Good point. Automated defenses that pump things like assimilators wouldn't be the best solution.
Transphasic mines, though? Or even better, clusters of both transphasic mines and tractor beam mines that self-replicate (reset)?
And I just realized that infinitely spawning NPC's to defend the point has its' own issues. I like the idea, but spamming the map with NPC ships isn't good either.
Hm. Guess solving spawn-camping issues isn't as easy as it sounds, eh?
And I agree... it would be funny. That change wouldn't last more than a week, if that.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
That's quite the paradox, how could you nerf nerf when the nerf is nerfed. But how would the nerf be nerfed when the nerf is nerfed? This allows the nerf not to be nerfed since the nerf is nerfed? But if the nerf isn't nerfed, it could still nerf nerfs. But as soon as the nerf is nerfed, the nerf power is lost. So paradoxally it the nerf nerf lost its nerf, while it's still nerfed, which cannot be because the nerf was unable to nerf.
I'm not glossing over anything. I enjoy the gameplay. If you don't, then feel free to bow out.
You and many others enjoy the gameplay. There's nothing wrong with that.
However, myself and many others do not enjoy the gameplay. That doesn't mean we should have to 'bow out', it means we want to see Ker'rat given some more attention (yes, I am aware they addressed Ker'rat, and for that I am thankful) -- but it doesn't go far enough, and there are those of us who desire to see PvP as a whole being addressed.
And that has been the case for quite some time. Outside of the adjustments to Ker'rat (which again, I do acknowledge as being a positive thing), I see it as treating symptoms of a greater problem instead of getting to the root cause of the greater problem itself. I know why they do not. I understand why they do not.
But to have a guest blog on a broken aspect of the game (in the same way we have/had guest blogs on public channels -- again, good intentions... but inherently obvious as to why it wouldn't work), is something I consider to be a waste of Brandon's time to write -- and a waste of my time to read.
There is enough material for there to be guest blogs about, and as the Community Manager... I personally think they should have avoided the topic of PvP (and especially Ker'rat) entirely. More as a matter of public relations if anything else. But that's merely my personal opinion on where priorities should be.
In the end, the guest blog highlights that Ker'rat is irrelevant. People have pointed out in this thread from the get-go that Ker'rat is irrelevant. To have rewards on a broken aspect of the game does not make it any less unbroken (see the Crystalline Entity before the overhaul for another example of how adding rewards to something broken does not make it better).
Whether I personally like the gameplay or not, or whether you personally like the gameplay or not -- it does not represent the majority of the opinion which is... PvP in STO is in dire need of attention, and until it gets that attention -- it has little or no influence on STO as a whole.
This guy... it is the only Star Trek MMO on the market and my fleet members make it worth it<if you are not a Star Trek fan why are you playing?>. . . Being the only game on the market is no reason to neglect the people that have stayed true and pay money to support the game . . . Might be speaking for my self but Omega and Nukara Rep is a joke was better the old way, at least the game felt mmoish now it feels like a que window. . . at 70k/100k xp on dyson found the ground or space battle zones are pointless in fact have yet to step in them. . . Why because I am sick of Rehashed stuff with New skins for the OMG big update. . . Also sick of Rehashed Blogs covering things that have been covered time and time sense day one. . . Now Please Answer my question why are the TRIBBLE with us?
The Good - it's fun, challenging and the loot drops are nice.
The Bad - 99.9% of the time the decryption scans you have to do are next to impossible, as the range to them decreases to (between) 8400 to 8500 meters it (the range) starts opening up again & even flying straight up or down takes nearly forever to get within scanning range (whatever that range is) so I, 99.9% of the time don't even bother trying to do the scans ----
The Bad continued - The Borg ships (be it a Probe, Sphere, a Cube or Tactical Cube) far too often get themselves "caught" in one of the "tinker-toy" block things and cannot be shot at, but THEY can still shoot the Players' ships.
