with the new absurd patrol grind and upgrade pay walls, total ruination of pvp with rampant imbalance and i win buttons, casual play of new STO story content as its released is about the only reason i see myself ever logging on again.
so, looking forward to these missions.
So I guess this speaks for the majority where we have stopped logging into the game but check these forums and website occaisionally. Something tells me though if their season 10 is more of the same as of late that most of us will just be uninstalling.
^^
This. Cryptic is the ONLY MMO developer I know that seems to take pride in REMOVING content entirely (instead of reworking in into other game areas where it would be nice, like leaving old story content as system patrols.)
It's amazing to me that we have designers feeling there's too much content in STO when the reality is, that after 5 years it's still one of the most story content light MMOs I've played since I started playing MMOs (wit7h SOE's EQ) since 1999.
The fact a lead design person signed off on this and somehow Cryptic managemennt sees it as an improvement speaks volumes as to Cryptic's overall incompetence as a developer (IMO). Removing content is NEVER a good thing for any MMO; and the fact they just pull stuff out is ridiculous.
To me it seems like they are just going to take what is already around and just change it as they see fit so any programming or actual commitments to resources go into just the lockboxes to try to milk any customer still willing to deal with all of this. Even the most loyal of customers are now severely doubting any possible deliverance of what they would expect in a Star Trek mmorpg. Odds are though we will get censored and our posts will be edited to say we like DR and we love it and we also like how content is removed and revamped lol.
I did like however where they emphasized that its just for federation players lol. So KDF don't bother logging in for anniversary its not for you.
Particularly at a time when spec points are already difficult to come by due to the removal of the old mirror universe, the removal of 11 missions seems rather short sighted. If the reasoning behind retiring these missions and condensing the storyline is that the missions are extraneous or lackluster, I understand that. However, there is another standard by which content should be judged, that is, will it's removal cause more harm than good and by extension if more harm than good is done, is the new content replacing the old content a worthy substitute in that, for example, it grants the same amount of spec points or rewards as the old missions did.
Additionally, I have a difficult time believing that 4 missions will grant as many spec points as the older set of missions did and I fail to understand why you remove content without having a proper replacement. Can a dev please explain how the new condensed set of missions will make up for the loss of spec points?
The main problem is that currently most story missions pay about as much xp out as one Argala run, and only half of that on replays.
I played all missions I skipped on one of my characters during the xp weekend. That was the complete Romulan Arc, the Cardassian Arc minus the FE's, the whole Borg/Undine Arc and the last two DR missions. I got 3 spec points and that includes Doffing all the time too.
I could have gotten a lot more points if I had run Argala until my will to live would have disappeared, but the missions were at least fun.
please tell me Admiral "in your face" Zelle will be removed from office?
"I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey, and reminds us to cherish every moment... because they'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived" Picard to Riker
Cryptic, some people like the old content, even if it's not up to spec or fits the storyline anymore.
Please have a section under the Episodes list such as Legacy or Patrol, for when content is removed from a series, it gets put there. Perhaps they are be kept in the Episodes section where they were can be labeled Optional.
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Particularly at a time when spec points are already difficult to come by due to the removal of the old mirror universe, the removal of 11 missions seems rather short sighted. If the reasoning behind retiring these missions and condensing the storyline is that the missions are extraneous or lackluster, I understand that. However, there is another standard by which content should be judged, that is, will it's removal cause more harm than good and by extension if more harm than good is done, is the new content replacing the old content a worthy substitute in that, for example, it grants the same amount of spec points or rewards as the old missions did.
Additionally, I have a difficult time believing that these 4 missions will grant as many spec points as the older set of missions did, and I fail to understand why you remove content without having a proper replacement. Can a dev please explain how the new condensed set of missions will make up for the loss of spec points?
Not to sound like I'm wearing a tinfoil hat, but with the upcoming changes to BOFF training that will require a significant amount of skill points I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was just a pleasant side-effect. But I'm sure Cryptic will sell you skill points for dil or Zen if you need it.
