Just to quickly say, there have been many people leaving this game, long term players too, both in my fleet and my friends list.
a few of them left due to the lack of customer services. others because they got sick of the game in general.
i was going to delete my account a few months ago, but i have a fleet to look after.
i am an optimistic person forever hopeing for the best, iv even stopped a few people leaving.
but i am wearing thin now, i find this game no longer enjoyable, but exhausting
IMO...there are more players who actually LEFT STO than are logging in.
Counting alternates and the 100's of people my fleets kicked out for inactivity since DR as opposed to the ones playing right now. Even if one doesnt want to believe Steam chart numbers...talk to any HONEST fleet leader and one would see those leaving/inactives far outweight those currently playing...people will believe whatever they want to but hard to argue with some numbers.
The tone deafness to what Smirk only recently called "the pulse of the playerbase" :rolleyes: is astounding.
Delta Rising has some great content to be sure, and 2014 definitely brought us some good stuff...
But there's a lot more that is deeply unpopular and these guys clearly don't give a damn.
The problem here is that we keep voting FOR all of this TRIBBLE with our wallets. STOP picking up every new shiny that comes along in the Z-Store and Lobi Store. STOP grinding your toons into oblivion, killing mindless mobs with more hp for fewer rewards.
As long as you don't STOP, you allow TRIBBLE like this to continue and be published as a success (with a smile), letting the likes of D'Angelo and Rivera make a damn fool out of you.
Exactly. I stopped donating pretty much because of the changes and the next skill revamp is going to be yet another money grab. Nope not giving them anymore time or money until they fix these problems.
That game is the most popular subscription-based MMO on the market. While they have been more transparent, they are really the exception to the rule. When you remain enthroned amongst the most popular MMOs on the market, you can afford to be transparent.
It doesn't mean game companies who do not do that are necessarily unhealthy financially, or trying to hide anything. It is really just a testament to the longevity and popularity of WoW.
I was unable to find EverQuest player numbers released by SoE.
They don't release those numbers either, from what I can tell.
They base their data off of registered users, and that is the data they release. From what I can tell, that is a questionable method of data gathering.
It seems that EQ and DCUO have gone away from that practice now as I can't find them either. Turbine's trend has been such that I quit trying to understand and play that game. But like I said earlier, they used to release this data back when I looked at such things for those games.
As for WOW, what has made them the most popular MMO around? They way they are transparent is part of that success. They have never hidden the numbers on any of thier games, as far as I can tell. Even thier new ventures are being reported from open Beta and on. WOW has other factors that has kept where they are, and most of these things I don't find happening in STO. I think that if STO started with treating it's playerbase in some simular fashion as Blizzard does with thier playerbase, then things can get a lot better around here.
(I also think that if they the three classes have a real roles and mechanics to make them necessary for queues would be a big leap in the right direction. And the current DPS race we have now.)
You also asked me to show you a company that did release data both positive and negative. And that I have done.
IMO...there are more players who actually LEFT STO than are logging in.
Counting alternates and the 100's of people my fleets kicked out for inactivity since DR as opposed to the ones playing right now. Even if one doesnt want to believe Steam chart numbers...talk to any HONEST fleet leader and one would see those leaving/inactives far outweight those currently playing...people will believe whatever they want to but hard to argue with some numbers.
I never understand why people quote these numbers to show decline. It's a very consistent 1700 avg when there is no special event.
My prediction is that after the anniversary these will fall below 1000. Then we will see if the game tries to change to survive or tries to cash out.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
It's funny, but for a game that is supposedly "ailing", every time I log in I see business as usual. The busiest sectors and hubs are still bustling. And I always see a few ships in the quieter sectors.
I don't have the hard numbers, since I'm not a Cryptic employee. But it seems to me the game is still chugging along.
While I'll give them credit for "STO is growing", healthy is a COMPLETELY different matter!
Bugs, broken systems, endless grind to player dissatisfaction... Hardly signs of a healthy MMO.
Actually, PerfectWorld is about to become a privatized company. After one of the executives buys out the company, PerfectWorld may be merged with Shanda. According to a recent report, PerfectWorld's stocks are falling due to possible accounting irregularities. Many Chinese based companies have been forced out of the NYSE, for they have been caught 'cooking the books'.
The privatization plan from Perfect World is part of a broader clean-up over the last 2 years that removed many underperforming Chinese companies from New York. The clean-up began 4 years ago when a series of companies were forced to de-list due to accounting irregularities and other listing rule violations. After that, a group of companies like Perfect World voluntarily began to privatize after their growth prospects dimmed due to stiff competition, causing investors to lose interest.
