The revamp is for new players - which I do applaud. And I hope it makes a good impression in Vegas. It's a hard sell for old players because the best we can really hope for is to stay about the same. This makes it very hard to get excited about. Not too many people will count down the days when they are only hoping to stay about the same.
I guess the best to look forward to is hull and shield penetration and increased critD/H. This will come at a cost of course, but I can also get behind the idea of having to make choices/sacrifices. For ground, however, it feels much more like 'no one cares about this - let's make it a few clicks and forget.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Hmm...I was kinda excited about the new system, but it sounds like it'll be a pain to work with. Guess I'll be spending some massive time on Tribble making VERY sure I got the right build.
Wouldn't it be possible to make a respec token with an infinite amount of uses, that lasts for 1 day? That way you can experiment and reorder at will, but if you want to respec a month later, you're still gonna have to buy a token.
That'd be a QoL improvement that'd be acceptable to me.
Hmm...I was kinda excited about the new system, but it sounds like it'll be a pain to work with. Guess I'll be spending some massive time on Tribble making VERY sure I got the right build.
Wouldn't it be possible to make a respec token with an infinite amount of uses, that lasts for 1 day? That way you can experiment and reorder at will, but if you want to respec a month later, you're still gonna have to buy a token.
That'd be a QoL improvement that'd be acceptable to me.
Free respec events would be nice where respecs cost nothing (as in not requiring a token) during the event.
This is my Risian Corvette. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
...
The TRIBBLE freebie respect tokens, will be available for an undetermined amount of time after this goes live for testing your choice of Skill Set on Tribble, but will probably go away eventually.
...
They ARE NOT going to make it so that we can set up our skills and then confirm them...
These two alone make the system much more difficult than the existing system, which is completely opposite of how this is being sold.
To be very honest, they said that it would take time to program and delay the launch of the system, thereby messing up the schedule that they've set out. The goal they want is to have this in place for the live server so that people can experience it for a few months before the Las Vegas convention this year, since they plan on introducing the game to convention goers that never played STO.
But Bort finished that thought with what amounted to saying, <paraphrasing> it probably won't be changed in the future.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
I missed it due to work...Did they give out any freebies or codes during this or just talk?
Just talked.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
We're going to get A Free RESET of our Skills and ONE Free RESPECT Token when this hits the Holodeck. (that's it)
That doesn't sound too bad. I was thinking they'd only give us the free reset. I think I could live with it if I got the reset plus a free token.
Is that one free token per character, or per account?
Yes, per Character.
(and I have edited my post to clarify that)
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Yeah, experimenting? - not happening.
Testing on Tribble? - no time for it with all the events running back-to-back.
Buying respec tokens? - what for? - the missions are easy enough, that even completly botched skill build will not stop me from completing all missions and queues - at least at normal difficulty - and that on free ships and gear given from missions.
Meh - not saying it will be worse or better than now - just that skill revamp is not important to me.
I refuse to believe this didn't occur to anyone on the development team prior to players raising the objection. This is a deliberate, cynical QOL downgrade to boost sales of respec token.
I'm just as cynical as anyone, but I honestly don't believe that to be the case here. Bort explained that adding the feature comes with technical issues and limitations that would apparently be very time consuming and difficult to implement properly. I'm inclined to believe this because they are allowing us free use of Tribble to test builds before committing skills on the live server. They're also giving us essentially 2 free respecs per character to start.
I believe it is indeed a technical issue, but it's one I believe should be addressed even if that means a significant delay in making the system available. If they're guilty of anything in my opinion, it's underestimating what a seriously severe limitation this really is. I would much rather wait for a system that's totally complete then have a system with a clearly broken mechanic pushed live just to avoid delay.
as much as i'd also prefer a complete and polished system, that'll never happen - in any game...that said, i'd be far more willing to put up with a buggy 'paging' system than have no 'try before you buy' system at all
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I refuse to believe this didn't occur to anyone on the development team prior to players raising the objection. This is a deliberate, cynical QOL downgrade to boost sales of respec token.
