"Is it really Cryptic or does Star Trek just not translate well to video games?"
The former,
This company creates such a big mess of things, is so very inefficient, there are no words for it how crappy they are actually working over there.
They consistently change stuff that never needed touching and where everyone was completely happy with, they keep revamping old content, hardly anything new. (STF's anyone?)
Changed Space Weapon effects with free2play and made them ugly, more cartoonish.
Totally #!TRIBBLE!TRIBBLE up ESD to a totally boring and dull place for no reason at all.
PvP didnt got a single bit of content, not even 1 single map, ONE map. in TWO years. Wtf? Not even begin to talk about balance.
This couldve been a great game, unfortunately even how crappy it might be compared to what it COULD have been, its still the most recent and best looking ST game out there.
I'm not disagreeing with you, they probably were great games, but my question is did they really make you feel immersed into the Trek world? Do you feel like they did justice to making you feel like being on an episode of Trek or was it just another sci-fi shooter, space sim, etc. game?
2 have. Voyager: Elite Force. Especially the parts set on Voyager, and the extra little exploration of the ship you can do between away missions (Heck, even when Voyager got boarded and you had to defend the ship, making your way to Engineering).
And A Final Unity. I still maintain that was the best Trek game hands down. So much care, love and attention went into that game. You can go off misssion and start exploring Romulan space (obviously they are not too happy about that). A well written, cohesive story that gradually builds up as you start with a Garidian scout ship looking for asylum, reaching the levels of finding a construct larger than a solar system that can reshape reality itself, and told in an exciting way that makes logical sense with every step. The crew interactions if you leave it a little bit and they have random conversations, like one time on the bridge while flying about, Riker asked Worf if he would be in that night's poker game, and Worf started complaining Riker cheats. It was fun, it was grand, it was a thinking man's game with smoe space pew pew, your actions throughout the game dictate which direction the story takes to it's final conclusion (Penatra didn't even have to make it to the final scene!)
*******************************************
A Romulan Strike Team, Missing Farmers and an ancient base on a Klingon Border world. But what connects them? Find out in my First Foundary mission: 'The Jeroan Farmer Escapade'
Star Trek translates fine, the problem is it needs to be made into a KOTOR/Mass Effect style RPG, and it never has been. I'm not talking about exactly the same type of game play, but that same serious character and story development.
It could make an absolutely amazing game, but I don't know if it will ever happen, unfortunately.
Yes STO is all about pew-pew and yes star trek has some but it's rather limited.
One mistake would be to consider the fact that the star trek universe is only limited to the Federation. Another one would be to focus on ships only, and to forget what's behind the scenes. Ships don't get buit by magics out of nothing. There are shipyards, ressource gathering, colonies, trade, a whole economic system, and a ST game could expand the universe to what we rarely see during the shows. It would also give devs a lot more freedom in what they do.
I wouldn't mind to have to gather ressources (including dilithium, yes) to build my ship and then seeing it build in the shipyard and being able to fly it a (few) week(s) later, with the ability to trade it if i don't want it anymore, etc. It could be an interesting way to make crafting living again and it could also very well be about the BO-led admiral's fleet the devs are hanging around. It would add a huge depth to the game but that's not really the path the game is taking.
There is some star trek feel in some elements of the game and that's why I stay here but it's definitely not a Star Trek game; it's rather a game about Star Trek or sometimes just a Star Trek skinned game (especially with the fleet missions).
The second are those who like Star Trek for the non-violent aspects, particularly exploration. True exploration is very difficult to put into the game, and probably highly impractical with the current technology level. I don't see this changing, and it is highly impractical to do so. Non-violent problem-solving can be done to some extent, however, although it makes poor fodder for an MMO (see: Star Trek 25th Anniversary for the IBM PC). That said, some aspects of it such as diplomacy would probably lend themselves to endless streams of click-through missions.
That was probably one of the best GAMES ever, Star Trek or otherwise.
The game doesn't have to be EA/Bioware style. The problem is that Cryptic added too much non-ST things in Star Trek.
