And you can be just as irritated and outraged if something is changed no matter what it is.
Can just see it now. People complaining that they are now getting free room and board and $3000 per month for living in a certain place with absolutely nothing else changing. So no having to take care of someone's dog, no pesky neighbors moving in, or anything else that would justify why a person would get free room and board and $3000 per month.
So the army continues to grow, but I see some folks in a new thread are just catching up to these changes. I feel they aren't fully aware of the resistance movement. What can we do to get more people aware of the movement that is afoot?
Can just see it now. People complaining that they are now getting free room and board and $3000 per month for living in a certain place with absolutely nothing else changing. So no having to take care of someone's dog, no pesky neighbors moving in, or anything else that would justify why a person would get free room and board and $3000 per month.
Maybe they didn't ask for free room and board and $3000 per month for living in a certain place with nothing else changing.
Maybe they liked living where they currently were, because they earned their way to their imperfect paradise on their own time and effort alone and don't want to be moved elsewhere, just because someone told them to move. It might not be perfect, but it was theirs because they worked for it.
Eminent Domain is still a thing, and its not the money or reparations. It's the principle of being moved off of something you worked hard to earn -- for some jerk's ambitions that will be just as short-sighted and ill-thought out as what required you to be moved to begin with.
I think the Reputation changes coming just literally suck...
I'm going to stop you right there.
I totally sympathize with you. And invite you to join the Passive Resistance Movement that some of us have banded together to start on behalf of this particular change.
It's time to stop the devs from slapping the players in the face with another nerf! Join with us! Together we are far more powerful!
@ashkrik23:
Whats the problem with that? IF someone grind until he has 12 or more passives "slottet" then why not?
The reasoning they're giving is that they want to curb things from getting out of hand in the future when many more passives are added to the game.
Why not make enemys in as example elite events harder to kill, give them better shields or higher shield reload or whatever (just DONT simply add 100000 more spawns).
In all fairness to the development team, they have done that. You can see it in how people react to No Win Scenario when the random enemy shows up. Tholians are treated differently than Klingons. You can see it in Storming the Spire. The ships are more intelligent. Their shields are different. They use other powers and are tougher enemies. You see it in Crystaline Entity.
People still keep doing ISE because it's easy and has high reward.
But the devs have been trying to make more engaging enemies. The players like the comfort of ISE though and stay there. So I don't know.
Maybe they didn't ask for free room and board and $3000 per month for living in a certain place with nothing else changing.
Maybe they liked living where they currently were, because they earned their way to their imperfect paradise on their own time and effort alone and don't want to be moved elsewhere.
The scenario would be someone coming to your door and saying that they would pay your rent, food, and give $3000 per month with no strings attached. Nothing is said about having to move.
The scenario would be someone coming to your door and saying that they would pay your rent, food, and give $3000 per month with no strings attached. Nothing is said about having to move.
And I would be just as skeptical then as I am now. Nobody does that just out of the goodness of their heart. If someone said that to me, I would tell them to go away.
Which is why I'm skeptical this 'nerf' isn't really a 'nerf'. If it was really as innocent as people say it is, then it wouldn't need to be implemented to begin with.
If you aren't the customer, you're the product being sold.
He can be angry all he wants, but unless he comes forward with a valid option himself and try to be constructive all it is is inane crying and whining, regardless of his point being valid or not.
Valid option? Like capping it at the current level instead of nerfing it first?
If they want to stop the (clearly warranted) howling of "nerf," don't nerf it. Set the cap where it is now, instead of where it would have been if they'd had the integrity (and balls) to pull this stunt 2 reputations ago.
Ever notice when someone spoke up that was contrary to his opinion he's gone on the offensive and started slighting their intelligence instead of constructing a proper counter-argument other than his usual strawman?
Which strawman is that, the one that 8 slottable passives is less than 20? Sounds more like solid math to me. -shrug-
Which strawman is that, the one that 8 slottable passives is less than 20? Sounds more like solid math to me. -shrug-
And as I said you have to prove 8 > 4x not 8 > 4 since the powers in the new rep system are better than the current rep powers. After all, it is the whole Quality vs. Quantity debate.
Truthfully and honestly, I think the season 9 change to the rep system is a step in the wrong direction. It is a flat out confiscation of complete work, because the devs don't understand the term "long term planning"
The very concept of this reputation change is so fundamentally flawed, that the community cannot figure out if it is a nerf or a buff. It has become a very polarizing debate. Some people on Tribble report that after the changes took effect, their ships were even more powerful, which seems to invalidate the argument that it is a nerf, but it also invalidates the argument that it is stopping power creep. In other words, this change is having the exact opposite effect of what was intended and it has thrown the game into a very awkward position of accomplishing nothing but confusion and division. We now have even more powerful ships, with the feeling that things were taken away from us.
