Well, that would make it impossible for me to get two of the accolades from 'Dust to Dust'. So I'd rather not this change.
However, is it hard for you to simply walk around the electrified plates, since you propose to have the easy mode with only that 'challenge' left? I mean, there has to be some obstacle thrown at the player, no?
It is not a matter if it is hard, since I have succeeded more then once and will do it more times to get the set for those alts that need it.
I just bloody hate it! This is not a Mario Broo PS3 game. :rolleyes:
This is f***ing killing my enjoyment of the game. :mad:
If they had placed some enemies or had a problem to solve I would not be upset. But those f***ing insta death if you do something wrong is not one bloody bit fun.
A test server is supposed to be used to properly test patches before patching anything....
I've just finished the mission. I really really enjoyed playing it. Well the labyrinth was a little bit confusing at the beginning (the idea with marking dead ends was great!) but after all it was a great mission and the conclusion was very Trek like.
I do really felt sorry for the "original" Kim. That's the kind of plot twists I really enjoy in storys.
Very well written and thank you for an entertaining evening!
It is not a matter if it is hard, since I have succeeded more then once and will do it more times to get the set for those alts that need it.
I just bloody hate it! This is not a Mario Broo PS3 game. :rolleyes:
This is f***ing killing my enjoyment of the game. :mad:
If they had placed some enemies or had a problem to solve I would not be upset. But those f***ing insta death if you do something wrong is not one bloody bit fun.
Sorry you don't like it.
The problem with 'problems to solve' is after you solve it for the first time, it's no longer a problem (and the solution is available within moments on the forum, in chat, ...). And enemies? Oh, all my chars have already killed so many, they're mass murderers, actually...
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Since so far my only feedback was negative, relating to the falling floor panels near the end, which was only because I didn't realise why I kept dying the first dozen or so times... I figured I'd leave a more positive reply since I've now completed it a few times with ease.
The mission is actually pretty fun. I've enjoyed my successive play-throughs of the mission, even collected the speed accolades for each section so I feel better about that. I'm not sure if I'll have it in me to run it four times across all of my characters, but I'll at least do it a few times on some of them.
Join date is wrong, I've actually been around since STO Beta.
True alters don't have a "main". Account wide unlocks for all unique event rewards!!
The problem with 'problems to solve' is after you solve it for the first time, it's no longer a problem (and the solution is available within moments on the forum, in chat, ...). And enemies? Oh, all my chars have already killed so many, they're mass murderers, actually...
Soooo, you think in other words that all other content in game is worthless since I asked for content to be what we usually have?
A test server is supposed to be used to properly test patches before patching anything....
No it isnt. You should see me play every other game .... I SUCK. but not there. Ah and nice to see that you feel insulted by a general statement. That meens you are the egocentric.
Perhaps you should read what you typed a few times before saying that.
As much as I loved the story, voice acting and visuals of 'Dust To Dust', I don't think the Kobali Space Set is enough compensation for putting up with the utter fail which is the Bridge Slider shooting 'puzzle'. It's just a shame that the experience of such a high quality episode, like 'Dust To Dust', was marred by the inclusion of the blatantly, anti-player-friendly, time wasting, timer 'puzzle' bridge slider. Completing the mission for a single character was more than enough of that bad design element for my sensibilities. I have no desire or intention to grind through such nonsense again for a set that is no better than current Rep gear. As an asides, if you ever get the urge to revisit/revamp/reboot 'Dust To Dust', ditch the bridge slider garbage.
I have to agree with you. Although I liked the overall mission the last part felt way too much like Mario Bros to me. I did it with 2 chars but I'm not planning on doing it again. I liked the "hidden" passage but the maze and brdiges were a chore. This may sound strange but please do more of those missions... but drop the mazes and brdiges
Soooo, you think in other words that all other content in game is worthless since I asked for content to be what we usually have?
No, just that a bit more variety goes a long way.
EDIT: Also the mission given it's rather non-combat focus is very easy to do on undergeared alts. My new suite of lvl 10 alts I made this weekend (I'm tired of the grind, I'll just try to have fun like with crazy jumping Caitians and Ferasans) fared even better than my my oldest lvl 60s, simply because I'm getting better at the obstacles.