For example, you all saw Voyager (I hope) and in a certain episode it's clear that captain's job is not to micromanage all consoles. Cryptic probably never saw that episode.
And what we got here? It's us who micromanage all consoles. BoFFs in this game, while in space, are actually just consoles. And our captain clicks/uses all those consoles, there is no AI BoFF who'll react on something on his own. Hell, why all those "BoFF skills" aren't available on our captain from the beginning, and why all those captain skills are not on BoFFs?
Not only that, our BoFFs don't add anything actually to space combat (apart from rare Borg and Saurian ones with eff. trait, human trait doesn't work or is utterly irrelevant). Instead, only our captain/toon is what matters. You have the tactical BoFF, yet your for example accuracy depends on the captain, not on the tactical BoFF! That's Star Trek by Cryptic. It is not real Star Trek.
Another critical miss is the amount of gambling in this game. In Star Trek lore gambling is something that exists only in traces. Yet in this game, it's everything. The game is not about your skill, it's about how lucky you are. Again, it's Criptic's Star Trek, not ours.
Then as someone noted in another thread, it's silly to play story episodes at all since the rewards they bring are simply - not needed. I can't say useless, but can say - not needed. So why would a player play an episode to get something he doesn't need? And yet another Criptic's Star Trek, in our Star Trek everything ppl do, do because it's needed (apart from exploration, but even that exploration in the end doesn't return useless stuff).
I could number so many design misses but then who'd read this post if it was big?
And all of those misses can be changed and rewritten.
Current cpt. skills can easily be delegated to BoFFs and BoFF skills to the captain. Trainers would train passives on BoFFs instead of concolelike active skills. BoFF space traits is a cancer wound for years now, it should be changed ASAP.
Gambling for stuff should be completely removed from the game. For gambling addictives, there are all sorts of poker on facebook, twitter and buzz. Take Riot's MMO system, there is no gambling you pay with real money what you need. Usually it's another champion, in case of STO it could be another BoFF, DoFF, ship, anything. But it's not pay2win champion, you still have to equip it and learn how to play with it. And they're earning millions as the game is fun.
Rewards in story episodes should get better than they currenly are, at least in those last ones where you get some silly green ground equipment noone really cares about.
Star Trek translates fine, the problem is it needs to be made into a KOTOR/Mass Effect style RPG, and it never has been. I'm not talking about exactly the same type of game play, but that same serious character and story development.
It could make an absolutely amazing game, but I don't know if it will ever happen, unfortunately.
I think the new J.J.-verse game looks to come close on a more modest scale. Looks story and situation heavy. It's a co-op game about how Kirk and Spock from that universe become better friends after the 2009 film, with the Gorn as the big villains, attacking New Vulcan, the settlement where the survivors went.
So... On the shallower end of that Mass Effect scale a bit, maybe, but still there and looks very dialogue/puzzle based.
For example, you all saw Voyager (I hope) and in a certain episode it's clear that captain's job is not to micromanage all consoles. Cryptic probably never saw that episode.
They saw every episode and movie, read every novel, and comic book during development. They have watched episodes non-stop since launch.
The deviations are deliberate and in some cases stuff they expended effort selling CBS on. I think they can be ill-chosen at times but they come from watching the shows and saying, "We're not going to do that," not from a place of ignorance, generally. And where there is ignorance, it's more than likely forgetfulness.
Heck, I know they use Memory Alpha and Ex Astris a lot for refreshers and *I* can tell you stuff that struck me as important from the shows that isn't on either site or on the pages I'd expect it to be.
In fact, I'd say that a lot of what feels wrong to me in STO, I can point to as cases where STO borrowed from other games, comics, and novels. I think the spin-off media all create skewed versions of Trek and that STO sometimes intensifies the skew.
I play the Storyline missions for the story they offer, not the rewards. The rewards are the perk for playing and multiple rewards is the incentive to play the same story more than once.
What I dislike is the way the Stories in STO have mostly just abruptly ended and are left hanging open.
Us as the player having to micromanage our ships, powers and everything else is just life in a MMO.
