So the loyal PC gamers that supported the game and spent their money on this game get what? A "maybe somewhen later this year".
This game is bugged and working terrible for more than 1 year. An aweful performance on many PC and you tell us something about consoles?
This shows once more that you give a damn about the current player base.
In future there will be even more bugs in STO because thats exactly what console support means. You guys where not able to release bug free content for just one platform.
Now that you have to develop for multiple platforms the amount of bugs will practically explode.
Console support also means that gameplay will have to change due to the limited controls over there. This in return means that in order to have a fair balance between PC and Console versions the PC controls will have to get limited aswell. This might lead to a limitation of features/options for PC just to prevent that PC players have an advantage over console players when it comes down the the input options.
The gameplay for STO most certainly will change with this console support. Lots of options and freedom we had most certainly will vanish. There is absolutely no reason to be satisfied about such an announcement.
STO will turn into a console game and PC gameplay will suffer.
None of this happened in Neverwinter. No reason whatsoever to think that it will happen in STO.
Er, the ui and control system in Neverwinter sucks for PC users.
Early days yet but a question ? i just watched the Console trailer. No mention of Klingons or Romulans only Starfleet, Does this mean Console only gets to play Federation ?
So the loyal PC gamers that supported the game and spent their money on this game get what? A "maybe somewhen later this year".
This game is bugged and working terrible for more than 1 year. An aweful performance on many PC and you tell us something about consoles?
This shows once more that you give a damn about the current player base.
In future there will be even more bugs in STO because thats exactly what console support means. You guys where not able to release bug free content for just one platform.
Now that you have to develop for multiple platforms the amount of bugs will practically explode.
Console support also means that gameplay will have to change due to the limited controls over there. This in return means that in order to have a fair balance between PC and Console versions the PC controls will have to get limited aswell. This might lead to a limitation of features/options for PC just to prevent that PC players have an advantage over console players when it comes down the the input options.
The gameplay for STO most certainly will change with this console support. Lots of options and freedom we had most certainly will vanish. There is absolutely no reason to be satisfied about such an announcement.
STO will turn into a console game and PC gameplay will suffer.
None of this happened in Neverwinter. No reason whatsoever to think that it will happen in STO.
Er, the ui and control system in Neverwinter sucks for PC users.
But NW was designed from the get go to be a Console game, with STO it will be the other way around.
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
How do you know it will enhance PC playing as well?
Ummm...
Because in the Blog it says it will.
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
Anything that increases the amount of people playing STO is fine with me. And the upgrades to the game's engine are welcome as well. I'm really curious about how they're gonna change the controls for console players. We have like what, 30 different abilities and powers at endgame?
Also makes me wonder why they've abandoned Mac support if they plan to rerelease the game on consoles...
So the loyal PC gamers that supported the game and spent their money on this game get what? A "maybe somewhen later this year".
This game is bugged and working terrible for more than 1 year. An aweful performance on many PC and you tell us something about consoles?
This shows once more that you give a damn about the current player base.
In future there will be even more bugs in STO because thats exactly what console support means. You guys where not able to release bug free content for just one platform.
Now that you have to develop for multiple platforms the amount of bugs will practically explode.
Console support also means that gameplay will have to change due to the limited controls over there. This in return means that in order to have a fair balance between PC and Console versions the PC controls will have to get limited aswell. This might lead to a limitation of features/options for PC just to prevent that PC players have an advantage over console players when it comes down the the input options.
The gameplay for STO most certainly will change with this console support. Lots of options and freedom we had most certainly will vanish. There is absolutely no reason to be satisfied about such an announcement.
STO will turn into a console game and PC gameplay will suffer.
None of this happened in Neverwinter. No reason whatsoever to think that it will happen in STO.
Er, the ui and control system in Neverwinter sucks for PC users.
The point being that the PC controls didn't change when the Xbox version came out.
They are still going to work on BUGS ya know.
Just because They are adding consoles doesn't mean the games upkeep will stop.
And if the consoles are on another server (which is very likely), there shouldn't be all that many changes for the PC folks.
