They're an additional reward for playing the game...which is assumed you were doing already. They're not busy work.
I don't want rewards to play the game. I want to spend a fairly modest amount of money, play the game very little if I feel like it, do mostly whatever I want when I do play, and not be handicapped vs. someone who invests heavy time into the game for doing that. And that is my criteria set for whether I'm willing to spend money on the game. If $15 a month wouldn't get me rough mechanical parity with someone who plays all day long then I will probably spend $0 a month.
I seem to remember wishing everyone luck with this system when I got off the hamster wheel.
This one doesn't sound so bad... with the ani event. Just wait for the one that comes in the Spring that will come at the same time as a couple new or (reworded) Stfs where the enemies will be super annoying with disables or something unless you unlock that new tree to deal with it. lol
At least there making it easier for me to stay on hiatus.
Come on man! You know full well as I do that the only thing "better" with the NPCs are more hullpoints and awkwardly designed victory conditions. Even with DR out, the NPCs are still the same, dumb NPCs that barely do anything, would be lucky to use 1 ability before they die, can't even protect a vulnerable shield facing, can't do repairs, can't do anything. They're there to shoot at, nothing more. The only catch is that you have to kill them quickly enough to be within the victory conditions.
As for the new Spec Tree, I'm all for it. I was expecting to see more.
BUT... the nerfs to XPs makes it quite futile. The only ones that should be in prime condition to take advantage of it is if you have 1 real character that you play with. If you were someone with alts, well... you're ****ed.
The leveling, XP gains have been terrible with all the nerfs since DR hit. Gaining Spec Points gets old, and if you have alts, rest assured, they will NEVER be competitive for general play.
Takes less than hour to get a Spec Point out of Gerren. Not even 45 minutes. Better equipped players can hit up Argala and do it even faster.
I do not question that Argala and Gerren are profitable, effective XP runs.
What I do find amazing is that people are willing to subject themselves to those runs and play sessions. I do a few Argala or even the very short Gerren runs, and my eyes are bleeding from boredom and the lack of variety.
Takes less than hour to get a Spec Point out of Gerren. Not even 45 minutes. Better equipped players can hit up Argala and do it even faster.
And how many times have you run Gerren to do that? Times how many points? Times how many characters? I mean, is it too much to ask for some content that isn't grind-based?
I don't want rewards to play the game. I want to spend a fairly modest amount of money, play the game very little if I feel like it, do mostly whatever I want when I do play, and not be handicapped vs. someone who invests heavy time into the game for doing that. And that is my criteria set for whether I'm willing to spend money on the game. If $15 a month wouldn't get me rough mechanical parity with someone who plays all day long then I will probably spend $0 a month.
That sounds like "I only want to work half the hours of that guy and only on three days a week, but I want the same money for it". :P
It should be obvious that someone who spends more time can get more rewards.
Takes less than hour to get a Spec Point out of Gerren. Not even 45 minutes. Better equipped players can hit up Argala and do it even faster.
So your saying every 3 months players should spend 30-40 hours of grinding to complete what ever the new tree happens to be. That to me sounds like a week of forced full time work every 3 months. I don't play a game as a second job do you ?
You can say there not required there just extras all you like. If they had went the route of say Trion worlds where points after cap unlocked things like +1 to a stat... I would agree with you.
That isn't the way they have went nor will go however. The trees in STO are far more powerful then they need to be if they where simply nice to have stuffs. There pure power creep, they unlock skills and very powerful passives.
The system is broken... the concept is ok. The execution is seriously flawed. Typical Cryptic, half decent good ideas badly implemented.
And how long would it take if I only did episode replays or queued events and didn't ever do patrols?
If you wanted to go from New York to Los Angeles, were offered the chance to fly there...would you instead walk and then complain about how long it takes to get there?
Even with Gerren/Argala only taking that long, I haven't maxed out all three...Hell, I haven't even maxed two of them.
Intelligence: 23/30
Pilot: 15/15
Commando: 0/15
Hell, just the other day I noticed I had two unspent points that I must have gained while playing, dorking around and doing whatever it was I was doing.
Easily could have maxed all of them out...it's not the end of the world to me, I'm not going to try win an Oscar for most melodramatic performance on the forums about them. Even without hitting up Argala/Gerren, I could have maxed it out by now since the launch of DR.
I'm usually off testing things, so it's a lot of work with little reward to it. Hell, pop into an Argala - do some stuff and leave. Could just finish it off for that Patrol SP at the end...
...but it's not end of the world stuff and it boggles my mind that people are making it out to be such.
Some days, I'll just hit some random patrols - that end up taking a long time for a little reward, but I'm having fun.
I'll get there when I get there with the Specializations...just like I'll get there when I get there with any upgrades. It's a game, I'm going to try to enjoy despite the 9001 bugs and broken things. Why am I going to get all stressed out about something that will eventually happen anyway as I'm playing the game? I need all this stuff for what? None of it's necessary, it's just additional stuff that happens while I'm playing the game.
So your saying every 3 months players should spend 30-40 hours of grinding to complete what ever the new tree happens to be. That to me sounds like a week of forced full time work every 3 months. I don't play a game as a second job do you ?
You can say there not required there just extras all you like. If they had went the route of say Trion worlds where points after cap unlocked things like +1 to a stat... I would agree with you.
That isn't the way they have went nor will go however. The trees in STO are far more powerful then they need to be if they where simply nice to have stuffs. There pure power creep, they unlock skills and very powerful passives.
The system is broken... the concept is ok. The execution is seriously flawed. Typical Cryptic, half decent good ideas badly implemented.
You can only slot one Primary and one Secondary...it doesn't matter if there are 9001 Primary and 9001 Secondary Specializations. You can only slot one of each. If a player feels they need to fill all 18002 Specializations when they can only slot 2...I kind of think the problem is with the player. So saying somebody needs to spend X amount of time grinding every 3 months...is absurd.
I have yet to determine what all the foot-stomping and hair-pulling is about. I really honestly don't.
Do you guys even know what the word SPECIALIZATION means?
This is like ******** and moaning because you couldn't max out every single point on every tree in Diablo II.
An apt example, because I've seen people say just that about Diablo 2. Of course people quickly explained to them why it was a dumb idea.... But people asked anyways...
You can only slot one Primary and one Secondary...it doesn't matter if there are 9001 Primary and 9001 Secondary Specializations. You can only slot one of each. If a player feels they need to fill all 18002 Specializations when they can only slot 2...I kind of think the problem is with the player. So saying somebody needs to spend X amount of time grinding every 3 months...is absurd.
Come on Virus you been around in STO long enough to know this isn't the way Cryptic intends it to work.
