Imagine if there are only 5 people in a que... and 4 of them are Ultra Nightmare mode level toons and one is a completely fresh Player... does it just not pop in that case or does it pop in a Nightmare mode with one noob along.
That is where I think a smart averaging system could work... so new players don't end up playing a game where nothing ever pops. (imagine trying to get a Level 46 Infected to pop right now).
Your right though I can see a system like that working. I would just love to see it on the back end... so players never see it... just one que per mission. (no more Normal / E mode confusion)... just have the system auto balance it. They simply make 4-5 levels for each mission. The system could keep score on people... tracking there DPS / HPS / Deaths / Complete times ... ect and when you que up... the system would look something like this. (behind the scenes)
Player one DPS 8k HPS 2k Average deaths per match 0.3 Average complete time 4:30
Player Two DPS 8k HPS 2k Average deaths per match 0.3 Average complete time 4:30
Player Three DPS 8k HPS 2k Average deaths per match 0.3 Average complete time 4:30
Player four DPS 8k HPS 2k Average deaths per match 0.3 Average complete time 4:30
Player Five DPS 8k HPS 2k Average deaths per match 0.3 Average complete time 4:30
Team Average = DPS 8k HPS 2k Average deaths per match 0.3 Average complete time 4:30 Auto select difficulty level 4.
That could really work as far as balancing levels of gear... because it goes right to player skill instead of gear levels. It would be in fact more accurate in placing people in the right difficulty settings. (lets be honest even terrible players can earn gear. lol)
What I love... is the EXACT same tech could be used in PvP. Instead of tracking Complete times they track wins... instead of deaths per run... they track K/D ratios... and IN TD Mancoms math for our Leader board team balanacing tools uses some log math tricks to score people a "Style" mark which represents use of CC skilss ect...
Same tech for both the PvP and PvE ques... in PvP it would auto balance the teams in the new pug que... in PvE it would auto balance the power creep.
There is 1 other solution i can think of for PvE. That is keep the normal/elite modes, but if you are under say tier 4, you can not play elite mode. I think alot of the complaints, are coming from those that just jump straight into the elites. Myself, i have never done normals, but i dont complain about the elite either
But, i think this would still need something with the averaging in it still. Again, could be wrong, i am only human
I believe God created the universe, because he knew we wanted to explore. So, he made us a playground...
I love how Hawk used the 500 dps and 40k dps analogy from a fresh 50 to a vet 50
Fact is with the current high run of 83k dps on infected with a BFAW Scimitar - I bet this new changes will easily up the max to over 100k DPS!!
Advanced Targeting Systems: Increased the Critical Severity bonus from +10% to +20%.
Precision: Increased critical hit chance bonus from 3 to 5%.
Omega Weapon Training: This power no longer gives a bonus to Starship Weapons skill. Instead, it provides a direct bonus to damage. It now grants a larger bonus to damage than before.
Omega Graviton Amplifier: Updated this proc's description to explain that it has a chance to be triggered with each weapon attack instead of once per cycle like other procs. This is merely a text change, this power has always worked like this. In addition, this proc's damage is doubled against the Borg.
That's nice. My base critical chance is already at 11% and will get up to 15%. Also, my base critical severity is 80% and soon will be 83%.
I'm screwed because my build also use the are the regeneration and hull integrity passive skills. I earned it and Cryptic is taking the ability to use it. Total Bull. Although, now I can probably take my 20k dps build Ha'feh escort and I might be able to pump it to 40k dps.
I wonder how many Cryptic devs ask themselves on a regular basis what the point of spending tuition to get a degree in game design was, if their career consists of watering down games so people who have no business playing games can feel like they're super awesome just like the people who are good at playing games.
It's like getting a degree in business management only to discover you're running a lemonade stand and your customer base consists of pleasing 5 year olds.
Also, the devs stated that the Dyson rep was too fast and all reps need to be slower so all rep grinds are going to be slower. Everyone who says it is going to be easier is lying. The devs stated in the recent blog that for a fact that the dyson rep got done too quickly and all reps are going to be nerfed to take longer. go read people.
learn math and reading
The only one lying is you. The devs are modelling all of the old reps AFTER the Dyson rep. Because they liked the flow of the Dyson rep. Says so right in the Season 9 Dev Blog 3.
Why you keep saying the opposite is beyond me, but it's right there for all to read. All the other reps are going to be as easy to do as the Dyson rep once these changes go live.
