also some universal code, picked it up and use it myself and have modded mine, use as needed, was originally offered here free for all on the STO forums, you can also mod this for addon use in both google chrome and mozilla firefox
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Cryptic says: "You're hired!....and better than the other guy!"
4. People here, I'm looking at you, start throwing insults around and then claim the ad hominem card.
No offence, but YOU were the one who started the hostile tone from my very first post in this topic. Stop blowing your own horn.
Yeah because this post wasn't insulting or anything, neither the ones on Page 3 ... you might wanna look up what "ad hominem" means ... :
Optimist. I'd surprise me if it reached page 2 without incident.
Hint : This one is a perfect example ... well it's more like "argumentum ad populum", but still ...
PS : What insults were thrown by me, or anyone else "complaining" for that matter ?
As I said before the only insults I can see here were made by you, and 1-2 other guys trying to discredit anything negative ... being legit or not ...
Sorry it's kind of silly accusing others of "throwing TRIBBLE", if the only reason for you being here, is "throwing TRIBBLE" ... or did I miss the part, where you tried to actually respond to anyones concerns (being bat**** - crazy or not) ... if you manage to show me one respectful comment of yours in here, I'm happy to apologize for whatever I'm supposedly said ...
Patch Notes : Resolved an Issue, where people would accidently experience Fun.
Question Cookie, what if the voted bug to fix take longer than 3 months?
Then they can mention that if they can't get it finished. Something like, we are working away at resolving this issue and will provide regular updates on how it is coming along until we get it resolved. I don't claim to know how long it takes to fix a particular bug but I mentioned 3 months as a guestimate for a reasonable amount of time that still shows they are willing to fix something that the players really would like to see fixed.
Looking for a new fleet? Drop by the in-game chat channel, "tenforwardforum", and say hi to the members of A Fleet Called Ten Forward (Fed) and The Orion Pirates (KDF). If you already have a fleet you are happy with, please feel free to drop by our chat channel if you are looking for a friendly bunch of helpful people to socialize with.
STO allows players to get the best end-game items short of lobi-stuff in ~4-6 months of active play.
World of ******** allows players to get the best items in the game (if they are lucky) by doing the same "fleet action" over and over with a 168 hour cool down between attempts.
STO players complain about spending 30 dollars for a one-time purchase of the best ships in the game.
World of ******** players will spend 30 bucks to be allowed to log in over the next 60 days.
STO players can grind a reputation to the maximum for the first time on any toon in 40 days. any subsequent toons can do it in 20 days. It takes a single 15 minute space battle every-other day to get the turn-ins required for the rep daily. (10-20 STFs = Tier 5 rep)
World of ******** takes weeks of grinding 30 minute "fleet actions" to rep something up.
In STO you spend 1-3 days worth of dil to buy a console.
In Wow, you have to hope the "console" you want drops off a single specific boss. That boss can have a 24-168 hour cool-down before you can try again. There is no way to guarantee a drop.
In STO you can use a level 40 ship and level 50 weapons all the way to 60.
in WoW, your gear has to be within 2 levels of you, or you aren't allowed to do any "fleet actions" and enemies will be very hard to kill. Making it to max level with 10-20 level old gear is not advisable.
And to top it off:
If you subscribed to WoW since it released, bought each expansion pack and are active today, You have spent: $2060. Money spent if you subscribed since the day STO launched: $1160
$830 in ships, and all the lifetime benefits, and another 33,000 zen to tie you over - netting you about 5.2 million dilithium.
SO there - if you really want to compare STO to other MMOs, and call STO "Pay to win" and you want to compare what you get for your dollar, consider you can own almost everything and still be paying less than others do for an MMO.
Also consider you like it because Star Trek and the only reason you complain about Dil is because you hate having to wait, and you resent not being willing/able to pay STO money to speed it up.
This is a business. They need you to want to spend money. They need players to feel their money is well spent and they are happy so they will spend again. If the game sucked so bad, how are they celebrating the 5 year event soon?
The vast majority of STO players enjoy the experience - the vocal minority of "angry but unwilling to move on" gamers congregate on online communities to circle-jerk their grievances.
I dislike your propaganda. That game is not the same type as STO.
There is very little tangible evidence that our community managers are tasked with reporting anything back to the development team. From an external viewpoint, the lead Dev and executive management make decisions on the game direction (including features), bugs, and "addressing concerns" -- and the community managers aren't weighing heavily on that, imho. I don't see a back-and-forth taking place with the CMs as an intermediary.
Based on Cryptic's (and PWE/PWI's) management's directions, there's no need to have a community manager. Instead, we seem to have community-focused Communications Managers who posts occasional updates (as provided by their management) and run livestreams.