Every spec tree is going to be > then the last. I have no proof of that quite yet of course. I am basing that on Cryptics past. Everything is always been better then the last thing cause your supposed to keep grinding away and improving your toon.
Do you really think your old Spec tree will be the last tree you ever need ?
The next tree will have something in it that is simply so good you will be forced to grind it out like everyone else. The trend will continue. Any new tree will all but replace the old one.
That's why I say the concept isn't bad its the implementation. They should have created more then the 2 trees to start with. They should have launched the idea with 2-3 major and 3-4 minor trees from the start. They should have tailored each tree to different NPC factions. With Borg bonuses in one and Voth in another ect. This would have given people a reason to work on not one and forget it... but all of them and any new ones. The catch would have been they would have had to reward spec points in a way that didn't force people to grind one boring patrol 1000 times.
The system is a massive fail... and building on it in Cryptic fashion with Power Creeped new trees isn't going to make it good.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.
0
rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,696Community Moderator
I have yet to determine what all the foot-stomping and hair-pulling is about. I really honestly don't.
Do you guys even know what the word SPECIALIZATION means?
This is like ******** and moaning because you couldn't max out every single point on every tree in Diablo II.
I'm with you there. I don't understand the ranting and raving either. Yea it takes a while to get a spec point, and we do need someone to look at XP rewards again because we kinda don't have the support for it.
But this... is kinda ridiculus.
No offense to anyone, but all this complaining is boiling down to "I want it, I want it all, and I want it yesterday". That's how its coming across to me. Yes it's a bit of power creep, but its not as drastic as everyone is making it out to be. The current setup allows for 1 primary Spec being active at a time. Are we going to be able to have every spec active at any one time? No. We have to choose which one we would like to work in. Right now we only have the 1 Primary Spec, which is Intel, and 2 Secondary: Commando and Pilot. In short, We've HAD the vertical creep. New Spec Trees will be lateral. Branching out to give us more choices.
New players will not be in as much of a disadvantage as people are making it sound like. Yes they won't have any points into the currently existing ones, but they will have MORE choices right off the bat on what they feel will better fit their playstyle. Besides... a fresh new lv 1 player isn't going to have the same power as a lv 60 player. If we go by all the arguments about power difference, why not just autolevel everyone to 60 and give them the same exact gear then? Solves that problem, along with diversity. Let everyone fly cookie cutter builds and characters.
I know this is going to be impossible, but could everyone please stop moaning and just wait and see what we get before calling Doom? We don't even know what new Spec Trees we're getting are yet. Who knows... it just might be something interesting after all.
I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite colored text = mod mode
That sounds like "I only want to work half the hours of that guy and only on three days a week, but I want the same money for it". :P
It should be obvious that someone who spends more time can get more rewards.
Actually it's the ones who pour money into the game who should be at least a little more privileged than the "I grind everything, spend no dime" guys.
Because, otherwise, who pays the "rent"?
That's why I don't understand the way they are taking with this game ... Metrics can be all good as you want, but what do you do with all of the metrics if incomes drop?
And people spend when they have fun ... and all of this heavy grinding is not fun.
Moreover, judging from the friends I don't see anymore online from my short friends list and I could give out their names ... I don't think metrics are that healthy either.
If you wanted to go from New York to Los Angeles, were offered the chance to fly there...would you instead walk and then complain about how long it takes to get there?
For someone who usually posts walls of calculations , that's certainly sounds like an avoidance of a direct answer .
...but it's not end of the world stuff and it boggles my mind that people are making it out to be such
Maybe because while you were doing stuff like the Rep system or pretty much any other progression system -- you could see & feel progress .
From my POV, the one thing that equals this systems Alt unfriendlyness is it's progress unfriendlyness .
You yourself have noted finding 4 points .
I too "found" points and was totally unexited at the discovery .
Does that sound like a properly awarding system (?) in which by the time you get something , you're already too bored to care?!
In Cryptic's view, this is probably a refinement of the Rep & spec points system .
In my view it's just the grindiest and most boring of the three , and by the time the 3rd or 4th "tree" will come about, you too will likely see it for what it is .
Come on Virus you been around in STO long enough to know this isn't the way Cryptic intends it to work.
Every spec tree is going to be > then the last. I have no proof of that quite yet of course. I am basing that on Cryptics past. Everything is always been better then the last thing cause your supposed to keep grinding away and improving your toon.
Do you really think your old Spec tree will be the last tree you ever need ?
The next tree will have something in it that is simply so good you will be forced to grind it out like everyone else. The trend will continue. Any new tree will all but replace the old one.
That's why I say the concept isn't bad its the implementation. They should have created more then the 2 trees to start with. They should have launched the idea with 2-3 major and 3-4 minor trees from the start. They should have tailored each tree to different NPC factions. With Borg bonuses in one and Voth in another ect. This would have given people a reason to work on not one and forget it... but all of them and any new ones. The catch would have been they would have had to reward spec points in a way that didn't force people to grind one boring patrol 1000 times.
The system is a massive fail... and building on it in Cryptic fashion with Power Creeped new trees isn't going to make it good.
I already brought this up in an earlier reply. When you bought your first computer, did you think it would be your last computer? No? Figured there would be newer computers or components? Even with your last computer...you knew the same, right?
So Cryptic dropped out the initial three. Did those three provide everything that everybody wanted? Hell, Commando provided me nothing that I wanted - doubt I'll ever put points in there. All the Ground stuff in Intelligence? I don't care about that...I've still been putting the points in there cause I do want some of the things that requires that investment of points.
So say they come out with Way Better Intelligence and Way Better Pilot...not likely with the next batch or even the batch after that, because there are all sorts of things that they could do without doing that - but Hell, let's say with the 5th Anniversary they come out with Way Better Intelligence anyway as a Specialization.
Does that magically take everything that I've gotten out of the use from using Intelligence in the time that I used it? No, I still got the use out of it. Kind of like you got use out each computer you bought or built along the way, right? TV? Toaster? Car? Cellphone? You name it, eh? Know there's always something better coming, but you've still got the use of what you've got now until then, right?
And Hell, even with that chance of there being Way Better Intelligence...until you reach the point of having the points in there where it is actually better than what you've got, what you've got is going to be helping you get those points.
Having a computer to go online to order a new computer or new parts for that computer makes it easier than trying to go online to order without having the computer, eh?
They're all just such obvious things, the simplest of things, I just don't get why they're complaints.
Yeah, people want stuff yesterday...why? If they've got everything yesterday, what are their plans for today? And if they take a look at those plans for today, did they really need everything yesterday? Did they need it at all?
Maybe because I grew up middle-class. Maybe because even as an adult I was still middle-class, better off than I was growing up, but still middle-class. So I never had everything I wanted handed to me. Maybe I grew up accepting that. I didn't grow up feeling like I needed everything that I didn't have while growing up. Heh, no doubt I splurged here and there on things...but I didn't need everything yesterday.