Personally, I have moved past the idea that this is a nerf, and I have settled on the idea that this is just punishment for veterans for investing lots of time, and pandering to noobs in order to reduce the amount of time and effort it takes to reach the peak of character development. I don't blame noobs for this change, I blame the greed of the devs. The devs have assumed that noobs don't have the patience to get to level 50, then go through reps, and build well thought-out toons, with good gear, and competent desigs. The devs seem to underestimate the interest of players, and choose to favor the quick and easy route, so as to reduce the chance of frustration, and create an artificial sense of accomplishment, which in turn, opens the wallet and sets the Visa cards to kill when buying Zen.
This changes removes the incentive to go all the way to tier 5 for MOST players, and encourages incompletion of reps that take time to develop. In the end we have players not doing content that the devs wasted time on.
All in all, the entirely wrong approach was taken wit Season 9 rep changes. I would have preferred to see a new level of difficulty added to PVE events (such as Super Elite) which offer superior rewards, but require significant reputation progress. This should be hard enough to scare away fresh 50s, but give veteran 50s a run for their money, and reward their dedication. It would have even of been nice to give players access to the rep system, starting at level 1, and allowed players to earn marks for completing story missions (but only on first time play, and not on mission replays). This way, by the time players get to level 50, they have taken a bite out of each rep, and they are on their way to boldly go right onto tier 5.
Alas, Cryptic seems to be run by Pakleds who "think they are smart".
In fact, I am sure this EXACT scene played out in the Dev office when talking about the Rep system.
In the end, my frustration with the season 9 rep changes have had only one effect; I have closed my wallet and I refuse to give any more money to Cryptic. I see this entire situation as a slap to the face, and blatantly disrespectful to the time I have invested in this game.
I take comfort in the knowledge that by closing my wallet, I am playing my part in making sure SOMEONE either gets fired, or has to take a pay cut.
I encourage all players to close their wallets until Cryptic steps back and cancels this change. Let's get someone laid off for this.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
If you oppose the Reputation nerf, feel free to use my signature
ITT: Throwing the toys out of the pram.
literally.:rolleyes:
they dont have a choice but to limit the number of active abilities if they want to keep the game functional. and thats what they have done.
provided a system where they can keep edding new stuff in future, without breaking the game for established players or drowning out new players.
Fooish. they buffed the bejeezus out of the powers, so some are clearly awesome and some clearly suck. Cue cookie cutter builds, YA that encourages diversity. Better yet, the +dam and +crit buffs have made DPS and vaping even worse and trivial content even easier.
Cryptic made changes and didn't do a balancing pass. PER USUAL.
Truthfully and honestly, I think the season 9 change to the rep system is a step in the wrong direction. It is a flat out confiscation of complete work, because the devs don't understand the term "long term planning"
The very concept of this reputation change is so fundamentally flawed, that the community cannot figure out if it is a nerf or a buff. It has become a very polarizing debate. Some people on Tribble report that after the changes took effect, their ships were even more powerful, which seems to invalidate the argument that it is a nerf, but it also invalidates the argument that it is stopping power creep. In other words, this change is having the exact opposite effect of what was intended and it has thrown the game into a very awkward position of accomplishing nothing but confusion and division. We now have even more powerful ships, with the feeling that things were taken away from us.
Personally, I have moved past the idea that this is a nerf, and I have settled on the idea that this is just punishment for veterans for investing lots of time, and pandering to noobs in order to reduce the amount of time and effort it takes to reach the peak of character development. I don't blame noobs for this change, I blame the greed of the devs. The devs have assumed that noobs don't have the patience to get to level 50, then go through reps, and build well thought-out toons, with good gear, and competent desigs. The devs seem to underestimate the interest of players, and choose to favor the quick and easy route, so as to reduce the chance of frustration, and create an artificial sense of accomplishment, which in turn, opens the wallet and sets the Visa cards to kill when buying Zen.
This changes removes the incentive to go all the way to tier 5 for MOST players, and encourages incompletion of reps that take time to develop. In the end we have players not doing content that the devs wasted time on.
