Greetings, Admirals! Youre listening to EPISODE 208 OF PRIORITY ONE PODCAST, the premier Star Trek Online podcast! This episode was recorded on Thursday, February 5th 2015 and made available for download on Monday, February 9th 2015 at PriorityOnePodcast.com!
We have another big show for you this week, Admirals! Well be jumping right in to STONews to continue our initial reviews of the Fifth Anniversary Content. Then, we have two interviews to share with you. First is the second part of our interview with Star Trek Onlines Lead Designer, Al Captain Geko Rivera. Followed by an interview with newly appointed Executive Producer, Stephen Salami Inferno Ricossa. So sit back, relax, and lets look at whats in store for Star Trek Online over the next several months! Finally, before we wrap the show, well open hailing frequencies for your incoming messages!
Don't miss our video demonstration of Command Space Powers with special guest, Systems Designer, Jeremy "BorticusCryptic" Randall!TOPICS DISCUSSED
This weeks Community Question:
- For those of you fortunate enough to have gotten your hands on one of these ships - what are your thoughts? Do you have a loadout that seems to be working well & whats your DPS output looking like if youre parsing?
Let us know YOUR thoughts by commenting below!
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Comments
While I think a skill tree revamp is needed before any PvP/PvE balance, I fear that when they're done with the skill tree revamp they'll feel the need for more content. Don't get me wrong, I love new content but it's seriously time for anything PvP related.
Thanks, your summary shows the same-ol'e attitude is at play and have saved me the time of listening to the podcast.
If you're referring to removal of things that used to be in the game, I believe that it was done so in good judgment.
Exploration: Compared to what they are able to achieve now, the engine that they were using for this was just not up to par with what the STO devs wanted for this system. They're slowly reintroducing the idea of exploration bit by bit as, with PvP, it's a very big process to do and they need to make sure that it's worth investing their time into doing.
Playable content: We know that certain missions that have been removed as of late were showing their age since they've been around since launch and are now no longer the same kind of quality that now exists with the story the devs wish to tell. Don't you think the game will look better to newer players if the same kind of story content is streamlined to be in place with what they are adding into the game?
all escorts with lt cmd uni/engi stations are full of skill.Guess 30000 speed (epte 3) and a2b with 100% bleedthrough weapons ,5 forward dhc or beams ....yea skill.60k damage to 70k hull ships....full of skill ....1 bind to rule them all.
If someone has not even a single clue how the game works is Geko lol .Next time interveiw a random guy on the street we will get more info.
They had reports of these and so many more bugs/glitches/problems FOR YEARS ON END to resolve. They ignored them, same as all other bug reports. The people that actually built those maps are no longer with the company anymore, and through years of abject neglect they lost the working files or the creator's notes or any of the behind-the-scenes stuff that would make it easier to fix -- since, you know, they didn't bother fixing them in REAL TIME as they got the bug reports. The result is they would take more time to go in and fix. or they'd have to generate the maps anew and basically rebuild the missions (easily enough, since they all follow the same format), but they would have to do it on a lot of different maps. And... well.. some maps were phoning it in. Let's be honest.
The problem is they didn't want to fix what they themselves broke, and they themselves IGNORED for so many years. There were so many bug reports un-answered that they didn't even look anymore. Then they say "No, we can't fix this right now, and we know it's broken, through our own fault... so we're just removing it entirely from the game because it isn't a lockbox and we can't charge you $30 USD for it" --- and THAT is why they were removed.
The company has its priorities screwed way the hell up. Removing them makes the game lesser for it. Fixing them would improve the gameplay (especially for low-rank characters just starting out!). There were rewards, accolades, missions, and more all tied into the exploration clusters. If anything, they should have been expanded and fleshed out more, rather than left to rot a Cryptic neglect death and then deleted.
idk..maybe I'm a little too hopeful but Geko said they'll be testing a PvP buff to HP for all players in a PvP zone. That would balance things a lot or at least be a start.
