I'm sorry that you think the game doesn't do a good job teaching mechanics, but the fact is that the information is out there - it's freely available. Learn to be a self directed learner, instead of waiting for someone to spoon feed you the information you "need". Seriously. I can't tell you how often I run into situations where people do things like skip through the briefings for a mission, and then start the mission by saying in chat "What are we supposed to do?" (or else simply do something nonsensical until instructed otherwise), as if someone taking the time to type out a briefing for them is more efficient or effective than if the player had just read the freaking briefing in the first place.
In my opinion, the single biggest reason people fail at being effective players is the belief you are perpetuating here - that it is the responsibility of the developers (or other, more experienced players) to "force" players to learn the mechanics. Heck, the very existence of the more knowledgeable players proves that it is possible to learn how the game works if you want to - it's not like things like "run single energy types to maximize console benefits" are rocket science, and in any case, if someone has a question about how the game works, it turns out that in 1873 Sir Archibald de GoogleIt developed a process by which anyone could use the web-mo-trons to seek answers to those questions. Here's an example.
I'm also not sure what could ever possibly fit that bill beyond what the game already provides. There is a tutorial, plus when players get to things like R+D and the Spec trees there are additional tutorials to talk them through that - you may remember them as "Those missions I skipped because they take too long" and "Those popup windows with text I won't read and voice over I won't listen to". That's not Cryptic's problem - that's squarely on the shoulders of the players who won't take the time or spend the effort to learn.
Maybe 6 months ago there was a post about how op CSV was, because its cannons and does so much more damage in an arc when used with grav well, etc. Quite a few vets chimed in on it, almost all of them didn't know what CSV did, and what its limits were. That info isn't available in the game, no where does it tell you how many targets it hits, you can find it on the wiki, but that site is so wrong so much of the time you need to wonder.
You might think its not cryptics problem that random pop up windows with tutorials are happening in the middle of you doing something, but it is. People will ignore it. Just like the massive walls of text at the start of STFs, a timer is running.. do you think someone is going to read that? They are all major design problems.
Its so easy to fix, but they don't.
You could create learning missions, tech updates, whatever you want to call them for RP, that people can do when they have time, not while they are inside a mission. You could transfer all pop ups, tutorial, mission overviews into a computer system that people could read. You don't need to create a lot of info, just have it in an organized place.
Just because you lack imagination, don't blame others and say the game has everything it needs, because it most certainly does not. Using google to find outdated STO mechanics is also a bad idea, you'll wind up with a ship full of EPS consoles.
FYI, I learned the mechanics of the game, outside of the game years ago. I figured out how to exploit every broken system for myself, no need to use cookie cutter builds and designs, but exploiting the brokeness of STO is boring, its just too broken and too easy.
What game really does that? What game really tells you how it all works together?
It seems from my experience of TOR that the devs actually have certain power rotations in mind whent they designed their classes. But they aren't explained in game.
I am playing Secret World now, too, and again, it seems there is some idea behind how to combine weapons/focuses and what powers work well together. But is it really "explained"? I don't think so.
So, what games really "explain" things? I think most games just give you stats, bonuses, and let players figure it out themselves. They may have a tooltip description, but will they tell you what power play well with what other powers? What a "bread & butter" skill is (if it's not declared an "energy builder").
Yeah, Diablo 2 was really bad about this. Some parts of if were reasonably well explained, but some things were just lol worthy in how poorly documented they were.
The silliest example is the Paladin damage type resist auras. Simply putting points into them would increase your maximum resistances.(yes the game had a resist cap, guess how you found out what that cap was....) But the tooltip for the ability didn't mention it.
Another big one was enemy resistances. You never knew. Sometimes an enemy would have a marker that said "resistant" or "immune" but those weren't the ONLY enemies with resistances.
There are many examples, but the biggest, and most important one was armor and attack rating values. The game doesn't really explain the full extent of what armor class actually DOES. Which is quite important since it determines how much damage you take from physical attacks. The tool tip makes it sound less important than it is. Conversely, a high attack rating will actually increase your damage dealt to enemies, but the game doesn't actually say that.
It's kind of funny in a sad way...cause it's been going on like that forever.
Remember when games came with big ol' manuals?
Then they had inserts...and you could buy the manual from whichever entity that had partnered with them?
With MMOs...it kind of started with that buying the manual from whichever entity that had partnered with them...then transitioned over to forums, websites, and the rest, eh?
Course, Cryptic's put a bit of that "All Your Base..." spin on some of their tooltips and the rest.
