PWE/Cryptic Needs New Management

stardestroyer001

Simply put. The Devs who are making decisions for the game aren't doing their job right.

I suggest whoever's up top (PWE? Cryptic?) to apply pressure to the Devs to repair the damage caused by DR, or to change the command structure.

Because let's face it PWE, this strategy isn't working. If you want us to stay, give us motivation to stay, and in addition, hold your workers accountable for their actions.

EDIT: More specifically, CaptainGeko (Al Rivera), but certainly not limited to him.

rodentmaster

You have been supremely praise-ful of Cryptic and their behaviors lately. That's no surprise. Meanwhile the vast majority of the playerbase is leaving in droves and has NO confidence whatsoever in Al's performance thus far. He has done nothing but tarnish the game several times over in rapid succession with his nonsense. The game is broken. The grind is extreme and unfulfilling.


Sadly, cryptic don't care. They cash their checks and run to the bank, never giving the actual product a second thought.

jackal1701apw

Agree. I am incredibly unhappy with the direction PWE is taking STO and I hope they don't keep on keeping on.

lan451

Agreed. I'm not pleased with how things are going lately.

omegasprime

I am not happy either.

priestofsin420

rodentmaster wrote: »

You have been supremely praise-ful of Cryptic and their behaviors lately. That's no surprise. Meanwhile the vast majority of the playerbase is leaving in droves and has NO confidence whatsoever in Al's performance thus far. He has done nothing but tarnish the game several times over in rapid succession with his nonsense. The game is broken. The grind is extreme and unfulfilling.


Sadly, cryptic don't care. They cash their checks and run to the bank, never giving the actual product a second thought.

Correction: The vast majority of the whiny minority on the forums likes to make stupid signatures to show their distaste for a game, while the ones who are really displeased with the game just leave without any indication that they've done so.

I also enjoyed Delta Rising and look forward to the next season.

iconians

I am not pleased with many facets of Delta Rising. But I have more good things to say about STO than bad, and Geko and many other devs who I have differences of opinions with are behind some of those good things I have to say about the game.

Therefore, I disagree with OP.

crusader2007

stardestroyer001 wrote: »

Simply put. The Devs who are making decisions for the game aren't doing their job right.

I suggest whoever's up top (PWE? Cryptic?) to apply pressure to the Devs to repair the damage caused by DR, or to change the command structure.

That would be MR. EP (executive producer) D'Angelo. Former EP D'Stahl used to be a more communicative with the playerbase. Just hope the new EP would at least say something about the biggest NERFDOOM these days or explain his case.

aoax10

Come to the popular crowds of private channels and discover just how many players are unhappy while ques are left dead in the water.

rodentmaster

aoax10 wrote: »

Come to the popular crowds of private channels and discover just how many players are unhappy while ques are left dead in the water.

What do you mean? The private matches are harder to set up than ever, and full of more newbies than ever, as the PUGers get tired of empty queues and try to join the match-making channels.

It's hard to fill a single STF now, as compared to pre-DR when you saw 6-12 running at any given moment.

eltatus

I agree with OP, this game needs a change on managment ASAP.

fudgemonk

alaric63 wrote: »

Change is not easy for some people to deal with. Some players need the familiar to feel comfortable. In time the players will conquer thier fears and the new shape of things will feel normal. Give them time.

"An on-going challenge" is what most people "Say" they want, but really what they want is access, and in STO's case easy access, to the games' best gear/items. Complacency and a long established dominance over the PvE content in STO have made this player-base expect to gain everything right away, and with no adaptation to the current status of the game.

I believe the Dev's should stay the course. This expansion has been active for something like 2 months? Why does everyone expect to dominate already? If they revert to the way it was, the same people calling for the changes will be hollering for more content.

Rise to the Challenge.

I do not expect to get everything handed to me but I do expect to be able to get the stuff I need.... Which I am not atm. Get off ur high horse man, it's not looking good.

darkhorse281

rodentmaster wrote: »

The game is broken. The grind is extreme and unfulfilling.


Sadly, cryptic don't care. They cash their checks and run to the bank, never giving the actual product a second thought.

Instead of fixing bugs they look for the parts of the game people like and play then they break those area's. Its bad when the forum is more interesting than the game, and YES the people in charge of this fiasco needs to be fired.

sekritagent

I definitely think a new DIRECTION for STO is needed, if not new personnel making design decisions.

