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S9 Appreciation Thread - Mikey Likes It

staq16staq16 Member Posts: 1,181 Arc User
So amid all the general bashing, I thought I'd be a contrary so-and-so and actually say how much I like the new changes.

Setting my stall out; I'm a 3-year player with 4 rep-maxxed alts (3 KDF, 1 Fed). All are "themed" so some degree so while I do try to optimise gear and builds, it's within constraints (eg my Gorn Sci flies a varanus with an all-Gorn crew). Hence, while I have the zen / dil /ec for Lockbox ships and Rommy Boffs, I don't use them much. i've never played Roms because, well, the Roms hold no interest for me (but I applaud the implementation of LoR for the health of the game).

Anyway, last night I had a novel and fascinating experience. My War Bortas - which was able to cheerfully slaughter its way through a Voth Dreadnought and its escorting fleet - tried to take on an Undine dreadnought and, it became apparent, was out of its depth. So I disengaged and went back to the mission thinking, "I need some backup here". Tackling one of the Undine's most powerful warships, this stuck me as entirely appropriate.

So, S9 changes? Really good IMO.

Reps - enough said about these elsewhere but I'm a fan. Much more choice IMO in that you can experiment freely with traits instead of having to pay Zen. Less scope to be brilliant at everything, but nonetheless a sign of an attempt to plan ahead from Cryptic.

Kits - As above. Same logic - a capped number of abilities to avoid power creep - but more choice in combinations.

Undine Rep - Win. We're back to STO's original big bad, a race who had been built up as a major threat in the way that the Tholians and Voth never were. The missions are all good for different reasons.

The Undine Invasion rubs players' noses in the fact there is a universe out there. The planet has a defending fleet and they're not going to just sit there and die. The aforementioned Undine dreadnought is a real threat. It's a great change from the normal STO "it's up to you to save the universe!" line.

Undine Infiltration is another very welcome change of pace which actually requires players to ask questions first and shoot later. Now there's a novelty.

The Undine Rep gear actually feels integrated into Fed / KDF tech with its emphasis on Phasers, Disruptors and Photons. I appreciate this may be a letdown to Romulans but there are already plenty of plasma sets and buffs out there; this seems more like balancing the factions (can we do the same for Boffs now?). But again - encouraging players to have ships equipped like those in the TV series? Can I really run a B'rel photon torp boat now? Surely this won't catch on....

Overall - in fact in totality - I like the changes for the new season. Which I never really expected to say.
Post edited by staq16 on
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Comments

  • grazyc2#7847 grazyc2 Member Posts: 1,988 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    staq16 wrote: »
    So amid all the general bashing, I thought I'd be a contrary so-and-so and actually say how much I like the new changes.

    Setting my stall out; I'm a 3-year player with 4 rep-maxxed alts (3 KDF, 1 Fed). All are "themed" so some degree so while I do try to optimise gear and builds, it's within constraints (eg my Gorn Sci flies a varanus with an all-Gorn crew). Hence, while I have the zen / dil /ec for Lockbox ships and Rommy Boffs, I don't use them much. i've never played Roms because, well, the Roms hold no interest for me (but I applaud the implementation of LoR for the health of the game).

    Anyway, last night I had a novel and fascinating experience. My War Bortas - which was able to cheerfully slaughter its way through a Voth Dreadnought and its escorting fleet - tried to take on an Undine dreadnought and, it became apparent, was out of its depth. So I disengaged and went back to the mission thinking, "I need some backup here". Tackling one of the Undine's most powerful warships, this stuck me as entirely appropriate.

    So, S9 changes? Really good IMO.

    Reps - enough said about these elsewhere but I'm a fan. Much more choice IMO in that you can experiment freely with traits instead of having to pay Zen. Less scope to be brilliant at everything, but nonetheless a sign of an attempt to plan ahead from Cryptic.

    Kits - As above. Same logic - a capped number of abilities to avoid power creep - but more choice in combinations.

    Undine Rep - Win. We're back to STO's original big bad, a race who had been built up as a major threat in the way that the Tholians and Voth never were. The missions are all good for different reasons.

    The Undine Invasion rubs players' noses in the fact there is a universe out there. The planet has a defending fleet and they're not going to just sit there and die. The aforementioned Undine dreadnought is a real threat. It's a great change from the normal STO "it's up to you to save the universe!" line.

    Undine Infiltration is another very welcome change of pace which actually requires players to ask questions first and shoot later. Now there's a novelty.