Well, with D2, the manual was obsolete after the first patch. SOME gameplay aspect got changed in every major patch. Heck, when they released the expansion they completely revamped how certain powers worked so that they didn't even have a similar function to the way the were when the manual was printed.
Biggest example? Lightning mastery. Prior to LoD, it reduced the mana cost of Lightning attacks. After LoD, it increased the damage dealt by lightning attacks.
It's kind of funny in a sad way...cause it's been going on like that forever.
Remember when games came with big ol' manuals?
Then they had inserts...and you could buy the manual from whichever entity that had partnered with them?
With MMOs...it kind of started with that buying the manual from whichever entity that had partnered with them...then transitioned over to forums, websites, and the rest, eh?
Course, Cryptic's put a bit of that "All Your Base..." spin on some of their tooltips and the rest.
My favorite manual was that for T.F.X. - it not only explained the game, but also explained the basics of aerodynamics and flight. And it wasn't even that big.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
It's kind of funny in a sad way...cause it's been going on like that forever.
Remember when games came with big ol' manuals?
Then they had inserts...and you could buy the manual from whichever entity that had partnered with them?
With MMOs...it kind of started with that buying the manual from whichever entity that had partnered with them...then transitioned over to forums, websites, and the rest, eh?
Course, Cryptic's put a bit of that "All Your Base..." spin on some of their tooltips and the rest.
You are good with the math. I would trust your maths and posts here about them over anything I found in a wiki. I dunno how you find your figures but they match. So, thanks for that.
Comments
Maybe 6 months ago there was a post about how op CSV was, because its cannons and does so much more damage in an arc when used with grav well, etc. Quite a few vets chimed in on it, almost all of them didn't know what CSV did, and what its limits were. That info isn't available in the game, no where does it tell you how many targets it hits, you can find it on the wiki, but that site is so wrong so much of the time you need to wonder.
You might think its not cryptics problem that random pop up windows with tutorials are happening in the middle of you doing something, but it is. People will ignore it. Just like the massive walls of text at the start of STFs, a timer is running.. do you think someone is going to read that? They are all major design problems.
Its so easy to fix, but they don't.
You could create learning missions, tech updates, whatever you want to call them for RP, that people can do when they have time, not while they are inside a mission. You could transfer all pop ups, tutorial, mission overviews into a computer system that people could read. You don't need to create a lot of info, just have it in an organized place.
Just because you lack imagination, don't blame others and say the game has everything it needs, because it most certainly does not. Using google to find outdated STO mechanics is also a bad idea, you'll wind up with a ship full of EPS consoles.
FYI, I learned the mechanics of the game, outside of the game years ago. I figured out how to exploit every broken system for myself, no need to use cookie cutter builds and designs, but exploiting the brokeness of STO is boring, its just too broken and too easy.
Completed Starbase, Embassy, Mine, Spire and No Win Scenario
Nothing to do anymore.
http://dtfleet.com/
Visit our Youtube channel
The silliest example is the Paladin damage type resist auras. Simply putting points into them would increase your maximum resistances.(yes the game had a resist cap, guess how you found out what that cap was....) But the tooltip for the ability didn't mention it.
Another big one was enemy resistances. You never knew. Sometimes an enemy would have a marker that said "resistant" or "immune" but those weren't the ONLY enemies with resistances.
There are many examples, but the biggest, and most important one was armor and attack rating values. The game doesn't really explain the full extent of what armor class actually DOES. Which is quite important since it determines how much damage you take from physical attacks. The tool tip makes it sound less important than it is. Conversely, a high attack rating will actually increase your damage dealt to enemies, but the game doesn't actually say that.
My character Tsin'xing
Remember when games came with big ol' manuals?
Then they had inserts...and you could buy the manual from whichever entity that had partnered with them?
With MMOs...it kind of started with that buying the manual from whichever entity that had partnered with them...then transitioned over to forums, websites, and the rest, eh?
Course, Cryptic's put a bit of that "All Your Base..." spin on some of their tooltips and the rest.
Biggest example? Lightning mastery. Prior to LoD, it reduced the mana cost of Lightning attacks. After LoD, it increased the damage dealt by lightning attacks.
My character Tsin'xing
My favorite manual was that for T.F.X. - it not only explained the game, but also explained the basics of aerodynamics and flight. And it wasn't even that big.
You are good with the math. I would trust your maths and posts here about them over anything I found in a wiki. I dunno how you find your figures but they match. So, thanks for that.