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Dear Stephen... the issue is futility.
picardcrusher
Member Posts: 101 Arc User
First I would like to thank Dan for his contribution, and most especially for his integrity. He resigned when ownership nerfed his promises the first time. The only reason I am still playing this game is because he delivered on some very challenging promises when he came back. I hope he left for positive reasons and would be quite happy to see him back with STO in any capacity. But the challenge now falls to everyones favourite ECH. I'm confident you will have a better time of it Stephen, than when you had to juggle two jobs.
The goal, as expressed by Dan, was to bring people back to the game. Lot's of people have toons, few play them, and fewer still spend money. My fleet is a good example. Most of my friends are gone. They check in from time to time, because they want this to be a great game, but then they leave. That's because the experience of Star Trek makes us feel inspired and heroic, but the experience of STO the game is one of futility. That's also why I never intend to put another real penny into this game. Since I rarely complain without offering solutions...
I believe Stephen that your plan needs to start here. If sensors detect futility, then lock phasers and fire... and use the kill setting because this is what it is for. :eek:
A feeling of futility creeps into this game in many ways, but I'm going to address four that I think you can fix within PWE's apparent business model. These are; PVP combat, foundary, rules instability, and factual inaccuracies.
Futility starts with PVP. I'm going to disagree with the above quote. I think people know that Premades stomping PUGs is the reason so many people hate PVP. It's a great game, full of tactical intricacy. Yet that that very strength means that players who can coordinate will trash players who can't. The Kirks feel frustrated and only come to grind dilithium. PUG PVP lovers know that any hope of victory is futile.
A long time ago, and under my preferred name, I believe I was the first to suggest separating PVP into two groups; PUGs and Premades would fight each other only. Since then my belief has become even more strict. If premade teams want to fight each other then they can form a private match. All public ques should be changed to break up current teams and assign missions and membership randomly.
This would mean that there would be only two ques (same vs same and FvK). If you ended the Fed/KDF war there could be only one. Missions (arena, cap and hold, something new) would be assigned randomly (since in training or war you dont get to choose your fights), and new teams would be assigned by the AI; either randomly or perhaps with disincentive for being on the same fleet. This will concentrate the player base and get the ques popping.
It will end PUG stomping. Sure, a premade might accidentally find itself together, but if the PVP community expands then who's going to take a ship that's been min / maxed for a team you probably won't be with... those toons you can play in private matches. After all, from a military standpoint it is rather silly to crew and equip real ships that can only fight with 4 specific other ships... since reality doesn't allow for "respawn".
:cool: To facilitate premade competition there should be a bonus hour for these private matches. Actually, there should be a bonus hour for PVP PUGS as well.
Foundary currently equals futility or farming. I want new story content more than anything else, yet the thing I use the least is the foundary. The stories are good. I can even finish them, now that Captain Hunter let me in on the secret that the foundary is bugged if you arn't set to stop on dialogue . But foundary authors can't give us what we and they really want... an interactive experience. If we don't make our own decisions, with real consequences between options, then the STO foundary will never make you feel like the hero of the story.
The way STO is structured is like having a bad game master forced on you. If you play RPGs then you know a good gamemaster takes the game where the players direct and doesn't force you into his expectation. He plays the role of a sports referee... enforcing the rules but not determining the outcome. This means the players can enjoy success as their own, while their failures don't feel unfair. "Winning" a foundary mission is like getting one of those rewards for attendence... meaningless.
The episodic nature of STO missions is fine enough for featured episodes, because we all need to stay in the same larger universe. But if I'm not powerful enough to effect the outcome, then I'm not the hero of the story. Go there, press F, be told how wonderful I am. Futile.
We need real decision trees with conditional events and the ability to go where we chose within a campaign environment. Dan used to talk about making the foundary into each author's personal campaign. I would add that each mission should be structured like it was its own campaign.
I have 14 toons. They are only suitable for farming, though two are close to PVP worthy. They've all been hit with the nerfbat and set aside at some point. I actually keep the obsolete ones as a potential starting point for when rules change. That's because I know all my progress and accomplishment is futile.
