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Forums > Home› Star Trek Online General Discussion

Ways to combat STO bouts of boredom and re-incentivize players?

storulesstorules Member Posts: 3,286 Arc User
edited October 2016 in Star Trek Online General Discussion
Anyone who has been in STO for years would be aware of the periodic cycles of "boredom" here in STO that are usually made worse between MAJOR updates/Seasons.

This is NOT a doom comment but a way to capture ways to let STO what they should be doing to make this game more "active" during those periods of time.

Year after year one could note that late spring and fall (USA) are the most boring times for STO and they need to do something useful to counteract that trend.

Choose from options here or make up your own ways that DEVs should at least consider for future periods of boredom.
tumblr_ncbngkt24X1ry46hlo1_400.gif

Ways to combat STO bouts of boredom and re-incentivize players? 84 votes

Give free goodies like in past (C store freebies) At least for a week....ALWAYS a crowd pleaser.
11% 10 votes
Feature Episode Reruns with Lobbi bonus for doing entire story
23% 20 votes
Add More smaller events like CE or MU with better rewards like a free ship or "extra Dilithium" bonus 350X or above.
5% 5 votes
Re-open recruiting phases. Delta or AOY recruits for those juicy bonus. A no brainer and a win/win but open them for longer periods of time. At least 3 months to fill in gaps.
8% 7 votes
Hold Q return events similar to annyversary event to give away smaller random smaller prizes for 15 days
1% 1 vote
Hold or sponsor PvP league or PvE league contests and award prizes to top players.
4% 4 votes
Incentivize PvE queues with extra "bonus" marks or Tour of the galaxy runs for "bonus" rewards for 15 days or so.
5% 5 votes
Make your own...State with your own DETAILS please.
20% 17 votes
What boredom? what are you talking about?
17% 15 votes
«134

Comments

  • kodachikunokodachikuno Member Posts: 6,020 Arc User1
    Out of this list, the lobi is the one I can see incentivizing people most. Its the hardest to obtain currency, and the one completely out of reach of anyone w/o a gambling addiction.
    tumblr_mr1jc2hq2T1rzu2xzo1_400.gif
    tacofangs wrote: »
    STO isn't canon, and neither are any of the books.
  • angrybobhangrybobh Member Posts: 420 Arc User
    I'd like something for the people that might need to grind out a mark or 2 and for people with boredom. If the incentive is good enough, it might liven up the queues. Maybe rotate a bunch of queues around every hour or so. When is the last time you played more than that one or two queues you normally do? For me, it has been quite some time for most of them.
  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,693 Arc User
    They have to be careful to balance boredom with event fatigue and with people taking events for granted.

    If every other weekend was an upgrade weekend, no one would scramble to upgrade during one. Meh, it'll be back.

    If Temporal Recruit was 3 months instead of 6? weeks, meh I'll get around to it next week. Or maybe not at all if I expect it to return in 6 months.

    Cyptic wants you to take the events seriously, not for granted.

  • kodachikunokodachikuno Member Posts: 6,020 Arc User1
    Perhaps a small trickle of Lobi for an STF run during a roundhouse event?
    So like 1.5x normal rewards for a Featured STF run, on a featured STF, which changes every two hours. Then once every 6hrs you could get 5/10/15 lobi on top of that. (for normal/adv/elite)
    tumblr_mr1jc2hq2T1rzu2xzo1_400.gif
    tacofangs wrote: »
    STO isn't canon, and neither are any of the books.
  • starcruiser#3423 starcruiser
    starcruiser#3423
         Member Posts: 1,264 Arc User
    I love "freebies" even though I might not use them. Might bring players in the very short run but in the long run might not fix the problem with inactivity. I'm split between freebies and FE reruns but give me the money.​​
  • warpangelwarpangel Member Posts: 9,427 Arc User
    More events is always good. I know games that run events non-stop, even several at once. Of course, to be practical with reasonable development resources, this requires re-runs, not this current exclusivity shtick.
  • UnknownUnknown
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  • leemwatsonleemwatson Member Posts: 5,515 Arc User
    davefenestrator wrote: »
    They have to be careful to balance boredom with event fatigue and with people taking events for granted.

    If every other weekend was an upgrade weekend, no one would scramble to upgrade during one. Meh, it'll be back.

    If Temporal Recruit was 3 months instead of 6? weeks, meh I'll get around to it next week. Or maybe not at all if I expect it to return in 6 months.

    Cyptic wants you to take the events seriously, not for granted.

    This exactly. People DO take freebies and events for granted, and people will ALWAYS want more. Be happy with what you get and never, ever look a gift Cryptic horse in the mouth.
    "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.
  • jaguarskxjaguarskx Member Posts: 5,945 Arc User
    I don't mind the lulls between events. The break gives me time to do other things that I have neglected to do whether that is in STO, another game or in real life. It took a 5 month break from July - Dec 2015 due to event fatigue. I came back just in time to complete the Winter Event to get the Breen Dreadnought with 1 day to spare. I didn't even bother checking for what freebies were given out (if any) in late summer 2015.

