Priority One Podcast 207 | Five Year Mission feat. Al Rivera

elijahmre · February 2015

Greetings, Admirals! Youre listening to EPISODE 207 OF PRIORITY ONE PODCAST, the premier Star Trek Online podcast! This episode was recorded on Thursday, January 29th 2015 and made available for download on Monday, February 2nd 2015 at PriorityOnePodcast.com!

Brace yourselves for a long episode, Admirals! For starters, Sir Patrick Stewart has been making some news and we'll Trek Out what he has to say. In Star Trek Online News there's a lot to celebrate now that STO has turned 5 years old! Elijah, Cookie, and Jayce will be reviewing the news with featured guest - Star Trek Online Lead Designer - Al "CaptainGeko" Rivera. Then, of course, before we wrap the show, well open hailing frequencies for your incoming messages!

Don't rely on someone else to do it! There are only a few days left to nominate Priority One Podcast in the*Best Produced and Gaming categories in the 10th Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards! You nominated us last year and now we need your support again this year! http://podcastawards.com/

TOPICS DISCUSSED

[*]Star Trek Online 5 Year Infographic
[*]Stephen Ricossa - Lead Producer - 5 Year Mission Blog
[*]Star Trek Onlines Five Year Anniversary!

Jhetleya Returns!
[*]Al Rivera interviews Actress Kim Rhodes
[*]List of Omega Molecule Locations by Trace Color

The winner of our Design a Priority One Podcast DoFF is:*Tiberius@ Borg_Unimatrix01! Congratulations!!

This weeks Community Question:
Tell us about your experiences with the new content introduced in the Anniversary Event! What do you think of the new Command Powers? Did you enjoy the new missions? Hows that Polaron Barrage console from the Lockbox Ship?

Let us know YOUR thoughts by commenting below!

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There are no plans to transcribe this episode at this time.

mirrorterran · February 2015

"We understand what the problem is, we aren't blind to it, we aren't ignoring it, it's just a lot of work."

Best part of the interview.

chalpen · February 2015

Is this the interview where I can grab something he says, take it out of context, and make fun of it for a month?

10-4!

bobtheskull99 · February 2015

chalpen wrote: »

Is this the interview where I can grab something he says, take it out of context, and make fun of it for a month?

10-4!

only a month? I admire your restraint

chalpen · February 2015

bobtheskull99 wrote: »

only a month? I admire your restraint

Until someone says "uh go back and listen to the interview to get what he really said"

mustrumridcully0 · February 2015

chalpen wrote: »

Is this the interview where I can grab something he says, take it out of context, and make fun of it for a month?

10-4!

That's every interview.

---

Whoa... 5 year missions. That was the orignal Enterprise's mission length. Wasn't the Galaxy Class missions supposed to be 20? Is that our next "bench mark"?

tehbubbaloo · February 2015

the geko segment starts @ 15:40

sinn74 · February 2015

Geko farms Argala. That surprised me.

ceekayzero · February 2015

So, Argala is scheduled for a nerf because it overrewards? I'm OK with that.

Unknown · February 2015

This content has been removed.

seannewboy · February 2015

CQ1) Buggy omega scanning
CQ2) Have no idea as yet
CQ3) I hate jumping puzzles
CQ4) No idea, havent even seen it used yet.

Since Gecko says they are completing things ahead of time these days perhaps we can see more bug quashing on new content, so that it actually works correctly.

Would have been nice to have some of these tips for dust to dust when the episode came out.

The queues replayability vs completability for higher difficulties are seriously bad. If im wrong and thats not so, feel free to make the metrics of current queues available to us.My whole fleet plays fewer queues, so i doubt Cryptics statements of numbers.

Then take some of those enemies from bug hunt, if thats not the mission.

When is the loadout bug going to get fixed, i.e. everytime i restart my alt, sometimes switch maps everything gets messed up. The icons are no better or worse than they were imo.

Want to speed things up, let us warp not just to system space but the ground parts, i.e. esd or 1st city.

Wonderful show everyone,*muffled thump*, Im fine.

vegeta50024 · February 2015

I think I was a bit surprised when Geko actually said what I have been feeling all along about the specialization system. I figured that it was something that they designed in mind that they wanted you to be able to acquire Specialization points mainly how you wanted to play PRE-Delta Rising. This is at 50:30 into the interview with him. Like the crafting schools, this was meant to not be done over night or over a week, but rather as you play the game.

He also explains that the reason why we don't usually see the devs giving us a specific time frame (case in point with secondary deflectors) is that things can come up like bugs that shift their focus away from working on that. On top of that, when they give us a time frame and people start expecting it, eventually that time comes and if they didn't deliver, then people start getting angry for them not delivering.

I'm pretty sure that secondary deflectors were meant to have been delivered to us way before this anniversary. I like to think that at the same time that they were working on how to get in secondary deflectors so that they have the kind of roles they do now, they were working on the story for season 9, connecting that with Delta Rising and revamping the borg/undine arcs so it better fit in with the story they wanted to tell. Along with this, they also had the reputation trait revamp for season 9, the crafting revamp that had been in the works for months, and all the systems they wanted to get out for Delta Rising. We all have to realize that they're working on stuff that they feel we want and they try to get it out to us as soon as they feel they're ready to deliver.

wast33 · February 2015

vegeta50024 wrote: »

[...]

really interesting. though, myself can't come around to ask then:

http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=233254

http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=826171

what happened in all that time and how long will it finally take?!

