Hi, I am thinking about returning to play because I enjoyed play Star Trek Fleet Command, And watching Discovery. And it has put me back in the Trek spirit. I am looking for a fun and enjoyable Star Trek experience. I played beta and 2 to 4 months of release, enjoyed but RL came in, then by the time I wanted to come back my PC crapped out. Anyways I stop the long history. I am back now. I am thinking about getting the gamma pack if it like it and getting a lifetime sub If I reallllly like it. but is it to late?
Is there a place I can get in a guild or whatever its called here ( I am about to do some research on terms and game systems), I would like to have some kind of newbie help ingame. I also want to make some friends along the way.
Anyways I have a ton of questions but thats for another time. I need to find out if its to late first.
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There are some great new systems like the endeavor system which I think is one of the best things the devs have done in a long time. Personally I don't like the UI, Reputation, Mission log, Splash screen and other revamps which I think have made quality of Life for players worse. On the plus side we now have Engineering to change mods on gear, gear upgrades and at long last they seem to have fixed and removed the lag/rubberbadning all of which are big positives. STO for me at least, has been smooth and lag free.
At the very least I would say join for free and play though the mission content a bit before you make your mind up about content packs. Personally I think the gamma pack in fact the Entire Victory is Life Expansion is one of if not the best packs/expansions the devs have done.
Its not to late in that STO is going strong and with all active TV shows and more to come STO should be be good for many, many years yet.
EDIT: There is a little know First Person Shooter Feature that I believe was added after you left. I don't tend to run it day to day but its kind of fun to switch ground mode into a First Person Shooter every so often. It really changes the feel of ground combat.
Hi, welcome back! I too have recently returned.
In addition to the guidance provided by others, you might be interested to read my New Player Guide - although its old (and the forums wont let me edit it), it is still more-or-less up to date so feel free to take advantage of it: https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1175643/early-decisions-ultimate-newbies-new-players-guide/p1
Regarding factions, I think the Federation (of whatever type - Normal, TOS, Discovery etc) has the most content overall (like ships) and most of the story is designed for them. KDF characters can be fun, and Romulan has an interesting early storyline, but ultimately they all converge at some point in the storyline. My suggestion is to start at least one of each faction and find out for yourself which you prefer - Romulan ships are quite different though! You can buy additional character slots relatively cheaply using Zen (which you can get by refining dilithium through in-game play).
More important is your selection of character type - Tactical, Engineering, Science - I would suggest going Tactical to start because its effective and most obvious. Dedicated Science builds can be quite powerful weaving space magic, but you have to know what you're doing and I no longer do (as I have recently returned after years away myself).
Good luck!
I looked at the approximate value in Zen of the LTS about halfway through this thread. However, the key thing is that the game is now 11 years old and you really only get value from the LTS by playing this game a lot. Also, make sure to wait for the LTS to go on special for USD199 instead of the standard USD299 (this happens about twice per year).
Edit: And as @coldnapalm said, it does not come with any of the packs - those are separate (but you could use your monthly stipend to eventually earn enough zen for those packs - but you'll have to wait a really long time).
Also if you start a kdf character and get to about level 10-11, do the mission "bringing down the house" and kill the priority target there, you'll get a free t6 bird of prey (the mchla refit) that has a valuable starship trait unlock. If you reach level 65 on a kdf character you'll also unlock the ability to use all ships cross faction (so fed ships on kdf and kdf ships on fed) which will help you a lot with picking up traits