I already brought this up in an earlier reply. When you bought your first computer, did you think it would be your last computer? No? Figured there would be newer computers or components? Even with your last computer...you knew the same, right?
Well I guess this is where we differ. Any computer or part for one I have ever bought I have been able to do because I have had to you know work for the $. I guess Cryptic would like us to work in there game instead of play it like... I don't know a game perhaps.
I am ok with having to work for some real money $ to purchase a game. (yes buying little things in a F2P game is fine with me, paying for some entertainment is acceptable).
Cryptic now would like me to Work inside the game... and although I find a bit of game work (grinding) in fact a bit fun now and then. Having to treat the game like a second job is NOT ok with me. I refuse to have to grind a game for an amount of time that equates to a full time job. Its beyond stupid. The way this system is implemented, in combo with the games already existing workman style grinds. I say TRIBBLE em... and frankly I am glad they are going to pull a blatant Spec grind. (almost for sure at the same time as a new "anniversary celebration" grind) cause there about to bleed another handful of people that are going to realize grinding a GAME like its a job is not fun at all. Damn folks go get a real life part time job and use all that money to pay for real life fun like concert or sports tickets or something. It makes a heck of a lot more sense then working a virtual second job so you can get better at your second job. lol
This just sounds like a big propaganda push to me, as if they're trying to prove everyone wrong. I can't say I'm going to be any more motivated to get these trees done, and all it is doing is making the game more and more alt-unfriendly.
Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head. - Euripides
I no longer do any Bug Hunting work for Cryptic. I may resume if a serious attempt to fix the game is made.
Maybe because while you were doing stuff like the Rep system or pretty much any other progression system -- you could see & feel progress .
From my POV, the one thing that equals this systems Alt unfriendlyness is it's progress unfriendlyness .
You yourself have noted finding 4 points .
I too "found" points and was totally unexited at the discovery .
Does that sound like a properly awarding system (?) in which by the time you get something , you're already too bored to care?!
In Cryptic's view, this is probably a refinement of the Rep & spec points system .
In my view it's just the grindiest and most boring of the three , and by the time the 3rd or 4th "tree" will come about, you too will likely see it for what it is .
In a sense though, finding those points itself points and the lack of that feedback on the progress...the general thing...just adds to the lack of importance to it. It's not the bigger deal that the Reputation systems are - it's not the unlocking the traits, unlocking gear, and all the rest. The Specialization stuff is far more laid back...it's just there. It happens eventually regardless of what you do. It's not drawing attention to itself like the Reputation system...you have to do this content to get the Marks, you have to do this content to get special items, you've unlocked this and you've got a choice of traits, you've unlocked this gear, and all the rest.
The Specialization stuff...is just way more laidback and casual. Unless there's something specific you want, it's pretty easy to miss whatever is going on with it. It's not an in your face thing like the Rep system is.
If somebody's going after something particular in one of the Specializations, then the odds are they're going to be keeping a closer eye on somebody that's not.
Somebody that wants to train Rank3 Intel abilities is going to have a different outlook on it than somebody that doesn't care if they can or not, because they're not running anything that requires it. Somebody that does both Ground and Space may want to fill out all three...I haven't needed any of the Ground stuff from Intel nor Commando to do what I do on Ground.
It's not a case of saying everybody should play the same way, different strokes for different folks is one of my cliches. Hell, I might want more out whatever the new one is compared to others.
But even with somebody wanting everything, why is there the rush in it?
If this were a game with actual content progression, where you needed to get X from Dungeon A so you could run Dungeon B, and you needed to run Dungeon B to get Y, so you could run Dungeon C, where you needed to get Z so you run the next thing...and all of this was within a limited period of time before the whole thing shifted and you had to start the process again, it would be one thing.
We only have Dungeon A. Getting X allows us to run Dungeon A faster so we can get Y too. We don't need X to get Y, mind you. Getting X & Y allows you to run Dungeon A faster so you can get Z. Again, we don't need either X nor Y to have gotten Z...we could have started with Z.
People are complaining about a grind taking too long to get stuff that doesn't do anything but allow them to run that grind faster. It's a treadmill to nowhere...and so many folks choose to play that way and then complain about it.
I've mentioned in another thread, that was it really a case that this is an alt-friendly game (or that they were working toward it being one)...? I think if folks step back, they'll see it was an alt-needy game. Cause if you didn't have alts, you had nothing to do. You'd already done everything. So you'd keep creating more and more alts...and you'd fully gear every single one of them. Sure, some people enjoy having oodles of alts. But uh, what are they doing with those alts? 30 alts with little difference other than their costumes all running through the same content over and over? How is that different than running a few characters through the same content over and over?
Is it cause they chose to do it instead of feeling forced to do it? Why do they feel forced to do it? And if it's what they were doing anyway...well, uh...
Tom: Where you going, bud?
Jerry: I'm going to McDonald's.
Tom: Can you grab me a vanilla shake?
Jerry: Sorry, I'm not going to go now - I don't feel like going since I feel like I have to go to get you your vanilla shake.
I mean...seriously?
This game is far from perfect...it's further than a walk from New York to Los Angeles from perfect.
But I just really have a difficult time with some of the complaints.
Maybe I've just been playing MMOs too long. I play them because I want the experience to go on for months, for years...I don't want something that's done in a weekend or a week. So yeah, things take time - but a bunch of the stuff is just stuff that happens as you're playing the game anyway, so it's not a case that it's taking any additional time. Stuff gets done when it gets done.
Well I guess this is where we differ. Any computer or part for one I have ever bought I have been able to do because I have had to you know work for the $. I guess Cryptic would like us to work in there game instead of play it like... I don't know a game perhaps.
I am ok with having to work for some real money $ to purchase a game. (yes buying little things in a F2P game is fine with me, paying for some entertainment is acceptable).
Cryptic now would like me to Work inside the game... and although I find a bit of game work (grinding) in fact a bit fun now and then. Having to treat the game like a second job is NOT ok with me. I refuse to have to grind a game for an amount of time that equates to a full time job. Its beyond stupid. The way this system is implemented, in combo with the games already existing workman style grinds. I say TRIBBLE em... and frankly I am glad they are going to pull a blatant Spec grind. (almost for sure at the same time as a new "anniversary celebration" grind) cause there about to bleed another handful of people that are going to realize grinding a GAME like its a job is not fun at all. Damn folks go get a real life part time job and use all that money to pay for real life fun like concert or sports tickets or something. It makes a heck of a lot more sense then working a virtual second job so you can get better at your second job. lol
It's like I said in my last reply...I'm playing the game anyway, that something else happens during that time I'm playing doesn't increase the amount of time I'm playing. I'm already playing.
