In the last few days i have that perception.
And i dont feel confortable with that.
Think somebody wanna forceme to take a desicion i dont wanna take.
With all the repect, i dont think that be right or nice.
But, like always Cryptic have the last word and thats all.
Greetings
Of course Cryptic has the last word on it. It's their software, you never really have any choice available to you other than launching it with what they allow you to launch it with or not launching it at all. You only have had the perception of free will.
And these are of approximately the same significance as my son stomping his feet and announcing loudly that he hates (insert food he's never tried before). Your complaints are pointless, and will result in absolutely no change to anything.
Now, if you'd care to articulate exactly what issues you might have, and possibly how they might be addressed, there's at least a chance you can influence the launch of this software. But you won't stop it coming by threatening to hold your breath until you turn blue.
i wasnt looking to critique the new system, wasnt asking for them to make it "less bad"
my feedback is very straightforward
1. dont want the arc loader. i just want to start the game, not run software that lets me start software.
-i have never liked launchers anyway, for this or any other game, especially when they advertise.
2. i dont like anything about the generic new website or its layout.
The old website worked just fine, there was no need to reinvent the wheel only to make it square. sometimes u make something and go... i shouldnt have done that, then u pull out the original and keep using it.
"Tickle us, do we not laugh? Prick us, do we not bleed? Wrong us, shall we not revenge?" -General Chang
P.W.E. PLEASE stop forcing your new updates (ARC) down our throats. ARC might be fine for your other
games but leave STO alone, Your new web site looks like it was put together by a pre-schooler, are you trying to kill STO? I don't care if STO is imported to your stupid core connect statistics. :mad:
Sad part about this thread is that I kinda agree. Even sadder part is that I don't think they listen, and the saddest part is that the thread will probably vanish magically.
It's like a drone complaining that his implants itch...
You have been assimilated. Resistance is, and always has been, futile.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
They want to tie it all together like a safety net, like the banks did around the world. The explanation I was given for ARC was its a marketing gimmick to bombard you with advertisements with all of the games in their network as well as news and updates for each and every game in said network. =@.@= (Drowned in an endless sea of marketing!)
But when I downloaded ARC initially, it had access to my PC files. Sooo, I'm guessing monitoring my pc and browsing my activities to help give them data on what to sell me or what I would be interested in buying, is considered ok to that company...well its not, so I removed the ARC infection from my PC quickly!! (I can play STO again now BTW) Its bad enough Google/YouTube turned my browser into a massive info gathering database ...I dont need to be probed from every angle! I suppose the guy who invented Facebook was right when he said, if your not already in the system you soon will be. Face book and social media was created for the CIA (his own words), as people are more willing to give you all the info about them and its cheaper then keeping tabs on them through actual investigations.
Cryptic, you where fine by yourselves, you didnt actually need PWE, and you certainly dont need a parasite like ARC. Infact (and its just a thought) I think what has been taking us further from canon, could have been the addition of all this banding together of all these company's to cryptic. Not saying the Voth and new romulus stuff was bad, its been fun, but I do see more none alien ships parked at esd then fed anymore, if any! lol, same thing at Quonos, one klingon ship and a dozen romulan ones...Kayless would flip his walnut (head) in the canon version. XD
P.W.E. PLEASE stop forcing your new updates (ARC) down our throats. ARC might be fine for your other
games but leave STO alone, Your new web site looks like it was put together by a pre-schooler, are you trying to kill STO? I don't care if STO is imported to your stupid core connect statistics. :mad:
move along, they are not interested in such opinions and never have been. thats why i dont complain about sto any longer because there is just no point trying. when something better comes along one day and takes my attention from STO then thats that, until that day the only thing i can do is watch from the sidelines and take PWE's punches to the face like a nice little sheeple...
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
move along, they are not interested in such opinions and never have been. thats why i dont complain about sto any longer because there is just no point trying. when something better comes along one day and takes my attention from STO then thats that, until that day the only thing i can do is watch from the sidelines and take PWE's punches to the face like a nice little sheeple...
Nope, not me. This game is too awesome to let go of, or be addressed in the (any other mmo) category! What we need is a couple of die hard Trek fans to lead the charge and fight against making it a generic and mindless carbon copy of other mmo's! How Picard dealt with this situation!
First of all, sorry if this doesn't belong in the General Discussion (I can imagine that) but I didn't have a clue where to put it elsewhere. If the location is unfitting, please let a mod move this.
Anyway.