    The Undine Rep gear actually feels integrated into Fed / KDF tech with its emphasis on Phasers, Disruptors and Photons. I appreciate this may be a letdown to Romulans but there are already plenty of plasma sets and buffs out there; this seems more like balancing the factions (can we do the same for Boffs now?). But again - encouraging players to have ships equipped like those in the TV series? Can I really run a B'rel photon torp boat now? Surely this won't catch on....

    Overall - in fact in totality - I like the changes for the new season. Which I never really expected to say.

    Best thing they did is the rep system AFK means no points, so no Credit I like it !!!
    Rest off your tread I concure 100% if I was living near Cryptic Studio's I would have send them Flowers to thank them for a job wel done !!!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    "Coffee: the finest organic suspension ever devised. It's got me through the worst of the last three years. I beat the Borg with it."
  • artfulmerkageartfulmerkage Member Posts: 294 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    I am with you. I really like the changes.

    In fact this may be my favourite season since doffing was introduced.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Valdus | Charn | Costello | Typhus | Thyran
  • captainrevo1captainrevo1 Member Posts: 3,948 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    I really like season 9 for the most part. there is an uptick in quality. The FE was spectacular, and its great to finally see recurring characters and full VO. it really adds to it when you start to know the characters and identify with them. lots of nice touches with new music and animations.

    ESD looks great and feels more organised and functional. I originally thought it was not needed but now seeing it in its full glory i can see how much better it is and how bad the old one was. perhaps mostly for new players to get around easier but im impressed with the art quality and layout.

    The kit revamp will be a massive boost to customization and they can really build on that with future modules. I dont mind the trait revamp. i get why it was necessary although its probably something they should have thought about sooner to cap it off before people were near the cap but its fine and does not bother me. the overall streamlining of the rep system will also be helpful to new players who need to catch up.

    I'm enjoying the updated borg/undine arc as well. the art quality improvements are nice and again lots of VO and story that is more consistent.

    The 3 events are pretty good. i like they have added optional extras that change and accolades. i like that not everything is just pew pew and it takes a little thought.

    I would say the space battlezone is not as good as the ground one. space is always harder to do as its literally open space so i would rather see more ground zones in the future but its still fun enough for what it is but they probably could have done more with that.

    so overall, while not a massive season (as i expect they need the extra time for the expansion) it has improved the game and it continues to move in the right direction for me.
  • vhex333vhex333 Member Posts: 75 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    I am happy to be with you guys here. I am loving the new content and am trying this time to pace myself and not go running headlong into it.

    The rewards are not necessarily tied into my chosen ship (I am polaron and have only one character for all these years) but I am going to enjoy the new experiences with the Undine. Their fluidic liquid pockets are very annoying for a JHDC captain.. but in a good way as it forces you to rethink positioning in space.

    The Undine STF (I forget which it is) with the closing of rifts does take a shade too long, but I put that down to us all getting used to it.

    The kits are a great idea and about time. Giving us the option to tailor our build and have the skills we want instead of selecting a pre-set kit is great. All we need now are more kit vendors (I have only found two Fleet level vendors).

    Traits - well, it works for me and to be honest, it doesn't make that much difference for me, I still get a good selection and have the essential traits (Turn Speed and Wing Commander) so good. It also gives Cryptic the amazing luxury of adding trait slots as we progress. Something I am sure we will grind for.

    The weekend will have me venturing into the revamped Episodes to see how they pan out. If the latest FE was anything to go by, then I am expecting great things.

    Im hoping Cryptic learn a bit from ground combat in their other MMO - Neverwinter and start to bring systems that work in that over to ground in STO. In my opinion (and I hope it is relevant as this is my 20th year working in the video games industry), I felt that the combat in Neverwinter was really well designed and would really be interested to see if elements of that would appear in STO.

    Also, of note to the STO community. If you compare the end-game queue in STO to that in Neverwinter (very similar systems), STO wins hands down by many times. I think 99.9% of all PUG matches in STO have all 5 places filled with players. Neverwinter nearly always ends up 3 out of 5 and they drop out before we even walk one step. It may be down to player count but Neverwinter looks as busy as STO. PWE/Cryptic are definitely one of the better studios for providing content for players at end-game (look how long we have been at end game and still are playing).

    They have stumbled on a bump with the level cap, though. When we move up to lvl 60, does that mean all those LVL 50 ships we have seen are now obsolete? I don't think they would risk that. My guess is they will offer an upgrade (space dock or something) to fit your current ship to LVL 60 at a cost. Added console slots, stats etc.