And doing stuff to get a reward is uh...Hell, they call it gamification when talking about bringing game methodologies to other environments - they do something, they get a reward, and they have fun in the process.
I go through and I do something...cool...I get something in return for doing that. Whether it's hand the book to the guy sitting right behind the desk where the book is or I'm stomping on rats down in his basement, I do something - I get a reward. Yes, around the third time I've had to hand him the book I'm feeling like throwing him down in the basement with the rats...
If something starts to turn into work, I don't do it. Sure, I can get 5800 SP every 90s from doing Gerren, but by the 2nd-3rd one...I'm out of there. It's not any fun for me. I still run Argala from time to time, but again...I might only do 3-4 runs. 3-4 runs might be fun. More isn't. So I go do something else.
I don't have the I need it now thing going for me...even if there's something I want, I'm willing to wait - it happens when it happens.
I refuse to turn a game into work...I've left games because of that. Lol, it's why I left SWG. I left before the NGE/CU stuff. For three months I had done nothing but keep my store stocked with stuff I crafted from hitting up my harvesters. I hadn't been in combat or anything for three months. It was a freaking job...I recognized it...I said TRIBBLE it and left.
I never flew with Fleet gear until joining IC. That wasn't all that long ago. I ran two solo Fleets, but I was never in a rush with them...they would have happened when they happened. I couldn't guess how many fully Rep and Rep geared, Lobi Geared, and everything but Fleet geared toons I've deleted over the years. Cause it was never a big deal...it's just a game. All those threads where folks complained they'd worked hard for stuff...and er, much to the chagrin of the mods, I voiced a different opinion...was because I can't think of anything in the game that I've worked at. Can't even say all the TRIBBLE with trying to understand the mechanics and the rest has been work...that's been fun for me, I enjoy doing that - go off and spend a few hours testing something, I'm not losing out on any progression from anything and I don't feel like I'm wasting any sort of time.
If the game has turned into nothing but work for folks, if they're not having fun anymore, then they should definitely let Cryptic know about it - but at some point, they may just need to realize that despite their love of Star Trek or whatever, it might not just be the Star Trek game that they're looking for...
The complaints aren't unanimous, no more than any of the attaboys are...different folks, different things...doesn't make folks into Cryptic Defenders or Cryptic Haters...just different folks.
edit: Lol, my TLDR word posts are so much more painful (for me) to look back at than my TLDR number posts...heh.
At the rate I'm gaining skill points, I'll be no where near close to completing any of my remaining trees before the new one comes out. Kind of makes me sad.
If it was a rep track, at least I know I'd be able to get through it before the next one came out.
I already brought this up in an earlier reply. When you bought your first computer, did you think it would be your last computer? No? Figured there would be newer computers or components? Even with your last computer...you knew the same, right?
... ...
Does that magically take everything that I've gotten out of the use from using Intelligence in the time that I used it? No, I still got the use out of it. Kind of like you got use out each computer you bought or built along the way, right? TV? Toaster? Car? Cellphone? You name it, eh? Know there's always something better coming, but you've still got the use of what you've got now until then, right?
... ...
Having a computer to go online to order a new computer or new parts for that computer makes it easier than trying to go online to order without having the computer, eh?
Maybe I'm taking this out of context, but at the rate I'm currently gaining experience, it doesn't feel like buying a phone that goes obsolete in 3-4 months. It feels more like I've been saving up for a phone and before I even have 1/3 of the money I need for it, a better one comes out that takes a different currency.
I don't want to have it handed to me, but I want to have enough measurable progress to feel like I'm making progress. I did before, but after the xp adjustment I don't. Maybe that's the problem, in that players all have a different threshold where they start to feel their in game actions aren't bringing them closer, (or close enough relative to the time and effort they expended), to their goals.
I'm not so worried about filling out another Spec Tree, I'm far enough behind on Intel, being behind in more than one isn't much less hopeless, but one of the things filling out the Intel Tree allows you to do concerns me a great deal: filling out the Intel Tree allows you to train your BOffs in some top-tier abilities.
I have no problem with not being able to train my BOffs in the best Intel Abilities, I have plenty of things to fill in BOff slots with, my problem with this concept is this: what is the new Spec Tree going to allow us to train, and perhaps more importaintly, what kind of special BOff will I need if I do want to train it through the new Spec Tree? This leads to The Big Question: does a new Spec Tree, meaning new BOffs, mean new ships with Hybrid seating?
Yep, my concern isn't how quickly I can fill up the Tre, or even about being able to use the new skills with my BOffs, but how quickly is Cryptic going to make my shiny new Phantom or Sarr Theln obsolete? I put real $ into one, real time into the other, both for the ship and for he Elite Carrier pets I got for it.
Let's not forget the fact that I have (not having bought the Delta Pack) exactly Two Purple Quality BOffs to use between the ships, the Mission Reward Potato-Man and a Talaxian, which you can only own one of, or I'd get another so I could have a Tac for the escort and an Eng for the carrier. There don't appear to be any other options for traited Intel-Hybrid BOffs on the horizon, either, besides getting a White Quality Human (for Leadership).
Let us not forget the fact that I'm not concerned about the Spec Tree itself solely because I have already resigned myself to the fact that it is hopeless. Should someone really have to feel hopeless about a game? Not any more than they should have to worry that thier very recent investment of time and/or money is becoming obsolete just as they complete it.
TL;DR: Does this mean new ships w/new Hybrid Seating & Hybrid BOffs to go along with it? If so, I am disheartend at the fact that I've put real time & money into things that are, weeks after I got them, going to be obsolete. And where/when are decent Hybrid BOffs going to be available through the promised "Ingame Means"???
"Logic is a little tweeting bird chirping in a meadow. Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell BAD." - Spock
Maybe I'm taking this out of context, but at the rate I'm currently gaining experience, it doesn't feel like buying a phone that goes obsolete in 3-4 months. It feels more like I've been saving up for a phone and before I even have 1/3 of the money I need for it, a better one comes out that takes a different currency.
I don't want to have it handed to me, but I want to have enough measurable progress to feel like I'm making progress. I did before, but after the xp adjustment I don't. Maybe that's the problem, in that players all have a different threshold where they start to feel their in game actions aren't bringing them closer, (or close enough relative to the time and effort they expended), to their goals.
Sorry if I got a little off topic.
First, let me say again - that I'm nobody special. I might argue my opinion until I'm blue in the face...I might get inflammatory and cross the line at times...but I'm just another poster, just sharing his thoughts and his opinions.
