Delta rising lvl fail

khan1000

instead of redusing the 150,000 xp for one rank you can now be lvl 50 and play all of delta's missions

natejam101

Yep!

BTW: Like the sig, unfortunately Star Wars is better..at least when it come to the MMO

thay8472

natejam101 wrote: »

Yep!

BTW: Like the sig, unfortunately Star Wars is better..at least when it come to the MMO

SWG was. SWTOR ... meh ... nothing special there.

jbmaverick

How exactly is this a fail? The biggest problem people had with the Delta Rising missions was that you tended to have to grind between missions due to the level requirement. Now that's going to be less of a problem if it remains at all. Specializations are supposed to take time to master, lowering the experience needed to gain points wasn't a suitable fix.

rahmkota19

I don't like the amount of XP needed per level or spec point myself, but this is the system Cryptic gave.

I do very much like the ability to continue undisrupted with the Delta Rising story tho. Who knows, I might finally start to appreciate it!​​

monkeybone13

Delta Rising is the best expansion ever and the players love it. End of story.

mustrumridcully0

The original post in the thread seems to be a misleading. To quote the blog announcement:

Currently, the episodes that make up the Delta Quadrant arc go from minimum level 50 to minimum level 60 and all the episodes that make up the Iconian War arc are minimum level 60. As part of the Season 11: New Dawn update, coming October 27th, the episodes that make up the Delta Quadrant arc will now have minimum level requirements of 50 to 56 and the episodes of the Iconian War arc will have minimum level requirements of 56 to 59. For more detailed information please consult your mission journal in-game.

That means originally the mission level requirements in DR went from 50 to 60, now they are from 50 to 56, and originally the Iconian War ARc missions were all level 60, and now they are 56 to 59. That means it's a "smoother" progression -but it might not mean that you won't have XP gaps, and it does not mean all missions are available at level 50 now.​​

garaks31

natejam101 wrote: »

Yep!

BTW: Like the sig, unfortunately Star Wars is better..at least when it come to the MMO

http://www.mmogames.com/topmmos/speed-round-classic-geek-culture-star-wars-vs-star-trek/

kiralyn

Eh, SWTOR is a pretty good game..... as long as you're subbed. Once you're playing "free", they make it pretty brutal in an attempt to get you to re-sub.

And while some of their cash-shop features (like paying a small fee to unlock a lockbox item account-wide) are nice, others are just painful. Like credit-cap increases being temporary (with the regular credit cap being low enough you could hit it, from 0, just doing one or two day's dailies. And regular vendor items that cost up to 10x the cap. At least the game remembers every credit you earn, so that it's there if/when you resub.)

So, yeah. Both games have their plusses and minuses.

mustrumridcully0

kiralyn wrote: »

Eh, SWTOR is a pretty good game..... as long as you're subbed. Once you're playing "free", they make it pretty brutal in an attempt to get you to re-sub.

And while some of their cash-shop features (like paying a small fee to unlock a lockbox item account-wide) are nice, others are just painful. Like credit-cap increases being temporary (with the regular credit cap being low enough you could hit it, from 0, just doing one or two day's dailies. And regular vendor items that cost up to 10x the cap. At least the game remembers every credit you earn, so that it's there if/when you resub.)

So, yeah. Both games have their plusses and minuses.

My biggest issue with SWTOR was that I really, really disliked the gameplay. I mean, I am not a fan of STO ground combat either, but STO has at least great space combat actions, and the ground combat in STO tends to be an easy affair overall. The most fun I had with my Imperial Agent that could just stealth to avoid all the enemies he didn't need to explicitly kill. (Of course, that means losing out on XP which you'll miss when you face a boss you need to kill).​​

dareau

mustrumridcully0 wrote: »

The original post in the thread seems to be a misleading. To quote the blog announcement:

Currently, the episodes that make up the Delta Quadrant arc go from minimum level 50 to minimum level 60 and all the episodes that make up the Iconian War arc are minimum level 60. As part of the Season 11: New Dawn update, coming October 27th, the episodes that make up the Delta Quadrant arc will now have minimum level requirements of 50 to 56 and the episodes of the Iconian War arc will have minimum level requirements of 56 to 59. For more detailed information please consult your mission journal in-game.

That means originally the mission level requirements in DR went from 50 to 60, now they are from 50 to 56, and originally the Iconian War ARc missions were all level 60, and now they are 56 to 59. That means it's a "smoother" progression -but it might not mean that you won't have XP gaps, and it does not mean all missions are available at level 50 now.​​

True. But I think, as it won't be seen until it's put into practice (or the mathematicians break out their stored progression charts, etc.) that a person doing a couple of missions a day, combined with "decent" DOffing and Admiraty-ing, might feel no gaps - and if there are still remaining gaps, a day's worth of bagging your dailies of Rep marks should cover the problem...