So I've been using Arc for a month now. Let me first start by telling that I usually run STO through Steam on this computer. My previous one had the standalone launcher simply because it was to crappy to run anything next to STO and TeamSpeak.
So as a launcher for the launcher (which is what it currently is), its better than Steam for me. I don't have to put in my login info every single time anymore. I just click play, patch if needed and play. This is pretty nice.
The overlay seems to be interfering with the game. When I'm walking on, say ESD, and press Shift+Tab before stopping, my character continues to run. In fact, after I close the overlay, I cannot stop him without making a mouse click (not even walking backwards). So that's an issue that needs fixing in my opinion.
Being able to access the forums while ingame is nice. Sometimes I spend 5-10 minutes waiting for my Fleet team to ready up for an STF, and to be able to catch up with the forums is nice.
I kinda miss a friend function in Arc, similar to the Steam friends. It might simply be that I didn't find it yet, but I would appreciate it.
I dislike the website. STO had such a nice, clear website and forum, that tied in with the game, having some beatiful metallic borders (you know what I mean, this part of my English is lacking. As in seriously, the new site confuses the hell out of me. I can't seem to grasp what is the newest article. No place for seeing some of the stuff on the previous website (tribble character as the most notably, the wiki link, and probably stuff I'm forgetting). So yeah, I really dislike the Arc website design. I am going as far to say that I even hate it. Bad for Arc.
My main objection to Arc is it becoming mandatory (unless Steam). I would not have a problem with it. But I am afraid for the many players that have lesser computers (like my previous one that had issues with STO and TS at the same time). With mandatory programs running in the background, they will meet frustation. So I am AGAINST mandatory Arc for this simple reason.
That is what I have to say about Arc. Although it definitely isn't the devilish spyware that it has been said to be, it is still not doing a good job with our website, our forum looks (my computer with Chrome is fine, but I also have a tablet that is stuck with Internet Explorer...... ), and with going to force out people with computer that are 3+ years old (just an estimation, depends on what computer it was at that time).
So personally, I don't mind Arc for me, but I prefer Steam, and I am opposed to the downsides. So from me, Arc needs either a big rework so that it gives me a STO feeling, or I'll happily play through Steam.
In the meantime, thanks for the uniform and the shuttle
Ow, and before the hatred camp comes in, please give a short explaination to why you hate Arc. Most people have made their feelings on Arc clear, and I'm hoping for a discussion, not posts that are like: "I hate Arc. End of post." Because frankly, nobody has any use on those posts.
From what I've been able to dig up, what Arc is doing with your PC's files is far less sinister than you imagine. Mostly it's looking for those gold-farming bots that have been polluting ESD zone chat and the in-game mail system with their offers to sell you C-store ships, Zen, Dil, and EC in exchange for money. (And for your credit-card number, of course, as there's really no way to do a cash transaction over the internet without Bitcoins...)
They're also doing the same basic scan of your system's capabilities that Steam does, in order to see what sorts of computers they have to be able to run on. (I recently discovered how to check that out in Steam; I didn't even know that I had a dual-core, four-thread processor.)
First of all, sorry if this doesn't belong in the General Discussion (I can imagine that) but I didn't have a clue where to put it elsewhere. If the location is unfitting, please let a mod move this.
From what I've been able to dig up, what Arc is doing with your PC's files is far less sinister than you imagine. Mostly it's looking for those gold-farming bots that have been polluting ESD zone chat and the in-game mail system with their offers to sell you C-store ships, Zen, Dil, and EC in exchange for money. (And for your credit-card number, of course, as there's really no way to do a cash transaction over the internet without Bitcoins...)
They're also doing the same basic scan of your system's capabilities that Steam does, in order to see what sorts of computers they have to be able to run on. (I recently discovered how to check that out in Steam; I didn't even know that I had a dual-core, four-thread processor.)
Well, as long as they're not in league with the NSA or GCHQ.
However, about a quarter of the people posting in that thread (and responsible for more than a quarter of the posts in that thread) are not ready for feedback. And they don't seem to understand that "I hate Arc. End of post," is not useful or valid feedback.
We've known Arc was coming for quite a long time. There's been a while for people to learn what Arc is, and what it isn't. And, as I noted in that thread, stamping your feet and proclaiming how much you hate Arc, especially when you've never downloaded it and tried it, has about the same significance as my son stamping his feet and dramatically complaining about how much he hates vegetables at dinner. (Well, except that I can't send you to your room without any STO.)
