That's where I learned about 80% of my STO knowledge. The rest was from just playing the game.
Seriously any time I get involved in character builds or understanding game mechanics, I go look for the game's wiki.
Yeah, but most of that info is now out-of-date. Take the sector maps, they're the old version. So are most of the things for the doff assignments. I wonder if there's giong to be anything at all about the Admirality system once it launches. I could go on but won't.
If you're lucky you can now get maybe 50% of what you need of this. And that's one big maybe and depends a lot on what you need.
And before you go off that handle of yours, I'm an Instructor of Martial Arts, been doing so for well over 20 years, and I know full well that everyone has their own way of playing the game, their own level of learning ability. Giving a player all that knowledge at once, without once getting the player to find out something for themselves, which is clearly shown right in front of them, does not make for a better player, it only serves to dumb down that yearning to learn, adapt and be an individual.
Yeah, yeah, we're all very impressed by your credentials I'm sure
The problem as stated multiple times but which you apparently can't read is that there's no collective information, it's spread out and many of the highest ranking results on Google are severely out-of-date info. So while reading is certainly a requirement so is actually finding the bloody information in the first place. And even then there's no guarantee that the information is even valid anymore.
Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end of it.
The information out there is not entirely correct either. Examples like calculation errors, or the game made changes and the info hasn't been updated etc. Further more, it should not be up to the community to know how the game operations on a basic levels. Walkthroughs, guides, etc. are things that communities should focuse on, not on game manuals.
Yep, even if you actually do find some decently accurate info out there, chances are it's outdated info from years/seasons old tests...
Let me put this in perspective. When I started, the romulan birds of prey, as they were then called, would fire heavy torps. These would head towards me for a few km, then alter trajectory back to the birds, possibly even the one that fired it. At the time I assumed it was countermeasures, so I put more skill there. Now, I know the birds were just broken, and CMS has nothing to do with that. I also ran with all power to shields, because I didn't properly understand how weapons worked. I had all kinetic res and damage consoles because i didn't know how that stuff worked either. I would use the default setup on ships - or buy the next mark ec versions in the same pattern. To put it bluntly, I barely knew how to walk.
If there was more effort put into describing game mechanics, especially to those who are not versed in MMO jargin, new players might find the experience more enjoyable. Also, the functionality gap we are seeing my shrink somewhat. It won't be as necessary to cater to people who do 100k dps AND people who do 1k dps. The elite revamp made sense for seasoned players, but weaker players were unable to adapt. Thus, the bar was lowered in normal and advanced queues.
Consider the following:
You start playing a new FPS, and are thrust into the game with a tutorial telling you where to shoot enemies, and what ammo to use. Then you star actually playing the game, and find you can't do anything. You eventually ask for help, or look up the keybinds, and find that movement is actually IJKL, RMB fires and F12 reloads. What a noob. You suggest on the game forums that a better tutorial be implemented so new players can function better, and are called an elitist.
Now, I'm not suggesting the STO tutorials are bad. I have played the new fed version, and can honestly say it is a massive improvement, mainly from a story perspective. Legacy of Romulus also wowed me. What i'd like to see is more information in the game about the more complex systems, in an easily digestable language. It won't solve all our problems, but I think it will go a long way to reducing confusion, and guiding players towards functioning as the game is intended to be played. (a wide definition)
Hate to say this and yes I will admit that at times I may get annoyed when players join the elite queues and then wreck the run not listening to advice or taking the time to read the starting instructions ... BUT....
Lets not forget that at one point we were all new, we all had the low level gear and we all had to learn.
Some do quicker than others that is true, some can afford to spend cash on the game to get better kit, ships etc....but some can't, that is just the way it is and this is after all a game, not the end of civilization as we know it.
There is no point getting your knickers in a twist over it, if you have stringent rules as to who you want to play with, skills, kit etc then start your own elite channel or fleet, work within those parameters....or...you could try to be nice, to offer help to people, advice, give away (YES....I did say GIVE away) spare kit to newbies, I do that all the time through ESD Zone Chat... I dread to think of the cash I have put into this game over my time here on my various accounts, both as a subscriber on a monthly basis, a lifetime member and just plain buying zen but I can afford it and I know one thing.... throwing a hissy fit and swearing and berating newer/lesser players in an instance chat is never going to help them or encourage them to learn more about the game or become better players.