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
EDIT: Also the mission given it's rather non-combat focus is very easy to do on undergeared alts. My new suite of lvl 10 alts I made this weekend (I'm tired of the grind, I'll just try to have fun like with crazy jumping Caitians and Ferasans) fared even better than my my oldest lvl 60s, simply because I'm getting better at the obstacles.
That about sums it up. Different people like different things. Some of us like the variety of this and that there's a minimum of running around shooting people in it. If you don't like the design, then I'm sorry for you, but there's most of the rest of the missions in the game for you.
This is an MMO, not a Star Trek episode simulator. That would make for a terrible game.
I didn't like the electric bursts in the beginning of the mission but it wasn't too bad. The maze was all right as I didn't have much trouble with it. I did miss the Kobali BOFF down there. I'll have to work up the courage to do it again and this time get the BOFF.
But the electric sliders were just..... horrible. Somehow I made it through without even realising the electric floors caused the slide to retract instantly. I died way too many times. It was like an old Tomb Raider 2 game back from the days of the Playstation 1. Bad controls, even worse timing.
And then the mission slaps you in the face when KobaliKim steals the ship and flies away, making all that you'd suffered to get to him worthless. You might as well have just sat back and waited for him to take the ship on his own and saved yourself the pain.
And then when you finally get to him... I have to admit I'd have really liked to punch KobaliKim out like the KDF Captains get to do to that squealing Ferengi during the tutorial. It was aggravating to just stand and watch as "All is forgiven." Um..... no? That fellow caused a Vaudwaar attack on the Temple, TRIBBLE into classified systems, attempted to murder a Starfleet Admiral... twice and stole a ship. IMO that's a lot of jail time. "All is forgiven" my TRIBBLE.
But I suppose being taken back to the Kobali to be properly brainwashed is punishment enough.
Just no more invisible tanks, please. I chose the hard way going in, and was very relieved at the relative ease with which my away team took care of the temple's defenders, but I spent the next five minutes taking pinpricks from targets I couldn't see, let alone get a clear shot at. Finally managed to make a bit of headway when I figured out their general bearing and just fired blindly into empty space in shooter mode. (I ain't afraid of no ghosts!)
I didn't like the electric bursts in the beginning of the mission but it wasn't too bad. The maze was all right as I didn't have much trouble with it. I did miss the Kobali BOFF down there. I'll have to work up the courage to do it again and this time get the BOFF.
But the electric sliders were just..... horrible. Somehow I made it through without even realising the electric floors caused the slide to retract instantly. I died way too many times. It was like an old Tomb Raider 2 game back from the days of the Playstation 1. Bad controls, even worse timing.
And then the mission slaps you in the face when KobaliKim steals the ship and flies away, making all that you'd suffered to get to him worthless. You might as well have just sat back and waited for him to take the ship on his own and saved yourself the pain.
And then when you finally get to him... I have to admit I'd have really liked to punch KobaliKim out like the KDF Captains get to do to that squealing Ferengi during the tutorial. It was aggravating to just stand and watch as "All is forgiven." Um..... no? That fellow caused a Vaudwaar attack on the Temple, TRIBBLE into classified systems, attempted to murder a Starfleet Admiral... twice and stole a ship. IMO that's a lot of jail time. "All is forgiven" my TRIBBLE.
But I suppose being taken back to the Kobali to be properly brainwashed is punishment enough.
Worse yet, it's extremely illogical. Electrified floors? Insullated boots. Standard issue, probably. Plus if that much raw power were arcing to the floor and back, you'd be killed anywhere within 10 meters of it. Think of a lightning strike -- most are lethal 20ft+ away from the actual impact point. There's an older video of lightning striking a soccer field and every player on the field going down at once, no matter how far out they were. That much power is pervasive and NOT pin-point controlled. Second, shutting the power off to the entire section is probably 10000000 times easier than making the power pulse.
Then you get to the maze... oooh... kay? Bad logic and bad map design behind this one. Okay... it's a maze. Why? Why is it a maze? Making the "walls" be 100% solid, or alternating mashers would be far more logical and effective of a barrier. But... a maze? How does that fit in this setting or this game in any way? Somebody was playing too much Tomb Raider Guardians of the Light or somesuch. The best solution (and one I tried to do instantly) would be to hop on top of the wall of the maze and just walk across with ease. Nope! Invisible wall barriers! In fact, even the stairs that take you to the TOP of the wall so you can look across? INVISIBLE WALL! Plot armor, much?
