Mmmm, as a full-on Galaxy lover; so much here I want to say!:D I've only recently joined the forum but been playing a while longer [and have shoveled 'whale'-loads of cash into the game], and have been following the game since before it was FTP. 'Credentials' preamble out of the way:-
I've come round to thinking that they're deliberately holding back any proper Galaxy revamp for several reasons (including the lead Dev not liking the ship...) but mainly as their doomsday 'in case of emergency break glass' option.
It's their reserve if they ever need a ton of cash in a hurry, or/and ever need a giant shot in the arm to their ST credibility and general customer good feeling towards them [which they certainly will!]. This would apply to the long-time neglected KDF ships too, though to a lesser extent.
The loss of 1701D I equate as the same as the death of Chewbacca in Star Wars. To put some sort of importance to some stupid story.
Though at least, in that case, the writer cared enough to make sure that Chewie died fairly well....
And if the poster that you're replying to is cherry picking only the very worst bits of what you see on screen, then pretty much all of the Enterprises and their classes therefore have been rubbish, as was the Defiant etc.
What's the term for the opposite of 'plot armour'?
It could fight to a draw, another fed ship 16 time's its size. that was designed and possibly built 70 years ago, barely rates as a light cruiser after its been upgrades as much as they could without having to rebuild half of it, that still uses a severely outdated energy weapon suite obsoleted 50 years prior, and loaded with quantum torpedoes it didn't even use.
Dunno, for any 'it's on the screen so must be true!' heads, it seems like the Lakota got a new all-over phased array paint or something; given her ability to fire phasers from anywhere and everywhere... other than the DBBs....:D
It was an entertaining fight, but there's not really much of any serious conclusions that anyone can draw from it - not that this stops folk from trying, bless 'em.:)
And there's plenty more, but I'll leave it there for now - other than to ask:-
Orangeitis: Though it's good stuff thinking more widely about possible meta-changes; if the primary objective of this thread is to get the company to release a proper Galaxy, then isn't that objective more likely to be met the lower-impact (in terms of Dev time/$/minimising unforeseen bugs that inevitably come from major changes/etc) the changes are?
So what you want and what others want are kind of mutually antagonistic, to the point of almost being two separate conversations? Not that there's anything wrong with that at all [I'm the furthest thing from being a thread purist that it's possible to be], but it's odd that you think that your conversation is the better one to have, when your approach is the one far less likely to bear the fruit that we mostly want (a Galaxy as glorious as she should be... or at least half decent...).
When I look at the stats of the Guardian Cruiser, when I actually outfitted and played the ship, I though to myself:
"This is what the Galaxy-class in STO should have been."
The Guardian has the blend of firepower, staying power, and science-y aspect that the class has shown on TV.
my thoughts exactly about how the phantom is the ideal version of the defiant. too bad i can't use the defiant skin on the phantom. i'd pay serious zen for that.
Defiant
RnD and upgrade needs less RNG. Less lottery. Something has to change.
Orangeitis: Though it's good stuff thinking more widely about possible meta-changes; if the primary objective of this thread is to get the company to release a proper Galaxy, then isn't that objective more likely to be met the lower-impact (in terms of Dev time/$/minimising unforeseen bugs that inevitably come from major changes/etc) the changes are?
So what you want and what others want are kind of mutually antagonistic, to the point of almost being two separate conversations? Not that there's anything wrong with that at all [I'm the furthest thing from being a thread purist that it's possible to be], but it's odd that you think that your conversation is the better one to have, when your approach is the one far less likely to bear the fruit that we mostly want (a Galaxy as glorious as she should be... or at least half decent...).
I'm convinced that my position is better, and I'll gladly explain my reasons. I think that it's far more important to make the Galaxy's current configuration competitively viable than it is to redo the Galaxy with a totally different configuration, as if we keep on pandering to the way things are in the meta, as in, keeping the game all about DPS and changing everything to fit that, instead of advocating for a much more balanced game, wherein a wider variety of builds and configurations are competitively viable. And if we try to accomplish the latter, it will ultimately make for a much better game for everyone. More gameplay styles will be available and more tactics and strategies will be introduced, which more than likely would lead to a more populated game.