• Bring Fun(tm) back to the top of the game design priorities...let players choose their own adventure instead of engineering methods to get us to play the way metrics targets dictate
• Reduce the suffocating focus on systems, numerics, and engineered playtime and mechanics
• Design according to the users - most people run multiple characters and multiple ships
• Default to expand horizontally (missions, sectors, NPCs, events), not vertically (xp changes, PC levels)
• Remove Elite difficulty for most PvE events - it's confusing, spreads the queues too thin, and was applied too broadly and should only apply to a few events like Battle of Korfez offered in a single difficulty setting for big rewards
• Upgrade system costs are just too high - again most people have multiple toons and multiple ships but people will only pay when they know they won't go bankrupt trying
• Be much more respectful toward the player community (Al, I'm talking to you. On behalf of the playerbase, we're officially sick of your ****.)
• Bidirectional feedback is critical. Looking at the numbers is a valid way to see what's going on but when you withdraw from the community and don't join in any discussions, constructive or otherwise, you seem out of touch and further alienate us.

crusader2007

alaric63 wrote: »

Change is not easy for some people to deal with. Some players need the familiar to feel comfortable. In time the players will conquer thier fears and the new shape of things will feel normal. Give them time.

"An on-going challenge" is what most people "Say" they want, but really what they want is access, and in STO's easy access, to the games' best gear/items. Complacency and a long established dominance over the PvE content in STO have made this player-base expect to gain everything right away, and with no adaptation to the current status of the game.

I believe the Dev's should stay the course. This expansion has been active for something like 2 months? Why does everyone to dominate already? If they revert to the way it was, the same people calling for the changes will be hollering for more content.

Rise to the Challenge.

Yeah...stay the course like and keep on using the NERF bat like hitting an old BATTERED dead horse. MMOs have grinds and thats no problem...problem is extreme grind till your eyes and urethra bleed blood. Nerfing the game to around 70% of what it used to be is NOT a challenge but abusive and just darned FOOLISH from their part.

vestereng

Rise to the challenge? How about the developers rise to the challenge of creating new content.

Don't get things twisted now, Delta Rising is all about a continuation of the content drought - hence why they want to stall you with them 800 patrol missions per character

The only difference is if you desperate enough to keep playing.

When you get thirsty enough you going to drink your own you-know-what and that is exactly what you developer apologists whales are doing

But yeah I love the direction too, I just want to watch them all drown in their own stupidity at this point so I can laugh at them - is my gameplay from here on out

ddesjardins

The aggregate changes to various elements within the game has had a negative impact on the number of players here actually in the game. It's simply not possible to say the queues are empty because people are leveling, or doing the new content. To many other factors - the drop in exchange sales, the fleets which have become ghost towns, or the formerly hyper-active chat channels where you can't even raise an ISA.

According to three sources so far, it's also the most profitable in the games history, eclipsing even the original launch.

And the whole situation has become a meme.

Cryptic has started to listen. They lowered the R&D costs substantially for materials, but left the dil costs high. But I wonder if it's too little too late.

questerius

I think STO needs a new player base because the current one is becoming ever more stale, boring and repetitive.
Seriously, people need to stop whining like spoiled little girls.

As for STO: there is room for improvement, but isn't there always?

Considering the new content and new options which have been added (specialization and upgrades) in addition to the new difficulty levels the development team has provided more than sufficient content to prevent the player base from boredom.

gulberat

I am not sure what level the pressure to make these wrongheaded decisions is coming from, but I would add that not only is this sort of thing a great way to run off players, it's also a wonderful way to run off devs who do care about the quality of their work and what their name is associated with. I think STO still has some of those (at the very least on the art team), and in many cases when the customers are pissed, so are the line employees who end up in the direct line of fire due to management's bad decisions and/or are not given proper tools and permissions to do their job to their own expectations.

I would especially add that high-talent, highly driven individuals who take a lot of pride in their work--and have very high expectations of themselves--are among the most likely to get fed up and leave if they feel they are being held back, micromanaged, or outright being told to do things that they know very well are incorrect or even damaging. Add to that that their talent makes them more marketable, then such individuals will often jump ship before they are tied too closely to a failing company or brand and have to fear being considered damaged goods through no fault of their own.

I can't speak to anything but public statements that we see from various devs, but I can speak on general principle and say that continuing down a self-destructive path for any company puts them at risk of a "talent drain" that only hastens the fall. I hope upper management (whichever level is actually responsible for these decisions) will keep that in mind--if considering the players isn't enough, there is darned well enough of a case to be made that compromising employee satisfaction and *especially* pissing off high-value talent and/or putting them in the firing line to take tv lowball that belongs to management is a bad idea as these are often THE most intolerant people of such antics.

gulberat

I agree PWE is likely at the center of it too. What I don't feel I can speak to accurately is whether D'Angelo and Geko are actually on board with it all the way or if one or both of them are also getting railroaded by PWE like the devs beneath them are.

stardestroyer001

alaric63 wrote: »

I leveled easily by following the Episodic Missions and using the Open Missions on Kobali Prime. You force yourself to patrol one System, because it's the easiest/fastest way to level, then you complain that they force you to grind. Who did that? You did that.

The Grind is self enforced. You can do all of the things you used to do, but Steam Roll. I guess that is what made the game for those with your opnion. Easy is fun?