But leviathan, tell me, can they rewrite/redesign some things to make the game better, more fun and a desirable one in your game collection even if you're not ST fan?
The problem with STO is the lack of missions with story and to much grind.
After 3 Weeks you played all the story missions and all that is then left is grind. STF's, Defaria, Fleet missions, Doffs and now Romulan space and Omega Marks.
I want moreStarTrek and less ships, phew phew and lockboxes. Yes, I know they are needed to get the money for the server, staff and PWE xD But the economy should be running with season 7 and the upgrade to the grind, so the staff should be concentrating on something other than grind xD
There are so many issues with STO not feeling Trek it actually makes you wonder if it is Trek at all.
1. Entering queues is not very star trek, there are a lot of queues. This is cryptic's fault
2. While DS9 had a lot of pew pew, the other shows did not, STO is 95% pew pew. This is the nature of the game, however it doesn't have to be so heavily biased.
3. Exploration is pew pew or mindless repetitive scanning. This is just poor game development, lack of creativity and using the tool available.
4. Episodes are so easy it detracts from the game, creating mindless NPC fodder to mow down is very un-Trek, endless FAW and scatter volley is very un-Trek. This leads to the overly weak Borg being just a joke.
Most of this stuff is fixable, but it won't be fixed because of poor business models. It is better for them to force cash out of the player's hands then to have a great game that everyone loves and is willing to pay for the experience.
If our business ran like the game industry it'd have been closed down long ago, we have provided a reputable solid product for over 20 years with regular improvements, bug fixes and more options while saving customers money.
STO crashed on launch, went dark, was sold off and now only introduces new products to sell which are broken, but they won't fix them as that interfers with generating even more broken items.
People often say Star Trek was about drama not action. Yet when asked to recount their favorite episodes, they almost always recall ones that involved heavy action or CGI (DS9 Way of the Warrior, VOY Year of Hell, TNG Best of Both Worlds, etc).
Now translate that into computer games. Puzzle games started disappearing out about 20 years ago as graphics and machine power began to improve, not to mention the overpowering allure of consoles. PC Games involving great exploration and customization are now made by indie's and start-ups (Minecraft anyone?), not established companies like PWE and Bioware who carry large teams, lofty goals, and shareholders forcing them to create profit over substance.
And when it really boils down to it, I bet very few people would truly be interested playing a mission based on TNG "The Inner Light" despite the fantastic story that it was. Fighting the Borg is much more entertaining and appeals to a greater gaming audience.
Kobayashi Maru
Join Date: Sept 2008
"Holographic tissue paper for the holographic runny nose. Don't give them to patients." - The Doctor
If "Star Trek: Online" was turned into a role-playing game, similar to "Dragon Age: Origins", the game style would match the franchise's message. "Star Trek" is a very dialogue heavy franchise. Even though there are moments of action and adventure, the main driving force behind "Star Trek" is dealing with the human condition. How does humanity solve social conundrums? Issues such as oppression, communism, socialism, capitalism, racism, economics, and many other social and human issues are covered.
One example is the Borg. While some people see the science-fiction side of the species, they miss the warning against extreme collectivism and socialism. Individuality vrs. Extreme Socialistic motivations.
Another one is the Klingons. "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country" was a commentary about the Cold War, and how the United Stated and Russia would have to get beyond being paranoid and prejudice.
"Star Trek: Online" is missing the whole dynamic behind the franchise, for it only focuses on the franchise's window dressing. It doesn't try to go beyond, "pew pew pew pew".
People often say Star Trek was about drama not action. Yet when asked to recount their favorite episodes, they almost always recall ones that involved heavy action or CGI (DS9 Way of the Warrior, VOY Year of Hell, TNG Best of Both Worlds, etc).
Actually in my case I always recall mirror universe two episodes from Enterprise.
Why? They had TWISTS.
Okay, I don't expect that in this game, but if you saw one of my posts my favorite story mission here is the one you realize you were in a holodeck simulation. Wouldn't mind some more such stuff, but, well, Cryptic probably thought such stuff in a MMO is not interesting enough.