I'm just as cynical as anyone, but I honestly don't believe that to be the case here. Bort explained that adding the feature comes with technical issues and limitations that would apparently be very time consuming and difficult to implement properly. I'm inclined to believe this because they are allowing us free use of Tribble to test builds before committing skills on the live server. They're also giving us essentially 2 free respecs per character to start.
I believe it is indeed a technical issue, but it's one I believe should be addressed even if that means a significant delay in making the system available. If they're guilty of anything in my opinion, it's underestimating what a seriously severe limitation this really is. I would much rather wait for a system that's totally complete then have a system with a clearly broken mechanic pushed live just to avoid delay.
If it's a severe technical limitation (which I doubt), then it should have a been a deal-killer. A show-stopper. A reason not to go ahead with the revamp at all. Not "meh, they'll get over it. push it out to the servers."
For new players, the difference is practically irrelevant, since they will gain and spend points one by one. Only once you start respecing does it become annoying.
And the system will still have more descriptive skills, and skills that will be better documented, too.
The existing system could not have just had better descriptions added and better documentation?
Or heaven forbid a tutorial that actually explains how it works?
If it's a severe technical limitation (which I doubt), then it should have a been a deal-killer. A show-stopper. A reason not to go ahead with the revamp at all. Not "meh, they'll get over it. push it out to the servers."
When have they ever done anything different? It's always been release-or-die, with some very rare exceptions.
Granted, they never release anything that breaks core functionality anymore. I can't recall... was it season 4 they had to roll back until they fixed it? That's the last time they ever rolled the entire game back to a previous release that I recall.
In this case, I believe that the technical limitation they are referring to would have resulted in a major rewrite that they aren't inclined to tackle at this time. I didn't see where Bort said 'never happen', so I wouldn't necessarily rule it out for the distant future even if I consider it highly unlikely.
The core functionality that they're looking for is One, can players select skills? and Two, do those skills mostly work as intended or at least not completely break gameplay? Based on my last experience on Tribble, the answer is yes to both. The 'commit' feature everybody wanted was simply not on the list of features for this release. In their minds, that's not a show stopper.
I can understand and sympathize with a lot of the feedback you guys have regarding the lack of a "Change Everything Then Commit" function in the new Skill System (which I incorrectly referred to as "paging" at some point, but is actually called "PowerCart" functionality.)
I'd like to offer a few counterpoints for consideration...
* To my knowledge, no other MMO on the market used this technology, with the exception of Champions. And even their implementation was far different than the previous STO system. (Powerhouses are special regions, programmed in a different way to allow flexible respecs.) As such, any new player coming to STO is unlikely to expect that functionality as part of their Skill progression experience. In fact, the new/revamped system is far closer to being an MMO standard method.
* The old Respec system caused you to have to stay where you were, rooted in place next to the NPC that handled the respec functionality, while you fiddled with a delicate system of adding/subtracting/replacing small allocations of points from a larger pool, in order to fine-tune your expenditures while correctly unlocking each rank of Skills. The fiddly nature of this system could be extremely frustrating for players that either did not fully understand the system, or did not feel invested in it (or both). The new Respec system offers a far simpler, cleaner and more user-friendly experience: Purchase Respec, All Skills Reset, Spend at your Leisure (now, or later).
* The gates that determine when additional ranks of Skills unlock are also far easier to understand and anticipate in the new system, whereas this was one of the main things that PowerCart functionality helped players deal with in the previous Skill Systems.
* The fears over 'misclicks' are at least partially mitigated by the presence of a Confirm window which appears every single time you go to purchase a Skill. It is exceedingly unlikely that you'll make a mistake by accidentally clicking the wrong Skill, unless you've also willfully chosen to disregard the Confirmation popup. I can understand making a choice that you later regret, and how that can have a detrimental effect on your enjoyment of the system. But claiming this type of mistake will happen because of misclicks or accidents... that's blowing it out of proportion.
