I see a lot of folks complaining pretty much about everything here.
I understand that there are flaws and bigger flaws and even huge flaws, that the Game is a little light on content in some Areas and that it IS a rushed Product but what do you expect from a game with only 2 years of development?
Judging from what the game was in Open Beta and from what it is now... i am actually satisfied by the overall progression (well the difficulty got nerfed way to much, which was a very bad way to react on Alpha Strikes in the first place but that is about the only thing that got worse).
I allready see new Content popping up... none of the Pre Order Items were present in open beta, even the TNG Movie Uniforms popped up piece by piece, Skirts just got added by demand, the Transwarp Conduit to the Borg Sectors wasnt avaible until a few patches ago, i've never seen the Crystaline Entity flying arround in SECTOR SPACE and now it does even take more then 5 shots to finnish the instance, the UI got some more work and a LOT of Bugs get fixed every Patch.
I dont see anymore Humans standing in Space, i dont see myself as a Spaceship on the Ground, i dont see Login Queues anymore...
I yet have to see ANY Studio doing Patchwork like this for ANY Singleplayer game!!!
Yes, there is still much to do, nobody denies that, but i am confident that it will get done, of course this takes time, some people here seem to expect wonders from the Dev's and want a year more of development put in RIGHT NOW... or a completely diffrent kind of Game to begin with, well that wont happen.
The game will ALLWAYS have instances, will allways have a Sectromap instead of open Space and it will allways be all about *~45° 2D*-PEW PEW PEW.
Can't live with that? Sorry wrong game for you (maybe next time wait for some reviews before getting your LTA?).
But keep complaining! Feedback is allways good. It is not like i would want those things, i just knew how it would be and i didnt expect more so i am not ****ed off to bad about those things... actually i lowered my expectations for Trek games a lot back when i played the sh*t out of Star Trek Legacy.
A.F.A.I.K. PARAMOUNT / CBS wanted this game to be released at time with Star Trek 11 and it even got delayed for 6 Months after that because it wasn't ready. I dont think that Cryptic would not had put in another year if it would had been their free choice but they had a Deadline put in front of them and they kept it!
Same Story with Star Trek Legacy, Bethesda had a lot more on the To Do List like customisable Ships and the game was released to early... just bad that it was one of those *fire and forget*-singleplayer games that at best get a second Patch until they are forgotten by the Publisher.
well...
WE have something to play with NOW.
If you want to blame someone for this then blame the Suits at Paramount, they f*** up Star Trek since ENTERPRISE started / got cancelled and we better don't even talk about what that J.J. Abrams Movie did to 40 years of Trek.
Just to clarify one more thing: NO i am not 100% satisfied with the Game itself, i am satisfied with the Patchwork put in so far!
If they keep this up i am perfectly fine with paying my monthly fee to see how this game progresses as long as it is fun for me.
...so you haters are free to call me Fanboi now but you know i made at least some valid points here.
No doubt they have done great work in very little time after they took over for Pepetrual. But that doesn't mean it's a great game yet. It's enjoyable, but I'll still cancel my subscription after my included month. Then I'll reactivate in 3-4 months to check progress.
They are fixing a lot and fixing it fast, you have to commend them for this.
Can't think of another mmorpg that has seen this level of fixing before....the problem ofc is that none of this was fixed pre-launch when almost everything being fixed was a known issue in beta.
Yep, they've given the game a good foundation, and have demonstrated they are dedicated to improving it. I also played in OB and am impressed at the volume of fixes and new stuff they've added in such a short time.
I commend peoples faith. However, don't let it blind you to the reality of the situation.
We'll see people who want to keep with the game feel in a few months time OP, when the hot topics that people are concerned about now still haven't been addressed or even acknowledged by the devs. People say "well this game ain't for everyone" and that's true. But when "this game ain't available for hardly anyone", that's when Cryptic will feel it in their bank balance.
Yes what Cryptic have done in 2 years is not bad, however in the end the amount of work done in 2 years doesn't sell an MMO. Its the quality of the product when compared to its competitors that encourages people to buy, regardless of how long / how little it took them. And saying that "well people shouldn't compare it to WoWs launch" is rubbish. WoW had its own launch problems which is true, but it had all the fundamentals of an MMO covered (content, class diversity, itemisation, sufficient gameplay to encourage subscriptons, etc).
Cryptic have a foundation, that much is true. But that is no guarantee that such a foundation will be built on sufficiently enough to encourage subscriptions to the level in which the product can be considered "successful" both financially or in the general players eyes. Just look at AOC. Another game that had "potential" that never came to fruitition largely because the devs ignored the players wishes and continued on their path until it was too late and they begin bleeding subs.
In short, its often easier and cheaper to keep an existing customer happy, than to lose them and try to get them back.