But I dig that reply. If somebody else made a similar reply and I bled a little aggro into it or went over the top with some inflammatory stuff, I've got a bit of built up aggro and I'm bleeding it all over the place. You know, I really think it started with Bort's comments about spreadsheets and notepad. I just did not react well to that. Add in the fact that all that stuff I like dorking around with, testing, and so forth...was running into bugs left, right, and center. Which only made that comment that much worse for me...maybe they need to spend a wee bit of time with some spreadsheets, notepad, and watching what's going on, eh? Regardless though, if I went all nerd hulk on somebody that was making a reply like that...my apologies.
The folks that want to earn Spec Points in five minutes, yes, I'm going to continue to go ape**** on them. But to the other folks, yes, my apologies.
That's why I dig that post, by the way...cause it's more of a tweak 'n balance post to me than the waaaaaah gimme posts that have been flooding the forums since S9.5...
IMHO (and yeah, it's all still just opinion)...
They need to up the rewards of SP for a bunch of things out there...they don't need to go nerfing stuff...and if they decide to nerf anything because of what I'm saying here...yeah, them, their mothers, and the neighbor's dog...I got two fingers aimed at the screen.
Coliseum on replay doesn't even reward half of what Gerren does...with Gerren only taking me ~90s. It's not even a quarter of what takes me ~220-240s in Argala. Coliseum takes a bit of time to play through. Coliseum, because of it's time/effort compared to other things...should be rewarding a Hell of a lot more than it is.
They want us in the Delta Quadrant? Fine...they should want us to want to be in the Delta Quadrant. Totally hypothetical, but how many folks might hit up more stuff in the DQ if they didn't have that feeling that they didn't have a choice? Yeah, I'm big on choices...we've got all this potentially awesome content that we could be playing along with the new content...but it's all jacked up, imho.
So yeah, the first thing to address there would be a balance pass of the content's SP rewards. That would also include the queues. Cryptic took such massive steps initially to provide all the replay action so folks could replay stuff they like. WTF did they do with DQ?
That doesn't mean that I should be able to go hit up whatever and wham bam I'm done with the 60 Spec Points, lol. But if I want to hit up a variety of content, then that content should be rewarding along those lines. This isn't Rep stuff where we should do stuff for folks to earn rep with them...this is just stuff that we should be getting as we play, right?
So they need to bump that stuff up in a big ol' balance pass. Just my humble opinion there.
I don't believe it needs to stop there, as far as taking a look at it. Cryptic might be as tired of seeing the requests for having everything yesterday as I am...but I'd hate to think that they're lumping all of those together and ignoring the folks that aren't asking for that, just for it to be better.
Like you can do stuff with 10k DPS while there are folks doing over 100k...there's a lot of room between what those "want it yesterday" folks are asking for and where it is now. There's a lot of room there, right? Some wiggle room, right? Cryptic doesn't have to change it so we're done with the game in a weekend with nothing left to do...but does it quite have to take as long as it does for some of their players out there?
So yeah, those two things...why I liked this particular post, cause it reminded me that it's not just a fight against the folks that...well, yeah, it's not just about them - and getting caught up in that fight just clutters things up more and makes it easier for Cryptic to ignore.
So yeah, those two things...some bump up balance with the other content and toning down the requirements for each level. Sure, everybody's going to have their different thresholds...and while it's just my humble opinion again, Cryptic could definitely aim for a more reasonable threshold.
Cause sometimes...regardless of what they think they might be doing...they can end up souring folks that normally wouldn't agree with the 24/7 sourpusses...and folks notice that, so they get soured as well. Some folks leave, and then we end up with one Hell of a toxic community.
Comments
Takes less than hour to get a Spec Point out of Gerren. Not even 45 minutes. Better equipped players can hit up Argala and do it even faster.
I don't want rewards to play the game. I want to spend a fairly modest amount of money, play the game very little if I feel like it, do mostly whatever I want when I do play, and not be handicapped vs. someone who invests heavy time into the game for doing that. And that is my criteria set for whether I'm willing to spend money on the game. If $15 a month wouldn't get me rough mechanical parity with someone who plays all day long then I will probably spend $0 a month.
Come on man! You know full well as I do that the only thing "better" with the NPCs are more hullpoints and awkwardly designed victory conditions. Even with DR out, the NPCs are still the same, dumb NPCs that barely do anything, would be lucky to use 1 ability before they die, can't even protect a vulnerable shield facing, can't do repairs, can't do anything. They're there to shoot at, nothing more. The only catch is that you have to kill them quickly enough to be within the victory conditions.
As for the new Spec Tree, I'm all for it. I was expecting to see more.
BUT... the nerfs to XPs makes it quite futile. The only ones that should be in prime condition to take advantage of it is if you have 1 real character that you play with. If you were someone with alts, well... you're ****ed.
The leveling, XP gains have been terrible with all the nerfs since DR hit. Gaining Spec Points gets old, and if you have alts, rest assured, they will NEVER be competitive for general play.
I do not question that Argala and Gerren are profitable, effective XP runs.
What I do find amazing is that people are willing to subject themselves to those runs and play sessions. I do a few Argala or even the very short Gerren runs, and my eyes are bleeding from boredom and the lack of variety.
And how long would it take if I only did episode replays or queued events and didn't ever do patrols?
And how many times have you run Gerren to do that? Times how many points? Times how many characters? I mean, is it too much to ask for some content that isn't grind-based?
That sounds like "I only want to work half the hours of that guy and only on three days a week, but I want the same money for it". :P
It should be obvious that someone who spends more time can get more rewards.
Really so my L54 can hit a button and get back all 4 spec points to reallocate?
I dont think so... but show me how.
So your saying every 3 months players should spend 30-40 hours of grinding to complete what ever the new tree happens to be. That to me sounds like a week of forced full time work every 3 months. I don't play a game as a second job do you ?
You can say there not required there just extras all you like. If they had went the route of say Trion worlds where points after cap unlocked things like +1 to a stat... I would agree with you.
That isn't the way they have went nor will go however. The trees in STO are far more powerful then they need to be if they where simply nice to have stuffs. There pure power creep, they unlock skills and very powerful passives.
The system is broken... the concept is ok. The execution is seriously flawed. Typical Cryptic, half decent good ideas badly implemented.
Do you guys even know what the word SPECIALIZATION means?
This is like ******** and moaning because you couldn't max out every single point on every tree in Diablo II.
If you wanted to go from New York to Los Angeles, were offered the chance to fly there...would you instead walk and then complain about how long it takes to get there?
Even with Gerren/Argala only taking that long, I haven't maxed out all three...Hell, I haven't even maxed two of them.
Intelligence: 23/30
Pilot: 15/15
Commando: 0/15
Hell, just the other day I noticed I had two unspent points that I must have gained while playing, dorking around and doing whatever it was I was doing.
