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It's time to fix existing bugs and imbalances instead of releasing more content
skurf
Member Posts: 1,071 Arc User
First off, I realize releasing new content like starships, etc. is one of the main ways that you make money off of this game.
The problem is that you are releasing all of this new content on top of existing bugs and imbalanced mechanics, and this content contains its own bugs and imbalances and all of these problems just keep piling up on top of each other. You may make money by releasing new content, but you are losing potential customers that would pay for this content because they are fed up with the bugs and imbalances never being addressed and/or taking many months/years to be addressed.
Almost everyone on my friend's list has stopped playing STO because of these issues, and the ones that are left refuse to spend money on a company that treats its customers' concerns with such disdain.
It's time to take a break from the constant content-money-grab-spam and spend a month (or however long it takes) to fix the major bugs and imbalances in this game. If not, your playerbase will eventually reach such low levels that buying the new content will not sustain the costs of keeping the game afloat.
I urge you guys to do this before it is past the point of no return.
The problem is that you are releasing all of this new content on top of existing bugs and imbalanced mechanics, and this content contains its own bugs and imbalances and all of these problems just keep piling up on top of each other. You may make money by releasing new content, but you are losing potential customers that would pay for this content because they are fed up with the bugs and imbalances never being addressed and/or taking many months/years to be addressed.
Almost everyone on my friend's list has stopped playing STO because of these issues, and the ones that are left refuse to spend money on a company that treats its customers' concerns with such disdain.
It's time to take a break from the constant content-money-grab-spam and spend a month (or however long it takes) to fix the major bugs and imbalances in this game. If not, your playerbase will eventually reach such low levels that buying the new content will not sustain the costs of keeping the game afloat.
I urge you guys to do this before it is past the point of no return.
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@DevolvedOne
@DevolvedOne
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Currently we have the D.Recruit event, which leads directly into S10 and all the wonderful bugs, glitches, and toys that comes with it, and shortly after, Risian Summer Event.
That leaves a few months before the Winter Event in which Cryptic "could" do a major bugfixing spree. Still, expect some events scattered about, whether it's FE reruns or queue events.
They did mention that Summer and Winter Events usually allow them to do some bugfixes, as most of the content is already there and it's just a matter of ensuring those work smoothly, then squeeze out a few more bugfixes. They did do a number of bugfixes during the Winter Event and Anniversary, besides the ones related to the events themselves. The Patch notes on fixes and adjustments were bigger then than they are currently, during the lead up into S10.
The bigger issue is that Cryptic needs a dedicated quality control and bugfixing staff, but don't seem to have the funds and support, or have upper management provide the funds and support, that's needed.
Once again someone thinks that a dev is just a generic role... Different people do different jobs, it isn't a simple matter of "Hey, don't work on that. Fix bugs! Derp derp derp"
If Cryptic stopped rolling out new content to fix all the bugs in the game, the development cycle would balloon out to a ridiculous time-frame and soon the game would be shut down as people would stop playing...
Why would they stop playing? Because there was no new content developed...
The very blunt truth is that there are no real game-breaking bugs... There are many which are downright annoying (AWOL Boffs is my current bug bear), but nothing that demands immediate attention less it stop your ability to play STO entirely... Many have also existed far longer than they should have...
However, stopping all new development and moving the development team (many of whom have nothing to do with coding the game engine, and the various bugged features etc, so they would contribute nothing anyway) onto solely fixing bugs, will kill the game in pretty short order as bug fixing is more costly and time consuming than people actually realise...
No no one thinks that devs all serve one role what they are saying since some people don't have reading comprehension down, is that they need to fix the bugs that have been there since beta. /picardfacepalm at having to explain that AGAIN.
Cryptic does what it wants when it wants, your enetitlement claim will make no difference to them or their time table.
content release is their main point, if they stop releasing content they will know for sure that players will stop playing before long when their metrics scale doesnt match up with the figures PWE want them at. these people are looking out for their own necks and their pay packet each month, they are not going to put that in risk because you ask them to.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Can we stop dismissing requests to fix bugs with extreme arguments like this and actually have a serious discussion about the large number of bugs in this game? First of all, the art and design teams can fix bugs, but only bugs which fall in their area of expertise. I'm pretty sure I've seen posts by tacofangs, crypticjoejing, and borticus saying that they fixed some bug or other. Yes, some bugs require a programmer to fix. Maybe, management should give more time to the programmers to do that.
