Best Space PEW PEW out there. No other space game comes close to the fun in Space Combat!
Its Totally Free
You do not have to "Grind" at all to enjoy the content
Hours and Hours of free enjoyment, did I mention Free?
Great artwork, sets, missions, ships, story, foundry, character choices, costumes, Game-play Mechanics, PEW PEW, Transporter sounds, challenges, events, free-stuff, Borg Battles, crafting, exploration. I can go on but yeah you get the point.
Haters gonna hate, so why don't they just leave already!
So much complaining, so much hate, I just don't get it. Dont like it, dont play.
Some of us got it when it was decidedly not free, some of us got lifetime subscriptions when it meant something, and some of us are pretty torqued off about how we've been treated. F2P has been horrible for the game, even taking into account the new content (which is exceptionally well written), it just isn't enough to compensate for getting screwed over with no lube.
Cryptic has lied to the customer base from the start, they've displayed the antithesis of basic business ethics and customer service seems to be anethema to them.
At this point, I would only recommend STO to college students majoring in gaming to see how not to run an MMO.
Had one friend who played - he got tired of this BS....and left....
I'm only still here because I have invested interest in it - otherwise I'd be popping smoke.....
Edit:
I started to wonder about the shark jumping when the Nicor Cruiser came out. This DR thing hasn't rubbed me quite as raw as others...but this thing with the Intrepid pack or whatever, nope I see what kind of people these guys are...not people I would associate with IRL.
I've started to move toward Warframe anyway(finally got a decent rig) - the community is....you know...a community, and the devs seem to respond and interact with the players....I stress "seem to" since I am new there.....
The game itself is decent, but it keeps drifting more and more towards grind from the fun that it was when I first started playing.
The rate of progression is too slow for the amount of playable content, and certainly too slow for 110 levels worth of progression (split between 60 actual levels and 50 additional pseudo-levels to finish unlocking the Specializations).
The Crafting System is overly variable, has unnecessary intermediary steps, and required the addition of the Upgrade System to become worthwhile... and doesn't actually involve the player crafting.
They keep nerfing queue rewards, only to put them back... but always at a lower amount that the rewards were originally.
They have three factions in the game...but instead of taking the opportunity of a new ship tier to balance out endgame ship offerings, they make T6 even more imbalanced than T5 was.
They add Starship Traits and tie them to individual ships, but instead of making them account unlocks as a means to sell ships across faction lines they make them single-character unlocks so that 2/3 of the game's factions can't actually fill their Starship Trait slots without grinding out 80 levels (60 actual levels and 20 additional pseudo-levels to unlock two Starship Traits in the Specializations) or gambling on lock boxes.
There are good aspects of the game. The Episodes are actually better than when I first started playing... I particularly enjoy the Klingon Episode arc, which are some of the best written as far as sticking to the faction's basic "flavor". They have improved customization by allowing us to select our own Kits and Kit Modules, as well as swap out our various Traits. They have added account-wide discount unlocks for the Summer and Winter Events, and they have introduced more missions, queues, etc. during my time here. A lot of the art assets and environments in the game are very well done and interesting to wander about in.
Unfortunately, all that is still hobbled by the commitment to grind, overuse of the RNG, and the grossly imbalanced faction offerings. It's kind of funny... the grind is intended to motivate players to spend money to bypass it, but instead that's the reason I haven't spend money. Well, that and I decided to help out the KDF half of our allied Fleets awhile back, which means that there isn't that much to actually buy. The very things that keep me from spending money on STO are the warnings that I'd give anyone interested in playing STO.
If someone is in the market for a Free to Play game, though, STO can be played 100% free... so long as there are still folks willing to purchase dilithium over grinding it. So, um, fellow players can ignore that and please buy my dilithium.
Devs, though... I like your game, but a few gameplay mechanics manage to drag down a lot of good work. I am not opposed to spending money on STO, but glacial progression and poor balance are not good motivators; fun is a good motivator... make more of the latter and less of the former. I know you can, I've seen you do it.
