OK, folks. As I said before, the comments are getting over the top and out of hand. The drama is unnecessary. Please keep your feedback civil and constructive. Insults, demands, and threats will be dealt with per forum rules.
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It makes it annoying to switch between toons for grinding purposes, instead of clicking the middle of the screen twice you have to click the side of the screen and then the middle.
Yeah, this is the worst...the landing page is extremely annoying to see on every log in and adds nothing to the game. All the information on it can be found elsewhere easily, and sticking TRIBBLE like lockbox keys in my face won't make me any more likely to waste my money on them. Also, it makes it more annoying to change characters/rearrange HUD/etc., since when I hit "esc" the buttons I want are no longer in the center of the screen. Please just remove this altogether in the next patch and we'll all pretend it never happened, deal?
Well, aside from the established problems of it being annoying popping up everywhere every time you log in, and it being very annoying now taking up a ridiculous amount of space on the escape screen, there are a few more problems I have with it.
It's freaking useless. The four windows are for the Infinity Box, the Romulan Minefield, Season 14.5, and the Featured Episode. The problem with this, however, is that these are all unimportant, old, and/or incorrect.
The Romulan Minefield queue, for instance, is indeed very new, but we've also got an event queue running, which should probably be put there instead.
The Infinity Lockbox is indeed a good promotion to list there, but it's also been running for a while now, and the Infinity DOff promo is much more important.
Renegade's Regret isn't actually the featured episode, but it's still listed.
Season 14.5 came out over a month ago, so it's not exactly "new"s.
Not queues and episodes, a queue and an episode. The same one for weeks on end.
Then it rotates. Ergo, queues and episodes. It's a permanent feature advertising new additions to core areas of the game.
They change comparatively rarely, and when they do the player has already been shown them in Arc and/or the launcher. How often do you launch the game and think "I just fancy playing that FE that I've already had to grind through three times already just to get all the different rewards"?
I will grant that while there's something like Mirror Invasion going on it might be handy for some people to save two whole mouse clicks and have a quick way to queue for it*, but that just leaves a vastly condensed version of something that, again, we're shown before the game even launches (the "what's new" part) and a nice, big, prominent button to buy zen.
So, I ask, what do players gain by this new addition? That's a rhetorical question. If you like it for some reason, then more power to you; when I see it I think I'd rather have the option to hide it altogether.
*Ignoring the number of people who'd rather AFK through rather than play them.
If done right, I could see a use for this function. For those that don't visit the forum, patch notes would be nice, but only the most recent patch notes when you login for the first time after a patch. Since the in-game calendar is basically unreliable. Why not just advertise the weekend or event going on at the current time of logging once it starts, but only once, like with patch notes. Even with useful information on it, some of us will still want to disable this function. Please allow us to do so!
I agree with most people here. A disable function would be helpful. If it was only when I log in the first time it would be ok but having it pop up every time you change a character is as most people would say annoying. You guys not need to get rid of it but giving us a chance to disable it would be great.
C-Store Inc. is still looking for active members on the fed side. If you don't have a fleet feel free to contact me in game @stegi.
Probably not yet.
BUT... since kael said its not WAI... that means Bort and his team are working on it. Hopefully we'll either have a fix by tomorrow afternoon, or if not at the earliest Monday.
So, I ask, what do players gain by this new addition? That's a rhetorical question. If you like it for some reason, then more power to you; when I see it I think I'd rather have the option to hide it altogether.
Nuts to rhetorical questions! What we (collectively) gain is quick access to important content updates, it's a general rule that most people don't check the website or social media. That leaves most players in the dark about what's ahead, save word of mouth.
Many modern games have content splash pages to help this problem. While that may not benefit a given player (who does check blogs, livestreams, ect.) it still results in is a better spread of information across the population. People have a better sense of what's now available. In turn, that can help player retention rates through giving players a better sense of how the game is being supported. So, you may not learn anything, but you will indirectly benefit from the community service it provides.
An opt-out button is sensible, but I personally consider it a secondary concern to 1. the implementation of the bug fix and 2. further development of information and features included in the landing page (given that this [as intended] is pretty customary in modern games and our present circumstances. Ie. affected by a bug which exasperates issues of acclimitization.)
I do wonder if they've not found a fix for the bug yet, because the patch notes for tomorrow went up and I'm not seeing a mention of the landing page.
Or it could mean that they simply weren't able to implement and verify the fix in time for tomorrow's patch. I wouldn't worry about how tricky this bug is going to be to sort out unless we're to next Thursday and there's still no patch note.
Post edited by duncanidaho11 on
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The intent is easier access to information. Who honestly pays attention to what shows up on the launcher window? Not very many people. Not only that... it doesn't provide as much detailed information Just a general heads up. And honestly... it does show some OLD stuff on there too in its rotation. Once the Landing Screen actually starts functioning as Intended... it would be an easy, in game source of information. Current running event, current C-Store sale, current Feature Episode...