This seems to me a matter of "The cow forgetting that it too was nothing but a calf once"
Back before S6, we only had to worry about knowing how to run the 6 Borg STFs. Now there are so many queues that people tend to specialize on some subset. So many people hate running Transdimensional Tactics Elite, and I can't imagine why, since it's so short and the map so compact.
One thing that doesn't help is each new ship they get comes with a weird loadout -- one canon, one beam, one torp and one ocelot. The player has to go somewhere out-of-game to find out about not mixing beams and cannons, only using one energy type, getting tac consoles, and adjusting ship power properly.
I love the pve queue mainly because all sorts of different people show up during missions. Unlike the original poster of this thread, I have zero problem with carrying someone through a fleet action, if necessary. Most of the time, they're trying and that's good enough for me. I'm no uber elite player, but I can hold my own with the better of them. A lot of times, I'll run Federation Fleet Alert and see a level 10 or so show up and he'll be doing his best with his little squirt gun phaser array. He's having fun, and I'm having fun, so being concerned that he's not putting out serious numbers of dps really takes away from the idea of having fun.
And then, I've been guilty of it, too, because I recently brought up a few characters from 1-50, so when they got to 50, they were essentially running into battle with empty ships but doing their best to make a positive showing of it. Maybe I was that player the original poster was talking about, not realizing that not every person with an up and coming ship is completely decked out when first taking it out of dry dock. Who knows?
Fleet Admiral Duane Gundrum, U.S.S. Merrimack
Fleet Admiral Ventaxa Proxmire, U.S.S. Shaka Walls Fell
Blog: http://www.sarbonn.com/?page_id=1990
Foundry series: Bob From Accounting & For the Sake of the Empire
Yes I did from day one. I am inquisitive. Yes I have taken new players under my wing and taught them what to do. If players read what they need to do, and learned what to do it would help alot.
I call B.S.
You're just another forum warrior who is far too impressed with the sound of your own keyboard. If this were not true, you would not have posted the foolish nonsense you did in the first place.
Next time someone does not meet your overblown standards of what others should be doing to carry you through an Elite STF, press <ALT-F4> to remove their ability to bug you. Problem solved.
A six year old boy and his starship. Living the dream.
I've been playing since it went F2P, and the info out there for the layman is junk. Period. If a player-made tutorial sounds snazzy & precise to you, it's probably incomprehensible to everyone else. I still can't figure out what half the acronyms mean myself, which is useless when trying to figure out exactly what is meant by "combine XYZABS XIII [PYSKU G] with EFGH XIII [YZA x2], duhhh!" That's not helpful to casual seasoned players, do how does this help new ones looking at the gobbledygook in tutorials wondering if you're typing in tongues?
Here's an idea. Forget DPS, and just enjoy losing yourself in the future, in the game. Even in all the series, no ship won every fight they got in to. Once I quit worrying about whether or not I could figure out how to hit over 4k DPS, the game got a whole lot more enjoyable. Never have I had a cow over a bust PUG, a real Trek universe would have battle fails, not cookie-cutter wins.
No, because the game doesn't teach it. You have to go and reach out looking for the information, either on forums, friends, or fleetmates. But you are also not told to do that. So unless you stop and wonder why you suck, and try to do something about it, you will not even know you suck or that you can do something about it.
MMOs in general have gear systems, I do not understand why people do not even ask for this information.
When I go to play a new game I ask the community about things I don't know, including how gear works in said game and what equipment works, and I experiment using the suggestions to find a setup which works for me.
Theres plenty of information if someone bothers to look, even if the game doesn't force it on you in pop up windows.
I find the BIGGEST issue in queues is NOT gear but lack of teamwork and general ignorance. people who have no idea how to complete the special objectives, especially on elite, need to practice more on Normal.
You're assuming that a new STO player has some experience in MMOs. I started in March this year, and STO is the first and only MMO I ever played. I knew absolutely nothing about how such games work. As someone with single player computer games experience only, I was not thinking about any community behind STO.
I was 200% clueless.
