For me the big reasons why I keep playing this game are:
It's Star Trek and I get to fly and captain a starship (yeah)
Game is fairly casual in terms of difficulty (in most instances - other than the occasional PUG that seems to take things far to serious)
In terms of retention, things that keep me logging are new content and events (although at present this is principally to do the event content only).
Things that put me off logging are content burn out (because I've run everything I can/want too far too much) and logging in because its a habit (typically to Doff/Admiralty) or where there seems to be no goals left to achieve other than starting again (and rerunning those same missions you've done countless times already).
What would I like to see which would keep me engaged:
More content more frequently (probably impossible to do this fast enough to keep a happy audience but we can dream)
Content that has better repeat ability (Episodes are great, but are definitely boring on the third run let alone the tenth).
Reasons to keep running reputation missions after maxing the reps out - more dilithium just for repeating the content again and again just doesn't seem worth the effort.
Greater value assigned to longer and/or more complex PvE queues in terms of rewards. Noting the points above, there is pretty much no point in running a mission like Breach (which I always found to be fun but took ages) compared with Infected Space or Crystalline Entity which can be completed in a fraction of the time (as they effectively become dilithium earning runs rather than something done for fun).
AI that acts intelligently and presents a challenge (or balanced PvP) rather than just being hitpoint sponges.
I'd also love to see the Doff System given some love and made viable again in terms of rewards for engaging in it.
First is the simple fact that STO is part of the Star Trek IP. I love Star Trek, and Trek based games. If STO didn't exist, I would find something to play, but it wouldn't be quite as exciting.
As for STO in it's current state, I think space combat is very well done. It has a Trek feel, while still seeming more modern. I've always enjoyed "campaign mode" in games, so the featured episodes definitely keep me coming back. I also like that every few months (often sooner) there is some new piece of equipment to try out, and the overall diversity is very fun.
Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
-Captain James T. Kirk
I wonder if you have taken the idea of "unable to support more than one faction" too far....as in, now, the game has turned into one big, mushy, mash up.
Player choices doesn't mean anything any more because we all have it ALL!
Instead of showing the diversity of distinctive style of play, like Romulans with their Singularity powers, at one time, Klingons with cloak and raiders, even Federation Science being Drain or Control experts or Engineers grabbing aggro.
Everyone is out to do the same thing!!!
And most of the time, it is what the number crunchers have told everyone to do. Players already focusing on Tactical "because Tactical does everything better". Which shouldn't be. Eventually, everyone will be flying the same ship!!!
I think, you can see it happening if you take a closer look at what PvP has become. I am not even sure there is any skilled competition left there, just top rated builds. And if you don't have those, you have lost....and if you have them, there is dead lock.
There is, also, the element of pay to win, when you have to spend a lot of time (or the "buy the keys" and use the Exchange route) to get some of the traits and consoles and BOFFs. And you still don't have competition.
And I know it is a big ask... but do something about PvP. There is interest in it....just a big mess, right now and not accessible at competitive levels for the casuals. And extremely expensive for what you end up with at the end. You know, that dead lock thing.
If you are going to give everyone access to all the same everything, players are going to be left with one way of dealing with it. Because of the lack of diversity of play. That is boring.
Seriously, consider IF you continue down this route: at least, give more thought to how NPC enemies are constructed to allow more of a feeling of using tactics and careers. I think your puzzles on how to resolve problem Enemies are too simple for the players you have. Especially, at the "high end".
(Me, I am easy to baffle....just stick an asteroid or maze I can get stuck on between me and the NPC I need to kill.)
Combined with the feeling of never ending "grinding". If it isn't working on Rep marks, specialization points, R&D for traits and upgrading gear, players end up on an endless loop doing Event after Event. And, now, we have the overlapping Events.
Just in case you might miss something you "need"???
There is no break in it. The game is repeat, repeat, repeat. If a player wants to build their character following along with what you release weekend to weekend, week to week, month to month, Event to Event...there is little time for anything else but this.
Hence: "just do ________" even though it sucks...it gets us "stuff" for little effort.
Because, "Where's the time?"
"Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
Friends, and building fleet(which requires a lot of resources). Other than that, not much is keeping me around.
Feeling too railroaded with the storyline(no storyline choice options that have an impact save for one), outfit customization isn't what it could be(a lot of limitations that makes someone scratch their heads), faction diversity has gone down the porcelain throne(we might as well all be blueside), self imposed crowd control on certain mechanics isn't all that great to deal with. Hearing phrases such as "Your fun isn't wrong!" then going 180 and ripping it away, burns away enjoyment pretty quickly.
Nowadays, I'm looking at wondering which will come first: Raising my fleet to fully upgraded, or the devs completely dissolving the factions altogether and telling everyone that they're now part of Federation officially.
What keeps me hanging around is that it’s Star Trek.
But barely. I can’t finish my Delta recruit because I’m totally burned out on replaying all those old missions. MK XV Gear pisses me off because I’ve devoted so much time and resources getting to epic MK XIV across several characters. It’s cool to get another faction, but I won’t be taking that character seriously. If I hadn’t already spent so much, I’d pull the plug on the game entirely and reinstall Bridge Commander with all my favorite mods.
The fact that this is "Star Trek Online" and that I can play as one (or several) of dozens of canon star trek races with a high level of customization and mostly blank history is a large part of what keeps me coming back. The other reason is the story missions, although the writing can be a bit amateurish and lacking in some areas at times most of the missions tell a pretty good star trek story with nice over-reaching arcs connecting much of them. Its usually all of the above that keeps me coming back. That's why its always very disappointing to me that new story missions come out so slowly! I much preferred the Iconian War kind of gap between new episodes over the long droughts we currently get.