However, about a quarter of the people posting in that thread (and responsible for more than a quarter of the posts in that thread) are not ready for feedback. And they don't seem to understand that "I hate Arc. End of post," is not useful or valid feedback.
However, as we're both well aware, that's the thread into which this one will be assimilated anyway, regardless of who does/doesn't consider what kind of post valid.
Not a fan of Arc currently. I recognize it is necessary, I recognize it will be mandatory.
But I get the impression the more Cryptic progresses, the more the game/website regresses.
I want to go forward with technology, not backwards. As the mighty captain bob has already pointed out, we end up losing functionality as the STO website/forums hop from owner to owner.
Furthermore, Arc is in Beta. Aren't Betas supposed to be optional? I mean I know there's a joke in there about Holodeck being the new Beta with Tribble being the preview server -- something they already acknowledge for Neverwinter.
But last I checked, customers/potential customers were given Beta access on request. It seems I'm getting my arm twisted to Beta test their pet project whether I want to or not. Because I sure as hell am not requesting to Beta test this disaster.
Maybe they're just cutting the TRIBBLE and saying that we're going to suffer their website/forum coding incompetence and if we don't like it, we can leave since there are a thousand more lowest common denominators with poor impulse spending habits to replace us.
Ok, I wouldn't mind a merge, but I'm not really fond of that hate-dominated thread. Still, lets merge it. Or better, create an Arc subforum. It seems to be needed.
Not a fan of Arc currently. I recognize it is necessary, I recognize it will be mandatory.
But I get the impression the more Cryptic progresses, the more the game/website regresses.
I want to go forward with technology, not backwards. As the mighty captain bob has already pointed out, we end up losing functionality as the STO website/forums hop from owner to owner.
Furthermore, Arc is in Beta. Aren't Betas supposed to be optional? I mean I know there's a joke in there about Holodeck being the new Beta with Tribble being the preview server -- something they already acknowledge for Neverwinter.
But last I checked, customers/potential customers were given Beta access on request. It seems I'm getting my arm twisted to Beta test their pet project whether I want to or not. Because I sure as hell am not requesting to Beta test this disaster.
Maybe they're just cutting the TRIBBLE and saying that we're going to suffer their website/forum coding incompetence and if we don't like it, we can leave since there are a thousand more lowest common denominators with poor impulse spending habits to replace us.
You mean, I will have to add ARC to my pc in the future to even play the game?? If this is true, I may hold off on bringing back my review show then, or buying anymore zen, incase I have to jump ship! Grrrr!
The game should be for the convenience of the players; this is also why STAR restaurants are lousy places to eat, because if you complain about what your being served, the chef gets offended and you may get banned or asked to leave...its about pleasing the business and not customers these days....what ever happened to the waiter coming to your table to ask if everything was alright and if they could get you anything else? You know, to make your stay more pleasant so you would want to come back. Why not just hire a bunch of old school lunch ladys to just slop what ever your serving on peoples trays and keep the line moving? I was trying to have fun with it and play off of a Nostalgia Critic style approach with my complaints but, this really is serious for the fans! I couldnt care less about the mentioned bots, I just ignore then, they dont bother me. Its the things that affect my gaming enjoyment and future there of that do!
Now I picture the future of mmo players being those marching kids in "A Brick In The Wall" official music video.
You mean, I will have to add ARC to my pc in the future to even play the game?? If this is true, I may hold off on bringing back my review show then, or buying anymore zen, incase I have to jump ship! Grrrr!
You don't sink this kind of time and money into Arc if you don't anticipate a large majority of your players to use it. It's like linking your PWE/Cryptic account way back in the day. Right now? No, it isn't mandatory. In the near future it won't be mandatory. There will be a large grace period before the time comes when Arc becomes mandatory, since part of the purpose of Arc is to unify all PWE games under one launcher instead of multiple individual launchers with their own technicalities.
As of right now they're entering the courting phase. They start bribing us to use Arc with special shinies. Just like with the Cryptic/PWE account link promos. After a while (while they're 'finishing' Arc) there will be one last promo for using the Arc client. At which point Branflakes or Captainsmirk or whoever succeeds him will post a dev blog or forum post saying that the STO launcher will no longer be supported and players will have to go through Arc.
There are two good things, however.
1: We do not have a timeline when it will become mandatory, which means it will not be for months. As long as Arc continues to be in Beta, it will not become mandatory. Once Arc is out of Beta, that is when the final grace period starts ticking down. Hope that Arc stays in Beta.