EDIT: I'm not sure you actually read my post...
everyone sucks thats why people who never played pvp before get now to vape .
i bet if they ask that random dude (I refuse to accept he takes decisions for this game) how are xindi escorts or vaadwaur compared to defiant he will say they are balanced.
The girl in the interview says the insta vapes are non stop and he says shes getting killed because shes not good....AMAZING *facepalm*
The design of sto was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbA7Mq_-YMM exactly not what Geko says in that podcast .
escorts = dps class
crusiers = healing support class
science =debuff
Geko made the game like is now (horrible that is) because pve heroes complained they cant kill npcs with their healers and debuff ships.HE turned a great pvp game into sheet.
P.S.I pvp since the game was in beta and I get vaped.Lemme guess I suck too.
27:00 - geko segment begins. geko reckons the loadout system 'should be pretty solid', and he isnt personally having any problems with it, although its too buggy for his taste.
31:00 - 'i would find it very surprising if [pets] were actually doing less damage than they were before'. carrier pets have always 'over-performed' compared to other gear.
36:15 - in regards to it & ss in pvp: 'you should be immune to any disabling effects after youve been hit by a certain power for... a good amount of time'. he will investigate.
37:10 - geko talks more about pvp, and suggests that rather than mechanics and powercreep being a problem, the fact is that 'its a natural progression', and people are just getting better at pvp... in regards to 'vaping', he goes on to share an idea to 'basically put a zone-wide buff in [pvp]', increasing hp and shields to increase survivability.
38:00 - 'we dont have a lot of time dedicated to work on pvp. we just dont. we want to... its certainly one of the big orphans in the game that we want to improve'. 'its a pretty large task for what will probably be a pretty small return'.
40:45 - geko hints at planned 'nondirect pvp' systems that feature 'competitive play', teamed territory control modeled on battlezone.
44:30 - two big 'things' (system overhauls implied) coming in 2015.
45:30 - in response to questions about the role of sci & engi in sto, geko suggests that once a foundation of specialisation basics are complete, 'trinity' specialisations could come to be. the next spec tree is based on one type of ship class (escort implied).
50:50 - 'i want [dil rewards for xp] back'. it was removed due to xp grinding exploits, but it will be back.
51:30 - the 3 fed, 3 rom, 3 kdf ship bundles are likely to become more prominent. 'with the addition of starship traits, its now more important for us to make sure that when we make a new ship we also make sure that all factions get access to... at least something equivalent. even if its basically identical'
52:30 - 'we specifically ended the war between klingons and the federation so we didnt have to make content just for kingons anymore.' that being said, some of the story content 'is planned to be played from the klingon perspective'. fek'Ihri arc revamp is due after the cardassian arc revamp... unless they decide to revamp the breen arc instead.
54:15 - geko initially seems to dismiss cross-faction queues and regurgitates the 18% argument. he then ponders whether they should just allow cross faction queues due to the end of the war, and goes on to say it would be an easy thing to implement. he again seems to base f&k decisions on past experiences with CoH&V. 'everyone wants to be kirk or spock'.
56:30 - gekos kdf is a possibly fleetless tac liberated borg. doesnt sound like geko has logged into him in quite a while...
57:00 - 'there is no plans, unfortunately, to invest more in the gateway system'.
59:15 - geko talks about upgrades, the r&d system, and the ec market.
1:01:45 - geko gives a peek behind the scenes when servers crash and the like. its an interesting insight into the cryptic 'command structure'.
1:07:30 - geko has met with felicia day and would love to get her into sto. there are currently a few celebrities recording voiceover content.
stephen 'salami inferno' ricossa highlights:
1:09:10 - salami segment begins.
1:10:20 - QoL and bug-fixing are a priority. exploration a personal goal. 'i am loathe to say it, but i am a pretty big pvp fan. so, if we can find time in the schedule i would like to do some sort of an update'. '[the] classic pvp modes that are in most games i feel like should be present here and be fun'. team death match, ctf, domination, etc talked about. salami seemed very keen on pvp and was looking to talk more about it, but was cut off by p1 to instead talk about sector space. thanks elijah :rolleyes:
1:13:30 - sector space revamp is finished (in-house). sectors still exist and the doff missions still work. 7-8 minutes flight time from qonos to sol.