I just replayed this arc, to make sure all my Fed toons had the accolades (and the experience) before they went.
However good the four new episodes may be - and I will reserve judgment, one way or the other, until I've actually played them - there are things being cut here that were fun, and quite challenging for sub-endgame characters too. The story arc shouldn't rule over everything - having things in which aren't connected to some over-arching Master Plan makes the game world richer and more realistic.
I'd strongly support some of the "retired" missions - particularly the ones that took place in only one system - being kept on as system patrols or something. No matter how much work's been done on the four new episodes, it's hard to see this as anything other than a loss of content overall - and, frankly, we don't have so much content in this game that we can afford to just throw it away.
The Romulan Empire is conducting experiments on Borg technology delivered to them by the Hirogen. They must be stopped at any costs.
That's scary. Imagine the RSE having access to Borg tech... I know, I use an adapted cruiser, with the Borg set, while I have the unimatrix shield for myself, and use transwarp gates.
Could totally give them an edge over us.
I'm not going to be sad for the removal of the infamous Divide et Empera, or Preemptive strike (let's destroy the Romulan fleet on the orders of Admiral Racist).
But some others were not so bad. They could have been re-done with a bit of work, not necessary an entire revamp.
If they continue "revamping" episode (IE remove at least half of them), we'll have to grind for lvl50 soon.
Still sad they keep using the Borg tech excuse. It was fine back when those episodes were made, and the Omega Task Force wasn't ingame, but now Borg tech is common place.
Yes, while revision is nice, I find the replacement of 14 missions with only 4 to be rather extreme. Removal of content is always bad. Heck, there was a mission in the Klingon War arc that involved chasing a crooked Ferengi that was quite entertaining and a nice unconnected story to the rest of the arc--simple, enjoyable filler--that was removed for no good reason. All of the other Klingon missions; however, got updated. I protested its removal zealously. Now, I wonder how the people who defended Cryptic's removal of that mission are feeling right now with 11 missions going *poof!* just like that. :rolleyes:
There's no good reason to remove that much content. As I just illustrated, even the Klingon War revamp wasn't that egregious... it lost only one mission. While I'm sure the new revamped missions are very good, removing content is not something to be particularly proud of.
Or were players getting "lost" in the Romulan Mysteries arc?
I'm not going to be sad for the removal of the infamous Divide et Empera, or Preemptive strike (let's destroy the Romulan fleet on the orders of Admiral Racist).
But some others were not so bad. They could have been re-done with a bit of work, not necessary an entire revamp.
Yeah, they could have kept those missions and actually ADDED to the content simply by expanding and explaining what was going on with them with a new mission or two. I would have been happy to turn over my "Divide ut Regnes' Spotlight mission as a basis for this!
Why remove content, when you can use it as an opportunity to make new missions (in the 50-60 level range!) by using some clever writing to tie it in with the current storyline? (see 'Divide ut Regnes' as an example)
Isn't that the point of purposely leaving so many open story threads in the missions?
those removed rom missions were all filler garbage, only half a tier better then the exploration trash in the star clusters. nothing of value is lost, even if there was a drop of charm in 1 or 2 missions. that q mission were you're sent to wolf 359 will probably be redone and inserted stand alone eventually, there's a decent chance for that to happen to other totally cut missions in this arc too.
expect the cardi missions to get similar treatment eventually, all that mirror universe stuff in there was just awful, and made long before the tholians were added to the game, cant have mirror shenanigans without them. a revamp of the cardi missions is a chance to retcon that cringe worthy business about there being a whole bunch of jem hadar and founders still hanging around in the alpha quadrant, and that they are allied with the cardi supremacist group true way. just let us actually fly through the worm hole if you want to make content featuring dominion.
