It's due to an engine limitation, and it's one I hope they take the time to fix between now and next Summer (or this Winter).
It can't be "fixed", it's a fundamental defect in the network coding. To fix this, they'd have to completely rewrite the code...you know, to use the same solution Netrek used to prevent this kind of thing...back in 1989...25 years ago. Yes, people 25 years ago could write functioning network code that could display a consistent agreement on where players were, and be used in real-time combat. People today are so incompetent they cannot even copy-paste that code, as it's open source.
Floater courses for pearls: I like this. You can do it even with the rental floater with plenty of time to spare. As someone with 10 characters (LTS since closed beta) finally being able to get the reward ship without grinding it out on EVERY character is the greatest thing ever. Thank you SO MUCH for this!!
Powerboard Races: The course is fun, yes, but like everyone else has said, it's grind to win. The odds of you winning the race on anything but a superior are small, and it's dependent on who else is running and how many there are.
Horga'hn Hunt: I like it, however I'm really disappointed in it being only once an hour now, since it's the only real way to get favors. Plus the bug that the time limit on the hunt ends 1 minute early that still hasn't been addressed. I've sent in six tickets now and haven't even received the courtesy of a reply. This bug needs to be fixed, pronto.
Sandcastles: I really like the idea, but there are far too few spots to build on. There needs to be at least 15 spots, and completed castles need to disappear within 30 seconds of being completed unless you specifically interact with it to maintain it for an extra 30 seconds, as well as having the option to immediately remove it so others can build theirs. It also needs to give WAY more favors.
Swimsuits: FINALLY SWIMSUITS!!! I like the variety, although the edges need cleaned up for clipping. What bothers me, having 10 female characters, is how expensive everything is. I have to shell out 500-1000 favors per suit per character. Coupled with the reduction in favor drops this year, it's going to be an immense grind
Dance Party: This is more of a downtime activity. Frankly, I find it rather boring. But it's a way to earn favors while chatting or reading a magazine :P
Accolades: There are SO MANY ACCOLADES to get now. It's become a chore to get them all.
Bird Eggs: While I like the fact that you can find them while hunting, I really wish they were account bound and not character bound. I always end up with too many on one and not enough on another.
All in all, yes there's more to do, but it's not necessarily a good thing. There are far too few earning opportunities for favors in relation to the vast amount of items to buy, and it's caused a ridiculous racket on the exchange for favors. I particularly dislike the hunt being reduced to hourly.
Here's my suggestions:
Hunt should be at :00 and :30
Races should be at :15 and :45
Sandcastles should be a persistent event with a 15 minute cooldown, with favor reward increased and tiered based on level of difficulty
Dance should also be a persistent event with a 30 minute cooldown.
With as much as there is to buy, particularly when the board races are the only way to get monkey tags and getting it is dependent on the amount of favors, increasing the favor earning is absolutely necessary.
Particularly for people who don't have time to grind all day!
If they insist on having players grab a flag at the end of the powerboard race, then why not extend the range you can grab the flag from to include that entire partially fenced-off area just past the finish line?
Or just make that area itself the interactable you have to use to claim your rewards.
1. Sand Castle - Agree, not enough favors to make it worth doing except for fun. But I do find it somewhat enjoyable just by itself. The big problem is that there aren't enough sites during the event.
2. Powerboard Race - Unlike the floater courses, you really need to have an enhanced or superior board. My standard board is good enough to get me to the finish line and occasionally eke out a freak win because people forget to click the flags, but that's about it. Thing is, at 500 and 1000 favors each, I'm not going to hit that goal till the end of the event assuming I don't buy any swimwear.
3. Horghann Hunt - I still like doing this, but at once an hour it's easy to miss. I'm not sure what other people are experiencing, but it seems like this isn't dropping as many eggs this year? I've gotten one drop so far.
4. Dance Party - Ugh. I disliked it on Nimbus and don't care to try it here. Just because I could map out the emotes to keybinds doesn't mean I want to. I'll pass on the favors, don't care how much the event is worth. I get in enough dancing in between events when people drop Party Amps.
5. Swimwear - No opinion, because I don't have enough favors yet to buy one outfit, let alone everything I might want. I will say that a Zen pack with a limited selection of swimwear would have been a no-brainer.
6. Risa Summer Resort in general is gorgeous scenery and I love my yearly visits. I like exploring and finding new things just for the heck of it and Risa does not disappoint.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
...Bird Eggs: While I like the fact that you can find them while hunting, I really wish they were account bound and not character bound. I always end up with too many on one and not enough on another...
Oh, so much +1 THIS!!
One of my characters has 9 eggs, and the others have 0-2 (most with zero), and these toons have all done the Hunts!
Please make Eggs (and Tags!) account bound!
Thanks.
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Playing STO since Feb 2010.
Dance Party. Boring last year and still boring now, but it's one of only two reliable ways to get lots of favors. I'd advocate dropping the twenty move section of it, but for the loss of favors.