I don't know if I would categorize anyone's press release propaganda as "lying," since it's pretty commonly known that you can't take it as fact, like EVER.
It's funny, but for a game that is supposedly "ailing", every time I log in I see business as usual. The busiest sectors and hubs are still bustling. And I always see a few ships in the quieter sectors.
I don't have the hard numbers, since I'm not a Cryptic employee. But it seems to me the game is still chugging along.
Because you are fooled by the instance system? Where once there were 40 instances of a zone, now there are 5-10, we can pretend they are all running patrols.. but we know its not true.
You are hard pressed to find more than one instance of many zones now too, which was unheard of before.
For people who don't understand the steam charts, its easiest to see when you switch to ALL, picking points recently you will find there hasn't been a period of this low log ins in the history (2.5ish years)
For a game that is growing, it seems not to be
All Dental/NOP forums posters are Nabreeki alts as well, so make that seven. Additionally, anyone who at any time agrees with a Dental/NOP post is also potentially an alt of mine.
I believe it was The Cat that said:
"So if he's you and you're him, and he's him and he's him. Am I still me!? If not, whose eating this chicken? What the hell is goin' on!?"
I wish people wouldn't drag alts into arguments. It's pretty pointless. Considering how black and white every argument is around here there's a good chance other people would agree with whatever opinion you have. No need to drag clones into it.
Actually, PerfectWorld is about to become a privatized company. After one of the executives buys out the company, PerfectWorld may be merged with Shanda. According to a recent report, PerfectWorld's stocks are falling due to possible accounting irregularities. Many Chinese based companies have been forced out of the NYSE, for they have been caught 'cooking the books'.
Star Trek Online is one of many titles in the PWE portfolio. When it comes to discussing any of the titles and the performance of PWE on the market, It seems it is also never mentioned in any manner, not cited for being good or bad for the company.
What is cited is stuff like "success on Chinese market" or "Success on the Mobile Gaming Market" and stuff like that. All which have nothing to do with Star Trek Online. Star Trek Online can be performing badly or well, it's not what the investors are looking a - Whether that is rational or not, but hey, the stock market is often irrational.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
But I think people that spend money to get Zen or Dilithium or even invest time on helping cancer cells grow despite their better knowledge should lose the right to complain about cancer. Especially on the official Cancer forums.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Might be growing, but are these new players staying? I've convinced a few people to try out the game recently, they all got to around the 40s and quit playing, one friend told me that the game was too complicated and seemed like an endless expensive grindfest. They all put in $0 into the game, growth doesn't always equal out to health.
ill probably regret even making a statement in here because it appears to me that if your not a reg forum poster or in the "elite" group of self proclaimed reps of playerbase, then your wrong and have no business being in here. But i have a question, why is it that every time there is a debate about the stability of the game or discussion about its success, the number one response seems to be the ques are empty.
Isn't there other things to do in the game? Wasn't that what everyone originally asked for? The way i see it the ques are empty because they are harder to do and if u want to get the optionals and rewards then its best to go in with a ready team. therefore you wont show in the ques. A ques are waiting line, as a five man team going into a 5 man team mission u dont have to wait in line.
And yes i am new to the game only being playing since July and i love it and i enjoy it sorry if that's offensive to anyone.
Is the game growing? Yes, it is. It's growing more and more tedious.
Is the game healthy? Yes, it is. At least compared to Champions Online.
I saw the writing on the wall back with the crafting update. It became much clearer after hearing about the T6 ships from the Las Vegas convention. It ran me over like a Mack truck going 100 MPH in a school zone when Delta Rising hit Holodeck. Since then, it's been backing up and running me over again ever few days, just for kicks apparently.
Now Cryptic will be revamping the Bridge Officer training system to make it more of a cash grab. I hear that big rig backing up again, but at this point, I can't feel anything anymore.
Except apathy.
I want the game to grow and be healthy. I want the game around for years to come.
However, seeing the direction the game has taken in 2014, I do not see a bright future ahead for the game. Cryptic and Perfect world may be making more money here lately, but I don't see that lasting for much longer.
The actual STORY behind Delta Rising was good, some of the best writing in the game. Unfortunately, the leveling progression from 50-60 is so poorly done and mishandled that, in my opinion, players have to spend so much time AWAY from the DR content in order to level to be ABLE to continue the DR content, that it simply breaks things up too much and they lose interest.