I'm convinced that my position is better, and I'll gladly explain my reasons. I think that it's far more important to make the Galaxy's current configuration competitively viable than it is to redo the Galaxy with a totally different configuration, as if we keep on pandering to the way things are in the meta, as in, keeping the game all about DPS and changing everything to fit that, instead of advocating for a much more balanced game, wherein a wider variety of builds and configurations are competitively viable. And if we try to accomplish the latter, it will ultimately make for a much better game for everyone. More gameplay styles will be available and more tactics and strategies will be introduced, which more than likely would lead to a more populated game.
I think I am justified for advocating for this.
Cheers for the explanation.:) So it's essentially ye olde idealism vs pragmatism thing then? Idealistically, you're certainly absolutely in the right; but what you're after is so idealistic (read: 'would cost too much to implement') that it'll pragmatically never happen. If you insist upon your way, then we'll never get a decent Galaxy; so pragmatically you're in the wrong, and those advocating more simple solutions are in the right.
Your sink's blocked and you need a mirror screwed to your wall, but your tenancy agreement won't let you do this yourself, so you have to ask your landlord. Now you may be perfectly correct that he'd be better off installing a fresh new bathroom (which he could charge more rent for somewhere down the line etc), but if the real priority is for you to have an unblocked sink and a mirror then you're more likely to actually get that if that's all you ask for.
Just to be clear, this thread's more than big enough to accommodate both conversations, and both should be had - but I think that you're incorrect to state that your conversation is the superior one: if the objective is to actually get a decent Galaxy.
'Never allow youself to get distracted from the actual victory conditions,' and all that....:) From a practical problem solving PoV I'd want a decent Galaxy safely in my mitts, as soon as possible, then start asking for a radically new meta.
Well my reason isn't a "changing the whole game just for one ship" idea. =p It would effectively fix a ton of problems if done correctly, as well as fix more ships than just the Galaxy.
The practical differences may be irrelevant in the bigger picture considering what Cryptic wants. Cryptic implied numerous times that it's actually attempting to take care of the problems I'm talking about. Either they'll succeed with what I'm advocating, or they'll be convinced to give up and take the easy/quick route. And considering how much they're planning and investing into STO, trying to make it last a while and all, convincing them might not be very likely.
Cryptic are only interested in one thing regarding gameplay. DPS. Example the PvE queue revamp. No new abilities or A.I improvements to NPC's just more HP and Shields encouraging MOAR DPS.
If you want balanced play between all 3 career's best to play ground as Science, Engineers, and Tacts actually compliment each other in this arena.
Space well, Tanking something with 1 million hp 400k shields as an example, and you putting out as a tank less than 2000k dps, all against a timer/clock with the objective to kill the enemy kinda makes the tank totally redundant Even a Science knocking subsystem after subsystem offline, zapping power off the target, hitting it with sensor scan is a passenger unless the rest of the team are dpser's who can blow away everything.
Space mechanics do need a revamp. Mentioned before Crystal Entity is about the only space PvE that doesn't always reward the guy with the biggest gun. Science and Healing abilities actually matter on this map. Space needs to find a role for the Tank and the Science debuffer in time gated missions. And stop the dps race.
Cryptic are only interested in one thing regarding gameplay. DPS.
The sole reason that the Starship Mastery passives are the way they are is because of the complete opposite - They want ship types to take on very different characteristics. Damage, speed, defense, etc. Not just DPS.
The sole reason that the Starship Mastery passives are the way they are is because of the complete opposite - They want ship types to take on very different characteristics. Damage, speed, defense, etc. Not just DPS.
None of that even matters when in elite we have npc ships with hundreds of thousands of hit points that need to be defeated in x amount of time. Honestly nothing has changed from before it's all just moar dps or fail.
I'd have to agree. Despite the myriad of things the NPCs actually do now, due to the immense hull and *very short* timers in some of these missions, now, more than ever before in STO, it's a "Moar DPS Or Nothing At All" race.