With each passing day I wonder if I stepped into an alternate reality. The Cubs win the world series. Donald Trump is President. Britain leaves the EU. STO gets a dedicated PvP season. Engineers are "out of control" in STO.
No as most of them like the eraly era of Star Trek circa 23 Century.It has no feeling of Trek except being able to beam down to other places on landing party.
Then there is grinding out the rep system.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Age StarTrek-Gamers Administrator
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer Star Trek Gamers
Some of us got it when it was decidedly not free, some of us got lifetime subscriptions when it meant something, and some of us are pretty torqued off about how we've been treated. F2P has been horrible for the game, even taking into account the new content (which is exceptionally well written), it just isn't enough to compensate for getting screwed over with no lube.
Cryptic has lied to the customer base from the start, they've displayed the antithesis of basic business ethics and customer service seems to be anethema to them.
At this point, I would only recommend STO to college students majoring in gaming to see how not to run an MMO.
Yes indeed, I pre-ordered the game, started playing on launch day, or should that be rubber banded for a few weeks on launch, I have invested a lot into this game, time and money. After f2p I stopped subbing as there really is no need to sub. I purchase ships, recently got the DR pack, Half Di-Li half Cash that my wife spent on me.
For all the ups and down I have seen in STO since launch, I hand on heart can honestly say its a better game today than its ever been, but maybe that's just me and my 4 years worth of experiences in STO.
Is STO perfect, far from it, is STO FUN, yes absolutely, if you look through the grind, which is competely optional and open your eyes, you can see that every bit of content is open for you, grind free *
* - Exception, New Elite Queue, these require you partake in grind, but honestly, they are literally no different than advanced or normal in content, just extra HP and non-optional "Optionals". By the time you havbe kitted for a Elite, you are no more effective in that elite as a mkxii kitted peep in an advanced due to NPC HP in Elite.
Probably not, not anymore. The few I could get to give it a look recognized it for what it was right off the bat and gave it a flat no. The only thing keeping me here is the investment I've already made and a lingering and probably empty hope that they might turn this around, but to recommend a product, I have to be able to stand behind it and I can't do that with STO in it's current state.
If something is not broken, don't fix it, if it is broken, don't leave it broken.
Yes indeed, I pre-ordered the game, started playing on launch day, or should that be rubber banded for a few weeks on launch, I have invested a lot into this game, time and money. After f2p I stopped subbing as there really is no need to sub. I purchase ships, recently got the DR pack, Half Di-Li half Cash that my wife spent on me.
For all the ups and down I have seen in STO since launch, I hand on heart can honestly say its a better game today than its ever been, but maybe that's just me and my 4 years worth of experiences in STO.
Is STO perfect, far from it, is STO FUN, yes absolutely, if you look through the grind, which is competely optional and open your eyes, you can see that every bit of content is open for you, grind free *
* - Exception, New Elite Queue, these require you partake in grind, but honestly, they are literally no different than advanced or normal in content, just extra HP and non-optional "Optionals". By the time you havbe kitted for a Elite, you are no more effective in that elite as a mkxii kitted peep in an advanced due to NPC HP in Elite.
What's really depressing is that you're right, it's a better game than it's been in a long time in a lot of ways. The gripes are also the same as they've been since release, I've still run into bugs that were in at release and never addressed and Cryptic is even more moneygrubbing than they've ever been.
They do not treat the customers right and the endless grind from fifty to sixty and beyond is also sucking the fun right out of the game. The never ending moneygrab now includes making the ships I did buy in the C-Store obsolete unless I pony up another seven bucks each, which I ain't gonna do because they'll just release t6 versions right after I do, like they did with the Intrepid.
The grind is definitely there and is absolutely no fun and is in no way optional unless you want to login and doff your way through the interminable grind from hades.
I will still not recommend the game to my friends for the simple reason that I want to keep them. Cryptic is losing customers and not gaining new ones, my friends list is still showing little activity and I mostly can't even be bothered to login to the forums and discuss it anymore.