Easily could have maxed all of them out...it's not the end of the world to me, I'm not going to try win an Oscar for most melodramatic performance on the forums about them. Even without hitting up Argala/Gerren, I could have maxed it out by now since the launch of DR.
I'm usually off testing things, so it's a lot of work with little reward to it. Hell, pop into an Argala - do some stuff and leave. Could just finish it off for that Patrol SP at the end...
...but it's not end of the world stuff and it boggles my mind that people are making it out to be such.
Some days, I'll just hit some random patrols - that end up taking a long time for a little reward, but I'm having fun.
I'll get there when I get there with the Specializations...just like I'll get there when I get there with any upgrades. It's a game, I'm going to try to enjoy despite the 9001 bugs and broken things. Why am I going to get all stressed out about something that will eventually happen anyway as I'm playing the game? I need all this stuff for what? None of it's necessary, it's just additional stuff that happens while I'm playing the game.
You can only slot one Primary and one Secondary...it doesn't matter if there are 9001 Primary and 9001 Secondary Specializations. You can only slot one of each. If a player feels they need to fill all 18002 Specializations when they can only slot 2...I kind of think the problem is with the player. So saying somebody needs to spend X amount of time grinding every 3 months...is absurd.
Come on, let's hear it.
Free Tibet!
You know it's a racket when even the goldsellers and power levelers won't sell the service.
My character Tsin'xing
Come on Virus you been around in STO long enough to know this isn't the way Cryptic intends it to work.
Every spec tree is going to be > then the last. I have no proof of that quite yet of course. I am basing that on Cryptics past. Everything is always been better then the last thing cause your supposed to keep grinding away and improving your toon.
Do you really think your old Spec tree will be the last tree you ever need ?
The next tree will have something in it that is simply so good you will be forced to grind it out like everyone else. The trend will continue. Any new tree will all but replace the old one.
That's why I say the concept isn't bad its the implementation. They should have created more then the 2 trees to start with. They should have launched the idea with 2-3 major and 3-4 minor trees from the start. They should have tailored each tree to different NPC factions. With Borg bonuses in one and Voth in another ect. This would have given people a reason to work on not one and forget it... but all of them and any new ones. The catch would have been they would have had to reward spec points in a way that didn't force people to grind one boring patrol 1000 times.
The system is a massive fail... and building on it in Cryptic fashion with Power Creeped new trees isn't going to make it good.
I'm with you there. I don't understand the ranting and raving either. Yea it takes a while to get a spec point, and we do need someone to look at XP rewards again because we kinda don't have the support for it.
But this... is kinda ridiculus.
No offense to anyone, but all this complaining is boiling down to "I want it, I want it all, and I want it yesterday". That's how its coming across to me. Yes it's a bit of power creep, but its not as drastic as everyone is making it out to be. The current setup allows for 1 primary Spec being active at a time. Are we going to be able to have every spec active at any one time? No. We have to choose which one we would like to work in. Right now we only have the 1 Primary Spec, which is Intel, and 2 Secondary: Commando and Pilot. In short, We've HAD the vertical creep. New Spec Trees will be lateral. Branching out to give us more choices.
New players will not be in as much of a disadvantage as people are making it sound like. Yes they won't have any points into the currently existing ones, but they will have MORE choices right off the bat on what they feel will better fit their playstyle. Besides... a fresh new lv 1 player isn't going to have the same power as a lv 60 player. If we go by all the arguments about power difference, why not just autolevel everyone to 60 and give them the same exact gear then? Solves that problem, along with diversity. Let everyone fly cookie cutter builds and characters.
I know this is going to be impossible, but could everyone please stop moaning and just wait and see what we get before calling Doom? We don't even know what new Spec Trees we're getting are yet. Who knows... it just might be something interesting after all.
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
colored text = mod mode
Actually it's the ones who pour money into the game who should be at least a little more privileged than the "I grind everything, spend no dime" guys.
Because, otherwise, who pays the "rent"?
That's why I don't understand the way they are taking with this game ... Metrics can be all good as you want, but what do you do with all of the metrics if incomes drop?
And people spend when they have fun ... and all of this heavy grinding is not fun.
Moreover, judging from the friends I don't see anymore online from my short friends list and I could give out their names ... I don't think metrics are that healthy either.
For someone who usually posts walls of calculations , that's certainly sounds like an avoidance of a direct answer .
Maybe because while you were doing stuff like the Rep system or pretty much any other progression system -- you could see & feel progress .
From my POV, the one thing that equals this systems Alt unfriendlyness is it's progress unfriendlyness .
You yourself have noted finding 4 points .
I too "found" points and was totally unexited at the discovery .
Does that sound like a properly awarding system (?) in which by the time you get something , you're already too bored to care?!
In Cryptic's view, this is probably a refinement of the Rep & spec points system .
In my view it's just the grindiest and most boring of the three , and by the time the 3rd or 4th "tree" will come about, you too will likely see it for what it is .
I already brought this up in an earlier reply. When you bought your first computer, did you think it would be your last computer? No? Figured there would be newer computers or components? Even with your last computer...you knew the same, right?
So Cryptic dropped out the initial three. Did those three provide everything that everybody wanted? Hell, Commando provided me nothing that I wanted - doubt I'll ever put points in there. All the Ground stuff in Intelligence? I don't care about that...I've still been putting the points in there cause I do want some of the things that requires that investment of points.
So say they come out with Way Better Intelligence and Way Better Pilot...not likely with the next batch or even the batch after that, because there are all sorts of things that they could do without doing that - but Hell, let's say with the 5th Anniversary they come out with Way Better Intelligence anyway as a Specialization.
Does that magically take everything that I've gotten out of the use from using Intelligence in the time that I used it? No, I still got the use out of it. Kind of like you got use out each computer you bought or built along the way, right? TV? Toaster? Car? Cellphone? You name it, eh? Know there's always something better coming, but you've still got the use of what you've got now until then, right?
And Hell, even with that chance of there being Way Better Intelligence...until you reach the point of having the points in there where it is actually better than what you've got, what you've got is going to be helping you get those points.
Having a computer to go online to order a new computer or new parts for that computer makes it easier than trying to go online to order without having the computer, eh?
They're all just such obvious things, the simplest of things, I just don't get why they're complaints.
Yeah, people want stuff yesterday...why? If they've got everything yesterday, what are their plans for today? And if they take a look at those plans for today, did they really need everything yesterday? Did they need it at all?
Maybe because I grew up middle-class. Maybe because even as an adult I was still middle-class, better off than I was growing up, but still middle-class. So I never had everything I wanted handed to me. Maybe I grew up accepting that. I didn't grow up feeling like I needed everything that I didn't have while growing up. Heh, no doubt I splurged here and there on things...but I didn't need everything yesterday.