All in all, the entirely wrong approach was taken wit Season 9 rep changes. I would have preferred to see a new level of difficulty added to PVE events (such as Super Elite) which offer superior rewards, but require significant reputation progress. This should be hard enough to scare away fresh 50s, but give veteran 50s a run for their money, and reward their dedication. It would have even of been nice to give players access to the rep system, starting at level 1, and allowed players to earn marks for completing story missions (but only on first time play, and not on mission replays). This way, by the time players get to level 50, they have taken a bite out of each rep, and they are on their way to boldly go right onto tier 5.
Alas, Cryptic seems to be run by Pakleds who "think they are smart".
In fact, I am sure this EXACT scene played out in the Dev office when talking about the Rep system.
In the end, my frustration with the season 9 rep changes have had only one effect; I have closed my wallet and I refuse to give any more money to Cryptic. I see this entire situation as a slap to the face, and blatantly disrespectful to the time I have invested in this game.
I take comfort in the knowledge that by closing my wallet, I am playing my part in making sure SOMEONE either gets fired, or has to take a pay cut.
I encourage all players to close their wallets until Cryptic steps back and cancels this change. Let's get someone laid off for this.
I'm sorry, there's one thing I can't take is the talk of "veterans" and "closing your wallets". "Oh, I don't like this change, so I'm gonna close my wallet. It's going to hurt them so much! Mwa-hahaha!"
I get it. You don't like it. Admittedly, it sucks. I can't see it because my main character I kitted out so horribly and I never got around to fixing him up so I don't know how powerful I can or cannot be.
But, sitting here with signatures trumpeting "CLOSE YOUR WALLETS!" and posts like this... it doesn't show you're a veteran, it shows you're... I really can't think of the word and whatever you're thinking, it's not that.
ETA: What I'm saying is this: show your displeasure, but not through that, especially with this. Reputation cost you no money unless you kept buying retraits.
This changes removes the incentive to go all the way to tier 5 for MOST players, and encourages incompletion of reps that take time to develop. In the end we have players not doing content that the devs wasted time on.
And what is wrong with this? People should be doing the content they want to do and not be forced to do content they don't like. I know the PvP community seems to support this change because they have more time doing PvP instead of grinding Reputation and people with severe altism aren't forced to grind to Tier 5 in every Reputation on 20 characters.
People are complaining that there is too much grind and when Cryptic finally does something to fix it, then people are complaining about the fix.
I'm sorry, there's one thing I can't take is the talk of "veterans" and "closing your wallets". "Oh, I don't like this change, so I'm gonna close my wallet. It's going to hurt them so much! Mwa-hahaha!"
I get it. You don't like it. Admittedly, it sucks. I can't see it because my main character I kitted out so horribly and I never got around to fixing him up so I don't know how powerful I can or cannot be.
But, sitting here with signatures trumpeting "CLOSE YOUR WALLETS!" and posts like this... it doesn't show you're a veteran, it shows you're... I really can't think of the word and whatever you're thinking, it's not that.
The fact of the matter is, it is Veterans who have done the grind on the reps, put the time in, and are being told to surrender abilities they have unlocked. This is Cryptic's fault. The players should not be punished because THEY didn't carefully consider their actions.
This is the problem I have with it. We have to take the punishment for their TRIBBLE-ups.
And, honestly buddy, Cryptic cares about one thing...MONEY. These guys aren't Dev-ing STO for charity or humanitarian reasons. They are looking to make money. Our money supply is our voice. When we cut the money supply, we do it to tell them we are not happy and we are not satisfied. This is how boycotts work. This is how you provoke change. By putting statements, like mine, in my signature, it is no different than a Pickett line. it voices dissatisfaction, and shows cryptic that there are measurable and quantifiable repercussions that will affect them. It shows them that they simply cannot punish the players for their mistakes. It is called making them accountable.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
If you oppose the Reputation nerf, feel free to use my signature
And as I said you have to prove 8 > 4x not 8 > 4 since the powers in the new rep system are better than the current rep powers. After all, it is the whole Quality vs. Quantity debate.
Nothing is being taken away either, You still have your passives and you can choose which ones to slot at which times.
There's what I'm on about, what does quality of anything have to do with it? The whole "buff certain skills" thing is compensation for >drumroll< them taking away currently-available powers. No matter how you slice it, 8 slottable passives (4 ground, 4 space) is less than the 16 I currently have slotted. No matter how powerful you make a select few, 16 > 8.
No matter what they buff, this is still a move toward more min-maxing, and more micromanagement as you reconfigure for this or that situation. And while the concept of "canon" is pretty much laughable at this point in the game's life, I don't recall any canon captains who didn't have all their skills from all their experiences available at all times rather than needing to "go meditate and reconfigure" to fight Breen rather than Borg.