And it's still the same, sole locale as before DR that actually rewards performance other than most damage (Crystalline Entity). Everything else is still DPS wins.
Because of the heavy damage NPCs at Advanced & Elite do now, there's actually a need for healboats, etc. But due to the short timers that if you don't make it, you fail, it puts a far stronger emphasis on DPS than anything else before DR.
I was in the belief Cryptic was trying to change that, but everything I've seen with DR's release is completely the opposite.
The sole reason that the Starship Mastery passives are the way they are is because of the complete opposite - They want ship types to take on very different characteristics. Damage, speed, defense, etc. Not just DPS.
We're back to the 'is' vs 'ought' (ie pragmatism vs idealism) theme again. For whatever reason, there's a massive disconnect between what the company says that it wants to achieve ('ought'), and what it actually delivers ('is').
Eg, Geko stated that he wanted the gap between fresh endgame users and fully tricked out endgame users to close: So ended up radically increasing that gap beyond most players' wildest dreams/darkest nightmares.
The Devs (can't remember who) stated that they wanted more of a return to ships/chars with viable different roles: And ended up delivering the exact reverse, where it's now even more 'Deeps or go home' than it was before. And is ever-increasingly so: eg yesterday's patch has really messed up my testing fun, since on Normal I could clear SB234 with about 2:22 left on the clock (>2:30 left before DR), and after yesterday's patch - which was supposed to have made Normal easier - it's now touch and go whether I can even defeat the SB at all before timing out.
And that's with a Mastered, very damage-optimised ship and build - though still running the Mk XII purple everything that was top of the line before DR (eg, 8x CrtDx3 BAs), and still viciously powerful (even on new Elite content) before yesterday's patch... gosh, it's almost as if they're trying to force me to upgrade, or something....:rolleyes:
I have often found that hope and idealism are enemies of clear thinking; something that I know that you're very keen on.:cool:
You have an entity that says that it wants to deliver A then delivers X. It says that it wants to deliver B then delivers more X. It says that it wants to deliver Y then delivers more X. It says that it wants to deliver Z then delivers still more X. Every time that it categorically states that it will reduce X, it increases X twofold.
It now says that it wants to deliver F. Though you can't ever know exactly what will happen in the future, you have to make your best guess. It is exactly the same entity under exactly the same forces, employing exactly the same people. In reason (not in hopeful optimism), what do you think that the entity will most likely deliver?
on elite the gal-r T5U or not basically just tickles the enemy for hours until they fall over
(not really that bad of it lacks tactical powers and intel powers)
limiting only certain ships to specialization seats really hurts the old ships. surgical strike and overide subsystems are just good
really wish the guardian had a LTC intel seat for the surgical strike. heck if the gal-rs LTC eng was a intel hybrid seat the ship would go from being the worst cruiser to one of the best cruisers
really wish the guardian had a LTC intel seat for the surgical strike. heck if the gal-rs LTC eng was a intel hybrid seat the ship would go from being the worst cruiser to one of the best cruisers
we can only dream i guess, all this thread is good for
i have a Guardian and i must say i like its layout, both BOff and console.
Would people consider a similer layout for the Galaxy minus the obvious extra console and intel seat?
We've been consideing that layout since the D'Deridex came to be, probably even long before that. Too bad we have no saying in it while the devs never cared to consider that and made a new ship instead.
My 8k dps galaxy cannot complete Starbase 234 on advanced difficulty. In fact, the time is up when I defeat the frigates and the cruiser guarding it. I also never ever fall below 99% hull, so at least there is that... XD
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
None of that even matters when in elite we have npc ships with hundreds of thousands of hit points that need to be defeated in x amount of time. Honestly nothing has changed from before it's all just moar dps or fail.
That kinda supports my point. Gameplay encourages DPS right now. It needs to be changed to encourage other roles just as much.
We're back to the 'is' vs 'ought' (ie pragmatism vs idealism) theme again. For whatever reason, there's a massive disconnect between what the company says that it wants to achieve ('ought'), and what it actually delivers ('is').
