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Crystalline entity is wrong

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
There are many nice things and some disappointing things in this game. The newes disappointment i discovered is that Crystalline entity has deemed necessary to be as target for fleet actions.

Firstly they encounter entity in TNG. Lore communicates with it and nearly gets crew of Enterprise killed in this episode. Then they discover it again when it attack planet under clonization and after that is being chased for further study and maybe to destroy it. They finally find it and also manage to get to communicate with it when old lady deems necessary to destroy it to revenge his dead son. Sadly a newfound intelligent lifeform that was most likely just led to believe that humans are just food for it is killed.

Now we can encounter it all over again in neat fleet action. It can spawn large and small shards and whatever. Crystalline entity is here for peole to be killed again and again and again...

I am really disappointed to people in Cryptic who deemed necessary to just put it in the game without any more intelligent thought. You should have spared it until some content add on as a scientific research subject, matter oof communication etc.

I am also saddened that there seems to be no one else who sees it is wrong. Everyone just posts "How to kill it" threads.

I am totally sure that if Gene Roddenberry would still be alive he would make you change it to somethintg more constructive. It should be quite clear to all that Mr Roddenberry never intended this lifeform to be evil, just mislead lifeform.

Please remove this entity and replace it with something more suitable.
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    You open diplomatic relations with the Crystalline Entity. You have now learned how to eviscerate planets of all biological life and vibrate at high frequencies.

    Which BO gets to use these abilities I wonder?

    Honestly though, it is kind of disheartening to have nothing but 'Blow it the TRIBBLE up' missions, but it seems to be what the masses like, so its what the masses get. Have to remember, this is a game, first a foremost, not a catering to every facet of the IP that is Star Trek.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    You open diplomatic relations with the Crystalline Entity. You have now learned how to eviscerate planets of all biological life and vibrate at high frequencies.

    Which BO gets to use these abilities I wonder?

    Honestly though, it is kind of disheartening to have nothing but 'Blow it the TRIBBLE up' missions, but it seems to be what the masses like, so its what the masses get. Have to remember, this is a game, first a foremost, not a catering to every facet of the IP that is Star Trek.

    It is a game but im quite sure that masses would have been as happy or even happier if entity was replaced with alien spacestation, largeshards with batleships and smallshards with cruisers. In matter like this needs of a few outweight the needs of many. Also in whole game they should pay a litle more attention of what Mr Roddenberry would have wanted.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    TaPel wrote:
    It is a game but im quite sure that masses would have been as happy or even happier if entity was replaced with alien spacestation, largeshards with batleships and smallshards with cruisers. In matter like this needs of a few outweight the needs of many. Also in whole game they should pay a litle more attention of what Mr Roddenberry would have wanted.

    Eh. Then we'd just get complaints about the battleships ramming people. While shooting phasers and photons now... And the large carriers spawning shield repair drones by the drove, while trying to ram people.. And shooting off weapons. All the while the station'll likely have its own defenses.

    Sounds fun, but when you think of it as a direct conversion, you take the hard, and make it impossible. People don't listen in there as it is, much less if you have 75 cruisers shooting stuff at you while spamming ramming speed.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    The mission clearly states this is not the same crystalline entity as the series. Apperantly not all crystalline entity's are the same, as it is with people. Perhaps the series entity was a youger , less mature , child entity and this is a adult, mature entity, more capable of defending itself.

    Im sure if such an adult entity showed up in a next gen movie no one would of had an issue with.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Actually, since the last patch, the CE has apparently picked up some good loot from some Fed ships that make it immune to ramming. Now the tides have turned and all these CEs are farming Fed ships.

    Someone, please think of the ships!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Some people will find anything to complain about. There are real issues to deal with in STO atm. So tired of the super hardcore trek fans finding anything not canon to cry about. Its a mission you do it at LT. commander level a few times and move on.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Im totally sure that if he were alive this game wouldnt exist, or IF it did, it WOULD have been released finished or not at all.

    though it is damn funny that you can ran it to do damage but ramming doesnt damage you
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Im totally sure that if he were alive this game wouldnt exist, or IF it did, it WOULD have been released finished or not at all.

    Loy more finished and also much different, Roddenberry was also tolerant and im quite sure that in general this would have been even better hit with larger player base and less people who cant speak without using words "Crying, whining, fanboi etc"

    I am far from hardcore fan butthere still are certain things that should not be exploited until sucken dry. If you make a game about star Trek, then made it represent it a bit other ways too and not only by looks. I dont understand why so many would think this game would be less enjoyable if it would have something more in it than just mindless destroying.

    But well, there are so amny "real" issues here like how galaxy class turns and why cant i powerlevel anymore because there is counter, why cant i have pink phaser etc... You can understand who would complain about such things.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    ..........
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    nm............................
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    If you care to read the briefings for the mission, it explains all this.

    I read all the mission textsa. It has just made conveniently unlistening. Truly Crystalline entity should be part of explorarion episode missions in future add-one, not a subject of mass slaughter in fleet action. Fleet actions are fun by all means, but subjects should be selected better.