I warned about this back when it was clear that paid respecs, restricted items, and rules changes would be linked as part of your business model. By expecting customers to pay for chaos in the rules, Cryptic has encouraged rules chaos and driven away customers. 'Bound to character' items/doffs/marks/dilithium and tracking reputation by toon rather than account has made it impossible for people to adapt to the changing environment. Like all evolution those who don't adapt die off, and those players who have had their time grinding made meaningless will leave the game as sure as dodos and dinosaurs are extinct.
Why should we invest our time in a game where we are made to feel powerless? That's what it is when you can't adapt. So people put their time into games where they can identify with their characters and not feel like they are going extinct.
:cool: I understand special items that are one per ship, but everything should be by account... even the reps. It's the only way that your time is valued equally if you have more than one character. Furthermore, there needs to be a vendor where we can exchange everything except EC back into the marks and dilithium it was purchased with.
As a case in point, last summer I did little with my free time that wasn't STO. I bought Zen because of promises kept about romulans and klingons, when I had thought I never would again. I invested this after a lot of thought about what they might or might not change. I stuck to fundimental things that hadn't altered in a while... and it was all for nothing; Because they changed threat control. Increased threat consoles originally added protection if you had threat control, but that was changed around when we got cruiser commands. The zen spent on new science ships and dilithium, the time grinding marks, all of it was a waste.
Until there is a vendor where I can get the value back that I have invested, Cryptic isn't worth my time. That's half your business model, since I won't be trading my time with people who have money and no time.
Then there is the money issue. I don't believe PWE can be trusted with my investment. Whether that is deserved or not is beside the point. It's my perception and it governs my willingness to fund the company... and there goes the other half of the free to play business model.
I called this one 'factual inaccuracies' but I could have easily labelled it the 'clash of cultures'. You would have a better idea Mr. D'Angelo as to the moral strengths and failings of your business associates than we the public, but it takes only a brief skimming of the forums to see that there are a lot of people who believe Cryptic and PWE hide, dissemble, lie to them outright, and cheat their customers. As mentioned earlier, I think Dan did the honourable thing in difficult circumstances. I've only been online with Brandon a few times, but he's always struck me as a decent fellow just trying to do a crappy job. Personally I think it comes down to culture, and this may be the hardest to change and the most directly related to the feelings of futility in the player base.
The wild east has a different relationship to customers than there is in the west. We certainly don't expect charity from our businesses, but there is a basic shared value of the worth of the human being that cusomers here expect from the employees, and yes even the corporations they deal with. In today's China the customer is a disposeable entity. There are always more people; too many according to their government. If you exploit, cheat, or steal from them and you get a reputation then you can just bribe the right official and move on. So long as you 'save face' it's all good. This isn't a race thing... when I compare the service I get from Japanese, Korean, or Chinese from Taiwan with the service I get from a mainland Chinese company it is always like night and day.
:mad: This cultural divide is most pronounced with fans of Star Trek. The IP expouses ideals in direct opposition to the business culture of the wild east. So when 'factual inaccuracies' occur it demoralizes Trekkers. Personally I want to be able to give you lots of money to keep a great game going forever. But I feel futility when I see how the IP is treated, and I feel fultility when I'm treated as a disposable customer.
When the value in time or money is removed from one of our purchases, when rules are changed without release notes, when release notes are wrong, when promises are not kept, are we expected to not notice?... should we assume it's an error?... or is it just policy? Putting the information out there was the right way to engage trekkers. You took the occasional beating on the forums, but the silent majority of active players valued it. When you try and hide things now, we aren't fooled. The company doesn't save face... heck, I've scraped things off the bottom of my shoe that have more 'face' than PWE... we just go ahead with our lives and stop spending money here; Like most of my friends and fleet mates.
I'll salute the new Captain, but keep in mind it isn't the mutineers you need to worry about in STO. It's all the quiet resignations.
