Let me start off by saying I have been playing STO for about three years now. I am a paid lifetime member, have the Delta Rising Pack, and have put a lot of my hard earned dollars into STO for my game play. I don't mind dropping a little cash into a game if the reward benefits us both, but here lately the only benefit I see is you taking my cash, and then making it hard for me to play the game if I don't drop in more cash. Look, I am at a point to where I am going to start looking for another game to play. I can't get into any of the Elite queues, we fail about 75-80% of the time in the advanced ones because of the "Must Do" optional(s), which by the way almost sounds like military intelligence, military guys and gals will get that one...:)
Look I get the idea this is a business that is FOR Profit and I am all for that. Make all the money you want, need or just pure greed. That doesn't matter to me. I just don't have to give you mine if I choose not to. I am not sure how many players have left the game in the last year but I can tell you we had a strong fleet this time last year, and now we only have about 3-4 people that contribute to building it up any more. Most of our fleet members haven't been back since all of these "New Changes" started. I guess in the grand scheme of things loosing a few players that don't put a lot of cash into the game is not a big deal, but how much will you loose if 1,000,000, 100,000, or even as low as 25,000 players leave. If my math is correct, and I do believe it is 25K at $20 a month amounts to oh let's say $500K in revenue, or if it keeps going what about that million gone that would add up to what $20mil in revenue?? Granted not all in either pay $20 a month into the game, but if I had to guess I would say that you loosing even $500K a month because players are leaving and going other places, or as in my case staying and just playing along with my monthly stipend, is going to hurt.
Your money is in your players, the more players you have in game, the more money you make. I have always believed that pulling $100 from one person is far hard then getting 100 people to give a dollar. Keeping players happy = $$$
TRIBBLE Players off = -$
Your game, Your choice.
Just thoughts from the peanut gallery.
Awsome post and coment on STO. I see myself in there to 100%. So sad the publisher seems to have other plans or devs simply a embarrassing time to deliver what the majority of players want for a satisfactory game experience.
We had that b4 DR and 9 ot of 10 players seemd happy. Now its the other way around. With the reward/difficulty adjustment and the way you guys implemented them you took about ten steps in the wrong direction if the responces of your "DR-loving customers" are any indication. If you now manage to take one step in the right direction within a timeframe of months well cool but I can hardly get myself to a state of applause.
What do you guys at cryptic or at PWE gain by generating a run for your money game atmosphere? What purpose do your low rewards and fail criteria to missions serve in the first place?
It would have been easy for you to generate a motivating, encouraging and fun atmosphere where teams get additional XP and Dil/Salvage rewards in team oriented contend upon completion of former optional tasks.
Its not as if peeps wouldnt spend increased earnings in game for the benefits of your wallets away.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
Your logic is fun. These communist masters who have fully embraced capitalism now reject Trek's communist message. Hilarious.
I don't think that the PWE Home Office's instructions are much more complicated than, make this amount of money in this period of time, by any means necessary.
The story content is still pretty classic Star Trek, respect each nation's integrity (Kobali) try to find peaceful resolutions as much as possible (Cooperative vs Octanti), and work together instead of against each other (the entire alliance arc).
I think the issues we're having is that the Devs are balancing the game towards the performance of the absolute cream of the crop, while also attempting to maintain certain expectations on how things are supposed to go in the game purely based on the raw numbers.
They're attempting to negotiate a fine line of making things difficult enough that people will want to purchase new shinies to help advance, but instead they're hitting the trigger line, that will cause people to quit.
Ideology or not PWE won't like it if Cryptic stops hitting that money quota.
And honestly the idea that PWE bought Cryptic so that they could get a single Star Trek game license so that they could oppress the ideals represented by the franchise, strikes me as frankly absurd. In other news Star Trek into Darkness grossed $25 million in its opening weekend in mainland China. If it was the case, then I'm sure the Romulan Republic storyline would be a no go and the Tal Shiar would've won. Considering Star Trek nations analogues to the real world.
The fact of the matter is that PWE wanted to purchase an American game developer so that they could get their foot into the American market, PWE was financially available to such a purchase, and PWE got a good price for a solid developer, without having to deal with any of the normal start up costs.
That's not to say that their corporate culture hasn't trickled down or done any damage mind you.
"Rise like Lions after slumber, In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew, Which in sleep had fallen on you-Ye are many they are few"
Also, I need to take into account that the OP is the same person that promised us that the changes in the XP rewards wouldn't be a nerf when they were. This is the same guy who said progression wouldn't change, just the numbers. Then when we were all hit with a MASSIVE XP nerf, never said another word.
Sorry, but when it comes to Charles Grey I'll believe it when I see it.
Ding ding ding winner!!!!
I am STILL irritated that we had this long post telling us that XP is the same but numbers were changing yet it WAS a HUGE nerf to XP and most importantly, Doffing XP and nothing was said ever again. Trust has been lost and needs to be earned back.
Reread what I said in my initial post. They didn't buy it for that. They bought it for Neverwinter. They just got stuck with Trek to get that.
Is Neverwinter really so successful that they'd buy an entire studio for it? On the other hand it does fit in more with their more fantasy oriented products.
"Rise like Lions after slumber, In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew, Which in sleep had fallen on you-Ye are many they are few"
I don't think that the PWE Home Office's instructions are much more complicated than, make this amount of money in this period of time, by any means necessary.
I think you're probably right for the most part.
I think they probably also supply their business model and that management at Cryptic is probably content to use PWE's business model with tweaks as long as it works and keeps payroll coming in.
I agree. I don't think they're required to. I think they probably have targets and it's safer to hit or even miss those targets by closely following the blueprint supplied. They probably could adjust significantly but doing so would probably paint a big target on whoever deviated if it didn't work.
And after years of risk, of up and down, I think Cryptic is probably just playing things extraordinarily safe and operating under the idea that they'll tweak as needed.
That's kind of depressing from my POV. It's probably not as depressing from their POV except when we backlash against that. But I'm sure they've resolved that they'll take customer scorn and a hot meal and a mortgage check over what they see as an alternative of satisfying more customers and being out on the street and not having a game. I think there's an inbetween option. I don't think they do, except through slow iteration and tweaks.
I think the issues we're having is that the Devs are balancing the game towards the performance of the absolute cream of the crop, while also attempting to maintain certain expectations on how things are supposed to go in the game purely based on the raw numbers.
They're attempting to negotiate a fine line of making things difficult enough that people will want to purchase new shinies to help advance, but instead they're hitting the trigger line, that will cause people to quit.
They're not balancing around the top. They don't understand the top. They also don't fully grasp the gap between the bottom and the top, nor how close to the bottom the average is. This was clear with the whole tau dewa/argala xp Nerf/exploit fiasco where they thought no one could possibly be 17x better than average so it had to be an exploit.