Now... having said all of that...
Getting PowerCart functionality into STO, as part of the new Skill system, would require a dedication of several weeks from one of our Programmers. This is time that we simply do not have right now, prior to the launch of S11.5, but is something we're still considering the possible need for at some point in the future. It's not off the table, but it's also not on the schedule.
Jeremy Randall
Cryptic - Lead Systems Designer
"Play smart!"
Alternative methods of earning respecs would go a long way to alleviating peoples fears.
Give us a way to earn respec tokens through gameplay that does not involve shelling out money every time we want or need to make an adjustment.
Or alternatively put some value back into Subscribtions again and let gold members get free weekly or monthly respecs.
Either way the current model the game uses is a huge liability and counter-productive to the goal you have with the skill revamp of encouraging people to "experiment" and try new things.
On my part I know that if respeccing remains as it is now I will just simply try to replicate my old builds and just leave it at that, permanently.
"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid." - Q
* The fears over 'misclicks' are at least partially mitigated by the presence of a Confirm window which appears every single time you go to purchase a Skill. It is exceedingly unlikely that you'll make a mistake by accidentally clicking the wrong Skill, unless you've also willfully chosen to disregard the Confirmation popup. I can understand making a choice that you later regret, and how that can have a detrimental effect on your enjoyment of the system. But claiming this type of mistake will happen because of misclicks or accidents... that's blowing it out of proportion.
I agree that "misclicks" probably aren't going to be the major problem. The problem is going to come up when players have respecced, filled out almost everything, then realize they've overspent somewhere and are going to fall short of getting all the skills they wanted. That's when they're going to get upset that they'll have to buy another respec. The current system has the tolerance to deal with that, the new system does not and requires that the player have everything perfectly mapped out in advance.
Sure, you can shout from the rooftops with a bull horn and 50 foot banners that they can go to Tribble first, but do you really believe that's going to get more than a minority of players to actually do that?
Every MMO forum I've been to, the Devs are usually the first to point out that only a minority of players come to the forums.
Is Star Trek Online any different?
I do realize it's not going to get changed anytime in the near future, but I do hope that any criticisms, if proved valid, will help push to get things improved eventually.
"Let me guess, my theories appall you, my heresies outrage you, I never answer letters and you don't like my tie" - The Doctor
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!" -Agatha Heterodyne
I can understand and sympathize with a lot of the feedback you guys have regarding the lack of a "Change Everything Then Commit" function in the new Skill System (which I incorrectly referred to as "paging" at some point, but is actually called "PowerCart" functionality.)
I'd like to offer a few counterpoints for consideration...
* To my knowledge, no other MMO on the market used this technology, with the exception of Champions. And even their implementation was far different than the previous STO system. (Powerhouses are special regions, programmed in a different way to allow flexible respecs.) As such, any new player coming to STO is unlikely to expect that functionality as part of their Skill progression experience. In fact, the new/revamped system is far closer to being an MMO standard method.
* The old Respec system caused you to have to stay where you were, rooted in place next to the NPC that handled the respec functionality, while you fiddled with a delicate system of adding/subtracting/replacing small allocations of points from a larger pool, in order to fine-tune your expenditures while correctly unlocking each rank of Skills. The fiddly nature of this system could be extremely frustrating for players that either did not fully understand the system, or did not feel invested in it (or both). The new Respec system offers a far simpler, cleaner and more user-friendly experience: Purchase Respec, All Skills Reset, Spend at your Leisure (now, or later).
* The gates that determine when additional ranks of Skills unlock are also far easier to understand and anticipate in the new system, whereas this was one of the main things that PowerCart functionality helped players deal with in the previous Skill Systems.