The variety of classes, ships, weapons, and character builds also help me stay interested in this game. I've got a Starfleet character of each class at varying points in the story, I have a Tac and Science based Fed-allied Romulan and an Engineer KDF one as well as several lesser characters much earlier on in growth. I admit I'm not too fond of the Reputation system nor how the amount of 'dailies' DOFFing/Admiralty/Crafting have gotten a bit out of hand. I can only find enough patience to do two characters a day so far.
But I also like the Winter and Summer Events as well as most of the expansions that come out. Legacy of Romulus, Delta Rising. Yesterday's War and the upcoming Victory is Life though I do wish we could have the option of playing a Vorta as well as a Jem'Hadar. Anything that lets me experience more story missions or create new and interesting characters will attract my attention.
About the only other feature I'd like to see added is being able to have your own player apartment on Earth/Qo'Nos/New Romulus or perhaps aboard a starbase somewhere. I'm sure Cryptic could make it profitable by having us have to either pay or grind for more than very basic furniture/storage. Just a thought.
I recently asked a question on my Twitter feed which ended up getting a lot more activity than I had expected... it quickly became obvious that you players have more thoughts to share on this subject than I initially anticipated.
So, in the interest of further inclusiveness, I'd like to also ask the same question here on the forums.
If I were to talk about "retention" in STO, what does that make you think about? What mechanics/systems/content/rewards/progression make you want to keep logging in, and keep playing? What aspects of the game motivate you?
I'd primarily love to hear about what aspects of current game are motivating to you, but wishlist items are also OK. We all want to make a game that you enjoy logging in and playing on a regular basis, so your thoughts on this are appreciated.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to voice your mind!
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If you'd like to see what others are sharing on this subject, here's the Twitter feed:
Interesting question, are we scared of constructive criticism ? so lets all talk about why are we still here as oppose to what is driving us away.
What's keeping me here, well in all honesty I've started playing other games, don't spend as much time in game anymore, but there are some positives to playing sto, Its diverse and I enjoy making different ship builds and combinations, I like talking and playing with friends, I used to enjoy playing pvp, but recently not so much.
Things that put me off playing sto;
Lack of pvp,- no new maps for 5+ years, broken mechanics, imbalance issues
Repetitive nature of pves,- sure the names are different, but they all feel the same, predictable and non immersive
Graphics and gameplay,- feel outdated, playing isa or ground content is reminiscent of playing something from the late 90's, outdated, dreary
Ignorance and shutting down of threads,- there are some of us that want the game to succeed and evolve, however many threads were closed for no reason, feedback ignored, no acknowledgment.
Using the holodeck as test server, the recent honoured dead trait debacle comes to mind, nerfed after 3 days of release, felt really bad for those that bought the ship on kdf just for the trait
Bugs and issues,-some left unresolved for years, I think it was October last year the plasmonic leech clash with maco shield was fixed, 2 or 3 years too late ? or was it more?.., suffice to say I fell off my chair with laughter when I saw it
- It's Star Trek
- Space and ground missions
- Interesting story, would love more story, but i know it takes a long time to get more episodes.
- Starting to be more alt friendly.. i used to have no more tan 4 alts.. now i have 23
- LOT of customization.. not enough, because i'll love to kitbash some ships, but anyway lots of customization
- There is always something to do.. thou the longer events kinda sucks… because of time..
- And it's mostly a casual game, and i love that, i have a lot of real life stuff to do (work, family..)
- Even if it is a complex game, its not difficult to master
- Good graphics, i like the realistic look of the game.
I have been a player since when we had the option to buy a champions lifetime to get into STO Beta.
I play because It is Star Trek. Its a great place to express our creative juices in both role play,foundry mission creation and just general Star Trek creative writing. It has the best Free to Play model. It has a great continuing story. The ability to log in and just communicate with a like minded community of Star Trek Fans makes me stay.
Suggestions:
Bring back the old Hourly Changing Bonus's for the pve queues. I feel that would fix our issues with the dead queues.
Enhance the Foundry.
Better Accolade Management and ability to display more trophies based on accolades, aside from the 100 kills.
Ship Interior Customization - More Trophy Points to customize the look of your quarters; GPL as the social currency can be made to buy social/ cultural trophies from each social zone planet. Not wanting a whole build my interior, that makes no sense for a starship.
Now a days just the Star Trek IP it self. AoY felt undone and this new gamma exp is a joke, outside of the new ships. If not for the IP it self i would have stopped playing this game years ago.
You can't even have free moving in space and yet their old game of CoH/CoV you could do this with flying powers, just lazy.
PvP is dead and broken, thank you Star Ship traits.
All most no one ques for normal STF bc why when you can just run a red alert?
Just love STO and Star Trek, I have all the movies and searies and now working on seeing the Discovery and like what I see. Would like to have the Ship and weapens with the star drive that Discovery has I really think it would be great.
The main thing that keeps me playing is the best feature of sto, the fact that you can fly any ship and have fun (Even a runabout which I er accidently forgot to switch for the last DS9 FE Mission), as long as the fun factor stays so will I. I am not a fan of the lockboxes etc but I can understand why and I can live with them.
the fleet im in and the single/multiplayer setting, story episodes and foundry episodes and the uniform choises and ships choises and more i cant remember
Patrick, I think you may misunderstand the nature of casual play.