So you think they'll run two different and divergent versions of the game for two different platforms? With totally different UI and different code-bases? With the resources they have? Yeahhh no. IMO it'll be dumbed down and "simplified" (read "made more annoying and cumbersome for PC users") so it'll work on consoles, despite running different servers.
I had hoped that there would be a (MUCH needed) re-factoring of the UI code to enable the same or very similar functionality and feel but with much less of a performance hit. However, to me this looks like it'll be a total binning of the UI in favour of a totally new and 'console friendly' setup which will be at the expense of usability for the pc players who have been the main source of income all these years. #dontforgetaboutus
the goal here was to create a UI that was incredibly streamlined on the back-end to ensure the best game performance possible, while also creating a brand new experience purposely built for the controller.
On the game going to consoles and the changes it will entail, all I can do is quote Kirk in TWOK; "Uh-oh".
On a more positive note, I'm fairly optimistic about the new graphical effects. However, that comparison shot doesn't look to be particularly good. Am I the only one who noticed the total absence of lens flare and bloom in the "before" shot, when those effects are already in STO, have been for years and have been often turned off or down?
The lighting in the new shot looks...brighter, with more lensflare, but that's about it. It is different, but better? To my untrained eye, no. The consoles on the right have a nice glow to them, but are overly bright. Both shots have the same uniformity of light across the entirety of their respective shots, with the main differences that jump out at me are that the after shot is brighter, with more lens flare and a lot more of the same kind of "artificial fake light" that plagues bethesda games. But hey, it's early days, so I imagine utilisation of the new tools will improve over time. Optimism, yes?
EDIT
Full disclosure; I'm not a games dev, reviewer, graphical artist or designer. Hell, I'm not in any of those trades. I'm just a project manager who has just enough spare time to play the game.
Everyone, dont get to happy about this. They will do this like they did Neverwinter. You start from scratch. All that money you have put into Star Trek Online for the last 6 years, say bye bye. PC will not cross over to XBox...just like Neverwinter... So, everyone, get your wallets out and start paying once again...all those ships, all those upgrades, all those etc etc etc etc
That, or you can just continue to play on your pc..
If they are truly separating the games on two servers, I am worried about the STFs. This mean there will be less people around and even more difficult to get STFs up and running. Pugging will be horrible.
Omg sook much speculations... Let's wait out and see... Plus I'm all for a simpler UI on PC... Cause the one we have right now it's... It's... Just no...
I have 45 powers on my skill tray... All of which get used at some point.
I wonder if the UI engineers are having a panic attack at the moment. Or they just surrender and say "F*** it, 12 powers is all they'll need".
Also ship flying? I use a gamepad (and keyboard) and even then I switch to a mouse because it's better for targetting with all the NPC mobs. Unless you're going a similar route to Dreadnought, making space combat like ground shooter mode.
Despite this game being beyond casual, the gameplay itself really doesn't work well . Not unless you want a lot of bored and angry console players whining about 2 minute long ISA's where they don't fire a shot and get AFK penalties.
They are still going to work on BUGS ya know.
Just because They are adding consoles doesn't mean the games upkeep will stop.
And if the consoles are on another server (which is very likely), there shouldn't be all that many changes for the PC folks.
So you think they'll run two different and divergent versions of the game for two different platforms? With totally different UI and different code-bases? With the resources they have? Yeahhh no. IMO it'll be dumbed down and "simplified" (read "made more annoying and cumbersome for PC users") so it'll work on consoles, despite running different servers.
I had hoped that there would be a (MUCH needed) re-factoring of the UI code to enable the same or very similar functionality and feel but with much less of a performance hit. However, to me this looks like it'll be a total binning of the UI in favour of a totally new and 'console friendly' setup which will be at the expense of usability for the pc players who have been the main source of income all these years. #dontforgetaboutus
the goal here was to create a UI that was incredibly streamlined on the back-end to ensure the best game performance possible, while also creating a brand new experience purposely built for the controller.
On the game going to consoles and the changes it will entail, all I can do is quote Kirk in TWOK; "Uh-oh".