And finally we get to the walkways.... First, why is that even there? This episode was badly written! </GalaxyQuest> Assuming such a layout would ever be constructed, and assuming it was ever set up to need triggering, why bother? You have grapple gear now, remember? You can shoot a zip line and pull yourself across with ease. Or you more than likely would secure a rope about your waist and scale the easily-grabbable wall fixtures on the side wall where the walkways retract. Add to that the nonsense about floor panels triggering a faster retract? Just... why?
The mission had a good kernel at its center. Most of it is just mind numbingly implemented. It's poorly motivated, or just not motivated at all, and the time-gating tactics are there just to have the player listen to the dialog, nothing else. It's to showcase the voice acting. IMO just put it in a cut scene we can skip and be done with it.
I'm not against longer missions. Far from it. Some of the best missions I can think of right now are longer ones. However, they have to flow steadily. They have to have constant logical motivation to lead from one area to the next (or at least, mostly so). Dust to Dust simply fails as soon as it has you enter the stasis pod temple. That's all setting aside the feeling that I want to wipe the Kobali off the face of the planet and help the Vaadwuar retrieve their stasis-frozen people.
I get that they're trying to do new things in missions and I get it... but honestly? The production quality was okay but the level design was amateur hour.
Just an FYI for any folks who are having trouble with the maze...
There's an old trick for dealing with mazes that I am using to get through this one. To begin you simple decide if you would prefer left or right and then remember that choice and always make that choice.
IOW - You step inside and go to the left then remember that if it were a real maze you'd keep your left hand on the wall and follow it always turning to the left when a left opening appears. Follow every left until it dead ends and then turn remaining always aware of the wall to you left.
Keep up with your awareness of the left wall until you find the third set of steps which is the exit.
As for the rest of the mission (and I still only pick Easy), I really did despise those sliding bridges, but I've come to accept them. I can do the entire mission without dying now, except for the final group of sliders. Still dying only two times is a HUGE improvement from my first time through.
Just an FYI for any folks who are having trouble with the maze...
There's an old trick for dealing with mazes that I am using to get through this one. To begin you simple decide if you would prefer left or right and then remember that choice and always make that choice.
IOW - You step inside and go to the left then remember that if it were a real maze you'd keep your left hand on the wall and follow it always turning to the left when a left opening appears. Follow every left until it dead ends and then turn remaining always aware of the wall to you left.
Actually, the trick is to drag your hand along the left wall (or right, whichever you choose) no matter what nooks and crannies and dead-ends you may encounter, and as long as you always follow that wall you will find your way out. The problem is you must follow the wall all the way, through every dead end, and may end up covering every inch of a maze rather than taking the direct route. You keep your hand on the wall even if it means tracing along the back side of a wall you've already traced on the other side, which can mean you backtrack a bit.
That's a technical solution, yes... But it may take 50x longer than doing it the smart way. Zoom ALL the way out, as FAR as your camera can go, then look down at the ground. This will shave a lot of time off your trip as long as you have some modicum of spacial awareness.
Actually, the trick is to drag your hand along the left wall (or right, whichever you choose) no matter what nooks and crannies and dead-ends you may encounter, and as long as you always follow that wall you will find your way out. The problem is you must follow the wall all the way, through every dead end, and may end up covering every inch of a maze rather than taking the direct route. You keep your hand on the wall even if it means tracing along the back side of a wall you've already traced on the other side, which can mean you backtrack a bit.
That's a technical solution, yes... But it may take 50x longer than doing it the smart way. Zoom ALL the way out, as FAR as your camera can go, then look down at the ground. This will shave a lot of time off your trip as long as you have some modicum of spacial awareness.
Spacial awareness? What's that Brain? ( points to your avatar ) :eek:
Actually, the trick is to drag your hand along the left wall (or right, whichever you choose) no matter what nooks and crannies and dead-ends you may encounter, and as long as you always follow that wall you will find your way out. The problem is you must follow the wall all the way, through every dead end, and may end up covering every inch of a maze rather than taking the direct route. You keep your hand on the wall even if it means tracing along the back side of a wall you've already traced on the other side, which can mean you backtrack a bit.