In all the time since Reputations were introduced, for instance, I think I've maxed out two of them. Wait, no, three - Romulan and Delta on my main, and Temporal on Kevin Timeline. For the most part, though, Rep is something I do when I think about it, in order to get the drop that comes as soon as the Rep cooldown starts. Usually it's a weapon that I can either use or shove into the replicator for EC; either way, there's a reward for that.
I haven't finished the main storyline on any of my toons, in large part because I'm an altoholic. This game doesn't play into that as strongly as CO, of course, but there are still different ways things can play out. (I do wish the dialog could take your species into account more often - I do get variant lines occasionally for Vulcans and Klingons, but not that often - but I do understand that this takes extra time, which to a corporation literally is money, so the time has to be justified to some bean-counter or other.)
I enjoy the casual playstyle because with my family life, I can't log in every day, and sometimes when I do play I have to leave my ship sitting in sector space for a while, or even log out in the middle of a mission, because my family is way more important than my game. Some games punish you for that sort of thing, but not STO. And since it's possible to solo pretty much everything, I don't wind up disappointing other players when things come up, either.
I keep playing because of the trek setting and that's about it, although for extended play sessions I often have SG-1 or atlantis playing on my 2nd monitor.
Having the LTS has meant I can walk away in disgust or boredom due to design choices like delta grinding (an arc I'll only go near for the endeavour now) and have something to come back to with the stipend.
Stopped buying store stuff quite a while ago although the elite starter pack was good enough value I felt it was worth a small deviation for. Ships don't equal content and the content that does come along is often very wobbly at best or written in such a way that ignores the faction the player is on, such as the kethi admiral slagging off the romulans but not aknowledging thats who the player happens to be.
If the devil is in the details the game would be well on it's way to sainthood.
'casual' to me is anyone who spends less than 16 hours in a week playing.
But that's precisely me. Overall, I probably log less than eight hours a week in-game, because I have so much else I have to take care of. The only reason I've ever played multiple characters is because I enjoy the gameplay, particularly at low- to mid-level. It's fun, which is the only reason I need to do it. If it weren't fun - if all I were doing were grinding things out - I'd have walked away long since.
On the other hand, I'm the guy who likes playing Paragon in the Mass Effect games, and who actually enjoys setting up settlements in Fallout 4 (and has never once taken up Porter Gage on his offer to be the new Overboss of the Nuka World gangs), so maybe I'm just weird.
For this post however, I'll just state it like it is.
Right now, it's the name that's keeping the game alive. Take that away and it would tank, just like every other F2P MMO, that sells powercreep in the cash shop.
"What keeps you playing STO?"
Good point, maybe you're right. *reaches for the uninstall button* JUST KIDDING!!! Sorry, someone had to make that joke. Anyway, to answer the question...
1) Star Trek. I don't play MMO's, I play sci fi games.
2) Campaign/story/missions. This is the heart and soul of the game, for me. I loved the Romulan campaign. It was my favorite. I keep playing in the hopes that you will bring us more missions and story arcs.
3) Online. I have this friend I've known for about 20 years who lives half way accross the country. This is one of the games we play.
4) Free to play. 'Nuff said.
5) Ship and Captain. You get to fly and use cool ships, and you get to do things as a character. Cool that you get to do both in the same game.
6) Solo or coop. I can play alone whenever I want to do so, or I can group up with friends and do the exact same content. I also like it that gaming with friends means that we work together toward the same goal.
7) Good community. We may not always agree or even get along, but I've seen gaming communities so volitile and toxic that I am ashamed to say I was ever part of them.
8) Account wide unlocks. Account wide prizes has done more to motivate me to get said prizes. When it's one character getting one thing, I have to decide who gets it and whether or not I even need it. If it's account wide, then I'm more likely to try, because one of my characters may need it later.
9) Official cast voice overs. Very cool to hear the actual voices of people who helped create Star Trek, as we know it in it's original form. It's also fun to interact with them in a mission. A hearty thank you to all of them who worked with the franchise.
Negatives:
1) Not enough campaign missions. I've played through the whole Romulan campaign, and much of the others. Sadly, I feel like I've already done the best part of the game. There's still fun to be had, but it feels like second prize.
2) Farming techniques nerfed. When I find a way to make currencies, and you nerf it, my enthusiasm for farming dies. It does not motivate me to find another way, because I know that will also get nerfed. Nor does it motivate me to accept a slower and more tedious way of doing it. The last time my personal economy in this game took a hit, I said "You know, maybe I have enough currency that I just don't need to farm anymore", and I've been online less.
3) Romulan ships not done right. I loathe singularity cores and how they work in this game. It is to the point where I avoid using any Romulan ships for my Romulan characters. Let the players who like them have them, but please give us something that looks Romulan that uses a warp core and can tank like a cruiser.
4) Learning curve. Elite players say the game is too easy, there is no learning curve and that you cannont fail. I present that such players either forgot what it was like to learn the game or were simply naturally talented enough that they instinctively knew what to do. The rest of us mere mortals had a hard time transitioning from the entry levels of the game where everything worked, to end game where you need gear, builds and techniques that none of the tutorials explain. (This one isn't a problem for me anymore, but thought I'd mention it.)