Fortunately, I'm a smart girl and looked for information. My fleetmates are there to help me, and I was even in a position to help others with my (still quite limited) knowledge. But I had to reach out to learn. The game didn't teach me that, it didn't even suggest to do it. My wanting to learn, and my fleets did. Maybe MMOs are supposed to be like that, I don't know.
But if someone doesn't want to actively learn things, or it doesn't occur to them they could/should, they won't. Because no one will tell them.
No, because the game doesn't teach it. You have to go and reach out looking for the information, either on forums, friends, or fleetmates. But you are also not told to do that. So unless you stop and wonder why you suck, and try to do something about it, you will not even know you suck or that you can do something about it.
This game has an extensive tutorial that teaches you all about everything virtually......let me guess, you skipped it!?
No, it doesn't. The tutorial teaches you a lot about the basic mechanics, but it doesn't tell you that there's a lot to this game that depends on synergy of various pieces working together. For example, let's say you have a ship armed half with cannons and half with beams, and they're spread over three different energy types. The tutorial NOWHERE tells you that matching all the energy types would be better, because then all your weapons would be boosted by the same type of tac consoles (not to mention that the energy-specific tac consoles are better than the generic +beam or +cannon types)... and also NOWHERE tells you that having either all beams or all cannons would allow you to get more benefit from your tac BOFF powers (and by example actually discourages that, as virtually every new ship - the only exception I can recall is the T1 ships which probably don't just for lack of slots - comes from the shipyard with some of both).
That you're expected to figure out on your own, or be told. But the tutorial also doesn't tell you that it's not exhaustive.
Putting those two ideas together, you can take 1+1+1 and it equals something closer to 5 than it does 3.
And before you go off the handle claiming I'm a DPS hound - I'm neither a DPS chaser nor even a parser. (To be honest, my computer skill has proven insufficient when I've tried to set up parsers; I've tried every one I've heard of and never been able to get any of them functional; they also need better tutorials and/or instructions.) I don't hang out on STF-related chat channels (in fact the only channel I'm active on most of the time is my armada's private chat), I don't run elites, and I almost never (unless my armada is organizing that day) even run in premade groups for PVEs. I'm a sporadic PUGger - but I do pull my own weight and the parses I've seen others post usually put my ship in second or third place, even in Advanced.
I'm not saying you need world record level of DPS. But just obeying those basic principles will bring your builds up to average-or-better. And the tutorial DOES NOT even hint at them.
Most of what you just described, requires nothing more than common sense, but we find many who lack this in game!
I'm sorry, but the fact that you can use consoles so you can use different beam/cannon/torp types does not need explanation in a tutorial, all that is given in the console's descriptions. The fact is that using one type with it's matching consoles type is plain common sense as is also described by the fact it clearly shows in the console description that it has a higher output. All it takes is the ability to READ. A tutorial does not need to tell you any of this.
And before you go off that handle of yours, I'm an Instructor of Martial Arts, been doing so for well over 20 years, and I know full well that everyone has their own way of playing the game, their own level of learning ability. Giving a player all that knowledge at once, without once getting the player to find out something for themselves, which is clearly shown right in front of them, does not make for a better player, it only serves to dumb down that yearning to learn, adapt and be an individual.
Apparently it does, because about 80% of the players I see getting sworn at, teased, etcetera (or that I'm doing those things behind their back to, because I'm polite enough not to do it to them) are running those precise 'rainbow trash' type builds and don't appear to know any better; nor did I until I ran into a situation in a story episode where I could not progress, and researched it for myself - WAY after completing the tutorial.
Just because the information is out there and it appears to be common sense doesn't mean it doesn't need to be said.
Interesting about-face there... from "an extensive tutorial that teaches you all about everything virtually" to then claiming that basics like this don't need to be added to it because they should be obvious (but apparently aren't).
No about-face there. I'm one of those that studies everything I need to know before I use it. I don't need a tutorial to tell me about different types of weapon, when it's clear as day in-front of you!
Well, the problem is that the vast majority of players don't think about that, assume that the tutorial is complete and that the example of mixed builds from the shipyard ships means that's the way to go.... and then they suck.
Than, it is in fact their own fault, and not the game!