I got my first character from lvl 54-60 playing the DR content, and even starting it so late I had to grind to get to the next level in order to continue the story. By the time I hit 60, which was not even in the DR content, I'd pretty much decided that any future characters I take from 50-60 would not bother with the DR content, simply because there is not enough of it to level from 50-60. Being forced to run filler content to continue leveling between missions is just not FUN.
So congrats to Cryptic on making a load of money and for getting a lot of praise for the story content you released with Delta Rising.
As for the rest of it, meh.
Hello. My name is iamynaught and I am an altaholic.
ill probably regret even making a statement in here because it appears to me that if your not a reg forum poster or in the "elite" group of self proclaimed reps of playerbase, then your wrong and have no business being in here. But i have a question, why is it that every time there is a debate about the stability of the game or discussion about its success, the number one response seems to be the ques are empty.
Isn't there other things to do in the game? Wasn't that what everyone originally asked for? The way i see it the ques are empty because they are harder to do and if u want to get the optionals and rewards then its best to go in with a ready team. therefore you wont show in the ques. A ques are waiting line, as a five man team going into a 5 man team mission u dont have to wait in line.
And yes i am new to the game only being playing since July and i love it and i enjoy it sorry if that's offensive to anyone.
Not offended. Happy you are having fun.
While people wanted more to do, people also didn't want to loose what they were doing too.
As for the queues, Cryptic made them important by making them the primary source for purple mats in the game. For crafters, the new way to play, this means you have to have active and successful queues to get them. Current stat is that unless you are in a massive and active fleet, your are SOL for getting into a lot of the queues because there is not visibly reported activity in those queues. And if you are a casual/solo player your options get even smaller. I am in that last catagory.
Before DR, I knew that when I logged in, I would be able to join any queue and run it during my available playtime. I also knew that more often than not, the PUG group would complete the Elite STF and get our reward. This allowed me to play as I wanted to at any time. And differently from Alt to Alt. Since DR, the NPC have had the HP Bags inflated to be beyond what players can hope to achieve, failure option put that can make one player kill it for all, and dil requirements to get the gear to be an effective PUGer for Advance to have increased. All in all, it has meant that my limited playtime actually is a detriment to me participating in any queues, because I don't have the time to upgrade the gear, grind the dil needed, and find players willing to take on the challange of probably losing in an advanced STF once an hour(or night as is my case) to figure out how to beat the scenario. especially when they have created ways for people to pay money to bypass these roadblocks. Which leaves the people with the means to pay standing in the dust wondering why they even try anymore.
I don't have the luxury of creating five man teams, my fleet is not online when I am. And because I play in a limited fashion, it takes me days and weeks to upgrade gear to XIV VR. I am fine with slow progress. But I am unhappy that I can not progress in crafting because the mats are tucked behind a paywall or dead queue.
The was enjoyable, playable, and possible to progress in as a solo player before they brought out DR and nerfed the experiance for the casual/solo player. Now I just make runs at CC Advanced to collect what I can because it's the only reliably active queue when I log on. Rare occasions I get something else. But that's way to far between events to make me happy.
This why people point to the queues, they were a very active thing prior to DR. But they died almost immediately afterwards because the rewards didn't match the pain of the experiance afterwards.
All MMOS have grind. It takes about 2 min to finish Argala Normal with approx 10-15k xp. So if I convert your number of posts from 5 mins per post of 904 total posts that would equate to 226 level of specializations. It seems to me you prefer to grind in the forums than grind in game.
First, there is grind, and then there is overgrind; STO went from grind to overgrind.
Second, it doesn't take 5 mins to post.
Third, posting on forums =/= repeating the same mission for an eternity.
First, there is grind, and then there is overgrind; STO went from grind to overgrind.
Second, it doesn't take 5 mins to post.
Third, posting on forums =/= repeating the same mission for an eternity.
why is it that every time there is a debate about the stability of the game or discussion about its success, the number one response seems to be the ques are empty.
Isn't there other things to do in the game? Wasn't that what everyone originally asked for? The way i see it the ques are empty because they are harder to do and if u want to get the optionals and rewards then its best to go in with a ready team. therefore you wont show in the ques. A ques are waiting line, as a five man team going into a 5 man team mission u dont have to wait in line.
And yes i am new to the game only being playing since July and i love it and i enjoy it sorry if that's offensive to anyone.
The queues are an indicator of how many active players are ingame and signing up to play. While it's hardly a comprehensive measurement, it's the most readily available one. Players from half a year back can notice that queues are now not popping as often as they did back then, and some queues can't even take off anymore.