Well I guess this is where we differ. Any computer or part for one I have ever bought I have been able to do because I have had to you know work for the $. I guess Cryptic would like us to work in there game instead of play it like... I don't know a game perhaps.
I am ok with having to work for some real money $ to purchase a game. (yes buying little things in a F2P game is fine with me, paying for some entertainment is acceptable).
Cryptic now would like me to Work inside the game... and although I find a bit of game work (grinding) in fact a bit fun now and then. Having to treat the game like a second job is NOT ok with me. I refuse to have to grind a game for an amount of time that equates to a full time job. Its beyond stupid. The way this system is implemented, in combo with the games already existing workman style grinds. I say TRIBBLE em... and frankly I am glad they are going to pull a blatant Spec grind. (almost for sure at the same time as a new "anniversary celebration" grind) cause there about to bleed another handful of people that are going to realize grinding a GAME like its a job is not fun at all. Damn folks go get a real life part time job and use all that money to pay for real life fun like concert or sports tickets or something. It makes a heck of a lot more sense then working a virtual second job so you can get better at your second job. lol
Should have gone with car, bus, or train rather than walking...but I got caught up in the melodramedy of the thread.
In a sense though, finding those points itself points and the lack of that feedback on the progress...the general thing...just adds to the lack of importance to it. It's not the bigger deal that the Reputation systems are - it's not the unlocking the traits, unlocking gear, and all the rest. The Specialization stuff is far more laid back...it's just there. It happens eventually regardless of what you do. It's not drawing attention to itself like the Reputation system...you have to do this content to get the Marks, you have to do this content to get special items, you've unlocked this and you've got a choice of traits, you've unlocked this gear, and all the rest.
The Specialization stuff...is just way more laidback and casual. Unless there's something specific you want, it's pretty easy to miss whatever is going on with it. It's not an in your face thing like the Rep system is.
If somebody's going after something particular in one of the Specializations, then the odds are they're going to be keeping a closer eye on somebody that's not.
Somebody that wants to train Rank3 Intel abilities is going to have a different outlook on it than somebody that doesn't care if they can or not, because they're not running anything that requires it. Somebody that does both Ground and Space may want to fill out all three...I haven't needed any of the Ground stuff from Intel nor Commando to do what I do on Ground.
It's not a case of saying everybody should play the same way, different strokes for different folks is one of my cliches. Hell, I might want more out whatever the new one is compared to others.
But even with somebody wanting everything, why is there the rush in it?
If this were a game with actual content progression, where you needed to get X from Dungeon A so you could run Dungeon B, and you needed to run Dungeon B to get Y, so you could run Dungeon C, where you needed to get Z so you run the next thing...and all of this was within a limited period of time before the whole thing shifted and you had to start the process again, it would be one thing.
We only have Dungeon A. Getting X allows us to run Dungeon A faster so we can get Y too. We don't need X to get Y, mind you. Getting X & Y allows you to run Dungeon A faster so you can get Z. Again, we don't need either X nor Y to have gotten Z...we could have started with Z.
People are complaining about a grind taking too long to get stuff that doesn't do anything but allow them to run that grind faster. It's a treadmill to nowhere...and so many folks choose to play that way and then complain about it.
I've mentioned in another thread, that was it really a case that this is an alt-friendly game (or that they were working toward it being one)...? I think if folks step back, they'll see it was an alt-needy game. Cause if you didn't have alts, you had nothing to do. You'd already done everything. So you'd keep creating more and more alts...and you'd fully gear every single one of them. Sure, some people enjoy having oodles of alts. But uh, what are they doing with those alts? 30 alts with little difference other than their costumes all running through the same content over and over? How is that different than running a few characters through the same content over and over?
Is it cause they chose to do it instead of feeling forced to do it? Why do they feel forced to do it? And if it's what they were doing anyway...well, uh...
Tom: Where you going, bud?
Jerry: I'm going to McDonald's.
Tom: Can you grab me a vanilla shake?
Jerry: Sorry, I'm not going to go now - I don't feel like going since I feel like I have to go to get you your vanilla shake.
I mean...seriously?
This game is far from perfect...it's further than a walk from New York to Los Angeles from perfect.
But I just really have a difficult time with some of the complaints.
Maybe I've just been playing MMOs too long. I play them because I want the experience to go on for months, for years...I don't want something that's done in a weekend or a week. So yeah, things take time - but a bunch of the stuff is just stuff that happens as you're playing the game anyway, so it's not a case that it's taking any additional time. Stuff gets done when it gets done.
It's like I said in my last reply...I'm playing the game anyway, that something else happens during that time I'm playing doesn't increase the amount of time I'm playing. I'm already playing.
And doing stuff to get a reward is uh...Hell, they call it gamification when talking about bringing game methodologies to other environments - they do something, they get a reward, and they have fun in the process.
I go through and I do something...cool...I get something in return for doing that. Whether it's hand the book to the guy sitting right behind the desk where the book is or I'm stomping on rats down in his basement, I do something - I get a reward. Yes, around the third time I've had to hand him the book I'm feeling like throwing him down in the basement with the rats...
If something starts to turn into work, I don't do it. Sure, I can get 5800 SP every 90s from doing Gerren, but by the 2nd-3rd one...I'm out of there. It's not any fun for me. I still run Argala from time to time, but again...I might only do 3-4 runs. 3-4 runs might be fun. More isn't. So I go do something else.
I don't have the I need it now thing going for me...even if there's something I want, I'm willing to wait - it happens when it happens.
I refuse to turn a game into work...I've left games because of that. Lol, it's why I left SWG. I left before the NGE/CU stuff. For three months I had done nothing but keep my store stocked with stuff I crafted from hitting up my harvesters. I hadn't been in combat or anything for three months. It was a freaking job...I recognized it...I said TRIBBLE it and left.
I never flew with Fleet gear until joining IC. That wasn't all that long ago. I ran two solo Fleets, but I was never in a rush with them...they would have happened when they happened. I couldn't guess how many fully Rep and Rep geared, Lobi Geared, and everything but Fleet geared toons I've deleted over the years. Cause it was never a big deal...it's just a game. All those threads where folks complained they'd worked hard for stuff...and er, much to the chagrin of the mods, I voiced a different opinion...was because I can't think of anything in the game that I've worked at. Can't even say all the TRIBBLE with trying to understand the mechanics and the rest has been work...that's been fun for me, I enjoy doing that - go off and spend a few hours testing something, I'm not losing out on any progression from anything and I don't feel like I'm wasting any sort of time.
