Make it possible to view another player's equipment. When I played FFXI, players had an option to keep their equipment private, but you could at least get an idea what they were using based on their appearance. That isn't even much of an option in STO, since the only equipment observation you can make is the color of their weapons.
Why is this important? I've gotten competent in PvP, but occassionally I've found an escort blowing everyone away. I'd like to know how this guy was so strong, but it is a complete mystery. All I'm able to figure out is that he fires a ton of purple blobs, but that isn't enough info for the most casual players to learn anything. It isn't realistic for a stranger to type out his equipment if you stopped to ask him.
You see, something like this helps people learn the game. If I could view this player's equipment, I can think and adjust at how I play my own game.
From a sales perspective, I might see equipment I didn't even know about, which would motivate me to play more or buy Zen to get the resources to try someone's build. There are a TON of people that don't know what a Spiral Wave Disrupter is.
It doesn't matter how much fancy equipment you stuff into lockboxes or unique items you put on C-Store ships. If casual players can't even realize certain things are being used, you're losing out on a lot of advertising. Even worse, you're not cultivating information in a way that informs the casual player on the things that are available to them.
Imagine the casual player who has flown only the "famous" cruisers, only to be frustrated when a lockbox ship with purple blobs blow him away. Imagine that he could look at their equipment...he would learn the type of ship. I know you can click on their icon and see, but it isn't visually interesting and means nothing to a casual player. Now imagine he inspects the ship, a big icon of the purple ship is on the screen with a title of "Jem'Hadar Attack Fighter." That's visually interesting and something the casual player will remember.
Now imagine he sees that this ship has 5 tac slots, where his free cruiser only has two. Now imagine he gets a little excited at the thought of having this very same ship and is already planning on how he could build it. The result: this casual player has incentive to play the game and perhaps spend some money.
The way you have it now, the poor fool who buys a Dreadnought Cruiser is going to get mad that some stupid tiny mystery bug fighter blows up his cool Galaxy-X. He then decides the game is stupid and changes to another game that makes him feel badass.
The simple ability to inspect ship equipment may have taught this player the weaknesses of his character and design choices. Now that he knows what "badass" looks like, he can work towards emulating it our countering it.
I have too much free time (for now) and finally figured out PvP and it makes it fun, where I want to play a handful of matches daily. I'm adjusting builds, etc. But I could have done this a year ago if I could inspect equipment. But it has taken me a long time reading posts and websites over the course of a year to get a handle on it.
Simple equipment inspection would take the need to research outside of the game away, for me. How many potential players, how many casual players, couldn't make it past this point? How much money could you have gotten if people didn't have to spend a year to get acquianted?
I just don't don't see many people, even Star Trek fans, having the time or motivation to learn like myself when there are so many other games to play.
I'm 32 years old. I have money but not tons of time. But I could spend more money if you had interesting ways to show me what I could buy. Your splash art and blogs aren't cutting it for your new products. I only know about the things that I care to research.
You need to show people items and ships INSIDE the game.
What if I dont want someone inspecting me, which I dont. Mind your buisness, wiki some pvp builds.....get in a fleet, aint that hard to figure out the best weapons dps wise, especially if ur in a FLEET
What if I dont want someone inspecting me, which I dont. Mind your buisness, wiki some pvp builds.....get in a fleet, aint that hard to figure out the best weapons dps wise, especially if ur in a FLEET
I said it early on, but I mentioned FFXI and how they kept gear private.
Well I don't want people snooping around so my gateway option is private as are many players. What you can do to figure out what people do is look at combat logs sometimes. You can also view what buffs they have on them so will have an idea about what build they are using just from combat logs and looking at buffs. Its hard to do in the middle of combat, but you start being able to recongnize the buff icons and know what they are without needing to cursor over them eventually.
Another thing I do sometimes to study other players builds is to go around in kerrat cloaked, and just sit nearby and observe the battles. Try to stay out of 10k range and you wont get accidentally decloaked by an ability or explosion, and you can observe many players pvp builds completley unseen. You will need a Defiant or Dreadnought to do this if you don't have a KDF character.
That sounds like a lot of work, and doesn't take the casual player into account.
I understand wanting to keep your builds secret, but that is also part of the problem. It conceals information that could teach other players how to play the game.
Look at the game League of Legends, the most played PvP game in the world. In addition to the strategy and the flow of battle, I can see my enemy's build, and build myself to counter that. It's a fun part of the game that STO does not have.