    At least if they must include lifeform like this in fleet action make it somwthing like

    "We managed to communicate with it but it iwas just something about rage and lost companion...

    Then this entity would at least been consequence of destruction of first entity. Story in mission text looks just like an excuse for getting it to subject of exploitation.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    You can't have pink phasers because Poleron beams are pink. They use the color to help you identify what you are being shot with.

    I just wish they would make the Crystaline entity spawn in different locations so that there wasn't a fleet with a mine field waiting for it to spawn in a big semi circle.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I agree that Roddenberry probably would have preferred the 'talk to it' approach. By way of example, prior to the 'Datalore' TNG episode where the Entity appeared (which led to a peaceful resolution), the story upon which that episode is based, namely Mark Daniels' screenplay for the 1970's Animated Star Trek Adventure episode, 'One of our planets is missing', of which Roddenberry was executive producer, also used the 'talk to it' approach. So there is certainly more than one instance in Star Trek of the Entity being persuaded to leave rather than being destroyed.

    Now, before anyone suggests that the animated series is not canon, I'd remind them that, quite apart from Roddenberry being the excutive producer and DC Fontana being the script editor for the series, the episode 'One of our planets is missing' was written by Mark Daniels, who directed 15 episodes of the third season ot Star Trek's TOS, including 'Space Seed', which is the episode in which Khan appears, so he certainly knew what audiences, and indeed Roddenberry, did and did not want, and I think we can all agree that the subsequent revival of Khan in Wrath of Khan is probably the movie that saved the franchise.

    What is more, the TNG series one episode 'Home Soil' sees Federation terraformers inadvertently attacking a sentient race, causing it to declare war upon the Federation. Yet despite the fact that these sentient beings could be destroyed by the Federation, the situation is resolved peacefully and the planet upon which the beings live is left alone, with the terraformers abandoning their attempts there. Thus we can see that peaceful resolution is indeed a recurring ST theme, as indeed is combat, but not all the time!

    Whilst it is known that there were several writers for Kirk's attitude in Star Trek, notably the different military stances of Kirk when written by either Gene Coon or Gene Roddenberry, in 'One of our planets is missing', even when of a more warlike disposition, whilst Kirk does indeed postulate that destroying the entity may be the only way, Spock persuades him otherwise and communicates with the entity, managing to get it to change course and avoid conflict. Thus intelligence triumphs over a more belligerent approach, which as we have seen is a common motif throughout Star Trek in virtually all its incarnations.

    I'm aware that STO is a game of course and we do want to blow stuff up, but constantly having missions of that nature, rather than a good spread of resolutions other than conflict, is rather obviously taking the easy way out as far as mission design is concerned, and it certainly does Star Trek a disservice to fall back on that approach all the time.

    Several Star Trek games have managed to employ the talents of the original writers from the TV show, most notably DC Fontana as a script editor on the story arc in Star Trek Bridge Commander. And we all know how good Bridge Commander is. If Cryptic cannot get some of the original ST writers on board, which admittedly might not be possible for many reasons, then they should at least take on board the ethos of those writers, even if they can't get them on board in person. The writing from those original scriptwriters is streets ahead of more recent efforts, compare for example the DC Fontana story for 'Yesteryear' with the story for JJ Abrams's 2009 movie; both of which have Spock going through time; Fontana's Yesteryear story makes the 'pew pew' screenplay for JJ Abrams' movie look like the efforts of an inept grade school writer having a crack at a script for a violent episode of Beverly Hills 90210.

    Cryptic, you guys have the opportunity to add some classic stuff to the Star Trek oeuvre, don't blow it.

    Al
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I envy your knowledge Chock.

    /bow
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I've learned to accept that in any MMORPG there will be boss monsters that should be almost undefeatable... but end up being farmed all the time.

    Turbine's implementation of The Watcher battle is the best that comes to mind: Tolkien's heroes ran from this deadly beast. But in LoTRO its a boss battle that gets farmed all the time.

    I think the only STO boss that gave me the sweats was The Doomsday Device during Open Beta. I went after it with a cruiser team mate and watched it one-shot him at one point. No idea if its that tough anymore.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Niblik wrote: »
    I've learned to accept that in any MMORPG there will be boss monsters that should be almost undefeatable... but end up being farmed all the time.

    Turbine's implementation of The Watcher battle is the best that comes to mind: Tolkien's heroes ran from this deadly beast. But in LoTRO its a boss battle that gets farmed all the time.

    I think the only STO boss that gave me the sweats was The Doomsday Device during Open Beta. I went after it with a cruiser team mate and watched it one-shot him at one point. No idea if its that tough anymore.

    somehow I seriously doubt it
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    somehow I seriously doubt it

    I was in a sci a few levels above the level and it didn't quite one shot me except one time when I was too close with a weak shield facing due to the other mobs. Its still a beast and a fun battle. Ps watch for the warp core explosion of that thing, THAT will one shot you.
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