Horga'hn Hunt. I enjoy this and it's the other reliable way to get lots of favors. I wish this had been opened up more this year with more variety not reduced to once an hour. It's probably the best thing about Risa.
Sand Castle. It's okay and a nice change of pace. The reward is just pathetic though. Make it any time on a 15 minute cool down and reward 10 favors. You could only get 40 an hour that way.
Powerboard Race. Very cool, but being gimped because you got the 50 favor board not the 1,000 favor one isn't fun. Neither is the whole grab the flag thing even when I've benefited from it. Like the Horga'hn Hunt and floaters generally, I'd love to see this opened up more.
Swimwear. It's always nice to get new costume options, especially for my KDF alts. The bikinis are great, if a little expensive. It would be nice if you could combine them with the other Risa beachwear like the shorts. It would be really nice if there were places besides Risa to wear it.
Bird eggs do seem to have weird drop rates now. K'ymara has so many she's stuck them in her cargo bay and swims in them like Scrooge McDuck does in money. My other alts have no where near the same drop rate and some haven't gotten any. It would be nice if they were account bound.
My alt army: K'ymara, Orion Engineer. Caedera of Borg, Liberated Borg Tactical, Elyza Vix, Joined Trill Scientist. Christina Bellona, Augmented Human Tactical. T'Lana, Vulcan Scientist. Arbol, Martian Tactical. Ayzer Bryn, Joined Trill Engineer. Hawke, Betazoid Scientist. Karna Valkras, Klingon Engineer. Beth Parker, Human Tactical Sarel, Romulan Engineer (Federation). Yazuri, Reman Scientist (KDF)
Dance Party. Boring last year and still boring now, but it's one of only two reliable ways to get lots of favors. I'd advocate dropping the twenty move section of it, but for the loss of favors.
Reliable? 15 minutes of dance torture for 50 favors, right? I can easy-run 4 toons in 15 (well, 14) minute Hunt for ~200.
Dance should be 5 minutes for max reward. At least then, I could run 2-3 toons in the 15 minute timeslot.
Cryptic needs to do a realistic reward per minute analysis.
- Floater course for pearls can be done in a rental with almost no effort -- no compelling reason to get a better floater to be honest, since we can just site-to-site between locations.
A fleetmate talked me into getting a superior floater, and I have to say it really is a nice improvement over the standard. I would love to see the courses opened up as a repeatable event after you get your pearls. Maybe even have more advanced courses that require the faster speed/maneuverability?
- More swimwear options for males would've been appreciated. As it is, this comes off as kind of sexist...nothing wrong with having lots of female styles, yet it seems like there is since there are so few male styles. Even the same basic shorts with different patterns would've been nice...
Thinking about it some more, why not extend the pattern idea to the female options as well? I hadn't even considered this when I typed up my reply since I've always thought solid color swimwear looks best, but it seems like an easy way to add a bunch more styles (for next year, maybe?). Still want to see more male options, though, my male chars definitely feel left out.
Also I've noticed the NPCs get some accessories/swimsuits that we don't have access to. Some of them are repurposed assets (there's an Andorian NPC in the Orion metal bikini armor... :rolleyes: ), but some are unique. I'd really like to see the unique ones added as purchasable options, maybe as an accessory box containing multiple pieces?
- The swimwear palette could use some grays and blacks. But don't get me wrong, I love how many subtle shade variations this palette has, I was able to get my outfits' colors perfect!
Comments
Powerboard Races: The course is fun, yes, but like everyone else has said, it's grind to win. The odds of you winning the race on anything but a superior are small, and it's dependent on who else is running and how many there are.
Horga'hn Hunt: I like it, however I'm really disappointed in it being only once an hour now, since it's the only real way to get favors. Plus the bug that the time limit on the hunt ends 1 minute early that still hasn't been addressed. I've sent in six tickets now and haven't even received the courtesy of a reply. This bug needs to be fixed, pronto.
Sandcastles: I really like the idea, but there are far too few spots to build on. There needs to be at least 15 spots, and completed castles need to disappear within 30 seconds of being completed unless you specifically interact with it to maintain it for an extra 30 seconds, as well as having the option to immediately remove it so others can build theirs. It also needs to give WAY more favors.
Swimsuits: FINALLY SWIMSUITS!!! I like the variety, although the edges need cleaned up for clipping. What bothers me, having 10 female characters, is how expensive everything is. I have to shell out 500-1000 favors per suit per character. Coupled with the reduction in favor drops this year, it's going to be an immense grind
Dance Party: This is more of a downtime activity. Frankly, I find it rather boring. But it's a way to earn favors while chatting or reading a magazine :P
Accolades: There are SO MANY ACCOLADES to get now. It's become a chore to get them all.
Bird Eggs: While I like the fact that you can find them while hunting, I really wish they were account bound and not character bound. I always end up with too many on one and not enough on another.