Eg, Geko stated that he wanted the gap between fresh endgame users and fully tricked out endgame users to close: So ended up radically increasing that gap beyond most players' wildest dreams/darkest nightmares.
The Devs (can't remember who) stated that they wanted more of a return to ships/chars with viable different roles: And ended up delivering the exact reverse, where it's now even more 'Deeps or go home' than it was before. And is ever-increasingly so: eg yesterday's patch has really messed up my testing fun, since on Normal I could clear SB234 with about 2:22 left on the clock (>2:30 left before DR), and after yesterday's patch - which was supposed to have made Normal easier - it's now touch and go whether I can even defeat the SB at all before timing out.
And that's with a Mastered, very damage-optimised ship and build - though still running the Mk XII purple everything that was top of the line before DR (eg, 8x CrtDx3 BAs), and still viciously powerful (even on new Elite content) before yesterday's patch... gosh, it's almost as if they're trying to force me to upgrade, or something....:rolleyes:
Indeed. I think that they definitely need to go back and rethink game balance. Though I'll wait till after the expected skill update in season 10 before making more harsh judgements there.
I have often found that hope and idealism are enemies of clear thinking; something that I know that you're very keen on.:cool:
Indeed. However, in my perspective, what I expect or even hope from Cryptic isn't nowhere near ideal. Cryptic has demonstrated a development capability that is far beyond what I've experienced from my time playing MMOs. Adding on that my ideal Star Trek game indeed would be a lot like some of the more picky posters around here. Diplomacy and exploration being featured alongside combat, maybe even above it in some respects. Not to mention my ideal for minimizing gameplay/story segregation as much as possible, which actually is nigh impossible with today's MMO technology. I think big, and the big ideals I'd love for Star Trek Online just isn't possible at all right now.
But class balance? That's an entirely other story. I'm not convinced even a shred that it's not unreachable. I'm not convinced that it's unprofitable to attempt. And I'm certainly not convinced that we should 'settle' for making the game more imbalanced when I AM convinced that it has so much more potential.
You have an entity that says that it wants to deliver A then delivers X. It says that it wants to deliver B then delivers more X. It says that it wants to deliver Y then delivers more X. It says that it wants to deliver Z then delivers still more X. Every time that it categorically states that it will reduce X, it increases X twofold.
It now says that it wants to deliver F. Though you can't ever know exactly what will happen in the future, you have to make your best guess. It is exactly the same entity under exactly the same forces, employing exactly the same people. In reason (not in hopeful optimism), what do you think that the entity will most likely deliver?
It doesn't matter what the pattern says. I am convinced that if we value this game and wish to see it grow, we should advocate for a good change. A bigger change. A change that is more than just "change Ship A to whatever is competitively viable". Was it possible to accomplish in Delta Rising? I don't know. But I think it was a good chance. And I think there will be more chances. We just have to encourage Cryptic to take advantage of those chances.
I think that with the T5U upgrade and the 3rd Tac console that comes with it the Galaxy or fleet Galaxy is finally a worthy cruiser. Still could use another Tac slot instead of too many engineers but its better than before.
Still no Gal-X but i am not into carrier-cruisers and don´t use phasers so so i won´t be able to bring out all the Power of the Lance. and BTW the Lance still didn´t get fixed
The only thing the Exploration cruiser needs is a small design update/upgrade. It should be able to use the Gal-X nacelles. We have seen those on refitted Galaxy class ships so i assume they are a standard feature on all ships by 2410.
I think that with the T5U upgrade and the 3rd Tac console that comes with it the Galaxy or fleet Galaxy is finally a worthy cruiser. Still could use another Tac slot instead of too many engineers but its better than before.
Still no Gal-X but i am not into carrier-cruisers and don´t use phasers so so i won´t be able to bring out all the Power of the Lance. and BTW the Lance still didn´t get fixed
The only thing the Exploration cruiser needs is a small design update/upgrade. It should be able to use the Gal-X nacelles. We have seen those on refitted Galaxy class ships so i assume they are a standard feature on all ships by 2410.
Unfortunately, it's not.