The goal, as expressed by Dan, was to bring people back to the game. Lot's of people have toons, few play them, and fewer still spend money. My fleet is a good example. Most of my friends are gone. They check in from time to time, because they want this to be a great game, but then they leave. That's because the experience of Star Trek makes us feel inspired and heroic, but the experience of STO the game is one of futility. That's also why I never intend to put another real penny into this game. Since I rarely complain without offering solutions...
I believe Stephen that your plan needs to start here. If sensors detect futility, then lock phasers and fire... and use the kill setting because this is what it is for. :eek:
A feeling of futility creeps into this game in many ways, but I'm going to address four that I think you can fix within PWE's apparent business model. These are; PVP combat, foundary, rules instability, and factual inaccuracies.
(regarding PVP) ...The other is a major overhaul of a game element where the playerbase can't agree what the actual problem is.
Futility starts with PVP. I'm going to disagree with the above quote. I think people know that Premades stomping PUGs is the reason so many people hate PVP. It's a great game, full of tactical intricacy. Yet that that very strength means that players who can coordinate will trash players who can't. The Kirks feel frustrated and only come to grind dilithium. PUG PVP lovers know that any hope of victory is futile.
A long time ago, and under my preferred name, I believe I was the first to suggest separating PVP into two groups; PUGs and Premades would fight each other only. Since then my belief has become even more strict. If premade teams want to fight each other then they can form a private match. All public ques should be changed to break up current teams and assign missions and membership randomly.
This would mean that there would be only two ques (same vs same and FvK). If you ended the Fed/KDF war there could be only one. Missions (arena, cap and hold, something new) would be assigned randomly (since in training or war you dont get to choose your fights), and new teams would be assigned by the AI; either randomly or perhaps with disincentive for being on the same fleet. This will concentrate the player base and get the ques popping.
It will end PUG stomping. Sure, a premade might accidentally find itself together, but if the PVP community expands then who's going to take a ship that's been min / maxed for a team you probably won't be with... those toons you can play in private matches. After all, from a military standpoint it is rather silly to crew and equip real ships that can only fight with 4 specific other ships... since reality doesn't allow for "respawn".
:cool: To facilitate premade competition there should be a bonus hour for these private matches. Actually, there should be a bonus hour for PVP PUGS as well.
Ten@Mac1955: When I want to watch Trek I don't press F, I watch a rerun or a movie. What good is the foundary if I can't make decisions and write my own story?
Foundary currently equals futility or farming. I want new story content more than anything else, yet the thing I use the least is the foundary. The stories are good. I can even finish them, now that Captain Hunter let me in on the secret that the foundary is bugged if you arn't set to stop on dialogue . But foundary authors can't give us what we and they really want... an interactive experience. If we don't make our own decisions, with real consequences between options, then the STO foundary will never make you feel like the hero of the story.
The way STO is structured is like having a bad game master forced on you. If you play RPGs then you know a good gamemaster takes the game where the players direct and doesn't force you into his expectation. He plays the role of a sports referee... enforcing the rules but not determining the outcome. This means the players can enjoy success as their own, while their failures don't feel unfair. "Winning" a foundary mission is like getting one of those rewards for attendence... meaningless.
The episodic nature of STO missions is fine enough for featured episodes, because we all need to stay in the same larger universe. But if I'm not powerful enough to effect the outcome, then I'm not the hero of the story. Go there, press F, be told how wonderful I am. Futile.
We need real decision trees with conditional events and the ability to go where we chose within a campaign environment. Dan used to talk about making the foundary into each author's personal campaign. I would add that each mission should be structured like it was its own campaign.
Vogoth@jkname: It's always been difficult to stay ahead of the nerfbat.
I have 14 toons. They are only suitable for farming, though two are close to PVP worthy. They've all been hit with the nerfbat and set aside at some point. I actually keep the obsolete ones as a potential starting point for when rules change. That's because I know all my progress and accomplishment is futile.