On a more positive note, I'm fairly optimistic about the new graphical effects. However, that comparison shot doesn't look to be particularly good. Am I the only one who noticed the total absence of lens flare and bloom in the "before" shot, when those effects are already in STO, have been for years and have been often turned off or down?
The lighting in the new shot looks...brighter, with more lensflare, but that's about it. It is different, but better? To my untrained eye, no. The consoles on the right have a nice glow to them, but are overly bright. Both shots have the same uniformity of light across the entirety of their respective shots, with the main differences that jump out at me are that the after shot is brighter, with more lens flare and a lot more of the same kind of "artificial fake light" that plagues bethesda games. But hey, it's early days, so I imagine utilisation of the new tools will improve over time. Optimism, yes?
EDIT
Full disclosure; I'm not a games dev, reviewer, graphical artist or designer. Hell, I'm not in any of those trades. I'm just a project manager who has just enough spare time to play the game.
You do realize that "on the back end" means that it's the software that's being changed, not necessarily what we see on the screen.
It sounds to me like They are upgrading the way the UI interacts with your PC, not the way we interact with the game.
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
Omg sook much speculations... Let's wait out and see... Plus I'm all for a simpler UI on PC... Cause the one we have right now it's... It's... Just no...
It breaks everything!
The UI on pc at the moment is usable imo. The biggest problem with it is, and always has been, the fact that it's a huge cpu hog and wrecks frame rates. If we could have the same UI on PC as today, but with the performance enhancements I'd be pretty satisfied. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen. It's going to be the same clunky UI as on the coming console versions.
Well, the engine's getting updated, which will make some people happy. The XBox has a wimpier CPU than most PCs, but makes up for it by having a lot of cores. Assuming that the new engine's multithreaded, that'll mean a performance increase on the PC side.
Also, while DCUO has shared play between PC and PS, you can't move characters between platforms, and the two platforms have different marketplaces. (PC uses Daybreak dollars, while PS uses Playstation points. They used different currencies when Daybreak was Sony, so this isn't a recent thing.)
Finally, Sony and MS have their own handle/gamertag systems, so you could have @name collisions. I'm not sure how they'd handle that on a shared server.
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
Omg sook much speculations... Let's wait out and see... Plus I'm all for a simpler UI on PC... Cause the one we have right now it's... It's... Just no...
It breaks everything!
As someone who has been through the horrible, consolized UI of Skyrim and Fallout 4, no, just no. The STO UI is far from perfect, but it's bearable and made with PC in mind. If they try to "consolize" the PC version of STO in the same way, I'll be very unhappy.
The best MMOs I've played, UI-wise, are Guild Wars 2 and The Secret World. There's really no comparison. And the most important feature they have in their UI is not tons of hotbars.
The worst is The Old Republic (with Final Fantasy XI in close competition). TOR's biggest issue is that the gameplay wants you to use tons of hotbars but the UI makes accessing the powers on them a total pain.
If STO were to rearrange how gameplay works to neither have nor require tons of hotbars, I would be delighted. Even an easy, in-game way (in other words, not the current macro system) to set a single button to use (for example, from my current main) Beam Fire at Will, Tactical Team, and Attack Pattern Beta in quick succession would free up two hotbar slots (and the UI space and keys those take) without actually making the game any less deep.
I would imagine that They are probably going to have a separate server for the consoles like Neverwinter does.
So everybody who uses a console will most likely be starting from scratch.
In my experience with this and other MMOs, accounts aren't tied to servers so I'd imagine as long as you are using the same Cryptic/Perfect World/ Arc (boo and hiss later) account to sign in, you should have your account records meaning all purchases and entitlements earned.
I have to admit I am intrigued by the idea of playing on HDTV without having to attach laptop (Read: willing to beta the Xbox One version).
I understand all the issues involved but please for the love of God allow a character/ account copy like with Tribble. That would be enough to make me happy.
Alongside the lighting system, we decided the entire UI needed not only a complete graphical overhaul but to have its entire back-end rewritten.
^Is that just optimization for console, or will the PC gets to see some of that UI eye candy too?
