I also sincerely hope there will be a cookie cutter's guide to the new skill system.
But maybe I can find some time to copy my main char over to test server.
Also, anyone able to tell me what will happen to the %crew resist% bonus on my jem hadar set?
(yes, my main char is a fed sci flying an JH HEC with fully upgraded jem hadar set and polaron stuff...)
.o0( The gods of deutsch data recovery have prevailed! The techno will continue.)
I have only used 1 respec token in the 2.5 years I have played STO, and that was the first time I made a Sci character. I have gotten "free" respecs as I leveled up most of my alts since I got the LTS, yet I can see no evidence anywhere that those respec tokens still exist. If they are still available, then my heartburn over having to respec all my characters is slightly abated.
On the face of it though, Cryptic gives a slap in the face of every player to wipe out all the work/tokens players have already spent on the current system, just to implement a change that was neither needed nor asked for. I have recorded the skill trees of my current alts so I can try to restore their original uniqueness, but Cryptic obviously doesn't give a rip about character diversity if they are so drastically reducing the number & combinations of skill options available.
"Dear player, our greed is more important than your enjoyment of the game; please open your wallet to unlock your previous product satisfaction."
Expendables Fleet: Andrew - Bajoran Fed Engineer Ken'taura - Rom/Fed Scientist Gwyllim - Human Fed Delta Tac Savik - Vulcan Fed Temporal Sci Dahar Masters Fleet: Alphal'Fa - Alien KDF Engineer Qun'pau - Rom/KDF Engineer D'nesh - Orion KDF Scientist Ghen'khan - Liberated KDF Tac Welcome to StarBug Online - to boldly Bug where no bug has been before!
STO player since November 2013
As a vet player who -- to the best of my recollection -- has never used a single respec token in STO, I assume I have a few left to blow on the skill system if need be. Frankly, I still don't expect to use any now. I'm informed and forewarned and I won't be in a rush to freespec all of my characters on day one.
I'm advocating for the benefit of the uninformed who will experience a great shock when they first encounter the new system and find that they have locked themselves out of getting something they want.
It's stupidly reasonable to expect that a new player is going to learn as they go while they level that first character up to 50 and at that point a respec is going to look mighty attractive. I think that a free respec token at level 50 is a more than reasonable expectation that will keep most players very happy for some time to come and it's not a band-aid fix. It directly impacts the goal of keeping players online and in-game. There are other things they could do that don't necessarily mean unlimited respecs.
If Cryptic doesn't do something about it, they'll have only themselves to blame if it blows up in their faces. Granted, they can run the risk that it won't and maybe it won't. But they've told us before that the forums are a small part of the community, so relying on blog posts and tribal knowledge from the forums to get the skill tree right is contrary to one of their stated goals.
Took me about 1 hour to set up my build on tribble, fire up the parser, and go test it out with my Scimitar. As of now, not much has changed. Slightly better DPS overall, perhaps due to the armor pen skill. Other than that, I was able to replicate my current holodeck build with this new tree.
I like it.
Or to put it another way, with my ten toons, I could conceivably have to spend up to ten hours, learning this new system and devising the best build on it, to get myself to exactly where I currently am prior to spending all this time.
If Cryptic had any sense of marketing or customer relations, they would at least try to sell the system change on some grounds other than "the old system was TRIBBLE, so we made it simpler for you". How about something more logical, like "the new system consumes less computational resources in our servers, improving response time and reducing lag"? Even if they were lying, it would be a more palatable ruse...
Expendables Fleet: Andrew - Bajoran Fed Engineer Ken'taura - Rom/Fed Scientist Gwyllim - Human Fed Delta Tac Savik - Vulcan Fed Temporal Sci Dahar Masters Fleet: Alphal'Fa - Alien KDF Engineer Qun'pau - Rom/KDF Engineer D'nesh - Orion KDF Scientist Ghen'khan - Liberated KDF Tac Welcome to StarBug Online - to boldly Bug where no bug has been before!
STO player since November 2013
If Cryptic had any sense of marketing or customer relations, they would at least try to sell the system change on some grounds other than "the old system was TRIBBLE, so we made it simpler for you". How about something more logical, like "the new system consumes less computational resources in our servers, improving response time and reducing lag"? Even if they were lying, it would be a more palatable ruse...
For me, the biggest issue is that they're using it as a front for a massive global nerf of pretty much everything. It's sold to us as a new way of presenting the skill system, a re-arrangement of where everything is, but it's so much more. It's a complete and total global change of just about every single aspect of character building.