Obviously, Cryptic isn't going to stop all development on new content. But is it really too much to ask that they shift more resources toward bug fixing? Is constantly rushing out new content really the best way to generate profit? What about the customers who left because they can't stand the bugs? What about the increased cost of new development due to existing bugs? It's much harder to build on top of a broken system than a working one.
What qualifies as a "game-breaking bug"? And are those the only bugs that deserved to be fixed? I think bugs which annoy thousands of players every day, such as bridge officers getting removed from their stations, should to be fixed. Cryptic spends time on QoL features such as the "Simple Ship Transition" that nobody asked for.
http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9055513
I think the time spent implementing that feature could have been better spent fixing some of the QoL bugs. If I recall correctly, nobody asked for loadouts either. It sounded like a great feature when they first announced, but after all the problems with it, I think most players would prefer that they had spent the time elsewhere.
Yes, because with no pvp all anyone needs is a tac rom in a scimitar for max deeps. Would be great for balance.
The majority of players in this game are not here for PvP, and even with a PvE majority the Roms are still the smallest Faction. That tells me the PvEers are not playing Roms simply because they do not wish to play a Rom, not matter what the Scimitar can do.
I love how people see ad read what they want to see and read...
if you actually read what the op said, he was stating that we have a plethora of bugs and what not, and that adding new content usually piles more on top of that.. he wants them to play catch up on the TRIBBLE that is in game, before introducing more problems.. he never said all hands on deck should be working on bugs.. he just stated that they need to get the problems in game fixed before they add more..
true fact, anything, and I mean anything cryptic has released in game has somehow broken (bugs, or inbalance) something (s) currently in game, and since they only address say 20 percent of the problems per release, the pile is growing. we have bugs still from launch in the game for crying out loud.
I agree with the op, they need to actually fix whats there and start shoveling the TRIBBLE out, before they add other potential problems.
as far as making art people fix bugs and what not, well there is plenty of problems with the work they have done.. there is a whole thread in the forums on inaacuracies, and bugs with meshes and various artwork. there is a lot that all of the devs (in the respective roles) could do to better the existing game.
Officially Nerfed In Early 2410
I mean if they were putting out 2 Missions a month I can see people asking them to slow down to focus on something else but when you only see a new Mission every 3-4 months it is not just easy to want them to stop making them.
The people on your friends' lists may have stopped playing STO for many reasons. They may have quit out of burnout (the game has been out for five years, which is a looooong time by gaming standards). They may have quit for offline reasons (sickness, work, new parenting responsibilities). They may have quit because there's another game they have become obsessed with or they just want to take a break for awhile.
Or...they may have quit precisely because there isn't enough content to satisfy them, which is why Cryptic is pushing out all this content in the first place.
One part of the team may be working on things totally different from the rest. That's just how things work, also some of the bugs we have are fundamental issues with the game engine which was never suited to STO. Those are likely to never be fixed, just have workarounds and temporary fixes until something else breaks it later down the line.
Looking for a dedicated Star Trek community? Visit www.ufplanets.com for details.
The content problem is cryptic has decided 1 play episodes is end game content which is the same as buying a book
most people read it once and there done with it ......A huge investment for a one time use
What cryptic should do is end game content where the players make the content themselves
Exploration
meeting new races then interacting with them
colonization
base building / defense
city building / defense
territory control / defense
Faction expansion
resourse gathering
player economy
This should be done on a single player level which should combine flawlessly with fleets
This kind of content would be replayable on a daily basis and be end game content
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
What pvp? No one is pvp'ing in this game.
You really have no idea at all what the OP is saying, do you? Is english not your fist language? Bug fixes need to be moved to the top of the list over content and ships. Obviously the art dept. can't do this, thanks for stating that. it doesn't change anything.
It goes without saying that a computer game needs to be free of bugs hampering ones gaming experience. In addition, an MMO may need a somewhat constant flux of new content. Neglecting above points leads to desertion of customers. And Cryptic already has alienated tons of customers with bugs + their ramifications.
If for a potential new customer, the already available 100 playable starships and missions, 50 uniforms isn't much of a selling point, is one more additional ship and one more uniform or one more mission supposed to impress them? When some major bug prevents that customer to enjoy the game in the first place?
The harm has already been done. People already moved on to other games, revenue has been lost. If Cryptic lacks coders, they should hire more coders.
