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Why I think AoY is a mistake

sirsitsalotsirsitsalot Member Posts: 2,803 Arc User
Don't get me wrong, I think AoY is cool and all that. It shows that Cryptic IS willing to step outside the box a little bit and do something different. And I also understand that this is their way of honoring Star Trek's 50th anniversary. But we've got a game set in the 25th century, with amazing potential to explore plot ideas that the shows hinted at but never followed up on. And that has been done a little bit, but there is still so much more that can be done in a foreward-going manner. Officially, the movies are rebooted TOS. I remember reading somewhere that the forthcoming new Star Trek show is going to be set between STVI and TNG, exploring the Generation Gap. And while it can be argued whether or not STO is canon, it IS the only officially authorized Star Trek visual medium that is set in the Star Trek PRIME universe, exploring the possibilities of what transpires after Star Trek Nemesis. All the work that went into yet another jump backwards could have been applied to move forwards to let us boldly go where no-one has gone before.

The other reason I think it is a mistake is because it leaves Klingons and Romulans out in the cold, and gives the game a SECOND federation faction, which I do not recall anyone ever asking for. So what's going to happen when we complete the AoY content? We get recruited by temporal agents to join the regular STO content as part of Starfleet, so the only real difference is that AoY is just a big alternative beginning to UFP content? I can't see us being given the choice to join the KDF. It would make even less sense than the Romulans being made to choose between UFP content and KDF content, resulting in Romulan republic officers fighting other Romulan Republic officers. If they would have done the Cardassian faction, which people HAVE BEEN asking for since before we got playable Romulans, at least we could have chosen to join the UFP or KDF like the romulan characters can.

STO's development is all over the place, and not in a good way, in my opinion.

So what would I have done? Well, we know that there is more than one dyson Sphere. And with the UFP, the KDF and the NRR part of a big alliance, I would have made it where the discovery of a link to another galaxy is made, and the alliance gets to explore it together, with a non-violent competition to see which government in the alliance can discover the most. There would still be plenty of hostile aliens to blow up. And oh... this new galaxy would have its sectors procedurally generated and they would remain persistent. And here would be the interesting take on it. While we would be about peaceful exploration, more or less, the inhabitants of the new galaxy would see us as invaders, so there would be an us against them element from the onset, with the possibility to win their trust if we're UFP... or intimidate them into non-aggression, if we're KDF.

In other words, I would have done something that would include all players, be they new or old, not create yet another aspect of the game that divides the community further.

I know... It's a moot point. AoY is what is happening. It is still my opinion that it is a mistake.
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-Ambassador Samuel J. Stone
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Comments

  • brian334brian334 Member Posts: 2,214 Arc User
    STO's mission from the beginning has been to explore the ideas presented in the several series, as opposed to seeking out original ideas for their MMO. Creative, unique, and most importantly, non-canon ideas are not really wanted by STO's writers, whose goal is to reference one or more of the various shows or movies in every episode.

    As good an idea as you may have, you must link it to something seen on the screen for it to be a viable choice for STO.
  • warpnugget#0537 warpnugget Member Posts: 96 Arc User
    from what ive gathered from people that played it in tribble it really isnt a big deal,do some missions until level 10 then you get thrown out in the world doing the same content as anyone else.

    i sure hope they are holding something back because if thats it well im not going to bother to level another character...
  • voyagerfan9751voyagerfan9751 Member Posts: 1,120 Arc User
    Couple of things. First, just because AoY is adding a TOS era faction does not mean we are not going forward storywise. There is an arc or group of episodes or whatever that is suppose to add to the current story that is not on tribble yet. What those episodes entail is anyone's guess.

    Second, One of the reasons the old exploration clusters was removed was they were terrible. Trying to make a random encounter, even in our galaxy (which is still largely unexplored BTW) basically means creating a system that randomly generates said encounters. This means a rather repetitive simplistic set of restrained guildlines that are frankly not as good as anything that could simply be made by Cryptic. And no, it is impossible for Cryptic, or any company, to make on their own enough aliens/planets/ whatever to have the level of exploration people want without some form of random generated nonsense.