Remember, I was the Targ always fighting for the Gal and I had fun with it, I plaed all elite content. But recently I had to find out that at least my Gal (~8k dps) is unable to complete Starbase 234 on advanced difficulty anymore. In fact, by the time I overcame the defending ships and attack the actual starbase the time is up.
The bloated HP mobs that came with DR mean that you technically cannot be "good" anymore in a ship with low tac consoles and tac/intel boff abilities. I am very desillusionised at the moment and maybe I find a way to make the ship better, but right now I think I have to chime in - it's finally not fun anymore to play a Gal...
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
Remember, I was the Targ always fighting for the Gal and I had fun with it, I plaed all elite content. But recently I had to find out that at least my Gal (~8k dps) is unable to complete Starbase 234 on advanced difficulty anymore. In fact, by the time I overcame the defending ships and attack the actual starbase the time is up.
The bloated HP mobs that came with DR mean that you technically cannot be "good" anymore in a ship with low tac consoles and tac/intel boff abilities. I am very desillusionised at the moment and maybe I find a way to make the ship better, but right now I think I have to chime in - it's finally not fun anymore to play a Gal...
But that would mean that the Ambassador, Guardian and Eclipse are not good anymore as well because they (2 of the T&) have only 3 Tac slots. Ony the Assault cruiser or Advanced heavy Cruiser have 4 Tac consoles ( and that ugly Brick they call Avenger. I´d rather fly into the sun than to captain that Battlecruiser)
But on all the STFs i did till now i always came out first or second.
It is all about the Style. THose ships with 3 Tac consoles usually have bette Sci or Eng Boff slots so you should take advantage of that. Even Grav. Well I is useful to distract enemies
I have to ask: Did you upgrade your Weapons and consoles to Mk XIII or XIV? Do you use Fleet weapons and NOT Phasers
You're placing way too much importance on tac console slots. Adding in a 3rd tac console to the Galaxy doesn't suddenly make it a worthy cruiser. It's the boff seating that's the problem. It's still way too eng heavy in a game that largely doesn't need it.
The Ambassador, Guardian, and Eclipse are monsters not because of the number of tac consoles they have, but because of their superior boff layouts.
But that would mean that the Ambassador, Guardian and Eclipse are not good anymore as well because they (2 of the T&) have only 3 Tac slots. Ony the Assault cruiser or Advanced heavy Cruiser have 4 Tac consoles ( and that ugly Brick they call Avenger. I´d rather fly into the sun than to captain that Battlecruiser)
But on all the STFs i did till now i always came out first or second.
It is all about the Style. THose ships with 3 Tac consoles usually have bette Sci or Eng Boff slots so you should take advantage of that. Even Grav. Well I is useful to distract enemies
I have to ask: Did you upgrade your Weapons and consoles to Mk XIII or XIV? Do you use Fleet weapons and NOT Phasers
I don't know about the Ambassador, but the Guardian and Eclipse at least have Intel abilities which, according to DDIS at least, are really powerful.
I still can partake in STFs with the Gal, but the solo performance on SB 234 really devestated my ego a bit...
You can only take advantage of the Gal's eng slots to a certain degree when it comes to damage. Aceton Beam or Warp Plasma are the only abilities that contribute to your overall damage and I don't know if that will suffice. Mind you, I'm not trying to fit a cookie cutter build on the ship, that wouldn't be fun anymore to me even if it was possible...
No, until now I have not upgraded my stuff to Mk XIII and beyond. I don't know if that will make the difference, though. An upgraded weapon adds something like 20 dps last time I checked...
I use fleet phasers. I know those are not "ideal", but I am not a dps afficionado. I make betwwen 6 and 8k dps and could pretty much do everything, even shine in CC and those rare occasions a good tank and support helps the team. But the same build feels absolutely crippled right now and if I have to use something like plasma cannons on my Galaxy cruiser to make it work I can stop playing right away (I'm just wired that way ).
I am willing to learn and improve if anyone knows a trick or two.
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
Comments
I've come round to thinking that they're deliberately holding back any proper Galaxy revamp for several reasons (including the lead Dev not liking the ship...) but mainly as their doomsday 'in case of emergency break glass' option.