5) Villain difficutly curve. I get it that any game will have different bad guys, and some will be tougher than others. But here, sometimes you meet a bad guy who seems to be way tougher, and will make you respawn a lot. Sometimes they just seem to hit the "you're dead" button, your health and shields melt, and none of your heals and cleanses work. Respawning takes the fun out of a mission.
6) Official cast voice overs. I meant what I said above, but I feel that too much emphasis was put on getting the high paid actors, and not enough on giving us enough missions to play. I don't know how much time, effort and money it takes to get an official Trek actor, but I am guessing that some of the characters created for STO were voiced by actors who were less expensive and more readily available. It also bothers me that we get four times as many short storries via the fiction blogs than playable missions.
It's unique. We can go to space and land on planets. Imagine if there were no cutscenes or loading times
I'm a Star Trek fan.
I feel like my character is unique to others. The best rule of thumb is play how you want too. Not with someone elses build.
Only reason I played this game is the Star Trek i.p. I've tolerated all the bugs/broken content/broken promises and middle finger given to MAC users because of the i.p. Without it I would have never tried the game
It would also be nice to have the remaining few missing ships that are established in Cannon added to the game like the missing T6 Vor'cha for the KDF, A T6 Steamrunner/Sabre/Nova/Ambassador/Luna/Olympic/New Orleans/Niagara ect for the Feds. I rarely fly Cryptic's own Fed designs as they usually look awful. I'd buy all these ships in favour of another Miracle Worker bundle or Allied pilot bundle. Why ? because watching the shows I have more affinity to these ships than anything newly created.
Post edited by ussvaliant#6064 on
Hello rubber banding my old friend, time to bounce around the battlezone again, where are all my bug reports going?, out of love with this game I am falling, As Cryptic fail to acknowledge a problem exists, Shakes an angry fist, And from Support all I'm hearing are the sounds of silence.
I like to play engaging, none-time-gated, team oriented PvE contend with reasonable rewards to progress my characters and evaluate their progression so far.
Perhaps some less repetitive in nature?
Instead of an mirror event where players are encouraged to play the very same map 14 times daily in a row how about something else for a change? Tzenkethi, Tholian, Herald events where players also tend to a certain enemy groups for a time but can use at least a bit of variety of - existing - maps to tend to the next 14 days?
Klicky activities like Admiralty, Doffing and crafting are needed to keep alts viable at endgame in a reasonable timeframe and are appreciated as such but also consume much time when done in sum by now.
How about some ease here?
Cut available doff slots in half and double the rewards throughout the bank? Double the sum of craft-able consumables and upgraders per slot?
Same here.. I was going to type something up, but this pretty much sums up what I would say.
The game play of STO is fun, the space combat is especially enjoyable.. it would be much more so with more varied content. It would be nice if they would look at the most popular queues and re-design inactive queues to follow the same time/reward structure as the ones that people currently like to play. Use the ones that are working as a model to fix the ones that don't.
Devs see players running the same things over and over but there is a reason for that. Players would rather have variety, no one likes doing the same things over and over, but when the other options are undesirable then there is little choice. More varied content would go a long way toward keeping player numbers high. Mirror Event is a great example, no one likes it but still.. here it is.. 'do this 14 times.. blah blah blah.' It would be nice if we could replace the mirror event with something that's actually fun.
I've been around since beta, and what keeps me logging in are:
I'm a huge fan of classic Star Trek
Love commanding the ships I saw on screen and imagining myself a part of that world
The game is solo player and casual player friendly
New episodes continuing the story; new ongoing characters like Kuumaarke (wonderfully voiced by Kipleigh Brown) and returning characters like Martok (via the great J. G. Hertzler)
Chat across games with buds in Champions Online (too bad Neverwinter's 4th edition based)
I'm a LTS, and I'm very attached to the characters I've created and developed over the years
What would keep me coming back in years to come:
More episodes!!!
Don't be afraid to re-issue existing ships with new seatings and skins (There should be a pilot maneuvers Defiant! And I'd love a Probert Ambassador with Miracle Worker seating; hope you haven't lost Tobias Richter's number!)
Let us craft or otherwise obtain crafted attributes like "Pen" and "Arc" on non-standard weapons types like "Dominion Polaron"
Let users match weapons visuals within base damage type the way we can have cosmetic shield and deflector visuals
Now that the tech exists, let players who have some appropriate number of level 50 to 65 characters buy a token to start a character there; I'd rather repeat the content at my leisure.
TMP era story arc and TMP skins for new and AoY temporal ships
@borticuscryptic Alot of what I respect and feel have already been said on the previous posts.
Just a simple couple things that keep me here:
1) I get to constantly feel like I am working towards something; the only downside is that progress turns into something I have to put in a bank or ignore as it is an item and not a story, plotline or decision that has ramifications. I really hope for this reason the one carry over in ViL we see is the Dominion praising me for killing "it drives the swarmers crazy" ferengi.
2) I get to be the star. I personally love role-playing and became an Aerospace Engineer to make Star Trek a reality. This game has allowed me to make those ships on screen my own and allow me to tell my own story.
3) Something discussed is the lack of diversity. One of my favorite queues was the Starbase Defense 20-player mission and now I have to say the 5-person equivalent is my favorite. The reason why is because it was not time-gated, and more so, it calls upon massive teamwork. Nowadays with our DPS God's for characters, the enemies are no longer challenging, but being able to battle a variety of enemies and the faster you kill them the faster you finish felt meaningful and we'll developed.