2: Steam will be your alternative option. While I'm sure Arc would like nothing more than to steal players away from Steam, they are in this for the money. Any marketing 'genius' at PWE will be smart enough to recognize the revenue that comes from Steam players. In addition, the exclusive Steam bundle is for those who use Steam as it is, which means that's a source of revenue they simply can't say no to -- in addition to any other Zen spent or Gold subs purchase through the Steam client.
The arc people have gone on record as saying that there are no plans to terminate their relationship with Valve/Steam, likely due to the large amount of players that use Steam, and are looking at ways for you to play STO through Steam without Arc involved. Don't kid yourself, this isn't about how much they appreciate the customers. This is about money. And there is a large financial stake in keeping the relationship with Steam warm and cozy for the sake of PWE's bottom line.
Arc will terminate their relationship with Steam if and when Arc becomes an actual genuine competitor to Steam, which is what their company 'goal' consists of, but for those of us who live in the 'real world', Arc will never be able to compete toe-to-toe with Steam, and certainly not for a very long time.
If the improbable happens and Arc becomes as popular as Steam, that's when you can start worrying. Because they will cut their ties to Steam if that possibility occurs, since the revenue lost from Steam players will be miniscule and easily overlooked for the sake of Arc loyalty.
The game should be for the convenience of the players; this is also why STAR restaurants are lousy places to eat, because if you complain about what your being served, the chef gets offended and you may get banned or asked to leave...its about pleasing the business and not customers these days....what ever happened to the waiter coming to your table to ask if everything was alright and if they could get you anything else? You know, to make your stay more pleasant so you would want to come back. Why not just hire a bunch of old school lunch ladys to just slop what ever your serving on peoples trays and keep the line moving? I was trying to have fun with it and play off of a Nostalgia Critic style approach with my complaints but, this really is serious for the fans! I couldnt care less about the mentioned bots, I just ignore then, they dont bother me. Its the things that affect my gaming and future there of that do!
Now I picture the future of mmo players being those marching kids in "A Brick In The Wall" official music video.
The problem with that is PWE is looking to get into the 'fast food' franchise of MMO's. Whereas Cryptic might have been a small independant restaurant who could do things their way and focus on quality -- once acquired by PWE, and the game switching from a subcription model to the f2p model, it became a competitor in the oversaturated MMO market.
The bottom line no longer consists of loyal players who spend money to support the game, the bottom line consists of 'content locusts' who will jump from f2p game to f2p game, and nickel-and-diming them. The microtransactions from silver players who may only play for a little bit outweighs the financial gain made by loyal players over a long period of time.
That's how fast food franchises work. It isn't about making customers happy, it's about pushing them in and out of the door in a very streamlined and efficient manner. This is why Arc advertises other games in addition to STO and CO and NW, because whenever you get sick of STO or whatever, there are other PWE games there for you to spend money on. This is the writing on the wall that PWE does not care if you are loyal to only one Cryptic title (like STO), they don't mind, sure. But those people don't bring home the bacon, so to speak. The people who do are those who are easily distracted and will simply jump game to game. With Arc, it helps promote PWE's suggestion that they can jump game to game -- as long as they're PWE games. Loyalty to STO alone is no longer a driving desire.
The restaurants you mentioned are losing ground as well. I can't go into a restaurant without a waiter asking if I'm done eating when I'm not even finished with my salad yet. They're getting into the habit of pushing customers in and out the door as fast and efficiently as possible too.
And it's not just MMO's and restaurants, you see it everywhere. It's all about making turn-around time efficient, that's where the money is.
Op that is a superb analysis of the software if running on a good machine. And your english sir is very good,(and might I add you spelling better than mine most of the time).
in fact it has encouraged me slightly to maybe give it more of a shot.
My problem is my pc isn't great and hurls everything it has at sto to have it running as I like it. Running raidcall in the background is doable but I find arc munches on my machines wee brain a bit if I have that running too.
Also I've found it seems to take me longer to load into the game than if I just use my standard launcher, which is my main reason for not using it much.
"If this will be our end, then I will have them make SUCH an end as to be worthy of rememberance! Out of torpedos you say?! Find me the ferengi!".
ok, so i must say straight away i dislike it. it means having another process running in the background which i do not NEED running. sto works fine with out arc. i dislike the fact you are forcing something a large part of the forum based population would rather not have. instead of asking us on the forums make a poll for sto players so when they log in the whole user base has an opinion not just the forum monsters. i doubt you will do this as the numbers of people who you here in game talking badly about ark are even worse. (looks bad in front of your bosses) if ark is optional it would be a massive improvement and if arc is forced upon us i will have to say farewell sto the one game i have spent over 2000 hours playing and very much enjoyed. all in all i think forcing arc upon your player base could potentially ruin this game after all why fix what aint broke?