... oh, wait:mad:...

sinn74 · February 2015

patrickngo wrote: »

how is that a surprise? If you said he'd ever touched PvP as a Player, now THAT would be a surprise. It doesn't shock or surprise at all that Geko likes to grind the same patrol endlessly.

LOL because he's given every indication that he sees grinding patrols as "wrong."

mustrumridcully0 · February 2015

sinn74 wrote: »

Geko farms Argala. That surprised me.

Not only that, and he doesn't like it either.

ceekayzero wrote: »

So, Argala is scheduled for a nerf because it overrewards? I'm OK with that.

Interestingly, they will also add much more skill points to queued stuff and ground zones.

And generally expect a reward buff for all queued stuff.

We'll see how big the buffs and nerfs will be, but the stated goal is to make it possible to earn Dilithium and Skill Points doing a variety of content, allowing you to really choose what you prefer to do, rather than what you have to do to get the resources you're after.

---

Also interesting - he implies that we'll see a lot of story content this year. That sounds promising.

I would however not be surprised if it was with time-delayed rewards or grind-related activities to access it. Geko doesn't mention it in any way I think, but it seems to me that Cryptic is trying to give players strong reason to play the game often and regularly. (Not necessarily long - just that you don't take a long break and risk "forgetting" the game..)

tehbubbaloo · February 2015

some geko highlights

28:30 - the kobali set pieces in dust to dust unlock on the given dates. they arent removed when the next piece becomes available.

31:20 - there is another 'maze-like puzzle' coming up in a future episode. a maze that changes.

35:15 - season 10 released in three to four months, with another episode in the interim (perhaps in 2 months) to 'bridge the gap between delta rising and season 10'.

45:35 - geko talks about a 'larger plan to improve rewards across the board'. mea culpa on the handling of the recent que nerfs. wants to 'normalise rewards'. lots of queues are under rewarding. some queues are failing too often. no further reward nerfs are planned.

50:15 - 'our goal is to treat dilithium and xp like a true time currency'. geko wants people in the queues rather than patrols (argala). queues, adventure zones will have their xp boosted to counteract this. dil added to missions from level 1. wants to remove wrapper missions from patrols. patrols getting a CD to reduce farming.

56:40 - 'we understand what the [xp] problem is, we're not blind about it, we're not ignoring it. its just a lot of work. we understand the problem, we understand the concerns, and... i get it. i grind argala too'.

57:55 - so much for 'no further nerfs'. argala is getting nerfed, but people wont care.

1:01:45- double (and triple) reward queues days for dead queues. not going back to hourlies.

1:03:30 - wants to remove some queues. nws wasnt meant to be beat and farmed, but its coming back in in the form of 'what it was when we first released it' (unwinnable?)

1:05:45 - '[empty queue] claims are fairly exaggerated'. geko camps argala, plays enough queues to earn his daily bonus marks for reps while grinding argala... and he doesnt like it.

1:11:15 - talks about some boff bugs. in the future you will be able to dismiss a boff candidate in exchange for a training manual, similar to the old 'train up' choice. this is how we will train some of the currently untrainable III skills.

1:21:00 - other untrainable III skills tied to a future skill revamp... that they havent even started working on.

hypl · February 2015

tehbubbaloo wrote: »

1:21:00 - other untrainable III skills tied to a future skill revamp... that they havent even started working on.

...REALLY!? :mad:

How the hell [REDACTED: excessive expletives and personal insults]!

*sigh*

No no. I shouldn't be angry. I'm just going to kick back and have a laugh.

dragnridr · February 2015

Seems to me that Geko is starting to sound like Al.....We are giving the players everything that we want so maybe the players will be happy.

I seriously doubt that Cryptic even cares to ASK what the players want, it's like that they only care what they and not the player's wants.

tucana66 · February 2015

dragnridr wrote: »

Seems to me that Geko is starting to sound like Al.....We are giving the players everything that we want so maybe the players will be happy.

I seriously doubt that Cryptic even cares to ASK what the players want, it's like that they only care what they and not the player's wants.

Bingo.

Icon changes. DOff UI. Reward system changes. The list goes on and on...

Mr. Ricossa: Please start polling your player base to understand what is top-of-mind with many of us, how Cryptic can do a better job of retaining players. You may get some helpful, specific feedback which can be implemented.

Unknown · February 2015

This content has been removed.

mvp333 · February 2015

Huh. I hate Geko quite a bit less now, but I still question some things... The main one is how Cryptic maps reward scaling. Apparently Argala's XP payout (A little less than half a bar, as I remember it) is considered to be the appropriate reward for half an hour of play. While not inherently BAD, reward-mapping that way means that you're gearing your game mostly towards harder-core players... Someone like me can't really afford to play for more than 2 hours a day at the very most, and if 2H = ideally 4x Argala's payout, with the amount of spec points needed to fill a spec tree that's somewhat ludicrous. Even with Argala's current actual time-reward ratio as a standard for the rest of the game (I kinda wish it was, at least, so I could go help the Deferi or rerun the Bajoran missions or do PvP scenarios all day if I wanted) STO would still be a bit annoying after level 55 or so...