Devs, however, should be engaged with the community. Plenty of suggestions have been provided about how; those suggestions are falling on deaf ears (or closed eyes/minds). I've worked in Silicon Valley Fortune 100/500 companies for the past two decades; devs DO get engaged in online communities. That's a fact.
What Cryptic is suffering from: Lack of clear mandates in community/player-customer engagement.
Instead, we seem to have a small-company mentality where there's an ivory tower of decision-makers... and a clear disconnect with excellent player-customer interactivity. And devs need to be a part of that. Now.
And Cryptic needs to redefine the role of the Community Manager, too.
Or hire someone willing to step into the role and pro-actively make it into something bigger, more effective. But that would be rocking the management's boat...
I think this is a possibility. At the very least, my suspicion is that Smirk is receiving inadequate support both in terms of his operational mandate and staffing. But I do think there are more issues with inadequate training and support throughout the customer-facing departments, which results in the one dev who does communicate often (Tacofangs) seeming, whether or not Cryptic actually intends to do so or not, to get thrown under the bus by management. I am not sure there is anything deliberate to this on their part--I would certainly hope they would not do that to one of their most obvious high-talent employees. But that is unfortunately the *effect* that occurs.
As far as Geko...I don't think most people believe me on this but I have actually had a rational conversation with him once, over a verbal misstep he made. My personal impression is not someone who hates the playerbase, but rather someone who does not always realize the impact his words are going to have on people. I also suspect he is one of those people with an extremely biting sense of humor that does *not* translate into the printed word very well, which just amplifies the problem in written format. I would also venture a guess that he is highly systems-oriented and sometimes mistakenly approaches people from the same perspective and the emotional backlash that results is genuinely unexpected.
These are real problems in a customer-facing role--and yet I am unwilling to demonize him. Do I disagree with his decisions and believe that he needs to exercise much more caution when he speaks? Yes. However, when he and I had our exchange, I found that if you explain why something could be taken in an offensive way WITHOUT trying to tell him he must have meant to hurt people--as in, rationally explain that X comment could undermine what he was trying to convey in the rest of the message--it doesn't go badly. We dealt with it, we moved on from there.
I am sure there are some who will say that I am cutting Geko too much slack or that I am white-knighting. That is not the case, as I do *strongly* disagree with a number of decisions he has made and have stated the reasons for that disagreement very clearly. And yes, I realize he has stepped in it pretty badly sometimes. But I think I can have my disagreements without perpetuating an angry pile-on.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Yes I do every day. I can see your post to there. Wonder why you keep posting here after the kind of things you say on us.
And yes, every time someone mention the forum, in one way or another, he is downvoted AND trolled. Because redditor are holier than us, the low classes of STO.
And when they don't mention the forum, but are not positive with STO (even minor grievance), they are downvoted right away.
Still, some people are still giving their opinion. That's true.
Tell me, did you ever wondered why even the ultra positive reddit is becoming (your words) like the forum, with all the whining ? Perhaps a lot of people disagreed with cryptic recently ? I don't know, perhaps too obvious. Yeah, I guess that's just people becoming stupid or something.
Let me see if I can say this right....
While you are right about the post you linked. I have came across at least two others if I remember right that was pretty much copy & pasted from the forums and when I called out that fact I was "downvoted and trolled". Also note, I'm 90% sure I could find 10 comments that state flaws with STO that was not downvoted. One last thing on this topic, I think there was rules in place that pretty much said "Don't bring craptier forum BS here" and Mister Weeping Panda broke that rule.
Now on to the rest of what you said. Why I do I hang out around? While the forums do have far too many ideas that make me ask myself the same question, there is light in darkness and a worthwhile thread is a grand thing to find.
PS: I hate blanket statements. The Delta Rising "meme" said by Geko is one and so is what most of the Counter Cryptic Clan (the arch-rivals of the Cryptic Defense Force) says too.
If you all start talking about what you "believe", it's a religion. That has nothing to do with facts.
If somebody tries to do his best, the result might not be enjoyed as much by other people. That's why I take this sentences seriously: "I love STO. I try to deliver the best we can give."
I admit, that I don't like anything presented, but I don't doubt their intentions.
If there was an "under the circumstances" in those quotation marks,, it'd actually sound more sincere and less marketing speech .
As is, I'll apologize in my name only for being a part of a group of grumpy players who on face value are the only clouds in Geko's sky .
... he truly deserves better players then the scum & villains that reside hereabouts in this cantina ...
There aren't only Devs working for Cryptic. Devs have to develop, not to put statements on forums (the lone exception might be the bug forum in order to clarify some reports).
