Star Trek was, first and foremost, a drama. A drama with it's roots in relationships between characters. Replicating that is far beyond what games are capable of today despite what some may claim. No Star Trek game has been able to capture that and none will until we're living in Star Trek.
The pew pew with phasers part of Star Trek was a minor aspect of the franchise (until JJ Trek) despite its popularity. However replicating that is well within the capabilities of video game technology and that is what you have.
So I'd like to suggest that in order to get that "Star Trek Feel" some folks go try and find the old FASA Star Trek RPG and some like-minded friends. They'll be much happier instead of dealing with the daily frustration of subjecting themselves to a game they don't actually want to play... If they were honest with themselves about it.
Here's what I think would make a good, realistic Star Trek experience in a video game in my own, personal opinion:
Make a puzzle/problem-solving game, similar to the Ace Attorney or Professor Layton series. Don't have the player be the Captain right away; have him/her start out as just a crewman/ensign bridge officer. Via various minigames and dialogues, the player would handle shipboard maintenance, contribute to intellectual discussions, and be assigned to away missions. Combat in this game would be another minigame, as opposed to the main focus.
When the player is on an away mission, there is a degree of possibility that some baddies will come and try to disrupt the away team, depending on how dangerous the mission is. That's where the player gets to engage in ground combat once in a while. Eventually, the player will get to pilot a shuttle, and sometimes have it engage enemy small craft for the first taste of space combat. After a certain amount of play time, the player may become high enough rank that he/she gets to command the starship once in a while, such as during the night watch.
Finally, close to the middle of the game as opposed to the start, the player gets promoted to Captain and gets his/her own command. At this point, the player gets improved selection of his/her ship and crew. Maybe, just maybe, the player could get promoted to Rear Admiral near the end of the game, allowing the command of entire squadrons. The higher rank the player, the more pressure there is to make the tough decisions of command.
So yeah, there's my .02 Latinum bars on how a Star Trek game could work.
... A true Star Trek feel, IMHO, is incompatible with the typical MMO formula.
This sums it all for me.
So in a nutshell, i think the STO is more like a giant Trek convention. the rules are made by ppl looking for the biggest "exitement" which is a lot of pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew... (well you get the idea.)
For example, pepole using all kinds of different uniforms, most of them don't even look like Trek uniforms at all.
(in fact finding someone using a trek uniform can take a while, lol)
People running around with gund bigger as a child.
We can even change our ships appearance (within cryptics limits).
Cryptic doesn't care much about canon at all. We have ferengi marauders, Cardassian Galor Classes and Excelsior Classes that can outgun a Galaxy Class. Not even CBS bothers.
We have the Captains table, which seems to be some kind of Nexus.
But giving us a Galaxy class that doesn't suck or some additional ship parts for the Odyssey or the Avenger seems to be a big problem for Cryptics devs.
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
1) Cryptic sets up basic rules then ignores them
The Federation is at war with the Klingons. The Federations is at war with the Cardassians. The Federations is at war with the Romulans. The Federation is at war with the Borg. The Federation is at war with the Voth. The Federation is at war with every single dam entity in the whole galaxy!!! Yet, I can have a Klingon captain with a Borg first officer, a Breen second officer, an Android third officer and an Alien foruth officer, captaining a Cardassian ship fighting for the Federation. I mean.... what the bloody hell?!
2) Stupid space battles
The space battles were a huge letdown. Not because they don't look awesome or there are not enough abilities. STO performs very nicely there. But when I had to kill three BoPs, one Vor'Cha and a Negh'Var with my 80 years old Miranda Class within the same mission I just went berserk. If a flying museum can destroy the flagship of the Klingon Empire what should I be afraid of? Borg Cubes? The Doomsday Device? Nah, I got them as well...
And what happens on higher levels? Do they give you bigger ships to deal with? No, they just buff up the enemy ships so a max level B'Rel will have more HP and shields than your fleet Galaxy with full endgame equipment... That's their idea to mmake levels more difficult. Or sending 20 ships in and let you to destroy each and every one of them ALONE!
You should **** in you pants when you see a Negh'Var coming at you and for a Borg Cube the ONLY reasonable thing would be to run away until heavy reinforcements arrive. Yet, I'm soloing Cubes on a daily basis...