Excuses are like buttholes, everyone has them, and some stink worse than others!
tiers and quality are easy to understand but if only it were just that simple, even as a fairly long term player I still cant understand what makes a better build, theres just so many different types of weapons and not only that but variations of each type of weapon its difficult to work out what is best, throw into the mix all of the different consoles out there and things just get even more complicated add in all of the different boff traits and personal traits and ship traits and the combinations are beyond infinite.
did you know that statistically speaking if you shuffle a deck of cards and deal them all out face up the chances are that the combination of cards will be unique never to have existed before or ever after and that is with just 52 cards, if all the items in sto were cards that would make the combinations you can have an infinity of infinities.
Here's an idea. Forget DPS, and just enjoy losing yourself in the future, in the game. Even in all the series, no ship won every fight they got in to. Once I quit worrying about whether or not I could figure out how to hit over 4k DPS, the game got a whole lot more enjoyable. Never have I had a cow over a bust PUG, a real Trek universe would have battle fails, not cookie-cutter wins.
yay, we have a winner. DING DING DING DING..
well said that poster.
Post edited by bobbydazlers on
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
Than, it is in fact their own fault, and not the game!
Excuses are like buttholes, everyone has them, and some stink worse than others!
Except there is no official game manual. Most info about how anything works is guesswork and a lot of arguing, with little to no involvement from actual game devs.
Theories are like buttholes too in this case, some people say cannons suck and you should never touch one, others say cannons are great. Some people build FAWboats, others despise them (and whoever uses them). Some people like torpedoes, other people say they are useless. The official website contains no detailed info. The forums are a battleground for ideologies. The unofficial wiki is mostly outdated and incomplete.
You can't expect every player to go on the test servers and do all the testing themselves. Most people don't know how to do it. Others don't have enough time.
Knowledge can be powerful, and if new or newer players did some reading about the game and what is what, that would help them. regards ground missions as an example, simple things like obtaining,having and using health hypo's and shield batteries. Where to buy them. Also regenerators to repair character injuries. I have seem players with injuries not repaired, as long as your arm, to use an expression. This can affect the outcome of a mission as many do already know. I don't think that is overblown standards, its common sense to try to survive.
In the key pad tray at the bottom of my screen i usually use keys 1 & 2 for firing weapons, and 3 & 4 for shields and health hypo's.
I learned alot from the start and i learned more from a previous fleet I was in, I had 2 brilliant teachers.
I want new players to do well, and going in at the deep end so to speak without any idea what they are doing is plain daft.
You are absolutely correct about not carrying hypos and batteries.
But as for upgrading gear. No. Purple XII is perfectly good as-is. All you need to know is that Antiproton or Romulan Plasma are what you should carry, and you will get through any mission perfectly well.
No, because the game doesn't teach it. You have to go and reach out looking for the information, either on forums, friends, or fleetmates. But you are also not told to do that. So unless you stop and wonder why you suck, and try to do something about it, you will not even know you suck or that you can do something about it.
This game has an extensive tutorial that teaches you all about everything virtually......let me guess, you skipped it!?
No, I did not. I went through it, paying attention every single time I started a new toon, hoping there are some things I missed or forgot the previous times. It teaches the basics. It doesn't teach everything.
No, I did not. I went through it, paying attention every single time I started a new toon, hoping there are some things I missed or forgot the previous times. It teaches the basics. It doesn't teach everything.
Which is absolutely correct. The tutorial *should* teach the basics. But it should always link to "more info". I'd expect a tutorial to say something like this:
"There are 2 types of weapons you can use on your ship, energy weapons and projectile weapons. Energy weapons are rapid firing streams of energy, effective against shields and hulls alike. There are many energy weapon types in two broad categories, cannons and beams. For more info about energy weapon performance check this guide."
I like coming into failed STF's... after folks like the OP have rage quit... At least the mission is a challenge. I've grown so tired of the 2 minute STF's with people throwing out 100k dps, even teams of 15k plus have become boring. My dps runs between 15-22k.
I warp in, see its failed... and (for lack of a better term) take command... see what people are doing as I approach the hot zone, offer tips along the way... focusing targets... normally (in the case of ISA, its failed before the right is down... so once we clear up the borg zerg, I'll offer tips for handling the next side as we meander over there.