There is 1 other solution i can think of for PvE. That is keep the normal/elite modes, but if you are under say tier 4, you can not play elite mode. I think alot of the complaints, are coming from those that just jump straight into the elites. Myself, i have never done normals, but i dont complain about the elite either
But, i think this would still need something with the averaging in it still. Again, could be wrong, i am only human
It is one possible solution. It really would slow down the rep progress for new players though. Of guess they could set it up though that normal mode rewarded the same amount of rep as E mode for players that didn't qualify to play E mode.
I just like the idea of taking out confusing stuff where ever possible. I mean I'm not confused by 2 missions. lol Just I can't remember how many times I have been helping some one new though and they have asked What is the difference between N and E anyway.
At least someone knows math. Also, the devs stated that the Dyson rep was too fast and all reps need to be slower so all rep grinds are going to be slower. Everyone who says it is going to be easier is lying. The devs stated in the recent blog that for a fact that the dyson rep got done too quickly and all reps are going to be nerfed to take longer. go read people.
learn math and reading
What are you taking about? They said the Dyson was to fast, and the others was too slow.
Granted I haven't read through every single post but one comment I'd like to throw out there is this. What's going to be the motivating factor for bothering with reputation projects if there are no benefits in running them beyond vendor-trash gear. Just because it's a purple Mk. 12 doesn't mean I need 100 of them or that they are a better fit than what I already have.
The gear. The gear is still incentive. The Borg sets people still salivate over still require doing the grind to get. The Voth ground suits people dig the look of, still require doing the grind to get.
Once I have loaded up my slots with the traits I want, the only incentive to swap will be if the next round is significantly more powerful than what I have currently slotted. I suppose that fits within the stated goal of not having too much of a margin between VA level players but I thought the whole reputation system was designed to have an alternate progression.
Future reps will be future carrots dangled in front of you. You may not want what the Undine rep has to offer. But some other future rep might have exactly what you want. And then you have incentive.
Omega Weapon Proficiency: This power no longer gives a bonus to Weapon Proficiency skill. Instead, it provides a direct bonus to damage. It now grants a larger bonus to damage than before.(what is the larger number 5% 10% 50% 100% - what is the change?)
Omega Weapon Training: This power no longer gives a bonus to Starship Weapons skill. Instead, it provides a direct bonus to damage. It now grants a larger bonus to damage than before.(same - what is the change?)
Regenerative Shield Augmentation: Significantly improved this power's regeneration rate. (same - what is the change)
Superior Shield Repair: Significantly increased the amount of shield regeneration per 6 seconds.(same - what is the change)
This next one just seems like a straight out nerf(although T4 placate was an annoying passive)
Romulan Tier 3 and 4 Abilities: Removed all "Chance on Crit" and replaced this functionality with an "On Next Crit" temporary effect. These effects are all consumed by applying their associated effects to self or foe, and will automatically refresh 20 seconds later. This change was a purposeful move away from the idea of "chance-on-chance" and an attempt to normalize the opportunity that a player has of benefiting from this Reputation ability, should they choose to use it.
The "Placate" effect of the Romulan Tier 4 Space ability has been replaced with "Weapons Offline" Base duration of this effect has been increased from 2sec to 4sec
This debuff is now cleansed by Engineering Team instead of Science Team
I wonder how many Cryptic devs ask themselves on a regular basis what the point of spending tuition to get a degree in game design was, if their career consists of watering down games so people who have no business playing games can feel like they're super awesome just like the people who are good at playing games.
It's like getting a degree in business management only to discover you're running a lemonade stand and your customer base consists of pleasing 5 year olds.
I would guess the same number that didn't realize there careers would consist of catering to a bunch of teenage over entitled gamers. Folk diluted enough to believe a video game owed them a shinier pixel count as they used more of there parents power bills chasing imaginary baddie pixels then other players.
Same lemonade stand analogy applies.
I myself fall into a third category, don't worry I to am a jerk. lol
What are you taking about? They said the Dyson was to fast, and the others was too slow.
Yeah but all they are overall doing to dyson is limiting the hourly down to one or two a day, my understanding of the "speed" was more that the XII gear sets were locked away at tier V on the others and they like the spread on Dyson which they are changing the others too.
I would guess the same number that didn't realize there careers would consist of catering to a bunch of teenage over entitled gamers. Folk diluted enough to believe a video game owed them a shinier pixel count as they used more of there parents power bills chasing imaginary baddie pixels then other players.
Same lemonade stand analogy applies.
I myself fall into a third category, don't worry I to am a jerk. lol
I'm okay with you being a jerk. You get something else out of STO than I do, and that's fine.