Those in the Art Department can fix the many textures on the many ships
Those in the Design Department could maybe (re)design DS9, K7, First City (inc Klingon Academy)
Just examples, but there's always work to be done, whether that's actual fixes, or mere improvements; improvements don't need to be new content, touched up or revamped content is equally as welcomed.
Can Cryptic do better QA? Yes... Does that mean stopping all content development until they fix all the bugs? No... The irony is the OP is blaming bugs for a loss of players, personally I highly doubt his anecdotal evidence is anything close to the real reason...
They have, it's called The Foundry....
So, in other words, you want STO to become Eve Online?
Need I say more? :rolleyes: :P
Here is my story:
One of my characters recently developed a problem. Seemingly out of nowhere. I'm just doing the challenge crystaline entity like I've done a million times before, but everything shot at me goes straight through my shields. Its like they are not even there. In fact, this happens on the challenge azure nebula and challenge borg disconnected as well 100% of the time. I've tried changing my shield to several different shields of several different qualities and MK levels (Mk XIV, Mk XIII, Mk XII, Mk X and Mk II) none of them work. I've tried changing bridge officers, I've even tried using Aegis shields. The Aegis shield proc still goes off, but 100% of the damage completely bypasses shields and goes straight to hull.
This is only on Challenge space missions. Normal space missions work fine confirmed on NON-challenge (single chevron) missions: Borg Disconnected, Starbase Defense, Azure Nebula, Crystaline Entity, Undine Assault and probably some more. All of my other characters have no problems either. Just that single character.
I submitted a ticket and customer service pretty much told me to go F-myself. And suggested that I post here. Maybe there is something I am missing? It shows I have full shields in the UI, and the values in the character window during these missions seems correct. And they used to work without any item or bridge officer changes. It just magically stopped working on time and hasn't worked since. It has been about a week now.
The character is question is Tala@Xolia she is an Andorian Federation Tactical character. She is using a Fleet Tactical Escort Retrofit. I've tried several shields all of which have the problem, but she was using the Aegis Mk XIV shield at the first time I noticed it. It was a shield I have used for quite some time without any problems before it happened.
I really don't want to use another ship either as the Fleet Tactical Escort Retrofit has been my goal for months. I couldn't imagine abandoning it (not to mention the cost of obtaining it).
I'm pretty desperate so I'm open to any and all suggestions.
I have never advocated that they stop all new development. But I have complained multiple times about Cryptic's lack of quality control. Note that I say "quality control" and not "QA", because I don't believe QA is entirely at fault, though they do share some blame. It's true that QA doesn't catch as many bugs as they should. But the people who actually make stuff---whether they be programmers, artists, writers, or system designers---need to stop producing so many bugs in the first place. Every release, I see new bugs introduced. Some bugs are fixed, and the rest remain indefinitely. The quality of the game is slowly deteriorating because of the steady accumulation of bugs. I don't see how the situation can improve unless they produce fewer bugs each release in addition to fixing the existing bugs.
I don't understand why these discussions always revolve around the same tired arguments.
1. Cryptic should stop all development on new content until the bugs are fixed.
We all know this isn't going to happen. However, I do think they aren't devoting enough resources to bug fixing. And I'm not the only one, judging by the number of people asking for bug fixes in Cryptic's last poll.
2. Artists, writers, etc. can't fix bugs
Sure they can. They can fix bugs in their own domain. Artists fix art bugs. Writers fix typos.
3. There are no game-breaking bugs.
Whenever someone says this, I wonder what he means by "game-breaking". The servers crashing? Is everything fine just because the servers are running? There are plenty of bugs of lesser severity that affect a large percentage of the population. The boff station bug is the most prominent one right now, but there are others. There are bugs in the game mechanics. There are quality-of-life bugs, such the camera zooming in very close to the ship.
4. The bugs in the game are trivial.
Whenever someone says this, I wonder what he means by "trivial". A typo? An art bug? There are plenty of bugs that I don't consider trivial. See point 3 above. And while bugs like typos, art errors, and improperly drawn UI elements are not terribly important, they do add up. Each of these bugs is a minor annoyance individually, but together they make the game look shoddy. It's as if we live in a house with chipped paint, cracked mirrors, and leaky faucets. In general, I think the game shows poor workmanship.
