Seriously the mission system is amazing.
When i think about going back to other mmo's and doing missions ....ugh
Oh and this is the first MMO ive played where i enjoy teaming up, and the game does it for you!
Anyways good times, and i got Lieutenant comander, *hugs new cruiser*
Hehe.
I do like the repeatable nature of some of the quests. It presents, basically, a "controlled grind", and one in which I don't have to compete with others for mobs and spawned items.
The autogrouping is fun, too, though I haven't got to really talking to anyone I'm grouped with. I just wish Deep Space Encounters auto-grouped. Would be very handy there for tracking and buffing.
The mission implementation is 1 of the big things Cryptic did fairly well with STO. Although I do wish all of the missions were just as good as the Gateway time travel mission :P
All the missions are pretty much exactly the same. Just like they were in CoX and CO.
I really had hoped that Cryptic had improved and expanded the features and possibilities of their content tools over the years, so they are able to make more non-generic missions.
Appearently Cryptic doesn't want to bother and invest any time and money. :mad:
All the missions are pretty much exactly the same. Just like they were in CoX and CO.
I really had hoped that Cryptic had improved and expanded the features and possibilities of their content tools over the years, so they are able to make more non-generic missions.
Appearently Cryptic doesn't want to bother and invest any time and money. :mad:
Jer
Pretty much all other MMO's are just, "Kill TRIBBLE", "Collect TRIBBLE".
When you strip down STO's episodes down to the very core, they are all like that as well, however, it is definantely done better than most and doesn't make it feel as much of a grind, especially the episodic episodes.... like the Gateway time travel one.
I love the questing system (and this game in general). I was hoping for an updated version of the game "StarTrek: The 25th Anniversary", and that is exactly what this is(atleast it feels that way to me), it blows me away.
Pretty much all other MMO's are just, "Kill TRIBBLE", "Collect TRIBBLE".
When you strip down STO's episodes down to the very core, they are all like that as well, however, it is definantely done better than most and doesn't make it feel as much of a grind, especially the episodic episodes.... like the Gateway time travel one.
The BIG difference is, that all the other MMO's have nice interesting zones, full of life, where you quest in.
You stumble on all kinds of stuff. Lot of quests lead you into dungeons. You stumble on other people. Etc.
Cryptic's mission maps are all generic and the same. Lifeless with static objects. They just spawn some interactable mission objects and a bunch of mobs on top of it, for you to blast away. And that's it.
That is my MAJOR gripe with this game. That everything feels so bland, generic and lifeless.
This game has just 2 sets of cycling maps. 1 set is Space Station maps. The other set is planet surface maps. That's it.
I mean... sure, some planets are dead rocky surfaces. But plenty of planets have flora and fauna. With populations and animals and plants. Etc. But NOT in this game. Because Cryptic's engine CANNOT handle Flora&Fauna appearently.
I mean... sure, some planets are dead rocky surfaces. But plenty of planets have flora and fauna. With populations and animals and plants. Etc. But NOT in this game. Because Cryptic's engine CANNOT handle Flora&Fauna appearently.
Jer
I'd quite like to beam down to some random planet where a probe has crashed and split, like we have just now, but with the twist that one part landed in a pre-warp civilisation's town and you either have to sneak in and destroy it, or you get cosmetically altered and have to talk your way to it.
Sure, that kind of mission might get boring after repeated attempts, but it would add something to the mix. Infiltration of Pre-Warp civilisations would have been one of the first uniquely star-trek things I'd implement. Get a bit of Prime Directive Angst going on.
I'd quite like to beam down to some random planet where a probe has crashed and split, like we have just now, but with the twist that one part landed in a pre-warp civilisation's town and you either have to sneak in and destroy it, or you get cosmetically altered and have to talk your way to it.
Sure, that kind of mission might get boring after repeated attempts, but it would add something to the mix. Infiltration of Pre-Warp civilisations would have been one of the first uniquely star-trek things I'd implement. Get a bit of Prime Directive Angst going on.