I always, ALWAYS, carry extra Hypo's and Shield batteries on ground, and always, ALWAYS carry extra ground/space regens. Are there some that don't like the extra help... sure... but I find more that are grateful for the help... and their game play & enjoyment improves...
After the match, I'll reach out to those that were struggling and offer some advice...
I have links (txt document) to several decent builds for Cruisers, Sci, and Escorts... main goal at that point is to just get the player some extra info... not going for high-end dps or expensive builds... just aiming for about 5-7k... give them my contact info if they want to learn tactics for stf's... wish them well, and move on.
Made a lot of friends this way...
Moral of the story... today's "noob" is tomorrows valued teammate.
I like coming into failed STF's... after folks like the OP have rage quit... At least the mission is a challenge. I've grown so tired of the 2 minute STF's with people throwing out 100k dps, even teams of 15k plus have become boring. My dps runs between 15-22k.
I warp in, see its failed... and (for lack of a better term) take command... see what people are doing as I approach the hot zone, offer tips along the way... focusing targets... normally (in the case of ISA, its failed before the right is down... so once we clear up the borg zerg, I'll offer tips for handling the next side as we meander over there.
I always, ALWAYS, carry extra Hypo's and Shield batteries on ground, and always, ALWAYS carry extra ground/space regens. Are there some that don't like the extra help... sure... but I find more that are grateful for the help... and their game play & enjoyment improves...
After the match, I'll reach out to those that were struggling and offer some advice...
I have links (txt document) to several decent builds for Cruisers, Sci, and Escorts... main goal at that point is to just get the player some extra info... not going for high-end dps or expensive builds... just aiming for about 5-7k... give them my contact info if they want to learn tactics for stf's... wish them well, and move on.
Made a lot of friends this way...
Moral of the story... today's "noob" is tomorrows valued teammate.
I have never rage quit anything. your assumption there is completely wrong.
You are absolutely correct about not carrying hypos and batteries.
But as for upgrading gear. No. Purple XII is perfectly good as-is. All you need to know is that Antiproton or Romulan Plasma are what you should carry, and you will get through any mission perfectly well.
Maybe the squishy tacticals need hypos and batteries, but i have never used them on either my engineer or my science characters. Haven't had a need for them on my two tacticals either, but at least for those i see some remote use for consumables.
Only consumables i use is when i grab the Jem Hadar ground set. The nano energy cells are nice for variation.
This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
There are several un-intuitive aspects of this game which makes gearing up difficult, especially for existing MMO players.
No clear place to get gear. In normal MMOs, you get Crafted --> Dungeon --> Intro Raid Tier --> Next Raid Tier --> etc. In STO, the gear you need is scattered across reputations, quests, specialized crafting, lockboxes, duty officer rewards, and obscure out of the way stores. It's a challenge to even know what exists, much less get it.
No role outside of DPS. When I first joined STO, I picked a science ship so I could be a healer. That didn't get very far. Someone could have been trying to heal during a mission, thinking that's what they were supposed to do, and thinking "Wow, way to pull aggro off the tank. Worst DPS EVER."
Sutff is expensive, especially if you don't pay real money, so it's hard to tell what to work for first, even assuming that you do know what to get.
No target dummy or built in DPS meter, so you can't even test out your build before you queue up.
If I could add a bit of constructive help. Lets all agree to work in an occasional PVE run on Normal and help any players with mission walkthrough or gear help. Some of us have played this game a long time and if we help out the newer players that will make the game better for everyone.
Newer players arent going to have had the time to earn all these reps, traits and gear us long term players have got. Hell I don't know how new players manage everything's so expensive these days both in time and resources. I would hate to truely start over again.
At the end of the day if you hate new players so much then do pre-arranged queues with fleet mates or in the DPS channels and avoid pugs.
If I remember correctly when you first start this game, you have 3 character slots. It could go something like this. if affordable, to get an account bank. Now 1 toon(fed or Kdf) to do the missions etc, and the other 2 character slots for 2 romulan/kdf toons. work through them until level 11, then let the doffs take over doing marauding in certain sectors. This will bring in the contraband and other stuff as we know, which could all be gathered up and put into the account bank. The main toon then sells the contraband on the exchange and other stuff to a vendor. This will pile up the EC over time. so real money won't be needed anyway.
Than, it is in fact their own fault, and not the game!