Be avised: you can make your privacy settings to make you data only available to you
Social on the minimap. Privacy. It's down at the bottom. Put the dot in the No and you're good to go.
For anybody wondering specifically how you do this.
edit: Has to be done per character.
Also, in reply to the thread and not mrkollins...
And no, I do not believe players should be able to see. If somebody wants to share, fine. The default setting should be no - and - players can set it to yes if they want to do so.
There are plenty of builds shared in this section of the forums. If somebody lays a six-pack of whoopass on you in a match or whatever - you can ask them, if they want to tell you - they will tell you. Many will. Many won't. They should have that choice.
I think a widely blogged feature that works *in game* that shows equipment in a visually interesting way will help keep casual players interested in the game. They will invent their own personal reasons for continuing to play the game based on what they learn from other people.
To encourage the use of the feature, I believe the default should be ON. However, since this new talked about feature may be widely known, those who don't wish to share should have plenty of notice to hide themselves.
You are getting new players now with the new movie coming out. I think this feature is your only method that can get you to retain them behind your current expectations.
Option to set it to Off account wide as well as having to do it per character.
Don't remove the ability to set it individually, but add the option to set it for the account - so that for all current, any new, any rerolls, etc, etc, etc - that it's not something that you have to remember to set.
I think its a bad idea. I can already see the "oh you have these equiped ? they suck" "oh stupud build you noob" "wtf is a noob" and other eloquent lines from mature people viewing your build and gear while you are teamed up with them.
"Cryptic Studio’s Jack Emmert (2010): Microtransactions are the biggest bunch of nonsense. I like paying one fee and not worrying about it – like my cellphone. The world’s biggest MMO isn’t item based, even though the black market item GDP is bigger than Russia … microtransactions make me want to die.”
Looking up players should have been a terminal usable at a Starbase through the client only. You should never have been able to access other player's info via a means that exists outside the place where the players play.
I hate the alliteration on that last sentence, but I think it gets my point across.
[EDIT]
Not that it needs to be said, but even through the in-game terminal you should *still* be able to opt out of sharing your info, preferably through varying security levels:
0. Fort Knox (No one can see your info)
1. Fellowship (Only people you are currently teamed with may look up you're info)
2. We Are Legion (Anyone in your fleet with may look up your info at anytime)
3. Town Horse (Anyone may look up your info at anytime)
If you feel Keel'el's effect is well designed, please, for your own safety, be very careful around shallow pools of water.
I think its a good idea to let people see what other people is running. Thats how they get to observe, learn and become better players during and after matches.
Co-founder of The Spanish Inquisition TSI - Cause no one expects it!
PaxOttomana: gawd mirror event is like fighting a tsi premade, they keep comin and comin!
I think its a good idea to let people see what other people is running. Thats how they get to observe, learn and become better players during and after matches.
Or they ask... hrmm... no privacy issues involved - no spying and building specifically to defeat a certain opponent based on how they're geared... hrmmm...
Or they ask... hrmm... no privacy issues involved - no spying and building specifically to defeat a certain opponent based on how they're geared... hrmmm...
Ask or not i dont care. If people are curios how my ship is built up then let them. Being willing to learn has never been wrong, and frankly its faaaar from spying.
Co-founder of The Spanish Inquisition TSI - Cause no one expects it!
PaxOttomana: gawd mirror event is like fighting a tsi premade, they keep comin and comin!
Ask or not i dont care. If people are curios how my ship is built up then let them. Being willing to learn has never been wrong, and frankly its faaaar from spying.
Is there more willingness to learn from simply looking at something or in asking about how something is setup, how it is used, and well...learning?
And um, if I go and look at Tom's setup - see that he's using X Armor, has Y Weapons, and is using Z Abilities... so I take A Weapons, use B Armor, and C Abilities... so I have the better chance of winning, you wouldn't call that spying?
As I said earlier, we've got a great PvP ship building thread going. We've had great posts on different tactics, what to do in Situation 1 - Situation 2 - Situation 3. The community is very forthcoming with information for those with a willingness to learn and looking to learn.
Without any of the Tom's setup in a browser on a second monitor nonsense...so that when I see him in the queues, I can switch out weapons, armor, gear in general, as well as switch my BOFFs and DOFFs...
Is there more willingness to learn from simply looking at something or in asking about how something is setup, how it is used, and well...learning?