    Oh, I have drifted again. Season 9 Good. Game Good :)
  • drogyn1701drogyn1701 Member Posts: 3,606 Media Corps
    edited April 2014
    Have to say I'm on the same page as you guys. By now I've run all the events and missions (not complaining, my choice) and I think Season 9 is one of the better ones.

    Undine queue events. The space ones are all right but the one I really like is Undine Infiltration. Can't ever seem to get all team members to set for stun. Was told this gives bonus marks, can anyone confirm?

    Space Zone should hopefully be more fun after today's patch. Both times I've tried it, it wouldn't finish. Fun anyway.

    New faces. I've had great fun checking out what new face combinations make my characters look cool. Can't wait to make this look at this in the Foundry.

    I like the new trait system. Doesn't feel like anything has been taken away and in fact feels like I got something back, as the choice of passives doesn't take a big respec to accomplish, can just do it on the fly with any of the ones available. But I "grew up" in MMO gaming with Guild Wars, where you always had a huge pool of skills and could only choose 8 at any one time. Having to make a choice doesn't bother me.

    Still working on kits, probably going to take me a while to get all my characters the way I want them but I love being able to tailor them to what I like.

    I look forward to tiering up in the Undine rep and taking a few more folks through Surface Tension.
    The Foundry Roundtable live Saturdays at 7:30PM EST/4:30PM PST on twitch.tv/thefoundryroundtable
  • redz4twredz4tw Member Posts: 3
    edited April 2014
    I'm in complete agreement with you all, Season 9 has been amazing. The trait revamp is really nice, as is the ground kit revamp. The PvP queues are a lot better now, imo. The reputation revamp kinda slaps the older players a bit, but as someone with two characters with max rep, i'm not complaining. Undine ships are beast af, love my Nicor :D ESD redesign *mind blown* great job.
  • tyranthraxisiityranthraxisii Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    staq16 wrote: »
    So amid all the general bashing, I thought I'd be a contrary so-and-so and actually say how much I like the new changes.

    Setting my stall out; I'm a 3-year player with 4 rep-maxxed alts (3 KDF, 1 Fed). All are "themed" so some degree so while I do try to optimise gear and builds, it's within constraints (eg my Gorn Sci flies a varanus with an all-Gorn crew). Hence, while I have the zen / dil /ec for Lockbox ships and Rommy Boffs, I don't use them much. i've never played Roms because, well, the Roms hold no interest for me (but I applaud the implementation of LoR for the health of the game).

    Anyway, last night I had a novel and fascinating experience. My War Bortas - which was able to cheerfully slaughter its way through a Voth Dreadnought and its escorting fleet - tried to take on an Undine dreadnought and, it became apparent, was out of its depth. So I disengaged and went back to the mission thinking, "I need some backup here". Tackling one of the Undine's most powerful warships, this stuck me as entirely appropriate.

    So, S9 changes? Really good IMO.

    Reps - enough said about these elsewhere but I'm a fan. Much more choice IMO in that you can experiment freely with traits instead of having to pay Zen. Less scope to be brilliant at everything, but nonetheless a sign of an attempt to plan ahead from Cryptic.

    Kits - As above. Same logic - a capped number of abilities to avoid power creep - but more choice in combinations.

    Undine Rep - Win. We're back to STO's original big bad, a race who had been built up as a major threat in the way that the Tholians and Voth never were. The missions are all good for different reasons.

    The Undine Invasion rubs players' noses in the fact there is a universe out there. The planet has a defending fleet and they're not going to just sit there and die. The aforementioned Undine dreadnought is a real threat. It's a great change from the normal STO "it's up to you to save the universe!" line.

    Undine Infiltration is another very welcome change of pace which actually requires players to ask questions first and shoot later. Now there's a novelty.

    The Undine Rep gear actually feels integrated into Fed / KDF tech with its emphasis on Phasers, Disruptors and Photons. I appreciate this may be a letdown to Romulans but there are already plenty of plasma sets and buffs out there; this seems more like balancing the factions (can we do the same for Boffs now?). But again - encouraging players to have ships equipped like those in the TV series? Can I really run a B'rel photon torp boat now? Surely this won't catch on....

    Overall - in fact in totality - I like the changes for the new season. Which I never really expected to say.

    I have to say that amid all the horrible looking Dev Blogs, the fear of the system revamps, seeing the FE was only 1 episode, etc, I was determined to feel poo poo about S9.....