It's their reserve if they ever need a ton of cash in a hurry, or/and ever need a giant shot in the arm to their ST credibility and general customer good feeling towards them [which they certainly will!]. This would apply to the long-time neglected KDF ships too, though to a lesser extent.
Though at least, in that case, the writer cared enough to make sure that Chewie died fairly well....
And if the poster that you're replying to is cherry picking only the very worst bits of what you see on screen, then pretty much all of the Enterprises and their classes therefore have been rubbish, as was the Defiant etc.
What's the term for the opposite of 'plot armour'?
Dunno, for any 'it's on the screen so must be true!' heads, it seems like the Lakota got a new all-over phased array paint or something; given her ability to fire phasers from anywhere and everywhere... other than the DBBs....:D
It was an entertaining fight, but there's not really much of any serious conclusions that anyone can draw from it - not that this stops folk from trying, bless 'em.:)
Orangeitis: Though it's good stuff thinking more widely about possible meta-changes; if the primary objective of this thread is to get the company to release a proper Galaxy, then isn't that objective more likely to be met the lower-impact (in terms of Dev time/$/minimising unforeseen bugs that inevitably come from major changes/etc) the changes are?
So what you want and what others want are kind of mutually antagonistic, to the point of almost being two separate conversations? Not that there's anything wrong with that at all [I'm the furthest thing from being a thread purist that it's possible to be], but it's odd that you think that your conversation is the better one to have, when your approach is the one far less likely to bear the fruit that we mostly want (a Galaxy as glorious as she should be... or at least half decent...).
my thoughts exactly about how the phantom is the ideal version of the defiant. too bad i can't use the defiant skin on the phantom. i'd pay serious zen for that.
RnD and upgrade needs less RNG. Less lottery. Something has to change.
I think I am justified for advocating for this.
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Cheers for the explanation.:) So it's essentially ye olde idealism vs pragmatism thing then? Idealistically, you're certainly absolutely in the right; but what you're after is so idealistic (read: 'would cost too much to implement') that it'll pragmatically never happen. If you insist upon your way, then we'll never get a decent Galaxy; so pragmatically you're in the wrong, and those advocating more simple solutions are in the right.
Your sink's blocked and you need a mirror screwed to your wall, but your tenancy agreement won't let you do this yourself, so you have to ask your landlord. Now you may be perfectly correct that he'd be better off installing a fresh new bathroom (which he could charge more rent for somewhere down the line etc), but if the real priority is for you to have an unblocked sink and a mirror then you're more likely to actually get that if that's all you ask for.
Just to be clear, this thread's more than big enough to accommodate both conversations, and both should be had - but I think that you're incorrect to state that your conversation is the superior one: if the objective is to actually get a decent Galaxy.
'Never allow youself to get distracted from the actual victory conditions,' and all that....:) From a practical problem solving PoV I'd want a decent Galaxy safely in my mitts, as soon as possible, then start asking for a radically new meta.
As always, YMMV.
The practical differences may be irrelevant in the bigger picture considering what Cryptic wants. Cryptic implied numerous times that it's actually attempting to take care of the problems I'm talking about. Either they'll succeed with what I'm advocating, or they'll be convinced to give up and take the easy/quick route. And considering how much they're planning and investing into STO, trying to make it last a while and all, convincing them might not be very likely.
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If you want balanced play between all 3 career's best to play ground as Science, Engineers, and Tacts actually compliment each other in this arena.
Space well, Tanking something with 1 million hp 400k shields as an example, and you putting out as a tank less than 2000k dps, all against a timer/clock with the objective to kill the enemy kinda makes the tank totally redundant Even a Science knocking subsystem after subsystem offline, zapping power off the target, hitting it with sensor scan is a passenger unless the rest of the team are dpser's who can blow away everything.
Space mechanics do need a revamp. Mentioned before Crystal Entity is about the only space PvE that doesn't always reward the guy with the biggest gun. Science and Healing abilities actually matter on this map. Space needs to find a role for the Tank and the Science debuffer in time gated missions. And stop the dps race.