My absolute best advice, and it serves outside of the gamming world, is to: Rise to the Challenge.

My post isn't limited to grinding. The game is frakked on several fronts.

Applying doctri- I mean, "Rise to the Challenge" to all facets is meaningless. There's a difference between working hard to adapt, and a game mechanic, or mechanics, that are simply broken.

Leveling, gearing, and PvP readying more than one character (aka, fully gearing them out, with all spec points, top notch gear and etc) is no longer possible. It's similar to climbing a mountain with no oxygen gear. You will fail.

I still insist that the problem lies with management, and by extension, the devs should be held accountable.

darkhorse281

alaric63 wrote: »

I leveled easily by following the Episodic Missions and using the Open Missions on Kobali Prime. You force yourself to patrol one System, because it's the easiest/fastest way to level, then you complain that they force you to grind. Who did that? You did that.

The Grind is self enforced. You can do all of the things you used to do, but Steam Roll. I guess that is what made the game for those with your opnion. Easy is fun?

My absolute best advice, and it serves outside of the gamming world, is to: Rise to the Challenge.

Kobali prime is one of the least fulfilling parts of the game why would I want to spend any time more their than I already have? Not to mention how buggy it still is what a ghost town that **** hole has become.

cptndata1

My signature isn't whining, it's 50% seriousness, 50% sarcasm. DR has it's high points, just as it has lows. Nothing is perfect. But, is the game in mass exodus? Nope, just ppl whining on the forums, I haven't seen anything negative about DR in my fleet's cross fleet chat for about 2 weeks, everyones setting up matches, chilling with each other, and having fun. Oh and yeah we have 28 fleets in the same channel, last I checked about 350 players were online in the channel

rodentmaster

Alaric, you sir are a fanboi to no end, and a tool.

Nothing you have typed even remotely reflects the problems of the issue at hand, nor is related commentary on how to overcome it. In short, take your own advice and rise to the challenge of applying your actual brain cells.

shpoks

Like the first time arround when he was here, D'Angelo needs to go from the EP position. This is only my opinion, but I feel the man lacks sense, vision and inspiration to lead STO into the future, especially with all the space sci-fi games comming out in the near future which will probably cause competition. His first era on the helm of STO was a trainwreck, this second one may just drive the game to the ground if the current direction continues.
I'm not saying fire him or anything, just that he shouldn't have the lead.

I also second the motion for Positron.

stardestroyer001

shpoks wrote: »

Like the first time arround when he was here, D'Angelo needs to go from the EP position. This is only my opinion, but I feel the man lacks sense, vision and inspiration to lead STO into the future, especially with all the space sci-fi games comming out in the near future which will probably cause competition. His first era on the helm of STO was a trainwreck, this second one may just drive the game to the ground if the current direction continues.
I'm not saying fire him or anything, just that he shouldn't have the lead.

I also second the motion for Positron.

I find it extremely interesting (and not in a good way) that D'Angelo was reinstalled as Exec Producer, despite the absymal track record he left on the game last time. Does management not learn from their mistakes?

mustrumridcully0

crusader2007 wrote: »

That would be MR. EP (executive producer) D'Angelo. Former EP D'Stahl used to be a more communicative with the playerbase. Just hope the new EP would at least say something about the biggest NERFDOOM these days or explain his case.

And you're certain that dstahl was any better? It seemed to me he was just more of a sweet talker, who had lofty ideas, many of which would never bear fruit.

gulberat

Hypothetical question since when I joined, Stahl was at the helm. How much power does D'Angelo have? Could he make his own decisions or was he the fall guy? I have the same question when it comes to Geko. I don't agree with what either of them has done but there is a lot of boardroom politics I can't see.

lazarus51166

Correction: The vast majority of the whiny minority on the forums likes to make stupid signatures to show their distaste for a game, while the ones who are really displeased with the game just leave without any indication that they've done so.

There is no minority here. That is a belittling accusation with no basis in reality. You know why there are so many people making those signatures? Because the DR was a disaster and then they tried to tell us everything was just fine. That is a major red flag and its also quite ignorant and belittling on the part of the company.

and no, people do not 'just leave' and say nothing. You are using circular logic

Change is not easy for some people to deal with. Some players need the familiar to feel comfortable. In time the players will conquer thier fears and the new shape of things will feel normal. Give them time.

LOL in other words ignore reality and blame the players

I believe the Dev's should stay the course. This expansion has been active for something like 2 months? Why does everyone expect to dominate already? If they revert to the way it was, the same people calling for the changes will be hollering for more content.

Dominate? Who said anything about dominating anything? Take a good look around. People are getting more and more fed up with this kind of nonsense, let alone having staff shove absurd claims down their throat of everything being ok.

I think STO needs a new player base because the current one is becoming ever more stale, boring and repetitive.
Seriously, people need to stop whining like spoiled little girls.

