Upcoming Rewards Updates

pwgroverclvlnd

The recent Delta Rising expansion released for Star Trek Online included a large number of updates to existing features throughout the game. The focus of many of these updates has been to add new challenges for players to experience and to update rewards to reflect these difficulty changes. Unfortunately, our first attempts at setting rewards values have not been universally successful. Accordingly, we will be working towards bringing rewards in line with where we, and players, think they should be.

An important part of playing any piece of content in Star Trek Online is that players feel appropriately rewarded for the time and effort they put forth completing that content. With all the changes made to the PvE queues (new difficulties, new mission objectives, etc.) many of them now take significantly longer than they used to before the release of Delta Rising. This means that the number of reputation marks players are getting are no longer adequate for their time investment. Accordingly, we will be increasing mark rewards on all queues that are currently under-rewarding. There are also a small number of queues that are significantly over-rewarding which will have their rewards reduced.

PvE queues are not the only pieces of content that will have their rewards adjusted. With the introduction of the Research & Development and Item Upgrading systems, there is an increased need for dilithium. To accommodate this need, we will be increasing dilithium rewards in several key locations throughout the game. PvE Queues will get a small increase to their current dilithium rewards, while Adventure and Battle Zones will see their dilithium rewards increased by 50%.

We are also examining the drop rates of Very Rare Research & Development Materials, Skill Points, Officer Skill Points, Starship Mastery Skill Points and Elite Reputation Marks (i.e. Borg Neural Processors, Voth Cybernetic Implants, etc.) among other items.

There will be many changes coming in the next several weeks that are aimed at updating the rewards throughout the game –in most places increasing the rewards to meet the new demands players have from taking part in brand new systems. We will continue to communicate with the players about all these updates as they occur.

Charles Gray
Lead Content Designer
Star Trek Online

Unknown

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equinox976

The recent Delta Rising expansion released for Star Trek Online included a large number of updates to existing features throughout the game.

I think this should read as:

The recent Delta Rising expansion released for Star Trek Online included a large number of Money grabs to ensure existing features throughout the game are monetized. (to the extent we can get away with).

strykewolf67

Glad to see you folks trying to communicate more.


Not sure ground zones need more dil, though. Can hit Dyson for 5-7k as things stand, already.

dragonsbrethren

Great news. While I haven't played the queues for the rewards in a long time now, I know others still do and they'll be happy with this news.

I think this would also be a good time to reevaluate having Borg Neural Processors and Ancient Power Cells only drop from queued content. The Dyson and Undine reputation trinkets can be obtained from their respective battlezones, which puts their rep gear in reach of players who can't tackle the Advanced queues yet. Omega and Delta rep don't have this option, currently.

-edit-

strykewolf67 wrote: »

Not sure ground zones need more dil, though. Can hit Dyson for 5-7k as things stand, already.

Everyone will hate us for this, but it seems excessive to me. Maybe the contested zone and Undine battlezone, but the Dyson ground zone already pays out ridiculously. I'd rather see more places pay out as well than have the Dyson zone still be the go-to for dilithium. You know, for variety.

ummax

ah thanks I read one and your name was blue and looking like a community member so I didnt take it seriously

thanks for posting the infos and the info on q's is appreciated although I do have successful runs I am encountering a lot of people giving up half way through leaving the remainder to struggle and new people zoning in which is not fun for the people entering half way through. (I hate it when i end up in a half done instance..)

Anyhow the success rate should not be less then 50% for pick up groups in advanced I dont think in other words it should be possible for someone to make a mistake and recover and complete the thing. I think there should be little room for error in the elite status but the rewards need to match the elite status.

also please dont call something 'optional' if its not its confusing

zarxidejacko

Records indicate you will show mercy for every player on this planet.

lowy1

A Welcome start. Thank you.

dirlettia

Its interesting that they seem to think mark rewards are the thing which are most lacking as they gave it so much attention in the post. Really the leveling curve I would have thought would have been more an issue as folks cant afford rep stuff anyway due to not having enough dilithium to buy the stuff.

With regards the skill points, I am going to take that to mean xp for the over 50's, please do not reduce it any further as it is already at the point where I am really considering all progress now to be stagnant no matter what I do in a session

mhall85

This is good, as I attempted to run an Advanced queue for a Isomorphic injection, and prompted failed the mission and received no injection.

Now, about that Mac client...

iconians

How about some rewards for players who play support roles instead of pandering to the DPS-centric playstyle you've fostered and encouraged over the last few years?

Because really, when you increase the length of time a mission takes to complete, you simply put more emphasis on tactical-focused ship set-ups and captains. With the obvious focus on simply getting through the mission faster to queue up for another, or reset the battlezone.