MMO's that show a shard drop in subs after the first month rarely recover back to what they were or surpass that level, simply because the devs either don't have the time or dont want to implement what is needed quickly in order to retain players.
Having faith is admirable. But blind faith and ignoring what history can teach us, can be dangerous.
I`m sure CRYPTIC know this is there last chance. They can`t afford to fail with this IP.
CO is not looking good for them, and from all the talk and bad reviews/forum posts, they know they are in trouble come 30 days resub time.
Don't get me wrong, Cryptic still have a chance to claw things back before its too late. In my opinion, the "point of no return" is 2 months after launch date, when nothing has been done to address the glaring issues. A player MAY come back a month or so after cancelling. But any longer and the devs run the risk of losing the player forever. Gone are the days when the MMO customers would happily subscribe to a product for 12 months in the vane hope that things will get noticably better. People have been burnt too many times on that one.
My point is, Cryptic have yet to be seen to be acknowledging many of the "hot topic" issues that are cropping up in these forums concerning gameplay. And by keeping quiet, they may end up doing more harm than good because the customerbase will largely lose faith. Such issues need to be addressed NOW, not in 6 months time after the server performance has been dealt with and the game has little subscribers.
And so, firstly they need to acknowledge the issues to their customerbase and be seen to discuss them with the customer base. If a customer feels that they are being involved in the situation and that their concerns are being dealt with, then they may have more tolerance for any issues that crop up and thus be more prepared to continue subscribing. Cryptic needs to let their customers KNOW whats on their minds and how they intend to fix the problems.
After that, they need to be seen to implement such fixes in a reasonable time frame, one that promotes faith in their customers that its not just all words with very little action to follow them. Be seen to be focusing in the areas that matter to your customers. Not in areas that have very little impact right now. Making the customers wait 6 months for something is not a good idea and only serves to turn them away.
Thirdly, when implementing such changes, do it over a period of time that is reasonable. Make a big song and dance about how these changes are in line with what the customers want (maybe even link in the forum posts). But let the customer become accustomed to the changes over a period of a few patches. Don't just drop it all in one big patch into the customers lap and expect them not to react negatively (e.g. SWG's NGE changes). Plus people like to enjoy nice changes over the course of a set of patches rather than waiting 6 - 12 months for one big patch. Changes must be done in a timely manner to suit the customer.
Don't get me wrong, Cryptic still have a chance to claw things back before its too late. In my opinion, the "point of no return" is 2 months after launch date, when nothing has been done to address the glaring issues. A player MAY come back a month or so after cancelling. But any longer and the devs run the risk of losing the player forever. Gone are the days when the MMO customers would happily subscribe to a product for 12 months in the vane hope that things will get noticably better. People have been burnt too many times on that one.
My point is, Cryptic have yet to be seen to be acknowledging many of the "hot topic" issues that are cropping up in these forums concerning gameplay. And by keeping quiet, they may end up doing more harm than good because the customerbase will largely lose faith. Such issues need to be addressed NOW, not in 6 months time after the server performance has been dealt with and the game has little subscribers.
And so, firstly they need to acknowledge the issues to their customerbase and be seen to discuss them with the customer base. If a customer feels that they are being involved in the situation and that their concerns are being dealt with, then they may have more tolerance for any issues that crop up and thus be more prepared to continue subscribing. Cryptic needs to let their customers KNOW whats on their minds and how they intend to fix the problems.
After that, they need to be seen to implement such fixes in a reasonable time frame, one that promotes faith in their customers that its not just all words with very little action to follow them. Be seen to be focusing in the areas that matter to your customers. Not in areas that have very little impact right now. Making the customers wait 6 months for something is not a good idea and only serves to turn them away.
Thirdly, when implementing such changes, do it over a period of time that is reasonable. Make a big song and dance about how these changes are in line with what the customers want (maybe even link in the forum posts). But let the customer become accustomed to the changes over a period of a few patches. Don't just drop it all in one big patch into the customers lap and expect them not to react negatively (e.g. SWG's NGE changes). Plus people like to enjoy nice changes over the course of a set of patches rather than waiting 6 - 12 months for one big patch. Changes must be done in a timely manner to suit the customer.
you may want to check the post linked in my sig.
the vast majority of reasonable requests, death penalty, autofire, options to not kill and graphical issues as well are covered, with links to actual dev responses about them.
i've always found cryptic to be intent upon listening to their customers and providing what is wanted within reason. they're also very true to their own ideals and are willing to ride out a storm over unpopular changes that in the long run actually help broaden gameplay as opposed to creating cookie cutter "optimal only" builds that everyone uses.
so they've already started saying things will be done, once they get out the raidisode content that was already begun as launch happened. given how quickly changes have been made in the 4 months i've seen since closed beta i have no doubt that once they turn their attention over to these issues that changes will be quick in coming.
most people will return at some point in the first 6 months to check on how things have progressed, 4 months ago this game was almost completely different, a good example is the ground combat.. so i'd say give it 6 months and look back at what the game was at launch and have a think about how much can be done in that time.