Community managers or moderators are to serve the forums and to collect data to present to the other people.
So when a Dev answers somewhere, it is no obligation to do so. It's simply not his job. Of course he might do it, but he has a different job.
Summary: The discussion here is worthless junk.
BTW There are a lot of things I don't like on STO. But I am in no need to satisfy supporters or bashers of Cryptic / STO. I just have my own head and that says, that what one likes (Geko) somebody else (me or ...(put any name here)) might not like. That is ok. It's a bore if our tastes and fashions would all be the same.
Sorry, have to ask, did you read past the first post ... afaik this Thread has turned in what Geko actually said, not if he is obliged to do so ! I see no harm in discussing his point of view ...
Patch Notes : Resolved an Issue, where people would accidently experience Fun.
Am I the only one who think it's a bit sad to have the Lead Designer posting on a non official forum instead of the official forum ?
Yet another example of how the designers of this game don't communicate or listen to there player base.... they wont even post in there own forum... sad
Sorry, have to ask, did you read past the first post ... afaik this Thread has turned in what Geko actually said, not if he is obliged to do so ! I see no harm in discussing his point of view ...
Yes, I read that. His story was clear. It didn't say any fact about what he is doing, but I didn't expect that.
He answered (more or less) that he is not Geko in game. That was the fact.
Anything else discussed here, has nothing to do with this statement. It has to do, with what others expect him to do on the STO forums and that they don't think most of STO is playable. I simply don't understand, why those people stay to flame other players, if they don't like to play STO anymore (as their statements seem to suggest.)
So again: discussion about our feelings has to have no place here.
Am I the only one who think it's a bit sad to have the Lead Designer posting on a non official forum instead of the official forum ? Someone had a quite similar question, and I don't think he was ever officially answered (topic closed), where he said a friend of his was banned 3 days for having "Geko" as a name, not knowing why he was banned (it seems geko is a word in some Slavic country or something).
Yes it's absolutely sad and downright poor. If Geko wants to communicate something he should also do it in the right place.
Yes, I read that. His story was clear. It didn't say any fact about what he is doing, but I didn't expect that.
He answered (more or less) that he is not Geko in game. That was the fact.
Anything else discussed here, has nothing to do with this statement. It has to do, with what others expect him to do on the STO forums and that they don't think most of STO is playable. I simply don't understand, why those people stay to flame other players, if they don't like to play STO anymore (as their statements seem to suggest.)
So again: discussion about our feelings has to have no place here.
I agree, feelings should play no part in any discussions about this game. We aren't all friends here. We aren't playing a game built by a community and given out for free.
It's a product. We are customers. We should be given a certain level of service. Cryptic's employees don't have to like us and we don't have to like them. It's business.
Staff should be professional toward their customers. If they are not, they shouldn't be communicating with their customers - they should delegate that function to someone with the appropriate training.
I simply don't understand, why those people stay to flame other players, if they don't like to play STO anymore (as their statements seem to suggest.)
I guess I'm still missing the part where that actually happend in here ... since noone can provide any Links or Quotes ... I guess I'll have to give up on that ... all I've seen so far is people comparing this Thread to" Yo Mamma" - Jokes, telling others about their immaturity, because they're into sarcasm ...
Patch Notes : Resolved an Issue, where people would accidently experience Fun.
In my opinion, posting by official Cryptic employees or representatives, to a medium other than their own forums, especially in a time when official communication is so sparse indicates that the person posting would rather post where he doesn't have to have to face the angry mob, nor be held accountable for why the mob is angry.
He wants us to be customers. But he'd much rather we were the silent kind, that simply throw money at him and keep our mouths shut.
Not a whole heck of alot of customer respect from the front office these days. This off-site post reflects that in spades.
"You shoot him, I shoot you, I leave both your bodies here and go out for a late night snack.
I'm thinking maybe pancakes." ~ John Casey
never have i seen from a game company that communicates more on 3rd party quorums than there own forum. while i dont completely hate Al i dont like the coarse hes set for the game recently .
Im not really sure what to say about "gekos speech".
In one way it looks like finger pointing.... "no no... im not responsible... there are others.... and i also have a boss... and bla bla". On the other side he said that he is involved in nearly every aspect of the game.
Really?
Why do i have the feeling that these statements slightly conflict each other.
Ok, he is the Lead Designer... so... he is responsible for how the game looks like, how the mechanics work and whats in the game... or whats not in the game, right?
(I am also lead designer of game project and thats just about what my job is there)
That means that the massive design problems such as the fact that there is no real balance in this game falls into his responsibility.