There are other things to do in the game, such as leveling, crafting, PvP, Foundry, socializing, etc. But a lot of the activities that were so popular in previous years no longer hold appeal or don't have sufficient interest. PvP is broken because of DR (not gonna sugar coat that. Intel powers frakked up PvP big-time). Foundry is in worse shape than two years ago. Drozana is but an empty shell of its former, pre-renovation self. And players are leaving by the droves because endless grinds and dil sinks don't appeal to them anymore.
There are private queues, but again, they suffer the same fate as the rest of the game. Appeal is dwindling, and players are leaving.
stardestroyer001, Admiral, Explorers Fury PvE/PvP Fleet | Retired PvP Player
Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9 My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
And yes i am new to the game only being playing since July and i love it and i enjoy it sorry if that's offensive to anyone.
It's not offensive, but it does illustrate a good point.
Much of the grief around DR is coming from long-term players, and is rooted in dislocated expectations. I am, or have been, one of those individuals. The nub of the issue is that we'd got used to occupying a particular place in terms of STO's "pecking order" - in terms of how maxxed-out our characters were - which has now been thrown into utter turmoil because of the skyrocketing level / gear / specialisation caps.
What is ironic is how much of this is down to how easy some stuff had got. It took me 6 months to get my first character to L50 (in early 2011) because I was trying everything out along the way. My next took 3 months. It wasn't until August 2012 that my initial, "token fed" got brought up to being a geared L50. On that basis, the fact that it will take me 6 months to clear the initial specialisation system should not be an issue - but I'd got used to a game environment in which I could get two alts from zero to max-geared L50 in a month each .
For a relative newcomer such as yourself, this is not an issue - it's just how the game is. A good sanity check for the old hands, I think...
It's not offensive, but it does illustrate a good point.
Much of the grief around DR is coming from long-term players, and is rooted in dislocated expectations. I am, or have been, one of those individuals. The nub of the issue is that we'd got used to occupying a particular place in terms of STO's "pecking order" - in terms of how maxxed-out our characters were - which has now been thrown into utter turmoil because of the skyrocketing level / gear / specialisation caps.
Nah I dunno, it might just mean he hasn't even experienced the full impact of DR yet ...
... dunno if he is LvL 60 yet ... but the biggest DR "Fans" seem to be people, which are still Level 52-54 telling others that XP & Leveling is just fine ... which is quite ironic ...
PS : Tried another Toon after DR, had fun till LvL ~55 (after that you're basically playing a different game)
Isn't there other things to do in the game?Wasn't that what everyone originally asked for?
Once you've done all Story Content ~1-3 Times ... nope, not really ... of course there is repeating Patrols now, but imho you'll get bored pretty fast repeating them ...
The only "other" Stuff would be :
- Foundry (granted that's probably still my Nr.1, but good Missions are not in endless supply)
- Doffing (can be fun, but basically Farmville in Space)
- Crafting (see above)
- Events (from time to time)
-> PVE Queues were the thing that kept this game going (at least for me) ... I'm not doing endless Patrols instead, so now I'll have to wait for the next Story Content (aka "see you in ~6months") ... if there is anything else to do, please tell me ...
And no, since the Forum - people are a "minority", it can't be what "everybody" asked for ... even if it would've been the only thing in the Forums pre-DR ... and I don't think it was ...
It's pretty funny sometimes : If you're an "evil Forum-Whiner" you're a minority (everyone else is in-game having fun etc), but if you whine about PVE Queues you're suddenly "everybody & asked for it" (sounds like a majority, to me) -> It can't be both ...
Patch Notes : Resolved an Issue, where people would accidently experience Fun.
Nah I dunno, it might just mean he hasn't even experienced the full impact of DR yet ...
... dunno if he is LvL 60 yet ... but the biggest DR "Fans" seem to be people which are still Level 52-54 telling others that XP & Leveling is just fine ... which is quite ironic ...
PS : Tried another Toon after DR, had fun till LvL ~55
I noticed that before. People were coming on here, saying leveling was awesome and they could do it just from Doffing. Then when they revealed they were level 52 or in one case, not even level 50 yet, they were laughed at and they went away.
If anything having materials in the queues is an argument to kill the queues - so you don't give anything away for free.
Empty queues are not the problem you think they are.
We don't have to have 1 single person in the queues...
Displacement of progression takes place all the time and so all it comes down to is, are the whales willing to do 800 patrol missions for the voyager story arc?