Unlike right now where you need to grind what feels like a week's worth of non-xp-boosted patrols in order to "finish" your level to get to the next story segment...

xyquarze

It may be an issue for players who are at level 50 when the storyline begins, but I guess those are now fewer than when Delta Rising launched. It may still be possible if you're only doing the main storyline without any doffing (or from october admiraling) at all, or are spending a big chunk of your day doing STO stuff, but I have the experience that with regular doffing and rarely more than one episode a day (and not daily, but that should cancel out since doff missions which are longer do not tend to be that great a difference XP wise) I was way over the nominal level requirement quite early in the storyline and it didn't really bother me during DR (I was already level 50 on my main but he hadn't completed the story and got some more XP before entering the quadrant).

So I guess it may become an issue if you want to "power level and story complete" a toon in little time, or be able to skip a lot of missions to the ones which give decent rewards, but I guess a really new player playing all the episode content and doing some doffing will not have many problems with the required levels, especially since the really steep increase doesn't start until 55, so you've already covered almost all of DR after this change.

markhawkman

kiralyn wrote: »

Eh, SWTOR is a pretty good game..... as long as you're subbed. Once you're playing "free", they make it pretty brutal in an attempt to get you to re-sub.

And while some of their cash-shop features (like paying a small fee to unlock a lockbox item account-wide) are nice, others are just painful. Like credit-cap increases being temporary (with the regular credit cap being low enough you could hit it, from 0, just doing one or two day's dailies. And regular vendor items that cost up to 10x the cap. At least the game remembers every credit you earn, so that it's there if/when you resub.)

So, yeah. Both games have their plusses and minuses.

I heard it also force non-subs to pay to equip high-quality gear.

breadandcircuses

markhawkman wrote: »

kiralyn wrote: »

Eh, SWTOR is a pretty good game..... as long as you're subbed. Once you're playing "free", they make it pretty brutal in an attempt to get you to re-sub.

And while some of their cash-shop features (like paying a small fee to unlock a lockbox item account-wide) are nice, others are just painful. Like credit-cap increases being temporary (with the regular credit cap being low enough you could hit it, from 0, just doing one or two day's dailies. And regular vendor items that cost up to 10x the cap. At least the game remembers every credit you earn, so that it's there if/when you resub.)

So, yeah. Both games have their plusses and minuses.

I heard it also force non-subs to pay to equip high-quality gear.

Yup, another one of the pressures applied in order to get you to Sub. You can, however, sell almost everything in their cash shop via their auction house... meaning whales have an easier time purchasing currency and F2P folks can purchase premium services at no real world cost. It's still exceedingly obnoxious, though...

garaks31 wrote: »

natejam101 wrote: »

Yep!

BTW: Like the sig, unfortunately Star Wars is better..at least when it come to the MMO

http://www.mmogames.com/topmmos/speed-round-classic-geek-culture-star-wars-vs-star-trek/

Notice that despite lower Staff and User reviews, STO is winning. While it's just not as good a game, STO has a less irritating F2P model than SWTOR. I really liked SWTOR back when I gave it a shot, but its monetization structure managed to annoy me into leaving rather than subscribing. Whoops.

zarato4218

breadandcircuses wrote: »

Yup, another one of the pressures applied in order to get you to Sub.

Not entirely, since unlike the temporary escrow transfers, you can get a permanent account unlock for "artifact equipment." It's still an annoying forced purchase, but it is an alternative to ever having to sub. I only wish they had a permanent credit cap increase like STO does, as that cap and the gimped XP are the two biggest obstacles when you're not subbed. I love SWTOR but as others have said the f2p/preferred model is brutal.

breadandcircuses

zarato4218 wrote: »

breadandcircuses wrote: »

Yup, another one of the pressures applied in order to get you to Sub.

Not entirely, since unlike the temporary escrow transfers, you can get a permanent account unlock for "artifact equipment." It's still an annoying forced purchase, but it is an alternative to ever having to sub. I only wish they had a permanent credit cap increase like STO does, as that cap and the gimped XP are the two biggest obstacles when you're not subbed. I love SWTOR but as others have said the f2p/preferred model is brutal.

Ahem...

breadandcircuses wrote: »

...and F2P folks can purchase premium services at no real world cost. It's still exceedingly obnoxious, though...

Though of course all that can be avoided if you'd just be willing to Sub for a bit...

monkeybone13

People had requested the level requirements for the Delta Rising episodic content to be reduced because of how long it takes to level up after 50.

The changes are meant to help with that a bit but you will still run into road blocks where you aren't a high enough level and have to break away from the episodes and go find something else to do to level up.

The upcoming Admirality system can help with leveling up but not very much. Not all assignments will reward skill points/expertise, and with ships going into maintenance after the assignments finish you can run out of ships to use quickly if you don't have many ships to choose from. It's basically meant to be a system where you log in on each character once or twice a day to start assignments.