Each time i see a thread like this where cryptic is going to remove more content players like i swear i can invision the cryptic dev team sitting at thier cubicles while this song plays over the PA system.
those removed rom missions were all filler garbage, only half a tier better then the exploration trash in the star clusters. nothing of value is lost, even if there was a drop of charm in 1 or 2 missions. that q mission were you're sent to wolf 359 will probably be redone and inserted stand alone eventually, there's a decent chance for that to happen to other totally cut missions in this arc too.
expect the cardi missions to get similar treatment eventually, all that mirror universe stuff in there was just awful, and made long before the tholians were added to the game, cant have mirror shenanigans without them. a revamp of the cardi missions is a chance to retcon that cringe worthy business about there being a whole bunch of jem hadar and founders still hanging around in the alpha quadrant, and that they are allied with the cardi supremacist group true way. just let us actually fly through the worm hole if you want to make content featuring dominion.
Which is still better than NO content, which is what happens when you remove 10 missions. I'd rather have 10 mediocre missions (and honestly some of them were actually pretty good) than have 10 fewer ones.
Yes, there are a lot of missions that need touch ups. But removing them and reducing the vastly insufficient content even more is not the right way to go. Many MMOs have alternate leveling paths to choose from. STO has 1 and only 1, and instead of getting bigger it only keeps getting smaller with each "revision".
Oh I don't know about this. Many of my favourite missions was from this arc. I just hope my favourite spots like the space dome, the city map or the TOS inspired battle ring is not gone.
Oh I don't know about this. Many of my favourite missions was from this arc. I just hope my favourite spots like the space dome, the city map or the TOS inspired battle ring is not gone.
What you call the sapce dome is still there I think. But the episodewas changed.
As for the city map and the arena, it's obviously still there because it's part of the second part of the Romulan story arc, that is here to stay. At least for now.
The Romulan Featured Episode portion of the series, beginning with The Vault and ending with the Darkness Before the Dawn, remains unchanged.
I will shed no tears for "Divide et Impera", an unmitigated screwjob from start to finish, in which the player character is given no opportunity to let go of the Idiot Ball.
While it's absolutely great to see these episodes cleaned up like some of the more recently published episodes are. The problem I really see here isn't just that content is being removed which is always sad, but that Skill Points are being removed. I'd see this Arc as pretty important for retention, and i highly doubt that 14 missions worth of Skill Points and Expertise are going to be granted from 4 missions. You become concerned about Exploits such as the Tau Dewa farming that was taking place at the launch of Delta Rising, but it's things like Skill Points being far too HARD to aquire is the reason people go for such exploits.
I will shed no tears for "Divide et Impera", an unmitigated screwjob from start to finish, in which the player character is given no opportunity to let go of the Idiot Ball.
i played divide at impera once that was when i first started playing STO and didnt know how crappy it was....never played it again.
To avoid going down the path of torches and pitchforks before I've actually seen what has been done, I'll keep it simple:
Side quests. They're a thing. A thing that can be done with outdated content that no longer lives up to the current standard. Something to go off the beaten path for.
Shove 'em in as special Patrol missions, or maybe...
Let all players, regardless of faction, pick them up from a special "Quark's Holosuite Adventures" Episode tab. Rather than going to their old start locations, you head to DS9, talk to the bartender at Quarks to rent a holosuite, and head off. You still play the mission as it was originally written (it's a holonovel, after all... you're "taking on the role" of a Federation captain, Klingon warrior, Romulan survivor, etc.) no matter what faction you actually belong to, and can even "win prizes" for finishing them (i.e. the original Episode/replay rewards). No re-write needed at all, just some flavor text at the bartender. Simple, you don't lose content, and can even bring back a few of the really old ones. You could even charge GPL to start one, making it a useful currency.
Anywho... content is good. The revamping of old content is a good thing when in improves quality, but when it reduces the quantity of content available we often lose more than we've gained. Can we get a way to bring on the new without cutting out all of the old?
With each passing day I wonder if I stepped into an alternate reality. The Cubs win the world series. Donald Trump is President. Britain leaves the EU. STO gets a dedicated PvP season. Engineers are "out of control" in STO.