Excuses are like buttholes, everyone has them, and some stink worse than others!
Except there is no official game manual. Most info about how anything works is guesswork and a lot of arguing, with little to no involvement from actual game devs.
Theories are like buttholes too in this case, some people say cannons suck and you should never touch one, others say cannons are great. Some people build FAWboats, others despise them (and whoever uses them). Some people like torpedoes, other people say they are useless. The official website contains no detailed info. The forums are a battleground for ideologies. The unofficial wiki is mostly outdated and incomplete.
You can't expect every player to go on the test servers and do all the testing themselves. Most people don't know how to do it. Others don't have enough time.
Unlike excuses, theories aren't as diverse.
Also, player(s) can easily test on the live server, as well as actually test and read, not just assume!
No, I did not. I went through it, paying attention every single time I started a new toon, hoping there are some things I missed or forgot the previous times. It teaches the basics. It doesn't teach everything.
Which is absolutely correct. The tutorial *should* teach the basics. But it should always link to "more info". I'd expect a tutorial to say something like this:
"There are 2 types of weapons you can use on your ship, energy weapons and projectile weapons. Energy weapons are rapid firing streams of energy, effective against shields and hulls alike. There are many energy weapon types in two broad categories, cannons and beams. For more info about energy weapon performance check this guide."
The weapons descriptions, pretty well sum up what they are meant to do, but again it requires actually, you know read!
Descriptions aren't there, just for the fun of it!!!
No, I did not. I went through it, paying attention every single time I started a new toon, hoping there are some things I missed or forgot the previous times. It teaches the basics. It doesn't teach everything.
Which is absolutely correct. The tutorial *should* teach the basics. But it should always link to "more info". I'd expect a tutorial to say something like this:
"There are 2 types of weapons you can use on your ship, energy weapons and projectile weapons. Energy weapons are rapid firing streams of energy, effective against shields and hulls alike. There are many energy weapon types in two broad categories, cannons and beams. For more info about energy weapon performance check this guide."
That would work. Too much information in the tutorial would be difficult to retain. But a push toward the right direction where to look for more and that there is more is something some people need.
The weapons descriptions, pretty well sum up what they are meant to do, but again it requires actually, you know read!
Descriptions aren't there, just for the fun of it!!!
"Read" is not enough, not for everyone. The "understand" and "apply in practice" factors are more important, and that's where people can fail.
Believe it or not but my friend reached lvl 40 not knowing he can distribute shields power. He reached lvl 50 not knowing he can zoom out. I found out because he complained his D'Deridex was taking almost all screen space and he couldn't see anything.
Sure, you can blame him for this. But some kind of info in the game could make such people understand that there's more to learn, more info they need to acquire, or they'll suck forever. They may assume they were already told what's there to tell, and they know all what's there to know. For all you know, this guy may not be aware that right-click opens a menu where he can find a detailed description. In fact, I find that quite possible
One of the things people overlook is trying things out for themselves. Experiment in a Mission Replay or a Patrol. It is what I do to learn the things I know. Which, admittedly, is not nearly enough to satisfy the OP's standards of what an 'expert' STO player ought to know.
Another thing to do as a new player is - ask for guidance. I will never, ever turn down someone asking me for information. I'll do my best to answer as completely as my knowledge of your question allows.
Post edited by thunderfoot#5163 on
A six year old boy and his starship. Living the dream.
Comments
Yeah, but most of that info is now out-of-date. Take the sector maps, they're the old version. So are most of the things for the doff assignments. I wonder if there's giong to be anything at all about the Admirality system once it launches. I could go on but won't.
If you're lucky you can now get maybe 50% of what you need of this. And that's one big maybe and depends a lot on what you need.
Yeah, yeah, we're all very impressed by your credentials I'm sure
The problem as stated multiple times but which you apparently can't read is that there's no collective information, it's spread out and many of the highest ranking results on Google are severely out-of-date info. So while reading is certainly a requirement so is actually finding the bloody information in the first place. And even then there's no guarantee that the information is even valid anymore.
Yep, even if you actually do find some decently accurate info out there, chances are it's outdated info from years/seasons old tests...
