For the sake of exploration and growth would you be willing to...

risingwolfshadow

Sacrifice a year of new PvE queues, new rep and gear and fewer ship releases for a year if it meant giving the devs a solid year to build a good exploration and perhaps have the time to turn PvP into something useful (maybe incorporate it?).

To be clear this is not to turn into a discussion on the current state of PvP, its virtues or lack there of (there's a PvP forum just for that).
I would like your opinion on the question not a discussion focuses on any one thing.

angrytarg

The question is flawed as this is not how this works.

I would like to see a open-ended exploration system for quasi unlimited longevity of the game, yes. If they would hypothetically anounce it will take a year of maintenance mode I would however probably take a leave as well and return in a year, I would not continue to log in with the knowledge of playing the same mission over and over again. But as I said, this scenario makes little sense to begin with.​​

sennahcherib

how Cryptic is supposed to earn money during this time?

warpangel

No. I am happy with getting more PvE queues and new reputations to grind. I'd rather the devs not make additions that would detract from how they've progressed this game over the past 5 years.

Hell no.

The previous "exploration" was just a string of boring copy-paste missions that the game is better off without. While it's undoubtedly possible to create a good, interesting exploration system, it would by stupid to put a good game on hold for something uncertain. I wouldn't play this game for a year if there wasn't new stuff to do and collect.

And the the lack of meaningful PvP is actually a good thing in my book.

risingwolfshadow

There would be fewer ship releases but they'd still release them to make money and they'd obviously still do the events. But there would be less PvE content in the meantime. To be fair though, we are doing the same thing over and over again. It'd be a good opportunity to stock up on resources too. But they wouldn't put it on maintenance mode that makes no sense, it'd literally be way way to allow them to take time from the current main projects (new reputation, gear, monthly ship releases and story). They wouldn't be put aside just less attention and this less of it for a year in trade for a massive improvement that will draw back some old players and new ones which would in turn bring in more revenue allowing them to release even more content.

Your opinions are welcome thank you for your thoughts and being civil. Keep it coming

ikonn

Yes. I would give up on said things knowing that it would mean less grinding for a year and maybe fewer episodes for exploration and maybe meaningful PvP if it isn't just about death to all. (Note that for those with more than one toon it would give you more time to catch up with those toons if you didn't have to work on your main for a few months).

On principle, I'd like to see a break in rushing out more buggy content for the sake of pleasing the PWE execs. If the devs had the time and resources, and bean counters not demanding more avenues to empty player-base wallets. It could probably be done.

The reality, though, is that this will never happen as long as certain companies and individuals are running things, and when the word "monetize" is being thrown around by a specific dev during podcasts.

bergins

Any poll that either has limited choices for answers or ultra specific answers is flawed.

Limited choices don't allow for the broad spectrum of opinions. Specific answers trap someone answering into saying something they might not agree with just because they want to vote against another answer.

This poll has both. GG OP.

warpangel

No. I am happy with getting more PvE queues and new reputations to grind. I'd rather the devs not make additions that would detract from how they've progressed this game over the past 5 years.

bergins wrote: »

Any poll that either has limited choices for answers or ultra specific answers is flawed.

Limited choices don't allow for the broad spectrum of opinions. Specific answers trap someone answering into saying something they might not agree with just because they want to vote against another answer.

This poll has both. GG OP.

Despite the excess text at the end of the options, this is just a yes/no question.

bobbydazlers

Yes. I would give up on said things knowing that it would mean less grinding for a year and maybe fewer episodes for exploration and maybe meaningful PvP if it isn't just about death to all. (Note that for those with more than one toon it would give you more time to catch up with those toons if you didn't have to work on your main for a few months).

I will say yes providing the exploration system they give us is varied enough and exciting enough to make it worth while.
if it turns out to be a carbon copy of the last joke of a system we had then i would be disappointed with the wasted time and effort that was sacrificed.

bergins wrote: »

Any poll that either has limited choices for answers or ultra specific answers is flawed.

Limited choices don't allow for the broad spectrum of opinions. Specific answers trap someone answering into saying something they might not agree with just because they want to vote against another answer.