That's a technical solution, yes... But it may take 50x longer than doing it the smart way. Zoom ALL the way out, as FAR as your camera can go, then look down at the ground. This will shave a lot of time off your trip as long as you have some modicum of spacial awareness.
This technique also fails in any maze with a complete loop where you end up going in circles if your hand is on the wrong wall.
This technique also fails in any maze with a complete loop where you end up going in circles if your hand is on the wrong wall.
Nope, not really. Assuming you understand you may have to trace the inside and outside of the same wall as you go around corners, as long as there is one entrance and one exit, and SOME path between them (no free-standing walls or islands) you will make it out.
Worse yet, it's extremely illogical. Electrified floors? Insullated boots. Standard issue, probably. Plus if that much raw power were arcing to the floor and back, you'd be killed anywhere within 10 meters of it. Think of a lightning strike -- most are lethal 20ft+ away from the actual impact point. There's an older video of lightning striking a soccer field and every player on the field going down at once, no matter how far out they were. That much power is pervasive and NOT pin-point controlled. Second, shutting the power off to the entire section is probably 10000000 times easier than making the power pulse.
Then you get to the maze... oooh... kay? Bad logic and bad map design behind this one. Okay... it's a maze. Why? Why is it a maze? Making the "walls" be 100% solid, or alternating mashers would be far more logical and effective of a barrier. But... a maze? How does that fit in this setting or this game in any way? Somebody was playing too much Tomb Raider Guardians of the Light or somesuch. The best solution (and one I tried to do instantly) would be to hop on top of the wall of the maze and just walk across with ease. Nope! Invisible wall barriers! In fact, even the stairs that take you to the TOP of the wall so you can look across? INVISIBLE WALL! Plot armor, much?
And finally we get to the walkways.... First, why is that even there? This episode was badly written! </GalaxyQuest> Assuming such a layout would ever be constructed, and assuming it was ever set up to need triggering, why bother? You have grapple gear now, remember? You can shoot a zip line and pull yourself across with ease. Or you more than likely would secure a rope about your waist and scale the easily-grabbable wall fixtures on the side wall where the walkways retract. Add to that the nonsense about floor panels triggering a faster retract? Just... why?
The mission had a good kernel at its center. Most of it is just mind numbingly implemented. It's poorly motivated, or just not motivated at all, and the time-gating tactics are there just to have the player listen to the dialog, nothing else. It's to showcase the voice acting. IMO just put it in a cut scene we can skip and be done with it.
I'm not against longer missions. Far from it. Some of the best missions I can think of right now are longer ones. However, they have to flow steadily. They have to have constant logical motivation to lead from one area to the next (or at least, mostly so). Dust to Dust simply fails as soon as it has you enter the stasis pod temple. That's all setting aside the feeling that I want to wipe the Kobali off the face of the planet and help the Vaadwuar retrieve their stasis-frozen people.
I get that they're trying to do new things in missions and I get it... but honestly? The production quality was okay but the level design was amateur hour.
You know,
I'm glad I'm not the only one that tried to jump onto the walls at the top of the maze and try to just walk/jump across the top of it and met the same invisible walls. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who looked at each obstacle and wondered why we couldn't use the handy grappler and zip we'd used only five minutes ago. Ah the curse of plot armour invisible walls.... You've already addressed the problem as why the Vaudwaar would build such rooms in the first place. At the doorway of the "Temple" to prevent intruders from getting to the stasis pods? Maybe. But not right down at the bottom where nothing of worth is kept.
I didn't think about the electricity puzzle at the beginning but you're absolutely right about that much electricity. Of course I was wondering why you couldn't just jump from stasis pod to stasis pod and bypass the bursts of electricity altogether.
If Cryptic plans more missions like this they should let me know now so I can un-mothball my Caitian character.
Worse yet, it's extremely illogical. Electrified floors? Insullated boots. Standard issue, probably. Plus if that much raw power were arcing to the floor and back, you'd be killed anywhere within 10 meters of it. Think of a lightning strike -- most are lethal 20ft+ away from the actual impact point. There's an older video of lightning striking a soccer field and every player on the field going down at once, no matter how far out they were. That much power is pervasive and NOT pin-point controlled. Second, shutting the power off to the entire section is probably 10000000 times easier than making the power pulse.