I warned about this back when it was clear that paid respecs, restricted items, and rules changes would be linked as part of your business model. By expecting customers to pay for chaos in the rules, Cryptic has encouraged rules chaos and driven away customers. 'Bound to character' items/doffs/marks/dilithium and tracking reputation by toon rather than account has made it impossible for people to adapt to the changing environment. Like all evolution those who don't adapt die off, and those players who have had their time grinding made meaningless will leave the game as sure as dodos and dinosaurs are extinct.
Why should we invest our time in a game where we are made to feel powerless? That's what it is when you can't adapt. So people put their time into games where they can identify with their characters and not feel like they are going extinct.
:cool: I understand special items that are one per ship, but everything should be by account... even the reps. It's the only way that your time is valued equally if you have more than one character. Furthermore, there needs to be a vendor where we can exchange everything except EC back into the marks and dilithium it was purchased with.
As a case in point, last summer I did little with my free time that wasn't STO. I bought Zen because of promises kept about romulans and klingons, when I had thought I never would again. I invested this after a lot of thought about what they might or might not change. I stuck to fundimental things that hadn't altered in a while... and it was all for nothing; Because they changed threat control. Increased threat consoles originally added protection if you had threat control, but that was changed around when we got cruiser commands. The zen spent on new science ships and dilithium, the time grinding marks, all of it was a waste.
Until there is a vendor where I can get the value back that I have invested, Cryptic isn't worth my time. That's half your business model, since I won't be trading my time with people who have money and no time.
It's always been a risk to invest in one specific toon. So far 4 toons of mine are in ruin because of the new stuff cryptic has introduced over the past 6 months. 1 is still salvageable but I'm not sure how long.
Then there is the money issue. I don't believe PWE can be trusted with my investment. Whether that is deserved or not is beside the point. It's my perception and it governs my willingness to fund the company... and there goes the other half of the free to play business model.
I called this one 'factual inaccuracies' but I could have easily labelled it the 'clash of cultures'. You would have a better idea Mr. D'Angelo as to the moral strengths and failings of your business associates than we the public, but it takes only a brief skimming of the forums to see that there are a lot of people who believe Cryptic and PWE hide, dissemble, lie to them outright, and cheat their customers. As mentioned earlier, I think Dan did the honourable thing in difficult circumstances. I've only been online with Brandon a few times, but he's always struck me as a decent fellow just trying to do a crappy job. Personally I think it comes down to culture, and this may be the hardest to change and the most directly related to the feelings of futility in the player base.
The wild east has a different relationship to customers than there is in the west. We certainly don't expect charity from our businesses, but there is a basic shared value of the worth of the human being that cusomers here expect from the employees, and yes even the corporations they deal with. In today's China the customer is a disposeable entity. There are always more people; too many according to their government. If you exploit, cheat, or steal from them and you get a reputation then you can just bribe the right official and move on. So long as you 'save face' it's all good. This isn't a race thing... when I compare the service I get from Japanese, Korean, or Chinese from Taiwan with the service I get from a mainland Chinese company it is always like night and day.
:mad: This cultural divide is most pronounced with fans of Star Trek. The IP expouses ideals in direct opposition to the business culture of the wild east. So when 'factual inaccuracies' occur it demoralizes Trekkers. Personally I want to be able to give you lots of money to keep a great game going forever. But I feel futility when I see how the IP is treated, and I feel fultility when I'm treated as a disposable customer.
When the value in time or money is removed from one of our purchases, when rules are changed without release notes, when release notes are wrong, when promises are not kept, are we expected to not notice?... should we assume it's an error?... or is it just policy? Putting the information out there was the right way to engage trekkers. You took the occasional beating on the forums, but the silent majority of active players valued it. When you try and hide things now, we aren't fooled. The company doesn't save face... heck, I've scraped things off the bottom of my shoe that have more 'face' than PWE... we just go ahead with our lives and stop spending money here; Like most of my friends and fleet mates.
I'll salute the new Captain, but keep in mind it isn't the mutineers you need to worry about in STO. It's all the quiet resignations.
Nerfing is Fraud...
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