*rapid blinks*
Made my day, you clever devils! XD Well played
Probably not, BUT: PC version even now has the option to use gamepad. A switch between current and console control scheme would do PC version real good.
Also... probable not the case... but, if both PC and console users played on one server, and you could use PC version characters on concole and vice-versa... this may just make me buy PS4. Just sayin'.
You do realize that "on the back end" means that it's the software that's being changed, not necessarily what we see on the screen.
It sounds to me like They are upgrading the way the UI interacts with your PC, not the way we interact with the game.
You do realise that it isn't just the back end they're changing, but the whole shebang? How else would they make it viable on a console? Indeed, there are numerous references in that news item which outright say that they're "streamlining" things for the player, not just on the back end.
It sounds to me that they are changing both the way the UI interacts with the pc AND the way we will interact with the game.
The problem with the PC UI isn't that it isn't usable, it's that it actually is a major barrier to new players learning the game.
There are dozens of different core menus, often each with many sub menus within them, and no real tutorial to tell you where things are. Things like crafting subbed under the duty officer menus even though it's not at all related, but the dilithium and EC stores each having their own menus even though they are the same basic function. How about the stores under the reputation system, which are in a separate pane that's mixed in with info lists, all of which is under the player progression main menu? None of it makes any sense unless you already understand how the game works, and, as I said, there's no real system in place to help people learn that.
There's no way they could launch the current UI to mass market on the consoles without starting over from scratch on the UI. Not if they want anyone to keep playing the game, that is.
Comments
Er, the ui and control system in Neverwinter sucks for PC users.
Expanding to other platforms = brings STO to a wider audience
And those visuals... *drool* and they are coming to PC too!
^Is that just optimization for console, or the PC gets to see some of that UI eye candy too?
*rapid blinks*
Made my day with that upcoming visual upgrade, you clever devils! XD Well played
-
"To boldly go to the stars on the wings of the faithful."
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
How do you know it will enhance PC playing as well?
Ummm...
Because in the Blog it says it will.
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
Also makes me wonder why they've abandoned Mac support if they plan to rerelease the game on consoles...
The point being that the PC controls didn't change when the Xbox version came out.
So you think they'll run two different and divergent versions of the game for two different platforms? With totally different UI and different code-bases? With the resources they have? Yeahhh no. IMO it'll be dumbed down and "simplified" (read "made more annoying and cumbersome for PC users") so it'll work on consoles, despite running different servers.
I had hoped that there would be a (MUCH needed) re-factoring of the UI code to enable the same or very similar functionality and feel but with much less of a performance hit. However, to me this looks like it'll be a total binning of the UI in favour of a totally new and 'console friendly' setup which will be at the expense of usability for the pc players who have been the main source of income all these years. #dontforgetaboutus
On the game going to consoles and the changes it will entail, all I can do is quote Kirk in TWOK; "Uh-oh".
On a more positive note, I'm fairly optimistic about the new graphical effects. However, that comparison shot doesn't look to be particularly good. Am I the only one who noticed the total absence of lens flare and bloom in the "before" shot, when those effects are already in STO, have been for years and have been often turned off or down?
The lighting in the new shot looks...brighter, with more lensflare, but that's about it. It is different, but better? To my untrained eye, no. The consoles on the right have a nice glow to them, but are overly bright. Both shots have the same uniformity of light across the entirety of their respective shots, with the main differences that jump out at me are that the after shot is brighter, with more lens flare and a lot more of the same kind of "artificial fake light" that plagues bethesda games. But hey, it's early days, so I imagine utilisation of the new tools will improve over time. Optimism, yes?
EDIT
Full disclosure; I'm not a games dev, reviewer, graphical artist or designer. Hell, I'm not in any of those trades. I'm just a project manager who has just enough spare time to play the game.
That, or you can just continue to play on your pc..
If they are truly separating the games on two servers, I am worried about the STFs. This mean there will be less people around and even more difficult to get STFs up and running. Pugging will be horrible.
It breaks everything!
I have 45 powers on my skill tray... All of which get used at some point.