Well... we got Skirts cuz we asked for them ^^
We asked for a working Screen on the Bridge we kind of got one.
"More IP Locations - Check out Rura Penthe and our whole solar system, from Mercury to Pluto."
...i know i asked for a complete Solar System ! (made a Thread about that a few days back)
As far as i can tell the Servers run way better by now...
By now i am more annoyed by the ammount of downtimes when they implement new patches exactly everytime i want to start the game... but then i am happy they are fixing things again (i just wished it wouldn't take 2 hours everytime)
I dont see ANY Developers anywhere posting in Forums what may be implemented as long as it sits idle on the MAYBE-TO-DO-List and that is for ANY game! So why expect it here?
I wouldn't expect them to implement anything else until the 45 day Klingon PvE update that they allready announced several times in diffrent interviews, yet they did fix a lot of stuff and even announced all of this: http://www.startrekonline.com/upcoming_content
I like the gaME finaly got the Con class ship. Been having fun playing the game. And enjoying it. I like it better than I did Wow. And a lot better than SWG. It has a few flaws, but it's pretty cool.
Well... we got Skirts cuz we asked for them ^^
We asked for a working Screen on the Bridge we kind of got one.
"More IP Locations - Check out Rura Penthe and our whole solar system, from Mercury to Pluto."
...i know i asked for a complete Solar System ! (made a Thread about that a few days back)
As far as i can tell the Servers run way better by now...
By now i am more annoyed by the ammount of downtimes when they implement new patches exactly everytime i want to start the game... but then i am happy they are fixing things again (i just wished it wouldn't take 2 hours everytime)
I dont see ANY Developers anywhere posting in Forums what may be implemented as long as it sits idle on the MAYBE-TO-DO-List and that is for ANY game! So why expect it here?
I wouldn't expect them to implement anything else until the 45 day Klingon PvE update that they allready announced several times in diffrent interviews, yet they did fix a lot of stuff and even announced all of this: http://www.startrekonline.com/upcoming_content
You think that is not enough for the start.... ?
Rura Penthe, skirts, solar system planets.....Do these things actually affect the concerns that many are expressing after launch? No.
Sure they are implenting such stuff. But does it actually affect the crucial issues? No.
Why? Because its considered "fluff". Fluff is what you put in AFTER you have established ALL the necessary foundations that are commonly found in the best MMO's and they are to a standard that matches your competitors at launch. And STO is a long way off that stage that grants them time to focus mainly on "fluff".
Auto-fire is probably the only gameplay issue that has been acknowledged and being acted on by the devs since launch. However, that's only because the mechanic is ALREADY in the game and requires a tweak. You can bet your life that had auto-fire not been in the game at all, they wouldn't even be giving it a second look.
So, what about Sector Space, enough leveling content to support gameplay that is comparable to other MMOs and encourage a subscription, or any other of the "hot topics" in these forums? The devs remain eeriely quiet on those, don't you think?
Don't get me wrong, it can be turned around. But will it be done sufficiently within a short period in order to encourage player retention? Probably not given the history of MMO's. What you see at launch (in terms of gameplay depth, scale of content and mechanics) is largely what you get for the life of the MMO or until an expansion is released. Wow may not have had a great deal of depth compared to single player RPGs, but it surpassed its MMO predecessors in terms of quality in the right areas. STO's depth, scale of content and mechanics don't even come close to THAT. So how can it hope to compete in the MMO market over a period longer than the first 30 days?
A quality product isn't just defined by one single property, the level of quality is defined by the sum of all elements measured individually against established expectations.
I applaud your "faith" but trust me, such faith will probably be tested in a few months when you realise that time is not on the devs side. There will probably be just too much to put right in order to encourage sufficient player retention over a mid-long term. Either that or the devs will refuse to do what is necessary, and stick to a blind belief that "all is well", long after a large percentage of their player base has moved on to find an MMO that perhaps matches the industry standard. A standard that has been already established by more successful MMO's.
i really dont see THAT many threads about sector space..
klingon PvE yeah, but people in general dont seem to be complaining about sector space.
the big issues appear to be
content - 45 day patch is described as "substantial"
skill cap - level to be raised to 50 within the year
autofire - being looked at and options discussed
endgame - raidisodes roughly every 7-10 days for next 2 months
clothing issues - ongoing from what i can tell
death penalty - under review by devs
excessive combat/no non-lethal options - again under review by devs with more non combat missions and a diplomacy system being worked on.
i mean, thats what i see coming up most in threads and discussions, and they've all be acknowledged and are either being worked on or being looked at.
those are the game breaking issues for most people it seems, getting those fixes in place will help retain subs and the devs have spoken out on them. the only thing now is to see if they'll come through on them or not.