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None of that even matters when in elite we have npc ships with hundreds of thousands of hit points that need to be defeated in x amount of time. Honestly nothing has changed from before it's all just moar dps or fail.
And it's still the same, sole locale as before DR that actually rewards performance other than most damage (Crystalline Entity). Everything else is still DPS wins.
Because of the heavy damage NPCs at Advanced & Elite do now, there's actually a need for healboats, etc. But due to the short timers that if you don't make it, you fail, it puts a far stronger emphasis on DPS than anything else before DR.
I was in the belief Cryptic was trying to change that, but everything I've seen with DR's release is completely the opposite.
We're back to the 'is' vs 'ought' (ie pragmatism vs idealism) theme again. For whatever reason, there's a massive disconnect between what the company says that it wants to achieve ('ought'), and what it actually delivers ('is').
Eg, Geko stated that he wanted the gap between fresh endgame users and fully tricked out endgame users to close: So ended up radically increasing that gap beyond most players' wildest dreams/darkest nightmares.
The Devs (can't remember who) stated that they wanted more of a return to ships/chars with viable different roles: And ended up delivering the exact reverse, where it's now even more 'Deeps or go home' than it was before. And is ever-increasingly so: eg yesterday's patch has really messed up my testing fun, since on Normal I could clear SB234 with about 2:22 left on the clock (>2:30 left before DR), and after yesterday's patch - which was supposed to have made Normal easier - it's now touch and go whether I can even defeat the SB at all before timing out.
And that's with a Mastered, very damage-optimised ship and build - though still running the Mk XII purple everything that was top of the line before DR (eg, 8x CrtDx3 BAs), and still viciously powerful (even on new Elite content) before yesterday's patch... gosh, it's almost as if they're trying to force me to upgrade, or something....:rolleyes:
I have often found that hope and idealism are enemies of clear thinking; something that I know that you're very keen on.:cool:
You have an entity that says that it wants to deliver A then delivers X. It says that it wants to deliver B then delivers more X. It says that it wants to deliver Y then delivers more X. It says that it wants to deliver Z then delivers still more X. Every time that it categorically states that it will reduce X, it increases X twofold.
It now says that it wants to deliver F. Though you can't ever know exactly what will happen in the future, you have to make your best guess. It is exactly the same entity under exactly the same forces, employing exactly the same people. In reason (not in hopeful optimism), what do you think that the entity will most likely deliver?
This includes the R, The Fleet and the T5U versions.
You all getting on fine in space combat or feeling like you''ve gone from head butting a brick wall to a steel one.
Just interested to know how people are managing with this ship for xp levelling, stf's and feature episode content.
Has she been left further behind? , has the ss mastery given her new life ?
Please share feedback and thoughts.
i haven't even bothered upgrading any of my old tier 5 ships, after getting everything out of the DR pack they are all junk that cant use OSS.
so, the gap between the worst ship and best got even biger
(not really that bad of it lacks tactical powers and intel powers)
limiting only certain ships to specialization seats really hurts the old ships. surgical strike and overide subsystems are just good
really wish the guardian had a LTC intel seat for the surgical strike. heck if the gal-rs LTC eng was a intel hybrid seat the ship would go from being the worst cruiser to one of the best cruisers
we can only dream i guess, all this thread is good for
Would people consider a similer layout for the Galaxy minus the obvious extra console and intel seat?
"It appears we have lost our sex appeal, captain."- Tuvok
We've been consideing that layout since the D'Deridex came to be, probably even long before that. Too bad we have no saying in it while the devs never cared to consider that and made a new ship instead.
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ive proposed that layout in these galaxy threads for years now. cryptic chose to throw it on a new ship instead.
Indeed. I think that they definitely need to go back and rethink game balance. Though I'll wait till after the expected skill update in season 10 before making more harsh judgements there.