See, you can't assume *everyone* has the same taste. And besides there are many singleplayer and multiplayer mindless shooters out there, why would a common consumer give STO a try if it brings absolutely nothing new but is a cliche in the MMO genre?
But leviathan, tell me, can they rewrite/redesign some things to make the game better, more fun and a desirable one in your game collection even if you're not ST fan?
I think they can. You?
Sure.
Not everyone will come here for the stories... and there is PLENTY to occupy those people. But a really good story will draw people in.
Even the better stories here, outside the Foundry, tend to be ripping Trek yarns. And the better Foundry missions tend to flow like novels, with walls of text... and hey, that and map design and costumes are what the Foundry gives us to play with.
I think this game could have stories that a Lit. Professor would see as good and do it without walls of text. And I think that would be truer to the core of Trek than missions that are all "Klingons this" and "Romulans that."
Story and action are not in conflict. Story enhances action, not halts it. Heck, dialogue/text that doesn't enhance action is just people talking.
I used to be pretty militant about the lack of pacifism in Star Trek games, then I realized how oxymoronic the entire venture was.
STO wins simply because it lets you play the game, your way. Don't like shooting so much? Visit the tailor. Write logs. Take cool screen shots. Write more logs. Doff more.
Create Star Trek: Your Ship Name.
I know I do.
"Last Engage! Magical Girl Origami-san" is in print! Now with three times more rainbows.
MMO's have to change continously so it is very hard to have solid storytelling in them ( if not impossible ) and storytelling is what the shows were about .
WoW solves this by having dynamic events ie, what you see and what a player next to you see could be very different depending on your place in the story. Recently playing Mists of Pandaria I can say the story feels very solid to me.
I'd say it is Cryptic. Star Trek: Armada (series) and Star Trek: Bridge Commander were good games; their stories believable. Cryptic has destroyed Trek lore.
I think that the only way to do a true feel Star Trek game is an adventure game focused on puzzles and diplomacy with the odd battle thrown in. I don't think MMOs can really capture that, owing to what the nature of an MMO truly is.
That being said, as far as MMOs go, this is almost as close to Star Trek as you can get. The only thing that would make it better would be puzzles in the form of mini-games and (this would irritate a lot of people) fail conditions on missions that would force you to do it again.
I'd say it is Cryptic. Star Trek: Armada (series) and Star Trek: Bridge Commander were good games; their stories believable. Cryptic has destroyed Trek lore.
That's not a valid comparison. Those are single-player games whereas STO is an MMO . Bioware's RPG's were terrific as well ( mass effect series , Baldur's gate , etc.) but we've seen an MMO is something entirely different .That's why everyone is curious about Elder Scrolls Online. They're wondering if Bethesda can make skyrim into a good MMO. I doubt it very much....
That's not a valid comparison. Those are single-player games whereas STO is an MMO . Bioware's RPG's were terrific as well ( mass effect series , Baldur's gate , etc.) but we've seen an MMO is something entirely different .That's why everyone is curious about Elder Scrolls Online. They're wondering if Bethesda can make skyrim into a good MMO. I doubt it very much....
The critics said the exact same thing about the War Craft franchise back in 2003. But as Blizzard would later show the world, single player games can translate very well into MMO's. It's not the story, game mechanics, talent level, etc that matters. It's the business philosophy you have to wrap your head around in order for to be successful. A decade ago, I bet no MMO company would have suspected Blizzard would be willing to completely warp (some say destroy) the deep lore they spent a decade building. But Blizzard understood the gaming industry very well and we see what they achieved.
Compare that to SWG, the brand that I believe leads people to this idea that single-players can't convert to MMO's. SOE was either unwilling to unable to warp the IP, especially after several very successful single player titles. You had entire cities completely deserted, famous placed in the IP I will add, within the first few days of playing. Then SOE over corrected, making the problem even worse by "fixing" it to suit a differnet audience. NGE was the death knell, but the damage was done within the first few months after it was launched when these problems popped up everywhere and resolution appeared to fix it.