Exactly. You hit the nail right on the head.
That kind of stuff would make the missions more varried and lot more interesting.
Now all the maps have, except artistic looks, the exact same layout, with mission objects and mob spawns randomly generated on a oval highlighted section of the map. Over and over and over and over.
They took some of the good aspects from other systems. It's impossible to make something perfect that everyone will like, though. I can't say it's "the best" yet, but I do agree that's it's one of the better.
I do like that I haven't had to spend an hour looking for my 60th level 6 Grumpy Old Klingon so I can shoot him and finish my collection of 20 gold nose rings, so I can get the next quest in a chain, though. I was so worried I'd have quests like that.
And the space quests and space combat are loads of awesome.
Because Cryptic's engine CANNOT handle Flora&Fauna appearently.
Dunno about fauna, but there's flora. The early mission that takes place in a monastery is quite lovely, although certainly not up to the graphical standard of recent land-based games, poly count wise.
I think there are some scripted missions and chains that are quite good and well fleshed-out, and others that play like very generic random missions.
I would have to agree, though, that the thing that is missing... is a static world... where you can potentially explore the whole thing, go back to your favorite places later, and generally have a feeling of continuity, like you get in land-based MMOs (and single-player open-world RPGs). Having places you can ONLY go on a mission, that go poof when you leave, kinda ruin the idea that you're in a real, persistent universe.
Seriously the mission system is amazing.
When i think about going back to other mmo's and doing missions ....ugh
Oh and this is the first MMO ive played where i enjoy teaming up, and the game does it for you!
Anyways good times, and i got Lieutenant comander, *hugs new cruiser*
try playing the klingon side, all we got is the Kahless expanse and 1 nebula. We are trying to rank up just like you, try doing that with only 2 missions, repeating them is not so fun then.
Well, Cryptic is getting a reputation for making the same MMO over and over again. They're using a five year old engine to do it. The toolkit appears to be almost exactly the same as CoH/CoV.
Like I said... Cryptic builds empty sets, not interactive, persistent game worlds.
I'm going to disagree with some of the later posters. I think exploration/Genesis is pure genius.
Every MMO is full of meh grinding. That's what they do. It's all the same, every time, eventually. Unless you go for PvP in a big way, in which case there's Eve Online, or are a major Star Wars roleplayer, in which case there's SWG (Starsider), every MMO ends up with meh repetitive grindygrind.
And all those awesome landscapes? Most folks see them once and never look back. There are entire regions in many MMOs that are ghost towns because everyone's outlevelled them. Nobody goes back and thinks "Woah, this place is so nice I'll sit around and stare at it again just like I did for those two weeks I had to grind here."
Genesis takes many disparate graphical elements and fuses them into distinct entities. While not every combination is breathtaking, nor should they be or this whole game would look far too silly, some are. There are times I'll just look around at stuff and have my mind blown. Then, ten minutes later or so, I'm gone and on to something new.
Repetitiveness isn't just about mission types. It can also be an aesthetic thing. Doing the same missions, against the same villains, in the same warehouses over and over in City of Heroes was a million times more dull and with less variation than what we have in Exploration here. Hell, try doing anything in SWG that doesn't involve lots of pointless grinding in the same place, against the same mobs, for hours on end (or in LoTRO for that matter).
Any sane person, at least of the casual gamer variety, who knows there are other MMOs out there and has actually played them has to jump up and scream "Thank you Cryptic!" for Genesis and Exploration missions. I just hope they keep adding more variety into the system. Most of us are going to be spending most of our time in there - if not now, certainly once we've burned through all the scripted content.
And unlike other PvE elements, nothing you put into Genesis is ever obsolete. The more you add to it the better everything works. It's exponentially more than the sum of its parts.
The BIG difference is, that all the other MMO's have nice interesting zones, full of life, where you quest in.
You stumble on all kinds of stuff. Lot of quests lead you into dungeons. You stumble on other people. Etc.