Nevermind the already-stated points that they could cap it here instead of nerfing, that they'd have to be of questionable competence not to have seen this issue coming and even more questionable to have seen it coming and done nothing until forced...
I'm sorry, there's one thing I can't take is the talk of "veterans" and "closing your wallets". "Oh, I don't like this change, so I'm gonna close my wallet. It's going to hurt them so much! Mwa-hahaha!"
I get it. You don't like it. Admittedly, it sucks. I can't see it because my main character I kitted out so horribly and I never got around to fixing him up so I don't know how powerful I can or cannot be.
But, sitting here with signatures trumpeting "CLOSE YOUR WALLETS!" and posts like this... it doesn't show you're a veteran, it shows you're... I really can't think of the word and whatever you're thinking, it's not that.
ETA: What I'm saying is this: show your displeasure, but not through that, especially with this. Reputation cost you no money unless you kept buying retraits.
But, as has been explicitly said by the devs, it's all about the metrics.
Closing my wallet to cryptic is a measurable event.
Thus cryptic may pay attention, should enough wallets close.
Because they don't seem to pay attention to anything except metrics, no?
And what is wrong with this? People should be doing the content they want to do and not be forced to do content they don't like. I know the PvP community seems to support this change because they have more time doing PvP instead of grinding Reputation and people with severe altism aren't forced to grind to Tier 5 in every Reputation on 20 characters.
People are complaining that there is too much grind and when Cryptic finally does something to fix it, then people are complaining about the fix.
If people are not finishing reps then that is content that wasted development time. If you KNOW that people will not complete something 100%, why waste time on content you KNOW people will not do?
It is less about forcing people to do content, and more about encouraging people to play the content to its fullest. By taking away rep passives, you remove the encouragement and the incentive. That is my concern...loss of incentive. People want tot do things when there is incentive. I go to work because of the incentive of being paid for my labor...it is why I never volunteer. I don't do things I don't get paid for.
Also...the grind issue took a serious hit when sponsorship tokens were released. That literally cut the time in half. That was an EPIC idea that, sadly, is very lonely right now in the midst of "Pakled-level thinking" that seems to prevail with the devs at the moment.
The fact of the matter is, it is Veterans who have done the grind on the reps, put the time in, and are being told to surrender abilities they have unlocked. This is Cryptic's fault. The players should not be punished because THEY didn't carefully consider their actions.
This is the problem I have with it. We have to take the punishment for their TRIBBLE-ups.
And, honestly buddy, Cryptic cares about one thing...MONEY. These guys aren't Dev-ing STO for charity or humanitarian reasons. They are looking to make money. Our money supply is our voice. When we cut the money supply, we do it to tell them we are not happy and we are not satisfied. This is how boycotts work. This is how you provoke change. By putting statements, like mine, in my signature, it is no different than a Pickett line. it voices dissatisfaction, and shows cryptic that there are measurable and quantifiable repercussions that will affect them. It shows them that they simply cannot punish the players for their mistakes. It is called making them accountable.
We're not LOSING powers - we're just losing the ability to not have them all active at the same time. Now, maybe if they dumped the entire Reputation system, then yeah, I can see that. I put in some time and put in a lot of grief, especially with the Romulan Rep because I had no idea how to get more marks. I've gone nuts because of the Mirror Event because I wanted more marks for the Romulan Rep.
And I know Cryptic cares about money. Just as Blizzard and Nintendo and Microsoft and all the other companies, but what you don't realize is, is that saying "closing your wallets" is a double-edged sword: close too many wallets and you lose out. Think about that: are you willing to risk the game just because of one gameplay mechanic?
But, as has been explicitly said by the devs, it's all about the metrics.
Closing my wallet to cryptic is a measurable event.
Thus cryptic may pay attention, should enough wallets close.
Because they don't seem to pay attention to anything except metrics, no?
And as I said, what if too many wallets close? Are you willing to risk the game because of one gameplay mechanic? If you want to close your wallet, fine, but remember the fine line you're walking over something like this.
We're not LOSING powers - we're just losing the ability to not have them all active at the same time. Now, maybe if they dumped the entire Reputation system, then yeah, I can see that. I put in some time and put in a lot of grief, especially with the Romulan Rep because I had no idea how to get more marks. I've gone nuts because of the Mirror Event because I wanted more marks for the Romulan Rep.
Like I said a few posts back, I have moved on past the idea that this is a nerf. I take the stance that this is just a flat out bad idea because the real-world results have fallen terribly and woefully short of the design objectives.
The objective was to cap power creep, but reports from players on Tribble claim that they have managed to increase their DPS using what might as well be the master build which EVERYONE in the know-how will copy and paste.