I think I'm just showing just how obsolete I'm becoming. If you spend years taking courses on how to make challenging, fun, and intriguing games and then end up in a company whose new driving force is player churn and simply keeping people in the game regardless of how much fun they're having or what kind of rewards they get in the long term... to me that seems like a waste of an education.
The new policy is, "New players give more money to us than veteran players do, but the new players want to feel like they're vet players. How do we lower the bar even more, since veteran players will simply suck it up time and time again?"
That isn't intriguing game design. That's trying to foster an addiction.
Fine lets stipulate that only 2 of the 4 good offensive traits are in fact doubled.
You still don't require healing in PvE.... so are you being buffed or not ?
I'll answer it for you, because its easier and more fun for me that way. YES you are being buffed.
i already take all 8 offensive passives, so anything having to do with healing good or bad is completely irrelevant. anyone with max dps builds already ignores healing.
It is one possible solution. It really would slow down the rep progress for new players though. Of guess they could set it up though that normal mode rewarded the same amount of rep as E mode for players that didn't qualify to play E mode.
I just like the idea of taking out confusing stuff where ever possible. I mean I'm not confused by 2 missions. lol Just I can't remember how many times I have been helping some one new though and they have asked What is the difference between N and E anyway.
Yeah, i forgot to put in the bit about same rewards as elite lol. My bad
I believe God created the universe, because he knew we wanted to explore. So, he made us a playground...
at 8 we keep what we already have but are forced to remove them if we want anything else, we already have more coming with the undine rep, and i'm sure there is another rep coming with S10.
i agree with that, I spent hours and hours to reach tier 5 for 3 of my characters, and i don't want to lost all this time.
i think that we should be able to keep our current powers, but if we want to use the next ones, then this is the good time to make the choice. 4 this is not enough, after the time spent.
btw i started to play at this game in july 2013, and i'm tier 5 for 3 characters, so you can't see that i spent really a lot of time to reach this level
and for the new players: we spent time, and we fought agaisnt guys with all the rep finished; they must do the same thing.
I'm okay with you being a jerk. You get something else out of STO than I do, and that's fine.
I think I'm just showing just how obsolete I'm becoming. If you spend years taking courses on how to make challenging, fun, and intriguing games and then end up in a company whose new driving force is player churn and simply keeping people in the game regardless of how much fun they're having or what kind of rewards they get in the long term... to me that seems like a waste of an education.
The new policy is, "New players give more money to us than veteran players do, but the new players want to feel like they're vet players. How do we lower the bar even more, since veteran players will simply suck it up time and time again?"
That isn't intriguing game design. That's trying to foster an addiction.
That isn't really a new thing. It is also basic game design. (not just video game design). Any game including a board game. Has to be easy enough to understand that a new player can grab the basic rules and jump in... complex enough to keep people interested... and walk that line the entire time.
I don't think what they are doing is contrary to anything they would have been taught by any half decent game theory teacher.
Ok so shall I do this lovely math, 8 skills, cut in half but doubled in effectiveness = zero net difference, regardless of if you PvP or PvE
Can I get whatever you are smoking - it seems like good stuff. They were 8 different things - that did different functions. And they are not all being doubled - as in my last post a lot of numbers are left out.
This is a nerf and it does benefit PvP - because the problem with the 8 is you could be superior at both Defense AND offense - now you will be either more powerful offensively and less tanky or you will be more tankly and less lethal.
This is a boost the PvP balance and a Nerf to general PvE effectiveness - there is no "if, ands or buts" about that.
In fact in some of the uber DPS players case - they will get a massive boost to damage
Finally well will see Infected space elite - "Gone is 60 seconds!!" post show up on the forums
Qoute fromS eason 9 Dev Blog #5 "With a system revamp like this, we also get to take a close look at which goals the original system was meeting, and which goals it wasnt. While Reputation Traits have been outstanding rewards for participating in content, theyve also forced players to make semi-permanent build decisions without regard for what type of ship theyre flying or what group role theyre trying to play. We want players to be able to use all of the powers theyve earned, and we want to encourage experimentation and gaining a deeper understanding of how the games mechanics work. "
Really like these changes but hopefully you will apply a similar system when it comes to skills. Its a bit much to spend 500 zen every time I want to switch builds to make a diff. ship build more effective. For example If I fly a ship with a cannon/beam build and would like to switch to a more science spec or spec for torps.