    Then I played it....and OMG Cryptic, you blew me away. Every part of the FE took it a notch higher, And then when you thought the awesome was done, it got the Awesome x Infinity buff right at the end. I must say, I love that the lesser rep grind mission is reduced to 1h cd too, the Undine space Battlezone is awesome(when it works right :P), and the gear looks fresh. My only complaint so far is the annoyance that is fighting the Undine fleets in space now, as when they get those Fluidic Rifts going, my ship just kinda floats around on it's own LOL.

    Great Job Cryptic, Now release some more Cstore Uniforms/ships and take my money! :P
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=TREQGl54BU8&feature=endscreen
    I thought WoW's forums had angry elitist snobs, but I never could have imagined the level STO forums has.:confused:
  • edgecrysgeredgecrysger Member Posts: 2,740 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    This will never change. People that likes the new season for stupid reasons, and important things are really forgotten lol. Typical cases of a rich boy with thousands of $ to spent every month.
  • lan451lan451 Member Posts: 3,386 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    S8 was pretty much a bust for me, a complete and total miss. S9 though? Love it. The only thing I don't like about it is the SA change. But hey, one little thing out of all of that? I call that a win in my book.
    JWZrsUV.jpg
    Mine Trap Supporter
  • artfulmerkageartfulmerkage Member Posts: 294 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    This will never change. People that likes the new season for stupid reasons, and important things are really forgotten lol. Typical cases of a rich boy with thousands of $ to spent every month.

    Here is a list of these "stupid reasons" since you are too entitled to see past your own whinging:

    Reputation simplification - no more hoarding commodities, quicker turnaround on upgrades and drop boxes, which while vendortrash typically, are basically free money or gear for boffs.

    Feature Episode - Decent rewards. Not a perfect episode but a cut above anything to date.

    Revamped episodes - These revamped episodes improve the scope and consistency of the narrative, and the battles in fluidic space outlast any memory of the predecessors.

    Kit revamp - Now it isn't merely a question of one size fits all, enhanced customisation, providing skill bonuses with it.

    Undine upgrade - The Undine are actually worthy of their reputation in S9. They can hit very hard, and the model upgrades make them truer to their Voyager iterations.

    ESD Improvement - A completely remade base map from scratch, with more ergonomic and practical advantages over the previous ESD. (Straight walk to Shipyard, bank and mail a quick walk around a corner etc.)

    Resolution between allied powers - No more pointless warfare, the Iconians have been revealed, and it is clear there needs to be a unified front.

    New queues - Holy hell, a queue where officers actually ask before shooting? Apparently that's not progress.

    If you still think there is nothing valid to like in S9, log out permanently.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Valdus | Charn | Costello | Typhus | Thyran
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    Here is a list of these "stupid reasons" since you are too entitled to see past your own whinging:

    Reputation simplification - no more hoarding commodities, quicker turnaround on upgrades and drop boxes, which while vendortrash typically, are basically free money or gear for boffs.

    Feature Episode - Decent rewards. Not a perfect episode but a cut above anything to date.

    Revamped episodes - These revamped episodes improve the scope and consistency of the narrative, and the battles in fluidic space outlast any memory of the predecessors.

    Kit revamp - Now it isn't merely a question of one size fits all, enhanced customisation, providing skill bonuses with it.

    Undine upgrade - The Undine are actually worthy of their reputation in S9. They can hit very hard, and the model upgrades make them truer to their Voyager iterations.

    ESD Improvement - A completely remade base map from scratch, with more ergonomic and practical advantages over the previous ESD. (Straight walk to Shipyard, bank and mail a quick walk around a corner etc.)

    Resolution between allied powers - No more pointless warfare, the Iconians have been revealed, and it is clear there needs to be a unified front.

    New queues - Holy hell, a queue where officers actually ask before shooting? Apparently that's not progress.

    If you still think there is nothing valid to like in S9, log out permanently.
    QFT. :P

    Yeah, I love it. :D
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • neppakyoneppakyo Member Posts: 245 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    oooo a shiney new shopping mall for feds! Time would of been better spent FIXING bugs that have been around for YEARS.

    The FE was pretty decent, the undine are still easy to fight, that dreadnaught in the stf was pretty easy, in general all undine are easy.

    These threads always turn into TRIBBLE kissing, ignoring glaring faults.
    Quote about STO on consoles: "Not quite as bad as No man's sky, but a close second."
  • edgecrysgeredgecrysger Member Posts: 2,740 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    Here is a list of these "stupid reasons" since you are too entitled to see past your own whinging:

    Reputation simplification - no more hoarding commodities, quicker turnaround on upgrades and drop boxes, which while vendortrash typically, are basically free money or gear for boffs.

