Should we reduce xp rewards?

vitzh

Yeah may get a barrage of hate for suggesting something like this, but I think it's a worthy question to ask and possibly something that should be experimented with on tribble at a later date.

I ask this question mainly cause this scenario is all together far too common. People believe player level = skill. It couldn't be further from the truth. Fact is in glitched Kerrat I'm watching level 20's in BOP's and Raptors successfully engage and gank level 50's in ships like Temporal Science Vessels I think says it all. Hell going to Defera and watching a team of 5 50's fail the really easy hard missions, where a team of 3 20's succeed is also a common sight.

Problem is people get to level 50 far too fast I reckon and don't have the chance to do the following.

a) Learn game mechanics.
b) Get properly geared.

They can go from level 1-50 following story missions blindly without having to interact really with another player or better put, compete against another player. A bit of a mistake if I'm honest, because as people we learn more from our interactions with each other rather than blindly following a script.

As it stands, there is very little encouragement or incentive for people to get involved in group activities involving multiple players such as Fleet Actions or PvP especially below level 50. I think this is a mistake, and it should be actively encourage for players to participate in these activities in order to rank up rather than just plain blind story mission following.

Proposal:
If xp from story missions were nerfed, people would have to seek alternatives and participate in other content to rank up. Hopefully this involves player interaction with other players and results in people learning more about the game; along with becoming sufficiently geared.

Alternatively
Nerf xp and use level 40-50 as a 'back to school' phase with missions or activities designed specifically at making sure players are adequately geared and have knowledge on how to do decently at the grind fest that awaits them.

P.S.
Maybe it may be worth completely overhauling chat channels tab, at present there's far too much popping up on 'Chat' tab. 'Chat' tab should be for 'Chat' only, shouldn't be system alerts or anything in it if it takes up 90% of the channel. Amount of players who go into group pve and pvp without chat channels up, not talking to teammates and wondering how they fail is ridiculous.


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So thoughts? Anyone think I'm talking a load of nonsense? XD

cha0s1428

Well, this game suffers from most MMO problems, and that being the real game doesn't really start until 50. You really cannot learn how to handle all of your powers and what not in ships that don't have a full Boff layout. On top of that, the good gear you speak of is only accessible in the higher levels anyway.

The way to encourage low level participation is to make anything other than DPS needed as you level up. But how do you balance that? Making it too hard will make people frustrated and possibly quit, and too easy, like it is now, gets people into the mindset that they are doing it right, even when they are not.

It is a steep curve once you get to 50, but that is when the real refining takes place.

As far as encouraging PvP in lower levels, well that would be harder without different maps with level caps for every rank, like the Battlegrounds in ****. Not much fun going into PvP at level 30 when all it takes is one guy who is higher to ruin your fun.

mwgacy1

vitzh wrote: »

Proposal:
If xp from story missions were nerfed, people would have to seek alternatives and participate in other content to rank up. Hopefully this involves player interaction with other players and results in people learning more about the game; along with becoming sufficiently geared.

Personally I think the levelling speed is about perfect*, not because it teaches you everything you need to know (it doesn't, it teaches you little although the Romulan's are a little better with the suggestions from your BOffs about power levels and cloak usage) but because the 'seek alternatives and participate in other content whilst levelling' will invariably be grind system patrols or wait for the MU event and make as many levels as you can in that hour. If there was actually something to do that would promote skilled play then that would be different but there isn't, if anything everything seems to be getting easier so that it's easier for the single good player on a team to carry the rest.

I'm just not seeing how reducing XP will force people to improve, at VA they have ample chance to improve but many don't. Slowing down levelling won't help them if a random psycho raging at them in chat doesn't do it.

*This is from the perspective of someone who's lost count of the characters levelled so faster = better.

vitzh

I actually disagree slightly, not having access to many Boff powers or abilities makes you learn to use what you've got. Must confess the most unbalanced pvp in this game where levels really are a pain in the TRIBBLE is between 10-19. After that, surprisingly no, you feel a bit disadvantaged but it's not as major as some would have you believe.

Good gear is accessible at lower levels, and can be surprisingly hilarious in right hands. (Watch a lvl 20 tac with a mk vi pulsewave on defera, you'll see them do damage in far excess to any 50 with a mk xii and full omega xii set lol)

As far as DPS being only thing needed, yeah it heads to that joke that this game has become escorts online. Unfortunately there is a lot of truth in that statement and I wouldn't mind seeing this game harder or complex, provided of course it wasn't all focused around dps.

Main reason for reducing xp is to make people spend a bit more time becoming familiar with the game. Less of a jump to the deep end, or from a fish pond into a shark tank.

assimilatedktar

Let me put it this way:

I have 11 characters. One is stuck at 43 and one on 26 because I can't bring myself to repeat Fed content anymore. Two others are stuck on level 31 and 36, the new Klingon content will probably fix that. The new Romulan content will certainly be fun, but I really don't want to waste too much time until I get my vice admiral ship due to the limited ship progression and due to having way too many characters already.

Your main problem is that you think more playtime makes players better. It doesn't. Challenges make players better. Unfortunately most times Cryptic makes a fight "challenging" you either get an enemy who can soak unnatural amounts of damage or one-shots you and your away team without warning. I wonder if AIs will be developed far enough so that enemies can challenge you while having the same stats and abilities as you.

nassiris

Oppy have you considered this,
Just because a players has one CL:50 does not mean they will all ways do well. It my take a player leveling several toon's before he or she develops a good fill for the game. The CL:20's you are referring to probability have several other toon's under their belts. So I say no to your Idea and encourage the Dev's to do the same.

ladymyajha

No to the OP's suggestion. After playing since beta, I look forward to Q's EXP weekends just to avoid the grind of seeing the same old missions over and over and over again. Nerf EXP gain, and I'll never create another alt ever again, meaning once I get bored of the dil/rep grind, I'll have nothing to do, and I'll quit. Something tells me I'm not the only one.

erei1

No matter how long those players will spend leveling, they will not be better in the end.
On the other hand, I don't want to grind patrol mission between storyline mission. So xp reward is fine IMO.

neok182

NO.

It's the players job when they reach 50 to learn what to do. Theres the STOwiki, in game chat, and if your in a fleet your fleetmates.

I was a complete n00b when i hit 50 and couldn't survive any stf or pvp area, but after a few weeks of being taught by my old fleet and getting help making EC to buy better items off the exchange and crafting an aegis kit i got really good. Back then i'd die 20 times in an elite match. now, i rarely die in an elite match.

leveling up faster or slower will make no difference, all the best gear requires level 50 to acquire anyway.

Some people are just never going to care to learn, and we'll just have to either deal with them or try and help them.

ursusmorologus

Level-based items like Mk V weapons are leftovers from single-player, and serve no good purpose in a multiplayer game universe. Leveling should be removed entirely. Rank should open up ship types, and equipment should be restricted to some kinds of ships, but that's all. Unfortunately the whole game is designed around leveling, so large chunks of it would have to be remade for that to happen.

vitzh

Been reading up on the comments here and I find myself in agreement with a lot of it.

While I disagree heavily with the idea you have to get to 50 before you are able to do stuff and get good; don't think xp restrictions are way forward after thinking about it all.

It's up to player to make their own entertainment, but should be allowed more options and alerted to it. I'm not fond of the story missions at all, hell it's more fun, challenging (and sometimes more rewarding) to rank up at places like Defera, Mirror Event and Warzones but that's just me.