There's still people who would love to feel they contribute to a mission without dragging them down because they don't have enough damage output -- particularly in PvE queues where lower-level players are scaled up to everyone else.

And those players should be appropriately rewarded in a way people that provide damage output do not.

leokesler2012

Excuse me my bad english.

pwgroverclvlnd wrote: »

There are also a small number of queues that are significantly over-rewarding which will have their rewards reduced.

I curious, can you tell us what queue are over-rewarding ?

PvE queues are not the only pieces of content that will have their rewards adjusted. With the introduction of the Research & Development and Item Upgrading systems, there is an increased need for dilithium. To accommodate this need, we will be increasing dilithium rewards in several key locations throughout the game. PvE Queues will get a small increase to their current dilithium rewards, while Adventure and Battle Zones will see their dilithium rewards increased by 50%.

The correct way to fix dilithium : normal = 480, advanced 1440, elite 2880. That will be rewarding.

And by the way, I link to play ground missions, including old ones, like The big dig and etc... Why dont update the rewards for that old missions ? Put something exclusive, like a chance to get a purple R&D component...

Anyway, thanks.

lowy1

dirlettia wrote: »

Its interesting that they seem to think mark rewards are the thing which are most lacking as they gave it so much attention in the post. Really the leveling curve I would have thought would have been more an issue as folks cant afford rep stuff anyway due to not having enough dilithium to buy the stuff.

With regards the skill points, I am going to take that to mean xp for the over 50's, please do not reduce it any further as it is already at the point where I am really considering all progress now to be stagnant no matter what I do in a session

At least marks can be turned into dilitium.

sqwished

It'll be interesting to see what comes of this. But again thanks for info and heads up.
Now que the calls for string of threads asking for a refining cap increase!

hojain2020

equinox976 wrote: »

I think this should read as:

The recent Delta Rising expansion released for Star Trek Online included a large number of Money grabs to ensure existing features throughout the game are monetized. (to the extent we can get away with).

I couldn't agree with you more!!

valenn1

Some good news and a good start for "fixing" things.
Thank you.

hausofmartok

This is great news. Thanks, and after these rewards changes hit I'll go back to running queues again.

equinox976

iconians wrote: »

How about some rewards for players who play support roles instead of pandering to the DPS-centric playstyle you've fostered and encouraged over the last few years?

I think the trouble is, that the devs dont play this game very much. And when they DO, its in an overpowered DPS ship.

Given that the wizards of STO made a recent 100kdps video and the short turn around of pet nerfs, I think the Dev team have a very shallow understanding of how his game works.

For instance, pets can be awesome, if used in a well played elite group of players. Most of the time however, pets pop as soon as you look at them.

There seems to be an overarching view at cryptic that DPS is the be all and end all of everything, the traditional 'trinity' (and its traditional for a REASON) has not only been cast aside, but actively trampled upon, ignored and nerfed.

rodentmaster

Cryptic: Battlezones are not the answer. In fact, I rather detest your "battle zones" so far. They detract from the game and have almost nothing to do with Star Trek at all. They become nothing but mindless kill-pits.

It is honestly and truly far better from a player perspective to run 3x 5-10 minute missions than it is to slog it out in a BZ for half an hour. Honestly, I don't know of any other players that actually LIKE them. They just use them for dilithium.

Meanwhile, you have cut dilithium-per-mission in half (or in quarters because Advanced is so fubar right now), you have increased time-per-mission significantly, and the dil-per-time-invested is probably less than 1/10th of what it used to be.

You wish to make up for that with... what? A "minor" dil increase, and a few more marks?

Unless you reward 10x the dil the PvEs currently reward, nothing you do will make them "worth the time" as you claim to be worried about.

You've driven off most of the playerbase. You've harmed any shred of credibility you used to have. You've slashed rewards MASSIVELY and then offer a "minor" increase?

Let me tell you this: You can give out a million dilithium per hour and I still won't like (or USE) your Kobali BZ. It's just badly designed, badly structured, poorly designed gameplay, and is UN-FUN TO THE EXTREME.

This game honestly isn't worth my time any more. How's that for rewards per mission?

cerritourug

Marks? You ppl really belive that marks are the problem?

Thanks for the dil increase, but with out also a Skill point/spec points increase, this expancion will be still a failure.

sthraxpwe

iconians wrote: »

How about some rewards for players who play support roles instead of pandering to the DPS-centric playstyle you've fostered and encouraged over the last few years?

Because really, when you increase the length of time a mission takes to complete, you simply put more emphasis on tactical-focused ship set-ups and captains. With the obvious focus on simply getting through the mission faster to queue up for another, or reset the battlezone.

There's still people who would love to feel they contribute to a mission without dragging them down because they don't have enough damage output -- particularly in PvE queues where lower-level players are scaled up to everyone else.