I will shed no tears for "Divide et Impera", an unmitigated screwjob from start to finish, in which the player character is given no opportunity to let go of the Idiot Ball.
Again, the Foundry Spotlight mission, 'Divide ut Regnes' explains WHY you couldn't let go of the 'idiot ball' and actually finishes the story (ever wonder where Zelle went?).
Why couldn't the Dev team have ADDED to the content in game (especially in the level 50-60 range) by following this example instead of removing content?
There is not much love for "Divide et Impera"... The Foundry sequel is a brave attempt at ret-conning it into something halfway sensible, I'll grant you, but basically that one (in itself) isn't very good.
But I will miss "Saturday's Child" (fun, different, introduces Ja'rod, you get to meet Admiral Akaar), "Ghost Ship" (creepy atmosphere and distinctly tough in spots), "Friend of my Enemy" (where you get to help people for once instead of just shooting them in the face), the two Hirogen missions....
I'm sure all of them would benefit from tightening up and editing, but, let's face it, that's true of everything. And if you really don't like a mission... they've all got that "Skip" button.
Having optional filler in the game doesn't detract from anyone's experience. Taking it away, though, does.
STO is the only mmo I know that gets its content and features removed with updates. Why can't we keep original missions that were not redeeigned? It has already been suggested to mwke them side quests and not part of story arc.
Here's how I see the Romulan mystery revamp:
1. 4 missions instead of 14 means less content for levelling.
2. The fact that original missions don't fit in the Romulan republic storyline means that there never was a cohesive story to begin with. I.e. you write chapter 1 and have no idea what chapter 2 will be, then you come up with chapter 2 and go back to completely rewrite chapter 1 because now it does not make sense. Such things must happen BEFORE the story is released. Also some (any!!) story planning would not hurt.
3. The concept of "first time" and "replay" rewards means player can make wrong first time reward choise without chance to correct it. It practically kills mission replay feature as I see it. Shall we make acolades obtainable only during first mission play too?
Of course I see that the "new story" being told isn't the same as the 14 episodes used to tell. However, comprising this all to 4 (hopefully larger) episodes is a bit low. Specially when replaying through all the missions with an alt, it will feel even more like a rush through all episodes.
Luckily, the Klingon War content didn't get sized down too much in terms of overall mission length (just one episode was taken out and some episodes were sped up a little, however some new story was told).
I hope the True Way storyline (which is now the only un-remastered content left in the whole game) won't get comprised too much. There were some excellent episodes such as "The Long Way" and "The New Link" (even slightly re-done with the new boss fight) which I'd hate to see disappearing because of a new storyline being told.
About the accolades ... I am sure there will be new accolades, butt all the old ones will be gone, and there were a lot of them, especially 175 points alone worth in "Ghost Ship" (3x25), "Saturday's Child" (2x25) and "Hunting the Hunters" (2x25), as well as lots of 10 pointers for going along with the story.
"Everything about the Jham'Hadar is lethal!" - Eris
Original Join Date: January 30th, 2010
those removed rom missions were all filler garbage, only half a tier better then the exploration trash in the star clusters. nothing of value is lost, even if there was a drop of charm in 1 or 2 missions. that q mission were you're sent to wolf 359 will probably be redone and inserted stand alone eventually, there's a decent chance for that to happen to other totally cut missions in this arc too.
expect the cardi missions to get similar treatment eventually, all that mirror universe stuff in there was just awful, and made long before the tholians were added to the game, cant have mirror shenanigans without them. a revamp of the cardi missions is a chance to retcon that cringe worthy business about there being a whole bunch of jem hadar and founders still hanging around in the alpha quadrant, and that they are allied with the cardi supremacist group true way. just let us actually fly through the worm hole if you want to make content featuring dominion.
Just because you don't like the content doesnt mean everyone does. The only reason I have stuck around as long as I have is for the story content which seems to be going down the drain. when I did the story missions for the roms it was actually quite challenging with the rom DD capturing me with the tractor beam and using three high yield torpedos it was instant death if I didnt do something fast.