The other issue is then they say things like "everything available in the current system will be made available under the new system, and investments in equipment and ships retain full value" and then they stealth nerf Plasmonic Leech without saying a word.
I would actually be more ok with it if they were just honest for once. If they just came forward and said 'hey, we let power creep get out of control, we're going to have to nerf everything' I would actually respect it more then being told we were losing nothing when it's an outright lie.
And just to be clear, even though Trendy published the announcement I quoted, I'm not saying she intentionally lied to anyone, because I don't believe she did. She relayed the information she was given and that information was false. I have never seen her say or do anything that makes me think she would be intentionally deceptive in any way.
I
On the face of it though, Cryptic gives a slap in the face of every player to wipe out all the work/tokens players have already spent on the current system,
Does that mean that if someone spend more than one respec token on a character, he or she slapped himself into the face?
Here's one thing to consider: If you bought something, and you used it for a while, then it's not wasted. You got a benefit from it.
If you respec one day before the big skill revamp update, log off, and then log in to the new skill system with a mandatory respec, then we can certainly say that respec was truely wasted. But if you respecced and played that character a few days or weeks, you got something out of it. You had hopefully fun with that new build of yours for a while.
Nothing lasts eternally.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
...The other issue is then they say things like "everything available in the current system will be made available under the new system, and investments in equipment and ships retain full value" and then they stealth nerf Plasmonic Leech without saying a word....
If I'm understanding Bort's posts on the subject, this would have happened anyway even without a skill tree update.
The issue is more the 'cloak and dagger' way it was handled.
Under the current system, a slight reduction to the Leech wouldn't necessarily have been a bad thing. Under the new system however, it's unnecessary. We're already getting a global nerf on everything else, there was no need to go even further by nerfing the leech.
As I said though, the biggest issue for me was putting out a statement telling everyone that they weren't touching consoles and then 3 days later nerfing a console in secret. It was a poor way to handle things to put it mildly.
...The other issue is then they say things like "everything available in the current system will be made available under the new system, and investments in equipment and ships retain full value" and then they stealth nerf Plasmonic Leech without saying a word....
If I'm understanding Bort's posts on the subject, this would have happened anyway even without a skill tree update.
The issue is more the 'cloak and dagger' way it was handled.
Under the current system, a slight reduction to the Leech wouldn't necessarily have been a bad thing. Under the new system however, it's unnecessary. We're already getting a global nerf on everything else, there was no need to go even further by nerfing the leech.
As I said though, the biggest issue for me was putting out a statement telling everyone that they weren't touching consoles and then 3 days later nerfing a console in secret. It was a poor way to handle things to put it mildly.
I'm certain it is "just a coincidence" that like CoX's issue 5 we are subjected to 3 card monte and told "watch the left hand champ" and then asked what is in the right.
Communication would solve the issue of "where's the bean" and cool the feeling we are engaged in a game of "living rules poker." In essence if the "under the hood" changes were needed and vital then the PTB should have been communicating for a span "look X,Y, and Z are broken and at some future point the nerf hammer is inbound." Instead TPTB spend their time quietly datamining and then seemingly engage in silent nerf cultivation.
I'd be happier if they were nerfing "a console" instead they seem bent on engaging in global nerfs to the PCs. I'm curious given that NPC stats have been buffed to handle the "DPS All-Stars" whether or not they will be altering the NPCs to a new reduced standard, or if we are going to be gimped and have relatively stronger Mobs to put down. The player base *will* adapt or leave.
The other issue is then they say things like "everything available in the current system will be made available under the new system, and investments in equipment and ships retain full value" and then they stealth nerf Plasmonic Leech without saying a word.
I would actually be more ok with it if they were just honest for once. If they just came forward and said 'hey, we let power creep get out of control, we're going to have to nerf everything' I would actually respect it more then being told we were losing nothing when it's an outright lie.
I agree with you, it's a lie.
I just don’t get their plan however if this whole thing is really supposed to be a countermeasure towards power creep or anything. Losing parts of the power of the leech is annoying but not really fatal. It’s more of a “rearrange your build and stuff a bit and come out as the same or perhaps even better”. I think this whole thing is rather just supposed to squeeze out minmaxers/DPSers which grew too comfortable with their build even further. It feels like some kind of nerf with a buy out option.