A new player base? Good, you can start by taking your own advice and leaving. Nobody wants nor deserves your ignorant belittling comments

Nope, just ppl whining on the forums, I haven't seen anything negative about DR in my fleet's cross fleet chat for about 2 weeks, everyones setting up matches, chilling with each other, and having fun. Oh and yeah we have 28 fleets in the same channel, last I checked about 350 players were online in the channel

Nobody is whining on the forums. That is an offensive statement. Basing anything on the actions of a single small fleet means nothing

I leveled easily by following the Episodic Missions and using the Open Missions on Kobali Prime.

No you didn't. DR was designed to prevent just that kind of thing from occuring

You force yourself to patrol one System, because it's the easiest/fastest way to level, then you complain that they force you to grind. Who did that? You did that.

No, the devs did that. He did not design nor program any part of the game. Period

The Grind is self enforced. You can do all of the things you used to do, but Steam Roll. I guess that is what made the game for those with your opnion.

The grind is not self enforced, its a fundamental design decision thats been pushed into the game for the last several years. If you can't see that you are either delusional or lying. Take your belittling bs elsewhere

shpoks

mustrumridcully0 wrote: »

And you're certain that dstahl was any better? It seemed to me he was just more of a sweet talker, who had lofty ideas, many of which would never bear fruit.

Stahl was far from perfect and Kahless knows I disagreed with him a lot of time. But compared to D'Angelo, he's a Santa Claus. Almost every decision since he (D'Angelo) became EP of STO has been abysimal in my book and the few small good ones are nowhere near enough to cover for all the bad ones.

hausofmartok

sekritagent wrote: »

I definitely think a new DIRECTION for STO is needed, if not new personnel making design decisions.

Bring Fun(tm) back to the top of the game design priorities...let players choose their own adventure instead of engineering methods to get us to play the way metrics targets dictate
[*]Reduce the suffocating focus on systems, numerics, and engineered playtime and mechanics
[*]Design according to the users - most people run multiple characters and multiple ships
[*]Default to expand horizontally (missions, sectors, NPCs, events), not vertically (xp changes, PC levels)
[*]Remove Elite difficulty for most PvE events - it's confusing, spreads the queues too thin, and was applied too broadly and should only apply to a few events like Battle of Korfez offered in a single difficulty setting for big rewards
[*]Upgrade system costs are just too high - again most people have multiple toons and multiple ships but people will only pay when they know they won't go bankrupt trying
[*]Be much more respectful toward the player community (Al, I'm talking to you. On behalf of the playerbase, we're officially sick of your ****.)
[*]Bidirectional feedback is critical. Looking at the numbers is a valid way to see what's going on but when you withdraw from the community and don't join in any discussions, constructive or otherwise, you seem out of touch and further alienate us.
[/LIST]

Bring Fun(tm) back to the top of the game design priorities...let players choose their own adventure instead of engineering methods to get us to play the way metrics targets dictate
Fun is subjective.
Reduce the suffocating focus on systems, numerics, and engineered playtime and mechanics
What seems suffocating for some is new and interesting for others
Design according to the users - most people run multiple characters and multiple ships
They've done that. That's why we have rep tokens and easy unlocks for event ships on alts, account bound lobi, account bound dil mining claims. What else could you guys want FFS. Account bound everything? How stupid can you be? Honestly.
Default to expand horizontally (missions, sectors, NPCs, events), not vertically (xp changes, PC levels)
People want vertical progression. This game needs it after not having it forever.
Remove Elite difficulty for most PvE events - it's confusing, spreads the queues too thin, and was applied too broadly and should only apply to a few events like Battle of Korfez offered in a single difficulty setting for big rewards
Someone who used to steamroll Elites in five minutes for quick dil is now butt hurt so we should remove all challenge from the game so they can have their easy rewards while thinking they are still leet players lol
Upgrade system costs are just too high - again most people have multiple toons and multiple ships but people will only pay when they know they won't go bankrupt trying
Did you read the last patch? My fleet mate made me 38 Superior upgrades for next to nothing. Costs are too low now if anything.
Be much more respectful toward the player community (Al, I'm talking to you. On behalf of the playerbase, we're officially sick of your ****.)
Al is not a likeable guy, there's nothing that will change that other than replacing him which is the only thing I agree with in this thread. He needs to resign or be re-assigned
Bidirectional feedback is critical. Looking at the numbers is a valid way to see what's going on but when you withdraw from the community and don't join in any discussions, constructive or otherwise, you seem out of touch and further alienate us.
IMO this game would be better off if the Dev had a better idea of what they wanted to do with the game and completely or almost completely ignored the players on the forums. The forums are full of a bunch of nit picky nerd ragers. They ran a poll and players said they wanted to go Voyager with the game and here we are. Voyager sucks.