This week I have been happily playing host to my old college roommate from waaaaay back in the day.
As is our way, he dragged his gaming box down so we could relive the old days of hours of CIV multiplay (hot seat back then), and other gaming.
Reluctantly, he finally tried out STO, and aside from some long-winded curse-filled tirades about how much of the game's mechanics aren't apparent or explained in the Tutorials, he finally settled in and leveled so he could try KDF.
Thus far, I have had two very strong comments from him, and I will continue to update here with his future impressions as the week closes:
1) ARGH! MY EYES!
I personally have no issue with it, but apparently the Amber-and-yellow-on-red HUD is enough for him to barely deal with KDF play for longer than one mission at a time. Red-themed HUDs are not an issue for him in general (as stated, he's a CoV player), but this game's particular color scheme for KDF is absolutely "horrid and unviewable... I can't even see what I'm clicking on! I can't differentiate between ANY of these!" Discussions about HUD modding so the Fed HUD applied to both factions may or may not have occurred and been researched and attempted... limited success could, hypothetically, have been made. The sheer volume of changes required may or may not have been discovered and ultimately granted us the realization that it would be incredibly difficult to actually ever make HUD color changes a feature based on the amount of mess that may or may not be involved... (Seriously, do they even teach people to think modular in programming classes any more? I mean I get building job security in but come on... )
2) "Wait... where's all the content?... "
"I start at 20? But... I enjoy the story missions, I don't want to start at 20, I want to play all the content from 1-20" Obviously, I had to explain the half-a-faction KDF was and still is. I took him through some of First City, and brought him out to fight off some Federation interlopers, intending to begin the first story missions when he declared he had enough of the HUD colors and promptly relogged to his feddie.
3) Water, water everywhere...
"You know, for all the Klingons have in variety, there sure aren't many choices!" He had finished trying to make a character, settling on an Alien as the other races were too restricted on their required Traits (he wanted a Gorn, but none of the Traits, so he "settled" on an Alien again). He also complained quite a bit about the species-specific armors not being available to him ("Wait, I can't put Naussican shoulder pads on my character? Why the **** not? Good lord, why did they spend all that time designing it if you cant use it 90% of the time?").
Just before logging out he had spent some time looking over the ship options in the shipyard. "What the ****... none of these have any other skins? Where's the fun in that?" Obviously, coming from the Federation's kit-bash-happy shipyards, even only having 2 or 3 ships so far, KDF's love-it-or-leave-it singular ship designs left him feeling flat. He also complained a little at the fact that what variety there was was limited to either all-at-once changes to a full ship's model, or only available through c-store ships. I had to point out there used to be some ship skins on the c-store for cheap but they were pulled later for the Fleet ships... and now cost 500 or 2000 Zen plus a Fleet of the right tier... I may have lost him completely there.
Wampaq@Jnoh, Fleet Leader: ..Bloodbath and Beyond[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]'Iw HaH je Hoch! ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3 A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome. Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
A situation I have personally seen played out as well as people I introduce to the game have tried the KDF after feverishly playing through fedplay to get to the chance to finally enjoy it.
Except for the Red UI grievance.
Most whom have tried quit as the game holds no reason to continue as a KDF player.
The red UI thing is an ooooold complaint going back to launch, but most of the people who couldn't take it left the game long, long ago, or only play Fed now. back before STO-Advanced had to close shop, there was a strong call for a UI Mod or official UI color options, my research discovered plenty of information about it, but sadly it looks like no one finished one.
That said, thankfully he's a long time CoV player, and used to the lesser content issues (though that has changed apparently)
EDIT: Then again, CoV offered different and occasionally superior classes to CoH, so there are reasons for his sticking with it I suppose.
Wampaq@Jnoh, Fleet Leader: ..Bloodbath and Beyond[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]'Iw HaH je Hoch! ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3 A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome. Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
EDIT: Then again, CoV offered different and occasionally superior classes to CoH, so there are reasons for his sticking with it I suppose.
I merely enjoyed CoH/CoV for its fun very team based superhero gameplay. Played for 5 years infact and considered it the best example of Cryptic MMO workmanship.
