Who typically ignores the end game?

chikahiro

Just a random thought I had:

For all the talk (for and against) the current end-game system, I know a lot of players who've typically ignored the end-game equipment treadmill. Gaining faction/reknown was something they didn't care about. Raiding was for Vikings and football players from Oakland.

Anyone else like that?

If you go by the old Bartle Test, it seems the whole end-game is generally focused on Achievers and Killers, not so much for Socializers or Explorers...

Looking back at my own gaming history, I've pretty much ignored every end-game I've been presented with. I preferred to do other things, and really, up until the past month or two, I've ignored here as well. Even in my old favorite MMO, City of Heroes, I ignored the end-game; not because of implementation, but because I'd rather do other things.

The only reason I've started on the equipment treadmill for myself is I'm finding it trivially easy to get into, at least the Fleet stuff, and I've recently gotten a D'Kora (my pride and joy). Otherwise, I'm happily DOFFing, exploring Romulus, etc.

fourxgamer

I'm an explorer first. I'll do team events if they don't have a high learning curve like Mirror Event, Colony Invasion, Fleet Alert, Borg RA's.

If my first experience in a mission is crazy folks screaming and cussing over tactics (Crystalline Entity I'm looking at you), I won't be back.

I associate the Vault with a nutcase that screamed at his whole team before he ever said hi. He literally screamed demands upon spawn in then thanked us in the end for not sucking. Never did the vault again.

I associate STF's with DS9 zone chat and the horrible drop rates people got. Not my cup of tea. I may have actually been good at the content itself however, I'll never know.
Wasn't fun seeing folks fly by me in sector space at warp 40 and be able to make millions more credits on Tour the Galaxy simply because they preferred one part of the game that I didn't. That was poor form on the part of the design team to segregate player types. They've tried to rectify that a bit this season I see with adding omega marks to RA's but now the favoritism regarding dilithium has evolved. I used to be able to make a similar amount through exploring thanks to b'tran, not now.

So in summary, I like the idea of game community, sharing an AH and social zones with occasional teaming. I am however still the rugged individualist that wants to make his own starbase and have a unique adventure.

This probably sums me up:
http://hereticalreflections.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/secrets-of-introverts/

flash525

...there is an end game? Must have missed that!

allocater

Come to think of it, me too. Never did raids in WoW. It's just boring to sit there for hours until the healers learn what to do.

But eSTFs are not really endgame. They are challenging 5 man instances. And since I didn't care about the MK XII sets, I just did them for fun, challenge and dilithium bonus. Now it's an endless rep grind and not so motivating anymore. Now it feels more like endgame grinding and I like it less.

So yeah, I am not the endgame grinding type.

xantris

chikahiro wrote: »

If you go by the old Bartle Test, it seems the whole end-game is generally focused on Achievers and Killers, not so much for Socializers or Explorers...

It makes sense though, socializers and explorers are going to do their thing regardless. You don't need to fashion an endgame for them. Killers and achieves will get bored and quit without something to push them forward.

cormoran

I certainly don't adhere to the standard endgame mentality.

I've done each STF a couple of times but I could never see myself doing them multiple times a day, seven days a week. I actually don't mind repetition when it's something I don't really have to focus on, like doing b'tran or something. That way I can focus most of my attention on something else like watching a TV show or listening to a podcast, but repeating missions where I have to turn everything else off and concentrate on in order to succeed at, while fun every now and then, really isn't something I'm willing to repeat ad nauseam.

In terms of STO it doesn't help that I don't even like the STF's Cryptic makes. I played DCUO for six months and did more endgame raids there in that time than I've done in STO since it's gone live. Regardless of DCUO's many poor design choices those raids were amazingly fun to play with some of the most memorable boss fights I've ever enjoyed in an MMOG. However each time I play an STF here it seems I end up fighting the game itself as much as the mobs and boss.

farmallm

I usually don't do the endgame stuff. Since I don't have that amount of time to commit into it to pull it off. I used to play WoW, and I never did their raids. It was all I could do was the 5 mans they offered. Plus most of the time. You had to be on a certain day and time, etc. Just to do it. What I do outside the game really defeated that purpose. After hearing some in the chat doing the raid. And reading some of the txts from the mission. Makes me glad I didn't join in. Talk about a lot of fussing and complaining.

rachelj88

I wouldn't say I ignore end game content, not that there is a lot that is.