What about both? This is why boot camp is in place; So people can ask as well as observe.
I dont get the hostility towards people who just wants to observe and learn from there. So petty imo.
Co-founder of The Spanish Inquisition TSI - Cause no one expects it!
PaxOttomana: gawd mirror event is like fighting a tsi premade, they keep comin and comin!
What about both? This is why boot camp is in place; So people can ask as well as observe.
I dont get the hostility towards people who just wants to observe and learn from there. So petty imo.
It's not a hostility against people who want to observe - it's a case that it allows for more than just observation.
I don't get the hostility against people asking for help...
My stuff is set to private, but then again - all of my stuff is set to private. No fleet invites, no tells, no challenges, no trades, etc, etc, etc - I fly anon.
I share my flaky builds if asked, I don't have a problem with that - though, lol, I've been asked not to share them more often than I've been asked to share them.
Cryptic should create an area in their forums to discuss PvP. Oh wait, they did.
In those forums, folks should share thoughts on tactics, team builds, roles, etc. Oh wait, they have and continue to do so.
It would be great if there was a stickied thread on ship and skill builds for PvP. Oh yeah, that's already there.
Perhaps there could be a thread collecting PvP movies so folks could watch fights to see what some folks do? Hrmmm, yep - that's there too.
Maybe somebody could put together a PvP channel so folks could ask and discuss PvP while in the game? Oh yeah, they did.
Perhaps there could be some sort of training thing - heck, maybe even with some Cryptic backing and publicity? Hrmmm, well then - that's there.
Even the OP's thing...guess what? It's already freaking there.
That's where the hostility really comes from. It's not hostility toward folks looking to learn, it's why I'm here - I'm looking to learn and get better. It's from the people that ignore all the stuff that people have done to make PvP so accessible...and then complain that it's not. I mean, ffs, seriously...put at least some appearance of effort into the matter - there are so many resources available...and so few bother taking advantage of them.
Frankly, I found the OP to be insulting to all the work that's been done here - and Hell, there are folks that I despise that post helpful information for others here, so even as I despise them - I have to respect them for what they're trying to do to make PvP that much more accessible and to get more folks into it. I don't respect somebody that just wants to look at what another person is using so they can either build the same way (though they'll not have any idea of why the ship was built that way, have no idea of the skill build, no idea of so many other things - it's just lazy) or they can attempt to build the perfect counter to that ship so they can either soothe their deflated egos or further pat themselves on the back to further inflate their egos.
Cryptic should create an area in their forums to discuss PvP. Oh wait, they did.
In those forums, folks should share thoughts on tactics, team builds, roles, etc. Oh wait, they have and continue to do so.
It would be great if there was a stickied thread on ship and skill builds for PvP. Oh yeah, that's already there.
Perhaps there could be a thread collecting PvP movies so folks could watch fights to see what some folks do? Hrmmm, yep - that's there too.
Maybe somebody could put together a PvP channel so folks could ask and discuss PvP while in the game? Oh yeah, they did.
Perhaps there could be some sort of training thing - heck, maybe even with some Cryptic backing and publicity? Hrmmm, well then - that's there.
Even the OP's thing...guess what? It's already freaking there.
That's where the hostility really comes from. It's not hostility toward folks looking to learn, it's why I'm here - I'm looking to learn and get better. It's from the people that ignore all the stuff that people have done to make PvP so accessible...and then complain that it's not. I mean, ffs, seriously...put at least some appearance of effort into the matter - there are so many resources available...and so few bother taking advantage of them.
Frankly, I found the OP to be insulting to all the work that's been done here - and Hell, there are folks that I despise that post helpful information for others here, so even as I despise them - I have to respect them for what they're trying to do to make PvP that much more accessible and to get more folks into it. I don't respect somebody that just wants to look at what another person is using so they can either build the same way (though they'll not have any idea of why the ship was built that way, have no idea of the skill build, no idea of so many other things - it's just lazy) or they can attempt to build the perfect counter to that ship so they can either soothe their deflated egos or further pat themselves on the back to further inflate their egos.
I didn't mean to be insulting. I made the post ignorant of the community here; in fact, i logged in for the first time to make the post.
I made the post because I've come to really like this game, and I just wanted to talk about things that could've grabbed me sooner and felt that it was important to voice the "turn-offs" i went through that I believe other players have experienced. Those silent players that move on to games that are "more fun" never provide feedback of any kind.
