Greetings, Captains! You're listening to
Episode 173 of Priority One Podcast, the premier Star Trek Online podcast! This episode was recorded on Thursday, May 8th, 2014 and published on Monday, May 12th, 2014 at
PriorityOnePodcast.com!
Happy Monday, Captains! In
episode 173 of Priority One Podcast, Jayce, CookieCupcakes, and Elijah brace themselves for a Tempest on the Horizon and jump right into STONews this week. Itching for a new ship? Well, in STONews, Jayce and Elijah review the release of the new Patrol Escort Refit and its Fleet variant. Later, Elijah asks -- what if Star Trek Online wasn't instanced? In this week's Field Notes, Jayce continues his discussion on Defense.
Later, in our Community Spotlight segment, we have an interview with the creative mind behind
Star Trek: Horizon, Tommy Kraft. Star Trek Horizon is another independent film project that takes place a few years after the voyages of the Enterprise NX-01. This is an independent film project you won't want to miss. And of course as always, well open hailing frequencies and see whats incoming from you our listeners.
Topics Discussed
This week's Community Question
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Will you be purchasing the new Escort? How do you think it compares to the other -- more commonly used escorts in the game (like the Fleet Defiant?)
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What do you think about dropping server instances in STO and just having 2 or three world servers? What hurdles do you think STO would face? What other benefits do you think this could have to the game?
Let us know YOUR thoughts by commenting below!
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Comments
I got the new Patrol Escort and it is a nice ship.
It is a real heavy tanking Escort, probably better than even the Destroyers. Though the Destroyers have the edge when it comes to versatility. The Fleet Defiant isn't been replaced just yet, while that Ensign Tactical slot doesn't help, the cloaking attack bonus and it's high maneuverability is still a major asset. But when it comes to the Fleet Advanced Escort, I think people have lost favor for it. The MVAM isn't a tactical asset anymore due to it's BOFF layout, though due to the LT Sci it can be good for standoff strategies like NWS. With the Fleet Heavy Escort, in some respects it suffers similar trouble like the AE with the BOFF layout, where that Ensign Tactical doesn't lead to much versatility in offense compared to the LTC Universal of the PE in Tactical mode.
But because some people was fond of the old PE layout, makes me question if the Fleet Ship system is becoming overly complicated where players can't fly their favorite ships because they don't like the layouts. So makes me wonder if the ship system may be overdue for a revamp?
When it comes to STO, the single world server and instancing works best. Because multiple world servers have to deal with splitting up populations when high, or merging when low. Which can create their own sets of problems. But as you mentioned in the episode, instancing has it's own disadvantages that you can't hold GM events with these events. So you have to do scripted events and have them start at the same time.
But I think the problem is the majority of STO players are shoehorned in certain or new zones to do new content, while in other MMOs, populations are spread out (even with new content). So it's easier to do events. Perhaps this is the direction STO should go?
Overall, I do like 'almost' everything about the Tempest. After getting so many new ships with unique hulls that, frankly, aren't as customizeable, I'm happy to see Cryptic building upon an existing chasis again with ship parts you can mix and match for more variety. I also like the tail-gun; it has an arc close to what I would like to see non-heavy dual cannons recieve. The universal seat really does open a lot of possibilities too; I can see the potential for it to almost act like an extremely nimble cruiser, or even a heavy support ship(defensive healer or offensive snare-boat). I think its got a lot of potential that is going to take players a good while to fully explore.
Unfortunately, I didn't pick it up because the bridge layout doesn't quite line up with what I'm currently after. Running Gravity Well on the ship really costs you a lot of tactical bridge seating. I do like the ship, but just not what I'm currently searching for.
As for the bit about Servers.... I strongly disagree with the proposal to change the architecture to a more narrow 'server-based' one. Technical nightmares aside, STO.. just isn't that kind of game, and I don't think it should be. I understand the desire to have a.. localized 'universe' with a more personal community, but I don't think breaking up the playerbase is the way to do that. Furthermore, I think the Undine Battlezone alone is good demonstration of what would happen if they tried to cram even more people into zones - not to mention the nightmare it would be for people with slower connections.
I used to play Everquest back in its 'prime' on the primary roleplaying server(which even had its own custom ruleset with a special alignment system and racial language barriers). Yes, it was amazing when special events happened and you got to know or become noticeable members of that server. Every city had its own unique culture(until the fourth expansion). I still remember sitting around fishing on the frozen beaches of Velious when Kerafrym was awakened and ravaged the entire realm; I remember using illusions and guile to venture into cities and converse with other players with them being none the wiser that I was not of their race; I remember the shenanigans of GMs spawning in special 'invasions' of zones; I remember crafting a very exotic suit of enchanted golden armor(that I doubt most people even knew existed) for a cleric friend that became a rather reknown appearance for him on the server. However, for better or worse, STO is not that kind of game, and MMOs (and the internet itself) really aren't like that anymore.
STO is its own animal. I think it's a good thing for the game to expand and grow in its own way, rather than trying to be an imitation of an experience people can/could get elsewhere. I certainly do enjoy the battlezones and quite prefer that kind of chaotic gameplay over queues, but I also enjoy just running Tau Dewa patrols or story missions privately(either on my own or with a small number of friends).