This change fails to "encourage variety"
This change fails to reduce power creep
This change confiscates active powers
This change has proven to be an utter faliure (so far) on the test server, and has had the exact opposite effect.
And I know Cryptic cares about money. Just as Blizzard and Nintendo and Microsoft and all the other companies, but what you don't realize is, is that saying "closing your wallets" is a double-edged sword: close too many wallets and you lose out. Think about that: are you willing to risk the game just because of one gameplay mechanic?
Honestly...if the game gets shut down as a result of wallets closing...I rationalize it like this:
-I lose a game
-Devs potentially lose their jobs/take pay cuts/get laid off.
That means the players win.
So yes...I chose to risk the game because the devs are risking their livelihood.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
If you oppose the Reputation nerf, feel free to use my signature
We're not LOSING powers - we're just losing the ability to not have them all active at the same time. Now, maybe if they dumped the entire Reputation system, then yeah, I can see that. I put in some time and put in a lot of grief, especially with the Romulan Rep because I had no idea how to get more marks. I've gone nuts because of the Mirror Event because I wanted more marks for the Romulan Rep.
And I know Cryptic cares about money. Just as Blizzard and Nintendo and Microsoft and all the other companies, but what you don't realize is, is that saying "closing your wallets" is a double-edged sword: close too many wallets and you lose out. Think about that: are you willing to risk the game just because of one gameplay mechanic?
My wallet got closed because of the grindaversary debacle.
Others felt insulted by the galaxy revamp, those wallets got closed.
This will close other wallets.
Thing is, the way cryptic keep pulling these bull in a china shop moves, each time more wallets will close.
That's on cryptic though. Not players.
So long as cryptic carry on apparently thinking they can seriously irritate minorities of players this will continue.
Rather than castigate players for closing wallets, better to cajole cryptic into mending some fences.
If people are not finishing reps then that is content that wasted development time. If you KNOW that people will not complete something 100%, why waste time on content you KNOW people will not do?
It is less about forcing people to do content, and more about encouraging people to play the content to its fullest. By taking away rep passives, you remove the encouragement and the incentive. That is my concern...loss of incentive. People want tot do things when there is incentive. I go to work because of the incentive of being paid for my labor...it is why I never volunteer. I don't do things I don't get paid for.
Also...the grind issue took a serious hit when sponsorship tokens were released. That literally cut the time in half. That was an EPIC idea that, sadly, is very lonely right now in the midst of "Pakled-level thinking" that seems to prevail with the devs at the moment.
And it is completely misguided to think that everyone will complete 100% of the content. Some people like PvP, some like the Foundry, some like group content, some like to solo, and some like a combination of these types of content. By creating enough different types of content, then people will find something they enjoy doing. Forcing players to grind a ton of content that they don't want to do causes burnout and burnout can force players to leave the game permanently. Therefore, MMO companies will always create content that not everyone does because some of the players will do that content. It is not about making content that everyone will play since that is not possible unless we turn every player into the Borg, but about making many different types of fun and interesting content.
Personally, the incentives for Reputations has always been the equipment and not the powers. The powers were merely a bonus.
My wallet got closed because of the grindaversary debacle.
Others felt insulted by the galaxy revamp, those wallets got closed.
This will close other wallets.
Thing is, the way cryptic keep pulling these bull in a china shop moves, each time more wallets will close.
That's on cryptic though. Not players.
So long as cryptic carry on apparently thinking they can seriously irritate minorities of players this will continue.
Rather than castigate players for closing wallets, better to cajole cryptic into mending some fences.
Then wallets may open again.
Honestly, the more I think of this, the more I come to this conclusion, one that's said by the mods whenever a "I quit" post comes up: it's a Free-To-Play game. You're free to come and go as you please. Ultimately, if you don't want to spend money on this, then don't. IMO, this "picket line" of wallet closing is silly.
Though, I have to wonder how many are cheating? Cheating as in "Oh, I'll never give Cryptic anymore of my money - but I go and change my dil into Zen and buy the newest ship - tee-hee".
Either way, it's our decisions and it's our opinions - I think wallet closing is silly and you may think my way of thinking is short-sighted. Maybe it is. But, there's one thing I will say and it's this:
I didn't come to Star Trek Online to see how powerful my ship can get. I came to Star Trek Online to fly the ships of my childhood. They could turn this into a side-scrolling 2D Adventure in Atari graphics, but as long as I could fly a Galaxy or a Constitution, I'm happy.