Nothing I have seen from the revamp so far gives me any reason to believe we will get a more “balanced” game after it.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
The other issue is then they say things like "everything available in the current system will be made available under the new system, and investments in equipment and ships retain full value" and then they stealth nerf Plasmonic Leech without saying a word.
I would actually be more ok with it if they were just honest for once. If they just came forward and said 'hey, we let power creep get out of control, we're going to have to nerf everything' I would actually respect it more then being told we were losing nothing when it's an outright lie.
I agree with you, it's a lie.
I just don’t get their plan however if this whole thing is really supposed to be a countermeasure towards power creep or anything. Losing parts of the power of the leech is annoying but not really fatal. It’s more of a “rearrange your build and stuff a bit and come out as the same or perhaps even better”. I think this whole thing is rather just supposed to squeeze out minmaxers/DPSers which grew too comfortable with their build further. It feels like some kind of nerf with a buy out option.
Nothing I have seen from the revamp so far gives me any reason to believe we will get a more “balanced” game after it.
If "balance" were the objective they'd probably look at reworking the BOFF abilities including parity for cannon and power beam levels WRT LCDR & CDR = vis a vis "BFAW III" and Cannon Powers III. In all likelihood they have decided to "shake things up" for its own sake. The cries for "balance" sort of bother me anyway given it boils down in the end to the PTB and player-base trying to tell people how to play their toons not b/c they are "cheating" but b/c "fairness."
In economics-which let's be honest MMOs are most certainly an exercise, you can either strive for individual achievement with perceived disparity or devolve into "lobsters in a pot" wherein anyone who breaks the mean gets dragged back into the pot to await the kettle. The IT billionaire class' flagrant wealth eclipsing mine bothers me not a whit other than their charming hubris that said money means they should run the world. I am not harmed by their gain in a personal finance mode, and am most assuredly not the type who would demand that they go from facebook Mark Z's billions dow to mere millions "b/c fairness."
I don't use boutique builds, and I do not feel green-eyed jealousy of the Lock Box Slinging Captains in PUGs.
God bless their Eyesore-mobiles they spent the scratch they can indulge as they will, yet somehow I am supposed to be incredibly bothered by a guy doing 300k DPS in a way that Vessel Power Creep "shouldn't."
Reality is different people will have different abilities in a game, that is the nature of gaming. I would not favor changing the rules of Euchre to make certain that "percentage x" of Euchre players do not outperform player demographic Y.
Very well said, maerikcharon. I don't see anything wrong with the current skill system---I really like it compared to the glimpses I've seen of the new system. The ONLY problem is that it's prohibitively expensive to experiment and learn the intricacies yourself. So people, including me, resort to the strategy #3 you describe, and that's how metas becomes deeply ingrained and create schisms between conformists and nonconformists. It's just sad that Cryptic doesn't see the respec cost as the source of so many problems. I bet a lot of people will be inspired to spend more money on other parts of the game if we are empowered to really experiment and learn and be creative with our builds.
And then when I think of all the new bugs that will be spawned from this skill revamp, I just cringe. We're in for a really chaotic few months or even years while Cryptic desperately tries to fix and re-balance everything. There will be flavors of the month that compel people to spend outlandish currency on whatever the Kemocite or Plasmonic thing of the month is, followed by nerfs and more complaints. Please prove me wrong, Cryptic, please!
(edited heavily for brevity)
You will have done this massive overhaul/revamp, and you will end up with the same stagnation you had before, except it will be little boxes picked going top to bottom, instead of little boxes picked left to right.
VERY well said, maerik, very well said indeed. I absolutely share your ripe disgust and cynicism.
As I said when word of this first came out - BOHICA
As a casual player with an actual LIFE, I don't have the time to spend half a day learning how to access Tribble, port a toon over, and play with an inferior skill system. I anticipate that I will have to try to function with no assigned skills for a while, until Cryptic makes 3-4 correction passes on this mess. I've never been an early tech adopter, and this will certainly be no exception, as I'm loathe to waste real money on a poorly-conceived and even more poorly-executed botch of something that didn't need to be changed at all....
Expendables Fleet: Andrew - Bajoran Fed Engineer Ken'taura - Rom/Fed Scientist Gwyllim - Human Fed Delta Tac Savik - Vulcan Fed Temporal Sci Dahar Masters Fleet: Alphal'Fa - Alien KDF Engineer Qun'pau - Rom/KDF Engineer D'nesh - Orion KDF Scientist Ghen'khan - Liberated KDF Tac Welcome to StarBug Online - to boldly Bug where no bug has been before!