The Ugly - Daily mission? Did you say Daily mission, as in once per 24 hours is a day? Well that's news to me since I've NEVER been able to select this "Daily" more than once or twice a WEEK, let alone once every 24 hours ... Are you guys sure it's a Daily mission & not a "Weekly" mission?
Ok, I thought I'd do this thread some justice & actually read most of the posts past page 1.
With that I'll add to THE GOOD (imho) about Ker'rat:
Ker'rat is first & foremost a WARZONE. That tells me I should expect to so see intense fighting with PvE and PVP.
I don't know about anyone else, but I've NEVER been "ganked" by KDF cloaked ships. That IS their advantage & part of the CHALLENGE. Those of you whom have been "ganked" do know that when a ship is cloaked/de-cloaking, it's shields are LOWERED right?
So, if you have audio, you can hear the de-cloaking effect. Simply learn to deselect your current target, & simultaneously use your mouse to change your view to BEHIND your ship & hit the space bar to target/shoot the de-cloaking ship. You may get lucky & destroy/seriously damage the sneaky KDF ship.
I have, on at least a few occasions. Yes, more often than not I get popped, but NEVER without a fight.
It's a WARZONE. Sometimes there's only Feds & Borg PVE. Sometimes there's a few KDF as well. And SOMETIMES there's a lot of PVP & the warping in Borg Cubes just make the PVP that much more interesting. And vice versa; the PVP aspect makes the PVE part more fun, CHALLENGING & interesting.
Sounds like fun.. Oh wait I remember this place, yea fighting borg on multiple sides and low and behold 5 KDF Birds decloak, kill me, cloak and repeat.. Til all the Feds are wiped out.. Fun yes.. Oh wait the opposite of fun.. And since when are KDF at all useful against the Borg? They are not, were not, and never will be. The Federation has created ALL of the alpha quadrant's defenses against total assimilation.. Play the STFs see how 'useful" the KDF is.. Makes better drones and assimilated ships (carrier). Not to mention what "reward" for the idiotic stacked against FED frustration? NOTHING of note. Maybe My KDF needs to join in and get paid? Who know maybe fighting a one sided CLOAK and dagger.. Nope end that thought I fight with HONOR as my KDF, Qapla!!!!!!
Woah Woah Woah hold the phone!
You found a Kerrat Instance with 5 KDF players in it?! In Bops?!! My god, that's more than Iv'e ever seen in there!
In seriousness, the issue is that the KDF resort to gank tactics when they realise that they are outnumbered, usually by about 4-1. You fight fair, or god forbid try to get some PVE done, you die.
So, while the stupid try to fight fair, the bulk tend to go guerilla in the hope that maybe, just maybe, if they can kill enough feds, the zone might become even. It never does.
But to have a guest blog on a broken aspect of the game (in the same way we have/had guest blogs on public channels -- again, good intentions... but inherently obvious as to why it wouldn't work), is something I consider to be a waste of Brandon's time to write -- and a waste of my time to read.
There is enough material for there to be guest blogs about, and as the Community Manager... I personally think they should have avoided the topic of PvP (and especially Ker'rat) entirely. More as a matter of public relations if anything else. But that's merely my personal opinion on where priorities should be.
In the end, the guest blog highlights that Ker'rat is irrelevant. People have pointed out in this thread from the get-go that Ker'rat is irrelevant. To have rewards on a broken aspect of the game does not make it any less unbroken (see the Crystalline Entity before the overhaul for another example of how adding rewards to something broken does not make it.
Disagree. I wrote the blog for several reasons, some of which are clearly evident from this forum thread. I respect that you don't like Ker'rat, either due to it not being "Your thing" or if you struggle there, i respect after nearly 4 years, it needs Dev attention. However i refute the idea thst because you think the Blog is pointless therefore it is. It's meeting up to my expectations so far. Wether you think it was a waste of time for Brandon to correspond, spell-check & read through my writing is for him to decide, i guess.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] @Aquitaine985 Lag Industries STO PvP Fleet - Executive
A Sad Panda of Industrial calibre. 2010: This is Cryptic PvP. Please hold the line, your call is very important to us...