I'm so happy that I have the original sto launcher and as longes it work I play, there is No way I'm adding other steam like thing to my pc it only waste resources like cpu and ram, and if some technician makes a mistake when updating arc then WBF and can't play.
Nope, not me. This game is too awesome to let go of, or be addressed in the (any other mmo) category! What we need is a couple of die hard Trek fans to lead the charge and fight against making it a generic and mindless carbon copy of other mmo's! How Picard dealt with this situation!
i wouldnt be so excitable about your prospects if i were you. your chances of getting PWE to change it's direction on STO is about as likely as the sun to move from its place and orbit around Jupiter instead. if they have shown anything the past few years is that when they start something they see it through no matter how silly (aka season 8) and nothing we say matters.
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
I'm so happy that I have the original sto launcher and as longes it work I play, there is No way I'm adding other steam like thing to my pc it only waste resources like cpu and ram, and if some technician makes a mistake when updating arc then WBF and can't play.
jacqueline- Same here, it was a trick Luna taught me. I saved my original cryptic folder on a jumpdrive and just drag and drop it on my new pc to save myself from using up all my data for the month, my ISP is a ruthless money pit, with only 3 plans, 10, 20 and 30GB limit per month. If I had downloaded the game again through ARC, it would have cost me $150 in overage charges, that would have been a terrible price to pay for a minor costume unlock...one that I found isnt even usable on my Caitians!
As for my canon interests, (a geeks desire!) I speak of sticking to and allowing for following the models from shows and movies, so it resembles Star Trek in some form again, I like RP, from a few different eras, the interior of the constitution bridge was absolutely perfect, and should be a good model for the rest of the game, like having tng interior for the galaxy or voyager interior for the intrepid class, etc. The defiant interior would have been cool if they had ether the ds9 or first contact uniforms on the npcs. If I where to film this game and show it to trekkies, they would probably stop complaining about me making James T Cat :P
Idrona, you keep up with alot of this and are a good source on info, thanks a lot : D.
But if i get into making my show again and they hit the kill switch on my launcher, it would be a disaster like when my laptop stopped working and we couldnt continue Cartoon Heroes. I'm going to wait and see if its in my best interest to invest in a project or zen. Maybe they will see reason, you never know...I still have hope. I like this game and have based a lot on it around the web, including my known name! But Thats not a promise Ill stick around to keep coming back to serve the corporate cause...im only interested in serving my own cause here, to enjoy the game and be served a slice of entertainment to MY liking much like the rest of us you who keep coming back. I have no interest in any of the other games they show, and will continue to ignore them the more they try to force it. But I know it will be a loosing battle much like health insurance.
This is a good thread, it gets fan voices out there. Keep giving your opinions, let them know whats on your mind. Whether your for or against ARC, all aspects should be brought to the table to chew on.
Comments
Of course Cryptic has the last word on it. It's their software, you never really have any choice available to you other than launching it with what they allow you to launch it with or not launching it at all. You only have had the perception of free will.
i wasnt looking to critique the new system, wasnt asking for them to make it "less bad"
my feedback is very straightforward
1. dont want the arc loader. i just want to start the game, not run software that lets me start software.
-i have never liked launchers anyway, for this or any other game, especially when they advertise.
2. i dont like anything about the generic new website or its layout.
The old website worked just fine, there was no need to reinvent the wheel only to make it square. sometimes u make something and go... i shouldnt have done that, then u pull out the original and keep using it.
-General Chang
You remove a way we Sub Players could access our accounts and keep track of upcoming payment dates and the like.
Now that that site has been removed. We Sub Players have no way to access our account information
I am here by requesting that Star Trek Online.com be reinstated at once
https://my.perfectworld.com/account/sto
ROFL forum code turn it into a link, just click it get to your account
Sad part about this thread is that I kinda agree. Even sadder part is that I don't think they listen, and the saddest part is that the thread will probably vanish magically.