It wasn't all about how much hit points they had but the tactics they used as well now as a fan of the RSE and when LOR was realeased they made the RR I was shall I say disheartned making a famous empire a bunch of farmers which is why I rarely play my Rom toon as it should have given you the option to become Tal Shiar but even they became melodramtic. These new missions are going to resemble LOR content to tie into that storyline and wuite frankly I may not even play it as it seems pointless and removing a lot of content for four missions well they already know my feelings. I used to be a paying customer I then stopped after LOR and now with all this grind and removal of content it just resembles my job. Putting a lot of work and getting little to nothing in return
NO TO ARC
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Just for sh*ts and giggles I went thru a bunch of these missions (mostly to ensure I had all the accolades) and y'know what, a lot of them could very easily be slightly tweaked and left as-is as standalone missions, like Saturday's Child and Ghost Ship. There is no good reason to pull perfectly good content simply because it doesn't fit within a particular story arc. Pull the mission from that arc and put it somewhere else as an alternate/optional mission.
Look at any season of any Star Trek TV show (save the last season of Enterprise, a series I try to forget ever existed) and out of 24 episodes a year at least a 1/3rd if not more are one-offs that have nothing to do with the theme of that particular season, and are there simply to provide entertainment, variety, character development, etc. I see no reason why STO can't, or shouldn't, do the same with missions that already exist.
Seriously, I can't repeat this enough: the game already doesn't have enough content and never has in it's 5 year existence. Removing missions should NEVER even be on the table as a viable option. Removing *14* of them is just criminal. Seriously, why??? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever considering a number of them can be slightly tweaked and used as standalone stories.
This is just one of those things that simply has me beating my head against my desktop because it makes absolutely no sense at all, and I really have to wonder WTH the devs are thinking.
+1 for the more content not less crowd.
Shove these missions in an "old/outdated" tab with the rest you removed
Though, I'm thinking the partroll consprisits were right, STO is "out of disk/database space" or has reached some arbitraty HD limit that doesn't want to be crossed. Prepared for more content to be wipped for new content as we go forward more.
Once again players are confronted with the old one step forward, two steps back approach.
What is the point in erasing 11 missions? So what if they're not perfect? At least it's something.
When the exploration missions were deleted I was pretty bummed. While it is true that they were repetitious and under-developed, it allowed for some casual game play, and the void in plot gave me a change to do a little in-head role-playing to make it more engaging. I would rather have something I can work with than nothing at all.
This time however we see the erasure of missions that were completely acceptable. These four new missions I'm sure will be great, but they won't tie in every mission from the original roster. What about "Ghost Ship?" What about "Trapped" and "Saturday's Child?" These missions were all fine in their own right, and I appreciated that they were stand alone episodes. Not everything has to fit in to the over-arcing plot in Star Trek Online. Improving a handful of missions doesn't mean you have to cut everything else just because it's on the same page. It's completely unnecessary. What is happening now is ostensibly Cryptic trying to zest-up a recipe and improve upon it, but in doing so their throwing out every other part of the meal. Fine, turn these missions from a Reuben to a steak dinner, but at least the Reuben had fries and a drink. No one wants just a steak.
It seems to me that this is the newest tactic in the company's rapidly manifesting "Pay to Win" approach. Leveling up past level 50 and doing well requires exorbitant amounts of money and there isn't even one Tier 6 ship available for free. The removal of these missions shows a lack of interest in content. By trimming down everything to the bare minimum number of episodes all their doing is alienating Trek fans and casual players who appreciated the content and streamlining it so that you reach a point where paying money becomes more and more of a necessity. I have no problem with benefits for paying customers, but by next year I'm afraid the only people who will bother are the ones who have already made a gratuitous investment they don't want to abandon.