With the amount of diff. ships we can fly and all the possibilities we have it would be nice to be able respec w/o 500 zen each time. Most ppl I know just have one skill point build for everything, if we didn't have to shell out RL money or dil everytime I'd bet we see a lot more diversity as far as far as skill point builds.
From the quote above it seems like you guys might be heading in that direction, for me that would be a very welcome change. Really like the direction the games been heading in thanks for all your work guys.
The offensive rep traits are all getting doubled in effect... YOU don't need to heal in PvE.
So you just got your rep traits doubled for free.
Win Win for you Pve Only guys.
Yes that was facetious I know ... sorry. Really is the truth though.
really pve only wins?
lets say powers are buffed 2x
you get to choose 8
right now you get to choose 16
under current system all future reps it would be 16+x
so............
(2*8)/(16+x)=
Right now with current 4 Reps: (2*8)/(16+x)=(2*8)/(16+(0))=1
with 5 reps (current +1): = (2*8)/(16+(4))=0.8
with 6 reps (current +2): = (2*8)/(16+(8))=0.6667
with 7 reps (current +3): = (2*8)/(16+(12))=0.57
as you can see it is not a WIN WIN. you lose out. even getting buffed 2x stronger even with 1 more rep coming out you already start losing.
I see the math is not strong in this one.
*in all honesty it is worse than this because you only get 4 passive that are of use to the area of which you are playing, under the current system you get 8 atm.*
The only one lying is you. The devs are modelling all of the old reps AFTER the Dyson rep. Because they liked the flow of the Dyson rep. Says so right in the Season 9 Dev Blog 3.
Why you keep saying the opposite is beyond me, but it's right there for all to read. All the other reps are going to be as easy to do as the Dyson rep once these changes go live.
maybe because they removed commendations?
I liked the dyson rep a lot and it seems to me that they are moving away from it. I'd prefer they kept it exactly the same as dyson in the future.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
That isn't really a new thing. It is also basic game design. (not just video game design). Any game including a board game. Has to be easy enough to understand that a new player can grab the basic rules and jump in... complex enough to keep people interested... and walk that line the entire time.
I don't think what they are doing is contrary to anything they would have been taught by any half decent game theory teacher.
I couldn't help the last post btw. Sorry.
I guess that's where I differ. I see pandering to people who really have no business trying to play video games for the sake of their wallets as poisonous to the video game industry.
You make things easier, you lower the bar, you water things down. But you do so at the cost of quality and innovation. You cheapen what games are capable of doing for the sake of pleasing a vast multitude of people who can barely turn on a computer without third party assistance.
It's a poison pill that the industry has willingly swallowed for the sake of being able to stay competitive, but you introduce and encourage game stagnation which is a waste of educated minds who want to see new challenges and ideas published.
It's an industry of gourmet chefs who studied abroad, but payroll demands they try to compete with McDonald's and Burger King for people who have no idea what foie gras is, but will readily scarf down a Big Mac.
Can I get whatever you are smoking - it seems like good stuff. They were 8 different things - that did different functions. And they are not all being doubled - as in my last post a lot of numbers are left out.
This is a nerf and it does benefit PvP - because the problem with the 8 is you could be superior at both Defense AND offense - now you will be either more powerful offensively and less tanky or you will be more tankly and less lethal.
This is a boost the PvP balance and a Nerf to general PvE effectiveness - there is no "if, ands or buts" about that.
In fact in some of the uber DPS players case - they will get a massive boost to damage
Finally well will see Infected space elite - "Gone is 60 seconds!!" post show up on the forums
Yup, far from being a way to narrow the gap between new VA and vet VA, Mr Salieri has demonstrated how this actually increases it.
This is the exact opposite effect Hawk said this was designed for.
However it does explain the nice big boost to Mr Salieris post count from this thread.
The min maxers see an opportunity here, the rest is blatant sophistry.
The only one lying is you. The devs are modelling all of the old reps AFTER the Dyson rep. Because they liked the flow of the Dyson rep. Says so right in the Season 9 Dev Blog 3.
Why you keep saying the opposite is beyond me, but it's right there for all to read. All the other reps are going to be as easy to do as the Dyson rep once these changes go live.
they're limiting the amount of hourlies that you can run.
nor have any NUMBERS been released iirc on the progression of the new rep, or the retrofitted reps.
No, you're Wrong, and I'm going to attribute it to your 'shock' that you didn't read things properly.
At present you have 20 buffs. 4 active, 8 passive ground and 8 passive space.
You picked that buff at the time you leveled, and you're currently stuck with it.
