I am pretty impressed with STO. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be given a project with the goal of "to please Trek fans, MMO fans, and casual players"?
They did I pretty good job I think, here is why:
I'm actually reading quest text for the first time since wow. The quests are actually somewhat interesting, and are fun to do to progress. Yes its kill 10 rats in space, but they've managed to mix it up in surprising ways:
Will your next mission have combat? They don't always
Will the space combat have a new or modified environment? Will there be any friendly ships?
Will there be any ground combat? Will I be able to find and equip a croissant?
I agree the ground combat can feel "forced" at times, being confined to certain areas and encounters. And reusing set pieces. But in this sense they are honoring the franchise ^.^
As for space combat, I feel they nailed it. The light cruiser felt fast enough to give me an idea of what an escort must be like (fun), and I'm enjoying the death from all degrees ability of my T2 cruiser (also fun).
Oh yeah, and the customization is great too.
Is it perfect? Of course not. Personally, my biggest gripe is letting people in pve respawn too quickly while other people are fighting the same enemy group. I would make the counter something like 45 seconds, or until the group wins or wipes, buts thats another thread.
So yeah, game is good. If you enjoyed WoW (another good game) and like spaceships of any kind, you will enjoy STO.
However, if you are looking for a "real world, pvp/actions with consequences" type thing, STO is not trying to be that, give a look at EVE (another good game).
I agree, its very fun and addictive.
It is also very original from a design stand point compared to other MMOs and requires "thinking".
The players are alot cooler than most MMOs as well.
A lot of gripers out there are saying that it feels like you're on rails. I'd have to disagree, because since starting STO a few days ago, I feel like I can kinda do what I want and let the game guide my "build". I like the openness of the classes and how picking a certain class or not doesn't completely mess you up or "force" you into a role that you really don't want. Can't say the same for my time in WoW. Where each class had a specific build for a specific spec.
It really matters who your officers are, and ultimately what ship you're in....which is awesome imho.
Likes:
-Customization on all levels is awesome.
-Space combat and the firing arcs. Tactical and strategic. Something MMO's tend to lack.
-Geared towards the middle of MMO gamers. Meaning you can progress substantially in a few hours of play and not have to call in sick for 3 days.
-Overall look and feel of the game is pretty and well done.
Dislikes:
-Communication between players suck. I hate sifting through Zone chat, I want to be able to hail
-Lack of RP elements like voice over dialogue and in depth conversation with NPCs.
-The need for your ship to have a few different zones to do things in. (engineering, bridge, transporter room hell, a 10 forward would be awesome too)
-Ground combat feels a bit clunky.
-Space combat could use a more helpful camera setting.
Yeah they please alot of people, even the ones who waited for the game to come out on consoles when cryptic announced that they were doing that. Instead I'm playing goddamn Star Trek legacy, does anyone know how crappy that game is.
i've been in since end of october and i'm still coming back for more.
there's a lot of foundation for some very unique game experiences here, most MMO's seems to have small story arcs that resolve after a set amount of mission and are normally never used again, STO has a feeling about it that the stories we're playing through have a place in the greater story arc of the war between the federation and klingon empire, and the real causes behind that. the "arc" never ends, it just keeps being built on and drags you more and more into it..
the genesis/exploration content we have now isnt what the system was originally meant to be, they had a lot of problems with it in beta and i honestly feel the system we have in place is like "genesis lite" and nothing like what it could be.. when and if they ever work that out properly it'll be something amazing, i'm sure of that.
under it all however is a core game thats enjoyable at many levels, you can turn off the brain and pew pew if you want, or you can involve tactical thinking and approach the situation in a different manner. i'll often do missions without firing a single shot because there's a way to complete the objectives without getting into combat if you can see it. it takes a lot to make something that can work no matter what your in the mood for and STO gives you that, in my opinion.
right now, its a pleasent game to play, and in time it could grow into so much more, provided the community continues to help mold it in constructive ways once we get past the "dissapointed" players and those who will complain about everything there's a lot of good ideas begining to happen here and if the devs can impliment half of them in the next year the game will be outstanding.