Then you get to the maze... oooh... kay? Bad logic and bad map design behind this one. Okay... it's a maze. Why? Why is it a maze? Making the "walls" be 100% solid, or alternating mashers would be far more logical and effective of a barrier. But... a maze? How does that fit in this setting or this game in any way? Somebody was playing too much Tomb Raider Guardians of the Light or somesuch. The best solution (and one I tried to do instantly) would be to hop on top of the wall of the maze and just walk across with ease. Nope! Invisible wall barriers! In fact, even the stairs that take you to the TOP of the wall so you can look across? INVISIBLE WALL! Plot armor, much?
And finally we get to the walkways.... First, why is that even there? This episode was badly written! </GalaxyQuest> Assuming such a layout would ever be constructed, and assuming it was ever set up to need triggering, why bother? You have grapple gear now, remember? You can shoot a zip line and pull yourself across with ease. Or you more than likely would secure a rope about your waist and scale the easily-grabbable wall fixtures on the side wall where the walkways retract. Add to that the nonsense about floor panels triggering a faster retract? Just... why?
The mission had a good kernel at its center. Most of it is just mind numbingly implemented. It's poorly motivated, or just not motivated at all, and the time-gating tactics are there just to have the player listen to the dialog, nothing else. It's to showcase the voice acting. IMO just put it in a cut scene we can skip and be done with it.
I'm not against longer missions. Far from it. Some of the best missions I can think of right now are longer ones. However, they have to flow steadily. They have to have constant logical motivation to lead from one area to the next (or at least, mostly so). Dust to Dust simply fails as soon as it has you enter the stasis pod temple. That's all setting aside the feeling that I want to wipe the Kobali off the face of the planet and help the Vaadwuar retrieve their stasis-frozen people.
I get that they're trying to do new things in missions and I get it... but honestly? The production quality was okay but the level design was amateur hour.
While you are right about everything (except this being a 'longer mission', half an hour is pretty standard and great compared to some other Featured Episodes), I'll tell you you're just thinking too much. I've stopped doing that somewhere between Thalaron pulses available to Romulan republic players, 'dinos with freaking lazors on their heads', the Dyson sci destroyers or players flying in Undine vessels.
However I admit I did try to get on top of the maze walls...
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
I must be getting better at this episode.. just did it on an alt and got the accolade for doing all those hoppady hoops in under 10 (i think) minutes ..
We still live!!!!! Hahahahahahahahaa! We live and we will conquer!!!!! Hahahahahaaha!
-Roach, when asked about Klingon extinction!
While you are right about everything (except this being a 'longer mission', half an hour is pretty standard and great compared to some other Featured Episodes),
It's not that I was saying it was long. I was saying that long missions aren't a bad thing in general, as compared to missions that just waste time (like this one) so you can hear the voice actors do their job. It isn't the first STO mission that has suffered from this malady.
Comments
It is not a matter if it is hard, since I have succeeded more then once and will do it more times to get the set for those alts that need it.
I just bloody hate it! This is not a Mario Broo PS3 game. :rolleyes:
This is f***ing killing my enjoyment of the game. :mad:
If they had placed some enemies or had a problem to solve I would not be upset. But those f***ing insta death if you do something wrong is not one bloody bit fun.
A test server is supposed to be used to properly test patches before patching anything....
I've just finished the mission. I really really enjoyed playing it. Well the labyrinth was a little bit confusing at the beginning (the idea with marking dead ends was great!) but after all it was a great mission and the conclusion was very Trek like.
I do really felt sorry for the "original" Kim. That's the kind of plot twists I really enjoy in storys.
Very well written and thank you for an entertaining evening!
Greetings
Nahari
Sorry you don't like it.
The problem with 'problems to solve' is after you solve it for the first time, it's no longer a problem (and the solution is available within moments on the forum, in chat, ...). And enemies? Oh, all my chars have already killed so many, they're mass murderers, actually...
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
The mission is actually pretty fun. I've enjoyed my successive play-throughs of the mission, even collected the speed accolades for each section so I feel better about that. I'm not sure if I'll have it in me to run it four times across all of my characters, but I'll at least do it a few times on some of them.