You have been assimilated. Resistance is, and always has been, futile.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
But when I downloaded ARC initially, it had access to my PC files. Sooo, I'm guessing monitoring my pc and browsing my activities to help give them data on what to sell me or what I would be interested in buying, is considered ok to that company...well its not, so I removed the ARC infection from my PC quickly!! (I can play STO again now BTW) Its bad enough Google/YouTube turned my browser into a massive info gathering database ...I dont need to be probed from every angle! I suppose the guy who invented Facebook was right when he said, if your not already in the system you soon will be. Face book and social media was created for the CIA (his own words), as people are more willing to give you all the info about them and its cheaper then keeping tabs on them through actual investigations.
Cryptic, you where fine by yourselves, you didnt actually need PWE, and you certainly dont need a parasite like ARC. Infact (and its just a thought) I think what has been taking us further from canon, could have been the addition of all this banding together of all these company's to cryptic. Not saying the Voth and new romulus stuff was bad, its been fun, but I do see more none alien ships parked at esd then fed anymore, if any! lol, same thing at Quonos, one klingon ship and a dozen romulan ones...Kayless would flip his walnut (head) in the canon version. XD
move along, they are not interested in such opinions and never have been. thats why i dont complain about sto any longer because there is just no point trying. when something better comes along one day and takes my attention from STO then thats that, until that day the only thing i can do is watch from the sidelines and take PWE's punches to the face like a nice little sheeple...
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Nope, not me. This game is too awesome to let go of, or be addressed in the (any other mmo) category! What we need is a couple of die hard Trek fans to lead the charge and fight against making it a generic and mindless carbon copy of other mmo's!
How Picard dealt with this situation!
Anyway.
So I've been using Arc for a month now. Let me first start by telling that I usually run STO through Steam on this computer. My previous one had the standalone launcher simply because it was to crappy to run anything next to STO and TeamSpeak.
So as a launcher for the launcher (which is what it currently is), its better than Steam for me. I don't have to put in my login info every single time anymore. I just click play, patch if needed and play. This is pretty nice.
The overlay seems to be interfering with the game. When I'm walking on, say ESD, and press Shift+Tab before stopping, my character continues to run. In fact, after I close the overlay, I cannot stop him without making a mouse click (not even walking backwards). So that's an issue that needs fixing in my opinion.
Being able to access the forums while ingame is nice. Sometimes I spend 5-10 minutes waiting for my Fleet team to ready up for an STF, and to be able to catch up with the forums is nice.
I kinda miss a friend function in Arc, similar to the Steam friends. It might simply be that I didn't find it yet, but I would appreciate it.
I dislike the website. STO had such a nice, clear website and forum, that tied in with the game, having some beatiful metallic borders (you know what I mean, this part of my English is lacking. As in seriously, the new site confuses the hell out of me. I can't seem to grasp what is the newest article. No place for seeing some of the stuff on the previous website (tribble character as the most notably, the wiki link, and probably stuff I'm forgetting). So yeah, I really dislike the Arc website design. I am going as far to say that I even hate it. Bad for Arc.
My main objection to Arc is it becoming mandatory (unless Steam). I would not have a problem with it. But I am afraid for the many players that have lesser computers (like my previous one that had issues with STO and TS at the same time). With mandatory programs running in the background, they will meet frustation. So I am AGAINST mandatory Arc for this simple reason.
That is what I have to say about Arc. Although it definitely isn't the devilish spyware that it has been said to be, it is still not doing a good job with our website, our forum looks (my computer with Chrome is fine, but I also have a tablet that is stuck with Internet Explorer......
So personally, I don't mind Arc for me, but I prefer Steam, and I am opposed to the downsides. So from me, Arc needs either a big rework so that it gives me a STO feeling, or I'll happily play through Steam.
In the meantime, thanks for the uniform and the shuttle
Ow, and before the hatred camp comes in, please give a short explaination to why you hate Arc. Most people have made their feelings on Arc clear, and I'm hoping for a discussion, not posts that are like: "I hate Arc. End of post." Because frankly, nobody has any use on those posts.
Join the Deltas today!
They're also doing the same basic scan of your system's capabilities that Steam does, in order to see what sorts of computers they have to be able to run on. (I recently discovered how to check that out in Steam; I didn't even know that I had a dual-core, four-thread processor.)
Arcgames.com is Ready for your Feedback :rolleyes:
I think it might be because I run NoScript on my browser, which prevents popups and redirection attempts, but I'm not positive.
Well, as long as they're not in league with the NSA or GCHQ.
*Hears knocking at door.*
Er...
Where did I put my shroud generator?