Also the fact that Romulans and KDF ALWAYS get less attention than Feds (see ships, see bridges, see story missions)... thats in his responsibility.
The way how the upgrade system is designed.... his responsibility.
Removal of working game content -> story missions... the removal of everything related to exploration...... yep again... his responsibility.
Missions are also his responsibility... and this includes the rewards.
Lead designer... that means he designs all aspects of the game while the other people work to turn these designs into real.
And infact the game design is what has turned into a problem over the past 2 years.
Mostly the fact that game design does not reflect what the players actually want to see in this game.
Players want Star Trek.
They want an environment that they know from decases of Trek. They want to explore this distant worlds.... they boldly want to go where no man has gone before.
This is what players here have voiced over and over again.
But the lead designer - who has the power to make this happen - has decided to ignore this and instead has applied a design that many, many players really dislike.
When I started to play this game 2 1/2 years ago STO had alot more interesting content to offer than it does now.
Alot of content simply has been removed from the game while the newly added content simply isnt worth to be played and often also no fun to play.
This is a matter of game design... and this falls exactly into gekos responsibility.
Lets dont even start to talk about the quality of the game because thats going faster down the drain than the newly added content that nobody wants to play (*cough* club47)
Also the fact that for months players only do patrol missions is a matter of FAILED GAME DESIGN.
Yes... the biggest part of this game has either become unplayable or not worth to be played.
Geko, you have been in charge... you have had the chance to change that. After meanwhile 3 months you showed us that you simply dont care.
I am not even talking about complicated changes that you needed do... the missions were active before... many players used to play them frequently... there was nothing wrong with the missoins before Delta Rising. Your only job would have been to restore the old rewards. That is the only thing that the players requested from you.
I can understand that you have a boss and that you are working for a company that expects to make money with the game.
Like many players I have no problem paying for a good product.
What I dont understand is why the game design is so stupidly done that you and your company are wasting money.
Seriously, you do... you waste money... money that players would gladly pay to you.
Hundreds of times playes have requested Romulan bridge options.... as C-store items. The lead designer of this game could have listened to these requests and cryptic would have earned good money.
How many threads with requests about costume options do we have on the forum?... also totally ignored by the lead designer.... and again no money for cryptic.
There have been requests of specific items put into the c-store -> e.g. red matter capacitor.
Even if you ask 1000 zen for such items... people will spend money to buy them.
But I guess you guys (the ones which do the decisions) have decided "no, we dont want money that players are freely willing to pay.... instead we force the players to give us their money by monetizing everything that was free before".
There is only one bad thing about forcing people to do something.... they get mad.... and mad people tend to leave the game... or they simply refuse to pay for stuff that they would have bought from the c-store under normal conditions.
You are ignoring the players and forcing them to pay.... and the only result you can expect is that you earn less money than before.
And while we are talking about money here right now.
You would earn more money from gold members and lifetime subscibers if such subscriptions would be worth more.
Really you cant convince people to pay by offering playable talaxians (that was almost an insult to the Lifetimers here).
Where else do you waste money?
The endless grind you have introduced lately.... because with all these spec trees and the low xp rewards the players of this game have no time anymore for their alts. Not only that already existing alts are not played anymore... not build up anymore... not equiped with new ships and items..... you certainly have already noticed that players are not purchasing new captain slots like they did before.
You forced players to grind on their main characters.... and many of them wont build up new ones. You dont get zen for captain slots like prior Delta rising.
Same will btw. happen to the boff slots soon.
Oh and btw. Captain slots and Boff slots where part of the benefits for Lifetime subscribers.... so you actually made these subscriptions worth less.... and less attractive to the players.
Yep, again money down the drain.
It is like a house of cards where you try to take away one card from the lower part.
This house of cards is collapsing already and you know that.
Geko, i really hope you (or somebody who has influence on you) will read this.
Do you actually think about the consequences of your design decisions?
Do you?
You are lead designer of the game. Start to do some clever decisions and design the game that the players expect from you.
Return this game to the point where it is Star Trek again.... where it is fun to play again.... where players actually have a reason to pay for something again.
You have said it and you are right... we are here because we like Star Trek... and we are still here because there a more things that we like than things we don't like.
BUT... we have reached the point where the stuff that we like is about 51% while the stuff that we dont like is 49%.
It does not take much more of these stupid game breaking design failures for us to reconsider our position to this game.
Many players made their decision already and left the game.
Geko... it is your job to prevent that more will leave.
Well for once that's not the reason I don't like him ... Dstahl i.E. made lots of "questionable" Decisions as well & kept talking about stuff that never saw the light of day ... yet, I liked the guy, because he was respectful to his community, even interacted with them on a regular basis ...