IMO the STO needs one more space pvp zone but not with borg but with some of cargo ships with lot of hp and weak weapons (pvping is not easy if you are under 3x borg shield stripper and your hazard emitters are depleted). And one ground pvp zone (i know , Otha exists , but it is the ugliest zone) where you can test something like covers (cover, shoot, cover, shoot battle style).
And i know, here is not a place for it , the engineers need any trait what buff them - something like you can not be popped by t'varo in 3 sec or you can not be disabled by wells on 20 sec. Look on pvp , it is 95% sci +tac.
This instance is lag city and bugged instance. Several buggs over last years that have been mentioned have never been fixed which is why no one ever goes there. And the rewards are petty as well. As far as I am concerned Ker'rat is no longer relevant because the devs have ignored the issues with it since game launch.
I remain empathetic to the concerns of my community, but do me a favor and lay off the god damn name calling and petty remarks. It will get you nowhere.
I must admit, respect points to Trendy for laying down the law like that.
Ker'rat gives character to the game. A lot of PvE folks enjoy places like Nimbus where the questionable folks hang out and scheme, well here it is in action.
I would participate far more than I do If I weren't so darn far behind in gear, and probably boff/doff layout.
I've gone as Fed and Kdf and been part of noble and underhanded activities, and not necessarily corresponding to faction. I've been ferreted out by science ships, teamed up with strangers to take out a bug or two, and have had a chance to fight against most every ship in game....
There should be an accolade for killing every ship model or something.
I've also been called honorless for solo attacks on groups of six or more and getting precision kills. Often I blow up on the way out, but if you besmirch my honor after I engage at those odds, you're gonna die repeatedly thereafter :P even if it takes some borg assistance.
The only thing I dislike a lot are teams that hunt solo players. I don't mind sneaky stuff, but teams roving the zone to get a 3-5 on one kill is bad form regardless of this notion of evening out the zone. When I'm fed and this happened to me it was usually one of a couple fleets every time.
anyhow, long live Ker'rat. Some of the most fun I've had has been in that zone, like the 17 ship kill spree I had with my fed shuttle back in the day, lol.
Maybe if the borg weren't there we could slap a freighter down in the middle of it with a bar in it. Have one room that is constant PvP bar fight, and another where wagering over public challenges can be made with results posted. I'd spectate matches and bet, way more fun than dabo I'm thinking. All the exchange jockeys would suddenly be interested in PvP if there was money in it Maybe make drinking and arm wrestling mini-games like you have for scanning and iso chips. sorry, rambling again.
Ker'rat gives character to the game. A lot of PvE folks enjoy places like Nimbus where the questionable folks hang out and scheme, well here it is in action.
Ker'rat is the only reason I kept on playing as long as I did once I hit level cap.
It's still a decent place to farm stuff, and other players from enemy factions just makes it more interesting. And of course local chat never fails to deliver, especially on those rare occasions when everyone has a sense of humour, some degree of sportsmanship and doesn't take their imaginary space pixels too seriously.
Like one time my Engineer main announced in local 'once more unto the breach' and charged in blind to a swarm of KDF, pretty much every other Fed jumped in after me and a massive brawl kicked off that lasted right until the map reset.
Or that other time me and my opponent used ramming speed at the same time and timed the collision perfectly.
Kerr'at is just a waste of time. Almost all the times i entered for the past 2 months i was alone xD. Be lucky if you get into a group of 3 or 4. And, be careful, if you are alone, because you can be fighting a borg sphere (i did that sometimes when i was bored waiting for someone to join, with no results) and be surprised by a player klingon enemy ship that suddenly appeared in your rear , and of course he destroyed you in seconds cuz u were already damaged by the borg sphere. This happened to me A LOT of times. Sometimes is not so bad, cuz i manage to recover myself, turn around and fight the klingon ship, but im wondering why the spawn spots need to appear always near you??? is that intended?? Anyways, i think the kerrat zone must be redesigned, cuz its useless most of the times. Dont know why people never join it.