"Company XY is putting soooo much effort in patching since beta".... WTH?!
When they wouldn't ruin the game while in development, they wouldn't have to patch it like hell. And of course they do more patching than in a singleplayer-game... that's a bad comparison.
Beside that, a Beta has normally nothing to do with any game-balancing or content fix... the main reason for a beta is a first server-stress-test and an Open Beta is more a promotion for a game. Maybe it's like 1-5% game-fixing which should happen before Betas.
And it's NO excuse to say "Yeah, but Cryptic only had 2 years to stomp out this game"... When the game is unfinished... don't release it and put it out in 2011. When Cryptic can't hold deadlines, they're bad.
Congratulate them for the good patching work is lame... that's like getting a broken nose from a good friend and you start praising him for the treatment he does afterwards...
i really dont see THAT many threads about sector space..
klingon PvE yeah, but people in general dont seem to be complaining about sector space.
the big issues appear to be
content - 45 day patch is described as "substantial"
skill cap - level to be raised to 50 within the year
autofire - being looked at and options discussed
endgame - raidisodes roughly every 7-10 days for next 2 months
clothing issues - ongoing from what i can tell
death penalty - under review by devs
excessive combat/no non-lethal options - again under review by devs with more non combat missions and a diplomacy system being worked on.
i mean, thats what i see coming up most in threads and discussions, and they've all be acknowledged and are either being worked on or being looked at.
those are the game breaking issues for most people it seems, getting those fixes in place will help retain subs and the devs have spoken out on them. the only thing now is to see if they'll come through on them or not.
Sector Space: Do you check both the gameplay AND the Discussion sections in these forums? The issues regarding the poor design of Sector Space is a topic that is discussed almost on a daily basis both in the forums and in the game. Do you not find it odd that the game is built on a franchise that often depicted certain scenarios that haven been "borrowed" by its competitor, and yet, the devs refuse to implement in this game? Check my sig for details.
Skill cap raising: Why is this even being used as proof of addressing the current state of gameplay concerns? Because the gameplay that is already in place isn't enough to encourage long term subscription. Devs cannot expect people to continue subscribing just so they'll get the amount of gameplay that is commonly provided at launch. The recent shitstorm regarding the CO "expansion" is proof of that.
Having to wait a year doesn't help the issues with the game NOW. Plus it doesn't address the concerns that many have about the game as it stands NOW i.e. regarding the speed of progression in the game and lack of substance in the gameplay.
Plus, who in their right mind thought of tagging the introduction of the respec system onto the raising of the skill cap???
Auto-fire: Yes, like I said earlier, is probably the only gameplay issue that affects a large portion of people and is generally considered pretty paramount. However, just like I said earlier, its a fix, not a new implementation of extra gameplay which encourages subscriptions. It is just one of MANY issues the playerbase has.
"Raid-i-sodes": Firstly the "raid-i-sode" (god i hate that term) that we're getting soon, was developed PRIOR to launch. Therefore, it is not a true representation of what new content Cryptic can develop after launch. The REAL proof of the level of quality that Cryptic can provide "post launch" will be in the content that comes AFTER the "pre-launch" developed content. If the devs only have to spend a couple of days designing such content, then you can bet that it will be no different than what we've ready seen. Thus further exaggerating the issues and concerns regarding the lack of depth AND level of quality in the game as whole because they have yet to deal with the depth of content in the rest of the game or the rate of progression through it.
Clothing: does this actually affect fundamental gameplay mechanics in MMOs and depth of gameplay? Nope. It only affects aesthetics. What about the issues concerning the skill points system?
Death Penalty: A fundamental element required in all MMO's, just like Crafting and Harvesting. One that is a "necessary evil" for a variety of reasons (reasons I won't go into here). However, implementing a DP system on its own without actually addressing other gameplay issues will only serve to make a bad situation even worse.
For example: The issues regarding npcs camping the spawn points in the Deep Space Encounters need to be sorted BEFORE implementing a DP system. Otherwise, the DP system will be met with more resistance than it deserves. However, the devs have yet to acknowledge that they consider it an issue.
Non-combat elements: Such a vague reference by the devs and will, in all likelihood, not encompass such fundamental elements as crafting and harvesting or provide engaging content for such elements. I know they've mentioned "diplomacy" but little information has been given on it. As such, it seems more of an "after thought" and will therefore be given very little attention in terms of development time. Therefore, its possible that such non-combat gameplay will be a shallow mini-game that is nothing more than a multiple choice question window, rather than a noticable gameplay addition. How about enriching the gameplay that is ALREADY in the game e.g. the use of Tri-corders and Scanners and the implementation of profession-specific minigames to bolster the reasons of having an away team made up of various professions?
Timescales: Lastly, like you say, we don't know have any time scales on the vague references they have given. It could be a year before we see anything and even then may bear little resemblance to what we expect / want.