I'm generally focused on customisation, any item that gives me a new outfit I HAVE to own.

Being someone who is largely one of the most nit-pickiest users of the tailor, I always want more.

Staying on topic though, I did STF's for the MACO outfit no other reason at all, the original STF's Oh how I miss them, I did those with the fleet I was in, I thoroughly enjoyed doing those STF's compared to these ones. "as many people who did play them will agree".

I do fleet actions on rare occation simply down to the fact that I dislike their Fleet Mark ammount in the drops. being hopeful that Cryptic "have already or may soon be" increasing the ammount given will give some struggling fleets a better grip on steady progress.

As for the Vault... I only ever did 1... yes 1. when cryptic stated that the ship equipment wasn't so called End Game I just never had the will to grind my way through those darn pesky Reman Data Chips <- or whatever they where called.

I'm pretty much a social player I'd much rather climb Bajor, New Romulus and various obsticles on space stations than actually grinding dilithium. before fleet bases I only had around 200k dilithium, said star base sucked that all up, I currently have around 6k and I'm not really bothered.

I'm not a P2W player the only P2W console I have is the one from the Oberth. it suits my science build. I also have the Red Matter Capacitor and well I got that from my Collectors Edition... a nice suprise when all I wanted was the badge

RachelJ88

P.S. - PvP : I enjoy PvP but I'm not Uber PvP or really care that I'm not I do my best and I could probably hold my own against those equal to my level. I don't do the whole PvP "Adapt Or Die" I'm comfortable with my build, we're supposed to be Starship Captains who prepare for the riggors of exploration and unexpected combat. Not specific combat. my tuppence.

farmallm

fulleatherjacket wrote: »

If one ignores the endgame starbase/embassy/reputation grind, what is there left to do? PvP? Blow that for a joke.

I'm still working on getting caught up to the current story line on my Fed and KDF. So still plenty to do for me. I'm just now hitting the Breen story. What is taking me so long? I'm taking my time to enjoy the game and what the story has. Also with my life outside the game: work, family, and etc. I can only play so much. So I play during my relax time I have.

Now what I will do after I get caught up to current. I plan on farming Dilth for stuff, Foundry missions, or create a 3rd character. Playing a Tactical Capt. sounds fun. And then I have that Capt. to work on. There is plenty to do other than "End Game". This is what works for me. It may not for others.

rachelj88

fulleatherjacket wrote: »

If one ignores the endgame starbase/embassy/reputation grind, what is there left to do? PvP? Blow that for a joke.

use your imagination? I have my keyboard bound with almost every emote, many of my ingame friends claim I bring a superb uniqueness to my STO toons.

I'm not saying that completely ignoring content is a good idea either but I do remember the early days of STO and the ammount of players who had alternate characters who they just quite literally created, ignored all content and popped them in Quarks just for Role Playing.

I don't role play at all anymore thanks to a unique fleet of tooth pulling anti role playing re-toads who say they're actually stopping Erotic role play. to which I have sufficient evidence to the contrary!

Imagination is key without it you will get bored easily.
to quote Muhammed Ali - ?The man with no imagination has no wings.?

RachelJ88

mirai222

I'm an explorer type, and I generally don't care about the "end game". I'm not interested at all in getting the top gear. I don't do STFs, and I don't grind for dilithium either.

Since Tau Dewa and New Romulus are only for level 50 characters, you could count it as end game content. The Reputation system certainly counts as a gear grind. However, I'm happy to do each of the soloable missions there once with any given character. Repeating the missions on the same character would become a grind for me, and I stop doing things that feel like a grind. I'll make some progress in the Reputation system, but I don't expect to get far in it. I'm there for the exploration aspect, not the gear.

I have altitis, and I enjoy doing the episodes and DOffing. I like immersion, and stuff that breaks immersion (like repeating the same mission over and over with the same character) usually breaks the fun for me.

thilgaedraug

chikahiro wrote: »

Looking back at my own gaming history, I've pretty much ignored every end-game I've been presented with. I preferred to do other things, and really, up until the past month or two, I've ignored here as well. Even in my old favorite MMO, City of Heroes, I ignored the end-game; not because of implementation, but because I'd rather do other things.