* The fears over 'misclicks' are at least partially mitigated by the presence of a Confirm window which appears every single time you go to purchase a Skill. It is exceedingly unlikely that you'll make a mistake by accidentally clicking the wrong Skill, unless you've also willfully chosen to disregard the Confirmation popup. I can understand making a choice that you later regret, and how that can have a detrimental effect on your enjoyment of the system. But claiming this type of mistake will happen because of misclicks or accidents... that's blowing it out of proportion.
Now... having said all of that...
Getting PowerCart functionality into STO, as part of the new Skill system, would require a dedication of several weeks from one of our Programmers. This is time that we simply do not have right now, prior to the launch of S11.5, but is something we're still considering the possible need for at some point in the future. It's not off the table, but it's also not on the schedule.
I think your underestimating the chances of someone making a misclick. First, people are going to get annoyed hitting confirm for each of their 46 points, and eventually will just go into "auto-pilot" if you will and click it without thinking.
Second, double clicking the skill skips the confirm window. It's a bit finicky and occasionally doesn't work, but for me at least 80-90% of the time double clicking a skill will spend and confirm the point right away, enough that to me it seems to be intended for (obvious) quality of life reasons.
Now, all that having been said, I feel a bit better now that it's been explained. I think I was one of the more vocal players in terms of suggesting possible nefarious reasons for this, but what you said actually makes sense. Looking at how the new skill system works, I'm willing to bet that the UI uses the same code as the specialization UI, which does NOT have "PowerCart" functionality. I can definitely see how adding this back in could require a significant rewrite of the specialization UI code, so while I still don't like this change at all, I can at least accept it now that it's been explained. Thank you for being a bit more transparent on this.
First, people are going to get annoyed hitting confirm for each of their 46 points, and eventually will just go into "auto-pilot" if you will and click it without thinking.
Then ... don't do that. Make a conscious effort to pay attention to your Skill Point expenditures, since you know the price of spacing out and confirming the wrong thing. Otherwise, I would see it as tacitly accepting the price associated with those mistakes.
Second, double clicking the skill skips the confirm window.
This should never be happening, and I can't recall having seen it happen even after having built... Oh, jeez, how many? At least ~50 or more different build translations under the new system, over the past few weeks. The Confirm popup should appear regardless of whether you Double-Click to purchase, or click the Purchase button.
If you are able to replicate this behavior with any sort of regularity, please let us know how. This would not be a bug we'd like to see go live with the new system.
Jeremy Randall
Cryptic - Lead Systems Designer
"Play smart!"
If you are able to replicate this behavior with any sort of regularity, please let us know how. This would not be a bug we'd like to see go live with the new system.
I actually liked that it was doing that for me tbh, repetitive pop-ups frustrate me a great deal, but I'll confess I haven't tested it in awhile so I don't know if it still does it in the more recent tribble builds, I'll get on a little later and test it out. Like I said though, I feel a lot better about all this now that it's actually been explained, and the extra free respec is a reasonable safety net.
I can understand and sympathize with a lot of the feedback you guys have regarding the lack of a "Change Everything Then Commit" function in the new Skill System (which I incorrectly referred to as "paging" at some point, but is actually called "PowerCart" functionality.)
I'd like to offer a few counterpoints for consideration...
* To my knowledge, no other MMO on the market used this technology, with the exception of Champions. And even their implementation was far different than the previous STO system. (Powerhouses are special regions, programmed in a different way to allow flexible respecs.) As such, any new player coming to STO is unlikely to expect that functionality as part of their Skill progression experience. In fact, the new/revamped system is far closer to being an MMO standard method.
* The old Respec system caused you to have to stay where you were, rooted in place next to the NPC that handled the respec functionality, while you fiddled with a delicate system of adding/subtracting/replacing small allocations of points from a larger pool, in order to fine-tune your expenditures while correctly unlocking each rank of Skills. The fiddly nature of this system could be extremely frustrating for players that either did not fully understand the system, or did not feel invested in it (or both). The new Respec system offers a far simpler, cleaner and more user-friendly experience: Purchase Respec, All Skills Reset, Spend at your Leisure (now, or later).