Kobayashi Maru
Join Date: Sept 2008
"Holographic tissue paper for the holographic runny nose. Don't give them to patients." - The Doctor
Random thought: if you want to blame Cryptic for bad lore/writing, shouldn't you also blame CBS? They have to approve what the devs do with the IP.
My blog! Zen|Dilithium tracking on Thursdays http://samonmaui.blogspot.com As a lifetime member of STO, I officially became a financial liability as of April 2012 when compared to a subscriber.
That's not a valid comparison. Those are single-player games whereas STO is an MMO . Bioware's RPG's were terrific as well ( mass effect series , Baldur's gate , etc.) but we've seen an MMO is something entirely different .That's why everyone is curious about Elder Scrolls Online. They're wondering if Bethesda can make skyrim into a good MMO. I doubt it very much....
the biggest problem I've seen with most theme-park MMOs is you're "the hero," just like everyone else. Everyone is a special snowflake, chosen, unique, and all lined up to do the exact same content.
In single player RPGs, this is actually true, since everything really is about you and your role.
This is why I think sandboxes are a bit better for MMOs: you're one of thousands, and its up to you to make yourself stand out.
Also, looking at Star Trek, most ships were pretty dull and boring. Now, if your course intersected with the Enterprise l, you knew problems were on the way. You went from the USS Minding My Own Business to USS McGuffin.
The Enterprise is Jessica Fletcher, reborn in steel and space.
My blog! Zen|Dilithium tracking on Thursdays http://samonmaui.blogspot.com As a lifetime member of STO, I officially became a financial liability as of April 2012 when compared to a subscriber.
Comments
The former,
This company creates such a big mess of things, is so very inefficient, there are no words for it how crappy they are actually working over there.
They consistently change stuff that never needed touching and where everyone was completely happy with, they keep revamping old content, hardly anything new. (STF's anyone?)
Changed Space Weapon effects with free2play and made them ugly, more cartoonish.
Totally #!TRIBBLE!TRIBBLE up ESD to a totally boring and dull place for no reason at all.
PvP didnt got a single bit of content, not even 1 single map, ONE map. in TWO years. Wtf? Not even begin to talk about balance.
This couldve been a great game, unfortunately even how crappy it might be compared to what it COULD have been, its still the most recent and best looking ST game out there.
Sad, very sad.
2 have. Voyager: Elite Force. Especially the parts set on Voyager, and the extra little exploration of the ship you can do between away missions (Heck, even when Voyager got boarded and you had to defend the ship, making your way to Engineering).
And A Final Unity. I still maintain that was the best Trek game hands down. So much care, love and attention went into that game. You can go off misssion and start exploring Romulan space (obviously they are not too happy about that). A well written, cohesive story that gradually builds up as you start with a Garidian scout ship looking for asylum, reaching the levels of finding a construct larger than a solar system that can reshape reality itself, and told in an exciting way that makes logical sense with every step. The crew interactions if you leave it a little bit and they have random conversations, like one time on the bridge while flying about, Riker asked Worf if he would be in that night's poker game, and Worf started complaining Riker cheats. It was fun, it was grand, it was a thinking man's game with smoe space pew pew, your actions throughout the game dictate which direction the story takes to it's final conclusion (Penatra didn't even have to make it to the final scene!)
A Romulan Strike Team, Missing Farmers and an ancient base on a Klingon Border world. But what connects them? Find out in my First Foundary mission: 'The Jeroan Farmer Escapade'
It could make an absolutely amazing game, but I don't know if it will ever happen, unfortunately.
Click here for my Foundry tutorial on Creating A Custom Interior Map.
R.I.P
One mistake would be to consider the fact that the star trek universe is only limited to the Federation. Another one would be to focus on ships only, and to forget what's behind the scenes. Ships don't get buit by magics out of nothing. There are shipyards, ressource gathering, colonies, trade, a whole economic system, and a ST game could expand the universe to what we rarely see during the shows. It would also give devs a lot more freedom in what they do.