I once started to count how many people I was killing by blowing up all those ships. I already annihilated Earth several times...
Here's what I think would make a good, realistic Star Trek experience in a video game in my own, personal opinion:
Make a puzzle/problem-solving game, similar to the Ace Attorney or Professor Layton series. Don't have the player be the Captain right away; have him/her start out as just a crewman/ensign bridge officer. Via various minigames and dialogues, the player would handle shipboard maintenance, contribute to intellectual discussions, and be assigned to away missions. Combat in this game would be another minigame, as opposed to the main focus.
When the player is on an away mission, there is a degree of possibility that some baddies will come and try to disrupt the away team, depending on how dangerous the mission is. That's where the player gets to engage in ground combat once in a while. Eventually, the player will get to pilot a shuttle, and sometimes have it engage enemy small craft for the first taste of space combat. After a certain amount of play time, the player may become high enough rank that he/she gets to command the starship once in a while, such as during the night watch.
Finally, close to the middle of the game as opposed to the start, the player gets promoted to Captain and gets his/her own command. At this point, the player gets improved selection of his/her ship and crew. Maybe, just maybe, the player could get promoted to Rear Admiral near the end of the game, allowing the command of entire squadrons. The higher rank the player, the more pressure there is to make the tough decisions of command.
So yeah, there's my .02 Latinum bars on how a Star Trek game could work.
Actually a way around that. Lets say you do the fed tutorial and you're promoted to LT, but you're too junior to command a Miranda class Lt Cruiser. So you're instead given a run about to command or if you have the ZEN a delta flyer style ship or a peregrin.
You're given a small crew of 3 other officers and your job is to do transportation work, or you're assigned to a bigger star ship and you do scouting missions from that ship for a while picking up command experience and the like.
Eventually you hit LT commander and are given command of a small frigate sized ship like a Nova. Small crew, a LT commander's billet, then off you go.
Star Trek Battles member. Want to roll with a good group of people regardless of fleets and not have to worry about DPS while doing STFs? Come join the channel and join in the fun!
actually a LT in command of something like a Miranda wouldnt be too farfetched. Lets be frank (or ernest) a Miranda is not a ship of the line and shouldnt really be on the front lines at any rate. now getting into something like a sovereign and such at actual captain rank, that makes more sense
And let's not forget... these are desperate times... rather than sticking to rank Starfleet sets up people based upon capabilities... so even if your are a "lowly" LT you get to fly an old Vessel that would have been used as a detergent against small time pirates and nothing more.
And let's not forget... these are desperate times... rather than sticking to rank Starfleet sets up people based upon capabilities... so even if your are a "lowly" LT you get to fly an old Vessel that would have been used as a detergent against small time pirates and nothing more.
Given the fact, that LTs have commanded ships in the reality's and Trek's past, I don't see why this is a problem.
In the Perpetual STO game, they were talking about having the player be a lowly member of a crew, but it was quickly disregarded because it would have gotten too boring.
Personally, I feel that the STO mainline missions are the Trek canon parts while, shooting x amount of ships/npcs are just filler. I don't take that part seriously. I mean using the Galor with various different species of BOFFs are the player's choice, they don't have to have a Galor or a alien ship or a KDF Andorian.
This game is not perfect and at times very frustrating at how the Dev's perceive to add their part to Trek lore. They don't even add backstory, well quite frankly barely any story to anything that is put in the game. It is just laziness.
Comments
Make a puzzle/problem-solving game, similar to the Ace Attorney or Professor Layton series. Don't have the player be the Captain right away; have him/her start out as just a crewman/ensign bridge officer. Via various minigames and dialogues, the player would handle shipboard maintenance, contribute to intellectual discussions, and be assigned to away missions. Combat in this game would be another minigame, as opposed to the main focus.
When the player is on an away mission, there is a degree of possibility that some baddies will come and try to disrupt the away team, depending on how dangerous the mission is. That's where the player gets to engage in ground combat once in a while. Eventually, the player will get to pilot a shuttle, and sometimes have it engage enemy small craft for the first taste of space combat. After a certain amount of play time, the player may become high enough rank that he/she gets to command the starship once in a while, such as during the night watch.