Cryptic's mission maps are all generic and the same. Lifeless with static objects. They just spawn some interactable mission objects and a bunch of mobs on top of it, for you to blast away. And that's it.
That is my MAJOR gripe with this game. That everything feels so bland, generic and lifeless.
This game has just 2 sets of cycling maps. 1 set is Space Station maps. The other set is planet surface maps. That's it.
I mean... sure, some planets are dead rocky surfaces. But plenty of planets have flora and fauna. With populations and animals and plants. Etc. But NOT in this game. Because Cryptic's engine CANNOT handle Flora&Fauna appearently.
Jer
EXACTLY!!! That was my exact gripe about City of Heroes. I played City of Heroes for about 6 months and got tired of repeating the SAME thing, with the SAME mobs, with the SAME map, with the SAME graphical layout and the SAME environment and SAME scheme at every turn. It was bland and boring and not imaginative whatsoever. I quit CoH after 6 months and discovered World of Warcraft and played that game straight for over 5 years.
I'm a bit disappointed so far with STO because it's just CoH re-packaged in spaceships. All the graphics are the same, the models, the environment. I fear people will burn out on it very quickly.
I'm going to disagree with some of the later posters. I think exploration/Genesis is pure genius.
Every MMO is full of meh grinding. That's what they do. It's all the same, every time, eventually. Unless you go for PvP in a big way, in which case there's Eve Online, or are a major Star Wars roleplayer, in which case there's SWG (Starsider), every MMO ends up with meh repetitive grindygrind.
And all those awesome landscapes? Most folks see them once and never look back. There are entire regions in many MMOs that are ghost towns because everyone's outlevelled them. Nobody goes back and thinks "Woah, this place is so nice I'll sit around and stare at it again just like I did for those two weeks I had to grind here."
Genesis takes many disparate graphical elements and fuses them into distinct entities. While not every combination is breathtaking, nor should they be or this whole game would look far too silly, some are. There are times I'll just look around at stuff and have my mind blown. Then, ten minutes later or so, I'm gone and on to something new.
Repetitiveness isn't just about mission types. It can also be an aesthetic thing. Doing the same missions, against the same villains, in the same warehouses over and over in City of Heroes was a million times more dull and with less variation than what we have in Exploration here. Hell, try doing anything in SWG that doesn't involve lots of pointless grinding in the same place, against the same mobs, for hours on end (or in LoTRO for that matter).
Any sane person, at least of the casual gamer variety, who knows there are other MMOs out there and has actually played them has to jump up and scream "Thank you Cryptic!" for Genesis and Exploration missions. I just hope they keep adding more variety into the system. Most of us are going to be spending most of our time in there - if not now, certainly once we've burned through all the scripted content.
And unlike other PvE elements, nothing you put into Genesis is ever obsolete. The more you add to it the better everything works. It's exponentially more than the sum of its parts.
Im actually a little confused about the Genesis stuff, what exactly is it? Where would I find it?
Well, Cryptic is getting a reputation for making the same MMO over and over again. They're using a five year old engine to do it. The toolkit appears to be almost exactly the same as CoH/CoV.
Like I said... Cryptic builds empty sets, not interactive, persistent game worlds.
He speaks the truth. I thought after 5 or 6 years and inheriting something has huge as the Star Trek name, that Cryptic would design something new from the ground up having learned from their experiences in MMO past and the success of other MMOs. But alas, they just re-packaged CoH and their same old design.
Genesis is in basic a great attempt to make missions non repetitive.
In STO all i see is some, maybe 5 different missions.. Only difference between them is different patterns on walls, scenery etc.. Layouts seem to vary a bit too but thwy are still all pretty same. Missions that had some time in development instead of computer calculating them has certain difference that makes me like more those old style repeatable missions.
I really enjoy the friendliness of the episode/mission system for casuals like myself. If real life pops up and we're in the middle of a patrol, in most MMOs you have to hearth/transport/city jump back to your logoff in/secret lair/etc. In STO... once you do that mission bit of an episode, it's done. That way, you can "interrupt" an episode when real life DOES occur, and come back whenever you like and jump right back into the episode with the next mission. VERY smart, very effiencient, and very casual friendly, and I wubs it.