In short
My point is that whilst the devs have talked about klingon content, auto-fire and endgame content, they are not being seen to address the "hot topics" and other concerns that the customer base has with the game, to the extent whereby they are encouraging the customers to continuing subscribing.
What they have done in 2 years is admirable. But people only care about the quality of the end product compared to its competitors, not how long it took them to get to that level of quality.
What is wrong with Sector Space? That you can only see 3 Sectors at a time or what? It works as intended and i see nothing wrong with it.... you want Open Space? Wrong Game!
Death Penalty.... minor issue, since the difficulty got nerfed i die once a weak... i realy don't care and even if, this would be a minor adjustment and can be implemented at any time the question here is more what kind of Death Penalty would be fair? Ballancing issue, nothing more.
"Skill cap raising" ...minor issue, they only have to tweak out the Skilltree a little more (balancing again) and that will not come until it is finished so they don't have to give free respecs every weak.
"Auto-fire" ...i was the first one that wanted it and i have it by now, that is what i understand as GAMEPLAY and therefore it is more important then any balancing issue.
"Raid-i-sodes" ...not there yet, will get there in a month or two maybe.
"Non-combat elements" ...afaik there was something about Relief Efforts that turned out to be uber boring and get's skipped by everyone? I think they are talking about those missions and a Stun setting for Phasers to make it more Canon and less Massmurderer-Fleet which would contribute to Atmosphere and therefore is needed.
Let me just put it this way: I dont play a game because of it's perfect ballanced out Skilltree's or because of excessive Crafting, that is all included in "Ballance" and only present in every game to keep the addicted Nerds playing for even more Hours a day, while STO was designed for the Casual Player that doesn't want to put a lifetime in his Char.... but want's to shoot Stuff.
But yeah Crafting sux as it is even for the casual crowd..... i think it is pretty obvious that it was a last minute job and there sureley will be more later because the playerbase demands it.
I play because of Gameplay and Atmosphere and/or "Story" everything else is just overhead to make it work as a GAME.
I did not like Eve because i could not steer the ship myself. -> boring Gameplay.
I did not like WoW because of the Comic look and because it was just plain boring. -> boring Atmosphere
I did not like Rappelz because it had only the absolutely necessery Content. -> just plain boring.
This isn't "Dungeon & Dragons" either...
It would be perfectly fine if they would just deliver a good continuing Storyline and use the Stuff they have to tell new Storys in the Trek Universe, instead of just mind numbing PvP all day long, no matter how *massive*.
Glad your satisfied. So long as you understand that your opinion means no more or less than anyone else's, its all good. The problem is when people think that other people should agree with how they view the game, whether positively or negatively.
Glad your satisfied. So long as you understand that your opinion means no more or less than anyone else's, its all good. The problem is when people think that other people should agree with how they view the game, whether positively or negatively.
I don't need anyone to agree with me, i know there are enough people that agree with me as there are enough people who will quit no matter what.
I just wanted to remind that Cryptic is still working on the game and we can allready see a lot of improvements which most people just seem to ignore or allready have forgotten about.
They are fixing a lot and fixing it fast, you have to commend them for this.
No I don't. They're fixing things that should have never made it to launch and changed a core mechanic a week from launch. A core mechanic that will not get resolved until sometime later this year according to Ask:Cryptic.
Because people will continue to be so acceptant of unfinished products, developers know they can get away with releasing an unfinished game. It's because they know people like you will just eat it up and praise them for their hard work fixing what should have never happened the first place. And the excuse of well, it happened with other MMOs is getting old. That held water when companies were developing the genre, but not now. Not in 2010. Stop settling for mediocrity. You wouldn't settle for it with all the other products you buy in your life, why here?
Skirts were promised as part of the TOS uniform pre-order bonus. The fact that we got them weeks after release is a Cryptic f***up, not a badge of success.
Comments
Can't think of another mmorpg that has seen this level of fixing before....the problem ofc is that none of this was fixed pre-launch when almost everything being fixed was a known issue in beta.
We'll see people who want to keep with the game feel in a few months time OP, when the hot topics that people are concerned about now still haven't been addressed or even acknowledged by the devs. People say "well this game ain't for everyone" and that's true. But when "this game ain't available for hardly anyone", that's when Cryptic will feel it in their bank balance.
Yes what Cryptic have done in 2 years is not bad, however in the end the amount of work done in 2 years doesn't sell an MMO. Its the quality of the product when compared to its competitors that encourages people to buy, regardless of how long / how little it took them. And saying that "well people shouldn't compare it to WoWs launch" is rubbish. WoW had its own launch problems which is true, but it had all the fundamentals of an MMO covered (content, class diversity, itemisation, sufficient gameplay to encourage subscriptons, etc).