I guess this describes my gaming style as well. I am also and old COH player (R.I.P) but I've been here since beta as well. I've seen this game change quite a bit since then and it's never been (for me) about getting to the end game.

There is far too much to do on the way. I have worlds to explore, mysteries to solve, diplomacy to do, cargo ships to rescue, and much much more. Rushing to the end game just means I get to miss the stories that are there for me to see.

I'll get there eventually, but what's the rush?

thunderfoot

Holy smokes! People who play STO for something other MACO or Omega gear! I'll just bet there was a Elvis sighting somewhere on Mol'Rihan today as well,

I too wander all over the place and only do whatever interests me today. Which may or may not be the newest thing put into the game. Repeating the Elite STFs ad ifinitum ad nauseum was boring right from the moment I began playing. Why do the same missions over and over just to get gear so I can do the same mission over and over faster? Yawn.

PvP can be really fun with the right people to play against. Especially when one doesn't follow conventional wisdom concerning what PvP builds should be. Even more fun when one can find three or four people who have a talent for small unit tactics and understand what combined arms synergy is supposed to mean. Alas, the "standard" PvPer cannot think outside the box they've placed themselves into. Other people who ought to know better believe said PvPers when they spout off about being "expert". I've no idea at all what constitutes 'fairness' in a PvP match. I do know that in Real Life, the loser seldom has a say in deciding what 'fair' means.

I kinda like this Reputation thingie. Means my ship and crew are not as dependent on how purple our kit is. I also like the Mark system because I don't have to pew pew pew all the time to count.

bubblygumsworth

PvP is end game content for me.. I just wish it was better

undyingzero

I mostly ignore end-game content for RPing. Heck, what I do in Mol'Rihan is part of my roleplaying! I don't do STFs as much, mostly to get the Optional of KAGE done so I can get the damn accolade... stupid Omega Force style eludes me.

chikahiro

fulleatherjacket wrote: »

If one ignores the endgame starbase/embassy/reputation grind, what is there left to do? PvP? Blow that for a joke.

Well, when I was still active in COH? The SG I led/was part of was part of a larger group that would play together. Thanks to sidekicking/autoleveling, we'd go through and help folks through the game, do Task Forces (for fun, not speed runs), zone events, make crazy amounts of alts, do role-playing, etc. At the very least we'd have the chat channel, and just talk together while playing.

Certainly, we all had "sweet spots," level ranges we preferred, where we liked the enemies the best, thought it was the most fun for us, etc. I had some friends who simply turned off XP gain after a certain point.

It was a pretty large group, though. Sadly many of them have moved on for various reasons, and very few made it to STO. COH, for a few, was their first and last MMO

I've personally found the Zen|Dilithium Exchange to be a lot of fun and very engaging. I like DOFFs, have somehow turned into my fleet's "economic adviser" (blind leading the blind!), and am just enjoying faffing about in-game with my activities, hitting PUGs occassionally because I want to do something else, or joining my fleet for STFs or Fleet actions. Not because its end-game, but because I think they're fun and I haven't burned myself out on them.

twg042370

MMOs don't have an "endgame". They have a "I wish I had something else to do."

atomictiki

I don't usually, but I'm certainly ignoring it now.

khayuung

I wish I could just easily hit the dil cap so that I can go back to playing good Foundries and writing captain's logs...

Basically, I wish I could stop levelling for once!!

jellico1

I think STO plans to make end game content
At a later date or I've overlooked it

Possibly..........

futurepastnow

I have never done a STF. I have only done one Fleet Action (SB24).

I'm in a large fleet (RedditAlert) so I'd have no trouble getting on a team for either, but my life doesn't really permit me to do teamed missions (I get called away from the computer randomly, which wouldn't be fair to the other team members).

And, frankly, I'm a bit offended that Cryptic thinks it can force me to do those types of missions, so I am making a statement (which no one at Cryptic will listen to) by not doing them.

kyeto13

I do not play any game to be at the max level. I play to have fun. That is all i need to do. Sometimes having fun involves trolling ker'rat with my friends. Other times it's diving into a foundry mission and solving another persons mystery. And other times it's going to Quark's and having a hardy drink with some Klingon's I knew from before the war. If I feel like doing it, I do it. If I don't, I don't.

I'm very intrinsically motivated like that.

thunderfoot

khayuung wrote: »

I wish I could just easily hit the dil cap so that I can go back to playing good Foundries and writing captain's logs...