You are entitled to your opinion but I suspect that it's in the minority and Cryptic is sucking the IP dry before it fails like SWG.
I used to bug my friend to try it. But for the last year or 2 (?) I've not; since I feel that Cryptic/PWE is more interested in cranking out the next lockbox than making a quality game. Just look at all the bugs that have been around for years that never get fixed, but we get a new lockbox every 3 months.
Honestly, if my friend did try STO and saw all the issues it has had for an almost 5yr old game I'd be embarrassed to say I still play it.
I have in the past. Just trying to get friends to play. This was well before the current gauntlet of hell you have to go through to level up past 51.
The XP garbage isnt even their first error in how to run a game.
I only play because I have a ton of time and money involved.
I also have no desire to level up another character to lvl 60. My first character is a pain. I dont care about the special points right now. I just want to see the content. Took me 4 hours today of constant gameplay to make 2 bubbles to hit lvl 54.
I told this to one of my friends who played this game and he said he has no desire to return just from what I have told him.
Cryptic really needs to get their head out of the smoke. I keep thinking that they cant get any worse and then they do something to get me to double facepalm again.
So on to the question:
Would you recommend STO to a friend?
I am largely a solo player. And I am a F2P player. I don't like having to wait on people to join queues, I won't join a fleet with the intent to play with other fleet players as I'm often not around when others are, and I won't do PVP because in all multiplayer player vs player games I've ever played (not that many I admit) it always ends up being a case of some spotty teen with tons of money and tons of time to play (no offence meant if you are one of those) being better than I am, thus I have no fun because I'm constantly losing.
However I'm giving STO a go, and on the one hand since joining about a week or two before Delta Rising was released I've according to steam played the game for 210 hours.
In those 210 hours I've found it quite difficult until reaching level 50 with 2 characters (one Federation one KDF) to really do anything but grind to obtain gear so that I don't keep dying and can kill stuff and I'm sure I wouldn't have been any good in PVE's due to having rather low level and rubbish gear.
It even got to a point about a week or two ago where I was grinding for what seemed like virtually nothing compared to what I thought I needed to be getting and considered un-installing STO. Quite often over the past 210 hours of play I've felt as a F2P player that I'm not playing a game for enjoyment, I'm the equivalent of some far east WoW gold farmer working in a large warehouse with 100s of other such gold farmers, only I don't get paid/rewarded for it.
I have virtually given up on obtaining anything of a handful of stuff I originally wanted from the C-Store apart from maybe 1 T5U or T6 ship on each of the 2 characters I have when/if I ever reach a 5000 Zen target - which will take me 2-4 months as it is I think.
On the other hand I've just this last week managed to get my ships so they are functional in PVE's with some very helpful advice from people on here (although I've only done a couple of Advanced queue PVE and mostly do Normal), started to accrue Dil a bit faster via the Omega rep system at 500 per 50 omega marks (providing I can do enough PVE in a 3-4hr time span), and the last couple of days I've made about 4 million EC on the exchange by selling some R&D materials I had accumulated.
Where it was taking me about 6 or more hours just to hit 8k Dil on one character it's now taking me about that to hit 8k on two characters. But even so, I can't play for 6hrs a day and hold down a real life.
So the game has the last couple of days become more enjoyable because I can see I'm reaching my goal of 5k Zen a bit quicker. Although I still haven't done the majority of the scripted campaign content so I don't know if I will need to grind for even better than MK XII gear.
So would I recommend the game?
Probably not.
I like Star Trek, not to the point I dress up and go to comic cons and could be called a Trekkie but to the point where I know a bit about the canon and really dislike misuse of the Star Trek idea.
STO is a good time waster for me and for some reason now I can't put it down for more than a day or two.
But the game is not Star Trek unless you consider it to have been made by Ferengi.