Cryptic have a foundation, that much is true. But that is no guarantee that such a foundation will be built on sufficiently enough to encourage subscriptions to the level in which the product can be considered "successful" both financially or in the general players eyes. Just look at AOC. Another game that had "potential" that never came to fruitition largely because the devs ignored the players wishes and continued on their path until it was too late and they begin bleeding subs.
In short, its often easier and cheaper to keep an existing customer happy, than to lose them and try to get them back.
MMO's that show a shard drop in subs after the first month rarely recover back to what they were or surpass that level, simply because the devs either don't have the time or dont want to implement what is needed quickly in order to retain players.
Having faith is admirable. But blind faith and ignoring what history can teach us, can be dangerous.
CO is not looking good for them, and from all the talk and bad reviews/forum posts, they know they are in trouble come 30 days resub time.
Don't get me wrong, Cryptic still have a chance to claw things back before its too late. In my opinion, the "point of no return" is 2 months after launch date, when nothing has been done to address the glaring issues. A player MAY come back a month or so after cancelling. But any longer and the devs run the risk of losing the player forever. Gone are the days when the MMO customers would happily subscribe to a product for 12 months in the vane hope that things will get noticably better. People have been burnt too many times on that one.
My point is, Cryptic have yet to be seen to be acknowledging many of the "hot topic" issues that are cropping up in these forums concerning gameplay. And by keeping quiet, they may end up doing more harm than good because the customerbase will largely lose faith. Such issues need to be addressed NOW, not in 6 months time after the server performance has been dealt with and the game has little subscribers.
And so, firstly they need to acknowledge the issues to their customerbase and be seen to discuss them with the customer base. If a customer feels that they are being involved in the situation and that their concerns are being dealt with, then they may have more tolerance for any issues that crop up and thus be more prepared to continue subscribing. Cryptic needs to let their customers KNOW whats on their minds and how they intend to fix the problems.
After that, they need to be seen to implement such fixes in a reasonable time frame, one that promotes faith in their customers that its not just all words with very little action to follow them. Be seen to be focusing in the areas that matter to your customers. Not in areas that have very little impact right now. Making the customers wait 6 months for something is not a good idea and only serves to turn them away.
Thirdly, when implementing such changes, do it over a period of time that is reasonable. Make a big song and dance about how these changes are in line with what the customers want (maybe even link in the forum posts). But let the customer become accustomed to the changes over a period of a few patches. Don't just drop it all in one big patch into the customers lap and expect them not to react negatively (e.g. SWG's NGE changes). Plus people like to enjoy nice changes over the course of a set of patches rather than waiting 6 - 12 months for one big patch. Changes must be done in a timely manner to suit the customer.
you may want to check the post linked in my sig.
the vast majority of reasonable requests, death penalty, autofire, options to not kill and graphical issues as well are covered, with links to actual dev responses about them.
i've always found cryptic to be intent upon listening to their customers and providing what is wanted within reason. they're also very true to their own ideals and are willing to ride out a storm over unpopular changes that in the long run actually help broaden gameplay as opposed to creating cookie cutter "optimal only" builds that everyone uses.
so they've already started saying things will be done, once they get out the raidisode content that was already begun as launch happened. given how quickly changes have been made in the 4 months i've seen since closed beta i have no doubt that once they turn their attention over to these issues that changes will be quick in coming.
most people will return at some point in the first 6 months to check on how things have progressed, 4 months ago this game was almost completely different, a good example is the ground combat.. so i'd say give it 6 months and look back at what the game was at launch and have a think about how much can be done in that time.
We asked for a working Screen on the Bridge we kind of got one.
"More IP Locations - Check out Rura Penthe and our whole solar system, from Mercury to Pluto."
...i know i asked for a complete Solar System ! (made a Thread about that a few days back)
As far as i can tell the Servers run way better by now...
By now i am more annoyed by the ammount of downtimes when they implement new patches exactly everytime i want to start the game... but then i am happy they are fixing things again (i just wished it wouldn't take 2 hours everytime)
I dont see ANY Developers anywhere posting in Forums what may be implemented as long as it sits idle on the MAYBE-TO-DO-List and that is for ANY game! So why expect it here?
I wouldn't expect them to implement anything else until the 45 day Klingon PvE update that they allready announced several times in diffrent interviews, yet they did fix a lot of stuff and even announced all of this:
http://www.startrekonline.com/upcoming_content
You think that is not enough for the start.... ?
Rura Penthe, skirts, solar system planets.....Do these things actually affect the concerns that many are expressing after launch? No.
Sure they are implenting such stuff. But does it actually affect the crucial issues? No.
Why? Because its considered "fluff". Fluff is what you put in AFTER you have established ALL the necessary foundations that are commonly found in the best MMO's and they are to a standard that matches your competitors at launch. And STO is a long way off that stage that grants them time to focus mainly on "fluff".