I wouldn't mind to have to gather ressources (including dilithium, yes) to build my ship and then seeing it build in the shipyard and being able to fly it a (few) week(s) later, with the ability to trade it if i don't want it anymore, etc. It could be an interesting way to make crafting living again and it could also very well be about the BO-led admiral's fleet the devs are hanging around. It would add a huge depth to the game but that's not really the path the game is taking.
There is some star trek feel in some elements of the game and that's why I stay here but it's definitely not a Star Trek game; it's rather a game about Star Trek or sometimes just a Star Trek skinned game (especially with the fleet missions).
God, lvl 60 CW. 17k.
That was probably one of the best GAMES ever, Star Trek or otherwise.
Most of Star Trek doesn't either.
Ship battles were very rarely seen outside of DS9 and rarely lasted longer than 30 seconds in a 50 minute episode.
The emphasis on ships is a fanon thing.
The game doesn't have to be EA/Bioware style. The problem is that Cryptic added too much non-ST things in Star Trek.
For example, you all saw Voyager (I hope) and in a certain episode it's clear that captain's job is not to micromanage all consoles. Cryptic probably never saw that episode.
And what we got here? It's us who micromanage all consoles. BoFFs in this game, while in space, are actually just consoles. And our captain clicks/uses all those consoles, there is no AI BoFF who'll react on something on his own. Hell, why all those "BoFF skills" aren't available on our captain from the beginning, and why all those captain skills are not on BoFFs?
Not only that, our BoFFs don't add anything actually to space combat (apart from rare Borg and Saurian ones with eff. trait, human trait doesn't work or is utterly irrelevant). Instead, only our captain/toon is what matters. You have the tactical BoFF, yet your for example accuracy depends on the captain, not on the tactical BoFF! That's Star Trek by Cryptic. It is not real Star Trek.
Another critical miss is the amount of gambling in this game. In Star Trek lore gambling is something that exists only in traces. Yet in this game, it's everything. The game is not about your skill, it's about how lucky you are. Again, it's Criptic's Star Trek, not ours.
Then as someone noted in another thread, it's silly to play story episodes at all since the rewards they bring are simply - not needed. I can't say useless, but can say - not needed. So why would a player play an episode to get something he doesn't need? And yet another Criptic's Star Trek, in our Star Trek everything ppl do, do because it's needed (apart from exploration, but even that exploration in the end doesn't return useless stuff).
I could number so many design misses but then who'd read this post if it was big?
And all of those misses can be changed and rewritten.
Current cpt. skills can easily be delegated to BoFFs and BoFF skills to the captain. Trainers would train passives on BoFFs instead of concolelike active skills. BoFF space traits is a cancer wound for years now, it should be changed ASAP.
Gambling for stuff should be completely removed from the game. For gambling addictives, there are all sorts of poker on facebook, twitter and buzz. Take Riot's MMO system, there is no gambling you pay with real money what you need. Usually it's another champion, in case of STO it could be another BoFF, DoFF, ship, anything. But it's not pay2win champion, you still have to equip it and learn how to play with it. And they're earning millions as the game is fun.
Rewards in story episodes should get better than they currenly are, at least in those last ones where you get some silly green ground equipment noone really cares about.
I think the new J.J.-verse game looks to come close on a more modest scale. Looks story and situation heavy. It's a co-op game about how Kirk and Spock from that universe become better friends after the 2009 film, with the Gorn as the big villains, attacking New Vulcan, the settlement where the survivors went.
So... On the shallower end of that Mass Effect scale a bit, maybe, but still there and looks very dialogue/puzzle based.
They saw every episode and movie, read every novel, and comic book during development. They have watched episodes non-stop since launch.
The deviations are deliberate and in some cases stuff they expended effort selling CBS on. I think they can be ill-chosen at times but they come from watching the shows and saying, "We're not going to do that," not from a place of ignorance, generally. And where there is ignorance, it's more than likely forgetfulness.
Heck, I know they use Memory Alpha and Ex Astris a lot for refreshers and *I* can tell you stuff that struck me as important from the shows that isn't on either site or on the pages I'd expect it to be.
What I dislike is the way the Stories in STO have mostly just abruptly ended and are left hanging open.