So when the devs add something to help the bottom, the people in the top 25% get a massive buff, while those in the bottom 50% don't or barely benifit and those in the middle 25% get only the mild buff intended. Then the devs try to compensate with big buffs/nerfs.
Its the gap and their inability to understand why the gap exists that turns their good intentions into problems. Compounded with needlessly complicated math and an unstable foundation tossing too many bugs into the mix.
I play Champions Online, Star Trek Online and Neverwinter Online. By far Star Trek Online is the worst when it comes to levelling up a toon.
After 2 weeks of playing NWO, mostly on weekends, I've gotten to lvl 60 and I'm far from running out of story arc missions. So I haven't reached the end game content. And now they're going to raise the level cap to 70 and get guild holdings (strongholds) too. Their Foundry is also more advanced then Star Trek Online's. Their maps are HUGE. And I'm not only talking about the social hubs but the missions maps as well. They can also do total character re-rolls. Changing everything about them. Just like in Champions Online. Yet they claim it is impossible in STO.
Just as it is with Champions Online they are both using the same game engine as Star Trek Online. So what's possible in one game is possible in the others. It's just a matter of Cryptic devoting resources to make it so. As rewards goes in Neverwinter they get different C-store discounts for various things as they level up. Something that doesn't even exist in STO or CO.
But back to the matter at hand. Punishing the average players because of the DPS-players are too good is not the way to go. Making the game feel even more like a grind is a horrible decision. And that is what you're doing by nerfing rewards. If the average player has to put in 10 times more time then before fo the same thing, they will sooner then later stop playing all together.
I know, I'm a die hard trekkie, I've played since closed beta. The level 50 to 60 grind coupled together with the Q Winter Wonderland grind and now the Anniversary grind has turned me away from the game to play Neverwinter instead. Something I never saw coming. Check my metric if you don't trust me, Cryptic.
The Glassdoor post says it all. They're pretty well forced to goose step to 2-3 people who are in turn forced to goose step to PWE's corporate line.
As far as "not trying to kill the game", Smirk, well, there's the proof in the pudding. Remember where PWE's main office is?
Communist China. STO especially is one I'm sure they'd see love to die, put Star Trek and freedom and hope for the galaxy in its grave, it's antithetical to pushing things under their jackboot.
Remember Tianamen Square. Anything that looks too much like press for 'free society' is to be stamped out. By tanks running over people if necessary.
The only reason they didn't just auto-kill it is because it makes their intention rather blatant, they'd rather make it as unfun as possible and cite 'lack of users' to close it, to avoid more negative press.
Neverwinter meanwhile is 'acceptable' because it doesn't say anything about that, so gets free run of things.
The Glassdoor post says it all. They're pretty well forced to goose step to 2-3 people who are in turn forced to goose step to PWE's corporate line.
As far as "not trying to kill the game", Smirk, well, there's the proof in the pudding. Remember where PWE's main office is?
Communist China. STO especially is one I'm sure they'd see love to die, put Star Trek and freedom and hope for the galaxy in its grave, it's antithetical to pushing things under their jackboot.
Remember Tianamen Square. Anything that looks too much like press for 'free society' is to be stamped out. By tanks running over people if necessary.
The only reason they didn't just auto-kill it is because it makes their intention rather blatant, they'd rather make it as unfun as possible and cite 'lack of users' to close it, to avoid more negative press.
Neverwinter meanwhile is 'acceptable' because it doesn't say anything about that, so gets free run of things.
Post like this is why people who have real beef with the game get mocked (by me)
I like sto so I pay usd for the monthly subscription. I am fond of buying zen with usd. What I am not fond of is the current limit on dil refining. That limit is not a fun thing. I play sto, a lot, and that limit does not allow me to do what I want to do. I've done my part by paying with usd so I respectfully ask to be granted the ability to have fun. Dil refine restriction makes sense when applied to the free folks. Paying customers should be allowed to refine more dil than currently allowed.
I like sto so I pay usd for the monthly subscription. I am fond of buying zen with usd. What I am not fond of is the current limit on dil refining. That limit is not a fun thing. I play sto, a lot, and that limit does not allow me to do what I want to do. I've done my part by paying with usd so I respectfully ask to be granted the ability to have fun. Dil refine restriction makes sense when applied to the free folks. Paying customers should be allowed to refine more dil than currently allowed.
Go study something named "inflaction", and stop whining about how you should be treated in a special way.
I like sto so I pay usd for the monthly subscription. I am fond of buying zen with usd. What I am not fond of is the current limit on dil refining. That limit is not a fun thing. I play sto, a lot, and that limit does not allow me to do what I want to do. I've done my part by paying with usd so I respectfully ask to be granted the ability to have fun. Dil refine restriction makes sense when applied to the free folks. Paying customers should be allowed to refine more dil than currently allowed.
You know, that as a subscriber, you don't have to even log in to refine, right? A neat little feature I found out about a while back.
One thing that really needs to change is that bormal difficulty doesn't reward very rare crafting mats.
It forces players to play advanced who are clearly not ready yet to do so. It makes for bad experiences for them and the others on that mission and they cant really progress further.
So normal should give at least 1, advanced 2 and elite 3-4.
One thing that really needs to change is that bormal difficulty doesn't reward very rare crafting mats.
It forces players to play advanced who are clearly not ready yet to do so. It makes for bad experiences for them and the others on that mission and they cant really progress further.
So normal should give at least 1, advanced 2 and elite 3-4.
This would help, especially for those queues on Advanced that are difficult or impossible to get running publicly and succeed. Argonite Gas is a good example, as it is rewarded from Viscous Cycle, Undine Assault, and Azure Nebula Rescue. But nobody plays the first two (VC lags a lot of lower-end machines and UA is a massive pain in the aft), and the former optional on ANR is on such a shot timer that most queues fail almost immediately. So, this could very much help.
One thing that really needs to change is that bormal difficulty doesn't reward very rare crafting mats.
It forces players to play advanced who are clearly not ready yet to do so. It makes for bad experiences for them and the others on that mission and they cant really progress further.
So normal should give at least 1, advanced 2 and elite 3-4.
See, this is where by forum standards I'm highly delusional...
So there I am, new player, new toon, whatever the case may be, right? There's some reward that I want that's going to require me playing something that I haven't done before and that I know that I might not be prepared to do.
So yeah, I'm going to hit up the forums for the game - I'm going to look around for advice that might have already been given for folks considering hitting up that particular queue. I'm going to look around, see if there's been anything said about the way I like to play. I'm going to take a look at what I'm doing, see what tweaks I can make so that I can contribute to the group so I can get what I want. If I've got any questions, I'm going to ask them. Then I'm going to hit up some other content, try to get a feel for the build. When I feel comfortable, nervous as Hell, but comfortable enough that I should be ready...then I'm going to queue.