STO player since November 2013
Took me about 1 hour to set up my build on tribble, fire up the parser, and go test it out with my Scimitar. As of now, not much has changed. Slightly better DPS overall, perhaps due to the armor pen skill. Other than that, I was able to replicate my current holodeck build with this new tree.
I like it.
beepbeepbeepbeep!
(sound of Scimitard warning detector going crazy)
ill be going with option #3 roughly three months after this hits live
I'm lifetime so time for a break while all the bugs get worked out and i'm expecting afew of them for the first few weeks
then ill watch a couple of videos / read guides to see what suits me read these forums to see if anythings still broken
then copy someones build and hopefully back to normal
if it hadn't of been for the announcement i would have happily spent my cash buying new ships (still will at some point) instead i bought another MMOs LTS to try out and i'm enjoying the experience
i do wonder how many others in the community like me said sod it time for a break
im hoping for the best but admit it deep down you know its going to be a train wreck on week one
If Cryptic had any sense of marketing or customer relations, they would at least try to sell the system change on some grounds other than "the old system was TRIBBLE, so we made it simpler for you". How about something more logical, like "the new system consumes less computational resources in our servers, improving response time and reducing lag"? Even if they were lying, it would be a more palatable ruse...
For me, the biggest issue is that they're using it as a front for a massive global nerf of pretty much everything. It's sold to us as a new way of presenting the skill system, a re-arrangement of where everything is, but it's so much more. It's a complete and total global change of just about every single aspect of character building.
The other issue is then they say things like "everything available in the current system will be made available under the new system, and investments in equipment and ships retain full value" and then they stealth nerf Plasmonic Leech without saying a word.
Yeah, I'm thinking that was largely unconnected to the skill revamp, and more a matter of nerfing Plasmonic leech itself.
Anyways, my best effort so far at replicating a build seems to indicate that I actually have more points to spend in the new system than the old.
As a casual player with an actual LIFE, I don't have the time to spend half a day learning how to access Tribble, port a toon over, and play with an inferior skill system. I anticipate that I will have to try to function with no assigned skills for a while, until Cryptic makes 3-4 correction passes on this mess. I've never been an early tech adopter, and this will certainly be no exception, as I'm loathe to waste real money on a poorly-conceived and even more poorly-executed botch of something that didn't need to be changed at all....
That's cryptic for you...If it's NOT broken...let's break it. Whoever says the current system is too complex...wait to test it and FIX those bugs. Tribble is not a QC process and bugs will remain unfixed for a while.
I know this is mean, but I kinda hope that this will be a disaster of epic proportions to the extent that the "powers that be" realize that theyre messing with something that shouldnt have been messed with to begin with.
That being said, it most likely wont be. Mostly because of all the sheeple that have more disposable income/mommy and daddies credit card than brains. Eh, maybe its time I finally close the book on this game.
Having seen it for myself, I don't think it's going to be a game breaker like some people are thinking. Most people will simply adapt and play the game. I find things not to like about it, but the reality is that I'm going to muck around with it once, maybe twice, per character post-50 and then leave it alone.
The skill system is not the game. It's one of many systems that define your character and impact your gameplay to some degree. It's a necessary evil that you do once in awhile to keep playing. As long as they don't introduce game-breaking bugs and fix most of the lesser ones, it'll be okay.
Whoa..hold up a sec here guys. Are you saying cryptic is reworking the talent trees and specialization so they can steath in a way for people to "eventually" have to spend zen and dil to improve thier characters? I understand the retrain tokens and I'm fine with that but if I have to spend zen or dil to upgrade my character in ANYWAY, no matter how small or big then thats one hell of a deal breaker. Please someone thats on tribble explain this??
The biggest change to the skill trees is the fact that you no longer spend multiple points to improve a skill. One skill point buys one skill. Many skills have improved versions, much like in the specialization trees.
that's a bit double dutch, first you say you no longer spend multiple points to improve a skill then you go on to tell how you can buy improved versions of a skill by spending extra points which is exactly what you just said you no longer have to do.
surely if you no longer spend multiple points to improve a skill then there should be no improved versions of any skill you would need to buy.
