reward. A quest reward that of course needs actual money to open, and the contents are totally ****ing random.

So, yes, maybe I'm one of the few, but the days of Atari overlooking this whole thing is like paradise.

josephkerr wrote: »

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I still remember how quick the community was to demonise evil old Atari, and hail their "Perfect" saviours! Not saying you did kirksplat, but the fact the question is being asked tickles me :biggrin:

Truth is, no I don't miss Atari. I don't like PWE either. Basically the choice given here is analogous to whether I'd prefer to be shot in the hand or the foot. Sure Atari may have well caused STO to die sooner but PWE is willing to sacrifice so much to keep it up.

Neither of them cares or has the tiniest shred or respect for the Star Trek IP. Not one bit, nothing, zero. Where Atari were negligent, PWE is happy to compromise the integrity of the IP on a grander scale so long as the laziest and cheapest ways to make a profit on it are viable. Lockboxes, half baked reskins of a species to make a species that was never in the shows or films, questionable marketing practices and so on. Still have persistant bugs that get ignored, customer support is still laughable and the opnions of the community are still discardable when they don't agree with them.

But as long as the price is right I'll make do. People love to point out at these moments that no one is forcing you to pay and they're right, so I don't! This game is absolutely worth $0.

What I'd settle for is for STO to be owned by poeple that gave a damn about Star Trek and had even the slightest interest in making a quality product that'd be worth spending money on. If PWE do that, I'd be happy but I reckons the devil and I will be having a snowball fight in his backgarden before that happens. I'd say my money is safe for now.

I see eye to eye with you on this.

I'm warmaker001b, and I endorse this message :cool:

zadama

I would never, ever want Atari back. They were responsible for the content drought, and it's something that I - as well as many other people - could never forgive them for.

tharkan

Sorry but no.

atomicfb

No, Atari didn't do anything right.

mikewendell

kirksplat wrote: »

Does anyone miss Atari?

Atari was supposed to save the world

beezle23

Hah hah hah. No.

Infogrames in Atari clothing? Seriously?

nerehtnert7512

nyiad wrote: »

As much as it pains me: Yes....I miss Atari a ton.

STO would be be under Atari if Atari didn't use STO to have themselves financially secured once more.

A better question would be...was Atari ever really here?

zahinder

As much as I despise lockboxes, it is not even close to the 'worst excesses of f2p cash shops.'

I've seen those places. As much as people whinge about p2w consoles, it's NOTHING like games where 50% or more of your power is due to bought items. Where advancement is sluggish unless you spend money.


And I'll take questionable or sluggish release of content to absolutely f-all.

eiledon

was there ever a Miss Atari? you know a female eye candy type walking advert for the company?

beezle23

eiledon wrote: »

was there ever a Miss Atari? you know a female eye candy type walking advert for the company?

Do Booth Babes count?

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/31/47250640_0ce0833452_o.jpg

eiledon

works for me. good find. and a very quick response.

truewarper

Who?:confused

kirksplat wrote: »

I can't believe that I'm asking this question. But I am.

What were the drawbacks? No investment in STO. Dumb marketing fiascos. No cups in the break room.

But, it did seem like Cryptic was left to do its own thing as an independent entity.

Does anyone miss Atari?

mikewendell

I was wondering the same thing when i saw Miss Atari.

beezle23 wrote: »

Do Booth Babes count?

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/31/47250640_0ce0833452_o.jpg

What's with her shoes....

cormoran

Don't miss Atari, wouldn't miss PWE either. Actually I doubt I'd even miss Cryptic.

I'd miss STO if it shut down, it's a great game at it's core, but I'll never miss any of the management behind it.

beezle23

mikewendell wrote: »

I was wondering the same thing when i saw Miss Atari.



What's with her shoes....

The shoes are normal -- those are some weird leggings.

ayradyss

Hmm. Just the act of weighing Atari vs. PWE in my mind feels like considering candidates for the presidential election. 'Nuff said.

captainrevo1

No. They were massively in debt and towards the end put hiring freezes and limited their cash to STO.

While i dont like lock box spam or the forums that are a step backwards i will take these any day for a dev team that has now doubled in size and will be producing content faster than before because they are getting the money they need. If Atari has been rolling in money and could support the game the way it deserves then i probably would have preferred them but they didn't.

dunespice

Cryptic has much more staff and funding under PW than it did under Atari.

They just needed some time to finish up f2p (and Starbases) before they could kick it into high gear.

piwright42

I am on the fence. I see the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Do I miss Atari? Sorta.

Do I wish PWE was not in the picture? Forum fiascos and lock boxes aside... To be honest the jury is still out. I can say what I have said since Season 3, maybe this will be the season for the KDF or PvP. Lets just see if after Season 6 is outta the gate if we start to get some more story for both factions and more than two game types and Kerrat for PvP.

If they can give us a little of all all three each season there after I will love PWE. If not well Nancy Sinatra sang it best, (really should post this song in the PvP songs thread).

nynik

Absolutely not.

ryuuenjin

beezle23 wrote: »

The shoes are normal -- those are some weird leggings.

she's wearing leather leg warmers.

also, the lack of curves or proportions make her more booth than babe

mustrumridcully0

No, not really.

We may hate lockboxes and P2W ships, but at least we get also some content now. I still think Cryptic and PWE could do things better. But Atari was not a help.