I'm uh, not just going to queue up without doing that...be the first to warp with every failed run and head to the forums to complain that it is Cryptic's fault that I not only didn't get what I wanted but that I screwed over the four other folks on that team as well.
See, this is where by forum standards I'm highly delusional...
So there I am, new player, new toon, whatever the case may be, right? There's some reward that I want that's going to require me playing something that I haven't done before and that I know that I might not be prepared to do.
So yeah, I'm going to hit up the forums for the game - I'm going to look around for advice that might have already been given for folks considering hitting up that particular queue. I'm going to look around, see if there's been anything said about the way I like to play. I'm going to take a look at what I'm doing, see what tweaks I can make so that I can contribute to the group so I can get what I want. If I've got any questions, I'm going to ask them. Then I'm going to hit up some other content, try to get a feel for the build. When I feel comfortable, nervous as Hell, but comfortable enough that I should be ready...then I'm going to queue.
I'm uh, not just going to queue up without doing that...be the first to warp with every failed run and head to the forums to complain that it is Cryptic's fault that I not only didn't get what I wanted but that I screwed over the four other folks on that team as well.
Yeah, delusional as Hell by forum standards...
/sigh
Except let's again look at ANR advanced. I fly a Dauntless. As a Science Officer. But, I pull decent damage. I go into ANR Advanced, and I tell people to split up. Most don't. Last time I tried the queue, I soloed the squadron guarding the single Ha'apax that spawned (south), freed it, then went to assist the two closest me (west). However, there was less than a minute remaining when I departed. The mission failed not long after I arrived at the second point, those two not having liberated their Dhelan despite the other two clearing their T'liss with relative ease (I was only 15 or so seconds behind with my Ha'apax, thank Cthulhu for warp core breaches and Gravity Well). For this, I was specifically PMed and insulted for not being a Tactical Officer in a Battle Cruiser... by one of the people that were working on that Dhelan. And that is arguably the easiest queue that awards Argonite. The rest have no real population, lag most machines, and can be difficult to handle (Viscous Cycle is easy, but dear GOD is the chug real in that mission).
So sometimes, it's not the one failing the mission that's complaining. It's other people, too. Don't simply dismiss an idea because you don't have a problem, unless you're going to find a way to be in every queued mission simultaneously and plan to single-handedly carry every team to victory. You strike me as one of those people in the upper echelons of a system that forgets what the bottom can be like. And in this game, the bottom is... well, most of the playerbase. Not elitist, but... forgetful.
You strike me as one of those people in the upper echelons of a system that forgets what the bottom can be like. And in this game, the bottom is... well, most of the playerbase. Not elitist, but... forgetful.
I started over again for Delta Rising. I tend to delete and reroll all my toons at least once a year. Prior to S7 I would delete toons every 2-3 weeks. I rerolled everybody for S7. I kept some, rerolled others, and added more throughout 2013. Deleted all but one at the end of 2013, keeping him because I'd never invested that much in a toon. I rerolled all new guys at the start of 2014. I deleted them all, including that toon I'd kept at the end of 2013, for Delta Rising. I started a new guy.
I don't have any secret knowledge, everything I know somebody else has posted on the forums or I've shared on the forums.
Given the time I've played, I should have all sorts of experience and be much better at this game than I am. But I'm a casual player, I'm not into chasing DPS or the like. Hell, I was an advocate prior to DR of average DPS but having fun...meeting the content requirements and TRIBBLE folks with their personal requirements with their wanting zippy runs.
Not much has changed there with Delta Rising...I really don't care if somebody out there is parsing over 100k, but if somebody shows up for Advanced and is parsing 1k...it irks me. I'm not going to lash out at anybody in team. I'm not going to post a parse in team.
I don't parse for DPS, I prefer to do the debuff/tank/heals/support thing. So I'm looking at % of attacks taken, damage taken, looking at the team's base damage vs. actual damage, and so forth.
Basically I'm a perpetual noob. I won't call anybody else a noob, newb, or nub - but I will call myself one. Cause I make goofy mistakes at times and have more than once said, "Ooopsie..." in Zone after fatfingering something, blowing up, or taking a way too wide of an arc on a turn leaving me out in the middle of nowhere.
But there's just so much information out there about almost everything. Cryptic has provided all sorts of improved "starter" endgame gear. Hell, they're adding yet another mission set with the Anniversary. Breen, Jem'Hadar, Solanae, and they're adding the Kobali. There are the non-Elite Marks space sets. There's the stuff one can get the Elite Marks from mob play in Battlezones for Dyson and Counter-Command.
I said it was delusional of me, cause not everybody's looking at the forums - so they may not know all that information about stuff is there. Hell, I actually did the join for the invite to 10k-DPS the other day; and there were folks asking all sorts of basic things - cause they didn't need to know it to get there, cause one can get there with the lightest of knowledge and just some basic gearing.
But that's something else to consider, for somebody looking to run various Advanced or even Elite content out there. See if they can't get a build up to 10k, get in that channel, and there are always folks putting together groups to do all sorts of things. Heh, I don't X up for any groups there just like I never X'd up while hanging out in OPvP. If I want to run something, I just hit up the public queues and pug it.
You had mentioned ANRA, I've never run it. Have heard mixed things about it, could see it being frustrating, and well I'm not really into doing frustrating things. I'm just a goof, have a little fun here, have a little fun there, wheeeeee. There are a bunch of things I don't run. I only run an ISA now and again to try to help more folks get into 10k-DPS so they can find groups they want. I don't do it by carrying groups, lol, I can't carry a group...but I'll get in there, try to hold all the aggro I can, debuff the targets, and try to make it a smoother ride for folks. Grab all the Spheres with some R-TBR and bury them in EWP...light those suckers up! Haven't seen anybody dropping any GWs, so I might switch out a console so I can drop AAs that can pulse any HYs that might otherwise obliterate somebody.
I just don't really feel any need to run any of the queues. Got multiple support alts running the Request R&D Assistance every 96 hours, they're also DOFFing and getting mats. If I'm running low on something I want, I'll sell something I've got a surplus of to try get the EC to buy what I want.
I guess I'm just not in any rush to do anything. Outside of the you've got X number of days to get Y things that comes about with various events (lol, even there I've come close to missing out cause I'm lazy and drag TRIBBLE)...stuff will happen when it happens. I'll get there when I get there.
And even when I get there, I know that I'm likely to delete everybody again and start over again...
Given the time I've played, I should have all sorts of experience and be much better at this game than I am. But I'm a casual player, I'm not into chasing DPS or the like. Hell, I was an advocate prior to DR of average DPS but having fun...meeting the content requirements and TRIBBLE folks with their personal requirements with their wanting zippy runs.
Not much has changed there with Delta Rising...I really don't care if somebody out there is parsing over 100k, but if somebody shows up for Advanced and is parsing 1k...it irks me. I'm not going to lash out at anybody in team. I'm not going to post a parse in team.