Us as the player having to micromanage our ships, powers and everything else is just life in a MMO.
R.I.P
I think they can. You?
Good Ones
Elite Force 1 and 2
Bridge Commander
Invasion
Bad ones
Legacy
(The excelsior mirror universe one can't remember the name)
(The DS one again cannot remember the name)
Considering some of the games STO is quite decent and defiantly worth playing but I wouldnt consider this the best one to play
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
After 3 Weeks you played all the story missions and all that is then left is grind. STF's, Defaria, Fleet missions, Doffs and now Romulan space and Omega Marks.
I want moreStarTrek and less ships, phew phew and lockboxes. Yes, I know they are needed to get the money for the server, staff and PWE xD But the economy should be running with season 7 and the upgrade to the grind, so the staff should be concentrating on something other than grind xD
1. Entering queues is not very star trek, there are a lot of queues. This is cryptic's fault
2. While DS9 had a lot of pew pew, the other shows did not, STO is 95% pew pew. This is the nature of the game, however it doesn't have to be so heavily biased.
3. Exploration is pew pew or mindless repetitive scanning. This is just poor game development, lack of creativity and using the tool available.
4. Episodes are so easy it detracts from the game, creating mindless NPC fodder to mow down is very un-Trek, endless FAW and scatter volley is very un-Trek. This leads to the overly weak Borg being just a joke.
Most of this stuff is fixable, but it won't be fixed because of poor business models. It is better for them to force cash out of the player's hands then to have a great game that everyone loves and is willing to pay for the experience.
If our business ran like the game industry it'd have been closed down long ago, we have provided a reputable solid product for over 20 years with regular improvements, bug fixes and more options while saving customers money.
STO crashed on launch, went dark, was sold off and now only introduces new products to sell which are broken, but they won't fix them as that interfers with generating even more broken items.
Completed Starbase, Embassy, Mine, Spire and No Win Scenario
Nothing to do anymore.
http://dtfleet.com/
Visit our Youtube channel
Now translate that into computer games. Puzzle games started disappearing out about 20 years ago as graphics and machine power began to improve, not to mention the overpowering allure of consoles. PC Games involving great exploration and customization are now made by indie's and start-ups (Minecraft anyone?), not established companies like PWE and Bioware who carry large teams, lofty goals, and shareholders forcing them to create profit over substance.
And when it really boils down to it, I bet very few people would truly be interested playing a mission based on TNG "The Inner Light" despite the fantastic story that it was. Fighting the Borg is much more entertaining and appeals to a greater gaming audience.
Join Date: Sept 2008
"Holographic tissue paper for the holographic runny nose. Don't give them to patients." - The Doctor
One example is the Borg. While some people see the science-fiction side of the species, they miss the warning against extreme collectivism and socialism. Individuality vrs. Extreme Socialistic motivations.
Another one is the Klingons. "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country" was a commentary about the Cold War, and how the United Stated and Russia would have to get beyond being paranoid and prejudice.
"Star Trek: Online" is missing the whole dynamic behind the franchise, for it only focuses on the franchise's window dressing. It doesn't try to go beyond, "pew pew pew pew".
Why? They had TWISTS.
Okay, I don't expect that in this game, but if you saw one of my posts my favorite story mission here is the one you realize you were in a holodeck simulation. Wouldn't mind some more such stuff, but, well, Cryptic probably thought such stuff in a MMO is not interesting enough.
See, you can't assume *everyone* has the same taste. And besides there are many singleplayer and multiplayer mindless shooters out there, why would a common consumer give STO a try if it brings absolutely nothing new but is a cliche in the MMO genre?
Sure.
Not everyone will come here for the stories... and there is PLENTY to occupy those people. But a really good story will draw people in.
Even the better stories here, outside the Foundry, tend to be ripping Trek yarns. And the better Foundry missions tend to flow like novels, with walls of text... and hey, that and map design and costumes are what the Foundry gives us to play with.
I think this game could have stories that a Lit. Professor would see as good and do it without walls of text. And I think that would be truer to the core of Trek than missions that are all "Klingons this" and "Romulans that."