Yes they are, well then it's as simple as mass production of passive specialization points with no animations (no work), and then turn the grinding volume up to extreme.
From their perspective it's also a nice way to motivate you to finally play their story missions - over and over and over forever.
The patrol missions are actually the best content ever and the players love it, from a certain perspective.
But so there isn't any reason why all progression from now on can't be patrol grinding for spec points.
From their perspective nothing has ever been even remotely as profitable as DR, why not duplicate it
/edit
ps. the thing being we only need the non-whales on the server in so far as the whales need them.
Whales playing single player patrol grinding now queues are not needed, neither is the players
Actually, PerfectWorld is about to become a privatized company. After one of the executives buys out the company, PerfectWorld may be merged with Shanda. According to a recent report, PerfectWorld's stocks are falling due to possible accounting irregularities. Many Chinese based companies have been forced out of the NYSE, for they have been caught 'cooking the books'.
I could be way off on this but here's my suspicion behind:
- The accounting irregularities (Also keep in mind that Chinese accounting standards are different, making accidents in conversion possible)
- The voluntary de-listing
- Chinese companies in some cases re-listing on Chinese exchanges
- Complaints from Chinese companies about being undervalued, which seem to precipate some of the accounting irregularities, re-listing on Chinese exchanges, and stock buybacks
Okay. You ready?
On the U.S. exchanges, investors expect companies to beat targets. If you don't outperform targets, you get dumped. Additionally, investors tend to get very managerially hands on and tend to see themselves to some extent as "experts in all industries" and will threaten to manipulate your stock price down if you don't do what they want. (In PWE's case, I think investors wanted them to ditch PC and go mobile, despite PWE being fairly good at PC gaming development and fairly weak at mobile.)
From the Chinese perspective, I think, company targets should a maximum, not a minimum. An earnings target is a goal to strive for and not something you're comfortable setting with the intent of surpassing. The target is "absolute best case" as far as you can imagine. You expect to fall short and don't expect for that to negatively influence stock price. Also, distance to power and cultural respect for expertise probably means that you don't expect investors to dictate company strategy as overtly and you expect them to hold stock longer.
And I SUSPECT (this is more a sociological guesstimate) that some of what you see in the U.S. and Chinese economies does boil down to stockholder behavior.
Short term investors who dictate strategy in the U.S.:
- Force certain types of innovation, creating value. Companies have to act fast and only the sharpest survive.
- Overlook niche strategies and long term value, destroying value by tanking stocks unfairly.
- The frequency of trade may result in a more powerful economy but the trading fees tend to eat up a lot of the efficiency there, meaning we have a powerful economy but much of that power is increasingly funneled away from both investors and companies listed on the market, towards brokers and consultants.
The U.S. stock market turns stock about 20% more frequently than the Chinese market does.
Comments
Well, with all the alts, it be difficult to know, right?
I can at least confirm that I am not anazonda. Anazonda and I had a bet going and I won, and we made the exchange of 5,000,000 EC.
Unless it was schizophrenia again...
Man, that's just like the GUTs and all forces becoming one force at high energies...
IMO...there are more players who actually LEFT STO than are logging in.
Counting alternates and the 100's of people my fleets kicked out for inactivity since DR as opposed to the ones playing right now. Even if one doesnt want to believe Steam chart numbers...talk to any HONEST fleet leader and one would see those leaving/inactives far outweight those currently playing...people will believe whatever they want to but hard to argue with some numbers.
Exactly. I stopped donating pretty much because of the changes and the next skill revamp is going to be yet another money grab. Nope not giving them anymore time or money until they fix these problems.
It seems that EQ and DCUO have gone away from that practice now as I can't find them either. Turbine's trend has been such that I quit trying to understand and play that game. But like I said earlier, they used to release this data back when I looked at such things for those games.
As for WOW, what has made them the most popular MMO around? They way they are transparent is part of that success. They have never hidden the numbers on any of thier games, as far as I can tell. Even thier new ventures are being reported from open Beta and on. WOW has other factors that has kept where they are, and most of these things I don't find happening in STO. I think that if STO started with treating it's playerbase in some simular fashion as Blizzard does with thier playerbase, then things can get a lot better around here.
(I also think that if they the three classes have a real roles and mechanics to make them necessary for queues would be a big leap in the right direction. And the current DPS race we have now.)
You also asked me to show you a company that did release data both positive and negative. And that I have done.