I think they probably also supply their business model and that management at Cryptic is probably content to use PWE's business model with tweaks as long as it works and keeps payroll coming in.
I agree. I don't think they're required to. I think they probably have targets and it's safer to hit or even miss those targets by closely following the blueprint supplied. They probably could adjust significantly but doing so would probably paint a big target on whoever deviated if it didn't work.
And after years of risk, of up and down, I think Cryptic is probably just playing things extraordinarily safe and operating under the idea that they'll tweak as needed.
That's kind of depressing from my POV. It's probably not as depressing from their POV except when we backlash against that. But I'm sure they've resolved that they'll take customer scorn and a hot meal and a mortgage check over what they see as an alternative of satisfying more customers and being out on the street and not having a game. I think there's an inbetween option. I don't think they do, except through slow iteration and tweaks.
That saddens me greatly too. You're probably right, but if anything by NOT wanting to innovate and take risk they're doing more to damage their work in the long run by playing it safe in the short run.
Especially since a LOT of their problems can be fixed relatively easy. It's not like we're here complaining about lockbox ships and dilithium, we're talking about effort vs reward, xp leveling rates, and the concept of funneling players to content by weakening the viability of other content rather than improving the content they want us to play or their rewards.
They're not balancing around the top. They don't understand the top. They also don't fully grasp the gap between the bottom and the top, nor how close to the bottom the average is. This was clear with the whole tau dewa/argala xp Nerf/exploit fiasco where they thought no one could possibly be 17x better than average so it had to be an exploit.
So when the devs add something to help the bottom, the people in the top 25% get a massive buff, while those in the bottom 50% don't or barely benifit and those in the middle 25% get only the mild buff intended. Then the devs try to compensate with big buffs/nerfs.
Its the gap and their inability to understand why the gap exists that turns their good intentions into problems. Compounded with needlessly complicated math and an unstable foundation tossing too many bugs into the mix.
I play Champions Online, Star Trek Online and Neverwinter Online. By far Star Trek Online is the worst when it comes to levelling up a toon.
After 2 weeks of playing NWO, mostly on weekends, I've gotten to lvl 60 and I'm far from running out of story arc missions. So I haven't reached the end game content. And now they're going to raise the level cap to 70 and get guild holdings (strongholds) too. Their Foundry is also more advanced then Star Trek Online's. Their maps are HUGE. And I'm not only talking about the social hubs but the missions maps as well. They can also do total character re-rolls. Changing everything about them. Just like in Champions Online. Yet they claim it is impossible in STO.
Just as it is with Champions Online they are both using the same game engine as Star Trek Online. So what's possible in one game is possible in the others. It's just a matter of Cryptic devoting resources to make it so. As rewards goes in Neverwinter they get different C-store discounts for various things as they level up. Something that doesn't even exist in STO or CO.
But back to the matter at hand. Punishing the average players because of the DPS-players are too good is not the way to go. Making the game feel even more like a grind is a horrible decision. And that is what you're doing by nerfing rewards. If the average player has to put in 10 times more time then before fo the same thing, they will sooner then later stop playing all together.
I know, I'm a die hard trekkie, I've played since closed beta. The level 50 to 60 grind coupled together with the Q Winter Wonderland grind and now the Anniversary grind has turned me away from the game to play Neverwinter instead. Something I never saw coming. Check my metric if you don't trust me, Cryptic.
Well...what else is new for us. Star Trek was NBC's redheaded stepchild too. Invested lots of money. Scored high in the metrics they were going for literally before they were metrics. Kicked to the curb before its true potential was unveiled. Then we were adopted by Paramount and found a new family.
That said, I leveled a character from scratch on Tribble. As created originally, I hit level 50in the middle of the Cardassian Struggle. Had I been able to continue before Delta Rising when they restricted Tribble to gold members, then I would had ALL of the Borg Storyline, The Dyson's Sphere, and the Delta Quadrant to get through. I am going to make 60 before I'm finished with the story content, though I don't know how a current character would work out when faced with the removal of six Romulan missions worth of XP.
NWO sounds great...but I'm not much for Swords and Sorcery type of things. I'm a born and bred Star Trek fan (too). But I don't gravitate towards D&D, Tolkien style fantasy the same for comic superheroes. I like it fine, but I have no desire at all to play NWO or CO. I am here for Star Trek. And when my time with this game is done, barring a sequel, there will be no more MMOs for me. That said I measure myself and pace myself. When the Winter Event hit, I did nothing but that. Cleansed the pallet. Coming back to the game after that flying around and blowing ship up felt fresher.
But MAN that spec point grind. I'm going one at a time on leveling my characters through to 60, on my second of four (almost third of five if you count my Tribble character) and the Delta Quadrant storyline. (the four level head start from the mirror event is nice).
"Rise like Lions after slumber, In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew, Which in sleep had fallen on you-Ye are many they are few"
Nerf Nerf Nerf Nerf Nerf Nerf and ohh....MORE NERFFFFFFFF......Thats the Only thing we hear lately from you Cryptic, when you add 1-2 good things you Remove a Dozen others, or NERF them INTO THE GROUND, People where Raging and Flaming about all your Nerfs Lately, and instead of Learning and Listening to them to not make the same Mistakes, you decide to.....even Further NERF, WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?!
Is your Main Goal to Drive Everyone away from this Game???? Do you Guys hate us Players that much?! except some Increases for things that NO ONE cares anyway, all ,i see is DECREASED REWARDS all over the Place!!!!! For Missions / STFs that the Majority is Playing, so we are now Punished that we Play Content that we like and forced to Play Content that we dont like???? You want to Balance the Rewards throughout the Content? Than INCREASE the Rewards of Content that has lower Rewards, instead of DECREASING the Rewards of the other Content, EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT?!
I AM SO SICKEN TIRED OF THIS!
You Managed to Destroy and Cripple a Game that was Fun once before, and of course you are going on, Butchering our Favourite Game, until even the Last one will give up Frustrated and Just LEAVE! Is it that what you try to achive?? With every Season and every Patch its getting harder and Harder to stay Loyal with STO thanks to your Ridicilious Decisions, everytime i thought it cant get any Worse than this, you Proved me WRONG.....STO reaches a all Time Low again......so sad
I Really should start looking around for some other Games that are still....FUN :mad::mad::mad:
You see, I read the patch notes and tribble feedback (from devs and players) and all that keeps coming back to me are contradictions.
THEN - We are doing away with all these currencies because there are too many.
NOW - more currencies than at any time in the game's history with marks required for all reputations, fleet holdings, dilithium, lobi, EC, "elite" marks such as BNPs or Voth implants.