Soooo, you think in other words that all other content in game is worthless since I asked for content to be what we usually have?
A test server is supposed to be used to properly test patches before patching anything....
Sorry dude, but just because you think some Mario Bro like running and shooting is easy and fun does not mean everyone do or have to to like it.
So by all mean disagree with me, but put a sock in it if you want to be insulting about it. :mad:
A test server is supposed to be used to properly test patches before patching anything....
You said:
You even empathized that it was extremely easy so anyone that did not agree should suck it up.
That implies that you have no problem therefore everyone that disagree should shut up.
In other word very egocentric view. Perhaps you should have phrased things differently if that was not what you meant.
A test server is supposed to be used to properly test patches before patching anything....
I have to agree with you. Although I liked the overall mission the last part felt way too much like Mario Bros to me. I did it with 2 chars but I'm not planning on doing it again. I liked the "hidden" passage but the maze and brdiges were a chore. This may sound strange but please do more of those missions... but drop the mazes and brdiges
No, just that a bit more variety goes a long way.
EDIT: Also the mission given it's rather non-combat focus is very easy to do on undergeared alts. My new suite of lvl 10 alts I made this weekend (I'm tired of the grind, I'll just try to have fun like with crazy jumping Caitians and Ferasans) fared even better than my my oldest lvl 60s, simply because I'm getting better at the obstacles.
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
That about sums it up. Different people like different things. Some of us like the variety of this and that there's a minimum of running around shooting people in it. If you don't like the design, then I'm sorry for you, but there's most of the rest of the missions in the game for you.
I didn't like the electric bursts in the beginning of the mission but it wasn't too bad. The maze was all right as I didn't have much trouble with it. I did miss the Kobali BOFF down there. I'll have to work up the courage to do it again and this time get the BOFF.
But the electric sliders were just..... horrible. Somehow I made it through without even realising the electric floors caused the slide to retract instantly. I died way too many times. It was like an old Tomb Raider 2 game back from the days of the Playstation 1. Bad controls, even worse timing.
And then the mission slaps you in the face when KobaliKim steals the ship and flies away, making all that you'd suffered to get to him worthless. You might as well have just sat back and waited for him to take the ship on his own and saved yourself the pain.
And then when you finally get to him... I have to admit I'd have really liked to punch KobaliKim out like the KDF Captains get to do to that squealing Ferengi during the tutorial. It was aggravating to just stand and watch as "All is forgiven." Um..... no? That fellow caused a Vaudwaar attack on the Temple, TRIBBLE into classified systems, attempted to murder a Starfleet Admiral... twice and stole a ship. IMO that's a lot of jail time. "All is forgiven" my TRIBBLE.
But I suppose being taken back to the Kobali to be properly brainwashed is punishment enough.
--Red Annorax
Worse yet, it's extremely illogical. Electrified floors? Insullated boots. Standard issue, probably. Plus if that much raw power were arcing to the floor and back, you'd be killed anywhere within 10 meters of it. Think of a lightning strike -- most are lethal 20ft+ away from the actual impact point. There's an older video of lightning striking a soccer field and every player on the field going down at once, no matter how far out they were. That much power is pervasive and NOT pin-point controlled. Second, shutting the power off to the entire section is probably 10000000 times easier than making the power pulse.
Then you get to the maze... oooh... kay? Bad logic and bad map design behind this one. Okay... it's a maze. Why? Why is it a maze? Making the "walls" be 100% solid, or alternating mashers would be far more logical and effective of a barrier. But... a maze? How does that fit in this setting or this game in any way? Somebody was playing too much Tomb Raider Guardians of the Light or somesuch. The best solution (and one I tried to do instantly) would be to hop on top of the wall of the maze and just walk across with ease. Nope! Invisible wall barriers! In fact, even the stairs that take you to the TOP of the wall so you can look across? INVISIBLE WALL! Plot armor, much?
And finally we get to the walkways.... First, why is that even there? This episode was badly written! </GalaxyQuest> Assuming such a layout would ever be constructed, and assuming it was ever set up to need triggering, why bother? You have grapple gear now, remember? You can shoot a zip line and pull yourself across with ease. Or you more than likely would secure a rope about your waist and scale the easily-grabbable wall fixtures on the side wall where the walkways retract. Add to that the nonsense about floor panels triggering a faster retract? Just... why?