This poll has both. GG OP.

i cant see how you could expect any more choices then the ones you have.
either you are willing to forgo most of the stuff we typically get in a standard season in favour of a decent exploration system and perhaps a overhaul of pvp or you are not, there is no middle ground in that choice.

bergins

It might be a Yes or No Question, but all the baggage added onto the answers limits those answering. The specific reasoning attached to either answer may not be the reasoning the answerer agrees with.

As far as wanting more answers goes, there's always "Maybe." Even in the real polls you see reported in the news, there's always "Undecided."

Are they ever going to fix quotes for the mobile site so it doesn't just say "null" when I try and quote someone?

sinn74

No. I am happy with getting more PvE queues and new reputations to grind. I'd rather the devs not make additions that would detract from how they've progressed this game over the past 5 years.

No. Sorry, but I won't vote "Yes" to any kind of Cryptic pvp. It's wonky and unwieldy, at best. Always has been. There is such an infinitesimal chance at it becoming viable, that I wouldn't want to roll the dice on it.

talonxv

Yes. I would give up on said things knowing that it would mean less grinding for a year and maybe fewer episodes for exploration and maybe meaningful PvP if it isn't just about death to all. (Note that for those with more than one toon it would give you more time to catch up with those toons if you didn't have to work on your main for a few months).

I'd love to see a stronger exploration setup, but likely not to happen.

eclipsor

Yes. I would give up on said things knowing that it would mean less grinding for a year and maybe fewer episodes for exploration and maybe meaningful PvP if it isn't just about death to all. (Note that for those with more than one toon it would give you more time to catch up with those toons if you didn't have to work on your main for a few months).

I agree with @bergins. I vote yes to "devs, focus on interesting and worthwhile exploration missions"

ltminns

Forget it. They are going to keep pushing out new PvE Queues because they need to use that as content. People will play it for fourty days and forty nights, the metrics will show success, and then people will go back to CCA and ICA and eventually one or more will be removed for whatever reason given at the time. Less than two years after introduction, 'Breech' was recently removed.

bobbydazlers

Yes. I would give up on said things knowing that it would mean less grinding for a year and maybe fewer episodes for exploration and maybe meaningful PvP if it isn't just about death to all. (Note that for those with more than one toon it would give you more time to catch up with those toons if you didn't have to work on your main for a few months).

bergins wrote: »

It might be a Yes or No Question, but all the baggage added onto the answers limits those answering. The specific reasoning attached to either answer may not be the reasoning the answerer agrees with.

As far as wanting more answers goes, there's always "Maybe." Even in the real polls you see reported in the news, there's always "Undecided."

Are they ever going to fix quotes for the mobile site so it doesn't just say "null" when I try and quote someone?

I just cant see how it can be complicated either you want it (yes) or you don't (no) even if its maybe it is still yes but you can just put a proviso in your comment as I did when I said "I will say yes providing the exploration system they give us is varied enough and exciting enough to make it worth while.
if it turns out to be a carbon copy of the last joke of a system we had then i would be disappointed with the wasted time and effort that was sacrificed."
if you just don't want exploration no matter what then it would be no.

cidjack

No. I am happy with getting more PvE queues and new reputations to grind. I'd rather the devs not make additions that would detract from how they've progressed this game over the past 5 years.

Being totally civil here:
It does not matter how you ask this question, or how you approach this subject, the original question has been answered by Trendy already.

risingwolfshadow

thank you again for your opinions. Regarding the lack of choice in the polls, I wanted to make it a simple question, a few have already stated they agree to the exploration but not the PvP, but seeing as mentioning PvP on its own is like putting your hand up for a firing squad I chose to include it in an option (I believe it could be of benefit of it leant more towards explored zone control, fleet base defence and so on with people being allowed to decide if they wanted to take part) with the understanding that people will say 'yes' but will and have specified that they are not interested in the PvP aspect.

As a side note and this is not a topic intended for discussion here it's my opinion and not a view that I want to impose, I feel that after 5 years of focusing on PvE (which if we're honest is not and challenging and as engaging as PvP used to be before DR) the game could do with even just 1 year on the other aspects of the game to attract a greater crowd and hopefully keep it alive for longer. Trying to think long term, but as I say, this is my opinion.

duncanidaho11

risingwolfshadow wrote: »

There would be fewer ship releases but they'd still release them to make money and they'd obviously still do the events. But there would be less PvE content in the meantime.