THEN - We are changing the number of traits you can use at any time down to 4 ground, 4 space and 4 specials (not including others such as Indoctrination or the one from Tour the Galaxy) to make sure the gap between a freshly minted lvl 50 player and a "veteran" lvl 50 is not too great that they couldn't compete on a fairly even level.
NOW - Starships traits introduced from various sources, most of which require serious grinding/money to acquire. Lvl 60 introduced. Specialisations introduced which increase the gap between a newly minted lvl 60 and a "veteran" fully-specced player by such a large degree that it can no longer be called a gap, more a galaxy of separation.
THEN - Rewards for certain missions will be balanced so people don't have to cherry pick where to get their marks, dil, XP, etc.
NOW - Normal queues have fails built-in for players learning to handle STF's so they either learn quick or don't bother because better, slightly more random, sources of rewards exist. Don't get me started on Advanced "optionals" that have somehow become mandatory. Rewards are somehow balanced down and very rarely upwardly (I honestly cannot think of a good example of an increase I thought was worth the bother, but that's subjective).
THEN - thank you for supporting our game, here is a free ship just for being you and because it's OUR anniversary (not the devs, not the players, all of ours).
NOW - login every day and play daft games to distract you from the tedium and you can EARN a new ship. Thanks for playing...
The game has become so hard for a new player, or an existing player that wants to roll an alt, that I have seen half of my fleet members (a small fleet, mind) simply stop logging in. I checked the roster and most last logged in about a month after DR hit the holodeck.
Others have said it better in this very thread, but I'd seriously start considering that the current trend of DOWN and then a little bit up in terms of how the rewards are balanced is not working. I'd also make normal queues as easy as they used, but that's just me.
"...we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than the things that divide us.”
Jo Cox 22.6.1974 - 16.6.2016
Logged in to doff a bit. Decided to pug an ISA. It failed after 40 secs. Logged off again to play another game, which is...moar fun. True story.
Morale: I don't care too much for rewards (although, the more the better, of course), I'd rather have a fun experience. Insta-failing a mission because of some troll (or someone who doesn't know better) and then not being able to play that mission again for almost an hour...not fun.
And with each and every slap in the face...less motivation to play at all.
Cheers!
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
The game has become so hard for a new player, or an existing player that wants to roll an alt, that I have seen half of my fleet members (a small fleet, mind) simply stop logging in. I checked the roster and most last logged in about a month after DR hit the holodeck.
I have my Own Fleet, it may be not too big (around 50 People or so) but out of this 50 only 5-6 People are left, the Rest is not logging in since.....Dilithium Rising......other Fleets that i know with up to !!500!! Players totaly VANISHED! The EMPTY Quees are a sad Prove for that....how BLIND must they be, not to see that they are Driving more and MORE Player away from their Game with all this endless NERFS?!
Seing all this TRIBBLE totaly Drives me Crazy, i mean i am a BIG TIME Star Trek Fan and i LOVE Star Trek Online, thats why i Play up to 16 Hours a Day or at least was.
I am a Lifer with 36 Main Chars and own half of what is in the Zen Store together with many Lobi and Lockbox Ships and i also have a Second Account with another 16 Chars......i even found my Fiancee here in Star Trek Online, iam from Germany shes from Canada, we both Play that long every Day, you could say Star Trek Online is our Second Home away from Home and iam sure we are not the only ones who are like this......
Now Cryptic decided to DESTROY this Home BIT by BIT, and seing this and the fact that i cant stop that MADNESS is just FRUSTRATING to say the least, all i can do is saying here
STOP IT, STOP IT GOD DAMN IT, STOP DESTROYING OUR FAVOURITE GAME!!!!!
ENOUGH ALLREADY! YOU CRIPPLED THAT GAME AND RIPPED IT APPART HOW MUCH FURTHER YOU WANT TO GO?!............Will you stop when no one except you DEVS are Left in this Game?????? People like me are DIE HARD Fans, but at one point even i and the likes of me will Just Give up in Frustration and Turn our Backs in search for another Place where we can have FUN.....you know the Word FUN?? Something that you KILLED from your own Game.......:mad::mad::mad:
Now, here's the problem (beyond the fact that people believe that payouts aren't what they should be and that you're adjusting the wrong things in the wrong direction)... you bring the nerfs now and promise the buffs in "the next couple of months". That's a problem because, well, you say a lot of nice things are coming and then they never materialize or take a year or more to come to fruition. Like, say, Secondary Deflectors. Remember those? How long were those coming soon for?
So how about instead of thanking us for our patience you show some by delaying the nerfs until they can coincide with the buffs so that people have some material proof that they will in fact materialize since, in case you haven't noticed, your consumer trust and confidence levels aren't at an all time high.
/2cents
This sums it up completely. If you cant change it all at once then don't change anything in my opinion.
Ha ha, "over the next few months" is a classic!
" Experience is a hard mistress, she gives the tests first, and the lessons after... "
The problem with such metrics is that they dont apply equally to the playerbase.
Lets just assume they want a success rate of elite missions of 5% (pure speculation since we dont know the exact numbers).
That does NOT mean that all players have a 5% chance to win the elite missions.
That does only mean that 5% of the playerbase (the top dps players) have a 100% chance to win these missions while the other 95% of the players have 0% success chance.
Increasing the STFs difficulty will hurt the new and casual players badly, the high DPS premade teams will just laugh it off.
If, however, your metrics have taken this into account, please tell us.
I've mentioned before in a few podcasts, I play STO every day with a character that has no special "dev hacks." I've worked up tier 5 in all of the reputations, earned starship mastery traits on multiple ships, and I'm still earning specialization points. I have multiple alts as well, across all the different factions and careers. When I decided that I wanted to fly the Vesta, I earned dilithium and posted it on the d-Zen exchange and purchased the ship bundle. And I'm not the only one who plays.
The assumption that "devs don't actually play the game" is decidedly incorrect.
We do play the game -- some of us a little, some of us a lot.
Thank you jheinig, I'm sure a lot of you do play, but would you be so kind as to tell us what you personally think about the post DR changes?
Do you think they have improved your playing experience?
Yeah, though tbh BNP's aren't the be all and end all of Marks. The best current build sets are Nukara and Romulan combined (Nukara Deflector and Shields with Romulan (NOT REMAN) Engines). They'll see you through to any of the Advanced queues pretty easily.
Check out r/stobuilds/ to get far more ship building advice too.
Chris Robert's on SC:
"You don't have to do something again and again and again repetitive that doesn't have much challange, that's just a general good gameplay thing."
Not to be extremely critical, but do you know what basically every single player I've talked to wants? Drastically increased daily refinement amounts. Its ubber easy to grind out dillithium, but with all of the upgrading changes you guys have made, its hardcore play to win now. If you want to keep people from leaving the game in droves this is something you guys should do and QUICKLY!! Even Neverwinter has the ability to refine out x2 what STO does.