What I really like is how easy it is to help friends with their missions. Bam, just warp into their system and you're on the same mission and you'll even get credit for it.
Genesis is the engine they use to generate worlds and systems in the game. In particular you'll see the variety of stuff it can do best represented in Exploration missions. I believe it was supposed to randomly create star systems, planets, complexes along with missions live, in the game, but now it's a tool the developers use to quickly cook up the missions you stumble across when exploring.
There's not as much variety as I'd like yet but there's more than enough to show me what this sucker can do. Everything from sandstorms to alien beaches with lava waterfalls to windy tundras and all kinds of strange alien plant life and rock formations, weather and even day/night conditions. Ambient lighting. View distance. Hilly and flat or both together. Coastlines and swamps. All the different parts juggled together so that you do get a sense you're exploring a new world even if it's just "another" run around and scan assignment.
Not everyone will appreciate what this probably took to create and what, perhaps more importantly, it can be used for as it's expanded but I do. The fact this works so well is what put me over the line.
Star Trek is about exploration first and foremost. If Cryptic stays on the ball they've got a lock on the kind of players who enjoy exploration by using, and expanding, Genesis/Exploration. They almost lost me when I learned there wouldn't be multiplayer ships but between NPC crews and Exploration I'm a lifer now.
I find it hard to believe that anyone who has even played a high quality MMO would think Star Trek Online's version is any good. Many of the missions are beam down, find a bunch of items scattered on the map, be it plants, ship debris or cocoons, click on them and beam back up. That's it, there's zero challenge to it and the map is completely sterile except for the objects being sought. Many of the space stations or bases in different maps have the exact same layout and appearance only one station has Klingons and another has Gorns. Grind is part of any MMO but there's grind done well and there's grind that has zero challenge.
I've played a lot of Guild Wars, a non-subscription MMO that's been going for almost five years now and it blows Star Trek away in terms of creativity, variety, polish, story and graphics. Out of literally hundreds of missions, no two look alike and there's creative repeatability. Plus the graphics are absolutely beautiful yet require far less resources than Star Trek Online. Star Trek Online is a resource hog but it still looks worse than a five year old MMO. Compare the jerky character animation and movement and horrible camera work in STO to the fluid motion in Guild Wars. The difference is a mile wide. One can only dream what Star Trek Online would have been in the hands of another developer like Blizzard or ArenaNet (founded by former Blizzard employees by the way).
Go away troll. All of your posts are just riddled with negativity about this game. If you don't like it, no one will cry as you leave....guaranteed.
EDIT: To the OP, I think the mission structure is pretty good, with the exception of mission progress. I had to log out in the middle of a mission (had 2/5 squadrons killed) and I had 0/5 when I logged back in. Almost as though the mission is like an instance/dungeon; but the assignment itself seems to sync with the instance...
Comments
Hehe.
I do like the repeatable nature of some of the quests. It presents, basically, a "controlled grind", and one in which I don't have to compete with others for mobs and spawned items.
The autogrouping is fun, too, though I haven't got to really talking to anyone I'm grouped with. I just wish Deep Space Encounters auto-grouped. Would be very handy there for tracking and buffing.
All the missions are pretty much exactly the same. Just like they were in CoX and CO.
I really had hoped that Cryptic had improved and expanded the features and possibilities of their content tools over the years, so they are able to make more non-generic missions.
Appearently Cryptic doesn't want to bother and invest any time and money. :mad:
Jer
Pretty much all other MMO's are just, "Kill TRIBBLE", "Collect TRIBBLE".
When you strip down STO's episodes down to the very core, they are all like that as well, however, it is definantely done better than most and doesn't make it feel as much of a grind, especially the episodic episodes.... like the Gateway time travel one.
The BIG difference is, that all the other MMO's have nice interesting zones, full of life, where you quest in.