Its got promise. They just need to iron out the bugs and plug in some more up to date information.
Honestly... if it means I don't have to click a few buttons every time we have a new season on every character... I'm happy. Having to click the ? button and click on the "What's new in Season X" on EVERYONE... gets annoying in the long run.
This would be a good place for flash sales to be announced, if it's implemented in real-time, since the recent ones caught flak for there not being an in-game advert for them when they go up. IF real-time updates are possible and they can somehow link it to FB and Twitter posts, it could be a good way to communicate up-to-date info to the playerbase in-game.
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So I've seen it now and here's something that doesn't make sense to me. I'm going to change characters/exit/log out through the game menu and the biggest items in the Landing Page are play an episode or join a queue (followed by latest season info and buy keys). Why in the world would I be interested in starting a mission on a character that I'm moving on from? And rarely when I'm modifying the screen/chat settings/options would any of those items interest me either. The additions seem very inappropriate to me. Maybe if they put upcoming events and deadlines of current events on the same screen I'm logging off with I could get behind it, but starting a mission just as I'm logging off? Of course upcoming events and deadlines would require Cryptic to know about events beforehand which they're pretty bad at (Hey look! DOff appreciation event this weekend - nothing on the calendar until today.) Oooh - they could put the queue countdown timers on the screen when logging out! That's also something I could get behind.
It's not as bad as I thought it would be, but useless to me and I would advocate the option to disable it. There's nothing in the Landing Page that can't be accessed somewhere else in the game at the time I choose to access it. Maybe a new player logging on would find episode access a good thing, queue access a lesser thing (how many queues can a new player access anyways?), and I guess key advertising would have to be an obligatory option as a FTP game, but as a long time player I've absolutely no interest seeing any of this stuff as part of logging on.
Hey folks, we'll be making some changes to the landing page in an upcoming update - it was intended to only appear once per account, not once per character.
All been said before, but the information on this new page is already provided in game and is generally ignored because it is out of date and/or useless information.
And yes, this is a common mistake that developers make. If people do not pay attention to information because it is poorly presented, repeating it in the same bad method does not help.
The Featured Episode may have a place here, but that information is already in the What's New page, the Overview page, and the Episodes page. Also out of game on the website and the launcher. If people are not seeing this information you need a new method of presenting it, not just repeating it in the same way yet again.
The Updates section, is this replacing the message that pops up we get every time there is an update that we use to have? or are we just going to get to have to click past two notices each update?
The Spotlight while it may be useful, but is already out of date (Mirror Universe event seems like what should be here) and appears functionality-wise to be a repeat of the Overview page.
the C-store section same problem as the Spotlight section. A repeat of the function of the Featured page of the store (which has a history of being out of date), and is out of date with the current new thing (elite starter pack) not being listed nor current promotion (duty officer).
I rather hear "Kurland here" every time I log in then to see this landing page. Seriously, trying to get me to buy more keys? Don't we get enough of that in the game with all of those "anonymous player just won some cool ship" banners on the screen every few minutes? Judging by the reaction of the player base people are less then enthused.
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Arroyos, Officer John Painter, K9 Jedi, K9 Maya, Deputy Constable Neil Adams, Officer Jorge
David Alvarado, Sergeant Joshua Cordell, Trooper Martin Mack, Trooper Branden Sisca,
Lieutenant William Lebo
...Don't we get enough of that in the game with all of those "anonymous player just won some cool ship" banners on the screen every few minutes?...
I turned that notification off as soon as they made it optional, and if Cryptic acts on the feedback of this thread I'll turn off the Landing Page too.
Despise it. It's bad enough to have NPCs harassing us to do missions. Now you harass us with queues, FEs and other BS before we even collect DOFFs, RnD, Admiralty and assign same. Never mind collecting Rep and assigning Rep. Ain't. Happening. And trying to shovel the shinnies you care about into my face, is just gonna make me say TRIBBLE off. I ain't doing them to spite you.
This would be a good place for flash sales to be announced, if it's implemented in real-time, since the recent ones caught flak for there not being an in-game advert for them when they go up. IF real-time updates are possible and they can somehow link it to FB and Twitter posts, it could be a good way to communicate up-to-date info to the playerbase in-game.
Sounds great in theory, but imho real time updates are most likely wishful thinking.
I always find it amazing that there are people who are already sitting in front of a computer connected to the internet but can't be bothered to open a browser window and check the STO news.
Give it a checkbox labelled "do not show again" or other way to disable it for those that do keep informed as to what's happening in-game and limit it to once per day per account and I'll be fine with it.
Just a button called "Special" in the game menu. So if i WANT an instant Que, or an event, or even the sudden urge for keys, I can. Just let me turn it off when I want the regular game menu only.
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It's freaking useless. The four windows are for the Infinity Box, the Romulan Minefield, Season 14.5, and the Featured Episode. The problem with this, however, is that these are all unimportant, old, and/or incorrect.