Honestly...if the game gets shut down as a result of wallets closing...I rationalize it like this:
-I lose a game
-Devs potentially lose their jobs/take pay cuts/get laid off.
That means the players win.
So yes...I chose to risk the game because the devs are risking their livelihood.
How? The players don't win. If a thief steals $5 from you and $50 from the devs, then it still means you Lost. Good devs will always find work while we are out of a game. It is Lose/Lose not Win/Lose.
Actually I saw this change coming about S7.5 or so when the power creep started to get obvious.
Do I think they made the right choice, no they took the easy way out to try to reign in the power creep. Think of the outrage if they balanced all the weapons instead, I mean what would a balanced set of weapons be like.
Comments
Can just see it now. People complaining that they are now getting free room and board and $3000 per month for living in a certain place with absolutely nothing else changing. So no having to take care of someone's dog, no pesky neighbors moving in, or anything else that would justify why a person would get free room and board and $3000 per month.
Maybe they didn't ask for free room and board and $3000 per month for living in a certain place with nothing else changing.
Maybe they liked living where they currently were, because they earned their way to their imperfect paradise on their own time and effort alone and don't want to be moved elsewhere, just because someone told them to move. It might not be perfect, but it was theirs because they worked for it.
Eminent Domain is still a thing, and its not the money or reparations. It's the principle of being moved off of something you worked hard to earn -- for some jerk's ambitions that will be just as short-sighted and ill-thought out as what required you to be moved to begin with.
I'm going to stop you right there.
I totally sympathize with you. And invite you to join the Passive Resistance Movement that some of us have banded together to start on behalf of this particular change.
It's time to stop the devs from slapping the players in the face with another nerf! Join with us! Together we are far more powerful!
The reasoning they're giving is that they want to curb things from getting out of hand in the future when many more passives are added to the game.
In all fairness to the development team, they have done that. You can see it in how people react to No Win Scenario when the random enemy shows up. Tholians are treated differently than Klingons. You can see it in Storming the Spire. The ships are more intelligent. Their shields are different. They use other powers and are tougher enemies. You see it in Crystaline Entity.
People still keep doing ISE because it's easy and has high reward.
But the devs have been trying to make more engaging enemies. The players like the comfort of ISE though and stay there. So I don't know.
The scenario would be someone coming to your door and saying that they would pay your rent, food, and give $3000 per month with no strings attached. Nothing is said about having to move.
And I would be just as skeptical then as I am now. Nobody does that just out of the goodness of their heart. If someone said that to me, I would tell them to go away.
Which is why I'm skeptical this 'nerf' isn't really a 'nerf'. If it was really as innocent as people say it is, then it wouldn't need to be implemented to begin with.
If you aren't the customer, you're the product being sold.
Valid option? Like capping it at the current level instead of nerfing it first?
Not sure why that one doesn't count.
Which strawman is that, the one that 8 slottable passives is less than 20? Sounds more like solid math to me. -shrug-
And as I said you have to prove 8 > 4x not 8 > 4 since the powers in the new rep system are better than the current rep powers. After all, it is the whole Quality vs. Quantity debate.
The very concept of this reputation change is so fundamentally flawed, that the community cannot figure out if it is a nerf or a buff. It has become a very polarizing debate. Some people on Tribble report that after the changes took effect, their ships were even more powerful, which seems to invalidate the argument that it is a nerf, but it also invalidates the argument that it is stopping power creep. In other words, this change is having the exact opposite effect of what was intended and it has thrown the game into a very awkward position of accomplishing nothing but confusion and division. We now have even more powerful ships, with the feeling that things were taken away from us.
Personally, I have moved past the idea that this is a nerf, and I have settled on the idea that this is just punishment for veterans for investing lots of time, and pandering to noobs in order to reduce the amount of time and effort it takes to reach the peak of character development. I don't blame noobs for this change, I blame the greed of the devs. The devs have assumed that noobs don't have the patience to get to level 50, then go through reps, and build well thought-out toons, with good gear, and competent desigs. The devs seem to underestimate the interest of players, and choose to favor the quick and easy route, so as to reduce the chance of frustration, and create an artificial sense of accomplishment, which in turn, opens the wallet and sets the Visa cards to kill when buying Zen.
This changes removes the incentive to go all the way to tier 5 for MOST players, and encourages incompletion of reps that take time to develop. In the end we have players not doing content that the devs wasted time on.
