How is PVP in STO these days?

l4huz3r

I love Star Trek, but havent played STO for years. I also love PVP. I liked how it was at launch. The feel of it. I just wonder how PVP is ingame these days? Is it only some "battleground"-type matches with 5v5 or something lame like that. Or is there any conflicts between federation, Romulans, Klingons etc in open space?

Unknown

This content has been removed.

usskentucky

I play PVP in STO every day. And so do a lot of others. You have stakes free pug fighting in the Kerrat system battle zone. You can do 5vs5 in the pvp queue menu. Basically, you need thick skin or the genius to minimize the chat box if you don't like smack talk. Most of us do PVP to learn new mechanics, so the best thing you can do is turn on the combat log reader and ask questions after getting blown up. Don't be dissuaded from trying PVP once you reach endgame. We have a small, but growing community. These haters claiming it is dead in this thread and others are just mad because they can't compete.

usskentucky

There is also a working leaderboard. http://hilbertguide.com/leaderboard

I think the data is submitted by a sample group at the moment, but it appears to update each week

Unknown

This content has been removed.

usskentucky

null
Yeah, I was probably there, playing as the notorious KLINGER. I'm currently playing in a sphere builder ship, as are several other klink regulars. Maybe we'll officially adopt them as DOOM BUILDERS, the official temporal ships of the empire. Your description sounds pretty accurate. I do think there's room for PVP to grow again. Players like me who came after the DR expansion have no memory of that fabled golden era for sto PVP. we're finally catching up with learning the advanced mechanics and want people to compete with. Hats off to you for playing in a t-5 during the temporal age, and thank you for your hard work helping to eradicate teddy scum. I hope slaying in older ships becomes the next big challenge for players. Right now, though, I think they need to set it up so that there are two feddy teams; then they might have a chance.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

orondis

l4huz3r wrote: »

I love Star Trek, but havent played STO for years. I also love PVP. I liked how it was at launch. The feel of it. I just wonder how PVP is ingame these days? Is it only some "battleground"-type matches with 5v5 or something lame like that. Or is there any conflicts between federation, Romulans, Klingons etc in open space?

PvP at launch was fantastic once they fixed the VM+SNB combo. It even felt like Star Trek.

PvP now? It's virtually dead. The powercreep was bad before the Delta quadrant expansion, now it's insane. Bridge Officer powers that can deal 100k through shields. FBP boosted to over 3x the incoming damage and always crits. Invincibilties, immunities, placates. PvP is a complete wreck... No, that doesn't even come close to describing it's state.

You can't even complain that the s*** is broken, because it's working as intended. Looking at how it's possible to one man the Crystalline Entity in under 30 seconds, Cryptic's intention is to make us all god like beings.

It'll never be fully dead. You'll get a few deluded players who think PvP is fine, usually those who use the broken working-as-cryptic-intended hideously overpowered skills. You'll also get those of us who are still addicted to it and rant about how much they hate it*, yet keep queuing.

* I was one of them, but I've just now fully given up on PvP. Entropic Redistribution was the straw that broke the camels back. What with FBP and now this... Basically PvP was putting me in a bad mood and I do not play a game to be put in a bad mood. Frustrated and challenged sure, that's what I loved about PvP in the past (it's the reason I ONLY did PvP in the past). What we have now isn't a challenge, it's an aggravating angering unbalanced mess. I won't miss the current gameplay, but I will miss some of the community (though many of them have left also).

TLDR: It's virtually dead and what's left of it isn't worth playing.

yoda2005

If PvP was dead, how could a queue match then last nearly an hour?
http://hilbertguide.com/leaderboard/encounter.php?id=15142

usskentucky

I burst a blood vessel in my left eye from PVPing in Kerrat all day

admiralkogar

Well I will say that I have become bored of PVP and even PVE to some degree because of the insta-kills that have become so common. It has all the flavor of a bread sandwich with extra bread. However, I am willing to give moral support the Ironman challenge that Patrickngo is offering. I have been spreading the word in my circles, and I will most likely even participate.

I will repeat, this from someone who has become very disinterested in PVP as it is now. I am giving serious thought to his challenge. You may want to check out the other thread ...?

Qapla!

usskentucky

I'm doing the challenge Kogar. See you on December 6th. I'll try to recruit kerrat rats. Some of them hate me enough to jump at the chance to blow me up at level 10 i bet.

admiralkogar

usskentucky wrote: »

I'm doing the challenge Kogar. See you on December 6th. I'll try to recruit kerrat rats. Some of them hate me enough to jump at the chance to blow me up at level 10 i bet.

Cool! I think I can have 1 KDF Tac and 3 UFP, 1 each tac, sci, and Eng. I'll have at least one ready for sure no matter what.
Qapla!

mrgrocer56

It is so sad to come back and see this. Kudos to all of you still fighting the good fight. You have my respect.

cocoajin

Old timer here, starting over(can't seem to access my old account). Used to PvP primarily, KDF only. Loved space PvP, especially in the lower tiers. Low tier was the best, a quintessential Trek combat experience.

The issue of power creep was evident then, in favor of Fed Science trumping all other classes. But in my mind the biggest problem was the single-minded approach to what constituted "winning". The Devs did a great job of accentuating the differences in KDF vs Fed approaches to combat, but maintain a single, Fed-oriented model for victory.

PvP queues rapidly decreased when the single-minded victory conditions result in Fed Sci-balls loitering over strategic locations, with KDFs having no choice but to move in, de-cloak(or being de-cloaked) and then systematically having their strengths nullified by being forced to fight the Fed's fight instead of there own in order to win. It eventually result in many of us using our KDF strengths by picking off stragglers in the arena at the expense of pursuing the strategic victory conditions of the match.

The issue was the short sighted strategy of using a single means of achieving victory. We had a wonderfully modeled asymmetry in our faction ship designs, but no asymmetry in terms of faction-centric victory conditions. We had a conventional style fleet make up in the Feds with conventional style victory conditions, against a non-conventional style faction in the KDF, further exacerbated by using a closed, arena style combat environment with timed starts and endings...it wasn't war, it was "battles in a bottle".

There was no fog of war, no open warfare, no way to truly bring the KDF's strengths to bear where Feds were stalked and attacked after their "day to day" grind lulled them into a state of complacency...and that's why we began trolling Ker'rat(I think that's what it was called). Ker'rat was the only place we're KDF victory conditions didn't necessarily have to match those of the Feds. The only place we could be KDF, where are so called "Raiders" could actually raid! Where our scouts could scout.

PvP needs to allow for multiple faction-centric victory conditions, primary and secondary objectives...and most importantly, not be so limited in terms of both time and space...it's needs to be more open, not queued, more fluid and amorphous....especially considering the population in-balance. Allow players to ebb and flow in and out of the combat theaters as they see fit.

The Feds need conventional victory conditions, the KDF needs much more guerilla style objects...that's not to say one can't pursue or seek to run interference against the victory conditions generally associated with the other faction. There is no reason the Feds can't seek Raider style victory conditions if their present ship composition heavily favors escorts for example...or KDFs pursuing conventional style victory conditions if a combat area is dominated by KDF heavies.

What's important is that a player can see the possible victory conditions and then seek to pursue those which best match their strengths.