Which assumes a lot about how the game is made. For example how does having a new ship in the c-store hinder the development of exploration? For that matter how does having new PVE's? Dev time is dev time but there's obviously more than one guy working on the game. In fact there's a team with their own jobs, not all of which could in fact be roped in to help with a new pet project. The exact same question has been posed about sacrificing new content for bug fixes and that's not how development [by all appearances, I can't speak from direct personal experience here] works.

Beyond the impracticality of shuttering the game [and yes, having fewer customary updates would count towards this as well] for all to develop what may only be a niche feature, there's the serious question of whether or not it could ever pay off considering the scale of the payment asked for. You may like it, but that's not justification against the horrendous impracticalities.

So if you want exploration the key is to try to find a way to work it into the game as it is now and with the constraints Cryptic likely has to deal with. In other words, think of a way it could be added naturally. Otherwise, you're forcing the issue beyond what's reasonable.

bergins

But, @bobbydazlers , you just painted an even tighter corner. "If you just don't want exploration no matter what then it would be no"? What if you want exploration, but don't think it's a good idea to stop game development?

Frankly, it might be a "simple Yes or No Question", but it isn't a "simple Yes or No Topic."

bobbydazlers

Yes. I would give up on said things knowing that it would mean less grinding for a year and maybe fewer episodes for exploration and maybe meaningful PvP if it isn't just about death to all. (Note that for those with more than one toon it would give you more time to catch up with those toons if you didn't have to work on your main for a few months).

bergins wrote: »

But, @bobbydazlers , you just painted an even tighter corner. "If you just don't want exploration no matter what then it would be no"? What if you want exploration, but don't think it's a good idea to stop game development?

Frankly, it might be a "simple Yes or No Question", but it isn't a "simple Yes or No Topic."

but the game development would not stop it would just be focused on the various facets of the exploration missions you are likely to encounter so instead of having several story missions strung together as a season you would have a multitude of elements that could all be strung together to create a couple of hundred different exploration missions, you could even include the statutory reputation as in exploration reputation by gaining marks by playing each exploration mission, there would even be new ships and alien races to encounter, some hostile some friendly, the possibilities for game development are endless.

kerygan

Yes. I would give up on said things knowing that it would mean less grinding for a year and maybe fewer episodes for exploration and maybe meaningful PvP if it isn't just about death to all. (Note that for those with more than one toon it would give you more time to catch up with those toons if you didn't have to work on your main for a few months).

a change of skills , dmg-def-npc(dmg-def) proportion rebalanced ... a change of metagame. The Trinity implemented in game ,again.

wylonus

i vote either, we need new "solo" queing to avoid some "AFKers" or griefings, or bad pugs.

some of older que missions are nearly ghost town, some would take hours of waiting for someone to join when we need 5 man team. some of our newer captian alts are starving for rep points.

yukonsam

It's not going to happen. The revenue model keeps the game afloat. A moratorium on new content would kill it deader than an unnamed security officer.

If a new exploration system happens, it'll be a side project. To do it well, it will need to be a side project provided with additional staff and money. Creating a new system is different than modifying and augmenting existing systems, and will require specific skill sets.

I said at one point that Cryptic doesn't have the talent to make it work. That was a poor choice of words. They have talent. They just need a little specialist help to bump them over the complexity hump.

But if you want to make it happen, polling players isn't going to cut it, and you're never going to compete against the cashflow generator. You need to make the case to the monied stakeholders that a potentially risky side investment in an innovative, groundbreaking system for an older game is going to pay big dividends in terms of player recruitment, retention, and increased revenue flow. I believe it's true: a really complete open-ended exploration system could set them up for a piece of the huge Minecraft explore/build market segment and maybe steal some wind from the hype cycle for No Man's Sky. But I'm a True Believer -- money people are a harder sell.

risingwolfshadow

@yukonsam I know it'll probably never happen but that's not the question I'm asking. Believe you me if I had the kind of money and resources to buy cryptic myself and double their team I would but I don't. None of us do. I know this is a general discussion but I was looking more for an opinion on the choice you'd opt for if this was the choice we were given hypothetically.

capnmanx

Yes. I would give up on said things knowing that it would mean less grinding for a year and maybe fewer episodes for exploration and maybe meaningful PvP if it isn't just about death to all. (Note that for those with more than one toon it would give you more time to catch up with those toons if you didn't have to work on your main for a few months).