All in all, the entirely wrong approach was taken wit Season 9 rep changes. I would have preferred to see a new level of difficulty added to PVE events (such as Super Elite) which offer superior rewards, but require significant reputation progress. This should be hard enough to scare away fresh 50s, but give veteran 50s a run for their money, and reward their dedication. It would have even of been nice to give players access to the rep system, starting at level 1, and allowed players to earn marks for completing story missions (but only on first time play, and not on mission replays). This way, by the time players get to level 50, they have taken a bite out of each rep, and they are on their way to boldly go right onto tier 5.
Alas, Cryptic seems to be run by Pakleds who "think they are smart".
In fact, I am sure this EXACT scene played out in the Dev office when talking about the Rep system.
In the end, my frustration with the season 9 rep changes have had only one effect; I have closed my wallet and I refuse to give any more money to Cryptic. I see this entire situation as a slap to the face, and blatantly disrespectful to the time I have invested in this game.
I take comfort in the knowledge that by closing my wallet, I am playing my part in making sure SOMEONE either gets fired, or has to take a pay cut.
I encourage all players to close their wallets until Cryptic steps back and cancels this change. Let's get someone laid off for this.
Fooish. they buffed the bejeezus out of the powers, so some are clearly awesome and some clearly suck. Cue cookie cutter builds, YA that encourages diversity. Better yet, the +dam and +crit buffs have made DPS and vaping even worse and trivial content even easier.
Cryptic made changes and didn't do a balancing pass. PER USUAL.
I feel somewhat special. You quoted a block of text that quoted me. I have reached the top.
In all seriousness however, I agree...this is a slap in the face. But let['s face it people...Cryptic understands ONE THING and one thing only...
THIS
and
THIS
All we have to do is close our wallets. Money is the universal language. They will get the message.
I'm sorry, there's one thing I can't take is the talk of "veterans" and "closing your wallets". "Oh, I don't like this change, so I'm gonna close my wallet. It's going to hurt them so much! Mwa-hahaha!"
I get it. You don't like it. Admittedly, it sucks. I can't see it because my main character I kitted out so horribly and I never got around to fixing him up so I don't know how powerful I can or cannot be.
But, sitting here with signatures trumpeting "CLOSE YOUR WALLETS!" and posts like this... it doesn't show you're a veteran, it shows you're... I really can't think of the word and whatever you're thinking, it's not that.
ETA: What I'm saying is this: show your displeasure, but not through that, especially with this. Reputation cost you no money unless you kept buying retraits.
And what is wrong with this? People should be doing the content they want to do and not be forced to do content they don't like. I know the PvP community seems to support this change because they have more time doing PvP instead of grinding Reputation and people with severe altism aren't forced to grind to Tier 5 in every Reputation on 20 characters.
People are complaining that there is too much grind and when Cryptic finally does something to fix it, then people are complaining about the fix.
The fact of the matter is, it is Veterans who have done the grind on the reps, put the time in, and are being told to surrender abilities they have unlocked. This is Cryptic's fault. The players should not be punished because THEY didn't carefully consider their actions.
This is the problem I have with it. We have to take the punishment for their TRIBBLE-ups.
And, honestly buddy, Cryptic cares about one thing...MONEY. These guys aren't Dev-ing STO for charity or humanitarian reasons. They are looking to make money. Our money supply is our voice. When we cut the money supply, we do it to tell them we are not happy and we are not satisfied. This is how boycotts work. This is how you provoke change. By putting statements, like mine, in my signature, it is no different than a Pickett line. it voices dissatisfaction, and shows cryptic that there are measurable and quantifiable repercussions that will affect them. It shows them that they simply cannot punish the players for their mistakes. It is called making them accountable.
How do you figure?
There's what I'm on about, what does quality of anything have to do with it? The whole "buff certain skills" thing is compensation for >drumroll< them taking away currently-available powers. No matter how you slice it, 8 slottable passives (4 ground, 4 space) is less than the 16 I currently have slotted. No matter how powerful you make a select few, 16 > 8.
No matter what they buff, this is still a move toward more min-maxing, and more micromanagement as you reconfigure for this or that situation. And while the concept of "canon" is pretty much laughable at this point in the game's life, I don't recall any canon captains who didn't have all their skills from all their experiences available at all times rather than needing to "go meditate and reconfigure" to fight Breen rather than Borg.
Nevermind the already-stated points that they could cap it here instead of nerfing, that they'd have to be of questionable competence not to have seen this issue coming and even more questionable to have seen it coming and done nothing until forced...
But, as has been explicitly said by the devs, it's all about the metrics.
Closing my wallet to cryptic is a measurable event.
Thus cryptic may pay attention, should enough wallets close.
Because they don't seem to pay attention to anything except metrics, no?