Cryptic gets plenty of feedback from active players...although my OP did voice my own frustration, the goal was to help STO by providing feedback that could've kept those casual players that don't even bother saying anything.
The thing is, there are a lot of other games, and a lot of other F2P games for casual players to choose from, and I'd like more players to choose and stick with STO.
I like to concentrate more on what I am bringing to the fight as I come from the "Proactive is better than the Reactive" School. The time you take to see what the other guy has, you are dealing with their attacking you.
Also, it is hard to create anti-builds until you get some experience with seeing what is actually out there. As a KDF player it is funny to see feddies bringing their PVE/ role play gear to a fight. Tip of the hat to the feddie PVP pros out there! Good fights all!
Seeing what gear one has will turn things more into player bashing as others have pointed out, for what they have equipped rather than why.
In my opinion, PVP would be more accessible if it was open world based with a reputation system tied in. Waiting on someone to join a 5v5 queue at end-game gets very old, very fast.
"Dammit J'mpok! I'm a Warrior, not a Worrier!"
- KDF Ambassador Syon vocalizing her objection to the discussions of possible peace talks with the UFP due to recent Borg and Undine activities.Hegh'bat, Stardate 66588.8
Comments
Go to: http://gateway.startrekonline.com
Log in with your STO account
And then add this line /#char(Player-name@player-handle)/
Replacing "Player-name" with the name of the player you want to see and "player-handle" with the handle of the player you want to see.
Be avised: you can make your privacy settings to make you data only available to you, but i dont care if anyone is looking at my build and items.
www.divisionhispana.com
I said it early on, but I mentioned FFXI and how they kept gear private.
And that thing about STO Gateway...sweet!
Another thing I do sometimes to study other players builds is to go around in kerrat cloaked, and just sit nearby and observe the battles. Try to stay out of 10k range and you wont get accidentally decloaked by an ability or explosion, and you can observe many players pvp builds completley unseen. You will need a Defiant or Dreadnought to do this if you don't have a KDF character.
I understand wanting to keep your builds secret, but that is also part of the problem. It conceals information that could teach other players how to play the game.
Look at the game League of Legends, the most played PvP game in the world. In addition to the strategy and the flow of battle, I can see my enemy's build, and build myself to counter that. It's a fun part of the game that STO does not have.
Social on the minimap. Privacy. It's down at the bottom. Put the dot in the No and you're good to go.
For anybody wondering specifically how you do this.
edit: Has to be done per character.
Also, in reply to the thread and not mrkollins...
And no, I do not believe players should be able to see. If somebody wants to share, fine. The default setting should be no - and - players can set it to yes if they want to do so.
There are plenty of builds shared in this section of the forums. If somebody lays a six-pack of whoopass on you in a match or whatever - you can ask them, if they want to tell you - they will tell you. Many will. Many won't. They should have that choice.
To encourage the use of the feature, I believe the default should be ON. However, since this new talked about feature may be widely known, those who don't wish to share should have plenty of notice to hide themselves.
You are getting new players now with the new movie coming out. I think this feature is your only method that can get you to retain them behind your current expectations.
Default On.
Option to set it to Off account wide as well as having to do it per character.
Don't remove the ability to set it individually, but add the option to set it for the account - so that for all current, any new, any rerolls, etc, etc, etc - that it's not something that you have to remember to set.
I hate the alliteration on that last sentence, but I think it gets my point across.
[EDIT]
Not that it needs to be said, but even through the in-game terminal you should *still* be able to opt out of sharing your info, preferably through varying security levels:
0. Fort Knox (No one can see your info)
1. Fellowship (Only people you are currently teamed with may look up you're info)
2. We Are Legion (Anyone in your fleet with may look up your info at anytime)
3. Town Horse (Anyone may look up your info at anytime)
PaxOttomana: gawd mirror event is like fighting a tsi premade, they keep comin and comin!
Or they ask... hrmm... no privacy issues involved - no spying and building specifically to defeat a certain opponent based on how they're geared... hrmmm...
Ask or not i dont care. If people are curios how my ship is built up then let them. Being willing to learn has never been wrong, and frankly its faaaar from spying.
PaxOttomana: gawd mirror event is like fighting a tsi premade, they keep comin and comin!
Is there more willingness to learn from simply looking at something or in asking about how something is setup, how it is used, and well...learning?