So I'm not sure to whom, this letter is supposed to be adressed ? I don't think the "recipients" actually exist ...
There is an equal amount of evidence as to the existence of those the letter is addressed to as there is to your existence.
There is an equal amount of evidence as to the existence of those the letter is addressed to as there is to your existence.
see 4 Posts above yours, for that matter ... getting tired of repeating myself ... imho this Thread is full of people trying to make people think it's full of *insert insult here*, while it's actually not at all ...
So I'd really love to see some of this Evidence ... sure there is always "some guys", but just looking at this Thread, they're negligable ...
Patch Notes : Resolved an Issue, where people would accidently experience Fun.
In my opinion, posting by official Cryptic employees or representatives, to a medium other than their own forums, especially in a time when official communication is so sparse indicates that the person posting would rather post where he doesn't have to have to face the angry mob, nor be held accountable for why the mob is angry.
He wants us to be customers. But he'd much rather we were the silent kind, that simply throw money at him and keep our mouths shut.
Not a whole heck of alot of customer respect from the front office these days. This off-site post reflects that in spades.
I agree.
It's obvious that the lack of communication starts at the top. I honestly don't know why they bother having an 'official forum' if they don't even wish to use it.
It's not even that they don't want to exchange with us, they don't even post announcements here. Everything is on Facebook or Reddit.. it's absolutely ridiculous. Most people that signed up on this forum did so because we figured it would be the best place to get information and updates.
In reality, this is nothing but a community site with little to no interaction with Cryptic in any form. Definitely one of the things that needs to change, it makes players feel like the devs have no interest in hearing from them. That's not how they should want their customers to feel. I understand a lot of what Geko posted, and I don't fault him for what he said, I fault him for taking to Reddit while ignoring the official forums.
It's obvious that the lack of communication starts at the top. I honestly don't know why they bother having an 'official forum' if they don't even wish to use it.
It's not even that they don't want to exchange with us, they don't even post announcements here. Everything is on Facebook or Reddit.. it's absolutely ridiculous. Most people that signed up on this forum did so because we figured it would be the best place to get information and updates.
In reality, this is nothing but a community site with little to no interaction with Cryptic in any form. Definitely one of the things that needs to change, it makes players feel like the devs have no interest in hearing from them. That's not how they should want their customers to feel. I understand a lot of what Geko posted, and I don't fault him for what he said, I fault him for taking to Reddit while ignoring the official forums.
In alot of ways, I feel like that poor sap that got bilked by the smooth talkin' con man. you know the type, you see them on your nightly news. The 70 year old grandfather of 3, who spent his life working in the steel mill for a small pension. Then one day a guy in a fancy suit comes along talking about retirement planning and investments. The grandfather wants to have something to pass down to his children when he goes, so he invests his small pension with the investment banker. Then, weeks later, when the investments aren't paying out, he goes to call the investment house only to get "We're sorry, this number is no longer in service."
I bought my LTS 2 years ago. After a rocky launch, it finally was starting to look like the game had a future. Things were being improved, the Devs were saying all the right things, so I took the leap. I bought the LTS, I bought ships, I bought uniforms.
Then something comes along like Delta Rising, that removes the joy this game once brought, that makes you regret your investment.
You hang around, hoping the investment can be salvaged. That perhaps you can somehow will your ROI to what you want it to be. But the Devs no longer say what you want to hear. In fact they say nothing at all, and meanwhile you feel that investment slip further and further away.
"You shoot him, I shoot you, I leave both your bodies here and go out for a late night snack.
I'm thinking maybe pancakes." ~ John Casey
I like Al Rivera. He's the only person willing to treat the whiney morons on the forums like the whiney morons they are.
The golden rule works both ways.
There. I said it.
So you admire someone that treats customers like dirt, that refuses to acknowledge them and instead does not what the customers want, but the exact opposite?
"You shoot him, I shoot you, I leave both your bodies here and go out for a late night snack.
I'm thinking maybe pancakes." ~ John Casey
So you admire someone that treats customers like dirt, that refuses to acknowledge them and instead does not what the customers want, but the exact opposite?
With commentary like this great example? Yes, I fully support his unorthodox communication methods.
Comments
Cryptic says: "You're hired!....and better than the other guy!"
Yeah because this post wasn't insulting or anything, neither the ones on Page 3 ... you might wanna look up what "ad hominem" means ... :
Hint : This one is a perfect example ... well it's more like "argumentum ad populum", but still ...
PS : What insults were thrown by me, or anyone else "complaining" for that matter ?
As I said before the only insults I can see here were made by you, and 1-2 other guys trying to discredit anything negative ... being legit or not ...