This is just a repeat of what they did to the exploration missions. What irks me the most about all of this is the complete lack of interest in what players have to say. Every time I see a planed "revamp" like this I've checked the forums, and the majority opinion is a rejection of whatever decision the developers have made. Why should we even bother playing if the wishes and views of the client
Comments
So I guess this speaks for the majority where we have stopped logging into the game but check these forums and website occaisionally. Something tells me though if their season 10 is more of the same as of late that most of us will just be uninstalling.
To me it seems like they are just going to take what is already around and just change it as they see fit so any programming or actual commitments to resources go into just the lockboxes to try to milk any customer still willing to deal with all of this. Even the most loyal of customers are now severely doubting any possible deliverance of what they would expect in a Star Trek mmorpg. Odds are though we will get censored and our posts will be edited to say we like DR and we love it and we also like how content is removed and revamped lol.
I did like however where they emphasized that its just for federation players lol. So KDF don't bother logging in for anniversary its not for you.
The main problem is that currently most story missions pay about as much xp out as one Argala run, and only half of that on replays.
I played all missions I skipped on one of my characters during the xp weekend. That was the complete Romulan Arc, the Cardassian Arc minus the FE's, the whole Borg/Undine Arc and the last two DR missions. I got 3 spec points and that includes Doffing all the time too.
I could have gotten a lot more points if I had run Argala until my will to live would have disappeared, but the missions were at least fun.
"I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey, and reminds us to cherish every moment... because they'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived" Picard to Riker
Probably the only loss we can accept, although that story could have been revamped into something cool. Like an investigation into Zelles doings etc.
Please have a section under the Episodes list such as Legacy or Patrol, for when content is removed from a series, it gets put there. Perhaps they are be kept in the Episodes section where they were can be labeled Optional.
SCE ADVISORY NOTICE: Improper Impulse Engine maintenance can result in REAR THRUSTER LEAKAGE. ALWAYS have your work inspected by another qualified officer.
Not to sound like I'm wearing a tinfoil hat, but with the upcoming changes to BOFF training that will require a significant amount of skill points I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was just a pleasant side-effect. But I'm sure Cryptic will sell you skill points for dil or Zen if you need it.
However good the four new episodes may be - and I will reserve judgment, one way or the other, until I've actually played them - there are things being cut here that were fun, and quite challenging for sub-endgame characters too. The story arc shouldn't rule over everything - having things in which aren't connected to some over-arching Master Plan makes the game world richer and more realistic.
I'd strongly support some of the "retired" missions - particularly the ones that took place in only one system - being kept on as system patrols or something. No matter how much work's been done on the four new episodes, it's hard to see this as anything other than a loss of content overall - and, frankly, we don't have so much content in this game that we can afford to just throw it away.
Could totally give them an edge over us.
I'm not going to be sad for the removal of the infamous Divide et Empera, or Preemptive strike (let's destroy the Romulan fleet on the orders of Admiral Racist).
But some others were not so bad. They could have been re-done with a bit of work, not necessary an entire revamp.
If they continue "revamping" episode (IE remove at least half of them), we'll have to grind for lvl50 soon.
Still sad they keep using the Borg tech excuse. It was fine back when those episodes were made, and the Omega Task Force wasn't ingame, but now Borg tech is common place.
There's no good reason to remove that much content. As I just illustrated, even the Klingon War revamp wasn't that egregious... it lost only one mission. While I'm sure the new revamped missions are very good, removing content is not something to be particularly proud of.
Or were players getting "lost" in the Romulan Mysteries arc?
Yeah, they could have kept those missions and actually ADDED to the content simply by expanding and explaining what was going on with them with a new mission or two. I would have been happy to turn over my "Divide ut Regnes' Spotlight mission as a basis for this!
Why remove content, when you can use it as an opportunity to make new missions (in the 50-60 level range!) by using some clever writing to tie it in with the current storyline? (see 'Divide ut Regnes' as an example)
Isn't that the point of purposely leaving so many open story threads in the missions?