Whoa..hold up a sec here guys. Are you saying cryptic is reworking the talent trees and specialization so they can steath in a way for people to "eventually" have to spend zen and dil to improve thier characters? I understand the retrain tokens and I'm fine with that but if I have to spend zen or dil to upgrade my character in ANYWAY, no matter how small or big then thats one hell of a deal breaker. Please someone thats on tribble explain this??
The biggest change to the skill trees is the fact that you no longer spend multiple points to improve a skill. One skill point buys one skill. Many skills have improved versions, much like in the specialization trees.
that's a bit double dutch, first you say you no longer spend multiple points to improve a skill then you go on to tell how you can buy improved versions of a skill by spending extra points which is exactly what you just said you no longer have to do.
surely if you no longer spend multiple points to improve a skill then there should be no improved versions of any skill you would need to buy.
There is a difference between putting 9 points into a single skill and buying advanced versions of a base skill.
You don't have to buy the advanced skills any more than you have to put 9 points into one of the current skills. The point is, you don't spend more than one point on one specific skill.
But if splitting hairs makes you happy, then I agree 100% with what you said and admit I contradicted myself according to your interpretation. Better now?
Well, the new system still gives people the option and even incentive to pick the "best" skills, or maybe just buy the basic versions of everything.... if you stick to basic skills you get +50 per skill point. Rank 2 is 35 and 3 is only 15. Heavy specialization can get you the ultimates though and the ultimates look pretty painful. So you have two paths, generalization, and specialization, each of which has unique advantages and disadvantages.
I don't came on here very often. cant remember when. but right now. I DON'T wont a skill revamp. leave it alone. ive been playing this game for a few years. all the members of my fleet have left. So learning new items that DON'T need changing bugs the hell out of me and stops me building my star base and other bases.
Instead of a revamp on this and that.
think of something NEW. if not leave the game alone and fix the bugs instead PLEASE.
there is a list that every boddy moans about. use your time in doing what the bug fixers wont.
All so. please please fix the bug that every time I do came on the webby site. I get a stupid massage saying you are using a different computer you will need a pass word etc. every stupid time.
I also bet you are going to revamp skills. well all I can say you have more time on your hands coss less and less players are going to leave . because you don't FIX the bugs.
the free respecs on tribble are there for testing the new skill system, don't expect that to be a permanent fixture once the new skill system goes live.
don't be surprised if they close that potential drain on their income double quick.
I suggest grabbing them in bulk just in case. And by bulk, I mean pick up hundreds.
the free respecs on tribble are there for testing the new skill system, don't expect that to be a permanent fixture once the new skill system goes live.
don't be surprised if they close that potential drain on their income double quick.
I suggest grabbing them in bulk just in case. And by bulk, I mean pick up hundreds.
good idea, until they do a wipe of the server as they do periodically.
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.
Comments
But maybe I can find some time to copy my main char over to test server.
Also, anyone able to tell me what will happen to the %crew resist% bonus on my jem hadar set?
(yes, my main char is a fed sci flying an JH HEC with fully upgraded jem hadar set and polaron stuff...)
On the face of it though, Cryptic gives a slap in the face of every player to wipe out all the work/tokens players have already spent on the current system, just to implement a change that was neither needed nor asked for. I have recorded the skill trees of my current alts so I can try to restore their original uniqueness, but Cryptic obviously doesn't give a rip about character diversity if they are so drastically reducing the number & combinations of skill options available.
"Dear player, our greed is more important than your enjoyment of the game; please open your wallet to unlock your previous product satisfaction."
Savik - Vulcan Fed Temporal Sci
Dahar Masters Fleet: Alphal'Fa - Alien KDF Engineer Qun'pau - Rom/KDF Engineer D'nesh - Orion KDF Scientist Ghen'khan - Liberated KDF Tac
Welcome to StarBug Online - to boldly Bug where no bug has been before!
STO player since November 2013
I'm advocating for the benefit of the uninformed who will experience a great shock when they first encounter the new system and find that they have locked themselves out of getting something they want.
It's stupidly reasonable to expect that a new player is going to learn as they go while they level that first character up to 50 and at that point a respec is going to look mighty attractive. I think that a free respec token at level 50 is a more than reasonable expectation that will keep most players very happy for some time to come and it's not a band-aid fix. It directly impacts the goal of keeping players online and in-game. There are other things they could do that don't necessarily mean unlimited respecs.