Right now, those 20 are IT.
New system you still have the same 4 active ones (because they're the only 4, the tier 5 ones, at present) but now you have only 4 passive ground AND 4 passive space.
BUT you can pick those 4 not from the 8 you decided on, but the whole 16.
So you're getting the 8 you want.
It's great to read whats actually there!
Actually, we both are wrong about the numbers. But if you'd bothered to read just two posts after my original one, you'd see somebody pointed that out in a much nicer way than you did and I already replied to that post. I just didn't feel the need to edit my original post because the base points stand.
The current number of total passives is 32, which is actually higher than I stated. You get two at tier 1 through 4 to pick from (currently you can only have one at each tier selected), there are four rep systems at current so that total of 8 times four is 32. Which means for space there are 16 passives and for ground there are another 16.
Now from that 16, we have to pick only 4! That's too few in my opinion (it's mine, and I still believe it).
Also, at the time these changes go live we'll have the new Undine Rep system in the game. That will also have a further 4 ground and 4 space passives, plus another active power for it's tier 5.
So when these changes actually happen on the main server, we'll have to pick 4 ground passives and 4 space passives out of a total of 20 powers for each (20 ground and 20 space). We'll also have to decide which active power not to use (that one doesn't bother me as much because it only means giving up one power and I can already predict for most of mine, that power will be the Nukara active ability because I don't find it very useful though it may be the new Undine power as I still don't know what that is).
Don't get me wrong, as I've thought about it a bit more I do like the general idea behind it. But two of my biggest issues with it are that the 'allowed' number of passives is too low, and that they have removed one of the passives I love and really don't want to lose. The removal of that passive will massively impact the usefulness of pulsewave weapons when fighting the Borg. Currently you can use a [KB3] pulsewave and knock back a large group of Borg drones, but they adapt usually after your second or third hit (with the remodulation passive active), because you're hitting so many of them at once. Without that passive, they usually adapt on the first hit so that's just plain TRIBBLE.
Join date is wrong, I've actually been around since STO Beta.
True alters don't have a "main". Account wide unlocks for all unique event rewards!!
Honestly I think this should be done but in a way that respects what current players have achieved.
I think the number of rep power/trait slots should be significantly upped so that existing players can more or less keep their current setups that they have worked hard for and earned.
And then fix it there and require swapping out old traits for new ones in future reputation systems.
This would allow you to put a cap on the power creep at this point, while not devaluing the hard work existing players have already put in.
This, I think, is the way forward. Let old players keep thier current powers but in future will be limited on how many passived they can get.
i already take all 8 offensive passives, so anything having to do with healing good or bad is completely irrelevant. anyone with max dps builds already ignores healing.
so keep making yourself sound more stupid.
OK so lets go over your "choices" then.
So you have;
Omega weapon training now... cool.
Omega Graviton Amp... I see yes you will miss this I am sure your DPS will drop by 20 or so.
Romulan peercision... ok good choice to bad it isn't being doubled or something.
Sensor targeting assualt.... ok then Placate is getting removed in favor of a wepaon offline... ok I guess that sounds really offensive. my mistake.
Nukura enhanced Shield pen... well this one is getting doubled regardless it is a DPS loss in PvE in case you where not aware... seriously run a few ISE with and with out and parse them... you will do more DPS with out this trait. That won't change much in PvE when it gets doubled either.
Nukura Aux offense trait... cool depends on your set up might be helping you might not be if your a typical PvE A2B runner.
Dyson advanced targeting... yep good choice to bad its not getting doubled oh wait thats right it is.
Dyson - Tactical advantage... = to about beta .5 on one target and doesn't help your team ya not so great to be honest.
So looking at them what would your run now in PvE.
Omega Weapon training
Romulan Percision
Nukura Aux offense
Dyson advanced targeting
There you go what do you give up in terms of actual offense. Nothing. You gain. You loose a the almost none existent borg Omega Amp (if you really have that selected)... you gain the new bonuses like +20 CrtD instead of +10.
Overall your offense just went up... not sure how you can see that as a bad thing. Is it a nerf sure it is to your healing..... but why are you worried about that if all you do is PvE content. For a new Trait PvE setup you end up with MORE offense then before.
as you can see it is not a WIN WIN. you lose out. even getting buffed 2x stronger even with 1 more rep coming out you already start losing.
No doubt they are putting the end to rep creep. that is happening even if you guys manage to convince them to allow you to keep all the rep you have now (allowing you to slot 8).