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TOS-Fed: Fleet Admiral Katem (Andorian Tactical)::Lieutenant Commander Straad (Vulcan Engineer)
Dom-Fed: Dan'Tar (Jem'Hadar Science)
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I never understand why people quote these numbers to show decline. It's a very consistent 1700 avg when there is no special event.
My prediction is that after the anniversary these will fall below 1000. Then we will see if the game tries to change to survive or tries to cash out.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
I don't have the hard numbers, since I'm not a Cryptic employee. But it seems to me the game is still chugging along.
Link: Perfect World Privatizes, Renren Next? - (Jan. 5th, 2015)
Link: Star Trek Online in 2015
Sounds like someone is lying.
"fastest growing" and "best ever" are all BS subject to limited market campaigns and whatever statistics you want to make up.
I don't know if I would categorize anyone's press release propaganda as "lying," since it's pretty commonly known that you can't take it as fact, like EVER.
Because you are fooled by the instance system? Where once there were 40 instances of a zone, now there are 5-10, we can pretend they are all running patrols.. but we know its not true.
You are hard pressed to find more than one instance of many zones now too, which was unheard of before.
For people who don't understand the steam charts, its easiest to see when you switch to ALL, picking points recently you will find there hasn't been a period of this low log ins in the history (2.5ish years)
For a game that is growing, it seems not to be
Completed Starbase, Embassy, Mine, Spire and No Win Scenario
Nothing to do anymore.
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I believe it was The Cat that said:
"So if he's you and you're him, and he's him and he's him. Am I still me!? If not, whose eating this chicken? What the hell is goin' on!?"
I wish people wouldn't drag alts into arguments. It's pretty pointless. Considering how black and white every argument is around here there's a good chance other people would agree with whatever opinion you have. No need to drag clones into it.
Star Trek Online is one of many titles in the PWE portfolio. When it comes to discussing any of the titles and the performance of PWE on the market, It seems it is also never mentioned in any manner, not cited for being good or bad for the company.
What is cited is stuff like "success on Chinese market" or "Success on the Mobile Gaming Market" and stuff like that. All which have nothing to do with Star Trek Online. Star Trek Online can be performing badly or well, it's not what the investors are looking a - Whether that is rational or not, but hey, the stock market is often irrational.
Beat ya to it buddy boy/girl. :P
But I think people that spend money to get Zen or Dilithium or even invest time on helping cancer cells grow despite their better knowledge should lose the right to complain about cancer. Especially on the official Cancer forums.
Isn't there other things to do in the game? Wasn't that what everyone originally asked for? The way i see it the ques are empty because they are harder to do and if u want to get the optionals and rewards then its best to go in with a ready team. therefore you wont show in the ques. A ques are waiting line, as a five man team going into a 5 man team mission u dont have to wait in line.
And yes i am new to the game only being playing since July and i love it and i enjoy it sorry if that's offensive to anyone.
Is the game healthy? Yes, it is. At least compared to Champions Online.
I saw the writing on the wall back with the crafting update. It became much clearer after hearing about the T6 ships from the Las Vegas convention. It ran me over like a Mack truck going 100 MPH in a school zone when Delta Rising hit Holodeck. Since then, it's been backing up and running me over again ever few days, just for kicks apparently.
Now Cryptic will be revamping the Bridge Officer training system to make it more of a cash grab. I hear that big rig backing up again, but at this point, I can't feel anything anymore.
Except apathy.
I want the game to grow and be healthy. I want the game around for years to come.
However, seeing the direction the game has taken in 2014, I do not see a bright future ahead for the game. Cryptic and Perfect world may be making more money here lately, but I don't see that lasting for much longer.
The actual STORY behind Delta Rising was good, some of the best writing in the game. Unfortunately, the leveling progression from 50-60 is so poorly done and mishandled that, in my opinion, players have to spend so much time AWAY from the DR content in order to level to be ABLE to continue the DR content, that it simply breaks things up too much and they lose interest.
I got my first character from lvl 54-60 playing the DR content, and even starting it so late I had to grind to get to the next level in order to continue the story. By the time I hit 60, which was not even in the DR content, I'd pretty much decided that any future characters I take from 50-60 would not bother with the DR content, simply because there is not enough of it to level from 50-60. Being forced to run filler content to continue leveling between missions is just not FUN.
So congrats to Cryptic on making a load of money and for getting a lot of praise for the story content you released with Delta Rising.
As for the rest of it, meh.
Losing faith in humanity, one person at a time.
Not offended. Happy you are having fun.
While people wanted more to do, people also didn't want to loose what they were doing too.