If Cryptic doesn't do something about it, they'll have only themselves to blame if it blows up in their faces. Granted, they can run the risk that it won't and maybe it won't. But they've told us before that the forums are a small part of the community, so relying on blog posts and tribal knowledge from the forums to get the skill tree right is contrary to one of their stated goals.
Or to put it another way, with my ten toons, I could conceivably have to spend up to ten hours, learning this new system and devising the best build on it, to get myself to exactly where I currently am prior to spending all this time.
And you don't see a problem here?
Savik - Vulcan Fed Temporal Sci
Dahar Masters Fleet: Alphal'Fa - Alien KDF Engineer Qun'pau - Rom/KDF Engineer D'nesh - Orion KDF Scientist Ghen'khan - Liberated KDF Tac
Welcome to StarBug Online - to boldly Bug where no bug has been before!
STO player since November 2013
For me, the biggest issue is that they're using it as a front for a massive global nerf of pretty much everything. It's sold to us as a new way of presenting the skill system, a re-arrangement of where everything is, but it's so much more. It's a complete and total global change of just about every single aspect of character building.
The other issue is then they say things like "everything available in the current system will be made available under the new system, and investments in equipment and ships retain full value" and then they stealth nerf Plasmonic Leech without saying a word.
I would actually be more ok with it if they were just honest for once. If they just came forward and said 'hey, we let power creep get out of control, we're going to have to nerf everything' I would actually respect it more then being told we were losing nothing when it's an outright lie.
And just to be clear, even though Trendy published the announcement I quoted, I'm not saying she intentionally lied to anyone, because I don't believe she did. She relayed the information she was given and that information was false. I have never seen her say or do anything that makes me think she would be intentionally deceptive in any way.
Here's one thing to consider: If you bought something, and you used it for a while, then it's not wasted. You got a benefit from it.
If you respec one day before the big skill revamp update, log off, and then log in to the new skill system with a mandatory respec, then we can certainly say that respec was truely wasted. But if you respecced and played that character a few days or weeks, you got something out of it. You had hopefully fun with that new build of yours for a while.
Nothing lasts eternally.
The issue is more the 'cloak and dagger' way it was handled.
Under the current system, a slight reduction to the Leech wouldn't necessarily have been a bad thing. Under the new system however, it's unnecessary. We're already getting a global nerf on everything else, there was no need to go even further by nerfing the leech.
As I said though, the biggest issue for me was putting out a statement telling everyone that they weren't touching consoles and then 3 days later nerfing a console in secret. It was a poor way to handle things to put it mildly.
I'm certain it is "just a coincidence" that like CoX's issue 5 we are subjected to 3 card monte and told "watch the left hand champ" and then asked what is in the right.
Communication would solve the issue of "where's the bean" and cool the feeling we are engaged in a game of "living rules poker." In essence if the "under the hood" changes were needed and vital then the PTB should have been communicating for a span "look X,Y, and Z are broken and at some future point the nerf hammer is inbound." Instead TPTB spend their time quietly datamining and then seemingly engage in silent nerf cultivation.
I'd be happier if they were nerfing "a console" instead they seem bent on engaging in global nerfs to the PCs. I'm curious given that NPC stats have been buffed to handle the "DPS All-Stars" whether or not they will be altering the NPCs to a new reduced standard, or if we are going to be gimped and have relatively stronger Mobs to put down. The player base *will* adapt or leave.
I'll adapt.
I agree with you, it's a lie.
I just don’t get their plan however if this whole thing is really supposed to be a countermeasure towards power creep or anything. Losing parts of the power of the leech is annoying but not really fatal. It’s more of a “rearrange your build and stuff a bit and come out as the same or perhaps even better”. I think this whole thing is rather just supposed to squeeze out minmaxers/DPSers which grew too comfortable with their build even further. It feels like some kind of nerf with a buy out option.
Nothing I have seen from the revamp so far gives me any reason to believe we will get a more “balanced” game after it.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
If "balance" were the objective they'd probably look at reworking the BOFF abilities including parity for cannon and power beam levels WRT LCDR & CDR = vis a vis "BFAW III" and Cannon Powers III. In all likelihood they have decided to "shake things up" for its own sake. The cries for "balance" sort of bother me anyway given it boils down in the end to the PTB and player-base trying to tell people how to play their toons not b/c they are "cheating" but b/c "fairness."