    I won't even go into the whole point of STO being more about exploring Star Trek from the shows perspective (brian334 did that already). It just isn't want this game is about. I am sure there will be more things for you if AoY isn't your thing (wasn't really into Delta Rising myself), this game is going to be around for a while.
  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,501 Arc User
    Moot point, we already have eleventy AoY discussion threads, and like many others I'm looking forward to AoY.
  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,501 Arc User
    A word of caution...there will be lots of people who will argue with anything resembling opposition to AOY. Usually opposing views are not taken well and perhaps your thread might be closed down soon. Good points but you can't argue with PWE..its against the rules.

    False. Flaming, trolling, ragequits and DOOM! are against forum rules. So is attacking the mods, developers, or other players.

    Criticism is NOT. In fact most threads include criticism, dissent, second-guessing, griping and whining.

    If this thread is closed it will be because there are eleventy existing threads on this topic already, and posting in them would be more appropriate.
  • storulesstorules Member Posts: 3,253 Arc User
    edited May 2016
    A word of caution...there will be lots of people who will argue with anything resembling opposition to AOY. Usually opposing views are not taken well and perhaps your thread might be closed down soon. Good points but you can't argue with PWE..its against the rules.

    False. Flaming, trolling, ragequits and DOOM! are against forum rules. So is attacking the mods, developers, or other players.

    Criticism is NOT. In fact most threads include criticism, dissent, second-guessing, griping and whining.

    If this thread is closed it will be because there are eleventy existing threads on this topic already, and posting in them would be more appropriate.

    Wrong...see the other threads when DR launched and you will see a policy that no threads "criticizing" PWE are allowed. Call it doom or whatever it is against the rules.

    You may not post content which contains insults to other users or Perfect World Entertainment Staff, are specifically made to create undue discontent on the forums, disturbances in forum threads, pick fights or otherwise promote unfriendly conversation
    ​​
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  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,501 Arc User
    storules wrote: »
    A word of caution...there will be lots of people who will argue with anything resembling opposition to AOY. Usually opposing views are not taken well and perhaps your thread might be closed down soon. Good points but you can't argue with PWE..its against the rules.

    False. Flaming, trolling, ragequits and DOOM! are against forum rules. So is attacking the mods, developers, or other players.

    Criticism is NOT. In fact most threads include criticism, dissent, second-guessing, griping and whining.

    If this thread is closed it will be because there are eleventy existing threads on this topic already, and posting in them would be more appropriate.

    Wrong...see the other threads when DR launched and you will see a policy that no threads "criticizing" PWE are allowed. Call it doom or whatever it is against the rules.

    You may not post content which contains insults to other users or Perfect World Entertainment Staff, are specifically made to create undue discontent on the forums, disturbances in forum threads, pick fights or otherwise promote unfriendly conversation
    ​​

    Flaming or trolling is not the same as disagreeing, at all. "Insults", "disturbances", "pick fights" is not required to say that you disagree with the Crystalline Event reward being only a single-character unlock, or that you wish the next expansion would have had different content. It's possible to argue your points politely without insults and attacks.

  • stonewbiestonewbie Member Posts: 1,454 Arc User
    But we've got a game set in the 25th century, with amazing potential to explore plot ideas that the shows hinted at but never followed up on. And that has been done a little bit, but there is still so much more that can be done in a foreward-going manner. Officially, the movies are rebooted TOS. I remember reading somewhere that the forthcoming new Star Trek show is going to be set between STVI and TNG, exploring the Generation Gap. And while it can be argued whether or not STO is canon, it IS the only officially authorized Star Trek visual medium that is set in the Star Trek PRIME universe, exploring the possibilities of what transpires after Star Trek Nemesis.

    I dont know anybody else but i always have those cool moments when they do "back to the future" or keepers of times (WoW) type moments. Like remember the times Marty Mcfly or even Doc Brown would run into their past selves? or how you would be doing a CoT dungeon/raid in WoW and you see something from other Warcraft games (like the RTS series). I get that same feeling any time they do a STO mission where Voy or TOS is references. Its like "ohh neat its Scottie" or "hey isnt that Spock on the communicator?". Actually DS9 did that in an episode too where the Defiant has to go back to station K7 to intercept the Darvin klingon guy. You had Bashir banging his grandma, you had O'Brien in the line up after the bar brawl, and you had Sisko and Dax rooting through a bin full of tribbles while Kirk and Spock are on the other side having a convo. The reactions like Spock saying something that Dax mentioned earlier and everybody shared that look like yah they just said that. Or Kirk getting tribbles falling on his head and you find out its cause Dax and Sisko are throwing it down on top of him.