    Right now I am just relaxing and focusing on gathering rep marks, some dil and gradually doing the missions in the Delta Quadrant for some of my "newer" captains only got as far as the Dyson Sphere story arc.
  • asuran14asuran14 Member Posts: 2,335 Arc User
    I would rather see them use the boredom times as points to release smaller updates. Like expand on story-arcs that were not fallowed, maybe update old reps an thier ques. I mean we had so much content they could have expanded on in the delta expansion, like a story arc dealing with the cooperative, the aftermath of the vaadwaur civil war.

    Then you have the reps that after you get them capped an we get new reps, well get left behind. Now if we had an update that had us called back to the older reps as they needed new aid. That could create a draw to do the older content that is left abandoned. THis could be done in a manner like the mirror/crystal/breach events, but instead of a single stf we need to do, we actually need to gather marks/items from several of the stfs aligned with a given rep, and also give them some normal/elite marks of their type alongside dil/energy-credits.
  • tacticalrooktacticalrook Member Posts: 810 Arc User
    There is already a nice balance between the seasonal events and the off-season. Cryptic and PW have done a good job finding this balance in order to maximize the length of time the average player can play the game before succumbing to grind madness or boredom.

    Simply put, having a non-stop series of events with no reprieve would greatly reduce the average lifespan of players.
    /channel_join grind
  • salazarrazesalazarraze Member Posts: 3,794 Arc User
    It's either threads about "boredom" or threads about "event fatigue." Once again, the devs just can't win.
    When you see "TRIBBLE" in my posts, it's because I manually typed "TRIBBLE" and censored myself.
  • UnknownUnknown
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  • iconiansiconians Member Posts: 6,987 Arc User
    edited October 2016
    tacticalrook wrote: »
    There is already a nice balance between the seasonal events and the off-season. Cryptic and PW have done a good job finding this balance in order to maximize the length of time the average player can play the game before succumbing to grind madness or boredom.

    Simply put, having a non-stop series of events with no reprieve would greatly reduce the average lifespan of players.

    Periods of boredom are healthy for any game. What's important is that those periods don't last indefinately.​​
    ExtxpTp.jpg
  • garaks31garaks31 Member Posts: 2,845 Arc User
    jet ski tournements on andoria ,nimbus and risa
    tmprl.jpg?width=998&height=499

    https://forum.arcgames.com/startrekonline/discussion/1249570/axanar-locks-in-start-date-for-filming
  • angrytargangrytarg Member Posts: 11,010 Arc User
    Handing out giveaways is nice, but does nothing to counter "boredom". After all I'm (supposedly) bored because I burned out on replaying the same content over and over. Doing that with a goveaway ship only does so much.

    In my opinion STO needs indefinitely replayable and at least partly randomized content. Like the old star clusters. Take the DOFF/admiralty assignments as a template for content we can actually play instead of pretend. Slightly variable enemies, objectives, obstacles and events and voila.
    lFC4bt2.gif
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  • dirlettiadirlettia Member Posts: 1,632 Arc User
    While Freebies are always nice I do not rely on them to get me to return. Instead I pace myself and decide I am going to do something, and when I have done that something I move on to one of my other games and do the same there. I always think it is bad to get all your enjoyment from one thing as it can hit hard when that one thing is inevitably shut down so spread yourself and be less disappointed when it happens!
    Still waiting to be able to use forum titles
  • kodachikunokodachikuno Member Posts: 6,020 Arc User1
    valoreah wrote: »
    kodachikuno wrote: »
    Out of this list, the lobi is the one I can see incentivizing people most. Its the hardest to obtain currency, and the one completely out of reach of anyone w/o a gambling addiction.

    These statements are fallacies. Lobi are not outside the reach of anyone nor is there any gambling involved with obtaining Lobi. Each and every lockbox/promo box opened rewards Lobi crystals 100% of the time. No gambling whatsoever.

    As for the topic at hand, even adding suggested events will prove "boring" to some, so there is not much point to this discussion. If you are bored, take a break and come back when you feel like it. Your account will still be here.

    You misunderstand my statement. You need the gambling addiction to bother opening lockboxes. Sure every box gives out a trickle of lobi but you don't open them unless you're aiming for the gamble goodie.
    tumblr_mr1jc2hq2T1rzu2xzo1_400.gif
    tacofangs wrote: »
    STO isn't canon, and neither are any of the books.
  • UnknownUnknown
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  • bubblegirl2015bubblegirl2015 Member Posts: 831 Arc User
    edited October 2016
    angrytarg wrote: »
    Handing out giveaways is nice, but does nothing to counter "boredom". After all I'm (supposedly) bored because I burned out on replaying the same content over and over. Doing that with a goveaway ship only does so much.