That said, I am sad to say that I believe City's villains got a lot more story development and gameplay than the KDF got.
The UI color scheme doesn't bother me too much, though. Maybe could use some oranges and ambers for contrast.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Conclusions: Federation has better races, missions, and overall content. Klingons have better ships on the whole.
STO is damn addictive, glad I didn't play it before CoH went out though...I'd have been playing so much, would have missed out on so much fun in CoH
(His words)
He did manage to level well into the 40s KDF side before drifting away from it (citing the above plus the HUD as primary reasons) He has since taken over my old Fed fleet, and declared his Feddy his "Main," despite my best efforts. Still plays his KDF character, but holds 2 on Fed side now, and is completely dedicated to semi-soloing that starbase.
*sigh*
I tried.
Wampaq@Jnoh, Fleet Leader: ..Bloodbath and Beyond[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]'Iw HaH je Hoch! ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3 A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome. Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
Unfortunately I think short of cryptic going no holds barred for the next year and adding a huge chunk of missions to both factions, lack of content is going to be a major gripe for most players that aren't content to grind.
I've drifted away and come back several times already just since I started playing in February, spending less and less time here each time I'm back. There's simply nothing to DO. PVP holds no rewards or any real purpose and the end game "content" consists of 15 minute DPS races which are easily completed by a group of even mildly competent players.
Lynis, Orion Engineer, main Rrezeth, Gorn Tactical, primary alt Nari, Orion Science, secondary alt
One of the reasons the founding Bloodbath players tend to drift from game to game is our love of The Story - and outside of well crafted UGC, its difficult if not impossible for any developer to keep up with our gluttonous consumption of story-driven content. That's why we get spread so thin sometimes, but frankly its healthy to enjoy a variety of games imho.
I've learned to look at STO for my long-term goals (Starbase construction, the up coming STF rep system, my expectation of an adaptation of that rep system to PvP gear), and lite Sci-Fi RPG duties. I still look to other games for fast-paced PvP/FPS gameplay, strategy/simulation, and "The Story" is usually something I get from preordering (and later cancelling, usually) any MMO that will let me Beta Test and/or early access on a pre-order promotion.
That and I tend to get wrapped up in too much work to play as frequently as I'd want to, limiting my burnout.
My friend the former CoVer is a one-game player, and I expect he'll hit the wall in a few months and probably wander back to WoW to get his MoP gameplay in (though honestly I think he needs F2P these days). Which is a shame, because when STO has content, its often first-rate stuff.
Maybe I can keep him hooked on UGC, get him creating missions too. He's fairly good at that sort of thing.
But hey, the great thing about F2P MMOs is the versatility. Wander off and find something else to distract for a while, read about new story content and come back for it, toy with some new systems for a few weeks, then get distracted by a new release, vacation, or work/school. As a F2P game, it doesn't mean you're stuck playing every day to ensure you get your money out of it. Find a Fleet to hang your hat that doesn't care if you log out for a month and enjoy the freedom of no financial binds.
Wampaq@Jnoh, Fleet Leader: ..Bloodbath and Beyond[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]'Iw HaH je Hoch! ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3 A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome. Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
A situation I have personally seen played out as well as people I introduce to the game have tried the KDF after feverishly playing through fedplay to get to the chance to finally enjoy it.
Except for the Red UI grievance.
Most whom have tried quit as the game holds no reason to continue as a KDF player.
Give us back our reason, Cryptic!!!
I love the red UI, a lot of people do not. They need to give us option sliders to recolor the UI like in City of Heroes.
♪ I'm going around not in circles but in spirographs.
It's pretty much this hard to keep just one timeline intact. ♪
Update: He's an LTS now... so yay? I just need to convince him the KDF HUD is worth putting up with.
Wampaq@Jnoh, Fleet Leader: ..Bloodbath and Beyond[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]'Iw HaH je Hoch! ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3 A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome. Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
I love the red UI myself, it's a great counterpoint to the Fed's cool blue, and some bs-psychoanalysis of mine explains the difference in terms of differing viewpoint between the two factions (feds are peaceful and friendly and emotionally detached, hence cool blue, while klingons are ruthless and aggressive, hence they 'see red' all the time.).