    Moments like that when a game, show or movie do an scene/episode/mission that takes place in their own past especially if its an event known to the viewer is kinda neat. Compared to all the "amazing potential to explore plot ideas" i would rather have some of those other moments like i mentioned.
  • leemwatsonleemwatson Member Posts: 5,331 Arc User
    *SIGH* I wish the OP would re-read the info. There isn't ANOTHER Federation faction being added at all. You're creating a character in the TOS era who will progress to the current STO era after completing the AoY missions!
    "You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
  • jovianusjovianus Member Posts: 88 Arc User
    brian334 wrote: »
    STO's mission from the beginning has been to explore the ideas presented in the several series, as opposed to seeking out original ideas for their MMO. Creative, unique, and most importantly, non-canon ideas are not really wanted by STO's writers, whose goal is to reference one or more of the various shows or movies in every episode.

    As good an idea as you may have, you must link it to something seen on the screen for it to be a viable choice for STO.

    Cryptics problem is laziness. When they actually do something original with things that were glossed over or unexplored in the series it works rather well (Iconian War, Dyson Spheres) but alas, 90% of the time they'd rather just rehash all ready well-trod ground with minimal effort and just count on nostalgia carrying players through it.

    See: almost everything except the Iconian War and Solanae. There were times I wanted to shoot myself in Delta Rising, and I could just feel their desperation, "No, it makes no sense, and yes it's just an interminably long bunch of system patrols masquerading as a featured episode, but look! It's got Malons and Kazons and those other guys from Voyager you totally loved, right? RIGHT GUYS?"
  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,501 Arc User
    edited May 2016
    Or, even better, they could do the AoY thing and also introduce TOS-era KDF. It's a period where the Federation and Klingon Empire are in a state of open hostility with each other. Perfect for new PvP content, which has been lacking for some time, and doesn't make sense in the post-Iconian War era, where the UFP and KDF are officially allies again. But are they doing that? Doesn't look like it...

    Because less than 17% prefer KDF over Federation content and 1%? do PVP. It makes more sense to put that money into Federation story episodes instead.

    If the consoles make the overall player base much much larger, the 17% KDF captains will become a large enough market for Cryptic to consider making more KDF-exclusive content. Until then it does not make business sense for them.
  • rattler2rattler2 Member Posts: 57,973 Community Moderator
    edited May 2016
    With the work put in to moving us BACKWARDS with a TOS UFP mini-faction, which I do not recall ANYONE asking for, they could have given us a Cardassian mini-faction which could join either the UFP or the KDF like the NRR mini-faction, which people HAVE been asking for.
    Yeeeaaaa... And how would they handle the ships for Cardassians? They're most iconic ship was in the VERY FIRST LOCKBOX! They shot themselves in the foot. And I STILL don't see the appeal of a Cardassian faction.
    Or, even better, they could do the AoY thing and also introduce TOS-era KDF. It's a period where the Federation and Klingon Empire are in a state of open hostility with each other. Perfect for new PvP content, which has been lacking for some time, and doesn't make sense in the post-Iconian War era, where the UFP and KDF are officially allies again. But are they doing that? Doesn't look like it...

    PvP? LOL
    Hate to say it but unless you gimp yourself and your opponent with pre agreed upon rules PvP is horribly unbalanced. With all the power creep its gotten to the point where sneak sneak Alpha Strike is pretty much the name of the game. And no one does it better than a Romulan with a full compliment of SRO BOffs. The DPS is out of control. You go in with a PvE build... and you'll get wrecked instantly by an alpha strike with a spike damage WAY ABOVE any means of countering. The only real way to have an actual, balanced battle with someone is a prearranged duel with lower tier ships or something like that. Open PvP... well... have fun getting ganked before you can even blink.
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
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  • samt1996samt1996 Member Posts: 2,856 Arc User
    Why I don't care about your opinion:

    Because I don't.
  • jovianusjovianus Member Posts: 88 Arc User
    Or, even better, they could do the AoY thing and also introduce TOS-era KDF. It's a period where the Federation and Klingon Empire are in a state of open hostility with each other. Perfect for new PvP content, which has been lacking for some time, and doesn't make sense in the post-Iconian War era, where the UFP and KDF are officially allies again. But are they doing that? Doesn't look like it...