Anyways, if you are lucky to enter the map with a group of 4 or 5 players, good, if not, just leave inmediately.
It's FAR from a waste to do it alone. That means you get all of the loot drops! You can easily complete the mission by yourself. I do it all the time, often in an instance full of other players because everyone else is more concerned with ganking each other and talking trash in zone chat.
Almost all the times i entered for the past 2 months i was alone xD.
That was not my expereince over the same time period.
Be lucky if you get into a group of 3 or 4.
Numbers always help.
And, be careful, if you are alone, because you can be fighting a borg sphere (i did that sometimes when i was bored waiting for someone to join, with no results) and be surprised by a player klingon enemy ship that suddenly appeared in your rear , and of course he destroyed you in seconds cuz u were already damaged by the borg sphere.
Good advice there. It is also wise to not allow yourself to get very damaged in attacking the borg in Ker'rat. Withdraw. Spread them out. Recharge and reengage. And always keep an eye and ear out for popping buffs and decloaking ships.
This happened to me A LOT of times.
Isn't it great?
Sometimes is not so bad, cuz i manage to recover myself, turn around and fight the klingon ship, but im wondering why the spawn spots need to appear always near you??? is that intended??
Not sure what you mean there.
Anyways, i think the kerrat zone must be redesigned, cuz its useless most of the times. Dont know why people never join it.
I like it pretty much the way it is. eta: Although I'd up the population limit per instance to at least 40 players. /eta
Anyways, if you are lucky to enter the map with a group of 4 or 5 players, good, if not, just leave inmediately.
am i the only person who read this blog and thought
" Is this the same Ker'rat i remember?
The Ker'rat where both KDF and fed players spawn literally on top of each other where it turns into a mass clusterF where people spawn in and pretty much die to other folks exploding from the guys who managed to setup camp spawn positions and having tiny instance sizes while having low levels in with max levels with either one faction fill up all the instance slots while the other faction is vastly outnumbered and unable to bring in friends? "
Comments
You did it justice. Very cool.
Hm. Guess solving spawn-camping issues isn't as easy as it sounds, eh?
And I agree... it would be funny.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
My character Tsin'xing
R.I.P
Dude, calm down. You don't like ker'rat, fine. Go play somewhere else.
I call it, the Stoutes paradox.
You and many others enjoy the gameplay. There's nothing wrong with that.
However, myself and many others do not enjoy the gameplay. That doesn't mean we should have to 'bow out', it means we want to see Ker'rat given some more attention (yes, I am aware they addressed Ker'rat, and for that I am thankful) -- but it doesn't go far enough, and there are those of us who desire to see PvP as a whole being addressed.
And that has been the case for quite some time. Outside of the adjustments to Ker'rat (which again, I do acknowledge as being a positive thing), I see it as treating symptoms of a greater problem instead of getting to the root cause of the greater problem itself. I know why they do not. I understand why they do not.
But to have a guest blog on a broken aspect of the game (in the same way we have/had guest blogs on public channels -- again, good intentions... but inherently obvious as to why it wouldn't work), is something I consider to be a waste of Brandon's time to write -- and a waste of my time to read.
There is enough material for there to be guest blogs about, and as the Community Manager... I personally think they should have avoided the topic of PvP (and especially Ker'rat) entirely. More as a matter of public relations if anything else. But that's merely my personal opinion on where priorities should be.
In the end, the guest blog highlights that Ker'rat is irrelevant. People have pointed out in this thread from the get-go that Ker'rat is irrelevant. To have rewards on a broken aspect of the game does not make it any less unbroken (see the Crystalline Entity before the overhaul for another example of how adding rewards to something broken does not make it better).
Whether I personally like the gameplay or not, or whether you personally like the gameplay or not -- it does not represent the majority of the opinion which is... PvP in STO is in dire need of attention, and until it gets that attention -- it has little or no influence on STO as a whole.