For what I would like to see expanded / improved to retain me in the years to come:
1) Very simple and easy; bring back the goofy monthly polls I think Kael or some other devices before him did. The forum ones that asked the interesting questions of what faction we want next, or what resource we should get. Those were extremely easy for a Dev to do and gets you instant action items without a several page forum that may not have massive input. I remember the days when thousands participated in those polls. I wonder how many actively participate in the forums.
2) Revitalize choices. A science, engineering or tactical too now are the same. You have all Intel, Miracle Worker, Command and more specs that are in effect a new career path, and if a security officer can learn how to effect immediate repairs to a ship, why can't my engineering captain learn how to command her helm officer to "perform" attack pattern alpha? If choices could have impace again, I think it would be cool if only Engineers could get the Miracle Worker spec, Tactical could be the only to get Intel and Science the only for Temporal. Do one better then and say that you could change careers for X-zen.
3) Please!!! Since we're at this point in the journey where the Klingons have been placated and are not a threat I guess, can we legitimize the entire Star Trek Universe? Make us all one super faction and consolidate all ships, fleets and end-game content to reflect the Alliance. Klingons existed in the first place to offer a counter view. With them coming to DS9 and being diplomats in the Featured Series line, kinda points to how warriors have become Federation officers in the job description. If you want a counter, provide us with a new experience. Make a true Dominion, True Way or something that sure, may not have all episodes just yet, but doesn't need it. Just say it's a new role playing faction that starts at 60, can't build fleets but has innate guerrilla perks, or something fun like that.
My last two bits I can share is that not all of us want to be Fleet Admirals if it means we still have to command our own ship. If we could "promote" our loyal Commander BOFFS to a "Captain" rank and then fly 3-5 of our own ships in our own squadron into story or PvE missions, that would be incredible. Basically a ship away team would be very cool and make me feel like a real Fleet Admiral. For those who don't want to be, can we have a civilian route? Become the Mudd of the universe? Perhaps we want to be the next Cassidy Yates? I personally want to continue the legacy of Mayweather's family.
Role-play is so much fun in Star Trek, and if we could play missions as one of our BOFFs (partially demonstrated this with Renegade's Regret) would be awesome and logical to see a Commander taking orders from a Captain rank again too.
One more thing!! Thank you for all your hard work and Cryptics efforts too!! I realize the game's eighth anniversary was this year, but if I am correct, this is the 10th of when development first started. We have come so far and I have loved every minute of it!!
Some parts I am salty about, and some areas I think could use more refinement, but I am happy to get whatever I can as the alternative is not having anything. I would love to say real quick though;
KDF got a major expansion a few years back to insert their levels 1-25 if I remember, and it was expertly crafted in the course of a few years. As we are approaching a Fed conforming game, can we get a similar upgrade for our TOS or Rom characters? Would be awesome to see how Tovan rescued his sister only to have her assimilated and need liberating, or perhaps your TOS sacrifice mission is pushed back and you have to do a K-7 tribble clean-up after Kirk's incident left a bunch of tribbles and just left. That would be cool to even see a few more episodes of the hazy TOS style
Comments
In terms of retention, things that keep me logging are new content and events (although at present this is principally to do the event content only).
Things that put me off logging are content burn out (because I've run everything I can/want too far too much) and logging in because its a habit (typically to Doff/Admiralty) or where there seems to be no goals left to achieve other than starting again (and rerunning those same missions you've done countless times already).
What would I like to see which would keep me engaged:
As for STO in it's current state, I think space combat is very well done. It has a Trek feel, while still seeming more modern. I've always enjoyed "campaign mode" in games, so the featured episodes definitely keep me coming back. I also like that every few months (often sooner) there is some new piece of equipment to try out, and the overall diversity is very fun.
Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
-Captain James T. Kirk
Player choices doesn't mean anything any more because we all have it ALL!
Instead of showing the diversity of distinctive style of play, like Romulans with their Singularity powers, at one time, Klingons with cloak and raiders, even Federation Science being Drain or Control experts or Engineers grabbing aggro.
Everyone is out to do the same thing!!!
And most of the time, it is what the number crunchers have told everyone to do. Players already focusing on Tactical "because Tactical does everything better". Which shouldn't be. Eventually, everyone will be flying the same ship!!!
I think, you can see it happening if you take a closer look at what PvP has become. I am not even sure there is any skilled competition left there, just top rated builds. And if you don't have those, you have lost....and if you have them, there is dead lock.
There is, also, the element of pay to win, when you have to spend a lot of time (or the "buy the keys" and use the Exchange route) to get some of the traits and consoles and BOFFs. And you still don't have competition.
And I know it is a big ask... but do something about PvP. There is interest in it....just a big mess, right now and not accessible at competitive levels for the casuals. And extremely expensive for what you end up with at the end. You know, that dead lock thing.
If you are going to give everyone access to all the same everything, players are going to be left with one way of dealing with it. Because of the lack of diversity of play. That is boring.
Seriously, consider IF you continue down this route: at least, give more thought to how NPC enemies are constructed to allow more of a feeling of using tactics and careers. I think your puzzles on how to resolve problem Enemies are too simple for the players you have. Especially, at the "high end".
(Me, I am easy to baffle....just stick an asteroid or maze I can get stuck on between me and the NPC I need to kill.)
Combined with the feeling of never ending "grinding". If it isn't working on Rep marks, specialization points, R&D for traits and upgrading gear, players end up on an endless loop doing Event after Event. And, now, we have the overlapping Events.
Just in case you might miss something you "need"???