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
We've known Arc was coming for quite a long time. There's been a while for people to learn what Arc is, and what it isn't. And, as I noted in that thread, stamping your feet and proclaiming how much you hate Arc, especially when you've never downloaded it and tried it, has about the same significance as my son stamping his feet and dramatically complaining about how much he hates vegetables at dinner. (Well, except that I can't send you to your room without any STO.)
However, as we're both well aware, that's the thread into which this one will be assimilated anyway, regardless of who does/doesn't consider what kind of post valid.
But I get the impression the more Cryptic progresses, the more the game/website regresses.
I want to go forward with technology, not backwards. As the mighty captain bob has already pointed out, we end up losing functionality as the STO website/forums hop from owner to owner.
Furthermore, Arc is in Beta. Aren't Betas supposed to be optional? I mean I know there's a joke in there about Holodeck being the new Beta with Tribble being the preview server -- something they already acknowledge for Neverwinter.
But last I checked, customers/potential customers were given Beta access on request. It seems I'm getting my arm twisted to Beta test their pet project whether I want to or not. Because I sure as hell am not requesting to Beta test this disaster.
Maybe they're just cutting the TRIBBLE and saying that we're going to suffer their website/forum coding incompetence and if we don't like it, we can leave since there are a thousand more lowest common denominators with poor impulse spending habits to replace us.
Join the Deltas today!
Get CPU-Z and/or run the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
You mean, I will have to add ARC to my pc in the future to even play the game?? If this is true, I may hold off on bringing back my review show then, or buying anymore zen, incase I have to jump ship! Grrrr!
The game should be for the convenience of the players; this is also why STAR restaurants are lousy places to eat, because if you complain about what your being served, the chef gets offended and you may get banned or asked to leave...its about pleasing the business and not customers these days....what ever happened to the waiter coming to your table to ask if everything was alright and if they could get you anything else? You know, to make your stay more pleasant so you would want to come back. Why not just hire a bunch of old school lunch ladys to just slop what ever your serving on peoples trays and keep the line moving?
Now I picture the future of mmo players being those marching kids in "A Brick In The Wall" official music video.
You don't sink this kind of time and money into Arc if you don't anticipate a large majority of your players to use it. It's like linking your PWE/Cryptic account way back in the day. Right now? No, it isn't mandatory. In the near future it won't be mandatory. There will be a large grace period before the time comes when Arc becomes mandatory, since part of the purpose of Arc is to unify all PWE games under one launcher instead of multiple individual launchers with their own technicalities.
As of right now they're entering the courting phase. They start bribing us to use Arc with special shinies. Just like with the Cryptic/PWE account link promos. After a while (while they're 'finishing' Arc) there will be one last promo for using the Arc client. At which point Branflakes or Captainsmirk or whoever succeeds him will post a dev blog or forum post saying that the STO launcher will no longer be supported and players will have to go through Arc.
There are two good things, however.
1: We do not have a timeline when it will become mandatory, which means it will not be for months. As long as Arc continues to be in Beta, it will not become mandatory. Once Arc is out of Beta, that is when the final grace period starts ticking down. Hope that Arc stays in Beta.
2: Steam will be your alternative option. While I'm sure Arc would like nothing more than to steal players away from Steam, they are in this for the money. Any marketing 'genius' at PWE will be smart enough to recognize the revenue that comes from Steam players. In addition, the exclusive Steam bundle is for those who use Steam as it is, which means that's a source of revenue they simply can't say no to -- in addition to any other Zen spent or Gold subs purchase through the Steam client.
The arc people have gone on record as saying that there are no plans to terminate their relationship with Valve/Steam, likely due to the large amount of players that use Steam, and are looking at ways for you to play STO through Steam without Arc involved. Don't kid yourself, this isn't about how much they appreciate the customers. This is about money. And there is a large financial stake in keeping the relationship with Steam warm and cozy for the sake of PWE's bottom line.
Arc will terminate their relationship with Steam if and when Arc becomes an actual genuine competitor to Steam, which is what their company 'goal' consists of, but for those of us who live in the 'real world', Arc will never be able to compete toe-to-toe with Steam, and certainly not for a very long time.
If the improbable happens and Arc becomes as popular as Steam, that's when you can start worrying. Because they will cut their ties to Steam if that possibility occurs, since the revenue lost from Steam players will be miniscule and easily overlooked for the sake of Arc loyalty.
The problem with that is PWE is looking to get into the 'fast food' franchise of MMO's. Whereas Cryptic might have been a small independant restaurant who could do things their way and focus on quality -- once acquired by PWE, and the game switching from a subcription model to the f2p model, it became a competitor in the oversaturated MMO market.
