Does a lifetime membership affect gameplay?

captainmscott

I have been an on and off player of the FTP level and have gone as high as i can on 2 different SF chracters. However, many of the missions result in overwhelming domination by the AI in combat regardless of my ships' layouts (weapons, shields, maneuverability). I've heard backtalk that it play much different as a lifer.

imperatorpaveli

Lifers have access to some ships, and a small experince boost, but as far as I know (as a fellow F2P myself), there's no advantage when it comes to damage or anything.

dirlettia

Lifetimers get an xp boost which applies to every member of their team, a couple of ships that are almost never used and extra space for reserve BOFFS and ships. Nothing really affects gameplay as such, but I suppose that as a subber their is a zen stipend so we get access to more consoles and the like from ships we bought from the store but even a F2P can do that by using the dilithium exchange. To me it would seem more the problem is you may just need a refresher from a few more regular players on ship setups and how to handle certain enemies to improve survivability. Even the last episodes are easily done with mk x weapons on a level 60 captain who hasnt set their skills yet so domniation should not be happening at all.

ichaerus1

Each lifetime subscriber gets 4 ships per character(shuttle, character promotion token, T5-U veteran ship, and T6 veteran ship), of which the T6 one is really good.

arionisa

As a lifer, I can honestly say that being a lifer has absolutely no affect on gameplay. With the exception of the Captains yacht being much better than other shuttle class ships (for the few times you need a shuttle) there is nothing a lifer gets that is any better than what everyone else has access to. I used my T6 veteran ship(s) for a while, then promptly dismissed them and used my much better C-store ship(s) instead.

The veteran ships are quite nice and would work wonderfully for someone who hasn't already purchased a good C-store ship or two (or three, or...). Heck, someone could easily use the veteran ship and never buy a C-store ship at all.

But, as for the basic question, I think the only game play advantage a lifer might have is that having spent that amount of money on the game, a lifer is possibly more likely to take some extra time to hone their skills/set ups compared to a casual F2P. We definitely do not get any kind of damage or resistance bonus for being a lifer and, with the exception of the captains yacht already mentioned, what little gear and stuff a lifer gets, (that might have been top notch when LTS first came out), isn't even good enough to be called second rate compared to current C-store and even free stuff in the game.

captainmscott

Thanks for the input and suggestions. My Ship inventory includes 2 Defiant class (DS9), USS Enterprise (Constitution class), An Excelsior-like ship (STVI), and a couple Galaxy Class (Enterprise-D)... i've tried mounting mk x+ weapons and/or shields and dabbled with various consoles but almost always get my butt kicked. Perhaps my laptop is too obsolete to handle quick maneuvering or firing weapons. Even Borg encounters blow me up minimum 3x per encounter.

jaguarskx

The only thing an under performing could possibly affect your gameplay is low frame rate and lag. It would not affect the performance of your ship. But if you get hit with lag in the middle of combat, then yeah...

The LTS has no affect on gameplay. Sure, Lifetimers get some perks like T5 and T6 veteran ships, +5% extra XP, and an android bridge officer, but they have no real affect on gameplay. I can play STO just find with either my primary STO account (purchased LTS) or my free 2 play only secondary STO account.

The problem you are having is likely based on the gear you have, the bridge officer (Boff) abilities you have slotted, and your own skills as a player (everyone goes through this phase).

The likely issue is that you are not used to having your shields drained to nothing in a matter of seconds. The best defense against the Borg is "hull tanking" which means to focus your attention on hull repair while in combat. Don't bother using abilities to restore your shields when the Borg's tachyon beam which is used to drain shields is still in effect. You want to basically focus on Engineering Team and Hazard Emitters. You can also Polarized Hull since it provides some damage resistance.

You should check the Exchange for a Mk X+ Neutronium Alloy if you do not have that engineering console yet. It gives you resistance to all energy weapon and kinetic damage. Get the highest Mk your level allows you to use. Even a common (white) version is better than nothing.

dirlettia

Also you may try making sure you are setting weapons to autofire by right clicking them so they get a green border, and setting power distribution so you (generally) have full power to weapons. Beyond that position yourself at a range of just over 5km so you are out of range of tractor beams and the like so you have more freedom to move around to keep a side with shields facing the enemy. The further away you are the more time you have to target destructible projecticles which some enemies like the D'dedirex (sp?) throw at you which can really ruin your day.

Beyond that try and stick to one type of energy type as the damage boosting consoles wok better the more specialised they are, Ie +Phaser consoles will do a lot higher percentage (+50%) than +beam damage consoles so help damage output. If your enemy is dead it cannot shoot you is a mantra for pretty much most players here today. Also the Defiant type ships, ie escorts, are squishy so you may like to swap to a cruiser first, then maybe a science vessel before moving on to escorts.

br3akingforce

also, borg npc ships are really good at stripping your shields quickly, especially at close range...so along with the other suggestions here, try to stay a bit further away, and either watch your shields closely (and have ways to replenish them handy), or take care of your hull (again, with various boff skills that heal and offer resistances). also, consider your active doffs. some of them give quite nice bonuses. like damage control engineers that reduce the cooldown on emergency power to (insert subsystem here) skills when you use an eptx skill. and are relatively cheap to purchase.

as mentioned, it's also pretty important to kill stuff as fast as you can. with that in mind, the specialized damage type tactical consoles work better than the more generalized beam or cannon ones. so, for example, if you're using a full rack of phasers and phaser damage consoles, you'll do that better than someone using a mix of different damage types and beam consoles.

further, like dirlettia said, different types of ships are different. cruisers will be much more durable than a comparable-tier escort or science ship, though they will have less potential damage or potential support capability in the sciship's case. if you're getting rekt in an escort, try fitting up a cruiser comparably and doing the same content. keep in mind that with a cruiser, you can equip more weapons than on an escort, and because they're less maneuverable, you'll probably want to circle your prey, keeping them in a broadside arc so that all 8 of your beams can fire on them at the same time, rather than making strafing runs like you would in an escort.

my final advice here: if you don't have a fleet, get one. if you have a fleet but noone's ever on, join an active one. even if you prefer to play by yourself and not talk much, there are very solid reasons to join one. not the least of which are access to fleet stores and the ability to buy fleet ships. furthermore, there are a lot of sto veterans around willing to freely share advice and tips and other assistance where it's needed. if you're interested, the 44th Fleet is always looking for new friends. pop on over to startrek.44thfleet.com and toss an application up on our recruitment forum.

good hunting o7