And um, if I go and look at Tom's setup - see that he's using X Armor, has Y Weapons, and is using Z Abilities... so I take A Weapons, use B Armor, and C Abilities... so I have the better chance of winning, you wouldn't call that spying?
As I said earlier, we've got a great PvP ship building thread going. We've had great posts on different tactics, what to do in Situation 1 - Situation 2 - Situation 3. The community is very forthcoming with information for those with a willingness to learn and looking to learn.
Without any of the Tom's setup in a browser on a second monitor nonsense...so that when I see him in the queues, I can switch out weapons, armor, gear in general, as well as switch my BOFFs and DOFFs...
What about both? This is why boot camp is in place; So people can ask as well as observe.
I dont get the hostility towards people who just wants to observe and learn from there. So petty imo.
PaxOttomana: gawd mirror event is like fighting a tsi premade, they keep comin and comin!
It's not a hostility against people who want to observe - it's a case that it allows for more than just observation.
I don't get the hostility against people asking for help...
My stuff is set to private, but then again - all of my stuff is set to private. No fleet invites, no tells, no challenges, no trades, etc, etc, etc - I fly anon.
I share my flaky builds if asked, I don't have a problem with that - though, lol, I've been asked not to share them more often than I've been asked to share them.
R.I.P
Cryptic should create an area in their forums to discuss PvP. Oh wait, they did.
In those forums, folks should share thoughts on tactics, team builds, roles, etc. Oh wait, they have and continue to do so.
It would be great if there was a stickied thread on ship and skill builds for PvP. Oh yeah, that's already there.
Perhaps there could be a thread collecting PvP movies so folks could watch fights to see what some folks do? Hrmmm, yep - that's there too.
Maybe somebody could put together a PvP channel so folks could ask and discuss PvP while in the game? Oh yeah, they did.
Perhaps there could be some sort of training thing - heck, maybe even with some Cryptic backing and publicity? Hrmmm, well then - that's there.
Even the OP's thing...guess what? It's already freaking there.
That's where the hostility really comes from. It's not hostility toward folks looking to learn, it's why I'm here - I'm looking to learn and get better. It's from the people that ignore all the stuff that people have done to make PvP so accessible...and then complain that it's not. I mean, ffs, seriously...put at least some appearance of effort into the matter - there are so many resources available...and so few bother taking advantage of them.
Frankly, I found the OP to be insulting to all the work that's been done here - and Hell, there are folks that I despise that post helpful information for others here, so even as I despise them - I have to respect them for what they're trying to do to make PvP that much more accessible and to get more folks into it. I don't respect somebody that just wants to look at what another person is using so they can either build the same way (though they'll not have any idea of why the ship was built that way, have no idea of the skill build, no idea of so many other things - it's just lazy) or they can attempt to build the perfect counter to that ship so they can either soothe their deflated egos or further pat themselves on the back to further inflate their egos.
They know what you're flying and you're on their list!
High is the only way to fly.
Lol-Ive been on the "list" for a longtime.
Wait! We need to stop talking! I think I heard one of them silent alarms.
R.I.P
I didn't mean to be insulting. I made the post ignorant of the community here; in fact, i logged in for the first time to make the post.
I made the post because I've come to really like this game, and I just wanted to talk about things that could've grabbed me sooner and felt that it was important to voice the "turn-offs" i went through that I believe other players have experienced. Those silent players that move on to games that are "more fun" never provide feedback of any kind.
Cryptic gets plenty of feedback from active players...although my OP did voice my own frustration, the goal was to help STO by providing feedback that could've kept those casual players that don't even bother saying anything.
The thing is, there are a lot of other games, and a lot of other F2P games for casual players to choose from, and I'd like more players to choose and stick with STO.
Also, it is hard to create anti-builds until you get some experience with seeing what is actually out there. As a KDF player it is funny to see feddies bringing their PVE/ role play gear to a fight. Tip of the hat to the feddie PVP pros out there! Good fights all!
Seeing what gear one has will turn things more into player bashing as others have pointed out, for what they have equipped rather than why.
In my opinion, PVP would be more accessible if it was open world based with a reputation system tied in. Waiting on someone to join a 5v5 queue at end-game gets very old, very fast.
- KDF Ambassador Syon vocalizing her objection to the discussions of possible peace talks with the UFP due to recent Borg and Undine activities. Hegh'bat, Stardate 66588.8