1:15:30 - salami talks about dil; specifically turning rep in for bonus dil.
1:17:30 - salami talks about better rewards and 'grind'.
1:24:00 - salami is excited to see so many people again doing things on the social maps. 'its given us a lot to think about, either keeping [the omega game] in, or coming up with something very similar and then seeding it throughout the galaxy'.
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Elijah: let's talk about the loadout system
Gecko: I don't know anything about it
Geko vs the rest of the world. I, for one, am so glad we have such a mathematical genius working for cryptic.
On a side note, since Elijah is the self proclaimed voice of the "silent majority of happy players", I think we totally need some self proclaimed voice for the "silent majority of unhappy players". Yes, there can't be 2 majority, but who cares, he probably uses the same numbers than I do, IE totally invented numbers coming from hearsay and wishes.
As for the loadout being fine, I guess that's the proof he is not playing the game. I can't log a character or load a map without the loadout bug, and loading the loadout doesn't fix it.
I tested it and I can slot the same project multiple times, e.g. creating 3 omega fragments at the same time. But I think it wasn't exactly that what they were talking about. Could someone please explain me?
Thanks!
Hopefully if they look, they do more than a compartmentalized look. I think that's why the Ionic thread was written off as WAI.
Phantom/Faeht with their lance console (KDF do not have an equivalent ship) can auto-expose with a hit to trigger a disable/hold. Work in the Load Viral Torpedo. Work in the Ionic. Etc, etc, etc...the system allows for 100-0 stunlock from chained stuns.
There you go...course as they do that, they need to ignore any damage resistance/reduction and what that would potentially mean for the actual increase there - as well as basic things like hull and shield modifiers.
Ship with a 0.9 hull modifier vs. a ship with a 1.3 modifier - they add say 25k to the map, one guy gets +22.5k and one guy gets +32.5k...same would go for shield mods.
Then say each had say 33% resistance/reduction, yeah?
The 22.5k guy gets 33.6k while that 32.5k gets 48.5k.
Same "zone buff" applied, and one guy gets almost 15k more out of it...wheeee!
Got to love how ratios/percentages work in the game, eh?
Heh, the PvE folks creating the turret on the PvP map thing again?
edit: As an aside on the bit about the factions getting ships and so forth, that's awesome and all...but why do the KDF ships have to look like the boxes the Fed ships came in? I mean, seriously, I look at most KDF Battle Cruisers and I see machines of war, brutal, armored, ready for some destruction. Those new ships? I'm thinking more along the lines of the box the girlfriend keeps her recipes in.
It's not the Lockbox/Lobi ships, but I have really been falling in love with my new Samsar. The new Anchored Space Trait from the Vaadwaur Box turns the ship into a real stationary monster with its supplementing Command Abilities. It's very easy to get to 4-stacks and that +20% "Bonus" Damage is very noticeable(as is the resistance debuff - you need a tanky ship - which the Samsar is). The Samsar is, at its core, still a support ship that works best in conjunction with other ships though.
Also, as a side note: the Samsar's Console can be equipped on ANY ship. It's a pretty powerful console that even puts the Assimilated 2-set(in its prime) to shame. While it is mechanically different, I've found myself using it as a great emergency button like Reverse Shield Polarity - except for your Hull. With the amount of shield-ignoring damage these days, that's a pretty big deal.
Lastly, I suggest Tactical Captains check out the Polaron Bombardment kit module from the Vaadwaur Box. It's basically a wide-area Ortibal Strike that works great in conjunction with Suppressing Fire(Snare) or Photon Grenades(Knockdown).
Maybe, but I dont like where this is going, becouse better content started to seem very different from players views vs Cryptic views. I sure hope in the future, content dont gets redone to suit only certain hardcore players and discourage casual ones like its the case of the anniversary FE. I would rather have something Star Trek related or even profesion specific related challanges, like the ones we were used to (you know... sci toons give help to some woundend or do something sciency, engies repair something and tacs doing some tacticaly) then have some mario bros frustratin jumping-pads/Galaxy Quest ripoffs or something like that...