Indeed. However, in my perspective, what I expect or even hope from Cryptic isn't nowhere near ideal. Cryptic has demonstrated a development capability that is far beyond what I've experienced from my time playing MMOs. Adding on that my ideal Star Trek game indeed would be a lot like some of the more picky posters around here. Diplomacy and exploration being featured alongside combat, maybe even above it in some respects. Not to mention my ideal for minimizing gameplay/story segregation as much as possible, which actually is nigh impossible with today's MMO technology. I think big, and the big ideals I'd love for Star Trek Online just isn't possible at all right now.
But class balance? That's an entirely other story. I'm not convinced even a shred that it's not unreachable. I'm not convinced that it's unprofitable to attempt. And I'm certainly not convinced that we should 'settle' for making the game more imbalanced when I AM convinced that it has so much more potential.
It doesn't matter what the pattern says. I am convinced that if we value this game and wish to see it grow, we should advocate for a good change. A bigger change. A change that is more than just "change Ship A to whatever is competitively viable". Was it possible to accomplish in Delta Rising? I don't know. But I think it was a good chance. And I think there will be more chances. We just have to encourage Cryptic to take advantage of those chances.
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really?
well that is a shame, dont get me wrong i love the Guardian but one of the reasons i love it is its galaxy/ambassador feel.
"It appears we have lost our sex appeal, captain."- Tuvok
Still no Gal-X but i am not into carrier-cruisers and don´t use phasers so so i won´t be able to bring out all the Power of the Lance. and BTW the Lance still didn´t get fixed
The only thing the Exploration cruiser needs is a small design update/upgrade. It should be able to use the Gal-X nacelles. We have seen those on refitted Galaxy class ships so i assume they are a standard feature on all ships by 2410.
Unfortunately, it's not.
Remember, I was the Targ always fighting for the Gal and I had fun with it, I plaed all elite content. But recently I had to find out that at least my Gal (~8k dps) is unable to complete Starbase 234 on advanced difficulty anymore. In fact, by the time I overcame the defending ships and attack the actual starbase the time is up.
The bloated HP mobs that came with DR mean that you technically cannot be "good" anymore in a ship with low tac consoles and tac/intel boff abilities. I am very desillusionised at the moment and maybe I find a way to make the ship better, but right now I think I have to chime in - it's finally not fun anymore to play a Gal...
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But that would mean that the Ambassador, Guardian and Eclipse are not good anymore as well because they (2 of the T&) have only 3 Tac slots. Ony the Assault cruiser or Advanced heavy Cruiser have 4 Tac consoles ( and that ugly Brick they call Avenger. I´d rather fly into the sun than to captain that Battlecruiser)
But on all the STFs i did till now i always came out first or second.
It is all about the Style. THose ships with 3 Tac consoles usually have bette Sci or Eng Boff slots so you should take advantage of that. Even Grav. Well I is useful to distract enemies
I have to ask: Did you upgrade your Weapons and consoles to Mk XIII or XIV? Do you use Fleet weapons and NOT Phasers
The Ambassador, Guardian, and Eclipse are monsters not because of the number of tac consoles they have, but because of their superior boff layouts.
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I don't know about the Ambassador, but the Guardian and Eclipse at least have Intel abilities which, according to DDIS at least, are really powerful.
I still can partake in STFs with the Gal, but the solo performance on SB 234 really devestated my ego a bit...
You can only take advantage of the Gal's eng slots to a certain degree when it comes to damage. Aceton Beam or Warp Plasma are the only abilities that contribute to your overall damage and I don't know if that will suffice. Mind you, I'm not trying to fit a cookie cutter build on the ship, that wouldn't be fun anymore to me even if it was possible...
No, until now I have not upgraded my stuff to Mk XIII and beyond. I don't know if that will make the difference, though. An upgraded weapon adds something like 20 dps last time I checked...
I use fleet phasers. I know those are not "ideal", but I am not a dps afficionado. I make betwwen 6 and 8k dps and could pretty much do everything, even shine in CC and those rare occasions a good tank and support helps the team. But the same build feels absolutely crippled right now and if I have to use something like plasma cannons on my Galaxy cruiser to make it work I can stop playing right away (I'm just wired that way
I am willing to learn and improve if anyone knows a trick or two.
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