There is no break in it. The game is repeat, repeat, repeat. If a player wants to build their character following along with what you release weekend to weekend, week to week, month to month, Event to Event...there is little time for anything else but this.
Hence: "just do ________" even though it sucks...it gets us "stuff" for little effort.
Because, "Where's the time?"
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
Feeling too railroaded with the storyline(no storyline choice options that have an impact save for one), outfit customization isn't what it could be(a lot of limitations that makes someone scratch their heads), faction diversity has gone down the porcelain throne(we might as well all be blueside), self imposed crowd control on certain mechanics isn't all that great to deal with. Hearing phrases such as "Your fun isn't wrong!" then going 180 and ripping it away, burns away enjoyment pretty quickly.
Nowadays, I'm looking at wondering which will come first: Raising my fleet to fully upgraded, or the devs completely dissolving the factions altogether and telling everyone that they're now part of Federation officially.
But barely. I can’t finish my Delta recruit because I’m totally burned out on replaying all those old missions. MK XV Gear pisses me off because I’ve devoted so much time and resources getting to epic MK XIV across several characters. It’s cool to get another faction, but I won’t be taking that character seriously. If I hadn’t already spent so much, I’d pull the plug on the game entirely and reinstall Bridge Commander with all my favorite mods.
The fact that this is "Star Trek Online" and that I can play as one (or several) of dozens of canon star trek races with a high level of customization and mostly blank history is a large part of what keeps me coming back. The other reason is the story missions, although the writing can be a bit amateurish and lacking in some areas at times most of the missions tell a pretty good star trek story with nice over-reaching arcs connecting much of them. Its usually all of the above that keeps me coming back. That's why its always very disappointing to me that new story missions come out so slowly! I much preferred the Iconian War kind of gap between new episodes over the long droughts we currently get.
The variety of classes, ships, weapons, and character builds also help me stay interested in this game. I've got a Starfleet character of each class at varying points in the story, I have a Tac and Science based Fed-allied Romulan and an Engineer KDF one as well as several lesser characters much earlier on in growth. I admit I'm not too fond of the Reputation system nor how the amount of 'dailies' DOFFing/Admiralty/Crafting have gotten a bit out of hand. I can only find enough patience to do two characters a day so far.
But I also like the Winter and Summer Events as well as most of the expansions that come out. Legacy of Romulus, Delta Rising. Yesterday's War and the upcoming Victory is Life though I do wish we could have the option of playing a Vorta as well as a Jem'Hadar. Anything that lets me experience more story missions or create new and interesting characters will attract my attention.
About the only other feature I'd like to see added is being able to have your own player apartment on Earth/Qo'Nos/New Romulus or perhaps aboard a starbase somewhere. I'm sure Cryptic could make it profitable by having us have to either pay or grind for more than very basic furniture/storage. Just a thought.
Interesting question, are we scared of constructive criticism ? so lets all talk about why are we still here as oppose to what is driving us away.
What's keeping me here, well in all honesty I've started playing other games, don't spend as much time in game anymore, but there are some positives to playing sto, Its diverse and I enjoy making different ship builds and combinations, I like talking and playing with friends, I used to enjoy playing pvp, but recently not so much.
Things that put me off playing sto;
Lack of pvp,- no new maps for 5+ years, broken mechanics, imbalance issues
Repetitive nature of pves,- sure the names are different, but they all feel the same, predictable and non immersive
Graphics and gameplay,- feel outdated, playing isa or ground content is reminiscent of playing something from the late 90's, outdated, dreary
Ignorance and shutting down of threads,- there are some of us that want the game to succeed and evolve, however many threads were closed for no reason, feedback ignored, no acknowledgment.
Using the holodeck as test server, the recent honoured dead trait debacle comes to mind, nerfed after 3 days of release, felt really bad for those that bought the ship on kdf just for the trait
Bugs and issues,-some left unresolved for years, I think it was October last year the plasmonic leech clash with maco shield was fixed, 2 or 3 years too late ? or was it more?.., suffice to say I fell off my chair with laughter when I saw it
- It's Star Trek
- Space and ground missions
- Interesting story, would love more story, but i know it takes a long time to get more episodes.
- Starting to be more alt friendly.. i used to have no more tan 4 alts.. now i have 23
- LOT of customization.. not enough, because i'll love to kitbash some ships, but anyway lots of customization
- There is always something to do.. thou the longer events kinda sucks… because of time..
- And it's mostly a casual game, and i love that, i have a lot of real life stuff to do (work, family..)
- Even if it is a complex game, its not difficult to master
- Good graphics, i like the realistic look of the game.
I play because It is Star Trek. Its a great place to express our creative juices in both role play,foundry mission creation and just general Star Trek creative writing. It has the best Free to Play model. It has a great continuing story. The ability to log in and just communicate with a like minded community of Star Trek Fans makes me stay.
Suggestions:
Bring back the old Hourly Changing Bonus's for the pve queues. I feel that would fix our issues with the dead queues.
Enhance the Foundry.
Better Accolade Management and ability to display more trophies based on accolades, aside from the 100 kills.
Ship Interior Customization - More Trophy Points to customize the look of your quarters; GPL as the social currency can be made to buy social/ cultural trophies from each social zone planet. Not wanting a whole build my interior, that makes no sense for a starship.
Keep it coming Cryptic!
You can't even have free moving in space and yet their old game of CoH/CoV you could do this with flying powers, just lazy.