I wonder if the UI engineers are having a panic attack at the moment. Or they just surrender and say "F*** it, 12 powers is all they'll need".
Also ship flying? I use a gamepad (and keyboard) and even then I switch to a mouse because it's better for targetting with all the NPC mobs. Unless you're going a similar route to Dreadnought, making space combat like ground shooter mode.
Despite this game being beyond casual, the gameplay itself really doesn't work well . Not unless you want a lot of bored and angry console players whining about 2 minute long ISA's where they don't fire a shot and get AFK penalties.
Daizen - Lvl 60 Tactical - Eclipse
Selia - Lvl 60 Tactical - Eclipse
You do realize that "on the back end" means that it's the software that's being changed, not necessarily what we see on the screen.
It sounds to me like They are upgrading the way the UI interacts with your PC, not the way we interact with the game.
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
The UI on pc at the moment is usable imo. The biggest problem with it is, and always has been, the fact that it's a huge cpu hog and wrecks frame rates. If we could have the same UI on PC as today, but with the performance enhancements I'd be pretty satisfied. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen. It's going to be the same clunky UI as on the coming console versions.
Also, while DCUO has shared play between PC and PS, you can't move characters between platforms, and the two platforms have different marketplaces. (PC uses Daybreak dollars, while PS uses Playstation points. They used different currencies when Daybreak was Sony, so this isn't a recent thing.)
Finally, Sony and MS have their own handle/gamertag systems, so you could have @name collisions. I'm not sure how they'd handle that on a shared server.
No sorry, I was answering Captoblivious.
Fixed it.
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
As someone who has been through the horrible, consolized UI of Skyrim and Fallout 4, no, just no. The STO UI is far from perfect, but it's bearable and made with PC in mind. If they try to "consolize" the PC version of STO in the same way, I'll be very unhappy.
Cause when you have UI that eats about 60fps... Well
UI ON = 30-50fps
UI OFf = 80-100fps
It's such a hog... Mom nom nom nom and breks severything else too
The worst is The Old Republic (with Final Fantasy XI in close competition). TOR's biggest issue is that the gameplay wants you to use tons of hotbars but the UI makes accessing the powers on them a total pain.
If STO were to rearrange how gameplay works to neither have nor require tons of hotbars, I would be delighted. Even an easy, in-game way (in other words, not the current macro system) to set a single button to use (for example, from my current main) Beam Fire at Will, Tactical Team, and Attack Pattern Beta in quick succession would free up two hotbar slots (and the UI space and keys those take) without actually making the game any less deep.
In my experience with this and other MMOs, accounts aren't tied to servers so I'd imagine as long as you are using the same Cryptic/Perfect World/ Arc (boo and hiss later) account to sign in, you should have your account records meaning all purchases and entitlements earned.
I have to admit I am intrigued by the idea of playing on HDTV without having to attach laptop (Read: willing to beta the Xbox One version).
Probably not, BUT: PC version even now has the option to use gamepad. A switch between current and console control scheme would do PC version real good.
Also... probable not the case... but, if both PC and console users played on one server, and you could use PC version characters on concole and vice-versa... this may just make me buy PS4. Just sayin'.
You do realise that it isn't just the back end they're changing, but the whole shebang? How else would they make it viable on a console? Indeed, there are numerous references in that news item which outright say that they're "streamlining" things for the player, not just on the back end.
It sounds to me that they are changing both the way the UI interacts with the pc AND the way we will interact with the game.
Never thought of that, but it would answer some questions.
There are dozens of different core menus, often each with many sub menus within them, and no real tutorial to tell you where things are. Things like crafting subbed under the duty officer menus even though it's not at all related, but the dilithium and EC stores each having their own menus even though they are the same basic function. How about the stores under the reputation system, which are in a separate pane that's mixed in with info lists, all of which is under the player progression main menu? None of it makes any sense unless you already understand how the game works, and, as I said, there's no real system in place to help people learn that.
There's no way they could launch the current UI to mass market on the consoles without starting over from scratch on the UI. Not if they want anyone to keep playing the game, that is.