Sorry it's kind of silly accusing others of "throwing TRIBBLE", if the only reason for you being here, is "throwing TRIBBLE" ... or did I miss the part, where you tried to actually respond to anyones concerns (being bat**** - crazy or not) ... if you manage to show me one respectful comment of yours in here, I'm happy to apologize for whatever I'm supposedly said ...
Then they can mention that if they can't get it finished. Something like, we are working away at resolving this issue and will provide regular updates on how it is coming along until we get it resolved. I don't claim to know how long it takes to fix a particular bug but I mentioned 3 months as a guestimate for a reasonable amount of time that still shows they are willing to fix something that the players really would like to see fixed.
They could use Scotty's Miracle Worker advice for estimates.
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I dislike your propaganda. That game is not the same type as STO.
I think this is a possibility. At the very least, my suspicion is that Smirk is receiving inadequate support both in terms of his operational mandate and staffing. But I do think there are more issues with inadequate training and support throughout the customer-facing departments, which results in the one dev who does communicate often (Tacofangs) seeming, whether or not Cryptic actually intends to do so or not, to get thrown under the bus by management. I am not sure there is anything deliberate to this on their part--I would certainly hope they would not do that to one of their most obvious high-talent employees. But that is unfortunately the *effect* that occurs.
As far as Geko...I don't think most people believe me on this but I have actually had a rational conversation with him once, over a verbal misstep he made. My personal impression is not someone who hates the playerbase, but rather someone who does not always realize the impact his words are going to have on people. I also suspect he is one of those people with an extremely biting sense of humor that does *not* translate into the printed word very well, which just amplifies the problem in written format. I would also venture a guess that he is highly systems-oriented and sometimes mistakenly approaches people from the same perspective and the emotional backlash that results is genuinely unexpected.
These are real problems in a customer-facing role--and yet I am unwilling to demonize him. Do I disagree with his decisions and believe that he needs to exercise much more caution when he speaks? Yes. However, when he and I had our exchange, I found that if you explain why something could be taken in an offensive way WITHOUT trying to tell him he must have meant to hurt people--as in, rationally explain that X comment could undermine what he was trying to convey in the rest of the message--it doesn't go badly. We dealt with it, we moved on from there.
I am sure there are some who will say that I am cutting Geko too much slack or that I am white-knighting. That is not the case, as I do *strongly* disagree with a number of decisions he has made and have stated the reasons for that disagreement very clearly. And yes, I realize he has stepped in it pretty badly sometimes. But I think I can have my disagreements without perpetuating an angry pile-on.
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Let me see if I can say this right....
While you are right about the post you linked. I have came across at least two others if I remember right that was pretty much copy & pasted from the forums and when I called out that fact I was "downvoted and trolled". Also note, I'm 90% sure I could find 10 comments that state flaws with STO that was not downvoted. One last thing on this topic, I think there was rules in place that pretty much said "Don't bring craptier forum BS here" and Mister Weeping Panda broke that rule.
Now on to the rest of what you said. Why I do I hang out around? While the forums do have far too many ideas that make me ask myself the same question, there is light in darkness and a worthwhile thread is a grand thing to find.
PS: I hate blanket statements. The Delta Rising "meme" said by Geko is one and so is what most of the Counter Cryptic Clan (the arch-rivals of the Cryptic Defense Force) says too.
If there was an "under the circumstances" in those quotation marks,, it'd actually sound more sincere and less marketing speech .
As is, I'll apologize in my name only for being a part of a group of grumpy players who on face value are the only clouds in Geko's sky .
... he truly deserves better players then the scum & villains that reside hereabouts in this cantina ...
There aren't only Devs working for Cryptic. Devs have to develop, not to put statements on forums (the lone exception might be the bug forum in order to clarify some reports).
Community managers or moderators are to serve the forums and to collect data to present to the other people.
So when a Dev answers somewhere, it is no obligation to do so. It's simply not his job. Of course he might do it, but he has a different job.
Summary: The discussion here is worthless junk.
BTW There are a lot of things I don't like on STO. But I am in no need to satisfy supporters or bashers of Cryptic / STO. I just have my own head and that says, that what one likes (Geko) somebody else (me or ...(put any name here)) might not like. That is ok. It's a bore if our tastes and fashions would all be the same.
Sorry, have to ask, did you read past the first post ... afaik this Thread has turned in what Geko actually said, not if he is obliged to do so ! I see no harm in discussing his point of view ...
Yet another example of how the designers of this game don't communicate or listen to there player base.... they wont even post in there own forum... sad
Yes, I read that. His story was clear. It didn't say any fact about what he is doing, but I didn't expect that.