PvP is dead and broken, thank you Star Ship traits.
All most no one ques for normal STF bc why when you can just run a red alert?
The fact that it's Star Trek is what makes 70% of the game.
In all the time since Reputations were introduced, for instance, I think I've maxed out two of them. Wait, no, three - Romulan and Delta on my main, and Temporal on Kevin Timeline. For the most part, though, Rep is something I do when I think about it, in order to get the drop that comes as soon as the Rep cooldown starts. Usually it's a weapon that I can either use or shove into the replicator for EC; either way, there's a reward for that.
I haven't finished the main storyline on any of my toons, in large part because I'm an altoholic. This game doesn't play into that as strongly as CO, of course, but there are still different ways things can play out. (I do wish the dialog could take your species into account more often - I do get variant lines occasionally for Vulcans and Klingons, but not that often - but I do understand that this takes extra time, which to a corporation literally is money, so the time has to be justified to some bean-counter or other.)
I enjoy the casual playstyle because with my family life, I can't log in every day, and sometimes when I do play I have to leave my ship sitting in sector space for a while, or even log out in the middle of a mission, because my family is way more important than my game. Some games punish you for that sort of thing, but not STO. And since it's possible to solo pretty much everything, I don't wind up disappointing other players when things come up, either.
Having the LTS has meant I can walk away in disgust or boredom due to design choices like delta grinding (an arc I'll only go near for the endeavour now) and have something to come back to with the stipend.
Stopped buying store stuff quite a while ago although the elite starter pack was good enough value I felt it was worth a small deviation for. Ships don't equal content and the content that does come along is often very wobbly at best or written in such a way that ignores the faction the player is on, such as the kethi admiral slagging off the romulans but not aknowledging thats who the player happens to be.
If the devil is in the details the game would be well on it's way to sainthood.
Always sad that stargate worlds got killed off.
On the other hand, I'm the guy who likes playing Paragon in the Mass Effect games, and who actually enjoys setting up settlements in Fallout 4 (and has never once taken up Porter Gage on his offer to be the new Overboss of the Nuka World gangs), so maybe I'm just weird.
For this post however, I'll just state it like it is.
Right now, it's the name that's keeping the game alive. Take that away and it would tank, just like every other F2P MMO, that sells powercreep in the cash shop.
Good point, maybe you're right. *reaches for the uninstall button* JUST KIDDING!!! Sorry, someone had to make that joke.
1) Star Trek. I don't play MMO's, I play sci fi games.
2) Campaign/story/missions. This is the heart and soul of the game, for me. I loved the Romulan campaign. It was my favorite. I keep playing in the hopes that you will bring us more missions and story arcs.
3) Online. I have this friend I've known for about 20 years who lives half way accross the country. This is one of the games we play.
4) Free to play. 'Nuff said.
5) Ship and Captain. You get to fly and use cool ships, and you get to do things as a character. Cool that you get to do both in the same game.
6) Solo or coop. I can play alone whenever I want to do so, or I can group up with friends and do the exact same content. I also like it that gaming with friends means that we work together toward the same goal.
7) Good community. We may not always agree or even get along, but I've seen gaming communities so volitile and toxic that I am ashamed to say I was ever part of them.
8) Account wide unlocks. Account wide prizes has done more to motivate me to get said prizes. When it's one character getting one thing, I have to decide who gets it and whether or not I even need it. If it's account wide, then I'm more likely to try, because one of my characters may need it later.
9) Official cast voice overs. Very cool to hear the actual voices of people who helped create Star Trek, as we know it in it's original form. It's also fun to interact with them in a mission. A hearty thank you to all of them who worked with the franchise.
Negatives:
1) Not enough campaign missions. I've played through the whole Romulan campaign, and much of the others. Sadly, I feel like I've already done the best part of the game. There's still fun to be had, but it feels like second prize.
2) Farming techniques nerfed. When I find a way to make currencies, and you nerf it, my enthusiasm for farming dies. It does not motivate me to find another way, because I know that will also get nerfed. Nor does it motivate me to accept a slower and more tedious way of doing it. The last time my personal economy in this game took a hit, I said "You know, maybe I have enough currency that I just don't need to farm anymore", and I've been online less.
3) Romulan ships not done right. I loathe singularity cores and how they work in this game. It is to the point where I avoid using any Romulan ships for my Romulan characters. Let the players who like them have them, but please give us something that looks Romulan that uses a warp core and can tank like a cruiser.
4) Learning curve. Elite players say the game is too easy, there is no learning curve and that you cannont fail. I present that such players either forgot what it was like to learn the game or were simply naturally talented enough that they instinctively knew what to do. The rest of us mere mortals had a hard time transitioning from the entry levels of the game where everything worked, to end game where you need gear, builds and techniques that none of the tutorials explain. (This one isn't a problem for me anymore, but thought I'd mention it.)
5) Villain difficutly curve. I get it that any game will have different bad guys, and some will be tougher than others. But here, sometimes you meet a bad guy who seems to be way tougher, and will make you respawn a lot. Sometimes they just seem to hit the "you're dead" button, your health and shields melt, and none of your heals and cleanses work. Respawning takes the fun out of a mission.
6) Official cast voice overs. I meant what I said above, but I feel that too much emphasis was put on getting the high paid actors, and not enough on giving us enough missions to play. I don't know how much time, effort and money it takes to get an official Trek actor, but I am guessing that some of the characters created for STO were voiced by actors who were less expensive and more readily available. It also bothers me that we get four times as many short storries via the fiction blogs than playable missions.