Having said that, I do understand why people might not like the UI.
I personally have no issue with it, but apparently the Amber-and-yellow-on-red HUD is enough for him to barely deal with KDF play for longer than one mission at a time. Red-themed HUDs are not an issue for him in general (as stated, he's a CoV player), but this game's particular color scheme for KDF is absolutely "horrid and unviewable... I can't even see what I'm clicking on! I can't differentiate between ANY of these!" Discussions about HUD modding so the Fed HUD applied to both factions may or may not have occurred and been researched and attempted... limited success could, hypothetically, have been made. The sheer volume of changes required may or may not have been discovered and ultimately granted us the realization that it would be incredibly difficult to actually ever make HUD color changes a feature based on the amount of mess that may or may not be involved... (Seriously, do they even teach people to think modular in programming classes any more? I mean I get building job security in but come on... )
I do wish they would do something with the UI color palette for the Klingons, it is quite painful after a while.
I love the red UI myself, it's a great counterpoint to the Fed's cool blue, and some bs-psychoanalysis of mine explains the difference in terms of differing viewpoint between the two factions (feds are peaceful and friendly and emotionally detached, hence cool blue, while klingons are ruthless and aggressive, hence they 'see red' all the time.).
Having said that, I do understand why people might not like the UI.
I understand your point, I think they should tone it down, maybe some more greys and greens to balance it out a little.
I love the red UI, a lot of people do not. They need to give us option sliders to recolor the UI like in City of Heroes.
I've actually dug into the files and looked - the UI seems to have been designed with job security in mind, not modular/modifiable utility. (This is something I constantly ran into in my Flash days, even in paid templates). Its unfortunate, but unless they have an out of game tool that manages all the spread out files for them, modifying the HUD would be *very* difficult. It also doesn't appear to be made out of pieces that are dynamic, but static images instead, so actually trying to set the colors would be impossible as it stands without some creative thinking (I may be mistaken there). I could imagine a way to put a Hue filter on it, actually... but it would have to be some method of post-processing the HUD elements, and could impact performance.
EDIT: I take some of it back - I did not find ALL the elements, I stopped looking after it became apparent it was going to be nightmarish to locate every single line and icon just to replace them with the Fed versions (I never got to the point I was adjusting the colors to my own scheme, and never will). So, it is possible at least some of it is dynamic and can have a color slider applied.
Wampaq@Jnoh, Fleet Leader: ..Bloodbath and Beyond[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]'Iw HaH je Hoch! ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3 A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome. Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
The red hud is the main thing that keeps my KDF dude as a partially abandoned alt, and the only reason I don't have 3 KDF captains to go with my 3 Fed captains.
It is fine at first, but after about 20-30 minutes I find myself going crosseyed and getting headaches. For some reason the red is really really rough on my eyes, and tends to stress them much more than the Fedblue hud does, even when I'm wearing my gunnars.
I love everything about the KDF, and would really love to be able to spend more time over on that side, but I physically can't. And that sucks.
Recoloring would be a beast, based on my digging into things.
I could redouble my efforts to at least swap them back to fed blue, but frankly, I already have three jobs (one being the fleet).
Color sliders are not an option based on what I saw, only direct art replacement... but perhaps a set of options will be available at some point, or a tweak at least.
Be sure to /bug this stuff (or use the support page), as I dont know if this particular complaint is still on their radar.
Getting people to say "yes" to Klingon is not the path to growth. Removing the reasons they say "No" is.
Wampaq@Jnoh, Fleet Leader: ..Bloodbath and Beyond[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]'Iw HaH je Hoch! ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3 A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome. Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
Comments
Except for the Red UI grievance.
Most whom have tried quit as the game holds no reason to continue as a KDF player.
Give us back our reason, Cryptic!!!
R.I.P
That said, thankfully he's a long time CoV player, and used to the lesser content issues (though that has changed apparently)
EDIT: Then again, CoV offered different and occasionally superior classes to CoH, so there are reasons for his sticking with it I suppose.
ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3
A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome.
Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
I merely enjoyed CoH/CoV for its fun very team based superhero gameplay. Played for 5 years infact and considered it the best example of Cryptic MMO workmanship.