I wouldn't mind coughing up some real cash for content, if A) I had it, and if content wasn't so stupidly over-priced, especially the stuff that is just aesthetics, such as uniforms.
I also am struggling to see the point in the game once I've completed the scripted campaign content, I doubt once I've completed all of it that I'll be sticking around - repetitively doing PVE or any other repetitive mission just for the hell of it doesn't appeal to me.
However STO is the best Star Trek game currently available that isn't ancient. So if you want a Star Trek video game it's about the only game in town.
A crafting system that is crafting only in a technical sense. Lack of real customization for items makes crafting just another store.
Back when they were first talking about revamping Crafting I made a proposal, it's linked in my Sig, I almost predicted exactly what we got, except they added Dilithium taxes into the recipes themselves and left out the customization system I envisioned. Check it out.
Original Join Date: January 2010. Ragequit Date: January 7th 2012. Return Date: October 23rd 2014.
Absolutely not. Between the broken promises, persistent bugs, resurfacing bugs, absolutely ABYSMAL customer service, almost total lack of communication on anything meaningful, and unnecessary nerf after nerf after nerf I'd feel bad asking anyone to play this mess.
Goodness no, no way
Horrible decisions by the company trying to exploit their customers. I am okay with being milked over time and paying for a game that I play, but they have shifted from that approach.
Hello,
I am asking for others thoughts and feelings on this question, obviously I have my own opinion but I'm hoping to expand my point of view.
If you choose to reply a simple yes or no is fine, but it'd be great if you would explain you position. Having said that this in not a Pro/Con Cryptic thread so there is no need to attack or 'correct' anyone's opinion since that's what I'm asking for anyway.
So on to the question:
Would you recommend STO to a friend?
Thanks in advance!
-Glass
I'd say run like heck...don't even bother and wait out till NEW MANAGEMENT takes over.
Here lately I would have to say that it's difficult even for me to login lately to finish up the projects I do have going even though I'm really close to finishing most of them. It's really gotten that bad, my faith in the management here has had direct influence on the gameplay of this game. They need someone new to take over someone who actually cares and works for the players rather than PWE when it comes to decisions.
Comments
This game isn't even all that much fun anymore.
I stick around because i have a lifetime sub my friends well they are moving off to other games and hoping the Devs do something.
I could say more but it falls on deaf ears anyway so really whats the point?
Some of us got it when it was decidedly not free, some of us got lifetime subscriptions when it meant something, and some of us are pretty torqued off about how we've been treated. F2P has been horrible for the game, even taking into account the new content (which is exceptionally well written), it just isn't enough to compensate for getting screwed over with no lube.
Cryptic has lied to the customer base from the start, they've displayed the antithesis of basic business ethics and customer service seems to be anethema to them.
At this point, I would only recommend STO to college students majoring in gaming to see how not to run an MMO.
Had one friend who played - he got tired of this BS....and left....
I'm only still here because I have invested interest in it - otherwise I'd be popping smoke.....
Edit:
I started to wonder about the shark jumping when the Nicor Cruiser came out. This DR thing hasn't rubbed me quite as raw as others...but this thing with the Intrepid pack or whatever, nope I see what kind of people these guys are...not people I would associate with IRL.
I've started to move toward Warframe anyway(finally got a decent rig) - the community is....you know...a community, and the devs seem to respond and interact with the players....I stress "seem to" since I am new there.....
The game itself is decent, but it keeps drifting more and more towards grind from the fun that it was when I first started playing.
There are good aspects of the game. The Episodes are actually better than when I first started playing... I particularly enjoy the Klingon Episode arc, which are some of the best written as far as sticking to the faction's basic "flavor". They have improved customization by allowing us to select our own Kits and Kit Modules, as well as swap out our various Traits. They have added account-wide discount unlocks for the Summer and Winter Events, and they have introduced more missions, queues, etc. during my time here. A lot of the art assets and environments in the game are very well done and interesting to wander about in.