Auto-fire is probably the only gameplay issue that has been acknowledged and being acted on by the devs since launch. However, that's only because the mechanic is ALREADY in the game and requires a tweak. You can bet your life that had auto-fire not been in the game at all, they wouldn't even be giving it a second look.
So, what about Sector Space, enough leveling content to support gameplay that is comparable to other MMOs and encourage a subscription, or any other of the "hot topics" in these forums? The devs remain eeriely quiet on those, don't you think?
Don't get me wrong, it can be turned around. But will it be done sufficiently within a short period in order to encourage player retention? Probably not given the history of MMO's. What you see at launch (in terms of gameplay depth, scale of content and mechanics) is largely what you get for the life of the MMO or until an expansion is released. Wow may not have had a great deal of depth compared to single player RPGs, but it surpassed its MMO predecessors in terms of quality in the right areas. STO's depth, scale of content and mechanics don't even come close to THAT. So how can it hope to compete in the MMO market over a period longer than the first 30 days?
A quality product isn't just defined by one single property, the level of quality is defined by the sum of all elements measured individually against established expectations.
I applaud your "faith" but trust me, such faith will probably be tested in a few months when you realise that time is not on the devs side. There will probably be just too much to put right in order to encourage sufficient player retention over a mid-long term. Either that or the devs will refuse to do what is necessary, and stick to a blind belief that "all is well", long after a large percentage of their player base has moved on to find an MMO that perhaps matches the industry standard. A standard that has been already established by more successful MMO's.
klingon PvE yeah, but people in general dont seem to be complaining about sector space.
the big issues appear to be
content - 45 day patch is described as "substantial"
skill cap - level to be raised to 50 within the year
autofire - being looked at and options discussed
endgame - raidisodes roughly every 7-10 days for next 2 months
clothing issues - ongoing from what i can tell
death penalty - under review by devs
excessive combat/no non-lethal options - again under review by devs with more non combat missions and a diplomacy system being worked on.
i mean, thats what i see coming up most in threads and discussions, and they've all be acknowledged and are either being worked on or being looked at.
those are the game breaking issues for most people it seems, getting those fixes in place will help retain subs and the devs have spoken out on them. the only thing now is to see if they'll come through on them or not.
"Company XY is putting soooo much effort in patching since beta".... WTH?!
When they wouldn't ruin the game while in development, they wouldn't have to patch it like hell. And of course they do more patching than in a singleplayer-game... that's a bad comparison.
Beside that, a Beta has normally nothing to do with any game-balancing or content fix... the main reason for a beta is a first server-stress-test and an Open Beta is more a promotion for a game. Maybe it's like 1-5% game-fixing which should happen before Betas.
And it's NO excuse to say "Yeah, but Cryptic only had 2 years to stomp out this game"... When the game is unfinished... don't release it and put it out in 2011. When Cryptic can't hold deadlines, they're bad.
Congratulate them for the good patching work is lame... that's like getting a broken nose from a good friend and you start praising him for the treatment he does afterwards...
Sector Space: Do you check both the gameplay AND the Discussion sections in these forums? The issues regarding the poor design of Sector Space is a topic that is discussed almost on a daily basis both in the forums and in the game. Do you not find it odd that the game is built on a franchise that often depicted certain scenarios that haven been "borrowed" by its competitor, and yet, the devs refuse to implement in this game? Check my sig for details.
Skill cap raising: Why is this even being used as proof of addressing the current state of gameplay concerns? Because the gameplay that is already in place isn't enough to encourage long term subscription. Devs cannot expect people to continue subscribing just so they'll get the amount of gameplay that is commonly provided at launch. The recent shitstorm regarding the CO "expansion" is proof of that.
Having to wait a year doesn't help the issues with the game NOW. Plus it doesn't address the concerns that many have about the game as it stands NOW i.e. regarding the speed of progression in the game and lack of substance in the gameplay.
Plus, who in their right mind thought of tagging the introduction of the respec system onto the raising of the skill cap???
Auto-fire: Yes, like I said earlier, is probably the only gameplay issue that affects a large portion of people and is generally considered pretty paramount. However, just like I said earlier, its a fix, not a new implementation of extra gameplay which encourages subscriptions. It is just one of MANY issues the playerbase has.
"Raid-i-sodes": Firstly the "raid-i-sode" (god i hate that term) that we're getting soon, was developed PRIOR to launch. Therefore, it is not a true representation of what new content Cryptic can develop after launch. The REAL proof of the level of quality that Cryptic can provide "post launch" will be in the content that comes AFTER the "pre-launch" developed content. If the devs only have to spend a couple of days designing such content, then you can bet that it will be no different than what we've ready seen. Thus further exaggerating the issues and concerns regarding the lack of depth AND level of quality in the game as whole because they have yet to deal with the depth of content in the rest of the game or the rate of progression through it.