About the show, liked the video aswell. Thanks to Borticus for taking the time to explain the command skill tree and the space powers. Maybe in the future ground ones too?
Also, he's aware the new boff system has broken loadouts to the tune of loadouts still being remembered per ship, but not with the boffs' individually selected abilities. Yet continues to assess that the loadout system should be pretty solid now. As someone who own near max ships, and max boffs, and ca. 2-3 loadouts per ship, my definition of 'pretty solid' obviously differs from his. In fact, a loadout system that doesn't remember boffs' individually selected abilities, is a loadout system that simply doesn't work at all. Or a boff system that doesn't work at all, depending on your POV (as you need to keep all your boffs' abilities static now, in order to have any hope of a working loadout). Priority One should be fixing the loadouts -- with extreme prejudice.
Yes, I liked Borticus' vid. Made me enthusiastic about Command stuff again. Although I personally think introducing yet another 'totally different class of ships' so soon after Intel ships was too soon, maybe. But we'll see. I had rather seen my Fleet Phantom first.
Borticus is one of the good guys, though, like Taco.
I'm pretty sure what has become known as the "loadout issue" is not one bug, but several different bugs, some of which aren't even related to loadouts. I gave a list of several distinct bugs (at least they seem distinct to me):
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=21081621&postcount=514
I think flyingtarg fixed most of these bugs. However, I'm still seeing bridge officers unslot on map transitions. This bug is actually quite old and pre-dates loadout system. For more information about the loadout system, see flyingtarg's post below.
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=21235881&postcount=27
People had reported bugs with map transitions before loadouts were released. Cryptic should have fixed these bugs before building the loadout system. Instead, they built a new and untested system on top of a buggy system.
Geko is right that bugs are caused by human error, but that's true by definition. Much of software engineering isn't about programming; it's about reducing and managing human error.
To truly make STO less buggy, Cryptic has to go beyond fixing bugs as they happen. They need to stop producing so many bugs in the first place. First, they should stop rushing. People make mistakes when rushed. Most of STO's releases seemed rushed to me---pushed out the door as soon as possible. Instead, Cryptic should take the time to make sure things work properly. Second, Cryptic needs to fix buggy code before they build on top of it. In other words, they need to avoid repeating the same mistake they made with loadouts. Systems are interdependent. The most important systems are those on which several other systems depend. Some systems may not be apparent to the user, but are nonetheless fundamental to the functioning of the game. It should be a priority to fix bugs in these core systems, even if the bugs don't happen very often and don't affect very many users. The reason is that such bugs tend to cause larger problems down the line.
Unfortunately we don't have much choice in the matter, other than ignoring the new tech until it's bug free. It goes back to the metric problem, "well people must like this because they buy it" which doesn't take into consideration consumer satisfaction with their purchase or the fact they only bought it because there wasn't another option.
Al you have no good data on pvp, the pvp sucked from the start, therefore the pvp players left. Your pvp has always been substandard, because it was not a priority at the beginning (not your fault, crunch time at its worst), and your team is still rushing to make the game you all wanted in the beginning. The one dev that did want to fix it, saw the writing on the wall, and took the other road. By the way Pvp is already an orphan, you should consider looking for some foster parents at least for it.
Currently there is one real role in space, dps, thats it Al. The changes at/after DR took care of that. Side note, the only thing that ever matters in any pvp of any mmo, dps. I guess your partway to decent pvp.
The kdf command pack ships are hideous.
Listens to Al discuss kdf oriented missions *queue double facepalm*. The kdf has lagged since beta, cryptic dropped them due to time constraints. Thats why the kdf still lags, once again, many left. Lots of people bought the pc kdf oriented game, they would play sto as well, but the content is just not there, never has been.
I have an idea for what Season 11 should be; Season 11: The Big Bug Fix.
I have not been able to read my bug tickets in over a year, not even the tickets about not being able to see my tickets.
I find the drama of your signature proof of your immaturity, this means you, DR whiners.