It is NOT a system they can continue... not unless you want to see new rep traits that are so low they will be not worth worrying about. They won't keep creeping the game... its already at a point where they can't release content and have it work right for the majority of players because people are all over the place in terms of creep levels.
Comments
There is 1 other solution i can think of for PvE. That is keep the normal/elite modes, but if you are under say tier 4, you can not play elite mode. I think alot of the complaints, are coming from those that just jump straight into the elites. Myself, i have never done normals, but i dont complain about the elite either
But, i think this would still need something with the averaging in it still. Again, could be wrong, i am only human
That's nice. My base critical chance is already at 11% and will get up to 15%. Also, my base critical severity is 80% and soon will be 83%.
I'm screwed because my build also use the are the regeneration and hull integrity passive skills. I earned it and Cryptic is taking the ability to use it. Total Bull. Although, now I can probably take my 20k dps build Ha'feh escort and I might be able to pump it to 40k dps.
It's like getting a degree in business management only to discover you're running a lemonade stand and your customer base consists of pleasing 5 year olds.
The only one lying is you. The devs are modelling all of the old reps AFTER the Dyson rep. Because they liked the flow of the Dyson rep. Says so right in the Season 9 Dev Blog 3.
Why you keep saying the opposite is beyond me, but it's right there for all to read. All the other reps are going to be as easy to do as the Dyson rep once these changes go live.
It is one possible solution. It really would slow down the rep progress for new players though. Of guess they could set it up though that normal mode rewarded the same amount of rep as E mode for players that didn't qualify to play E mode.
I just like the idea of taking out confusing stuff where ever possible. I mean I'm not confused by 2 missions.
OH REALLY?????
lets try out this doubling math real quick and see if you still don't have a ****ing clue.
t2 dyson- doubled grats you can read.
t4 dyson- not doubled, won't be worth taking
t2 nukara - doubled grats you can read.
t4 nukara well **** there isnt even any numbers there to SEE IF **** GOT DOUBLED OR NOT.
t2 omega, see above.
t4 omega, no change at all against non borg targets.
t2 rom, not doubled. 3% to 5% =/= 2x.
t4 rom not doubled, ability nerfed from a pure placate.
two out 8 are doubled, the reading is not strong in this one.
What are you taking about? They said the Dyson was to fast, and the others was too slow.
The gear. The gear is still incentive. The Borg sets people still salivate over still require doing the grind to get. The Voth ground suits people dig the look of, still require doing the grind to get.
Future reps will be future carrots dangled in front of you. You may not want what the Undine rep has to offer. But some other future rep might have exactly what you want. And then you have incentive.
Omega Weapon Proficiency: This power no longer gives a bonus to Weapon Proficiency skill. Instead, it provides a direct bonus to damage. It now grants a larger bonus to damage than before.(what is the larger number 5% 10% 50% 100% - what is the change?)
Omega Weapon Training: This power no longer gives a bonus to Starship Weapons skill. Instead, it provides a direct bonus to damage. It now grants a larger bonus to damage than before.(same - what is the change?)
Regenerative Shield Augmentation: Significantly improved this power's regeneration rate. (same - what is the change)
Superior Shield Repair: Significantly increased the amount of shield regeneration per 6 seconds.(same - what is the change)
This next one just seems like a straight out nerf(although T4 placate was an annoying passive)
Romulan Tier 3 and 4 Abilities: Removed all "Chance on Crit" and replaced this functionality with an "On Next Crit" temporary effect. These effects are all consumed by applying their associated effects to self or foe, and will automatically refresh 20 seconds later. This change was a purposeful move away from the idea of "chance-on-chance" and an attempt to normalize the opportunity that a player has of benefiting from this Reputation ability, should they choose to use it.
The "Placate" effect of the Romulan Tier 4 Space ability has been replaced with "Weapons Offline" Base duration of this effect has been increased from 2sec to 4sec
This debuff is now cleansed by Engineering Team instead of Science Team
I would guess the same number that didn't realize there careers would consist of catering to a bunch of teenage over entitled gamers. Folk diluted enough to believe a video game owed them a shinier pixel count as they used more of there parents power bills chasing imaginary baddie pixels then other players.
Same lemonade stand analogy applies.
I myself fall into a third category, don't worry I to am a jerk. lol
Yeah but all they are overall doing to dyson is limiting the hourly down to one or two a day, my understanding of the "speed" was more that the XII gear sets were locked away at tier V on the others and they like the spread on Dyson which they are changing the others too.
Nor is yours.