The bottom line no longer consists of loyal players who spend money to support the game, the bottom line consists of 'content locusts' who will jump from f2p game to f2p game, and nickel-and-diming them. The microtransactions from silver players who may only play for a little bit outweighs the financial gain made by loyal players over a long period of time.
That's how fast food franchises work. It isn't about making customers happy, it's about pushing them in and out of the door in a very streamlined and efficient manner. This is why Arc advertises other games in addition to STO and CO and NW, because whenever you get sick of STO or whatever, there are other PWE games there for you to spend money on. This is the writing on the wall that PWE does not care if you are loyal to only one Cryptic title (like STO), they don't mind, sure. But those people don't bring home the bacon, so to speak. The people who do are those who are easily distracted and will simply jump game to game. With Arc, it helps promote PWE's suggestion that they can jump game to game -- as long as they're PWE games. Loyalty to STO alone is no longer a driving desire.
The restaurants you mentioned are losing ground as well. I can't go into a restaurant without a waiter asking if I'm done eating when I'm not even finished with my salad yet. They're getting into the habit of pushing customers in and out the door as fast and efficiently as possible too.
And it's not just MMO's and restaurants, you see it everywhere. It's all about making turn-around time efficient, that's where the money is.
in fact it has encouraged me slightly to maybe give it more of a shot.
My problem is my pc isn't great and hurls everything it has at sto to have it running as I like it. Running raidcall in the background is doable but I find arc munches on my machines wee brain a bit if I have that running too.
Also I've found it seems to take me longer to load into the game than if I just use my standard launcher, which is my main reason for not using it much.
"If this will be our end, then I will have them make SUCH an end as to be worthy of rememberance! Out of torpedos you say?! Find me the ferengi!".
I'll read all the comments, and sincerly have this perception: we have two kinds of player, the old ones, and the new ones.
The first group i think look into the history and past of Star Trek Online...
And the second group look into the future...
I wanna be part of that future, but i dont wanna forget the past. Think i must learn how to conciliate that.
In a first step i install arc, hope that company option choice was the best for all of us.
My desicion is ARC. Hope god and the rest of the players forgive me is not the correct choice.
Honestly have no bad intentions..., just want the best for me and the next generations of STO players.
Sincerly...
i wouldnt be so excitable about your prospects if i were you. your chances of getting PWE to change it's direction on STO is about as likely as the sun to move from its place and orbit around Jupiter instead. if they have shown anything the past few years is that when they start something they see it through no matter how silly (aka season 8) and nothing we say matters.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
jacqueline- Same here, it was a trick Luna taught me. I saved my original cryptic folder on a jumpdrive and just drag and drop it on my new pc to save myself from using up all my data for the month, my ISP is a ruthless money pit, with only 3 plans, 10, 20 and 30GB limit per month. If I had downloaded the game again through ARC, it would have cost me $150 in overage charges, that would have been a terrible price to pay for a minor costume unlock...one that I found isnt even usable on my Caitians!
As for my canon interests, (a geeks desire!) I speak of sticking to and allowing for following the models from shows and movies, so it resembles Star Trek in some form again, I like RP, from a few different eras, the interior of the constitution bridge was absolutely perfect, and should be a good model for the rest of the game, like having tng interior for the galaxy or voyager interior for the intrepid class, etc. The defiant interior would have been cool if they had ether the ds9 or first contact uniforms on the npcs. If I where to film this game and show it to trekkies, they would probably stop complaining about me making James T Cat :P
Idrona, you keep up with alot of this and are a good source on info, thanks a lot : D.
But if i get into making my show again and they hit the kill switch on my launcher, it would be a disaster like when my laptop stopped working and we couldnt continue Cartoon Heroes. I'm going to wait and see if its in my best interest to invest in a project or zen. Maybe they will see reason, you never know...I still have hope. I like this game and have based a lot on it around the web, including my known name! But Thats not a promise Ill stick around to keep coming back to serve the corporate cause...im only interested in serving my own cause here, to enjoy the game and be served a slice of entertainment to MY liking much like the rest of us you who keep coming back. I have no interest in any of the other games they show, and will continue to ignore them the more they try to force it. But I know it will be a loosing battle much like health insurance.
This is a good thread, it gets fan voices out there. Keep giving your opinions, let them know whats on your mind. Whether your for or against ARC, all aspects should be brought to the table to chew on.