Yes. But it's a tentative yes. I think exploration is the most important thing they could be working on; but if the game dies due to a year long content drought while they make it, then it would be kind of pointless anyway. Mind you, the thought of giving them a year to make a replacement for something that they already removed months ago gives me a headache. This situation should never have come up in the first place.

I am also on board with new and improved PvP. I used to have so much fun with it; but it has been an unplayable mess for years now.

hyperionx09

No. I am happy with getting more PvE queues and new reputations to grind. I'd rather the devs not make additions that would detract from how they've progressed this game over the past 5 years.

I voted no out of spite at both stupidly biased statements presented and also because I don't care for exploration as-is.

Sunrise wasn't too bad; but only because it was quick and easy in a ship rather than on the ground. Yes, I also found the scanning of New Romulus to be a relative pain until we got to the action, but only because it was on the ground.

And if they did actually go and somehow just release nothing but exploration? Moreso without something to do other than scan pointless TRIBBLE and get pointless rewards? I can just hop over to some other games. Fallout just released, and there's more games incoming that I can dedicate more time to that doesn't require me doing mind-numbing things with pointless flavor text about how wonderful this plant is and having wasted 10 minutes doing nothing of value.

Even more grind-heavy Asian MMOs at least have things breaking up the monotony of the grind, with tangible benefits. I can tolerate just harvesting plants all day in one game because it raises the chance of getting better materials to sell or trade or use in crafting. In STO, you don't have that. You don't have Exploration ranks that guarantees a better chance of better rewards for running a quick exploration. You just get the same TRIBBLE you always get regardless, because Cryptic thinks this is the best way to pad the grind.

Or those single-player games. I can repeatedly walk around Fallout scanning, stealing, taking, gathering, and breaking-down items and equipment and get some XP towards certain things like crafting quality. I can spend hours hunting creatures and resources just to complete a side-quest consisting solely of monster hunting, crafting rare equipment, or gathering rare items that have tangible benefits.

In other words; Cryptic's Exploration system is flawed and a legitimate pile of junk as it is currently, and I would rather abandon the game and the time spent in it if it's released as the only thing, without anything beneficial. I may as well just A.Doff and Doff for 5 minutes then be done and probably still earn far more XP the next time I log in rather than running around for a few hours scanning TRIBBLE and getting TRIBBLE in return. Job well done. Here's your Small Hypo and some common mats that you could have gotten from a speed-run through Crystalline or Borg in the same amount of time. Have a nice day.

anazonda

Answer options too detailed to actually be worth answering.

teknesia

risingwolfshadow wrote: »

Sacrifice a year of new PvE queues, new rep and gear and fewer ship releases for a year if it meant giving the devs a solid year to build a good exploration and perhaps have the time to turn PvP into something useful (maybe incorporate it?).

To be clear this is not to turn into a discussion on the current state of PvP, its virtues or lack there of (there's a PvP forum just for that).
I would like your opinion on the question not a discussion focuses on any one thing.

I really don't know that I can answer that question. You'd have to define further what exploration would mean. If it's just another variety of the Genesis system, then you can forget it. If it's going to be a competing force to No Man's Sky, well... that could be worth trying.

yukonsam

risingwolfshadow wrote: »

@yukonsam I know it'll probably never happen but that's not the question I'm asking. Believe you me if I had the kind of money and resources to buy cryptic myself and double their team I would but I don't. None of us do. I know this is a general discussion but I was looking more for an opinion on the choice you'd opt for if this was the choice we were given hypothetically.

I would not support a suspension of season/episode releases. I do want to see a strong, innovative exploration system, and while PvP isn't something I'm interested it, it wouldn't hurt to make it more enjoyable for those who are. These are not contradictory points of view. Cryptic is perfectly capable of multitasking, producing systems that set a new bar for the industry without disrupting the standard release cycle. They just need to invest the resources to grow and enable a team that's producing solid work to produce extraordinary work on both fronts.