    In my opinion STO needs indefinitely replayable and at least partly randomized content. Like the old star clusters. Take the DOFF/admiralty assignments as a template for content we can actually play instead of pretend. Slightly variable enemies, objectives, obstacles and events and voila.

    I agree with this. However, the least path of resistance is something that they can do with the least amount of resources. This means periodic FE re-runs with lobbi as rewards. Only they need to do is turn on/off.​​
    Wiki editor http://sto.gamepedia.com
    Original STO beta tester.
  • kodachikunokodachikuno Member Posts: 6,020 Arc User1
    valoreah wrote: »
    there are a great many who open up prize boxes with the sole intent to collect Lobi as they are a guaranteed outcome.

    If that is true than "more money than sense" is far more prevalent than I thought
    tumblr_mr1jc2hq2T1rzu2xzo1_400.gif
    tacofangs wrote: »
    STO isn't canon, and neither are any of the books.
  • UnknownUnknown
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  • kodachikunokodachikuno Member Posts: 6,020 Arc User1
    edited October 2016
    valoreah wrote: »
    kodachikuno wrote: »
    If that is true than "more money than sense" is far more prevalent than I thought

    Why? If a player wanted to purchase a 200 Lobi costume, they would open 40 or so lockboxes and have their Lobi guaranteed. Zero gambling involved. I don't see how that makes anyone foolish with their money. It's a guaranteed outcome.

    because anyone that spends that much for a one off character(not account wide) doodad is a bloody fool. Even if they manage to buy all the keys with EC.
    tumblr_mr1jc2hq2T1rzu2xzo1_400.gif
    tacofangs wrote: »
    STO isn't canon, and neither are any of the books.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    OP is fail... no mention of Foundry at all? pfft....
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • UnknownUnknown
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  • sirmaydaysirmayday Member Posts: 535 Arc User
    Adding rotating 'incentive events' to existing queues would draw some interest in them without requiring all the much work (I suspect, at least) on the Devs/Programmers' parts. Finding an appropriate bonus may take some thought (throwing extra currency--EC or dilithium--at players just worsens inflation), but if it's good enough to make a queue worth doing, it could breathe new life into old content.
  • risian4risian4 Member Posts: 3,711 Arc User
    kodachikuno wrote: »
    valoreah wrote: »
    kodachikuno wrote: »
    If that is true than "more money than sense" is far more prevalent than I thought

    Why? If a player wanted to purchase a 200 Lobi costume, they would open 40 or so lockboxes and have their Lobi guaranteed. Zero gambling involved. I don't see how that makes anyone foolish with their money. It's a guaranteed outcome.

    because anyone that spends that much for a one off character(not account wide) doodad is a bloody fool. Even if they manage to buy all the keys with EC.

    Thank you :)

    Now I want a new Forum title: bloody fool xD
  • risian4risian4 Member Posts: 3,711 Arc User
    edited October 2016
    Something that allows us to obtain previous Winter/Summer/Anniversary event rewards and things like uniforms from episodes that are no longer available.

    Make it something you will have to work on for a longer period but with varying activities (queues, new exploration, playing Foundry missions, extra objectives in episodes like the recruitment stuff etc.) that all contribute to getting these retired items.

    Edit: I voted " Make your own...State with your own DETAILS please." btw
  • roborobin96roborobin96 Member Posts: 107 Arc User
    Personally, I want the possibility to earn more Lobi with the FE reruns. Earning Lobi is a frustrating task because you either have to shell out real money or grind EC to buy keys (which often involves shelling out real money). It is especially frustrating for players who grind Lobi for a certain item and are just a few keys away from the price, but have just run out of keys.
    830px-Vesta_side.jpg

    Who's the prettiest of them all?
  • kodachikunokodachikuno Member Posts: 6,020 Arc User1
    risian4 wrote: »
    kodachikuno wrote: »
    valoreah wrote: »
    kodachikuno wrote: »
    If that is true than "more money than sense" is far more prevalent than I thought

    Why? If a player wanted to purchase a 200 Lobi costume, they would open 40 or so lockboxes and have their Lobi guaranteed. Zero gambling involved. I don't see how that makes anyone foolish with their money. It's a guaranteed outcome.

    because anyone that spends that much for a one off character(not account wide) doodad is a bloody fool. Even if they manage to buy all the keys with EC.

    Thank you :)

    Now I want a new Forum title: bloody fool xD

    were it my forum, you'd have it
    tumblr_mr1jc2hq2T1rzu2xzo1_400.gif
    tacofangs wrote: »
    STO isn't canon, and neither are any of the books.
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