...And yet, the intention is to nerf Argala to set it in line with everything else. Unsurprising, and not the end of the world, but annoying regardless.

However, if all this means that I can run around in Dyson Ground and Undine Space (And MAYBE Kobali... At least with ep. replays) and whatever queues I need all Saturday to get my Spec XP, I'm happy. Also, dynamic realtime queue reward balancing? This is GOOD DESIGN if ever I've seen it from these guys.

jam3s1701 · February 2015

The impending nerf and cooldowns to patrols will have one of two effects in the game...

1,, drive people to ques etc which is soooo welcome

Or...

2,, make people leave because people can't seem to wait as they want it now now noooww noooooowwww...

I personally can't wait as patrol grinding is something I've never done unless I've been desperate to get that last bar filled.. It is boring..

Also can't wait for reward updates to ques and xp in battle zones its neeedeeeddd..

chalpen · February 2015

I just want equal experience for the adventure zones.

ashkrik23 · February 2015

Stop working backwards Cryptic. Nerfing patrols will solve nothing. Buff everything to at least Argala levels..and your problem is solved.. XP should be universal..Why does space give so much more? Why does a 5 minute mission give more than a queue?

It's not hard.

jackal1701apw · February 2015

Shame I didnt win the doff competition... congrats to @ Borg_Unimatrix01!

Here is my entry for posterity...

http://postimg.org/image/k2ae5mm3d/

vestereng · February 2015

So are we past calling the dead queues a reporting error yet?

Always a walk of shame with these people instead of just dealing with problems they brought about.

But by all means let's waste another 3-6 months hoping we can silence veto away all the nerfs, the grinding with DR and the millions of dil for copy paste text.

cookiecrook · February 2015

If the new EP really wants to do something to show the players he is going to make change and for the better. Bust Geko down to Cryptic Janitor. Better yet, Community Manager! :P Heck! Any position where he has absolutely no influence or decision making ability on anything to do with the game would be great!

sfc · February 2015

ashkrik23 wrote: »

Stop working backwards Cryptic. Nerfing patrols will solve nothing. Buff everything to at least Argala levels..and your problem is solved.. XP should be universal..Why does space give so much more? Why does a 5 minute mission give more than a queue?

It's not hard.

EVERYTHING is being buffed.

Listen to the interview, he explains everything.

rmy1081 · February 2015

ashkrik23 wrote: »

Stop working backwards Cryptic. Nerfing patrols will solve nothing. Buff everything to at least Argala levels..and your problem is solved.. XP should be universal..Why does space give so much more? Why does a 5 minute mission give more than a queue?

It's not hard.

nakedsnake001 wrote: »

EVERYTHING is being buffed.

Listen to the interview, he explains everything.

Yep, that's what Geko said. Nerf argala but add a dilithium reward, then buff every other patrol in the game, even the non-DR ones. That sounds a lot better to me than grinding Argala.

aelfwin1 · February 2015

mustrumridcully0 wrote: »

Interestingly, they will also add much more skill points to queued stuff and ground zones.

And generally expect a reward buff for all queued stuff.

We'll see how big the buffs and nerfs will be, but the stated goal is to make it possible to earn Dilithium and Skill Points doing a variety of content, allowing you to really choose what you prefer to do, rather than what you have to do to get the resources you're after.

Interestingly , that's how things worked before DR .
Nay , correction , before the EC nerf of the vendor trash prior to DR .

So , someone will have to explain (but won't) why this "joyride" of nerfs was even needed ?
(besides for herding some of us to DQ :eek:)

Geko doesn't mention it in any way I think, but it seems to me that Cryptic is trying to give players strong reason to play the game often and regularly.

That was ALWAYS the plan .
The Rep systems (among others) got born out of that plan .
In short , nothing new .

... aside from their obvious pandering to DPS at the cost of the "casuals..." , so much for DR "fixing" the powercreep ...

aelfwin1 · February 2015

nakedsnake001 wrote: »

EVERYTHING is being buffed.

Listen to the interview, he explains everything.

Ummm , yeah .
First they nerf things into the ground (DR STF awards 240/480/720 for example) , and then they raise awards slooooowly to a point they think they can get away with it (current STF awards 480/720 for example).

... I wouldn't celebrate just yet ... , and most ppl won't if the Argala nerf comes before the newest "award normalization" ... -- and as hard as it is for me to do , I'll quote ashkrik23 on this ... :

ashkrik23 wrote: »

Stop working backwards Cryptic. Nerfing patrols will solve nothing. Buff everything to at least Argala levels..and your problem is solved.. XP should be universal..Why does space give so much more? Why does a 5 minute mission give more than a queue?

It's not hard.

Priority One Podcast 207 | Five Year Mission feat. Al Rivera

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