In economics-which let's be honest MMOs are most certainly an exercise, you can either strive for individual achievement with perceived disparity or devolve into "lobsters in a pot" wherein anyone who breaks the mean gets dragged back into the pot to await the kettle. The IT billionaire class' flagrant wealth eclipsing mine bothers me not a whit other than their charming hubris that said money means they should run the world. I am not harmed by their gain in a personal finance mode, and am most assuredly not the type who would demand that they go from facebook Mark Z's billions dow to mere millions "b/c fairness."
I don't use boutique builds, and I do not feel green-eyed jealousy of the Lock Box Slinging Captains in PUGs.
God bless their Eyesore-mobiles they spent the scratch they can indulge as they will, yet somehow I am supposed to be incredibly bothered by a guy doing 300k DPS in a way that Vessel Power Creep "shouldn't."
Reality is different people will have different abilities in a game, that is the nature of gaming. I would not favor changing the rules of Euchre to make certain that "percentage x" of Euchre players do not outperform player demographic Y.
And then when I think of all the new bugs that will be spawned from this skill revamp, I just cringe. We're in for a really chaotic few months or even years while Cryptic desperately tries to fix and re-balance everything. There will be flavors of the month that compel people to spend outlandish currency on whatever the Kemocite or Plasmonic thing of the month is, followed by nerfs and more complaints. Please prove me wrong, Cryptic, please!
VERY well said, maerik, very well said indeed. I absolutely share your ripe disgust and cynicism.
As I said when word of this first came out - BOHICA
Savik - Vulcan Fed Temporal Sci
Dahar Masters Fleet: Alphal'Fa - Alien KDF Engineer Qun'pau - Rom/KDF Engineer D'nesh - Orion KDF Scientist Ghen'khan - Liberated KDF Tac
Welcome to StarBug Online - to boldly Bug where no bug has been before!
STO player since November 2013
beepbeepbeepbeep!
(sound of Scimitard warning detector going crazy)
I'm lifetime so time for a break while all the bugs get worked out and i'm expecting afew of them for the first few weeks
then ill watch a couple of videos / read guides to see what suits me read these forums to see if anythings still broken
then copy someones build and hopefully back to normal
if it hadn't of been for the announcement i would have happily spent my cash buying new ships (still will at some point) instead i bought another MMOs LTS to try out and i'm enjoying the experience
i do wonder how many others in the community like me said sod it time for a break
im hoping for the best but admit it deep down you know its going to be a train wreck on week one
Anyways, my best effort so far at replicating a build seems to indicate that I actually have more points to spend in the new system than the old.
My character Tsin'xing
That's cryptic for you...If it's NOT broken...let's break it. Whoever says the current system is too complex...wait to test it and FIX those bugs. Tribble is not a QC process and bugs will remain unfixed for a while.
That being said, it most likely wont be. Mostly because of all the sheeple that have more disposable income/mommy and daddies credit card than brains. Eh, maybe its time I finally close the book on this game.
The skill system is not the game. It's one of many systems that define your character and impact your gameplay to some degree. It's a necessary evil that you do once in awhile to keep playing. As long as they don't introduce game-breaking bugs and fix most of the lesser ones, it'll be okay.
that's a bit double dutch, first you say you no longer spend multiple points to improve a skill then you go on to tell how you can buy improved versions of a skill by spending extra points which is exactly what you just said you no longer have to do.
surely if you no longer spend multiple points to improve a skill then there should be no improved versions of any skill you would need to buy.
I am sure you are correct, it wont be a game breaker in any way, on the other hand sad to say it wont be a game changer in any good way either.
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.
There is a difference between putting 9 points into a single skill and buying advanced versions of a base skill.
You don't have to buy the advanced skills any more than you have to put 9 points into one of the current skills. The point is, you don't spend more than one point on one specific skill.
But if splitting hairs makes you happy, then I agree 100% with what you said and admit I contradicted myself according to your interpretation. Better now?
My character Tsin'xing
Instead of a revamp on this and that.
think of something NEW. if not leave the game alone and fix the bugs instead PLEASE.
there is a list that every boddy moans about. use your time in doing what the bug fixers wont.
All so. please please fix the bug that every time I do came on the webby site. I get a stupid massage saying you are using a different computer you will need a pass word etc. every stupid time.
I also bet you are going to revamp skills. well all I can say you have more time on your hands coss less and less players are going to leave . because you don't FIX the bugs.
you wont our money . FIX the bugs
Fix the bugs
Fix the bugs
get my point.
Lord monty
good idea, until they do a wipe of the server as they do periodically.
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.