    Feature Episode - Decent rewards. Not a perfect episode but a cut above anything to date.

    Revamped episodes - These revamped episodes improve the scope and consistency of the narrative, and the battles in fluidic space outlast any memory of the predecessors.

    Kit revamp - Now it isn't merely a question of one size fits all, enhanced customisation, providing skill bonuses with it.

    Undine upgrade - The Undine are actually worthy of their reputation in S9. They can hit very hard, and the model upgrades make them truer to their Voyager iterations.

    ESD Improvement - A completely remade base map from scratch, with more ergonomic and practical advantages over the previous ESD. (Straight walk to Shipyard, bank and mail a quick walk around a corner etc.)

    Resolution between allied powers - No more pointless warfare, the Iconians have been revealed, and it is clear there needs to be a unified front.

    New queues - Holy hell, a queue where officers actually ask before shooting? Apparently that's not progress.

    If you still think there is nothing valid to like in S9, log out permanently.

    You still thinking the new ESD is better than the old one?? lol... seriously, i am really not surprised. The new ESD is just garbaje. Period.

    And again, those are not important BUGS. Do you even know what a bug is? a fail? a mistake? apparently not. For example, and i am not a klingon user, but the KDF tailor bug. THAT IS AN IMPORTANT BUG TO FIX. Not the other things you named. But i tell you again, people will never learn. It snot about releasing new things, or revamping new ones, for god sake, its about FIXING THE PREVIOUS ONES FIRST!!!!!!
  • edgecrysgeredgecrysger Member Posts: 2,740 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    QFT. :P

    Yeah, I love it. :D

    Yeah you are the "other" one lol.
  • admiralcarteradmiralcarter Member Posts: 19 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    Apart from the new Lockbox and the Bio-Ship in it...

    I really like the direction this is going. I am glad that the effort is put to create a better Star Trek Look then it ever was. Granted theres a lot of inconsistencys that kill the immersion sometimes and thoose boxships doesent make it better.

    But hey Uniformcode, new ESD, revamped 'old' content.

    One thing that people dont notice, is how much the game has really evolved.

    I was just realizing that when I was creating a video for my fleet. When I was looking for Star Trek Online Footage on the web, I stumbled over Stuff from 2009 and early Alpha and Beta materials.

    Jesus Christ... were we really playing that back in the day?

    It doese look way better this days.

    The storyarc is advancing nice and if they tigh up lose ends (as example the Cardassian and Federation Romulan Content wich seems to be off a little) it is a great experience and worth replaying.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Star Trek Online Intro HD [3rd Fleet Anniversary]

    Join Date: Jul 2009
  • edgecrysgeredgecrysger Member Posts: 2,740 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    Apart from the new Lockbox and the Bio-Ship in it...

    I really like the direction this is going. I am glad that the effort is put to create a better Star Trek Look then it ever was. Granted theres a lot of inconsistencys that kill the immersion sometimes and thoose boxships doesent make it better.

    Well you have a really weird taste, considering the way this is going is the trash.. lol.
  • adarus77adarus77 Member Posts: 31 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    The FE is great, good story, the Undine are very easy to destroy, in general i really love it. But, the bugs the new S9 have are there, not all ppl have them, i have 17 chars, in several of them i have a bug, i dont have any available skil to use, the game display that i have to respect but the option to respect doesnt work, on other chars i have a skill selected that i cant uncheck because is not in my list of available skills!!!!!! this is not happening in all my chars, but in some of them. i send a ticket and customer support really ignores you... send a response that is just garbage, so IMHO they do some things really great, but they have some things that cant get fixed, that is, BUGS and Customer Support!!!!! lets see how much time it takes to correct this bugs, IF they even care to do it.... in general i like the game, i like the idea of have more options for the kids and for what skill i want to use base on what will you play on the game in that moment.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    I was just realizing that when I was creating a video for my fleet. When I was looking for Star Trek Online Footage on the web, I stumbled over Stuff from 2009 and early Alpha and Beta materials.

    Jesus Christ... were we really playing that back in the day?

    It doese look way better this days.
    I forget whether I joined in 2009 or 2010... But for peeps who wish to see how the old UI looked... BEHOLD!
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • redz4twredz4tw Member Posts: 3
    edited April 2014
    This will never change. People that likes the new season for stupid reasons, and important things are really forgotten lol. Typical cases of a rich boy with thousands of $ to spent every month.
    Please do share the important things that are forgotten.
  • blassreiterusblassreiterus Member Posts: 1,294 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    This will never change. People that likes the new season for stupid reasons, and important things are really forgotten lol. Typical cases of a rich boy with thousands of $ to spent every month.
    Stupid reasons? who are you to decide which is a stupid reason? You are just being a jerk if you've come into a thread and basically derail it with your bile.
    You still thinking the new ESD is better than the old one?? lol... seriously, i am really not surprised. The new ESD is just garbaje. Period.