You stumble on all kinds of stuff. Lot of quests lead you into dungeons. You stumble on other people. Etc.
Cryptic's mission maps are all generic and the same. Lifeless with static objects. They just spawn some interactable mission objects and a bunch of mobs on top of it, for you to blast away. And that's it.
That is my MAJOR gripe with this game. That everything feels so bland, generic and lifeless.
This game has just 2 sets of cycling maps. 1 set is Space Station maps. The other set is planet surface maps. That's it.
I mean... sure, some planets are dead rocky surfaces. But plenty of planets have flora and fauna. With populations and animals and plants. Etc. But NOT in this game. Because Cryptic's engine CANNOT handle Flora&Fauna appearently.
Jer
I'd quite like to beam down to some random planet where a probe has crashed and split, like we have just now, but with the twist that one part landed in a pre-warp civilisation's town and you either have to sneak in and destroy it, or you get cosmetically altered and have to talk your way to it.
Sure, that kind of mission might get boring after repeated attempts, but it would add something to the mix. Infiltration of Pre-Warp civilisations would have been one of the first uniquely star-trek things I'd implement. Get a bit of Prime Directive Angst going on.
Exactly. You hit the nail right on the head.
That kind of stuff would make the missions more varried and lot more interesting.
Now all the maps have, except artistic looks, the exact same layout, with mission objects and mob spawns randomly generated on a oval highlighted section of the map. Over and over and over and over.
Jer
They took some of the good aspects from other systems. It's impossible to make something perfect that everyone will like, though. I can't say it's "the best" yet, but I do agree that's it's one of the better.
I do like that I haven't had to spend an hour looking for my 60th level 6 Grumpy Old Klingon so I can shoot him and finish my collection of 20 gold nose rings, so I can get the next quest in a chain, though. I was so worried I'd have quests like that.
And the space quests and space combat are loads of awesome.
The issue with the quest-system is: There was not enough time to really build something that is really good.
Building nice and different quests takes time ... time they did not have.
Acutally it's just like: Let us hope they they will do it now.
Dunno about fauna, but there's flora. The early mission that takes place in a monastery is quite lovely, although certainly not up to the graphical standard of recent land-based games, poly count wise.
I think there are some scripted missions and chains that are quite good and well fleshed-out, and others that play like very generic random missions.
I would have to agree, though, that the thing that is missing... is a static world... where you can potentially explore the whole thing, go back to your favorite places later, and generally have a feeling of continuity, like you get in land-based MMOs (and single-player open-world RPGs). Having places you can ONLY go on a mission, that go poof when you leave, kinda ruin the idea that you're in a real, persistent universe.
try playing the klingon side, all we got is the Kahless expanse and 1 nebula. We are trying to rank up just like you, try doing that with only 2 missions, repeating them is not so fun then.
Yes, it's only a shame they didn't create a ton more of those across the board, to make the overal experience more enjoyable.
You know. You can have 5 really cool missions. The best of the best!
But if you have to go through a ton of endless repeatable generic missions in between.
What you think most people will be talking about? Not those 5 cool missions. That I can tell you. :rolleyes:
Like I said... Cryptic builds empty sets, not interactive, persistent game worlds.
Every MMO is full of meh grinding. That's what they do. It's all the same, every time, eventually. Unless you go for PvP in a big way, in which case there's Eve Online, or are a major Star Wars roleplayer, in which case there's SWG (Starsider), every MMO ends up with meh repetitive grindygrind.
And all those awesome landscapes? Most folks see them once and never look back. There are entire regions in many MMOs that are ghost towns because everyone's outlevelled them. Nobody goes back and thinks "Woah, this place is so nice I'll sit around and stare at it again just like I did for those two weeks I had to grind here."
Genesis takes many disparate graphical elements and fuses them into distinct entities. While not every combination is breathtaking, nor should they be or this whole game would look far too silly, some are. There are times I'll just look around at stuff and have my mind blown. Then, ten minutes later or so, I'm gone and on to something new.