    Because less than 17% prefer KDF over Federation content and 1%? do PVP. It makes more sense to put that money into Federation story episodes instead.

    If the consoles make the overall player base much much larger, the 17% KDF captains will become a large enough market for Cryptic to consider making more KDF-exclusive content. Until then it does not make business sense for them.

    Of course, actually putting some time and effort into KDF, or Romulan, content and ships would probably help draw players to them.

    I mean even if you don't particularly like the Federation, you know that there at least you're always going to be getting new content and ships.

    If you like KDF or Romulan however...well, you better really, really love them, because you're certainly not playing for the expansive content and wide variety of ships.
  • whamhammer1whamhammer1 Member Posts: 2,290 Arc User
    Hey, were upon the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, without TOS, there would be nothing. I think its great that we get to celebrate half-a-centurity of Star Trek goodness with some TOS retro content.
  • duncanidaho11duncanidaho11 Member Posts: 7,867 Arc User
    edited May 2016
    When the main talking point for the next expansion was, prior to AoY, the hope for a Dominion/Cardassian/Borg mini-faction...why has the new mini-faction not being the actual KDF/ROM become an issue? What do think would have happened in any other case? A big chunk (but not the entirety, read the full announcement) of the new content would have been made available to new faction characters only, who would be re-integrated back into the multi-faction story line after their arc was over.

    Same difference (but with even less potential cross-over), so what are you really saying by complaining about it, op?
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  • voyagerfan9751voyagerfan9751 Member Posts: 1,120 Arc User
    When the main talking point for the next expansion was, prior to AoY, the hope for a Dominion/Cardassian/Borg mini-faction...why has the new mini-faction not being the actual KDF/ROM become an issue? What do think would have happened in any other case? A big chunk (but not the entirety, read the full announcement) of the new content would have been made available to new faction characters only, who would be re-integrated back into the multi-faction story line after their arc was over.

    Same difference (but with even less potential cross-over), so what are you really saying by complaining about it, op?

    This is part of the reason I have never understood the vitrol for a TOS faction. I can understand if TOS isn't your thing (heck before I played the content on tribble, i wasn't jazzed about it either). But the idea that KDF or RR factions would somehow get more content when the point of the expansion was not TOS but the Cardassians or Dominion, just doesn't make sense to me.
  • dracounguisdracounguis Member Posts: 5,358 Arc User
    brian334 wrote: »
    STO's mission from the beginning has been to explore the ideas presented in the several series...


    Nope. STOs mission has been to make money.
  • johnnymo1johnnymo1 Member Posts: 697 Arc User
    I love the new content set in the era of the original show, I just want a whole lot more of it. The 4 missions look great, but for an expansion with a new galactic map and all the art work done by the devs on this, I don't want something I can blow through in 2 hours, just to then have to re level another character.
  • samt1996samt1996 Member Posts: 2,856 Arc User
    There are five missions up so far plus the tutorial. Many more to come.
  • knuhteb5knuhteb5 Member Posts: 1,831 Arc User
    edited May 2016
    I have somewhat softened my position on AOY and think it is a smart move considering AOY is timed perfectly to celebrate the 50th anniversary of TOS and to conincide with the release of the new JJ trek movie which takes place in a TOS parallel universe. Not only will Cryptic attract TOS fans that are looking to revisit the franchise during it's anniversary but they'll also attract JJ trek fans that want to learn more about trek. It's more well played than many of you think it is.

    As for expanding the other factions, that will come later on down the road. Just relax and enjoy the ride for now.
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  • jonsillsjonsills Member Posts: 10,354 Arc User
    I'm just tremendously amused by someone with the screenname "storules" wishing aloud that this game had been shut down.
    Lorna-Wing-sig.png
  • wraithshadow13wraithshadow13 Member Posts: 1,728 Arc User
    STO's development is all over the place, and not in a good way, in my opinion.