He answered (more or less) that he is not Geko in game. That was the fact.
Anything else discussed here, has nothing to do with this statement. It has to do, with what others expect him to do on the STO forums and that they don't think most of STO is playable. I simply don't understand, why those people stay to flame other players, if they don't like to play STO anymore (as their statements seem to suggest.)
So again: discussion about our feelings has to have no place here.
Yes it's absolutely sad and downright poor. If Geko wants to communicate something he should also do it in the right place.
I agree, feelings should play no part in any discussions about this game. We aren't all friends here. We aren't playing a game built by a community and given out for free.
It's a product. We are customers. We should be given a certain level of service. Cryptic's employees don't have to like us and we don't have to like them. It's business.
Staff should be professional toward their customers. If they are not, they shouldn't be communicating with their customers - they should delegate that function to someone with the appropriate training.
Free Tibet!
I guess I'm still missing the part where that actually happend in here ... since noone can provide any Links or Quotes ... I guess I'll have to give up on that ... all I've seen so far is people comparing this Thread to" Yo Mamma" - Jokes, telling others about their immaturity, because they're into sarcasm ...
He wants us to be customers. But he'd much rather we were the silent kind, that simply throw money at him and keep our mouths shut.
Not a whole heck of alot of customer respect from the front office these days. This off-site post reflects that in spades.
"You shoot him, I shoot you, I leave both your bodies here and go out for a late night snack.
I'm thinking maybe pancakes." ~ John Casey
In one way it looks like finger pointing.... "no no... im not responsible... there are others.... and i also have a boss... and bla bla". On the other side he said that he is involved in nearly every aspect of the game.
Really?
Why do i have the feeling that these statements slightly conflict each other.
Ok, he is the Lead Designer... so... he is responsible for how the game looks like, how the mechanics work and whats in the game... or whats not in the game, right?
(I am also lead designer of game project and thats just about what my job is there)
That means that the massive design problems such as the fact that there is no real balance in this game falls into his responsibility.
Also the fact that Romulans and KDF ALWAYS get less attention than Feds (see ships, see bridges, see story missions)... thats in his responsibility.
The way how the upgrade system is designed.... his responsibility.
Removal of working game content -> story missions... the removal of everything related to exploration...... yep again... his responsibility.
Missions are also his responsibility... and this includes the rewards.
Lead designer... that means he designs all aspects of the game while the other people work to turn these designs into real.
And infact the game design is what has turned into a problem over the past 2 years.
Mostly the fact that game design does not reflect what the players actually want to see in this game.
Players want Star Trek.
They want an environment that they know from decases of Trek. They want to explore this distant worlds.... they boldly want to go where no man has gone before.
This is what players here have voiced over and over again.
But the lead designer - who has the power to make this happen - has decided to ignore this and instead has applied a design that many, many players really dislike.
When I started to play this game 2 1/2 years ago STO had alot more interesting content to offer than it does now.
Alot of content simply has been removed from the game while the newly added content simply isnt worth to be played and often also no fun to play.
This is a matter of game design... and this falls exactly into gekos responsibility.
Lets dont even start to talk about the quality of the game because thats going faster down the drain than the newly added content that nobody wants to play (*cough* club47)
Also the fact that for months players only do patrol missions is a matter of FAILED GAME DESIGN.
Yes... the biggest part of this game has either become unplayable or not worth to be played.
Geko, you have been in charge... you have had the chance to change that. After meanwhile 3 months you showed us that you simply dont care.
I am not even talking about complicated changes that you needed do... the missions were active before... many players used to play them frequently... there was nothing wrong with the missoins before Delta Rising. Your only job would have been to restore the old rewards. That is the only thing that the players requested from you.
I can understand that you have a boss and that you are working for a company that expects to make money with the game.
Like many players I have no problem paying for a good product.
What I dont understand is why the game design is so stupidly done that you and your company are wasting money.
Seriously, you do... you waste money... money that players would gladly pay to you.
Hundreds of times playes have requested Romulan bridge options.... as C-store items. The lead designer of this game could have listened to these requests and cryptic would have earned good money.
How many threads with requests about costume options do we have on the forum?... also totally ignored by the lead designer.... and again no money for cryptic.
There have been requests of specific items put into the c-store -> e.g. red matter capacitor.
Even if you ask 1000 zen for such items... people will spend money to buy them.
But I guess you guys (the ones which do the decisions) have decided "no, we dont want money that players are freely willing to pay.... instead we force the players to give us their money by monetizing everything that was free before".
There is only one bad thing about forcing people to do something.... they get mad.... and mad people tend to leave the game... or they simply refuse to pay for stuff that they would have bought from the c-store under normal conditions.