As for the queues, Cryptic made them important by making them the primary source for purple mats in the game. For crafters, the new way to play, this means you have to have active and successful queues to get them. Current stat is that unless you are in a massive and active fleet, your are SOL for getting into a lot of the queues because there is not visibly reported activity in those queues. And if you are a casual/solo player your options get even smaller. I am in that last catagory.
Before DR, I knew that when I logged in, I would be able to join any queue and run it during my available playtime. I also knew that more often than not, the PUG group would complete the Elite STF and get our reward. This allowed me to play as I wanted to at any time. And differently from Alt to Alt. Since DR, the NPC have had the HP Bags inflated to be beyond what players can hope to achieve, failure option put that can make one player kill it for all, and dil requirements to get the gear to be an effective PUGer for Advance to have increased. All in all, it has meant that my limited playtime actually is a detriment to me participating in any queues, because I don't have the time to upgrade the gear, grind the dil needed, and find players willing to take on the challange of probably losing in an advanced STF once an hour(or night as is my case) to figure out how to beat the scenario. especially when they have created ways for people to pay money to bypass these roadblocks. Which leaves the people with the means to pay standing in the dust wondering why they even try anymore.
I don't have the luxury of creating five man teams, my fleet is not online when I am. And because I play in a limited fashion, it takes me days and weeks to upgrade gear to XIV VR. I am fine with slow progress. But I am unhappy that I can not progress in crafting because the mats are tucked behind a paywall or dead queue.
The was enjoyable, playable, and possible to progress in as a solo player before they brought out DR and nerfed the experiance for the casual/solo player. Now I just make runs at CC Advanced to collect what I can because it's the only reliably active queue when I log on. Rare occasions I get something else. But that's way to far between events to make me happy.
This why people point to the queues, they were a very active thing prior to DR. But they died almost immediately afterwards because the rewards didn't match the pain of the experiance afterwards.
KDF: Dahar Master Kan (Borg Klingon Tactical)::Dahar Master Torc (Alien Science)::Dahar Master Sisteric (Gorn Engineer)
RR-Fed: Citizen Sirroc (Romulan Science)::Fleet Admiral Grell (Alien Engineer)
RR-KDF: Fleet Admiral Zemo (Reman Tactical)::Fleet Admiral Xinatek (Reman Science)::Fleet Admiral Bel (Alien Engineer)
TOS-Fed: Fleet Admiral Katem (Andorian Tactical)::Lieutenant Commander Straad (Vulcan Engineer)
Dom-Fed: Dan'Tar (Jem'Hadar Science)
Dom-KDF: Kamtana'Solan (Jem'Hadar Science)
CoHost of Tribbles in Ecstasy (Zombee)
First, there is grind, and then there is overgrind; STO went from grind to overgrind.
Second, it doesn't take 5 mins to post.
Third, posting on forums =/= repeating the same mission for an eternity.
Also, you forgot how long it takes to map load.
This post takes less than a minute. Not that /\
The queues are an indicator of how many active players are ingame and signing up to play. While it's hardly a comprehensive measurement, it's the most readily available one. Players from half a year back can notice that queues are now not popping as often as they did back then, and some queues can't even take off anymore.
There are other things to do in the game, such as leveling, crafting, PvP, Foundry, socializing, etc. But a lot of the activities that were so popular in previous years no longer hold appeal or don't have sufficient interest. PvP is broken because of DR (not gonna sugar coat that. Intel powers frakked up PvP big-time). Foundry is in worse shape than two years ago. Drozana is but an empty shell of its former, pre-renovation self. And players are leaving by the droves because endless grinds and dil sinks don't appeal to them anymore.
There are private queues, but again, they suffer the same fate as the rest of the game. Appeal is dwindling, and players are leaving.
Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9
My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
It's not offensive, but it does illustrate a good point.
Much of the grief around DR is coming from long-term players, and is rooted in dislocated expectations. I am, or have been, one of those individuals. The nub of the issue is that we'd got used to occupying a particular place in terms of STO's "pecking order" - in terms of how maxxed-out our characters were - which has now been thrown into utter turmoil because of the skyrocketing level / gear / specialisation caps.
What is ironic is how much of this is down to how easy some stuff had got. It took me 6 months to get my first character to L50 (in early 2011) because I was trying everything out along the way. My next took 3 months. It wasn't until August 2012 that my initial, "token fed" got brought up to being a geared L50. On that basis, the fact that it will take me 6 months to clear the initial specialisation system should not be an issue - but I'd got used to a game environment in which I could get two alts from zero to max-geared L50 in a month each
For a relative newcomer such as yourself, this is not an issue - it's just how the game is. A good sanity check for the old hands, I think...