If there was more effort put into describing game mechanics, especially to those who are not versed in MMO jargin, new players might find the experience more enjoyable. Also, the functionality gap we are seeing my shrink somewhat. It won't be as necessary to cater to people who do 100k dps AND people who do 1k dps. The elite revamp made sense for seasoned players, but weaker players were unable to adapt. Thus, the bar was lowered in normal and advanced queues.
Consider the following:
You start playing a new FPS, and are thrust into the game with a tutorial telling you where to shoot enemies, and what ammo to use. Then you star actually playing the game, and find you can't do anything. You eventually ask for help, or look up the keybinds, and find that movement is actually IJKL, RMB fires and F12 reloads. What a noob. You suggest on the game forums that a better tutorial be implemented so new players can function better, and are called an elitist.
Now, I'm not suggesting the STO tutorials are bad. I have played the new fed version, and can honestly say it is a massive improvement, mainly from a story perspective. Legacy of Romulus also wowed me. What i'd like to see is more information in the game about the more complex systems, in an easily digestable language. It won't solve all our problems, but I think it will go a long way to reducing confusion, and guiding players towards functioning as the game is intended to be played. (a wide definition)
Back before S6, we only had to worry about knowing how to run the 6 Borg STFs. Now there are so many queues that people tend to specialize on some subset. So many people hate running Transdimensional Tactics Elite, and I can't imagine why, since it's so short and the map so compact.
And then, I've been guilty of it, too, because I recently brought up a few characters from 1-50, so when they got to 50, they were essentially running into battle with empty ships but doing their best to make a positive showing of it. Maybe I was that player the original poster was talking about, not realizing that not every person with an up and coming ship is completely decked out when first taking it out of dry dock. Who knows?
Fleet Admiral Ventaxa Proxmire, U.S.S. Shaka Walls Fell
Blog: http://www.sarbonn.com/?page_id=1990
Foundry series: Bob From Accounting & For the Sake of the Empire
I call B.S.
You're just another forum warrior who is far too impressed with the sound of your own keyboard. If this were not true, you would not have posted the foolish nonsense you did in the first place.
Next time someone does not meet your overblown standards of what others should be doing to carry you through an Elite STF, press <ALT-F4> to remove their ability to bug you. Problem solved.
Here's an idea. Forget DPS, and just enjoy losing yourself in the future, in the game. Even in all the series, no ship won every fight they got in to. Once I quit worrying about whether or not I could figure out how to hit over 4k DPS, the game got a whole lot more enjoyable. Never have I had a cow over a bust PUG, a real Trek universe would have battle fails, not cookie-cutter wins.
You're assuming that a new STO player has some experience in MMOs. I started in March this year, and STO is the first and only MMO I ever played. I knew absolutely nothing about how such games work. As someone with single player computer games experience only, I was not thinking about any community behind STO.
I was 200% clueless.
Fortunately, I'm a smart girl and looked for information. My fleetmates are there to help me, and I was even in a position to help others with my (still quite limited) knowledge. But I had to reach out to learn. The game didn't teach me that, it didn't even suggest to do it. My wanting to learn, and my fleets did. Maybe MMOs are supposed to be like that, I don't know.
But if someone doesn't want to actively learn things, or it doesn't occur to them they could/should, they won't. Because no one will tell them.
Most of what you just described, requires nothing more than common sense, but we find many who lack this in game!
Praetor of the -RTS- Romulan Tal Shiar fleet!
Than, it is in fact their own fault, and not the game!
Excuses are like buttholes, everyone has them, and some stink worse than others!
Praetor of the -RTS- Romulan Tal Shiar fleet!
did you know that statistically speaking if you shuffle a deck of cards and deal them all out face up the chances are that the combination of cards will be unique never to have existed before or ever after and that is with just 52 cards, if all the items in sto were cards that would make the combinations you can have an infinity of infinities.
yay, we have a winner. DING DING DING DING..
well said that poster.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
Except there is no official game manual. Most info about how anything works is guesswork and a lot of arguing, with little to no involvement from actual game devs.
Theories are like buttholes too in this case, some people say cannons suck and you should never touch one, others say cannons are great. Some people build FAWboats, others despise them (and whoever uses them). Some people like torpedoes, other people say they are useless. The official website contains no detailed info. The forums are a battleground for ideologies. The unofficial wiki is mostly outdated and incomplete.