Story and action are not in conflict. Story enhances action, not halts it. Heck, dialogue/text that doesn't enhance action is just people talking.
But story is not lore.
Players are not readers.
Players are actors.
If I could spin things on their head, I'd say the question that needs to come up more is an old classic:
"What is my motivation?"
This is why the "your orders are to..." missions get old. It's also the frustrating part about the prevalence of microtransactions and game mechanics.
There's a lot of PLAYER motivation going on and a lot of things to READ.
But what we need is CHARACTER motivation.
And that's hard without Cryptic knowing our characters.
But it works when Cryptic gets around that hurdle.
STO wins simply because it lets you play the game, your way. Don't like shooting so much? Visit the tailor. Write logs. Take cool screen shots. Write more logs. Doff more.
Create Star Trek: Your Ship Name.
I know I do.
"Last Engage! Magical Girl Origami-san" is in print! Now with three times more rainbows.
Support the "Armored Unicorn" vehicle initiative today!
Thanks for Harajuku. Now let's get a real "Magical Girl" costume!
WoW solves this by having dynamic events ie, what you see and what a player next to you see could be very different depending on your place in the story. Recently playing Mists of Pandaria I can say the story feels very solid to me.
That being said, as far as MMOs go, this is almost as close to Star Trek as you can get. The only thing that would make it better would be puzzles in the form of mini-games and (this would irritate a lot of people) fail conditions on missions that would force you to do it again.
That's not a valid comparison. Those are single-player games whereas STO is an MMO . Bioware's RPG's were terrific as well ( mass effect series , Baldur's gate , etc.) but we've seen an MMO is something entirely different .That's why everyone is curious about Elder Scrolls Online. They're wondering if Bethesda can make skyrim into a good MMO. I doubt it very much....
The critics said the exact same thing about the War Craft franchise back in 2003. But as Blizzard would later show the world, single player games can translate very well into MMO's. It's not the story, game mechanics, talent level, etc that matters. It's the business philosophy you have to wrap your head around in order for to be successful. A decade ago, I bet no MMO company would have suspected Blizzard would be willing to completely warp (some say destroy) the deep lore they spent a decade building. But Blizzard understood the gaming industry very well and we see what they achieved.
Compare that to SWG, the brand that I believe leads people to this idea that single-players can't convert to MMO's. SOE was either unwilling to unable to warp the IP, especially after several very successful single player titles. You had entire cities completely deserted, famous placed in the IP I will add, within the first few days of playing. Then SOE over corrected, making the problem even worse by "fixing" it to suit a differnet audience. NGE was the death knell, but the damage was done within the first few months after it was launched when these problems popped up everywhere and resolution appeared to fix it.
Join Date: Sept 2008
"Holographic tissue paper for the holographic runny nose. Don't give them to patients." - The Doctor
My blog! Zen|Dilithium tracking on Thursdays
http://samonmaui.blogspot.com
As a lifetime member of STO, I officially became a financial liability as of April 2012 when compared to a subscriber.
*facepalm*
Elder Scrolls Online, not Skyrim Online.
The Elder Scrolls series consists of:
1.) Arena
2.) Daggerfall
3.) Morrowind
4.) Oblivion
5.) Skyrim
A common mistake.
the biggest problem I've seen with most theme-park MMOs is you're "the hero," just like everyone else. Everyone is a special snowflake, chosen, unique, and all lined up to do the exact same content.
In single player RPGs, this is actually true, since everything really is about you and your role.
This is why I think sandboxes are a bit better for MMOs: you're one of thousands, and its up to you to make yourself stand out.
Also, looking at Star Trek, most ships were pretty dull and boring. Now, if your course intersected with the Enterprise l, you knew problems were on the way. You went from the USS Minding My Own Business to USS McGuffin.
The Enterprise is Jessica Fletcher, reborn in steel and space.
My blog! Zen|Dilithium tracking on Thursdays
http://samonmaui.blogspot.com
As a lifetime member of STO, I officially became a financial liability as of April 2012 when compared to a subscriber.