Fine lets stipulate that only 2 of the 4 good offensive traits are in fact doubled.
You still don't require healing in PvE.... so are you being buffed or not ?
I'll answer it for you, because its easier and more fun for me that way. YES you are being buffed.
thats a very interesting comparison showing how much cryptic is trying to fool the players
I'm okay with you being a jerk. You get something else out of STO than I do, and that's fine.
I think I'm just showing just how obsolete I'm becoming. If you spend years taking courses on how to make challenging, fun, and intriguing games and then end up in a company whose new driving force is player churn and simply keeping people in the game regardless of how much fun they're having or what kind of rewards they get in the long term... to me that seems like a waste of an education.
The new policy is, "New players give more money to us than veteran players do, but the new players want to feel like they're vet players. How do we lower the bar even more, since veteran players will simply suck it up time and time again?"
That isn't intriguing game design. That's trying to foster an addiction.
i already take all 8 offensive passives, so anything having to do with healing good or bad is completely irrelevant. anyone with max dps builds already ignores healing.
so keep making yourself sound more stupid.
Yeah, i forgot to put in the bit about same rewards as elite lol. My bad
i agree with that, I spent hours and hours to reach tier 5 for 3 of my characters, and i don't want to lost all this time.
i think that we should be able to keep our current powers, but if we want to use the next ones, then this is the good time to make the choice. 4 this is not enough, after the time spent.
btw i started to play at this game in july 2013, and i'm tier 5 for 3 characters, so you can't see that i spent really a lot of time to reach this level
and for the new players: we spent time, and we fought agaisnt guys with all the rep finished; they must do the same thing.
excepted this fact, i like the new improvements
That isn't really a new thing. It is also basic game design. (not just video game design). Any game including a board game. Has to be easy enough to understand that a new player can grab the basic rules and jump in... complex enough to keep people interested... and walk that line the entire time.
I don't think what they are doing is contrary to anything they would have been taught by any half decent game theory teacher.
I couldn't help the last post btw. Sorry.
Can I get whatever you are smoking - it seems like good stuff. They were 8 different things - that did different functions. And they are not all being doubled - as in my last post a lot of numbers are left out.
This is a nerf and it does benefit PvP - because the problem with the 8 is you could be superior at both Defense AND offense - now you will be either more powerful offensively and less tanky or you will be more tankly and less lethal.
This is a boost the PvP balance and a Nerf to general PvE effectiveness - there is no "if, ands or buts" about that.
In fact in some of the uber DPS players case - they will get a massive boost to damage
Finally well will see Infected space elite - "Gone is 60 seconds!!" post show up on the forums
Really like these changes but hopefully you will apply a similar system when it comes to skills. Its a bit much to spend 500 zen every time I want to switch builds to make a diff. ship build more effective. For example If I fly a ship with a cannon/beam build and would like to switch to a more science spec or spec for torps.
With the amount of diff. ships we can fly and all the possibilities we have it would be nice to be able respec w/o 500 zen each time. Most ppl I know just have one skill point build for everything, if we didn't have to shell out RL money or dil everytime I'd bet we see a lot more diversity as far as far as skill point builds.
From the quote above it seems like you guys might be heading in that direction, for me that would be a very welcome change. Really like the direction the games been heading in thanks for all your work guys.
really pve only wins?
lets say powers are buffed 2x
you get to choose 8
right now you get to choose 16
under current system all future reps it would be 16+x
so............
(2*8)/(16+x)=
Right now with current 4 Reps: (2*8)/(16+x)=(2*8)/(16+(0))=1
with 5 reps (current +1): = (2*8)/(16+(4))=0.8
with 6 reps (current +2): = (2*8)/(16+(8))=0.6667
with 7 reps (current +3): = (2*8)/(16+(12))=0.57
as you can see it is not a WIN WIN. you lose out. even getting buffed 2x stronger even with 1 more rep coming out you already start losing.
I see the math is not strong in this one.
*in all honesty it is worse than this because you only get 4 passive that are of use to the area of which you are playing, under the current system you get 8 atm.*
maybe because they removed commendations?
I liked the dyson rep a lot and it seems to me that they are moving away from it. I'd prefer they kept it exactly the same as dyson in the future.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
I guess that's where I differ. I see pandering to people who really have no business trying to play video games for the sake of their wallets as poisonous to the video game industry.
You make things easier, you lower the bar, you water things down. But you do so at the cost of quality and innovation. You cheapen what games are capable of doing for the sake of pleasing a vast multitude of people who can barely turn on a computer without third party assistance.
