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Time for a duty officer system overhaul?
bioixi
Member Posts: 764 Arc User
With the upcoming admiralty system, do you think a new and improved duty officer system is necessary?
Lets face it, right now the Doff system is a mess and it's very counter-intuitive.
Missions change depending on your location and that's not explained to new players, You need to travel all around the galaxy to get the best missions, which doesn't really help new players.
I'm guessing most people don't know you can get doff missions from your ship's crew.
I've been using it for years and I still don't know if changing a department head does something.
Using the replicator closes your department head and cluster colonization tabs, opening either of those tabs stops your ship.
Marauding is way better than diplomacy and diplomacy is ridiculously hard to level up (are there any missions that reward more than 300 diplomacy xp?).
It depends a lot on pure dumb luck, both for completing missions and for getting good missions (didn't get that mission from a mission chain? try your luck again in 4 hours).
Some missions are pure garbage and ask you for a lot of resources, time and personnel for little reward.
I think it's time for a full overhaul, with more standardized missions and less randomness.
Lets face it, right now the Doff system is a mess and it's very counter-intuitive.
Missions change depending on your location and that's not explained to new players, You need to travel all around the galaxy to get the best missions, which doesn't really help new players.
I'm guessing most people don't know you can get doff missions from your ship's crew.
I've been using it for years and I still don't know if changing a department head does something.
Using the replicator closes your department head and cluster colonization tabs, opening either of those tabs stops your ship.
Marauding is way better than diplomacy and diplomacy is ridiculously hard to level up (are there any missions that reward more than 300 diplomacy xp?).
It depends a lot on pure dumb luck, both for completing missions and for getting good missions (didn't get that mission from a mission chain? try your luck again in 4 hours).
Some missions are pure garbage and ask you for a lot of resources, time and personnel for little reward.
I think it's time for a full overhaul, with more standardized missions and less randomness.
Time for a duty officer system overhaul? 98 votes
Yes, it's time for an overhaul.
40%
40 votes
No, the Doff System is Ok.
34%
34 votes
I don't care.
11%
11 votes
Other - Specify.
13%
13 votes
0
Comments
QoA stuff definitely (feelin ya on that replicator/Dept Head thing)
I also feel there need to be additions.
Dept Heads should have access to certain things. For instance if you have a Caitian 1st Officer they should always have access to Caitian chain. Jem'Hadar should always have access to the Dominion chains, etc etc.
Also having special stuff thats maybe weekly and provides a nice buff and is dependent on the Dept Head species trait or species in general would be great.
A repeatable daily mission at each of the big social areas that offers you access to maybe a random Very Rare assignment based on the area would be great.
Do a non-combat mission setting traps for Voles in that Ferengi trader's storage area on DS9 and he gives you access to the Purple Entertainer assignment or something. Task Force Omega deliver supplies and get access to Reclaim Borg Drone. Fix something for the barkeep on Drozana and get instigate Defection, etc
Perhaps have each contact with a few other themed assignments that they give randomly with each on a cooldown so that not everyone is grinding out Instigate Defections on all their characters all the time.
Fleet holding specific assignments that stock the stores or provide project XP or something.
But the bones and presentation are fine though I think more integration could be fun.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
And yes, it's so annoying for the department head to close because you open your replicator or other similar interacts. Really needs to be fixed.
Get rid of the universal missions. Give each sector it's own separate list of missions and I would be happy. This way when I'm out mission hunting at least I see something different when I change sectors. Doing it this way also makes so much more sense. For instance when you go into the Iconian sector, why is there never a science or exploration mission to be had? Seriously? There's nothing left on Iconia to do? Not a single archaeological site to be found?
I think when they changed the galaxy map, it seriously borked the distribution of DOff missions. They need to go back and rework where all the missions are found. I think they used to be by sector block - but we don't have sector blocks anymore. We have quadrants now. And DOff missions need to be done on a sector by sector basis.
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A cleaner UI with a few modifications to how the new quadrant system works out vs the old sector space did. IE: Missions that appear once you enter the Deferra or Cardassia sectors should be visible the entire time you are in said sector instead of disappearing after you get into the sector a little ways or zone into the sector.
Other than that I would like to see new chain assignments with nice rewards, and a decrease in cost to additional Doff slots. Overall, these mods could bring the system to a more current standing.
Sure it will mean you can see every romulan boff recruit and remans as well... may help drive down cost of SRO BOs.
A little more instruction on the inner workings of the DOFF system would be more than welcome for new players and old in some cases though.
"If this will be our end, then I will have them make SUCH an end as to be worthy of rememberance! Out of torpedos you say?! Find me the ferengi!".
While a few bug fixes would be nice (mostly related to issues that popped up with the sector space revamp), generally when Cryptic "revamps" a system they make it worse and/or more heavily monetized (usually and as opposed to or). Alternately they break a bunch of stuff, as seen with, as mentioned, the sector space revamp and it's effect on DOffing. They don't need to break it more, nerf it more, or monetize it more. So no thanks. Bug fixes and we're good.