Nah I dunno, it might just mean he hasn't even experienced the full impact of DR yet ...
... dunno if he is LvL 60 yet ... but the biggest DR "Fans" seem to be people, which are still Level 52-54 telling others that XP & Leveling is just fine ... which is quite ironic ...
PS : Tried another Toon after DR, had fun till LvL ~55 (after that you're basically playing a different game)
Once you've done all Story Content ~1-3 Times ... nope, not really ... of course there is repeating Patrols now, but imho you'll get bored pretty fast repeating them ...
The only "other" Stuff would be :
- Foundry (granted that's probably still my Nr.1, but good Missions are not in endless supply)
- Doffing (can be fun, but basically Farmville in Space)
- Crafting (see above)
- Events (from time to time)
-> PVE Queues were the thing that kept this game going (at least for me) ... I'm not doing endless Patrols instead, so now I'll have to wait for the next Story Content (aka "see you in ~6months") ... if there is anything else to do, please tell me ...
And no, since the Forum - people are a "minority", it can't be what "everybody" asked for ... even if it would've been the only thing in the Forums pre-DR ... and I don't think it was ...
It's pretty funny sometimes : If you're an "evil Forum-Whiner" you're a minority (everyone else is in-game having fun etc), but if you whine about PVE Queues you're suddenly "everybody & asked for it" (sounds like a majority, to me) -> It can't be both ...
I noticed that before. People were coming on here, saying leveling was awesome and they could do it just from Doffing. Then when they revealed they were level 52 or in one case, not even level 50 yet, they were laughed at and they went away.
Funny funny stuff.
Free Tibet!
If anything having materials in the queues is an argument to kill the queues - so you don't give anything away for free.
Empty queues are not the problem you think they are.
We don't have to have 1 single person in the queues...
Displacement of progression takes place all the time and so all it comes down to is, are the whales willing to do 800 patrol missions for the voyager story arc?
Yes they are, well then it's as simple as mass production of passive specialization points with no animations (no work), and then turn the grinding volume up to extreme.
From their perspective it's also a nice way to motivate you to finally play their story missions - over and over and over forever.
The patrol missions are actually the best content ever and the players love it, from a certain perspective.
But so there isn't any reason why all progression from now on can't be patrol grinding for spec points.
From their perspective nothing has ever been even remotely as profitable as DR, why not duplicate it
/edit
ps. the thing being we only need the non-whales on the server in so far as the whales need them.
Whales playing single player patrol grinding now queues are not needed, neither is the players
I could be way off on this but here's my suspicion behind:
- The accounting irregularities (Also keep in mind that Chinese accounting standards are different, making accidents in conversion possible)
- The voluntary de-listing
- Chinese companies in some cases re-listing on Chinese exchanges
- Complaints from Chinese companies about being undervalued, which seem to precipate some of the accounting irregularities, re-listing on Chinese exchanges, and stock buybacks
Okay. You ready?
On the U.S. exchanges, investors expect companies to beat targets. If you don't outperform targets, you get dumped. Additionally, investors tend to get very managerially hands on and tend to see themselves to some extent as "experts in all industries" and will threaten to manipulate your stock price down if you don't do what they want. (In PWE's case, I think investors wanted them to ditch PC and go mobile, despite PWE being fairly good at PC gaming development and fairly weak at mobile.)
From the Chinese perspective, I think, company targets should a maximum, not a minimum. An earnings target is a goal to strive for and not something you're comfortable setting with the intent of surpassing. The target is "absolute best case" as far as you can imagine. You expect to fall short and don't expect for that to negatively influence stock price. Also, distance to power and cultural respect for expertise probably means that you don't expect investors to dictate company strategy as overtly and you expect them to hold stock longer.
And I SUSPECT (this is more a sociological guesstimate) that some of what you see in the U.S. and Chinese economies does boil down to stockholder behavior.
Short term investors who dictate strategy in the U.S.:
- Force certain types of innovation, creating value. Companies have to act fast and only the sharpest survive.
- Overlook niche strategies and long term value, destroying value by tanking stocks unfairly.
- The frequency of trade may result in a more powerful economy but the trading fees tend to eat up a lot of the efficiency there, meaning we have a powerful economy but much of that power is increasingly funneled away from both investors and companies listed on the market, towards brokers and consultants.
The U.S. stock market turns stock about 20% more frequently than the Chinese market does.