Repetitiveness isn't just about mission types. It can also be an aesthetic thing. Doing the same missions, against the same villains, in the same warehouses over and over in City of Heroes was a million times more dull and with less variation than what we have in Exploration here. Hell, try doing anything in SWG that doesn't involve lots of pointless grinding in the same place, against the same mobs, for hours on end (or in LoTRO for that matter).
Any sane person, at least of the casual gamer variety, who knows there are other MMOs out there and has actually played them has to jump up and scream "Thank you Cryptic!" for Genesis and Exploration missions. I just hope they keep adding more variety into the system. Most of us are going to be spending most of our time in there - if not now, certainly once we've burned through all the scripted content.
And unlike other PvE elements, nothing you put into Genesis is ever obsolete. The more you add to it the better everything works. It's exponentially more than the sum of its parts.
EXACTLY!!! That was my exact gripe about City of Heroes. I played City of Heroes for about 6 months and got tired of repeating the SAME thing, with the SAME mobs, with the SAME map, with the SAME graphical layout and the SAME environment and SAME scheme at every turn. It was bland and boring and not imaginative whatsoever. I quit CoH after 6 months and discovered World of Warcraft and played that game straight for over 5 years.
I'm a bit disappointed so far with STO because it's just CoH re-packaged in spaceships. All the graphics are the same, the models, the environment. I fear people will burn out on it very quickly.
Im actually a little confused about the Genesis stuff, what exactly is it? Where would I find it?
Which game are you playing?
He speaks the truth. I thought after 5 or 6 years and inheriting something has huge as the Star Trek name, that Cryptic would design something new from the ground up having learned from their experiences in MMO past and the success of other MMOs. But alas, they just re-packaged CoH and their same old design.
In STO all i see is some, maybe 5 different missions.. Only difference between them is different patterns on walls, scenery etc.. Layouts seem to vary a bit too but thwy are still all pretty same. Missions that had some time in development instead of computer calculating them has certain difference that makes me like more those old style repeatable missions.
*hugs his escort ship in the corner* MINE!
I agree, this game f***ing blows, Lazy Cryptic...
There's not as much variety as I'd like yet but there's more than enough to show me what this sucker can do. Everything from sandstorms to alien beaches with lava waterfalls to windy tundras and all kinds of strange alien plant life and rock formations, weather and even day/night conditions. Ambient lighting. View distance. Hilly and flat or both together. Coastlines and swamps. All the different parts juggled together so that you do get a sense you're exploring a new world even if it's just "another" run around and scan assignment.
Not everyone will appreciate what this probably took to create and what, perhaps more importantly, it can be used for as it's expanded but I do. The fact this works so well is what put me over the line.
Star Trek is about exploration first and foremost. If Cryptic stays on the ball they've got a lock on the kind of players who enjoy exploration by using, and expanding, Genesis/Exploration. They almost lost me when I learned there wouldn't be multiplayer ships but between NPC crews and Exploration I'm a lifer now.
I've played a lot of Guild Wars, a non-subscription MMO that's been going for almost five years now and it blows Star Trek away in terms of creativity, variety, polish, story and graphics. Out of literally hundreds of missions, no two look alike and there's creative repeatability. Plus the graphics are absolutely beautiful yet require far less resources than Star Trek Online. Star Trek Online is a resource hog but it still looks worse than a five year old MMO. Compare the jerky character animation and movement and horrible camera work in STO to the fluid motion in Guild Wars. The difference is a mile wide. One can only dream what Star Trek Online would have been in the hands of another developer like Blizzard or ArenaNet (founded by former Blizzard employees by the way).
Go away troll. All of your posts are just riddled with negativity about this game. If you don't like it, no one will cry as you leave....guaranteed.
EDIT: To the OP, I think the mission structure is pretty good, with the exception of mission progress. I had to log out in the middle of a mission (had 2/5 squadrons killed) and I had 0/5 when I logged back in. Almost as though the mission is like an instance/dungeon; but the assignment itself seems to sync with the instance...