Again I don't want to be extremely critical, I do realize you guys need to make money, it's a business, but your loosing players hand over fist and this would be an excellent way to stop that trend.
Comments
Awsome post and coment on STO. I see myself in there to 100%. So sad the publisher seems to have other plans or devs simply a embarrassing time to deliver what the majority of players want for a satisfactory game experience.
We had that b4 DR and 9 ot of 10 players seemd happy. Now its the other way around. With the reward/difficulty adjustment and the way you guys implemented them you took about ten steps in the wrong direction if the responces of your "DR-loving customers" are any indication. If you now manage to take one step in the right direction within a timeframe of months well cool but I can hardly get myself to a state of applause.
What do you guys at cryptic or at PWE gain by generating a run for your money game atmosphere? What purpose do your low rewards and fail criteria to missions serve in the first place?
It would have been easy for you to generate a motivating, encouraging and fun atmosphere where teams get additional XP and Dil/Salvage rewards in team oriented contend upon completion of former optional tasks.
Its not as if peeps wouldnt spend increased earnings in game for the benefits of your wallets away.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
I don't think that the PWE Home Office's instructions are much more complicated than, make this amount of money in this period of time, by any means necessary.
The story content is still pretty classic Star Trek, respect each nation's integrity (Kobali) try to find peaceful resolutions as much as possible (Cooperative vs Octanti), and work together instead of against each other (the entire alliance arc).
I think the issues we're having is that the Devs are balancing the game towards the performance of the absolute cream of the crop, while also attempting to maintain certain expectations on how things are supposed to go in the game purely based on the raw numbers.
They're attempting to negotiate a fine line of making things difficult enough that people will want to purchase new shinies to help advance, but instead they're hitting the trigger line, that will cause people to quit.
Ideology or not PWE won't like it if Cryptic stops hitting that money quota.
And honestly the idea that PWE bought Cryptic so that they could get a single Star Trek game license so that they could oppress the ideals represented by the franchise, strikes me as frankly absurd. In other news Star Trek into Darkness grossed $25 million in its opening weekend in mainland China. If it was the case, then I'm sure the Romulan Republic storyline would be a no go and the Tal Shiar would've won. Considering Star Trek nations analogues to the real world.
The fact of the matter is that PWE wanted to purchase an American game developer so that they could get their foot into the American market, PWE was financially available to such a purchase, and PWE got a good price for a solid developer, without having to deal with any of the normal start up costs.
That's not to say that their corporate culture hasn't trickled down or done any damage mind you.
Ding ding ding winner!!!!
I am STILL irritated that we had this long post telling us that XP is the same but numbers were changing yet it WAS a HUGE nerf to XP and most importantly, Doffing XP and nothing was said ever again. Trust has been lost and needs to be earned back.
Reread what I said in my initial post. They didn't buy it for that. They bought it for Neverwinter. They just got stuck with Trek to get that.
Is Neverwinter really so successful that they'd buy an entire studio for it? On the other hand it does fit in more with their more fantasy oriented products.
I think you're probably right for the most part.
I think they probably also supply their business model and that management at Cryptic is probably content to use PWE's business model with tweaks as long as it works and keeps payroll coming in.
I agree. I don't think they're required to. I think they probably have targets and it's safer to hit or even miss those targets by closely following the blueprint supplied. They probably could adjust significantly but doing so would probably paint a big target on whoever deviated if it didn't work.
And after years of risk, of up and down, I think Cryptic is probably just playing things extraordinarily safe and operating under the idea that they'll tweak as needed.
That's kind of depressing from my POV. It's probably not as depressing from their POV except when we backlash against that. But I'm sure they've resolved that they'll take customer scorn and a hot meal and a mortgage check over what they see as an alternative of satisfying more customers and being out on the street and not having a game. I think there's an inbetween option. I don't think they do, except through slow iteration and tweaks.
They're not balancing around the top. They don't understand the top. They also don't fully grasp the gap between the bottom and the top, nor how close to the bottom the average is. This was clear with the whole tau dewa/argala xp Nerf/exploit fiasco where they thought no one could possibly be 17x better than average so it had to be an exploit.
So when the devs add something to help the bottom, the people in the top 25% get a massive buff, while those in the bottom 50% don't or barely benifit and those in the middle 25% get only the mild buff intended. Then the devs try to compensate with big buffs/nerfs.
Its the gap and their inability to understand why the gap exists that turns their good intentions into problems. Compounded with needlessly complicated math and an unstable foundation tossing too many bugs into the mix.
After 2 weeks of playing NWO, mostly on weekends, I've gotten to lvl 60 and I'm far from running out of story arc missions. So I haven't reached the end game content. And now they're going to raise the level cap to 70 and get guild holdings (strongholds) too. Their Foundry is also more advanced then Star Trek Online's. Their maps are HUGE. And I'm not only talking about the social hubs but the missions maps as well. They can also do total character re-rolls. Changing everything about them. Just like in Champions Online. Yet they claim it is impossible in STO.
Just as it is with Champions Online they are both using the same game engine as Star Trek Online. So what's possible in one game is possible in the others. It's just a matter of Cryptic devoting resources to make it so. As rewards goes in Neverwinter they get different C-store discounts for various things as they level up. Something that doesn't even exist in STO or CO.
But back to the matter at hand. Punishing the average players because of the DPS-players are too good is not the way to go. Making the game feel even more like a grind is a horrible decision. And that is what you're doing by nerfing rewards. If the average player has to put in 10 times more time then before fo the same thing, they will sooner then later stop playing all together.
I know, I'm a die hard trekkie, I've played since closed beta. The level 50 to 60 grind coupled together with the Q Winter Wonderland grind and now the Anniversary grind has turned me away from the game to play Neverwinter instead. Something I never saw coming. Check my metric if you don't trust me, Cryptic.
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I just... I can't... but...
I Support Disco | Disco is Love | Disco is Life
Post like this is why people who have real beef with the game get mocked (by me)
Go study something named "inflaction", and stop whining about how you should be treated in a special way.
You know, that as a subscriber, you don't have to even log in to refine, right? A neat little feature I found out about a while back.
It forces players to play advanced who are clearly not ready yet to do so. It makes for bad experiences for them and the others on that mission and they cant really progress further.
So normal should give at least 1, advanced 2 and elite 3-4.
This would help, especially for those queues on Advanced that are difficult or impossible to get running publicly and succeed. Argonite Gas is a good example, as it is rewarded from Viscous Cycle, Undine Assault, and Azure Nebula Rescue. But nobody plays the first two (VC lags a lot of lower-end machines and UA is a massive pain in the aft), and the former optional on ANR is on such a shot timer that most queues fail almost immediately. So, this could very much help.
See, this is where by forum standards I'm highly delusional...