* The gates that determine when additional ranks of Skills unlock are also far easier to understand and anticipate in the new system, whereas this was one of the main things that PowerCart functionality helped players deal with in the previous Skill Systems.
* The fears over 'misclicks' are at least partially mitigated by the presence of a Confirm window which appears every single time you go to purchase a Skill. It is exceedingly unlikely that you'll make a mistake by accidentally clicking the wrong Skill, unless you've also willfully chosen to disregard the Confirmation popup. I can understand making a choice that you later regret, and how that can have a detrimental effect on your enjoyment of the system. But claiming this type of mistake will happen because of misclicks or accidents... that's blowing it out of proportion.
Now... having said all of that...
Getting PowerCart functionality into STO, as part of the new Skill system, would require a dedication of several weeks from one of our Programmers. This is time that we simply do not have right now, prior to the launch of S11.5, but is something we're still considering the possible need for at some point in the future. It's not off the table, but it's also not on the schedule.
Thanks for this update. This cleared up some of my questions.
Looking forward to the new Specs!
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This would not be a bug we'd like to see go live with the new system.
Oh so you admit there are bugs you would like to see go live?
"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid." - Q
If you are able to replicate this behavior with any sort of regularity, please let us know how. This would not be a bug we'd like to see go live with the new system.
I actually liked that it was doing that for me tbh, repetitive pop-ups frustrate me a great deal, but I'll confess I haven't tested it in awhile so I don't know if it still does it in the more recent tribble builds, I'll get on a little later and test it out. Like I said though, I feel a lot better about all this now that it's actually been explained, and the extra free respec is a reasonable safety net.
@borticuscryptic ok I can now confirm that double clicking no longer works for me to bypass that window , so it must have been fixed sometime after I tested it last. Any chance we could get an option to turn off that warning?
I'd like to point out that my concern on these things was never for myself, I'm fully willing to take the fault for my own mistakes, and have plenty of lifetime sub respecs left. I was just concerned about how others could be impacted.
Honestly, while I miss the PowerCart functionality, I can live without it and would've made the same call in your position.
However, even if the way this works is the MMO standard, the concept of being able to preview skill distribution in-game before committing and locking them in is better than that standard. Let's face it, many of us already do that with external skill planners anyway, and I bet everyone who does has changed their mind and removed a point to invest somewhere else in those. Having that sort of functionality in-game makes it better for new players who are unaware of the external planners.
And I'm still very fond of the idea of being able to unbuy points with a currency as an (expensive!) alternative to a full respec.
What did we learn from the Skill Revamp Livestream? (Not so live for me, as I just saw it now) That Trendy really rocks! And it was good to see Bort's face too!
Hmm... I have no clue if it's technically possible, but could there be some way for respecs to not just reset skills, but also grant, say, some form of short "grace period" when you could reset again with no token, and then whatever you have at the end stays there for good? This won't be as foolproof as a complete PowerCart (d/c's happen...) but it would preserve much of its utility.
ADD: or some form of "mini-respec" that just allows to reset a single point once a few days at a much reduced cost?
Comments
I guess the best to look forward to is hull and shield penetration and increased critD/H. This will come at a cost of course, but I can also get behind the idea of having to make choices/sacrifices. For ground, however, it feels much more like 'no one cares about this - let's make it a few clicks and forget.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Wouldn't it be possible to make a respec token with an infinite amount of uses, that lasts for 1 day? That way you can experiment and reorder at will, but if you want to respec a month later, you're still gonna have to buy a token.
That'd be a QoL improvement that'd be acceptable to me.
Free respec events would be nice where respecs cost nothing (as in not requiring a token) during the event.
But Bort finished that thought with what amounted to saying, <paraphrasing> it probably won't be changed in the future.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Just talked.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
That doesn't sound too bad. I was thinking they'd only give us the free reset. I think I could live with it if I got the reset plus a free token.