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1203368/pve-content-a-list-of-gamewide-polishing-pass-suggestions
We need MORE content NOT LESS!!! :mad::mad::mad:
expect the cardi missions to get similar treatment eventually, all that mirror universe stuff in there was just awful, and made long before the tholians were added to the game, cant have mirror shenanigans without them. a revamp of the cardi missions is a chance to retcon that cringe worthy business about there being a whole bunch of jem hadar and founders still hanging around in the alpha quadrant, and that they are allied with the cardi supremacist group true way. just let us actually fly through the worm hole if you want to make content featuring dominion.
Cryptics anthem
Which is still better than NO content, which is what happens when you remove 10 missions. I'd rather have 10 mediocre missions (and honestly some of them were actually pretty good) than have 10 fewer ones.
Yes, there are a lot of missions that need touch ups. But removing them and reducing the vastly insufficient content even more is not the right way to go. Many MMOs have alternate leveling paths to choose from. STO has 1 and only 1, and instead of getting bigger it only keeps getting smaller with each "revision".
As for the city map and the arena, it's obviously still there because it's part of the second part of the Romulan story arc, that is here to stay. At least for now.
i played divide at impera once that was when i first started playing STO and didnt know how crappy it was....never played it again.
Side quests. They're a thing. A thing that can be done with outdated content that no longer lives up to the current standard. Something to go off the beaten path for.
Shove 'em in as special Patrol missions, or maybe...
Let all players, regardless of faction, pick them up from a special "Quark's Holosuite Adventures" Episode tab. Rather than going to their old start locations, you head to DS9, talk to the bartender at Quarks to rent a holosuite, and head off. You still play the mission as it was originally written (it's a holonovel, after all... you're "taking on the role" of a Federation captain, Klingon warrior, Romulan survivor, etc.) no matter what faction you actually belong to, and can even "win prizes" for finishing them (i.e. the original Episode/replay rewards). No re-write needed at all, just some flavor text at the bartender. Simple, you don't lose content, and can even bring back a few of the really old ones. You could even charge GPL to start one, making it a useful currency.
Anywho... content is good. The revamping of old content is a good thing when in improves quality, but when it reduces the quantity of content available we often lose more than we've gained. Can we get a way to bring on the new without cutting out all of the old?
Again, the Foundry Spotlight mission, 'Divide ut Regnes' explains WHY you couldn't let go of the 'idiot ball' and actually finishes the story (ever wonder where Zelle went?).
Why couldn't the Dev team have ADDED to the content in game (especially in the level 50-60 range) by following this example instead of removing content?
arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1203368/pve-content-a-list-of-gamewide-polishing-pass-suggestions
But I will miss "Saturday's Child" (fun, different, introduces Ja'rod, you get to meet Admiral Akaar), "Ghost Ship" (creepy atmosphere and distinctly tough in spots), "Friend of my Enemy" (where you get to help people for once instead of just shooting them in the face), the two Hirogen missions....
I'm sure all of them would benefit from tightening up and editing, but, let's face it, that's true of everything. And if you really don't like a mission... they've all got that "Skip" button.
Having optional filler in the game doesn't detract from anyone's experience. Taking it away, though, does.
Here's how I see the Romulan mystery revamp:
1. 4 missions instead of 14 means less content for levelling.
2. The fact that original missions don't fit in the Romulan republic storyline means that there never was a cohesive story to begin with. I.e. you write chapter 1 and have no idea what chapter 2 will be, then you come up with chapter 2 and go back to completely rewrite chapter 1 because now it does not make sense. Such things must happen BEFORE the story is released. Also some (any!!) story planning would not hurt.
3. The concept of "first time" and "replay" rewards means player can make wrong first time reward choise without chance to correct it. It practically kills mission replay feature as I see it. Shall we make acolades obtainable only during first mission play too?
Luckily, the Klingon War content didn't get sized down too much in terms of overall mission length (just one episode was taken out and some episodes were sped up a little, however some new story was told).
I hope the True Way storyline (which is now the only un-remastered content left in the whole game) won't get comprised too much. There were some excellent episodes such as "The Long Way" and "The New Link" (even slightly re-done with the new boss fight) which I'd hate to see disappearing because of a new storyline being told.