The mission had a good kernel at its center. Most of it is just mind numbingly implemented. It's poorly motivated, or just not motivated at all, and the time-gating tactics are there just to have the player listen to the dialog, nothing else. It's to showcase the voice acting. IMO just put it in a cut scene we can skip and be done with it.
I'm not against longer missions. Far from it. Some of the best missions I can think of right now are longer ones. However, they have to flow steadily. They have to have constant logical motivation to lead from one area to the next (or at least, mostly so). Dust to Dust simply fails as soon as it has you enter the stasis pod temple. That's all setting aside the feeling that I want to wipe the Kobali off the face of the planet and help the Vaadwuar retrieve their stasis-frozen people.
I get that they're trying to do new things in missions and I get it... but honestly? The production quality was okay but the level design was amateur hour.
There's an old trick for dealing with mazes that I am using to get through this one. To begin you simple decide if you would prefer left or right and then remember that choice and always make that choice.
IOW - You step inside and go to the left then remember that if it were a real maze you'd keep your left hand on the wall and follow it always turning to the left when a left opening appears. Follow every left until it dead ends and then turn remaining always aware of the wall to you left.
Keep up with your awareness of the left wall until you find the third set of steps which is the exit.
As for the rest of the mission (and I still only pick Easy), I really did despise those sliding bridges, but I've come to accept them. I can do the entire mission without dying now, except for the final group of sliders. Still dying only two times is a HUGE improvement from my first time through.
Actually, the trick is to drag your hand along the left wall (or right, whichever you choose) no matter what nooks and crannies and dead-ends you may encounter, and as long as you always follow that wall you will find your way out. The problem is you must follow the wall all the way, through every dead end, and may end up covering every inch of a maze rather than taking the direct route. You keep your hand on the wall even if it means tracing along the back side of a wall you've already traced on the other side, which can mean you backtrack a bit.
That's a technical solution, yes... But it may take 50x longer than doing it the smart way. Zoom ALL the way out, as FAR as your camera can go, then look down at the ground. This will shave a lot of time off your trip as long as you have some modicum of spacial awareness.
Spacial awareness? What's that Brain? ( points to your avatar ) :eek:
This technique also fails in any maze with a complete loop where you end up going in circles if your hand is on the wrong wall.
Nope, not really. Assuming you understand you may have to trace the inside and outside of the same wall as you go around corners, as long as there is one entrance and one exit, and SOME path between them (no free-standing walls or islands) you will make it out.
You know,
I'm glad I'm not the only one that tried to jump onto the walls at the top of the maze and try to just walk/jump across the top of it and met the same invisible walls. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who looked at each obstacle and wondered why we couldn't use the handy grappler and zip we'd used only five minutes ago. Ah the curse of plot armour invisible walls.... You've already addressed the problem as why the Vaudwaar would build such rooms in the first place. At the doorway of the "Temple" to prevent intruders from getting to the stasis pods? Maybe. But not right down at the bottom where nothing of worth is kept.
I didn't think about the electricity puzzle at the beginning but you're absolutely right about that much electricity. Of course I was wondering why you couldn't just jump from stasis pod to stasis pod and bypass the bursts of electricity altogether.
If Cryptic plans more missions like this they should let me know now so I can un-mothball my Caitian character.
While you are right about everything (except this being a 'longer mission', half an hour is pretty standard and great compared to some other Featured Episodes), I'll tell you you're just thinking too much. I've stopped doing that somewhere between Thalaron pulses available to Romulan republic players, 'dinos with freaking lazors on their heads', the Dyson sci destroyers or players flying in Undine vessels.
However I admit I did try to get on top of the maze walls...
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
We still live!!!!! Hahahahahahahahaa! We live and we will conquer!!!!! Hahahahahaaha!
-Roach, when asked about Klingon extinction!
It's not that I was saying it was long. I was saying that long missions aren't a bad thing in general, as compared to missions that just waste time (like this one) so you can hear the voice actors do their job. It isn't the first STO mission that has suffered from this malady.
~LaughingTrendy