You are ignoring the players and forcing them to pay.... and the only result you can expect is that you earn less money than before.
And while we are talking about money here right now.
You would earn more money from gold members and lifetime subscibers if such subscriptions would be worth more.
Really you cant convince people to pay by offering playable talaxians (that was almost an insult to the Lifetimers here).
Where else do you waste money?
The endless grind you have introduced lately.... because with all these spec trees and the low xp rewards the players of this game have no time anymore for their alts. Not only that already existing alts are not played anymore... not build up anymore... not equiped with new ships and items..... you certainly have already noticed that players are not purchasing new captain slots like they did before.
You forced players to grind on their main characters.... and many of them wont build up new ones. You dont get zen for captain slots like prior Delta rising.
Same will btw. happen to the boff slots soon.
Oh and btw. Captain slots and Boff slots where part of the benefits for Lifetime subscribers.... so you actually made these subscriptions worth less.... and less attractive to the players.
Yep, again money down the drain.
It is like a house of cards where you try to take away one card from the lower part.
This house of cards is collapsing already and you know that.
Geko, i really hope you (or somebody who has influence on you) will read this.
Do you actually think about the consequences of your design decisions?
Do you?
You are lead designer of the game. Start to do some clever decisions and design the game that the players expect from you.
Return this game to the point where it is Star Trek again.... where it is fun to play again.... where players actually have a reason to pay for something again.
You have said it and you are right... we are here because we like Star Trek... and we are still here because there a more things that we like than things we don't like.
BUT... we have reached the point where the stuff that we like is about 51% while the stuff that we dont like is 49%.
It does not take much more of these stupid game breaking design failures for us to reconsider our position to this game.
Many players made their decision already and left the game.
Geko... it is your job to prevent that more will leave.
There is an equal amount of evidence as to the existence of those the letter is addressed to as there is to your existence.
see 4 Posts above yours, for that matter ... getting tired of repeating myself ... imho this Thread is full of people trying to make people think it's full of *insert insult here*, while it's actually not at all ...
So I'd really love to see some of this Evidence ... sure there is always "some guys", but just looking at this Thread, they're negligable ...
I agree.
It's obvious that the lack of communication starts at the top. I honestly don't know why they bother having an 'official forum' if they don't even wish to use it.
It's not even that they don't want to exchange with us, they don't even post announcements here. Everything is on Facebook or Reddit.. it's absolutely ridiculous. Most people that signed up on this forum did so because we figured it would be the best place to get information and updates.
In reality, this is nothing but a community site with little to no interaction with Cryptic in any form. Definitely one of the things that needs to change, it makes players feel like the devs have no interest in hearing from them. That's not how they should want their customers to feel. I understand a lot of what Geko posted, and I don't fault him for what he said, I fault him for taking to Reddit while ignoring the official forums.
In alot of ways, I feel like that poor sap that got bilked by the smooth talkin' con man. you know the type, you see them on your nightly news. The 70 year old grandfather of 3, who spent his life working in the steel mill for a small pension. Then one day a guy in a fancy suit comes along talking about retirement planning and investments. The grandfather wants to have something to pass down to his children when he goes, so he invests his small pension with the investment banker. Then, weeks later, when the investments aren't paying out, he goes to call the investment house only to get "We're sorry, this number is no longer in service."
I bought my LTS 2 years ago. After a rocky launch, it finally was starting to look like the game had a future. Things were being improved, the Devs were saying all the right things, so I took the leap. I bought the LTS, I bought ships, I bought uniforms.
Then something comes along like Delta Rising, that removes the joy this game once brought, that makes you regret your investment.
You hang around, hoping the investment can be salvaged. That perhaps you can somehow will your ROI to what you want it to be. But the Devs no longer say what you want to hear. In fact they say nothing at all, and meanwhile you feel that investment slip further and further away.
"You shoot him, I shoot you, I leave both your bodies here and go out for a late night snack.
I'm thinking maybe pancakes." ~ John Casey
The golden rule works both ways.
There. I said it.
He who makes the rules has the gold?
Treat others the way you want to be treated, but that one is also surprisingly fitting.
So you admire someone that treats customers like dirt, that refuses to acknowledge them and instead does not what the customers want, but the exact opposite?
"You shoot him, I shoot you, I leave both your bodies here and go out for a late night snack.
I'm thinking maybe pancakes." ~ John Casey
He wants to be treated as a "whiney Moron" ?
[amusing post that got ninja'd]
Free Tibet!
With commentary like this great example? Yes, I fully support his unorthodox communication methods.
He's been treated like that from the get-go. So yeah, I'm perfectly okay with this.