It's a poison pill that the industry has willingly swallowed for the sake of being able to stay competitive, but you introduce and encourage game stagnation which is a waste of educated minds who want to see new challenges and ideas published.
It's an industry of gourmet chefs who studied abroad, but payroll demands they try to compete with McDonald's and Burger King for people who have no idea what foie gras is, but will readily scarf down a Big Mac.
Yup, far from being a way to narrow the gap between new VA and vet VA, Mr Salieri has demonstrated how this actually increases it.
This is the exact opposite effect Hawk said this was designed for.
However it does explain the nice big boost to Mr Salieris post count from this thread.
The min maxers see an opportunity here, the rest is blatant sophistry.
they're limiting the amount of hourlies that you can run.
nor have any NUMBERS been released iirc on the progression of the new rep, or the retrofitted reps.
plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Actually, we both are wrong about the numbers. But if you'd bothered to read just two posts after my original one, you'd see somebody pointed that out in a much nicer way than you did and I already replied to that post. I just didn't feel the need to edit my original post because the base points stand.
The current number of total passives is 32, which is actually higher than I stated. You get two at tier 1 through 4 to pick from (currently you can only have one at each tier selected), there are four rep systems at current so that total of 8 times four is 32. Which means for space there are 16 passives and for ground there are another 16.
Now from that 16, we have to pick only 4! That's too few in my opinion (it's mine, and I still believe it).
Also, at the time these changes go live we'll have the new Undine Rep system in the game. That will also have a further 4 ground and 4 space passives, plus another active power for it's tier 5.
So when these changes actually happen on the main server, we'll have to pick 4 ground passives and 4 space passives out of a total of 20 powers for each (20 ground and 20 space). We'll also have to decide which active power not to use (that one doesn't bother me as much because it only means giving up one power and I can already predict for most of mine, that power will be the Nukara active ability because I don't find it very useful though it may be the new Undine power as I still don't know what that is).
Don't get me wrong, as I've thought about it a bit more I do like the general idea behind it. But two of my biggest issues with it are that the 'allowed' number of passives is too low, and that they have removed one of the passives I love and really don't want to lose. The removal of that passive will massively impact the usefulness of pulsewave weapons when fighting the Borg. Currently you can use a [KB3] pulsewave and knock back a large group of Borg drones, but they adapt usually after your second or third hit (with the remodulation passive active), because you're hitting so many of them at once. Without that passive, they usually adapt on the first hit so that's just plain TRIBBLE.
This, I think, is the way forward. Let old players keep thier current powers but in future will be limited on how many passived they can get.
OK so lets go over your "choices" then.
So you have;
Omega weapon training now... cool.
Omega Graviton Amp... I see yes you will miss this I am sure your DPS will drop by 20 or so.
Romulan peercision... ok good choice to bad it isn't being doubled or something.
Sensor targeting assualt.... ok then Placate is getting removed in favor of a wepaon offline... ok I guess that sounds really offensive. my mistake.
Nukura enhanced Shield pen... well this one is getting doubled regardless it is a DPS loss in PvE in case you where not aware... seriously run a few ISE with and with out and parse them... you will do more DPS with out this trait. That won't change much in PvE when it gets doubled either.
Nukura Aux offense trait... cool depends on your set up might be helping you might not be if your a typical PvE A2B runner.
Dyson advanced targeting... yep good choice to bad its not getting doubled oh wait thats right it is.
Dyson - Tactical advantage... = to about beta .5 on one target and doesn't help your team ya not so great to be honest.
So looking at them what would your run now in PvE.
Omega Weapon training
Romulan Percision
Nukura Aux offense
Dyson advanced targeting
There you go what do you give up in terms of actual offense. Nothing. You gain. You loose a the almost none existent borg Omega Amp (if you really have that selected)... you gain the new bonuses like +20 CrtD instead of +10.
Overall your offense just went up... not sure how you can see that as a bad thing. Is it a nerf sure it is to your healing..... but why are you worried about that if all you do is PvE content. For a new Trait PvE setup you end up with MORE offense then before.
There will be no rep respec tokens anymore and you can change your active traits for free.
No doubt they are putting the end to rep creep. that is happening even if you guys manage to convince them to allow you to keep all the rep you have now (allowing you to slot 8).
It is NOT a system they can continue... not unless you want to see new rep traits that are so low they will be not worth worrying about. They won't keep creeping the game... its already at a point where they can't release content and have it work right for the majority of players because people are all over the place in terms of creep levels.