A lot of gripers out there are saying that it feels like you're on rails. I'd have to disagree, because since starting STO a few days ago, I feel like I can kinda do what I want and let the game guide my "build". I like the openness of the classes and how picking a certain class or not doesn't completely mess you up or "force" you into a role that you really don't want. Can't say the same for my time in WoW. Where each class had a specific build for a specific spec.
It really matters who your officers are, and ultimately what ship you're in....which is awesome imho.
Likes:
-Customization on all levels is awesome.
-Space combat and the firing arcs. Tactical and strategic. Something MMO's tend to lack.
-Geared towards the middle of MMO gamers. Meaning you can progress substantially in a few hours of play and not have to call in sick for 3 days.
-Overall look and feel of the game is pretty and well done.
Dislikes:
-Communication between players suck. I hate sifting through Zone chat, I want to be able to hail
-Lack of RP elements like voice over dialogue and in depth conversation with NPCs.
-The need for your ship to have a few different zones to do things in. (engineering, bridge, transporter room hell, a 10 forward would be awesome too)
-Ground combat feels a bit clunky.
-Space combat could use a more helpful camera setting.
I agree with this ^^. The game is pretty balanced in my opinion, and I was able to play constantly for 3-4 hours last night and only went up 2 levels. I don't think I've even started the game yet (only Lt. 8) and I still find it really fun and interesting to play.
Gripes: The grouping system is wack. If I'm in a group, I should be able to get into the same instance as my group members. Not so right now. Also, the fleet message of the day is really excessive. I don't need to read it every zone I move to, haha.
My favorite thing about the game is that after watching the shows and movies all these years, it is surprisingly satisfying to launch a torpedo at a Klingon warbird when its shields are down and watch it explode into a billion pieces
I've been taking my time and enjoying myself quite a bit.
I especially love the tactical aspects of Space Combat.
As long as Cryptic continues to fix the bugs and imbalances, this game will be my Game of Choice for quite awhile I think.
The only things I'd still like to see are:
More Klingon stuff to do other then PvP
(Right now if your not in the mood to PvP, your Klingon character gets neglected)
Healing, Tanking, and Buffing/Debuffing given the same weight for rewards as DPS.
Right now, all that matters is your dps, if you want to heal or contribute other ways, you'll be at the bottom of the rewards lists.
Definitely quite far from perfect, but my wife and I are definitely having fun with it.
From my bridge officers to seeing ST locales to the space combat, I'm finding lots of positive things.
I find that if I take the time to read the content, which I know is not the best deilvery mechanism for content these days, take a reasonable suspension of disbelief, that it does deliver an ST experience for us.
I mean, with just Mark I heavy cannons and Rapid Fire I on my sabre class I have already fulfilled my fantasy of recreating the badassery that I'd like to call the Defiant effect.
Like many others have said, if Cryptic keeps developing the product and polishing it, it is going to be a great game.
Unfortunately, unless a lot more variety of missions and gameplay appears later, it's probably something that will wear thin fairly fast (a few months maybe), especially once you're pretty much capped and can't reasonably get any more improvements to your character/officers/ships.
I suspect STO will eventually become what City of Heroes ended up for me: something I resubscribe to for 1-2 months about once a year just as a short-term diversion.
The game is great, yes, but there is also a lot of underdeveloped and imersion lacking potential, such as starship interiors or san fran academy that reallly have no excuse not to be in a star trek universe. I hope they add these mandatory things soon.
I'm having genuine fun while playing...not just grinding away to get to a level where you might eventually have fun, and I believe this is really it. Totally loving the whole thing. Also, my wife has grown to hate it. She had a haircut the other day and actually may have gotten highlights, I really wouldn't know. Thank you Cryptic, for making me completely lose track of the fact I have a family at all. If I end up getting a divorce because of this game, I wonder if I get an in game item or title.... hmmm...