The Romulan Minefield queue, for instance, is indeed very new, but we've also got an event queue running, which should probably be put there instead.
The Infinity Lockbox is indeed a good promotion to list there, but it's also been running for a while now, and the Infinity DOff promo is much more important.
Renegade's Regret isn't actually the featured episode, but it's still listed.
Season 14.5 came out over a month ago, so it's not exactly "new"s.
They change comparatively rarely, and when they do the player has already been shown them in Arc and/or the launcher. How often do you launch the game and think "I just fancy playing that FE that I've already had to grind through three times already just to get all the different rewards"?
I will grant that while there's something like Mirror Invasion going on it might be handy for some people to save two whole mouse clicks and have a quick way to queue for it*, but that just leaves a vastly condensed version of something that, again, we're shown before the game even launches (the "what's new" part) and a nice, big, prominent button to buy zen.
So, I ask, what do players gain by this new addition? That's a rhetorical question. If you like it for some reason, then more power to you; when I see it I think I'd rather have the option to hide it altogether.
*Ignoring the number of people who'd rather AFK through rather than play them.
I just really don't like the landing screen, not just because of the supposed bugs, but because it's just useless.
Its been confirmed that is how its supposed to function. Its currently not Working As Intended.
BUT... since kael said its not WAI... that means Bort and his team are working on it. Hopefully we'll either have a fix by tomorrow afternoon, or if not at the earliest Monday.
Nuts to rhetorical questions! What we (collectively) gain is quick access to important content updates, it's a general rule that most people don't check the website or social media. That leaves most players in the dark about what's ahead, save word of mouth.
Many modern games have content splash pages to help this problem. While that may not benefit a given player (who does check blogs, livestreams, ect.) it still results in is a better spread of information across the population. People have a better sense of what's now available. In turn, that can help player retention rates through giving players a better sense of how the game is being supported. So, you may not learn anything, but you will indirectly benefit from the community service it provides.
An opt-out button is sensible, but I personally consider it a secondary concern to 1. the implementation of the bug fix and 2. further development of information and features included in the landing page (given that this [as intended] is pretty customary in modern games and our present circumstances. Ie. affected by a bug which exasperates issues of acclimitization.)
Or it could mean that they simply weren't able to implement and verify the fix in time for tomorrow's patch. I wouldn't worry about how tricky this bug is going to be to sort out unless we're to next Thursday and there's still no patch note.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
The intent is easier access to information. Who honestly pays attention to what shows up on the launcher window? Not very many people. Not only that... it doesn't provide as much detailed information Just a general heads up. And honestly... it does show some OLD stuff on there too in its rotation. Once the Landing Screen actually starts functioning as Intended... it would be an easy, in game source of information. Current running event, current C-Store sale, current Feature Episode...
Its got promise. They just need to iron out the bugs and plug in some more up to date information.
Honestly... if it means I don't have to click a few buttons every time we have a new season on every character... I'm happy. Having to click the ? button and click on the "What's new in Season X" on EVERYONE... gets annoying in the long run.
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It's not as bad as I thought it would be, but useless to me and I would advocate the option to disable it. There's nothing in the Landing Page that can't be accessed somewhere else in the game at the time I choose to access it. Maybe a new player logging on would find episode access a good thing, queue access a lesser thing (how many queues can a new player access anyways?), and I guess key advertising would have to be an obligatory option as a FTP game, but as a long time player I've absolutely no interest seeing any of this stuff as part of logging on.
Its not working as intended. Its bugged. The Devs have said as much. kael reported in this very thread.
And yes, this is a common mistake that developers make. If people do not pay attention to information because it is poorly presented, repeating it in the same bad method does not help.
The Featured Episode may have a place here, but that information is already in the What's New page, the Overview page, and the Episodes page. Also out of game on the website and the launcher. If people are not seeing this information you need a new method of presenting it, not just repeating it in the same way yet again.
The Updates section, is this replacing the message that pops up we get every time there is an update that we use to have? or are we just going to get to have to click past two notices each update?
The Spotlight while it may be useful, but is already out of date (Mirror Universe event seems like what should be here) and appears functionality-wise to be a repeat of the Overview page.
the C-store section same problem as the Spotlight section. A repeat of the function of the Featured page of the store (which has a history of being out of date), and is out of date with the current new thing (elite starter pack) not being listed nor current promotion (duty officer).
Arroyos, Officer John Painter, K9 Jedi, K9 Maya, Deputy Constable Neil Adams, Officer Jorge
David Alvarado, Sergeant Joshua Cordell, Trooper Martin Mack, Trooper Branden Sisca,
Lieutenant William Lebo
I always find it amazing that there are people who are already sitting in front of a computer connected to the internet but can't be bothered to open a browser window and check the STO news.
Give it a checkbox labelled "do not show again" or other way to disable it for those that do keep informed as to what's happening in-game and limit it to once per day per account and I'll be fine with it.
That's the INTENDED functionality.