    This has been a constant issue for a long time now. Personally, I think they're just kind of throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks, since it explains why so many unrelated things get added then almost immediately abandoned in most Cryptic games.

    I would have loved for them to have done a Dominion based faction instead, or have just rather fixed, and finished a lot of the things that were added early on and abandoned. Hell, I've been an LTS since Beta and I still can't get a full body skin for my Liberated Captains, which is just sad at this point... very sad...

    I fully agree that there are a lot of things this game could have done that would have been better than just rehashing old TOS episodes, while still touching on them. I like when they touch on older stuff and mention what may have ended up from a lot of those unanswered questions, but much like the Romulans, they're not going to do enough. It's not a Faction. And while there was a lot of work thrown into this, I hardly feel like it's an expansion as it doesn't really expand the game, it just adds a small TOS themed game inside of it... Like Modding Nintendo games into modern first person shooters. Yeah, it's fun for a hot minute, but much like the Delta Characters, there is no substance. Once you're done with it, you're done with it. What can they really add to it that would add to your other characters a year from now? What can they do with it that will benefit missions six months after you've played through it? Does your TOS character interact with your other characters in later missions? Aside from just being there to be there, what does this "expansion" do for the game as a whole aside from adding something that has little to no effect on any other aspect of gameplay aside from giving PWE the power to say "we added something".

    Granted, I haven't played through the whole thing (as it's not out) so I can't say for sure but seeing as it's cryptic's M.O. I get the feeling that they're going to drop this, patch it a few times, then leave it as is, milking it as hard as they can while adding ships with a TOS theme that really doesn't benefit the game at all.

    yay...


    If anything, this should have been an expansion for our Delta officers. They're already Time travel themed. It gives them more of a reason to exist and more importantly, I would have added different times to travel to, which gives you ALL OF TIME to add things from. Cowboy (with dual revolvers) or Samurai gear (and a Kitana)? Sure. Dress like Gangsters with a tommy gun? It happenen on the show, so sure. Sherlock Holmes themed stuff? Yes please.

    Expand the Playable classes, expand the number of ACTUAL Factions, turn the half of a half faction into a FULL faction. Expand on anything you've already placed into the game to make it more beneficial to the game as a whole, but don't add something that has no affect on anything else. Don't add some single use content just to say you added things.

    Hell, Revamp and expand the Character Creator. Give us more sliders, more skins, more options to create more races (both canon and non). Give us full body skins for more characters (infected complexion, c'mon...). I would have rather had a Collective expansion or a Dominion Expansion. Something that ties to the whole game. Don't just toss in a few themed TOS missions unless ALL of my characters have a way of playing that content, or it's enough to match the Fed faction proper.


    While it looks like a lot of work went into this, it's not what I would have asked for. It's just another unwanted character gathering dust and falsely boosting the metrics.
  • farmallmfarmallm Member Posts: 4,630 Arc User
    For the 50th on Star Trek. I'm glad to see this come out. And we can actually play TOS style. Unlike the crappy ones where you go back to stop some ghosts. Those was horrible.
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  • askrayaskray Member Posts: 3,329 Arc User
    Few things -

    You're more than welcome to give constructive feedback on anything PWE or Cryptic does. Attacking them personally, the company etc is not.

    "Hey I like this however it would be better if.." <--- Good

    "Hey that is utter TRIBBLE you people suck at making a game" <--- bad

    See the difference?

    Also, posts with the inb4 lock TRIBBLE have been deleted. Unless you're a mod knowing how we think you don't know if we're going to lock or not. So stop with that stupid spam.
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  • szimszim Member Posts: 2,503 Arc User
    edited May 2016
    I disagree. First, I'm not a huge fan of the original series, I watched maybe 10 episodes in total whenever I stumbled across them on a lazy Sunday afternoon. But setting the new expansion in the TOS era makes perfect sense to me.

    - this year is the 50th anniversary of TOS which means they will get a whole lot of free advertisement on TV and in magazines
    - the TOS fan crowd had gotten hadly any assets in STO so far
    - they are trying to attract new people, an older generation with more money to spare
    - TOS provides the right time frame to make a JJuniverse crossover possible
    - it paves to way for a possible future expansion based on the new series (which is set between TOS an TNG)
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