Comments
It is also very original from a design stand point compared to other MMOs and requires "thinking".
The players are alot cooler than most MMOs as well.
It really matters who your officers are, and ultimately what ship you're in....which is awesome imho.
Likes:
-Customization on all levels is awesome.
-Space combat and the firing arcs. Tactical and strategic. Something MMO's tend to lack.
-Geared towards the middle of MMO gamers. Meaning you can progress substantially in a few hours of play and not have to call in sick for 3 days.
-Overall look and feel of the game is pretty and well done.
Dislikes:
-Communication between players suck. I hate sifting through Zone chat, I want to be able to hail
-Lack of RP elements like voice over dialogue and in depth conversation with NPCs.
-The need for your ship to have a few different zones to do things in. (engineering, bridge, transporter room hell, a 10 forward would be awesome too)
-Ground combat feels a bit clunky.
-Space combat could use a more helpful camera setting.
there's a lot of foundation for some very unique game experiences here, most MMO's seems to have small story arcs that resolve after a set amount of mission and are normally never used again, STO has a feeling about it that the stories we're playing through have a place in the greater story arc of the war between the federation and klingon empire, and the real causes behind that. the "arc" never ends, it just keeps being built on and drags you more and more into it..
the genesis/exploration content we have now isnt what the system was originally meant to be, they had a lot of problems with it in beta and i honestly feel the system we have in place is like "genesis lite" and nothing like what it could be.. when and if they ever work that out properly it'll be something amazing, i'm sure of that.
under it all however is a core game thats enjoyable at many levels, you can turn off the brain and pew pew if you want, or you can involve tactical thinking and approach the situation in a different manner. i'll often do missions without firing a single shot because there's a way to complete the objectives without getting into combat if you can see it. it takes a lot to make something that can work no matter what your in the mood for and STO gives you that, in my opinion.
right now, its a pleasent game to play, and in time it could grow into so much more, provided the community continues to help mold it in constructive ways
LOL!
I agree with this ^^. The game is pretty balanced in my opinion, and I was able to play constantly for 3-4 hours last night and only went up 2 levels. I don't think I've even started the game yet (only Lt. 8) and I still find it really fun and interesting to play.
Gripes: The grouping system is wack. If I'm in a group, I should be able to get into the same instance as my group members. Not so right now. Also, the fleet message of the day is really excessive. I don't need to read it every zone I move to, haha.
My favorite thing about the game is that after watching the shows and movies all these years, it is surprisingly satisfying to launch a torpedo at a Klingon warbird when its shields are down and watch it explode into a billion pieces
I especially love the tactical aspects of Space Combat.
As long as Cryptic continues to fix the bugs and imbalances, this game will be my Game of Choice for quite awhile I think.
The only things I'd still like to see are:
More Klingon stuff to do other then PvP
(Right now if your not in the mood to PvP, your Klingon character gets neglected)
Healing, Tanking, and Buffing/Debuffing given the same weight for rewards as DPS.
Right now, all that matters is your dps, if you want to heal or contribute other ways, you'll be at the bottom of the rewards lists.
From my bridge officers to seeing ST locales to the space combat, I'm finding lots of positive things.
I find that if I take the time to read the content, which I know is not the best deilvery mechanism for content these days, take a reasonable suspension of disbelief, that it does deliver an ST experience for us.
I mean, with just Mark I heavy cannons and Rapid Fire I on my sabre class I have already fulfilled my fantasy of recreating the badassery that I'd like to call the Defiant effect.
Like many others have said, if Cryptic keeps developing the product and polishing it, it is going to be a great game.
Unfortunately, unless a lot more variety of missions and gameplay appears later, it's probably something that will wear thin fairly fast (a few months maybe), especially once you're pretty much capped and can't reasonably get any more improvements to your character/officers/ships.
I suspect STO will eventually become what City of Heroes ended up for me: something I resubscribe to for 1-2 months about once a year just as a short-term diversion.
There is so much you can do with your crew and ship.