All in all, yes there's more to do, but it's not necessarily a good thing. There are far too few earning opportunities for favors in relation to the vast amount of items to buy, and it's caused a ridiculous racket on the exchange for favors. I particularly dislike the hunt being reduced to hourly.
Here's my suggestions:
Hunt should be at :00 and :30
Races should be at :15 and :45
Sandcastles should be a persistent event with a 15 minute cooldown, with favor reward increased and tiered based on level of difficulty
Dance should also be a persistent event with a 30 minute cooldown.
With as much as there is to buy, particularly when the board races are the only way to get monkey tags and getting it is dependent on the amount of favors, increasing the favor earning is absolutely necessary.
Particularly for people who don't have time to grind all day!
Or just make that area itself the interactable you have to use to claim your rewards.
1. Sand Castle - Agree, not enough favors to make it worth doing except for fun. But I do find it somewhat enjoyable just by itself. The big problem is that there aren't enough sites during the event.
2. Powerboard Race - Unlike the floater courses, you really need to have an enhanced or superior board. My standard board is good enough to get me to the finish line and occasionally eke out a freak win because people forget to click the flags, but that's about it. Thing is, at 500 and 1000 favors each, I'm not going to hit that goal till the end of the event assuming I don't buy any swimwear.
3. Horghann Hunt - I still like doing this, but at once an hour it's easy to miss. I'm not sure what other people are experiencing, but it seems like this isn't dropping as many eggs this year? I've gotten one drop so far.
4. Dance Party - Ugh. I disliked it on Nimbus and don't care to try it here. Just because I could map out the emotes to keybinds doesn't mean I want to. I'll pass on the favors, don't care how much the event is worth. I get in enough dancing in between events when people drop Party Amps.
5. Swimwear - No opinion, because I don't have enough favors yet to buy one outfit, let alone everything I might want. I will say that a Zen pack with a limited selection of swimwear would have been a no-brainer.
6. Risa Summer Resort in general is gorgeous scenery and I love my yearly visits. I like exploring and finding new things just for the heck of it and Risa does not disappoint.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
One of my characters has 9 eggs, and the others have 0-2 (most with zero), and these toons have all done the Hunts!
Please make Eggs (and Tags!) account bound!
Thanks.
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Playing STO since Feb 2010.
Horga'hn Hunt. I enjoy this and it's the other reliable way to get lots of favors. I wish this had been opened up more this year with more variety not reduced to once an hour. It's probably the best thing about Risa.
Sand Castle. It's okay and a nice change of pace. The reward is just pathetic though. Make it any time on a 15 minute cool down and reward 10 favors. You could only get 40 an hour that way.
Powerboard Race. Very cool, but being gimped because you got the 50 favor board not the 1,000 favor one isn't fun. Neither is the whole grab the flag thing even when I've benefited from it. Like the Horga'hn Hunt and floaters generally, I'd love to see this opened up more.
Swimwear. It's always nice to get new costume options, especially for my KDF alts. The bikinis are great, if a little expensive. It would be nice if you could combine them with the other Risa beachwear like the shorts. It would be really nice if there were places besides Risa to wear it.
Bird eggs do seem to have weird drop rates now. K'ymara has so many she's stuck them in her cargo bay and swims in them like Scrooge McDuck does in money. My other alts have no where near the same drop rate and some haven't gotten any. It would be nice if they were account bound.
K'ymara, Orion Engineer. Caedera of Borg, Liberated Borg Tactical, Elyza Vix, Joined Trill Scientist. Christina Bellona, Augmented Human Tactical.
T'Lana, Vulcan Scientist. Arbol, Martian Tactical. Ayzer Bryn, Joined Trill Engineer. Hawke, Betazoid Scientist. Karna Valkras, Klingon Engineer. Beth Parker, Human Tactical
Sarel, Romulan Engineer (Federation). Yazuri, Reman Scientist (KDF)
Reliable? 15 minutes of dance torture for 50 favors, right? I can easy-run 4 toons in 15 (well, 14) minute Hunt for ~200.
Dance should be 5 minutes for max reward. At least then, I could run 2-3 toons in the 15 minute timeslot.
Cryptic needs to do a realistic reward per minute analysis.
Going back to my points after a few days:
A fleetmate talked me into getting a superior floater, and I have to say it really is a nice improvement over the standard. I would love to see the courses opened up as a repeatable event after you get your pearls. Maybe even have more advanced courses that require the faster speed/maneuverability?
Thinking about it some more, why not extend the pattern idea to the female options as well? I hadn't even considered this when I typed up my reply since I've always thought solid color swimwear looks best, but it seems like an easy way to add a bunch more styles (for next year, maybe?). Still want to see more male options, though, my male chars definitely feel left out.
Also I've noticed the NPCs get some accessories/swimsuits that we don't have access to. Some of them are repurposed assets (there's an Andorian NPC in the Orion metal bikini armor... :rolleyes: ), but some are unique. I'd really like to see the unique ones added as purchasable options, maybe as an accessory box containing multiple pieces?
-insert Ron Paul gif here-