I'm a Star Trek fan.
I feel like my character is unique to others. The best rule of thumb is play how you want too. Not with someone elses build.
It would also be nice to have the remaining few missing ships that are established in Cannon added to the game like the missing T6 Vor'cha for the KDF, A T6 Steamrunner/Sabre/Nova/Ambassador/Luna/Olympic/New Orleans/Niagara ect for the Feds. I rarely fly Cryptic's own Fed designs as they usually look awful. I'd buy all these ships in favour of another Miracle Worker bundle or Allied pilot bundle. Why ? because watching the shows I have more affinity to these ships than anything newly created.
Hello rubber banding my old friend, time to bounce around the battlezone again, where are all my bug reports going?, out of love with this game I am falling, As Cryptic fail to acknowledge a problem exists, Shakes an angry fist, And from Support all I'm hearing are the sounds of silence.
Same here.. I was going to type something up, but this pretty much sums up what I would say.
The game play of STO is fun, the space combat is especially enjoyable.. it would be much more so with more varied content. It would be nice if they would look at the most popular queues and re-design inactive queues to follow the same time/reward structure as the ones that people currently like to play. Use the ones that are working as a model to fix the ones that don't.
Devs see players running the same things over and over but there is a reason for that. Players would rather have variety, no one likes doing the same things over and over, but when the other options are undesirable then there is little choice. More varied content would go a long way toward keeping player numbers high. Mirror Event is a great example, no one likes it but still.. here it is.. 'do this 14 times.. blah blah blah.' It would be nice if we could replace the mirror event with something that's actually fun.
What would keep me coming back in years to come:
Just a simple couple things that keep me here:
1) I get to constantly feel like I am working towards something; the only downside is that progress turns into something I have to put in a bank or ignore as it is an item and not a story, plotline or decision that has ramifications. I really hope for this reason the one carry over in ViL we see is the Dominion praising me for killing "it drives the swarmers crazy" ferengi.
2) I get to be the star. I personally love role-playing and became an Aerospace Engineer to make Star Trek a reality. This game has allowed me to make those ships on screen my own and allow me to tell my own story.
3) Something discussed is the lack of diversity. One of my favorite queues was the Starbase Defense 20-player mission and now I have to say the 5-person equivalent is my favorite. The reason why is because it was not time-gated, and more so, it calls upon massive teamwork. Nowadays with our DPS God's for characters, the enemies are no longer challenging, but being able to battle a variety of enemies and the faster you kill them the faster you finish felt meaningful and we'll developed.
For what I would like to see expanded / improved to retain me in the years to come:
1) Very simple and easy; bring back the goofy monthly polls I think Kael or some other devices before him did. The forum ones that asked the interesting questions of what faction we want next, or what resource we should get. Those were extremely easy for a Dev to do and gets you instant action items without a several page forum that may not have massive input. I remember the days when thousands participated in those polls. I wonder how many actively participate in the forums.
2) Revitalize choices. A science, engineering or tactical too now are the same. You have all Intel, Miracle Worker, Command and more specs that are in effect a new career path, and if a security officer can learn how to effect immediate repairs to a ship, why can't my engineering captain learn how to command her helm officer to "perform" attack pattern alpha? If choices could have impace again, I think it would be cool if only Engineers could get the Miracle Worker spec, Tactical could be the only to get Intel and Science the only for Temporal. Do one better then and say that you could change careers for X-zen.
3) Please!!! Since we're at this point in the journey where the Klingons have been placated and are not a threat I guess, can we legitimize the entire Star Trek Universe? Make us all one super faction and consolidate all ships, fleets and end-game content to reflect the Alliance. Klingons existed in the first place to offer a counter view. With them coming to DS9 and being diplomats in the Featured Series line, kinda points to how warriors have become Federation officers in the job description. If you want a counter, provide us with a new experience. Make a true Dominion, True Way or something that sure, may not have all episodes just yet, but doesn't need it. Just say it's a new role playing faction that starts at 60, can't build fleets but has innate guerrilla perks, or something fun like that.
My last two bits I can share is that not all of us want to be Fleet Admirals if it means we still have to command our own ship. If we could "promote" our loyal Commander BOFFS to a "Captain" rank and then fly 3-5 of our own ships in our own squadron into story or PvE missions, that would be incredible. Basically a ship away team would be very cool and make me feel like a real Fleet Admiral. For those who don't want to be, can we have a civilian route? Become the Mudd of the universe? Perhaps we want to be the next Cassidy Yates? I personally want to continue the legacy of Mayweather's family.
Role-play is so much fun in Star Trek, and if we could play missions as one of our BOFFs (partially demonstrated this with Renegade's Regret) would be awesome and logical to see a Commander taking orders from a Captain rank again too.
Some parts I am salty about, and some areas I think could use more refinement, but I am happy to get whatever I can as the alternative is not having anything. I would love to say real quick though;
KDF got a major expansion a few years back to insert their levels 1-25 if I remember, and it was expertly crafted in the course of a few years. As we are approaching a Fed conforming game, can we get a similar upgrade for our TOS or Rom characters? Would be awesome to see how Tovan rescued his sister only to have her assimilated and need liberating, or perhaps your TOS sacrifice mission is pushed back and you have to do a K-7 tribble clean-up after Kirk's incident left a bunch of tribbles and just left. That would be cool to even see a few more episodes of the hazy TOS style