So there I am, new player, new toon, whatever the case may be, right? There's some reward that I want that's going to require me playing something that I haven't done before and that I know that I might not be prepared to do.
So yeah, I'm going to hit up the forums for the game - I'm going to look around for advice that might have already been given for folks considering hitting up that particular queue. I'm going to look around, see if there's been anything said about the way I like to play. I'm going to take a look at what I'm doing, see what tweaks I can make so that I can contribute to the group so I can get what I want. If I've got any questions, I'm going to ask them. Then I'm going to hit up some other content, try to get a feel for the build. When I feel comfortable, nervous as Hell, but comfortable enough that I should be ready...then I'm going to queue.
I'm uh, not just going to queue up without doing that...be the first to warp with every failed run and head to the forums to complain that it is Cryptic's fault that I not only didn't get what I wanted but that I screwed over the four other folks on that team as well.
Yeah, delusional as Hell by forum standards...
/sigh
Except let's again look at ANR advanced. I fly a Dauntless. As a Science Officer. But, I pull decent damage. I go into ANR Advanced, and I tell people to split up. Most don't. Last time I tried the queue, I soloed the squadron guarding the single Ha'apax that spawned (south), freed it, then went to assist the two closest me (west). However, there was less than a minute remaining when I departed. The mission failed not long after I arrived at the second point, those two not having liberated their Dhelan despite the other two clearing their T'liss with relative ease (I was only 15 or so seconds behind with my Ha'apax, thank Cthulhu for warp core breaches and Gravity Well). For this, I was specifically PMed and insulted for not being a Tactical Officer in a Battle Cruiser... by one of the people that were working on that Dhelan. And that is arguably the easiest queue that awards Argonite. The rest have no real population, lag most machines, and can be difficult to handle (Viscous Cycle is easy, but dear GOD is the chug real in that mission).
So sometimes, it's not the one failing the mission that's complaining. It's other people, too. Don't simply dismiss an idea because you don't have a problem, unless you're going to find a way to be in every queued mission simultaneously and plan to single-handedly carry every team to victory. You strike me as one of those people in the upper echelons of a system that forgets what the bottom can be like. And in this game, the bottom is... well, most of the playerbase. Not elitist, but... forgetful.
I started over again for Delta Rising. I tend to delete and reroll all my toons at least once a year. Prior to S7 I would delete toons every 2-3 weeks. I rerolled everybody for S7. I kept some, rerolled others, and added more throughout 2013. Deleted all but one at the end of 2013, keeping him because I'd never invested that much in a toon. I rerolled all new guys at the start of 2014. I deleted them all, including that toon I'd kept at the end of 2013, for Delta Rising. I started a new guy.
I don't have any secret knowledge, everything I know somebody else has posted on the forums or I've shared on the forums.
Given the time I've played, I should have all sorts of experience and be much better at this game than I am. But I'm a casual player, I'm not into chasing DPS or the like. Hell, I was an advocate prior to DR of average DPS but having fun...meeting the content requirements and TRIBBLE folks with their personal requirements with their wanting zippy runs.
Not much has changed there with Delta Rising...I really don't care if somebody out there is parsing over 100k, but if somebody shows up for Advanced and is parsing 1k...it irks me. I'm not going to lash out at anybody in team. I'm not going to post a parse in team.
I don't parse for DPS, I prefer to do the debuff/tank/heals/support thing. So I'm looking at % of attacks taken, damage taken, looking at the team's base damage vs. actual damage, and so forth.
Basically I'm a perpetual noob. I won't call anybody else a noob, newb, or nub - but I will call myself one. Cause I make goofy mistakes at times and have more than once said, "Ooopsie..." in Zone after fatfingering something, blowing up, or taking a way too wide of an arc on a turn leaving me out in the middle of nowhere.
But there's just so much information out there about almost everything. Cryptic has provided all sorts of improved "starter" endgame gear. Hell, they're adding yet another mission set with the Anniversary. Breen, Jem'Hadar, Solanae, and they're adding the Kobali. There are the non-Elite Marks space sets. There's the stuff one can get the Elite Marks from mob play in Battlezones for Dyson and Counter-Command.
I said it was delusional of me, cause not everybody's looking at the forums - so they may not know all that information about stuff is there. Hell, I actually did the join for the invite to 10k-DPS the other day; and there were folks asking all sorts of basic things - cause they didn't need to know it to get there, cause one can get there with the lightest of knowledge and just some basic gearing.
But that's something else to consider, for somebody looking to run various Advanced or even Elite content out there. See if they can't get a build up to 10k, get in that channel, and there are always folks putting together groups to do all sorts of things. Heh, I don't X up for any groups there just like I never X'd up while hanging out in OPvP. If I want to run something, I just hit up the public queues and pug it.
You had mentioned ANRA, I've never run it. Have heard mixed things about it, could see it being frustrating, and well I'm not really into doing frustrating things. I'm just a goof, have a little fun here, have a little fun there, wheeeeee. There are a bunch of things I don't run. I only run an ISA now and again to try to help more folks get into 10k-DPS so they can find groups they want. I don't do it by carrying groups, lol, I can't carry a group...but I'll get in there, try to hold all the aggro I can, debuff the targets, and try to make it a smoother ride for folks. Grab all the Spheres with some R-TBR and bury them in EWP...light those suckers up! Haven't seen anybody dropping any GWs, so I might switch out a console so I can drop AAs that can pulse any HYs that might otherwise obliterate somebody.
I just don't really feel any need to run any of the queues. Got multiple support alts running the Request R&D Assistance every 96 hours, they're also DOFFing and getting mats. If I'm running low on something I want, I'll sell something I've got a surplus of to try get the EC to buy what I want.
I guess I'm just not in any rush to do anything. Outside of the you've got X number of days to get Y things that comes about with various events (lol, even there I've come close to missing out cause I'm lazy and drag TRIBBLE)...stuff will happen when it happens. I'll get there when I get there.
And even when I get there, I know that I'm likely to delete everybody again and start over again...
Exactly how I feel.
That saddens me greatly too. You're probably right, but if anything by NOT wanting to innovate and take risk they're doing more to damage their work in the long run by playing it safe in the short run.
Especially since a LOT of their problems can be fixed relatively easy. It's not like we're here complaining about lockbox ships and dilithium, we're talking about effort vs reward, xp leveling rates, and the concept of funneling players to content by weakening the viability of other content rather than improving the content they want us to play or their rewards.
I pick up what you're laying down.
Well...what else is new for us. Star Trek was NBC's redheaded stepchild too. Invested lots of money. Scored high in the metrics they were going for literally before they were metrics. Kicked to the curb before its true potential was unveiled. Then we were adopted by Paramount and found a new family.