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About the DOFF window impeding flight, I'd have to look but there is a global setting that prevents ANY dialogue box from impeding flight that once appropriately checked (or unchecked, can't remember which), it solves that problem.
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Unfortunately DOFFing in particular is one where we have a significant track record of XP removal after XP removal, so yes, it is a valid argument.
I woukd like to be proven wrong, but Cryptic will have to prove it through solid action (not words) since their past record is not favorable. If they can actually make the changes in a way that leaves the rewards at least as useful and plentiful as they currently are, then I will cease using that as an argument.
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So "it is better the devil you know..."?
Just because they screwed over in the past doesn't mean they should stop trying, if we follow that rule of thumb they should stop revamping content entirely.
So... what you're saying is that you don't allow one of the following to influence decisions: History, or Reality.
Or is it both?
For me, it's the old axiom from the HR world that the best predictor of future performance is past performance.
It is possible to break that pattern but it will have to be shown through sustained and consistent change, to establish a new track record.
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I don't believe they would do a 10x nerf. They seem to have changed their philosophy on xp to eh who cares let's let them fill up their specs. But I would expect at least a 2x nerf on top of the already 4x nerf we have seen on most missions and the 10x nerf on the 12 hour missions.
btw I have all my points I want so this is just public service.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Okay, so that sounds awesome. Imagine... instead of spending, like, half their available resources revamping content and systems again and again (and generally making things worse) they could, you know, make new stuff. I'm good with this.
But hey, maybe we need a fourth ESD and, what is it now, a seventh tutorial?
History, you can't judge/predict someone's future actions by his past action, it's bad, it's ridiculous, it's like saying Germany/France/Spain will try to invade Europe again just because it did so several times in the past.
Just because cryptic screwed over with the doff system it doesn't mean it will do it again.
You know, the guy who has nerfed the DOffing system over and over is Geko, and he's still basically pulling the stings at Cryptic. Remind me, is that guy with the Charlie Chaplin mustache still running Germany?
But hey, you're right... we shouldn't let past incompetence, negligence, malice, stupidity or the like decide what we should expect from future behavior. Leopards always change their spots and I'm sure you'll be perfectly happy hiring convicted pedophiles to baby sit your children.
From now on let's not let the past decide how the future will be. Let's all eat at that one star restaurant that's been repeatedly closed down by the health inspector. Let's get rid of malpractice lawsuits because I'm sure that doctors who botch surgeries will try better next time. Start using those Chernobyl plant designs again? Sure why not, maybe graphite in a reactor isn't as bad an idea as people think now, and maybe it was just bad luck. Now lets all drink Drano because, hey, all those people who've died from it shouldn't convince us to do otherwise and maybe it's yummy! Never know 'til you try!
I beg to differ past actions are the only thing you can predict future action. and chances are they will at some point from reasons that seem important at the time. hope is all nice and all but there is an old saying about not learning from history. to ignore this is at best a little naive.
if I stop posting it doesn't make you right it. just means I don't have enough rum to continue interacting with you.
Oh well, lets never forget, lets never forgive, if someone does something wrong lets punish him for the rest of his life, no matter what, no second chances, no redemption.
We should get rid of parole, all sentences, liftime with no parole, after all, if someone stoles something he'll do it again later.
When you're looking at repeated behavior? Yeah.
If a friend comes to you and tells you that an ex-boyfriend is in town and wants to get back together but she's not sure it's a good idea because they've gone out a few times before and every time he ends up beating her is your response really going to be, "Hey, you're being ridiculous! You can't judge someone's future actions by his past actions. I'm sure he loves you and it will super awesome this time! You really owe it to both him and yourself to give that relationship one more try!"
At least in an F2P game, if I don't spend, should I end up being proven wrong and a new track record be established, I CAN change my mind on the "not spending" thing.
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(Map, UI)
I'd be all for improvements in doffing, but that isn't necessarily implied when this particular system gets revamped... or when this particular system is the collateral damage of something else getting revamped or flat-out removed.
As an aside, we're already getting a "sorta" doffing revamp, just not with doffs: the Admiralty System. By all appearances it looks to have solid rewards, and while it is heavily weighted by Tier and the depth of your available ship lineup (both what you have the option of buying and more importantly what you've actually acquired) it is not restricted by location and does not have a practical cap on the number of Admiralty Ships you can obtain. It's available on Tribble now, if you want to check for potential bugs or general gameplay.
The ones with 0% disaster and fail and they fail are so mind numbing...how is that problem not fixed by now?
But as for a total revamp? No but it needs cleaned up the glitches need fixed and I agree it needs changed since sector space changed...you literally have to fly with the screen open to see missions change because I've seen some cases were a millimeter of movement in space makes a mission appear and then disappear again....and none of that is explained well to new players at all........I still enjoy doffing all these years later but it just needs fixed and we need new missions and I was also hoping for more epic doffs, we got the one Dr. and then nothing was ever mentioned again...more mission chains would be nice as well....but I'd be happy with fixing the glitches and stop nerfing the system for a start