    And again, those are not important BUGS. Do you even know what a bug is? a fail? a mistake? apparently not. For example, and i am not a klingon user, but the KDF tailor bug. THAT IS AN IMPORTANT BUG TO FIX. Not the other things you named. But i tell you again, people will never learn. It snot about releasing new things, or revamping new ones, for god sake, its about FIXING THE PREVIOUS ONES FIRST!!!!!!
    New ESD blows the Old version of the station out of the water 10000 times. I'm glad that the new version of ESD is here since it is far more functional than the old one.
    Star Trek Online LTS player.
  • jellico1jellico1 Member Posts: 2,719
    edited April 2014
    The FE good for 1 time play

    The Tailor...................Excellent

    All of the rest................Meh
    Jellico....Engineer ground.....Da'val Romulan space Sci
    Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
    Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng

    JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
  • redz4twredz4tw Member Posts: 3
    edited April 2014
    jellico1 wrote: »
    The FE good for 1 time play

    The Tailor...................Excellent

    All of the rest................Meh
    Lol all the rest meh.
    Whatever, the point is the benefits of season 9 outweigh the benefits of the former status quo. Season 9 is the best season ever, I honestly wasn't looking forward to it, i thought season 8 was blown waaaay out of proportion but for me, season 9 lived up to the noise it made.
  • jellico1jellico1 Member Posts: 2,719
    edited April 2014
    redz4tw wrote: »
    Lol all the rest meh.
    Whatever, the point is the benefits of season 9 outweigh the benefits of the former status quo. Season 9 is the best season ever, I honestly wasn't looking forward to it, i thought season 8 was blown waaaay out of proportion but for me, season 9 lived up to the noise it made.


    What benifits do you speak off

    The wasted effort put into ESD ?

    The loss of 1/2 of out dilithium from the stfs ?

    Revamping the traits so i can now do more DPs ?.............Seriously !

    new undine missions with mind numbing spawns of easy ships to kill to time gate the missions and the most poor rewards to date for time invested in a mission

    spawn
    spawn
    spawn

    Besides the Tailor ( 5 stars ) i see nothing but nerfs and no benifits
    Jellico....Engineer ground.....Da'val Romulan space Sci
    Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
    Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng

    JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
  • redz4twredz4tw Member Posts: 3
    edited April 2014
    jellico1 wrote: »


    What benifits do you speak off

    The wasted effort put into ESD ?

    The loss of 1/2 of out dilithium from the stfs ?

    Revamping the traits so i can now do more DPs ?.............Seriously !

    new undine missions with mind numbing spawns of easy ships to kill to time gate the missions and the most poor rewards to date for time invested in a mission

    spawn
    spawn
    spawn

    Besides the Tailor ( 5 stars ) i see nothing but nerfs and no benifits
    ESD effort was not wasted, i still get 960 dilithium , the heck are you talking about? Neural processor cost for 1k dil also DECREASED TO 3 PROCESSORS. Trait revamp makes people that have half a brain more OP...undine elite STF's aren't easy, and if you think they're just mind numbing spawns, check out the borg again, mind numbing spawns of squishy hull tanks.....your logic makes spock's brain bleed my friend.
  • rinksterrinkster Member Posts: 3,549 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    There's good and bad in season nine.

    The FE is, on the whole, very good. The two caveats I have is the way Undine get stuck in the walls. Added 10 minutes to my run through waiting for them to stick their noses out to fire on them.

    That sort of thing is what QA should have picked up. And, sadly, there have been some pretty horrible lapses in QA recently.

    The other caveat I have with the FE is the ending. Felt a bit rushed, a bit too neat.

    I get the narrative arc, but the execution was, for me, a little too pat.


    Kit changes are one where I can unequivocally give them a thumbs up.

    No loss of functionality, just more flexibility.


    Reputation changes. Two basic subsets here.

    Inputs are a lot easier, so that a plus.

    However, the trait revamp is a huge missed opportunity.

    They told us it was to combat power creep. They lied.

    It merely enables future lazy reputation design.


    ESD.

    It's alright. Looks nice and works fine for me.