Earlier this year Trendy said something on the forums about them having something in the works to make leveling up and earning specialization points a little easier. So far I haven't seen any dev posts saying something like "this is what we were talking about". At first I thought maybe the skill point bonus from the Armada system was the answer but it wasn't really that much of a boost. And at first I thought the Admirality system was the answer but after playing around with it on the test server, it also isn't that much of a boost. It all adds up, but so far it seems to still not be enough to alleviate the amount of grind involved.

Edit: Although I haven't seen any dev posts saying "this was our solution we talked about", it doesn't mean I'm implying none exist. I just haven't seen them myself or seen others post links to them.

zarato4218

breadandcircuses wrote: »

zarato4218 wrote: »

breadandcircuses wrote: »

Yup, another one of the pressures applied in order to get you to Sub.

Not entirely, since unlike the temporary escrow transfers, you can get a permanent account unlock for "artifact equipment." It's still an annoying forced purchase, but it is an alternative to ever having to sub. I only wish they had a permanent credit cap increase like STO does, as that cap and the gimped XP are the two biggest obstacles when you're not subbed. I love SWTOR but as others have said the f2p/preferred model is brutal.

*cough*

breadandcircuses wrote: »

...and F2P folks can purchase premium services at no real world cost. It's still exceedingly obnoxious, though...

Though of course all that can be avoided if you'd just be willing to Sub for a bit...

Yeah, I did overlook that bit of your post, sorry , however now that I have seen it I must point out that its not entirely true. To get account unlocks on the GTN you need more credits than the f2p cap will ever allow, players simply sell them for too much. (The limit is 200,000 for pure f2p or 350,000 for former subs or people who have spent at least $5 real money) You will never see an account unlock like artifact equiptment authorization for less than 350,000, unless someone makes a mistake. Heck, even green gear is going in the hundreds of thousands on my server right now thanks to 12x XP. As such you would need to use Cartel Coins bought with real world money to either get an escrow transfer or, at that point, to just buy the authorization itself. Though you still don't ever have to sub with those methods as we both said.

breadandcircuses

zarato4218 wrote: »

breadandcircuses wrote: »

zarato4218 wrote: »

breadandcircuses wrote: »

Yup, another one of the pressures applied in order to get you to Sub.

Not entirely, since unlike the temporary escrow transfers, you can get a permanent account unlock for "artifact equipment." It's still an annoying forced purchase, but it is an alternative to ever having to sub. I only wish they had a permanent credit cap increase like STO does, as that cap and the gimped XP are the two biggest obstacles when you're not subbed. I love SWTOR but as others have said the f2p/preferred model is brutal.

*cough*

breadandcircuses wrote: »

...and F2P folks can purchase premium services at no real world cost. It's still exceedingly obnoxious, though...

Though of course all that can be avoided if you'd just be willing to Sub for a bit...

Yeah, I did overlook that bit of your post, sorry, however now that I have seen it I must point out that its not entirely true. To get account unlocks on the GTN you need more credits than the f2p cap will ever allow, players simply sell them for too much. (The limit is 200,000 for pure f2p or 350,000 for former subs or people who have spent at least $5 real money) You will never see an account unlock like artifact equiptment authorization for less than 350,000, unless someone makes a mistake. Heck, even green gear is going in the hundreds of thousands on my server right now thanks to 12x XP. As such you would need to use Cartel Coins bought with real world money to either get an escrow transfer or the authroization itself. Though you still don't ever have to sub with those methods.

Ahhh, back when I was trying it out you could still get the unlocks within the F2P cap (just barely). Those current prices sound even more prohibitive... sort of negates the purpose if you've got to pay to afford the unlock that you get if you're paying. Ouch... but good to know.

daveyny

I miss SWG, THAT was a game really worth subbing for.

zarato4218

breadandcircuses wrote: »

Ahhh, back when I was trying it out you could still get the unlocks within the F2P cap (just barely). Those current prices sound even more prohibitive... sort of negates the purpose if you've got to pay to afford the unlock that you get if you're paying. Ouch... but good to know.

Well, the gear prices will probably go down after KotFE launches as right now price gougers are having a field day with people needing gear for their toons and companions. (Since with 12x XP most people are only doing the class missions and you need to do all the side quest to get companion gear) However, with the removal of companions needing gear and the permanent increase in basic comms it probably won't matter anyway. Unfortunatly, with the new crafting system, its mats that are predicted to go through the roof next, sort of like how they did here in STO after the R&D revamp. But, yeah, ultimatley all important cartel market unlocks are now too expensive for those under the cap. You might be able to get "Display Legacy Name/ Display Title" unlocks or even "Unify Colors" on a good day, but anything important, like gear authorization, server slot unlocks, or species unlocks you'll never see below 500,000. It might be better on other servers though I've only ever been on the one.

mustrumridcully0

breadandcircuses wrote: »

markhawkman wrote: »

kiralyn wrote: »

Eh, SWTOR is a pretty good game..... as long as you're subbed. Once you're playing "free", they make it pretty brutal in an attempt to get you to re-sub.