This guy... it is the only Star Trek MMO on the market and my fleet members make it worth it<if you are not a Star Trek fan why are you playing?>. . . Being the only game on the market is no reason to neglect the people that have stayed true and pay money to support the game . . . Might be speaking for my self but Omega and Nukara Rep is a joke was better the old way, at least the game felt mmoish now it feels like a que window. . . at 70k/100k xp on dyson found the ground or space battle zones are pointless in fact have yet to step in them. . . Why because I am sick of Rehashed stuff with New skins for the OMG big update. . . Also sick of Rehashed Blogs covering things that have been covered time and time sense day one. . . Now Please Answer my question why are the TRIBBLE with us?
The Good - it's fun, challenging and the loot drops are nice.
The Bad - 99.9% of the time the decryption scans you have to do are next to impossible, as the range to them decreases to (between) 8400 to 8500 meters it (the range) starts opening up again & even flying straight up or down takes nearly forever to get within scanning range (whatever that range is) so I, 99.9% of the time don't even bother trying to do the scans ----
The Bad continued - The Borg ships (be it a Probe, Sphere, a Cube or Tactical Cube) far too often get themselves "caught" in one of the "tinker-toy" block things and cannot be shot at, but THEY can still shoot the Players' ships.
The Ugly - Daily mission? Did you say Daily mission, as in once per 24 hours is a day? Well that's news to me since I've NEVER been able to select this "Daily" more than once or twice a WEEK, let alone once every 24 hours ... Are you guys sure it's a Daily mission & not a "Weekly" mission?
"it is the only Star Trek MMO on the market"
Brandon merely said, "Ok".
For extra points. Who can name the two fleets who publicly stated they love Kerrat?
Kerrat is still fun, even with its glitches and farmers unwilling to fight and fighters unwilling to farm.
R.I.P
With that I'll add to THE GOOD (imho) about Ker'rat:
Ker'rat is first & foremost a WARZONE. That tells me I should expect to so see intense fighting with PvE and PVP.
I don't know about anyone else, but I've NEVER been "ganked" by KDF cloaked ships. That IS their advantage & part of the CHALLENGE. Those of you whom have been "ganked" do know that when a ship is cloaked/de-cloaking, it's shields are LOWERED right?
So, if you have audio, you can hear the de-cloaking effect. Simply learn to deselect your current target, & simultaneously use your mouse to change your view to BEHIND your ship & hit the space bar to target/shoot the de-cloaking ship. You may get lucky & destroy/seriously damage the sneaky KDF ship.
I have, on at least a few occasions. Yes, more often than not I get popped, but NEVER without a fight.
It's a WARZONE. Sometimes there's only Feds & Borg PVE. Sometimes there's a few KDF as well. And SOMETIMES there's a lot of PVP & the warping in Borg Cubes just make the PVP that much more interesting. And vice versa; the PVP aspect makes the PVE part more fun, CHALLENGING & interesting.
Woah Woah Woah hold the phone!
You found a Kerrat Instance with 5 KDF players in it?! In Bops?!! My god, that's more than Iv'e ever seen in there!
In seriousness, the issue is that the KDF resort to gank tactics when they realise that they are outnumbered, usually by about 4-1. You fight fair, or god forbid try to get some PVE done, you die.
So, while the stupid try to fight fair, the bulk tend to go guerilla in the hope that maybe, just maybe, if they can kill enough feds, the zone might become even. It never does.
Disagree. I wrote the blog for several reasons, some of which are clearly evident from this forum thread. I respect that you don't like Ker'rat, either due to it not being "Your thing" or if you struggle there, i respect after nearly 4 years, it needs Dev attention. However i refute the idea thst because you think the Blog is pointless therefore it is. It's meeting up to my expectations so far. Wether you think it was a waste of time for Brandon to correspond, spell-check & read through my writing is for him to decide, i guess.