    However, it wasn't actually broken, just dated.

    I'd have been much happier if the resources put into that had been utilised to revamp some of the far more problematic social zones.

    Not bad, but a weird priority, imo.


    Undine missions are still a bit buggy, but I see nothing offensively bad about them.

    However, once again QA is sorely lacking.


    Undine lockbox..........oh dear.

    When i heard that they'd put the bioships, as is, in them my stomach turned over.

    From now on I wont believe a single word from Cryptic when they say they love the IP and respect it.

    This decision clearly demonstrates that they don't give a rats fundament about the IP.

    They could have used the totally acceptable strategy they used for the Tal Shiar Adapted ships, but instead they went for the laziest, most anti-canon thing they could.





    Overall, while I can't in all honesty say that they've got everything wrong I have to give the season an F-.

    Because, while this is just a game, it is meant to be a Star Trek game.

    The lockbox decision has utterly undermined any remaining faith I had in cryptics ability to be true to the IP.

    Now, I'm sure I'll get the usual flak from those keyboard warriors that think canon is just a type of energy weapon, but I have to be honest.

    I can put up with mistakes, but I can't abide disrepsect to the IP.

    Its not Cryptic's name that brought me here. It's not the MMO aspect that brought me here.

    The only reason I came to this game and wanted to support it financially, is because it was Star Trek.

    Cryptic just crapped on it, and I can't forgive that.
  • ehlimehlim Member Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    redz4tw wrote: »
    ESD effort was not wasted, i still get 960 dilithium , the heck are you talking about? Neural processor cost for 1k dil also DECREASED TO 3 PROCESSORS. Trait revamp makes people that have half a brain more OP...undine elite STF's aren't easy, and if you think they're just mind numbing spawns, check out the borg again, mind numbing spawns of squishy hull tanks.....your logic makes spock's brain bleed my friend.

    I councur!
    Love this new season, and again, I will never tire of saying it THANKS FOR THE TAILOR!!!
    awesome, happy gaming everybody!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • ehlimehlim Member Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    rinkster wrote: »
    The lockbox decision has utterly undermined any remaining faith I had in cryptics ability to be true to the IP.

    Now, I'm sure I'll get the usual flak from those keyboard warriors that think canon is just a type of energy weapon, but I have to be honest.

    I can put up with mistakes, but I can't abide disrepsect to the IP.

    Its not Cryptic's name that brought me here. It's not the MMO aspect that brought me here.

    The only reason I came to this game and wanted to support it financially, is because it was Star Trek.

    Cryptic just crapped on it, and I can't forgive that.

    Now, I actually agree with you on the, imo, bad decision of putting the enemy's ships for sale. As a matter of fact I would rather they made new ships with new tech for each faction (with their own style) and put those in the lockboxes and lobi, while leaving the enemies' ships as a VERY RARE occurrence to players. Maybe given as special featured episodes rewards only. And this would be against canon as well, but it doesn't bother me at all. I'm not a fan of sticking to canon, in my opinion it is outdated and I'd rather they moved on. Still, giving the canon enemies' ships to players it's immersion breaking and a bit unrealistic I think. That's why I oppose it.

    That being said, this strategy is going on for a while now. Why do you focus on the undine in particular? Or maybe you opposed the others as well, (e.g. tholians, temporal etc.) I don't know, just asking. Is it because they are more exotic stll, or more powerful, or both?
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • szerontzurszerontzur Member Posts: 2,724 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    Overall, I have enjoyed Season 9 so far. I have a few bugbears(the loadout bug that drops a bunch of items into your inventory, my diplomacy Gorn boff can no longer run around in MACO armor, and my Marauding boffs can't even use the kit visuals!), but otherwise everything has been pretty fun.

    The revamped rep/trait system means I have to make meaningful choices now that directly compliment the playstyle I have in mind for a character, rather than bonuses that are just 'nice to have'.

    The first time I did the new FE episode, I enjoyed the first half of it but had a hard time following the second. After having played through it a couple more times, I'm not really sure what I did but, but that first time through it was a mess of cutscene interruptions while constantly in the middle of a huge cluster!$@# (I think there were still 20 or so undine ships on the screen when the planet killer showed up and I think some cutscenes were out of order/never happened). The second and third play-throughs made a lot more sense, even if I still found the flagship arrival cutscenes a bit too jarring while in the middle of combat(I get the desire for dramatic entrance, but it really broke the chaotic flow of action going on.. repeatedly).