R.I.P
That said, I am sad to say that I believe City's villains got a lot more story development and gameplay than the KDF got.
The UI color scheme doesn't bother me too much, though. Maybe could use some oranges and ambers for contrast.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
(His words)
He did manage to level well into the 40s KDF side before drifting away from it (citing the above plus the HUD as primary reasons) He has since taken over my old Fed fleet, and declared his Feddy his "Main," despite my best efforts. Still plays his KDF character, but holds 2 on Fed side now, and is completely dedicated to semi-soloing that starbase.
*sigh*
I tried.
ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3
A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome.
Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
I've drifted away and come back several times already just since I started playing in February, spending less and less time here each time I'm back. There's simply nothing to DO. PVP holds no rewards or any real purpose and the end game "content" consists of 15 minute DPS races which are easily completed by a group of even mildly competent players.
Rrezeth, Gorn Tactical, primary alt
Nari, Orion Science, secondary alt
I've learned to look at STO for my long-term goals (Starbase construction, the up coming STF rep system, my expectation of an adaptation of that rep system to PvP gear), and lite Sci-Fi RPG duties. I still look to other games for fast-paced PvP/FPS gameplay, strategy/simulation, and "The Story" is usually something I get from preordering (and later cancelling, usually) any MMO that will let me Beta Test and/or early access on a pre-order promotion.
That and I tend to get wrapped up in too much work to play as frequently as I'd want to, limiting my burnout.
My friend the former CoVer is a one-game player, and I expect he'll hit the wall in a few months and probably wander back to WoW to get his MoP gameplay in (though honestly I think he needs F2P these days). Which is a shame, because when STO has content, its often first-rate stuff.
Maybe I can keep him hooked on UGC, get him creating missions too. He's fairly good at that sort of thing.
But hey, the great thing about F2P MMOs is the versatility. Wander off and find something else to distract for a while, read about new story content and come back for it, toy with some new systems for a few weeks, then get distracted by a new release, vacation, or work/school. As a F2P game, it doesn't mean you're stuck playing every day to ensure you get your money out of it. Find a Fleet to hang your hat that doesn't care if you log out for a month and enjoy the freedom of no financial binds.
ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3
A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome.
Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
I love the red UI, a lot of people do not. They need to give us option sliders to recolor the UI like in City of Heroes.
It's pretty much this hard to keep just one timeline intact. ♪
ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3
A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome.
Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
Having said that, I do understand why people might not like the UI.
I do wish they would do something with the UI color palette for the Klingons, it is quite painful after a while.
I understand your point, I think they should tone it down, maybe some more greys and greens to balance it out a little.
EDIT: I take some of it back - I did not find ALL the elements, I stopped looking after it became apparent it was going to be nightmarish to locate every single line and icon just to replace them with the Fed versions (I never got to the point I was adjusting the colors to my own scheme, and never will). So, it is possible at least some of it is dynamic and can have a color slider applied.
ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3
A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome.
Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.
It is fine at first, but after about 20-30 minutes I find myself going crosseyed and getting headaches. For some reason the red is really really rough on my eyes, and tends to stress them much more than the Fedblue hud does, even when I'm wearing my gunnars.
I love everything about the KDF, and would really love to be able to spend more time over on that side, but I physically can't. And that sucks.
But the poor man's space orcs are cool for grinding dilithium an contraband
Exactly. Options for both fed and KDF.
R.I.P
I could redouble my efforts to at least swap them back to fed blue, but frankly, I already have three jobs (one being the fleet).
Color sliders are not an option based on what I saw, only direct art replacement... but perhaps a set of options will be available at some point, or a tweak at least.
Be sure to /bug this stuff (or use the support page), as I dont know if this particular complaint is still on their radar.
Getting people to say "yes" to Klingon is not the path to growth. Removing the reasons they say "No" is.
ALL HOLDINGS FINISHED! - Starbase 5-5-5-5 || Embassy 3-3-3 || Mine 3-3-3 || Spire 3-3-3
A laid back KDF fleet welcoming independent, casual, & part-time players and groups. Roms & alts welcome.
Send in-game mail to Wampaq@Jnoh, visit our recruitment thread and FB page for more info.