This is to discuss my displeasure with a few of those minor cosmetic issues. Many of you will not be concerned, and thats fine. Yes, I can still do missions. Yes, I can still blast Klingons, collect experience and continue leveling. Thats not the point the point is that nagging that knowing Im not playing the way I want to play. This dissatisfaction isn't like the momentary "Oh - I can't complete this mission because it's bugged - its the non-stop dissatisfaction flying a ship whose name I am not happy with, beaming down with a crew I'm not happy with, etc. Im not a heavy role-player, and I dont want the game to change in order to accommodate my logic Im wanting the game to accommodate me in accordance with its own game logic and the options that are supposed to be supported. Youve sold me a product that I am
proud to purchase, but I continue to be hampered in overall gameplay enjoyment and Id like to raise these issues in order to perhaps elevate them one Cryptics Things to Do list.
1) Bridge Officer Uniforms. I know this has been brought up before. Im bringing it up again. Please get this fixed. Ive already gone through the portion of the game where I planned on enjoying TOS uniforms on my crew, and its all wasted now.
2a) Ship Names. I can buy a ship for Energy Credits. I can send my crew out on the hull and repaint the ship for Energy Credits. Why in the world do I have to spend those precious Merits to rename the ship? Especially in light of the following:
I purchased the Gamestop version so that I may fly the old-school Constitution class. This ship is NOT available immediately when I create my character and ship name so I *MUST* spend my free rename in order to play the game in the ship that I want to play. At Lieutenant Commander, if I want to continue the legacy into the revamped Constitution class heavy cruiser I have to either rename the old ship first, or dismiss it. This now costs 3000 Merits, which I simply dont have and cannot afford. I also dont believe that I should be forced to dismiss a ship that I paid good money to have attached to my account.
I understand the concept of making me sacrifice something to control rabid renames, etc., but unfortunately this greatly impacts the ability of me to play the game the way I want to play it. My rationale for my ship and crew fits purely inside both standard Trek lore and STO rules, but the cost is too grievous and unnecessary.
Proposed fix: Theres no reason the cost of renaming the ship should be in Merits. Either reduce the cost, or change the currency required to Energy. Another option would be to make the 'index value' tied to the ship number instead of the name, so that I could have every ship named Valiant, but the unique identifier would be the NCC number (Plain, -A, -B, etc.)
2b) More on Ship Names. When attempting to change the name of my ship, I am allowed to select the Name and the prefix number. Again, in keeping with my own internal gameplay lore, the ship is going to be USS Whatever, NCC Whatever-A (Yep just like in the movies! Yay!) Because of the rename restriction above (cant have two ships same name), you wont change my ship name, but you allowed the number change to go through. Why is this an issue? Because it just triggered the incremental cost increase for when I actually DO get to name my ship what I want!! What the hey? Youre punishing me with increasingly stiff costs for options you've given me and I shouldnt be paying for.
Proposed fix: Either the system tells me in advance that only half the rename is going to go through and asks if I want to continue, else it fails the entire rename, not just part of it. Or, convert the currency from Merits to Energy as discussed above.
I
love the game! Ive spent a lot of good money in order to utilize all the options youve made available to me. Id just like to use those options, please. Thank you!
Comments
If you wanted to spend energy instead, couldn't you just buy a new ship instead of spending merits?
In accordance with Trek lore, the ships weren't named Enterprise, Enterprise-A, etc. The ships were all named Enterprise - it was the NCC numbers that changed - 1701, 1701-A, 1701-B, etc. The crew would address the ships as Enterprise A, etc, but that's not how the markings on the hull were set up. Also note that the game also supports this by allowing you to set the suffix letter. Again, if the index value (how the game identifies the uniqueness of an item) was the NCC number and not the name itself this would all be moot.
Buying a new ship does not address the naming issues, and I don't feel I should be forced to spend 20,500 energy for a new ship over something that shouldn't be this complicated to begin with.