And while some of their cash-shop features (like paying a small fee to unlock a lockbox item account-wide) are nice, others are just painful. Like credit-cap increases being temporary (with the regular credit cap being low enough you could hit it, from 0, just doing one or two day's dailies. And regular vendor items that cost up to 10x the cap. At least the game remembers every credit you earn, so that it's there if/when you resub.)

So, yeah. Both games have their plusses and minuses.

I heard it also force non-subs to pay to equip high-quality gear.

Yup, another one of the pressures applied in order to get you to Sub. You can, however, sell almost everything in their cash shop via their auction house... meaning whales have an easier time purchasing currency and F2P folks can purchase premium services at no real world cost. It's still exceedingly obnoxious, though...

garaks31 wrote: »

natejam101 wrote: »

Yep!

BTW: Like the sig, unfortunately Star Wars is better..at least when it come to the MMO

http://www.mmogames.com/topmmos/speed-round-classic-geek-culture-star-wars-vs-star-trek/

Notice that despite lower Staff and User reviews, STO is winning. While it's just not as good a game, STO has a less irritating F2P model than SWTOR. I really liked SWTOR back when I gave it a shot, but its monetization structure managed to annoy me into leaving rather than subscribing. Whoops.

Whoa... Where does MMO Gaming recruit its readers? The STO preference there seems unreal! I like STO a lot more than TOR, too, but I was expecting that to be a minority opinion in such a contest.​​

xyquarze

mustrumridcully0 wrote: »

Whoa... Where does MMO Gaming recruit its readers? The STO preference there seems unreal! I like STO a lot more than TOR, too, but I was expecting that to be a minority opinion in such a contest.​​

I don't know, but my completely out-of-the-blue theory is: only a few people care about online polls, and those are the ones that feel strongly about the issue. Most players seem to be just happy playing the game but there is a certain amount of anger directed at STO within these forums. Probably they all went to vote for SWTOR. Likewise, some people dislike SWTOR and that is a strong feeling, too, so they vote STO. Since SWTOR has the larger angerbase, STO is leading.

Of course there are some results of online polls you cannot explain like that, but a lot of "comparison" seem to me to be more hater than fanboy driven. So while this is a bit tongue in cheek, I honestly believe this to be a part of a lot of online polls.

dareau

monkeybone13 wrote: »

People had requested the level requirements for the Delta Rising episodic content to be reduced because of how long it takes to level up after 50.

The changes are meant to help with that a bit but you will still run into road blocks where you aren't a high enough level and have to break away from the episodes and go find something else to do to level up.

The upcoming Admirality system can help with leveling up but not very much. Not all assignments will reward skill points/expertise, and with ships going into maintenance after the assignments finish you can run out of ships to use quickly if you don't have many ships to choose from. It's basically meant to be a system where you log in on each character once or twice a day to start assignments.

Earlier this year Trendy said something on the forums about them having something in the works to make leveling up and earning specialization points a little easier. So far I haven't seen any dev posts saying something like "this is what we were talking about". At first I thought maybe the skill point bonus from the Armada system was the answer but it wasn't really that much of a boost. And at first I thought the Admirality system was the answer but after playing around with it on the test server, it also isn't that much of a boost. It all adds up, but so far it seems to still not be enough to alleviate the amount of grind involved.

Edit: Although I haven't seen any dev posts saying "this was our solution we talked about", it doesn't mean I'm implying none exist. I just haven't seen them myself or seen others post links to them.

Here I wonder...

The reasons the "massively steep curves" were instituted into the original DR arcs were:

1. To "slow down" progression so that hitting 60 wasn't a "one week deal" like 1-50 is...
2. To "remind" and/or "force" people into playing the other content (Patrols, STFs, Mark Grinding, Foundry) in between storyline missions "as has always been intended"...

Now, they keep "reexamining" the whole "rate of gain" scenario. Things like "here's a spec point for every week you play the current active mission", Armada XP bonuses, the "massively high" payouts that will be included with the Armada System, etc. etc. the proliferation of bonus XP weeks, etc., all seem to be "steps" they're taking to periodically (and frequently, mind you) alleviate the "grind" between spec points and/or to help you a touch as you get from 50-60...

So, do I expect "one mission, one level"? Not really, as this "goes against" the original plans of the massive DR curves. Do I still appreciate the fact that my alts won't be behind the 8 ball and need a week or two of "dedicated play" just to get them to the point of being able to poke their way through the DR and Iconian war arcs? Yeah, if they "level bind", I can just DOff/Admiralty them for a couple of days and get back to them later...