You can't expect every player to go on the test servers and do all the testing themselves. Most people don't know how to do it. Others don't have enough time.
In the key pad tray at the bottom of my screen i usually use keys 1 & 2 for firing weapons, and 3 & 4 for shields and health hypo's.
I learned alot from the start and i learned more from a previous fleet I was in, I had 2 brilliant teachers.
I want new players to do well, and going in at the deep end so to speak without any idea what they are doing is plain daft.
But as for upgrading gear. No. Purple XII is perfectly good as-is. All you need to know is that Antiproton or Romulan Plasma are what you should carry, and you will get through any mission perfectly well.
My Ship Builds: USS Conqueror, HMS Victorious, HMS Concord, ISS Queen Elizabeth, Black Widow III
Click here to view my DeviantArt.
No, I did not. I went through it, paying attention every single time I started a new toon, hoping there are some things I missed or forgot the previous times. It teaches the basics. It doesn't teach everything.
Which is absolutely correct. The tutorial *should* teach the basics. But it should always link to "more info". I'd expect a tutorial to say something like this:
"There are 2 types of weapons you can use on your ship, energy weapons and projectile weapons. Energy weapons are rapid firing streams of energy, effective against shields and hulls alike. There are many energy weapon types in two broad categories, cannons and beams. For more info about energy weapon performance check this guide."
I warp in, see its failed... and (for lack of a better term) take command... see what people are doing as I approach the hot zone, offer tips along the way... focusing targets... normally (in the case of ISA, its failed before the right is down... so once we clear up the borg zerg, I'll offer tips for handling the next side as we meander over there.
I always, ALWAYS, carry extra Hypo's and Shield batteries on ground, and always, ALWAYS carry extra ground/space regens. Are there some that don't like the extra help... sure... but I find more that are grateful for the help... and their game play & enjoyment improves...
After the match, I'll reach out to those that were struggling and offer some advice...
I have links (txt document) to several decent builds for Cruisers, Sci, and Escorts... main goal at that point is to just get the player some extra info... not going for high-end dps or expensive builds... just aiming for about 5-7k... give them my contact info if they want to learn tactics for stf's... wish them well, and move on.
Made a lot of friends this way...
Moral of the story... today's "noob" is tomorrows valued teammate.
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
I have never rage quit anything. your assumption there is completely wrong.
Maybe the squishy tacticals need hypos and batteries, but i have never used them on either my engineer or my science characters. Haven't had a need for them on my two tacticals either, but at least for those i see some remote use for consumables.
Only consumables i use is when i grab the Jem Hadar ground set. The nano energy cells are nice for variation.
Newer players arent going to have had the time to earn all these reps, traits and gear us long term players have got. Hell I don't know how new players manage everything's so expensive these days both in time and resources. I would hate to truely start over again.
At the end of the day if you hate new players so much then do pre-arranged queues with fleet mates or in the DPS channels and avoid pugs.
Either that or go TRIBBLE yourself.
Unlike excuses, theories aren't as diverse.
Also, player(s) can easily test on the live server, as well as actually test and read, not just assume!
The weapons descriptions, pretty well sum up what they are meant to do, but again it requires actually, you know read!
Descriptions aren't there, just for the fun of it!!!
Praetor of the -RTS- Romulan Tal Shiar fleet!
That would work. Too much information in the tutorial would be difficult to retain. But a push toward the right direction where to look for more and that there is more is something some people need.
"Read" is not enough, not for everyone. The "understand" and "apply in practice" factors are more important, and that's where people can fail.
Believe it or not but my friend reached lvl 40 not knowing he can distribute shields power. He reached lvl 50 not knowing he can zoom out. I found out because he complained his D'Deridex was taking almost all screen space and he couldn't see anything.
Sure, you can blame him for this. But some kind of info in the game could make such people understand that there's more to learn, more info they need to acquire, or they'll suck forever. They may assume they were already told what's there to tell, and they know all what's there to know. For all you know, this guy may not be aware that right-click opens a menu where he can find a detailed description. In fact, I find that quite possible
Another thing to do as a new player is - ask for guidance. I will never, ever turn down someone asking me for information. I'll do my best to answer as completely as my knowledge of your question allows.