Is that one free token per character, or per account?
Yes, per Character.
(and I have edited my post to clarify that)
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Testing on Tribble? - no time for it with all the events running back-to-back.
Buying respec tokens? - what for? - the missions are easy enough, that even completly botched skill build will not stop me from completing all missions and queues - at least at normal difficulty - and that on free ships and gear given from missions.
Meh - not saying it will be worse or better than now - just that skill revamp is not important to me.
I'm just as cynical as anyone, but I honestly don't believe that to be the case here. Bort explained that adding the feature comes with technical issues and limitations that would apparently be very time consuming and difficult to implement properly. I'm inclined to believe this because they are allowing us free use of Tribble to test builds before committing skills on the live server. They're also giving us essentially 2 free respecs per character to start.
I believe it is indeed a technical issue, but it's one I believe should be addressed even if that means a significant delay in making the system available. If they're guilty of anything in my opinion, it's underestimating what a seriously severe limitation this really is. I would much rather wait for a system that's totally complete then have a system with a clearly broken mechanic pushed live just to avoid delay.
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A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
If it's a severe technical limitation (which I doubt), then it should have a been a deal-killer. A show-stopper. A reason not to go ahead with the revamp at all. Not "meh, they'll get over it. push it out to the servers."
Or heaven forbid a tutorial that actually explains how it works?
When have they ever done anything different? It's always been release-or-die, with some very rare exceptions.
Granted, they never release anything that breaks core functionality anymore. I can't recall... was it season 4 they had to roll back until they fixed it? That's the last time they ever rolled the entire game back to a previous release that I recall.
In this case, I believe that the technical limitation they are referring to would have resulted in a major rewrite that they aren't inclined to tackle at this time. I didn't see where Bort said 'never happen', so I wouldn't necessarily rule it out for the distant future even if I consider it highly unlikely.
The core functionality that they're looking for is One, can players select skills? and Two, do those skills mostly work as intended or at least not completely break gameplay? Based on my last experience on Tribble, the answer is yes to both. The 'commit' feature everybody wanted was simply not on the list of features for this release. In their minds, that's not a show stopper.
I'd like to offer a few counterpoints for consideration...
* To my knowledge, no other MMO on the market used this technology, with the exception of Champions. And even their implementation was far different than the previous STO system. (Powerhouses are special regions, programmed in a different way to allow flexible respecs.) As such, any new player coming to STO is unlikely to expect that functionality as part of their Skill progression experience. In fact, the new/revamped system is far closer to being an MMO standard method.
* The old Respec system caused you to have to stay where you were, rooted in place next to the NPC that handled the respec functionality, while you fiddled with a delicate system of adding/subtracting/replacing small allocations of points from a larger pool, in order to fine-tune your expenditures while correctly unlocking each rank of Skills. The fiddly nature of this system could be extremely frustrating for players that either did not fully understand the system, or did not feel invested in it (or both). The new Respec system offers a far simpler, cleaner and more user-friendly experience: Purchase Respec, All Skills Reset, Spend at your Leisure (now, or later).
* The gates that determine when additional ranks of Skills unlock are also far easier to understand and anticipate in the new system, whereas this was one of the main things that PowerCart functionality helped players deal with in the previous Skill Systems.
* The fears over 'misclicks' are at least partially mitigated by the presence of a Confirm window which appears every single time you go to purchase a Skill. It is exceedingly unlikely that you'll make a mistake by accidentally clicking the wrong Skill, unless you've also willfully chosen to disregard the Confirmation popup. I can understand making a choice that you later regret, and how that can have a detrimental effect on your enjoyment of the system. But claiming this type of mistake will happen because of misclicks or accidents... that's blowing it out of proportion.
Now... having said all of that...
Getting PowerCart functionality into STO, as part of the new Skill system, would require a dedication of several weeks from one of our Programmers. This is time that we simply do not have right now, prior to the launch of S11.5, but is something we're still considering the possible need for at some point in the future. It's not off the table, but it's also not on the schedule.