Finally, close to the middle of the game as opposed to the start, the player gets promoted to Captain and gets his/her own command. At this point, the player gets improved selection of his/her ship and crew. Maybe, just maybe, the player could get promoted to Rear Admiral near the end of the game, allowing the command of entire squadrons. The higher rank the player, the more pressure there is to make the tough decisions of command.
So yeah, there's my .02 Latinum bars on how a Star Trek game could work.
This sums it all for me.
So in a nutshell, i think the STO is more like a giant Trek convention. the rules are made by ppl looking for the biggest "exitement" which is a lot of pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew... (well you get the idea.)
For example, pepole using all kinds of different uniforms, most of them don't even look like Trek uniforms at all.
(in fact finding someone using a trek uniform can take a while, lol)
People running around with gund bigger as a child.
We can even change our ships appearance (within cryptics limits).
Cryptic doesn't care much about canon at all. We have ferengi marauders, Cardassian Galor Classes and Excelsior Classes that can outgun a Galaxy Class. Not even CBS bothers.
We have the Captains table, which seems to be some kind of Nexus.
But giving us a Galaxy class that doesn't suck or some additional ship parts for the Odyssey or the Avenger seems to be a big problem for Cryptics devs.
1) Cryptic sets up basic rules then ignores them
The Federation is at war with the Klingons. The Federations is at war with the Cardassians. The Federations is at war with the Romulans. The Federation is at war with the Borg. The Federation is at war with the Voth. The Federation is at war with every single dam entity in the whole galaxy!!! Yet, I can have a Klingon captain with a Borg first officer, a Breen second officer, an Android third officer and an Alien foruth officer, captaining a Cardassian ship fighting for the Federation. I mean.... what the bloody hell?!
2) Stupid space battles
The space battles were a huge letdown. Not because they don't look awesome or there are not enough abilities. STO performs very nicely there. But when I had to kill three BoPs, one Vor'Cha and a Negh'Var with my 80 years old Miranda Class within the same mission I just went berserk. If a flying museum can destroy the flagship of the Klingon Empire what should I be afraid of? Borg Cubes? The Doomsday Device? Nah, I got them as well...
And what happens on higher levels? Do they give you bigger ships to deal with? No, they just buff up the enemy ships so a max level B'Rel will have more HP and shields than your fleet Galaxy with full endgame equipment... That's their idea to mmake levels more difficult. Or sending 20 ships in and let you to destroy each and every one of them ALONE!
You should **** in you pants when you see a Negh'Var coming at you and for a Borg Cube the ONLY reasonable thing would be to run away until heavy reinforcements arrive. Yet, I'm soloing Cubes on a daily basis...
I once started to count how many people I was killing by blowing up all those ships. I already annihilated Earth several times...
Actually a way around that. Lets say you do the fed tutorial and you're promoted to LT, but you're too junior to command a Miranda class Lt Cruiser. So you're instead given a run about to command or if you have the ZEN a delta flyer style ship or a peregrin.
You're given a small crew of 3 other officers and your job is to do transportation work, or you're assigned to a bigger star ship and you do scouting missions from that ship for a while picking up command experience and the like.
Eventually you hit LT commander and are given command of a small frigate sized ship like a Nova. Small crew, a LT commander's billet, then off you go.
Star Trek Battles member. Want to roll with a good group of people regardless of fleets and not have to worry about DPS while doing STFs? Come join the channel and join in the fun!
http://forum.arcgames.com/startrekonline/discussion/1145998/star-trek-battles-channel-got-canon/p1
Given the fact, that LTs have commanded ships in the reality's and Trek's past, I don't see why this is a problem.
In the Perpetual STO game, they were talking about having the player be a lowly member of a crew, but it was quickly disregarded because it would have gotten too boring.
Personally, I feel that the STO mainline missions are the Trek canon parts while, shooting x amount of ships/npcs are just filler. I don't take that part seriously. I mean using the Galor with various different species of BOFFs are the player's choice, they don't have to have a Galor or a alien ship or a KDF Andorian.
This game is not perfect and at times very frustrating at how the Dev's perceive to add their part to Trek lore. They don't even add backstory, well quite frankly barely any story to anything that is put in the game. It is just laziness.