About the accolades ... I am sure there will be new accolades, butt all the old ones will be gone, and there were a lot of them, especially 175 points alone worth in "Ghost Ship" (3x25), "Saturday's Child" (2x25) and "Hunting the Hunters" (2x25), as well as lots of 10 pointers for going along with the story.
Original Join Date: January 30th, 2010
Just because you don't like the content doesnt mean everyone does. The only reason I have stuck around as long as I have is for the story content which seems to be going down the drain. when I did the story missions for the roms it was actually quite challenging with the rom DD capturing me with the tractor beam and using three high yield torpedos it was instant death if I didnt do something fast.
It wasn't all about how much hit points they had but the tactics they used as well now as a fan of the RSE and when LOR was realeased they made the RR I was shall I say disheartned making a famous empire a bunch of farmers which is why I rarely play my Rom toon as it should have given you the option to become Tal Shiar but even they became melodramtic. These new missions are going to resemble LOR content to tie into that storyline and wuite frankly I may not even play it as it seems pointless and removing a lot of content for four missions well they already know my feelings. I used to be a paying customer I then stopped after LOR and now with all this grind and removal of content it just resembles my job. Putting a lot of work and getting little to nothing in return
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Look at any season of any Star Trek TV show (save the last season of Enterprise, a series I try to forget ever existed) and out of 24 episodes a year at least a 1/3rd if not more are one-offs that have nothing to do with the theme of that particular season, and are there simply to provide entertainment, variety, character development, etc. I see no reason why STO can't, or shouldn't, do the same with missions that already exist.
Seriously, I can't repeat this enough: the game already doesn't have enough content and never has in it's 5 year existence. Removing missions should NEVER even be on the table as a viable option. Removing *14* of them is just criminal. Seriously, why??? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever considering a number of them can be slightly tweaked and used as standalone stories.
This is just one of those things that simply has me beating my head against my desktop because it makes absolutely no sense at all, and I really have to wonder WTH the devs are thinking.
Shove these missions in an "old/outdated" tab with the rest you removed
Though, I'm thinking the partroll consprisits were right, STO is "out of disk/database space" or has reached some arbitraty HD limit that doesn't want to be crossed. Prepared for more content to be wipped for new content as we go forward more.
What is the point in erasing 11 missions? So what if they're not perfect? At least it's something.
When the exploration missions were deleted I was pretty bummed. While it is true that they were repetitious and under-developed, it allowed for some casual game play, and the void in plot gave me a change to do a little in-head role-playing to make it more engaging. I would rather have something I can work with than nothing at all.
This time however we see the erasure of missions that were completely acceptable. These four new missions I'm sure will be great, but they won't tie in every mission from the original roster. What about "Ghost Ship?" What about "Trapped" and "Saturday's Child?" These missions were all fine in their own right, and I appreciated that they were stand alone episodes. Not everything has to fit in to the over-arcing plot in Star Trek Online. Improving a handful of missions doesn't mean you have to cut everything else just because it's on the same page. It's completely unnecessary. What is happening now is ostensibly Cryptic trying to zest-up a recipe and improve upon it, but in doing so their throwing out every other part of the meal. Fine, turn these missions from a Reuben to a steak dinner, but at least the Reuben had fries and a drink. No one wants just a steak.
It seems to me that this is the newest tactic in the company's rapidly manifesting "Pay to Win" approach. Leveling up past level 50 and doing well requires exorbitant amounts of money and there isn't even one Tier 6 ship available for free. The removal of these missions shows a lack of interest in content. By trimming down everything to the bare minimum number of episodes all their doing is alienating Trek fans and casual players who appreciated the content and streamlining it so that you reach a point where paying money becomes more and more of a necessity. I have no problem with benefits for paying customers, but by next year I'm afraid the only people who will bother are the ones who have already made a gratuitous investment they don't want to abandon.