That said, I leveled a character from scratch on Tribble. As created originally, I hit level 50in the middle of the Cardassian Struggle. Had I been able to continue before Delta Rising when they restricted Tribble to gold members, then I would had ALL of the Borg Storyline, The Dyson's Sphere, and the Delta Quadrant to get through. I am going to make 60 before I'm finished with the story content, though I don't know how a current character would work out when faced with the removal of six Romulan missions worth of XP.
NWO sounds great...but I'm not much for Swords and Sorcery type of things. I'm a born and bred Star Trek fan (too). But I don't gravitate towards D&D, Tolkien style fantasy the same for comic superheroes. I like it fine, but I have no desire at all to play NWO or CO. I am here for Star Trek. And when my time with this game is done, barring a sequel, there will be no more MMOs for me. That said I measure myself and pace myself. When the Winter Event hit, I did nothing but that. Cleansed the pallet. Coming back to the game after that flying around and blowing ship up felt fresher.
But MAN that spec point grind. I'm going one at a time on leveling my characters through to 60, on my second of four (almost third of five if you count my Tribble character) and the Delta Quadrant storyline. (the four level head start from the mirror event is nice).
Is your Main Goal to Drive Everyone away from this Game???? Do you Guys hate us Players that much?! except some Increases for things that NO ONE cares anyway, all ,i see is DECREASED REWARDS all over the Place!!!!! For Missions / STFs that the Majority is Playing, so we are now Punished that we Play Content that we like and forced to Play Content that we dont like???? You want to Balance the Rewards throughout the Content? Than INCREASE the Rewards of Content that has lower Rewards, instead of DECREASING the Rewards of the other Content, EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT?!
I AM SO SICKEN TIRED OF THIS!
You Managed to Destroy and Cripple a Game that was Fun once before, and of course you are going on, Butchering our Favourite Game, until even the Last one will give up Frustrated and Just LEAVE! Is it that what you try to achive?? With every Season and every Patch its getting harder and Harder to stay Loyal with STO thanks to your Ridicilious Decisions, everytime i thought it cant get any Worse than this, you Proved me WRONG.....STO reaches a all Time Low again......so sad
I Really should start looking around for some other Games that are still....FUN :mad::mad::mad:
THEN - We are doing away with all these currencies because there are too many.
NOW - more currencies than at any time in the game's history with marks required for all reputations, fleet holdings, dilithium, lobi, EC, "elite" marks such as BNPs or Voth implants.
THEN - We are changing the number of traits you can use at any time down to 4 ground, 4 space and 4 specials (not including others such as Indoctrination or the one from Tour the Galaxy) to make sure the gap between a freshly minted lvl 50 player and a "veteran" lvl 50 is not too great that they couldn't compete on a fairly even level.
NOW - Starships traits introduced from various sources, most of which require serious grinding/money to acquire. Lvl 60 introduced. Specialisations introduced which increase the gap between a newly minted lvl 60 and a "veteran" fully-specced player by such a large degree that it can no longer be called a gap, more a galaxy of separation.
THEN - Rewards for certain missions will be balanced so people don't have to cherry pick where to get their marks, dil, XP, etc.
NOW - Normal queues have fails built-in for players learning to handle STF's so they either learn quick or don't bother because better, slightly more random, sources of rewards exist. Don't get me started on Advanced "optionals" that have somehow become mandatory. Rewards are somehow balanced down and very rarely upwardly (I honestly cannot think of a good example of an increase I thought was worth the bother, but that's subjective).
THEN - thank you for supporting our game, here is a free ship just for being you and because it's OUR anniversary (not the devs, not the players, all of ours).
NOW - login every day and play daft games to distract you from the tedium and you can EARN a new ship. Thanks for playing...
The game has become so hard for a new player, or an existing player that wants to roll an alt, that I have seen half of my fleet members (a small fleet, mind) simply stop logging in. I checked the roster and most last logged in about a month after DR hit the holodeck.
Others have said it better in this very thread, but I'd seriously start considering that the current trend of DOWN and then a little bit up in terms of how the rewards are balanced is not working. I'd also make normal queues as easy as they used, but that's just me.
Jo Cox 22.6.1974 - 16.6.2016
Morale: I don't care too much for rewards (although, the more the better, of course), I'd rather have a fun experience. Insta-failing a mission because of some troll (or someone who doesn't know better) and then not being able to play that mission again for almost an hour...not fun.
And with each and every slap in the face...less motivation to play at all.
Cheers!
I have my Own Fleet, it may be not too big (around 50 People or so) but out of this 50 only 5-6 People are left, the Rest is not logging in since.....Dilithium Rising......other Fleets that i know with up to !!500!! Players totaly VANISHED! The EMPTY Quees are a sad Prove for that....how BLIND must they be, not to see that they are Driving more and MORE Player away from their Game with all this endless NERFS?!
Seing all this TRIBBLE totaly Drives me Crazy, i mean i am a BIG TIME Star Trek Fan and i LOVE Star Trek Online, thats why i Play up to 16 Hours a Day or at least was.
I am a Lifer with 36 Main Chars and own half of what is in the Zen Store together with many Lobi and Lockbox Ships and i also have a Second Account with another 16 Chars......i even found my Fiancee here in Star Trek Online, iam from Germany shes from Canada, we both Play that long every Day, you could say Star Trek Online is our Second Home away from Home and iam sure we are not the only ones who are like this......
Now Cryptic decided to DESTROY this Home BIT by BIT, and seing this and the fact that i cant stop that MADNESS is just FRUSTRATING to say the least, all i can do is saying here
STOP IT, STOP IT GOD DAMN IT, STOP DESTROYING OUR FAVOURITE GAME!!!!!
ENOUGH ALLREADY! YOU CRIPPLED THAT GAME AND RIPPED IT APPART HOW MUCH FURTHER YOU WANT TO GO?!............Will you stop when no one except you DEVS are Left in this Game?????? People like me are DIE HARD Fans, but at one point even i and the likes of me will Just Give up in Frustration and Turn our Backs in search for another Place where we can have FUN.....you know the Word FUN?? Something that you KILLED from your own Game.......:mad::mad::mad:
This sums it up completely. If you cant change it all at once then don't change anything in my opinion.
Ha ha, "over the next few months" is a classic!
Increasing the STFs difficulty will hurt the new and casual players badly, the high DPS premade teams will just laugh it off.
If, however, your metrics have taken this into account, please tell us.
Thank you jheinig, I'm sure a lot of you do play, but would you be so kind as to tell us what you personally think about the post DR changes?
Do you think they have improved your playing experience?
Me likes this. I've been stuck on getting enough Borg Neural Processors for all the borg stuff from the reputation system.
Check out r/stobuilds/ to get far more ship building advice too.
"You don't have to do something again and again and again repetitive that doesn't have much challange, that's just a general good gameplay thing."
Again I don't want to be extremely critical, I do realize you guys need to make money, it's a business, but your loosing players hand over fist and this would be an excellent way to stop that trend.