If the game has turned into nothing but work for folks, if they're not having fun anymore, then they should definitely let Cryptic know about it - but at some point, they may just need to realize that despite their love of Star Trek or whatever, it might not just be the Star Trek game that they're looking for...
The complaints aren't unanimous, no more than any of the attaboys are...different folks, different things...doesn't make folks into Cryptic Defenders or Cryptic Haters...just different folks.
edit: Lol, my TLDR word posts are so much more painful (for me) to look back at than my TLDR number posts...heh.
At the rate I'm gaining skill points, I'll be no where near close to completing any of my remaining trees before the new one comes out. Kind of makes me sad.
If it was a rep track, at least I know I'd be able to get through it before the next one came out.
Maybe I'm taking this out of context, but at the rate I'm currently gaining experience, it doesn't feel like buying a phone that goes obsolete in 3-4 months. It feels more like I've been saving up for a phone and before I even have 1/3 of the money I need for it, a better one comes out that takes a different currency.
I don't want to have it handed to me, but I want to have enough measurable progress to feel like I'm making progress. I did before, but after the xp adjustment I don't. Maybe that's the problem, in that players all have a different threshold where they start to feel their in game actions aren't bringing them closer, (or close enough relative to the time and effort they expended), to their goals.
Sorry if I got a little off topic.
I have no problem with not being able to train my BOffs in the best Intel Abilities, I have plenty of things to fill in BOff slots with, my problem with this concept is this: what is the new Spec Tree going to allow us to train, and perhaps more importaintly, what kind of special BOff will I need if I do want to train it through the new Spec Tree? This leads to The Big Question: does a new Spec Tree, meaning new BOffs, mean new ships with Hybrid seating?
Yep, my concern isn't how quickly I can fill up the Tre, or even about being able to use the new skills with my BOffs, but how quickly is Cryptic going to make my shiny new Phantom or Sarr Theln obsolete? I put real $ into one, real time into the other, both for the ship and for he Elite Carrier pets I got for it.
Let's not forget the fact that I have (not having bought the Delta Pack) exactly Two Purple Quality BOffs to use between the ships, the Mission Reward Potato-Man and a Talaxian, which you can only own one of, or I'd get another so I could have a Tac for the escort and an Eng for the carrier. There don't appear to be any other options for traited Intel-Hybrid BOffs on the horizon, either, besides getting a White Quality Human (for Leadership).
Let us not forget the fact that I'm not concerned about the Spec Tree itself solely because I have already resigned myself to the fact that it is hopeless. Should someone really have to feel hopeless about a game? Not any more than they should have to worry that thier very recent investment of time and/or money is becoming obsolete just as they complete it.
TL;DR: Does this mean new ships w/new Hybrid Seating & Hybrid BOffs to go along with it? If so, I am disheartend at the fact that I've put real time & money into things that are, weeks after I got them, going to be obsolete. And where/when are decent Hybrid BOffs going to be available through the promised "Ingame Means"???
First, let me say again - that I'm nobody special. I might argue my opinion until I'm blue in the face...I might get inflammatory and cross the line at times...but I'm just another poster, just sharing his thoughts and his opinions.
But I dig that reply. If somebody else made a similar reply and I bled a little aggro into it or went over the top with some inflammatory stuff, I've got a bit of built up aggro and I'm bleeding it all over the place. You know, I really think it started with Bort's comments about spreadsheets and notepad. I just did not react well to that. Add in the fact that all that stuff I like dorking around with, testing, and so forth...was running into bugs left, right, and center. Which only made that comment that much worse for me...maybe they need to spend a wee bit of time with some spreadsheets, notepad, and watching what's going on, eh? Regardless though, if I went all nerd hulk on somebody that was making a reply like that...my apologies.
The folks that want to earn Spec Points in five minutes, yes, I'm going to continue to go ape**** on them. But to the other folks, yes, my apologies.
That's why I dig that post, by the way...cause it's more of a tweak 'n balance post to me than the waaaaaah gimme posts that have been flooding the forums since S9.5...
IMHO (and yeah, it's all still just opinion)...
They need to up the rewards of SP for a bunch of things out there...they don't need to go nerfing stuff...and if they decide to nerf anything because of what I'm saying here...yeah, them, their mothers, and the neighbor's dog...I got two fingers aimed at the screen.
Coliseum on replay doesn't even reward half of what Gerren does...with Gerren only taking me ~90s. It's not even a quarter of what takes me ~220-240s in Argala. Coliseum takes a bit of time to play through. Coliseum, because of it's time/effort compared to other things...should be rewarding a Hell of a lot more than it is.
They want us in the Delta Quadrant? Fine...they should want us to want to be in the Delta Quadrant. Totally hypothetical, but how many folks might hit up more stuff in the DQ if they didn't have that feeling that they didn't have a choice? Yeah, I'm big on choices...we've got all this potentially awesome content that we could be playing along with the new content...but it's all jacked up, imho.
So yeah, the first thing to address there would be a balance pass of the content's SP rewards. That would also include the queues. Cryptic took such massive steps initially to provide all the replay action so folks could replay stuff they like. WTF did they do with DQ?
That doesn't mean that I should be able to go hit up whatever and wham bam I'm done with the 60 Spec Points, lol. But if I want to hit up a variety of content, then that content should be rewarding along those lines. This isn't Rep stuff where we should do stuff for folks to earn rep with them...this is just stuff that we should be getting as we play, right?
So they need to bump that stuff up in a big ol' balance pass. Just my humble opinion there.
I don't believe it needs to stop there, as far as taking a look at it. Cryptic might be as tired of seeing the requests for having everything yesterday as I am...but I'd hate to think that they're lumping all of those together and ignoring the folks that aren't asking for that, just for it to be better.
Like you can do stuff with 10k DPS while there are folks doing over 100k...there's a lot of room between what those "want it yesterday" folks are asking for and where it is now. There's a lot of room there, right? Some wiggle room, right? Cryptic doesn't have to change it so we're done with the game in a weekend with nothing left to do...but does it quite have to take as long as it does for some of their players out there?
So yeah, those two things...why I liked this particular post, cause it reminded me that it's not just a fight against the folks that...well, yeah, it's not just about them - and getting caught up in that fight just clutters things up more and makes it easier for Cryptic to ignore.
So yeah, those two things...some bump up balance with the other content and toning down the requirements for each level. Sure, everybody's going to have their different thresholds...and while it's just my humble opinion again, Cryptic could definitely aim for a more reasonable threshold.
Cause sometimes...regardless of what they think they might be doing...they can end up souring folks that normally wouldn't agree with the 24/7 sourpusses...and folks notice that, so they get soured as well. Some folks leave, and then we end up with one Hell of a toxic community.
Handled Ankle Straps: 350z each
Vasoline: 5000z an ounce