5. QA misses some bugs, because they are hard to reproduce.
While this is undoubtedly true, they also miss other bugs that are easy to reproduce. Many of the bugs reported by players are reproducible every time. QA should have caught these bugs first.
6. The programmers can't fix a bug, because they can't reproduce it.
Does this mean they can't reproduce it at all or just not every time? While some bugs are reproducible only some of the time, that does not necessarily mean they are rare. Even a bug that occurs only 10% of the time is common enough to be reproducible. While this makes a bug harder to fix, it doesn't mean they should just abandon all efforts to fix it. I think Cryptic tends to abandon bugs whose solution is not immediately obvious. I suspect this is what happened with the boff station bug. As far as I know, flyingtarg was the last person to work on it. I think he's been reassigned to the item update project.
Otherwise, what's the point in getting a new ship? Just to FAW something faster? FAW it down with pretty new effects?
Buff existing abilities, make more builds viable and appealing.
The only way you could get anyone to confirm your account would be to provide a combat log. Someone experienced in the arcane art of parsing the log would be able to confirm that your shields are actually being hit.
It's also entirely possible that Cryptic intentionally or unintentionally changed something. They make stealth changes all the time. Well, "stealth" to the vast majority of players.
No, you may not have, but the OP did...
Quality Control and Quality Assurance are branches of the same process, QA is proactive while QC is reactive, but both could indeed be better... You are merely quibbling over semantics though...
This is entirely a matter of opinion... The overal quality of STO has remained roughly the same since I started playing a couple years ago...
There has always been bugs, and will always be bugs... Again, QA could be better, but even then, bugs will occur...
Because people keep pulling out the same tired arguments for how and why bugs should be fixed, usually with a total lack of understanding of how an MMO is developed and how the QA process itself works...
Funnily enough, I don't recall bug fixes to be the highest item on that list of 5 (IIRC) choices... In fact, I believe it was last and well behind the reintroduction of Exploration Missions and new Episodes, which were a clear first and second respectively...
Yes, there is call for more bug fixing, but it's apparently not the most important factor for the majority of players when it comes to how Cryptic can improve STO...
And when was the last time someone took to the forums ranting about a typo or that a particular art element needed immediate attention?
*crickets*
Anybody?
*crickets*
No?
*crickets*
Then I'm guessing bugs related to the game engine, and general game mechanics are the major concern, meaning graphics artists and story writers aren't going to be able to contribute much to bug fixing...
A game breaking bug is a bug that, by it's very nature, makes it impossible to play a game or to progress beyond a certain point...
A bug that stops you progressing through the episodes could be considered 'game breaking' in a linear story-driven game...
Since no such bugs exist in STO, there are no 'game breaking bugs'... The statement is entirely valid...
Are there bugs? Yes, but nothing that makes the game unplayable... Most are, at worst, extremely frustrating and will negatively impact your enjoyment but none of the existing bugs will prevent you from playing any existing element of STO...
Trivial is a relative term and entirely up to the interpretation of the individual...
These two points can indeed be true... Some bugs may not be easily reproduced in a controlled environment and a lot can happen unexpectedly when patches go live...
Also trying to pinpoint bugs, even those which may be affecting 10% of the playerbase, as you used in your example, may not be easily reproduced as 9 out of 10 people are not experiencing it - how many within that 10% will actually provide useful feedback to try and pinpoint the bug if it cannot be reproduced by the QA team?
I'm gonna be blunt, you don't seem to have a firm grasp of the fact QA is not always as easy as people believe... Identifying and fixing bugs in potentially hundreds, or even thousands of lines of code, is not a simple task when that bug could be a single character that's out of place and so forth...
I worked for a while designing web pages, I learnt by hard coding pages in notepad... All it took for the entire page to not display was forgetting a bracket or comma, or a single key stroke out of place... Given I know first hand just how difficult correcting a web page can be, I can understand bug fixing when it comes to MMO coding is no small task...
Having said that, it does not mean I'm giving Cryptic a free pass, I'm only willing to cut them a little slack when it comes to bugs...
There are no game breaking bugs that prevent me playing STO and those that do exist are generally an annoyance which is easily worked around - loadout bugs and AWOL Boffs just require you to select the loadout again in the UI usually...
I am yet to see anything that would suggest the full stoppage of new development to fix bugs is in anyway justified, especially since doing so would cause far more harm in the long term, due to lack of new content, than a few nagging bugs being in the game....