Cryptic - Lead Systems Designer
"Play smart!"
Give us a way to earn respec tokens through gameplay that does not involve shelling out money every time we want or need to make an adjustment.
Or alternatively put some value back into Subscribtions again and let gold members get free weekly or monthly respecs.
Either way the current model the game uses is a huge liability and counter-productive to the goal you have with the skill revamp of encouraging people to "experiment" and try new things.
On my part I know that if respeccing remains as it is now I will just simply try to replicate my old builds and just leave it at that, permanently.
Sure, you can shout from the rooftops with a bull horn and 50 foot banners that they can go to Tribble first, but do you really believe that's going to get more than a minority of players to actually do that?
Every MMO forum I've been to, the Devs are usually the first to point out that only a minority of players come to the forums.
Is Star Trek Online any different?
I do realize it's not going to get changed anytime in the near future, but I do hope that any criticisms, if proved valid, will help push to get things improved eventually.
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!" - Agatha Heterodyne
Seconded. The insight is useful, and much appreciated.
I think your underestimating the chances of someone making a misclick. First, people are going to get annoyed hitting confirm for each of their 46 points, and eventually will just go into "auto-pilot" if you will and click it without thinking.
Second, double clicking the skill skips the confirm window. It's a bit finicky and occasionally doesn't work, but for me at least 80-90% of the time double clicking a skill will spend and confirm the point right away, enough that to me it seems to be intended for (obvious) quality of life reasons.
Now, all that having been said, I feel a bit better now that it's been explained. I think I was one of the more vocal players in terms of suggesting possible nefarious reasons for this, but what you said actually makes sense. Looking at how the new skill system works, I'm willing to bet that the UI uses the same code as the specialization UI, which does NOT have "PowerCart" functionality. I can definitely see how adding this back in could require a significant rewrite of the specialization UI code, so while I still don't like this change at all, I can at least accept it now that it's been explained. Thank you for being a bit more transparent on this.
Then ... don't do that. Make a conscious effort to pay attention to your Skill Point expenditures, since you know the price of spacing out and confirming the wrong thing. Otherwise, I would see it as tacitly accepting the price associated with those mistakes.
This should never be happening, and I can't recall having seen it happen even after having built... Oh, jeez, how many? At least ~50 or more different build translations under the new system, over the past few weeks. The Confirm popup should appear regardless of whether you Double-Click to purchase, or click the Purchase button.
If you are able to replicate this behavior with any sort of regularity, please let us know how. This would not be a bug we'd like to see go live with the new system.
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I actually liked that it was doing that for me tbh, repetitive pop-ups frustrate me a great deal, but I'll confess I haven't tested it in awhile so I don't know if it still does it in the more recent tribble builds, I'll get on a little later and test it out. Like I said though, I feel a lot better about all this now that it's actually been explained, and the extra free respec is a reasonable safety net.
Thanks for this update. This cleared up some of my questions.
Looking forward to the new Specs!
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Oh so you admit there are bugs you would like to see go live?
@borticuscryptic ok I can now confirm that double clicking no longer works for me to bypass that window
I'd like to point out that my concern on these things was never for myself, I'm fully willing to take the fault for my own mistakes, and have plenty of lifetime sub respecs left. I was just concerned about how others could be impacted.
However, even if the way this works is the MMO standard, the concept of being able to preview skill distribution in-game before committing and locking them in is better than that standard. Let's face it, many of us already do that with external skill planners anyway, and I bet everyone who does has changed their mind and removed a point to invest somewhere else in those. Having that sort of functionality in-game makes it better for new players who are unaware of the external planners.
And I'm still very fond of the idea of being able to unbuy points with a currency as an (expensive!) alternative to a full respec.
ADD: or some form of "mini-respec" that just allows to reset a single point once a few days at a much reduced cost?