Unfortunately, all that is still hobbled by the commitment to grind, overuse of the RNG, and the grossly imbalanced faction offerings. It's kind of funny... the grind is intended to motivate players to spend money to bypass it, but instead that's the reason I haven't spend money. Well, that and I decided to help out the KDF half of our allied Fleets awhile back, which means that there isn't that much to actually buy. The very things that keep me from spending money on STO are the warnings that I'd give anyone interested in playing STO.
If someone is in the market for a Free to Play game, though, STO can be played 100% free... so long as there are still folks willing to purchase dilithium over grinding it. So, um, fellow players can ignore that and please buy my dilithium.
Devs, though... I like your game, but a few gameplay mechanics manage to drag down a lot of good work. I am not opposed to spending money on STO, but glacial progression and poor balance are not good motivators; fun is a good motivator... make more of the latter and less of the former. I know you can, I've seen you do it.
Then there is grinding out the rep system.
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer
Star Trek Gamers
Yes indeed, I pre-ordered the game, started playing on launch day, or should that be rubber banded for a few weeks on launch, I have invested a lot into this game, time and money. After f2p I stopped subbing as there really is no need to sub. I purchase ships, recently got the DR pack, Half Di-Li half Cash that my wife spent on me.
For all the ups and down I have seen in STO since launch, I hand on heart can honestly say its a better game today than its ever been, but maybe that's just me and my 4 years worth of experiences in STO.
Is STO perfect, far from it, is STO FUN, yes absolutely, if you look through the grind, which is competely optional and open your eyes, you can see that every bit of content is open for you, grind free *
* - Exception, New Elite Queue, these require you partake in grind, but honestly, they are literally no different than advanced or normal in content, just extra HP and non-optional "Optionals". By the time you havbe kitted for a Elite, you are no more effective in that elite as a mkxii kitted peep in an advanced due to NPC HP in Elite.
...if cryptic give me 10k zen right now
What's really depressing is that you're right, it's a better game than it's been in a long time in a lot of ways. The gripes are also the same as they've been since release, I've still run into bugs that were in at release and never addressed and Cryptic is even more moneygrubbing than they've ever been.
They do not treat the customers right and the endless grind from fifty to sixty and beyond is also sucking the fun right out of the game. The never ending moneygrab now includes making the ships I did buy in the C-Store obsolete unless I pony up another seven bucks each, which I ain't gonna do because they'll just release t6 versions right after I do, like they did with the Intrepid.
The grind is definitely there and is absolutely no fun and is in no way optional unless you want to login and doff your way through the interminable grind from hades.
I will still not recommend the game to my friends for the simple reason that I want to keep them. Cryptic is losing customers and not gaining new ones, my friends list is still showing little activity and I mostly can't even be bothered to login to the forums and discuss it anymore.
You are entitled to your opinion but I suspect that it's in the minority and Cryptic is sucking the IP dry before it fails like SWG.
Honestly, if my friend did try STO and saw all the issues it has had for an almost 5yr old game I'd be embarrassed to say I still play it.
I have in the past. Just trying to get friends to play. This was well before the current gauntlet of hell you have to go through to level up past 51.
The XP garbage isnt even their first error in how to run a game.
I only play because I have a ton of time and money involved.
I also have no desire to level up another character to lvl 60. My first character is a pain. I dont care about the special points right now. I just want to see the content. Took me 4 hours today of constant gameplay to make 2 bubbles to hit lvl 54.
I told this to one of my friends who played this game and he said he has no desire to return just from what I have told him.
Cryptic really needs to get their head out of the smoke. I keep thinking that they cant get any worse and then they do something to get me to double facepalm again.
@Desdecardo since 2008.
At least not without telling them how bad the game is now.
If they don't intend to play it seriously, and if they ignore the grind, maybe they would have fun.
Too many long term persistent bugs ignored.
Too much grind for highly specialized currencies (Rep system specifically).
Pervasive demand for dilithium and relatively few ways to earn it in quantity.