And those players should be appropriately rewarded in a way people that provide damage output do not.

While I'm a Tac/DPS-focused player, I agree with this 100%. I can't tell you how surprised I was to be in an Advanced queue and have a Sci captain constantly heal me. It made my job significantly easier and we had a very successful run as a result. It stinks that in most content in the game, his playstyle is significantly under-rewarded.

dragonsbrethren

rodentmaster wrote: »

Cryptic: Battlezones are not the answer. In fact, I rather detest your "battle zones" so far. They detract from the game and have almost nothing to do with Star Trek at all. They become nothing but mindless kill-pits.

Honestly, the battlezones are far more interesting to me than the queued content at this point. The space ones are all lacking in my eyes right now, but that doesn't mean they couldn't do a very fun one. I think battlezones are the way to go, but they need to work on the balance/spamminess in space. What works on ground just doesn't translate well, as seen in the Undine zone (and the Contested Zone was never fun, and has been nigh unplayable for me since 9.5 due to framerate drops).

darin010

This is a good start to getting things to where they need to be. I think it shows that you all are trying at lest trying. But something tells me your "Data" you have collected over the past few weeks had alot to do with it. Their are the useless Nerfs on the Carrier pets that need to be looked at and reconsiderd. But all things said good effort on this.

Unknown

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sheldonlcooper

rodentmaster wrote: »

Cryptic: Battlezones are not the answer. In fact, I rather detest your "battle zones" so far. They detract from the game and have almost nothing to do with Star Trek at all. They become nothing but mindless kill-pits.

It is honestly and truly far better from a player perspective to run 3x 5-10 minute missions than it is to slog it out in a BZ for half an hour. Honestly, I don't know of any other players that actually LIKE them. They just use them for dilithium.

Meanwhile, you have cut dilithium-per-mission in half (or in quarters because Advanced is so fubar right now), you have increased time-per-mission significantly, and the dil-per-time-invested is probably less than 1/10th of what it used to be.

You wish to make up for that with... what? A "minor" dil increase, and a few more marks?

Unless you reward 10x the dil the PvEs currently reward, nothing you do will make them "worth the time" as you claim to be worried about.

You've driven off most of the playerbase. You've harmed any shred of credibility you used to have. You've slashed rewards MASSIVELY and then offer a "minor" increase?

Let me tell you this: You can give out a million dilithium per hour and I still won't like (or USE) your Kobali BZ. It's just badly designed, badly structured, poorly designed gameplay, and is UN-FUN TO THE EXTREME.

This game honestly isn't worth my time any more. How's that for rewards per mission?

I quite like the battlezones. The Voth is my favorite, then undine, then kobali. There is a sort of real world combat feeling to kobali that's interesting - for example when you fix the gun turrets then storm the trenches. It flows like a realistic battle. It lacks an endgame phase tho - which could reward the ancient power cell.

I have little need for dilithium. For me the voth zone is mostly for fun and for if I want to get marks for a ground set for a boff.

lordthrud

Thank you any communication is appreciated.

While I totally agree the extra rewards are needed.

I will be intrested to see where you think these increases are needed.

I have my suspicions already but maybe thats just the cynic in me.

rossclansforce1

Dino and space whale tag isn't working the same way. So don't count on a quick dilithium refill. They removed the farms and spread rewards out.

lan451

Sounds good.

I actually support the increased dil in the battlezones. For the last few days I've been trying to farm up as much dil I can make and I noticed something in the Voth ground BZ. There were only 5-7 instances running. Before DR there were so many instances running that I had to scroll down a whole list of them. All of those were gone.

I kept an eye on the number of instances running at any given time while I was there, but it never went past 7 at the most. I've never seen the BZ that empty before and I'll admit that it concerned me. The BZ where dil rains from the skies is that empty? I couldn't believe it.

I guess you guys at Cryptic must have seen that if you're looking to crank up the rewards there even more. I won't complain about it.

drake122svk

Well it took them this long to realize they broke the game. GG

dragonsbrethren

Crazy thought...could we opt out of dilithium ore rewards in favor of more skill points? I have more than enough ore at this point. I remember seeing in one of the Livestreams there was a tickable box for skill points or ore in Borg Disconnected at one point. I was looking forward to that option, maybe bring that back, like how we pick our marks?

qjunior

sheldonlcooper wrote: »

I quite like the battlezones. The Voth is my favorite, then undine, then kobali. There is a sort of real world combat feeling to kobali that's interesting - for example when you fix the gun turrets then storm the trenches. It flows like a realistic battle. It lacks an endgame phase tho - which could reward the ancient power cell.

I have little need for dilithium. For me the voth zone is mostly for fun and for if I want to get marks for a ground set for a boff.

I'd say if you had been in any real combat situations you wouldn't like the resemblance very much.