Clothing: does this actually affect fundamental gameplay mechanics in MMOs and depth of gameplay? Nope. It only affects aesthetics. What about the issues concerning the skill points system?
Death Penalty: A fundamental element required in all MMO's, just like Crafting and Harvesting. One that is a "necessary evil" for a variety of reasons (reasons I won't go into here). However, implementing a DP system on its own without actually addressing other gameplay issues will only serve to make a bad situation even worse.
For example: The issues regarding npcs camping the spawn points in the Deep Space Encounters need to be sorted BEFORE implementing a DP system. Otherwise, the DP system will be met with more resistance than it deserves. However, the devs have yet to acknowledge that they consider it an issue.
Non-combat elements: Such a vague reference by the devs and will, in all likelihood, not encompass such fundamental elements as crafting and harvesting or provide engaging content for such elements. I know they've mentioned "diplomacy" but little information has been given on it. As such, it seems more of an "after thought" and will therefore be given very little attention in terms of development time. Therefore, its possible that such non-combat gameplay will be a shallow mini-game that is nothing more than a multiple choice question window, rather than a noticable gameplay addition. How about enriching the gameplay that is ALREADY in the game e.g. the use of Tri-corders and Scanners and the implementation of profession-specific minigames to bolster the reasons of having an away team made up of various professions?
Timescales: Lastly, like you say, we don't know have any time scales on the vague references they have given. It could be a year before we see anything and even then may bear little resemblance to what we expect / want.
In short
My point is that whilst the devs have talked about klingon content, auto-fire and endgame content, they are not being seen to address the "hot topics" and other concerns that the customer base has with the game, to the extent whereby they are encouraging the customers to continuing subscribing.
What they have done in 2 years is admirable. But people only care about the quality of the end product compared to its competitors, not how long it took them to get to that level of quality.
What is wrong with Sector Space? That you can only see 3 Sectors at a time or what? It works as intended and i see nothing wrong with it.... you want Open Space? Wrong Game!
Death Penalty.... minor issue, since the difficulty got nerfed i die once a weak... i realy don't care and even if, this would be a minor adjustment and can be implemented at any time the question here is more what kind of Death Penalty would be fair? Ballancing issue, nothing more.
"Skill cap raising" ...minor issue, they only have to tweak out the Skilltree a little more (balancing again) and that will not come until it is finished so they don't have to give free respecs every weak.
"Auto-fire" ...i was the first one that wanted it and i have it by now, that is what i understand as GAMEPLAY and therefore it is more important then any balancing issue.
"Raid-i-sodes" ...not there yet, will get there in a month or two maybe.
"Non-combat elements" ...afaik there was something about Relief Efforts that turned out to be uber boring and get's skipped by everyone? I think they are talking about those missions and a Stun setting for Phasers to make it more Canon and less Massmurderer-Fleet which would contribute to Atmosphere and therefore is needed.
Let me just put it this way:
I dont play a game because of it's perfect ballanced out Skilltree's or because of excessive Crafting, that is all included in "Ballance" and only present in every game to keep the addicted Nerds playing for even more Hours a day, while STO was designed for the Casual Player that doesn't want to put a lifetime in his Char.... but want's to shoot Stuff.
But yeah Crafting sux as it is even for the casual crowd..... i think it is pretty obvious that it was a last minute job and there sureley will be more later because the playerbase demands it.
I play because of Gameplay and Atmosphere and/or "Story" everything else is just overhead to make it work as a GAME.
I did not like Eve because i could not steer the ship myself. -> boring Gameplay.
I did not like WoW because of the Comic look and because it was just plain boring. -> boring Atmosphere
I did not like Rappelz because it had only the absolutely necessery Content. -> just plain boring.
This isn't "Dungeon & Dragons" either...
It would be perfectly fine if they would just deliver a good continuing Storyline and use the Stuff they have to tell new Storys in the Trek Universe, instead of just mind numbing PvP all day long, no matter how *massive*.
I don't need anyone to agree with me, i know there are enough people that agree with me as there are enough people who will quit no matter what.
I just wanted to remind that Cryptic is still working on the game and we can allready see a lot of improvements which most people just seem to ignore or allready have forgotten about.
No I don't. They're fixing things that should have never made it to launch and changed a core mechanic a week from launch. A core mechanic that will not get resolved until sometime later this year according to Ask:Cryptic.
Because people will continue to be so acceptant of unfinished products, developers know they can get away with releasing an unfinished game. It's because they know people like you will just eat it up and praise them for their hard work fixing what should have never happened the first place. And the excuse of well, it happened with other MMOs is getting old. That held water when companies were developing the genre, but not now. Not in 2010. Stop settling for mediocrity. You wouldn't settle for it with all the other products you buy in your life, why here?
Skirts were promised as part of the TOS uniform pre-order bonus. The fact that we got them weeks after release is a Cryptic f***up, not a badge of success.