If people are not finishing reps then that is content that wasted development time. If you KNOW that people will not complete something 100%, why waste time on content you KNOW people will not do?
It is less about forcing people to do content, and more about encouraging people to play the content to its fullest. By taking away rep passives, you remove the encouragement and the incentive. That is my concern...loss of incentive. People want tot do things when there is incentive. I go to work because of the incentive of being paid for my labor...it is why I never volunteer. I don't do things I don't get paid for.
Also...the grind issue took a serious hit when sponsorship tokens were released. That literally cut the time in half. That was an EPIC idea that, sadly, is very lonely right now in the midst of "Pakled-level thinking" that seems to prevail with the devs at the moment.
IT IS BROKEN!
We're not LOSING powers - we're just losing the ability to not have them all active at the same time. Now, maybe if they dumped the entire Reputation system, then yeah, I can see that. I put in some time and put in a lot of grief, especially with the Romulan Rep because I had no idea how to get more marks. I've gone nuts because of the Mirror Event because I wanted more marks for the Romulan Rep.
And I know Cryptic cares about money. Just as Blizzard and Nintendo and Microsoft and all the other companies, but what you don't realize is, is that saying "closing your wallets" is a double-edged sword: close too many wallets and you lose out. Think about that: are you willing to risk the game just because of one gameplay mechanic?
And as I said, what if too many wallets close? Are you willing to risk the game because of one gameplay mechanic? If you want to close your wallet, fine, but remember the fine line you're walking over something like this.
Like I said a few posts back, I have moved on past the idea that this is a nerf. I take the stance that this is just a flat out bad idea because the real-world results have fallen terribly and woefully short of the design objectives.
The objective was to cap power creep, but reports from players on Tribble claim that they have managed to increase their DPS using what might as well be the master build which EVERYONE in the know-how will copy and paste.
This change fails to "encourage variety"
This change fails to reduce power creep
This change confiscates active powers
This change has proven to be an utter faliure (so far) on the test server, and has had the exact opposite effect.
Honestly...if the game gets shut down as a result of wallets closing...I rationalize it like this:
-I lose a game
-Devs potentially lose their jobs/take pay cuts/get laid off.
That means the players win.
So yes...I chose to risk the game because the devs are risking their livelihood.
My wallet got closed because of the grindaversary debacle.
Others felt insulted by the galaxy revamp, those wallets got closed.
This will close other wallets.
Thing is, the way cryptic keep pulling these bull in a china shop moves, each time more wallets will close.
That's on cryptic though. Not players.
So long as cryptic carry on apparently thinking they can seriously irritate minorities of players this will continue.
Rather than castigate players for closing wallets, better to cajole cryptic into mending some fences.
Then wallets may open again.
And it is completely misguided to think that everyone will complete 100% of the content. Some people like PvP, some like the Foundry, some like group content, some like to solo, and some like a combination of these types of content. By creating enough different types of content, then people will find something they enjoy doing. Forcing players to grind a ton of content that they don't want to do causes burnout and burnout can force players to leave the game permanently. Therefore, MMO companies will always create content that not everyone does because some of the players will do that content. It is not about making content that everyone will play since that is not possible unless we turn every player into the Borg, but about making many different types of fun and interesting content.
Personally, the incentives for Reputations has always been the equipment and not the powers. The powers were merely a bonus.
Honestly, the more I think of this, the more I come to this conclusion, one that's said by the mods whenever a "I quit" post comes up: it's a Free-To-Play game. You're free to come and go as you please. Ultimately, if you don't want to spend money on this, then don't. IMO, this "picket line" of wallet closing is silly.
Though, I have to wonder how many are cheating? Cheating as in "Oh, I'll never give Cryptic anymore of my money - but I go and change my dil into Zen and buy the newest ship - tee-hee".
Either way, it's our decisions and it's our opinions - I think wallet closing is silly and you may think my way of thinking is short-sighted. Maybe it is. But, there's one thing I will say and it's this:
I didn't come to Star Trek Online to see how powerful my ship can get. I came to Star Trek Online to fly the ships of my childhood. They could turn this into a side-scrolling 2D Adventure in Atari graphics, but as long as I could fly a Galaxy or a Constitution, I'm happy.
How? The players don't win. If a thief steals $5 from you and $50 from the devs, then it still means you Lost. Good devs will always find work while we are out of a game. It is Lose/Lose not Win/Lose.
Do I think they made the right choice, no they took the easy way out to try to reign in the power creep. Think of the outrage if they balanced all the weapons instead, I mean what would a balanced set of weapons be like.