A crafting system that is crafting only in a technical sense. Lack of real customization for items makes crafting just another store.
Disastrously broken fleet economics that effectively lock out small, casual fleets.
There is more, but those are the big reasons.
Totally agree.
I can remember back in the day when an 8k cap on dilithium wasn't a big deal. Now I can't even finish a fleet project without spending real money.
I am largely a solo player. And I am a F2P player. I don't like having to wait on people to join queues, I won't join a fleet with the intent to play with other fleet players as I'm often not around when others are, and I won't do PVP because in all multiplayer player vs player games I've ever played (not that many I admit) it always ends up being a case of some spotty teen with tons of money and tons of time to play (no offence meant if you are one of those) being better than I am, thus I have no fun because I'm constantly losing.
However I'm giving STO a go, and on the one hand since joining about a week or two before Delta Rising was released I've according to steam played the game for 210 hours.
In those 210 hours I've found it quite difficult until reaching level 50 with 2 characters (one Federation one KDF) to really do anything but grind to obtain gear so that I don't keep dying and can kill stuff and I'm sure I wouldn't have been any good in PVE's due to having rather low level and rubbish gear.
It even got to a point about a week or two ago where I was grinding for what seemed like virtually nothing compared to what I thought I needed to be getting and considered un-installing STO. Quite often over the past 210 hours of play I've felt as a F2P player that I'm not playing a game for enjoyment, I'm the equivalent of some far east WoW gold farmer working in a large warehouse with 100s of other such gold farmers, only I don't get paid/rewarded for it.
I have virtually given up on obtaining anything of a handful of stuff I originally wanted from the C-Store apart from maybe 1 T5U or T6 ship on each of the 2 characters I have when/if I ever reach a 5000 Zen target - which will take me 2-4 months as it is I think.
On the other hand I've just this last week managed to get my ships so they are functional in PVE's with some very helpful advice from people on here (although I've only done a couple of Advanced queue PVE and mostly do Normal), started to accrue Dil a bit faster via the Omega rep system at 500 per 50 omega marks (providing I can do enough PVE in a 3-4hr time span), and the last couple of days I've made about 4 million EC on the exchange by selling some R&D materials I had accumulated.
Where it was taking me about 6 or more hours just to hit 8k Dil on one character it's now taking me about that to hit 8k on two characters. But even so, I can't play for 6hrs a day and hold down a real life.
So the game has the last couple of days become more enjoyable because I can see I'm reaching my goal of 5k Zen a bit quicker. Although I still haven't done the majority of the scripted campaign content so I don't know if I will need to grind for even better than MK XII gear.
So would I recommend the game?
Probably not.
I like Star Trek, not to the point I dress up and go to comic cons and could be called a Trekkie but to the point where I know a bit about the canon and really dislike misuse of the Star Trek idea.
STO is a good time waster for me and for some reason now I can't put it down for more than a day or two.
But the game is not Star Trek unless you consider it to have been made by Ferengi.
I wouldn't mind coughing up some real cash for content, if A) I had it, and
I also am struggling to see the point in the game once I've completed the scripted campaign content, I doubt once I've completed all of it that I'll be sticking around - repetitively doing PVE or any other repetitive mission just for the hell of it doesn't appeal to me.
However STO is the best Star Trek game currently available that isn't ancient. So if you want a Star Trek video game it's about the only game in town.
Cryptic: If you think the bugs are bad, wait until you see our fixes!
Back when they were first talking about revamping Crafting I made a proposal, it's linked in my Sig, I almost predicted exactly what we got, except they added Dilithium taxes into the recipes themselves and left out the customization system I envisioned. Check it out.
Almost called it.
Horrible decisions by the company trying to exploit their customers. I am okay with being milked over time and paying for a game that I play, but they have shifted from that approach.
I could list the reasons why, but others are repeatedly expressing them if only the 'powers that be' would take heed.
I'd say run like heck...don't even bother and wait out till NEW MANAGEMENT takes over.