    As good as the Featured Episode was(despite my criticism, really, it was great), I think the revamped Borg story arc is the true gem of the season so far. It shows off some really great environments(Borg 'tendrils' shooting through the canyon was definitely a "woah!" moment) and the subtle tie into the Romulan-exclusive story missions were nice to see. The fluidic mission was so much better than the previous version as well - lots of good story revelations and also adds some mysteries(like "Was that really what happened to the Venture?").

    The Undine Toilet Bowl(What? It IS a swirling circular mess of yellows and browns!)/Battlezone has been pretty fun in a chaotic "ZOMG ACTION EVERYWHERE" kind of way. The scale of some of those engagements really seems to push this game to its limits and makes even the Starbase Defense missions seem tame somehow. It tends to get a bit zerg-y, but it's still quite fun all the same. I've had a few deaths so far and none of them felt cheesy, lame or frustrating(usually my fault for diving into goo right next to an exploding ship). Furthermore, I actually switched over to chase cam on my escorts to make sure I can keep my cannons locked on those slippery Undine; it's an absolute treat to dogfight in the battlezone.


    As it stands.. I'm finding that I might just be able to overlook the whole playable Undine ships thing because everything has else has been that enjoyable and engaging - just please let me customize my Marauding boffs.
  • rinksterrinkster Member Posts: 3,549 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    ehlim wrote: »

    That being said, this strategy is going on for a while now. Why do you focus on the undine in particular? Or maybe you opposed the others as well, (e.g. tholians, temporal etc.) I don't know, just asking. Is it because they are more exotic stll, or more powerful, or both?

    Fair question.

    The line that I perceive being crossed is that Undine bioships are not ships, per se.

    They're more fairly described as life forms.

    Think ship sized pets, rather than actual mechanical ships.

    The Tholian ships got really close to the line, but at the end of the day they were still mechanisms albeit alien technology based mechanisms.



    In the latest FE it is explicitally shown that the Undine ability to telepathically control or contact things can cross huge distances. furthermore, once a contact has been made it seems it is easier for the Undine to do so again.

    Consider that for a second.

    That strongly suggests that any of the bioships could, at a moments notice, be reclaimed by the Undine.

    That's like, in war, commandeering an enemy piece of hardware that has the ability to be remote controlled by your enemy.

    And we're putting VA's and Generals, who presumably know a bunch of operationally sensitive information, in vessels that can be reclaimed by the Undine at any moment.

    The KDF have been patholigically opposed to all things Undine for ages. They started a war over it.

    The Feds have, in canon, have on many occasions found themselves in sticky ethical situations regarding exploiting life forms.

    It's just not plausible, either in hard canon or even STO canon, for these ships to be player controlled.
  • ehlimehlim Member Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited April 2014
    rinkster wrote: »
    Fair question.

    The line that I perceive being crossed is that Undine bioships are not ships, per se.

    They're more fairly described as life forms.

    Think ship sized pets, rather than actual mechanical ships.

    The Tholian ships got really close to the line, but at the end of the day they were still mechanisms albeit alien technology based mechanisms.



    In the latest FE it is explicitally shown that the Undine ability to telepathically control or contact things can cross huge distances. furthermore, once a contact has been made it seems it is easier for the Undine to do so again.

    Consider that for a second.

    That strongly suggests that any of the bioships could, at a moments notice, be reclaimed by the Undine.

    That's like, in war, commandeering an enemy piece of hardware that has the ability to be remote controlled by your enemy.

    And we're putting VA's and Generals, who presumably know a bunch of operationally sensitive information, in vessels that can be reclaimed by the Undine at any moment.

    The KDF have been patholigically opposed to all things Undine for ages. They started a war over it.

    The Feds have, in canon, have on many occasions found themselves in sticky ethical situations regarding exploiting life forms.

    It's just not plausible, either in hard canon or even STO canon, for these ships to be player controlled.

    That's very interesting! I see your point.
    In fact, It would be better if they were just husks, looking like undine, but reversed engineered and adapted enough to be usable and safe to use for non-undine (also removing the risk of reclaiming). But still, it would be stretching it, and I would have liked for them to have a different look, i.e. look like made from undine bioparts, a bit like what they did with the Solanae ships! Which was a sound concept imo.

    You know what I'm thinking, they might even have considered all of this, but then they wanted to finish early with the season to be able to work more on the expansion and S. 10, so they just decided to go with the easy/quick option.

    ... Bottom line, be careful devs! I love you, but watch out, what seem to be little mistakes, piled together could undermine the future of balancing/controlling the game, as well as the tastes of the players!!!
    Cheers
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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