@Aquitaine985
Lag Industries STO PvP Fleet - Executive
A Sad Panda of Industrial calibre.
2010: This is Cryptic PvP. Please hold the line, your call is very important to us...
And i know, here is not a place for it , the engineers need any trait what buff them - something like you can not be popped by t'varo in 3 sec or you can not be disabled by wells on 20 sec. Look on pvp , it is 95% sci +tac.
I applaud Reg for taking the initiative and doing this.
I would participate far more than I do If I weren't so darn far behind in gear, and probably boff/doff layout.
I've gone as Fed and Kdf and been part of noble and underhanded activities, and not necessarily corresponding to faction. I've been ferreted out by science ships, teamed up with strangers to take out a bug or two, and have had a chance to fight against most every ship in game....
There should be an accolade for killing every ship model or something.
I've also been called honorless for solo attacks on groups of six or more and getting precision kills. Often I blow up on the way out, but if you besmirch my honor after I engage at those odds, you're gonna die repeatedly thereafter :P even if it takes some borg assistance.
The only thing I dislike a lot are teams that hunt solo players. I don't mind sneaky stuff, but teams roving the zone to get a 3-5 on one kill is bad form regardless of this notion of evening out the zone. When I'm fed and this happened to me it was usually one of a couple fleets every time.
anyhow, long live Ker'rat. Some of the most fun I've had has been in that zone, like the 17 ship kill spree I had with my fed shuttle back in the day, lol.
Maybe if the borg weren't there we could slap a freighter down in the middle of it with a bar in it. Have one room that is constant PvP bar fight, and another where wagering over public challenges can be made with results posted. I'd spectate matches and bet, way more fun than dabo I'm thinking. All the exchange jockeys would suddenly be interested in PvP if there was money in it
No apologies. It was good ramble.
Just because you can't hang, doesn't mean it's "broken."
Ker'rat is not a n00b-safe playpen to build your self-esteem, and I don't want to see it become one.
So... when did Drozna Station become a PvEvP zone.
And is that to imply that those people who spend a lot of time in Ker'rat are trolls? That would not be very nice.
It's still a decent place to farm stuff, and other players from enemy factions just makes it more interesting. And of course local chat never fails to deliver, especially on those rare occasions when everyone has a sense of humour, some degree of sportsmanship and doesn't take their imaginary space pixels too seriously.
Like one time my Engineer main announced in local 'once more unto the breach' and charged in blind to a swarm of KDF, pretty much every other Fed jumped in after me and a massive brawl kicked off that lasted right until the map reset.
Or that other time me and my opponent used ramming speed at the same time and timed the collision perfectly.
Good times.
Your self esteem should never be related to "performance" in a video game in the first place.
Anyways, if you are lucky to enter the map with a group of 4 or 5 players, good, if not, just leave inmediately.
Depends on how you want to spend your time.
That was not my expereince over the same time period.
Numbers always help.
Good advice there. It is also wise to not allow yourself to get very damaged in attacking the borg in Ker'rat. Withdraw. Spread them out. Recharge and reengage. And always keep an eye and ear out for popping buffs and decloaking ships.
Isn't it great?
Not sure what you mean there.
I like it pretty much the way it is. eta: Although I'd up the population limit per instance to at least 40 players. /eta
Where's the fun in that?
" Is this the same Ker'rat i remember?
The Ker'rat where both KDF and fed players spawn literally on top of each other where it turns into a mass clusterF where people spawn in and pretty much die to other folks exploding from the guys who managed to setup camp spawn positions and having tiny instance sizes while having low levels in with max levels with either one faction fill up all the instance slots while the other faction is vastly outnumbered and unable to bring in friends? "
ya know... THAT Ker'rat
List of notable changes to Kerrat in the last three years
1) Spawn randomization
2) A blog post at the end of year 2013
List of expected changes to make Kerrat more viable... and not a boring cloak wait game with lopsided side matches....
>insert nothing here<
| Join Date: January 2009 | Computer | Fleet: Broken Wings |