Thank you! I overlooked the Foundry missions in my previous post. Some of the very best, most challenging content in the game is found there. No, I do not consider the Console Clickers "content" and good riddance to the lot of them. I have played a lot of Foundry Missions and some of them I have replayed. Not because I was trying to get a Mk XIII Purple Mega Oblivion Quintuple Uber Cannon, either. Because the stories are that good and the missions are that well crafted. The very best of the Foundry Missions equal or exceed anything Cryptic has ever put out. I have often wondered why Cryptic has not yet simply 'adopted' some of the Foundry KDF missions to flesh out the lack of content all us Klinks suffer through. Heck, doing a copy/paste of some of the Fed Foundry Missions would be quite acceptable IMV. And since the copy/paste precedent has already been established by the official story line, it should be even easier to find challenging rewarding missions to present en masse to the KDF.


Note to New STO Players: Go and try out the Foundry Missions. Not just the Spotlight ones or the Hot ones, either. There are some really outstanding story tellers inside this here STO Player Community who've graciously given up free time (Worth far, far more than any amount of Dilithium or Zen) and then shared their view of Star Trek with the rest of us. G'Wan! Git yerself in thar! Raht naow! You won't be sorry one bit.
I swear on my honour as a proud member of the KDF.

trexelcat

I've had bad experiences with any end game. I always end up in a teams with foul mouthed children who treat you like, if you weren't born with the perfect knowledge of everything about that run, you were less than useless. And since getting anyone to teach me how to do these runs properly is like pulling teeth from a live shark, I figure I'm better off never doing end game content at all.

In STO, the end game rewards are useless anyway. More powerful gear so you can do the exact same runs, on a harder difficulty, with even more uptight people who accept even fewer mistakes(if that's even possible).

No, once I reach Vice Admiral, I make a new character and start over. And every so often I might log back into that character again to do a Dilithium run or two to add to my measly pot of Dilithium that I'm hording for when Romulan content is added to the store.

tosmessharr

I have spent $700 on this game between a lifetime sub for 200 and the the other 500 on lock boxes. I have received NOT ONE rare lockbox ship. Yet when I log on to the game I find it so ridiculously over priced to use or aquire dilithium that I'll HAVE to buy more zen just to convert to dilithium if I need dilithium. I haven't donated to my fleet in over a week, and I hardly play the game now for more than ten minutes a day. I guess I'll log on atleast once or twice a week since I wasted money on a lifetime subscription. You know Cryptic... I paid a lifetime sub for the game as is. Atleast I could buy some zen.. an outfit, or some lock box keys. NOT HAVE TO BUY ZEN TO KEEP DILITHIUM STORES UP! You should have made ONE SMALL CHANGE, then surveyed it to see if it worked. Not TRIBBLE up everything in some way and tell us to deal with it. Not when some of us have payed you for a "lifetime" and spent hundreds of dollors in six months. You know... you don't have to appease us. And sure.. you don't have to have our permission when you do things.. But I'd sure as heck make sure you aren't going to absolutely ENRAGE your players and cause them not to want to play by changing things YOU ALREADY HAD IN PLACE YOURSELVES!!


Anyway, I may be so bored and/or sick of the grind that I do not play at all in a few weeks. I just wanted to let everyone here know once and for all. BUYING ZEN IS A WASTE. I tested the odds on boxes. 500 lockboxes = NO SHIP. You'd think they'd give you a guarantee after that many boxes you'd get to pick one ship. Cryptic will not get another cent from me. And I hope you are doing the math Cryptic 700 dollars in six months... good lawd I've paid you for about 3 years worth already. I'll be sure to tell everyone I see exactly how you run this game and do my best to keep them from coming.

DOFFs - overpriced now
DOFF recruitment assignment = overpriced now
TWO reputation factions = tedious, time consuming, click click clicking
... and you must gather marks for BOTH factions
STF's = screwed up on loot now.
Starbase - now receive less from players because of the Embassy and TWO rep factions.

the list goes on...
I'm out. Atleast if I watch Star Trek TOS - Kirk won't keep asking me for handouts for shoddy work!

lordmalak1

bubblygumsworth wrote: »

PvP is end game content for me.. I just wish it was better

I just rediscovered capture and hold arena's, much more fun than the kerrat spawnpoint campfest.