Since the change in difficulty during open beta I have been tracking it very closely. For me, STO is really ridiculously easy. I have only experienced a slight increase in challenge at captain 5, but only slighty. See, I'm not actually all that good at any video-game. I get through the content but not with any degree of suprior aptitude. MMORPGs I fair better with but they are still relatively difficult for me. I'm more of a turn-based Game kind of person, not a twitch or button mashing kind of person. For STO to be so easy that I can count the number of times I have perished on my fingers since launch is rather problematic.
I have tracked the curve into the slight increase in challenge and have determined STO it is not actually going to get much harder. It is going to remain the same, probably even into the raid-i-sode content.
something else I have been paying attention to is the general criticisms of STO put forth by both seasoned and new gamers/MMORPG players alike on the forum. Among those criticisms, the loudest cry is that STO is easy to level through. getting to admiral, hitting level cap, is a breeze. it takes a short amount of time to get to cap in comparison to many MMORPGs at their launch state than it does STO.
Now, keeping in mind STO is blatantly designed for casual players, among which I count myself, I still think STO is WAY too easy. I think this is a big reason why there is so much dissatisfaction being related on this forum. There is no real challenge to STO.
I am not talking about a risk reward system that involves a death penalty implementation beyond what is in now. I'm talking about the absence of any real challenge in doing missions. I would not say it is AFK let you BOs complete the objectives kind of easy, though it is just a shade shy of that, which is actually really bad for a game design.
With out any difficulty STO will fade into the background. I don't think it is headed for unavoidable doom as some people insist on saying, but it is going to get hurt really badly if something is not done about this absence of challenge.
Please, make STO as difficult as it was at the end of closed beta into the first few days of open beta. It needs to be reasonably difficult, not irrationally easy. If the solution provided to this issue is some kind of difficulty slider, all ha have to say is you'd damn well make rewards for greater difficulty better than the rewards one would receive for "regular" difficulty. Without that incentive no one will ever play harder levels which amounts to the same thing as not adding player induced difficulty.
Whether you play 5+ hours a day or less than an hour a day - people are blazing through content at an alarming rate.
Even many "casuals" who play sparingly are already at or near Admiral rank and have nothing to do.
Now everyone is clamoring for new content. The game hasn't even been out for a month.
When the nerf bat hit at the end of OB, this is exactly what many people (self included) said would happen.
To appease the inept who can't overcome any learning experience in a game, the Devs dumped the IQ requirement to win to a sub chimpanzee level. As if having ZERO consequence for playing zerg weren't enough, they then made enemies have no bite at all.
In the process, they ****ed off those who do want to learn, adapt, and overcome hurdles.
Now lo and behold the people who whined it was too hard are right there at the end as well and want "more more more" new content they can plow through in a day or two.
With how easy the game is, no company in the history of gaming can pump out content at a rate to appease the masses.
PS: The one saving grace this game has is the Crystalline Entity. It's the ONE mission that requires thought, strategy, and/or teamwork to win in what is SUPPOSED to be an MMORPG.
Easy? My away team can't defeat anything without respawning 5 times and we do like 5 damage while the enemies do like 50. It's not easy. If it is suppose to be, I'd sure like to know what the **** I am doing wrong.
I agree wholeheartly, I love challenge and once the learning curve of managing your players/ships etc is conquered there needs to be gameplay challenges. For example missions/sectors that require team/fleet conordination to win.
For example it would be good to have a mission to explore a newly dicovered sector/ of Borg lair that required skilled play and group co-operation to actually get through.
Easy? My away team can't defeat anything without respawning 5 times and we do like 5 damage while the enemies do like 50. It's not easy. If it is suppose to be, I'd sure like to know what the **** I am doing wrong.
upgrade your away teams weapons, armor, and shields. It is a little touch and go there till you get 4 BOs on the ground. Once that happens you can almost AFK the ground missions.
PS: The one saving grace this game has is the Crystalline Entity. It's the ONE mission that requires thought, strategy, and/or teamwork to win in what is SUPPOSED to be an MMORPG.
And the sad thing is, people complain that CE is too hard. It is THE ONLY mission in the game that requires any form of thought other than zerg and spam.
Out of all the issues with this game, the #1 problem, IMO, is the ridiculous ease of space and ground combat. Same level, and even +1 and +2 enemies are an absolute joke. Not the slightest bit of challenge, unless you're playing with your eyes closed. There is simply no fun whatsoever in getting cool new skills and equipment when they are just not needed. Every mission is a breeze. Now, in most other MMOs, this isn't too much of an issue, because if you find content your level too easy, you can just move on to another area where quests and content are higher level and more challenging. However, the extreme linear nature of STO is such that you must complete missions your level before you can move on to other ones. This, combined with the lack of content, means you are pretty much always doing very easy content. It kills the fun of the game completely.
......means you are pretty much always doing very easy content. It kills the fun of the game completely.
Hear hear! certainly there needs to be sectors that require great skill and player levels. I'm very dissappointed in the walk in the park missions. Sure you need these at the lower levels to get the feel of the game, but we need to feel challenged so there is a sense of achievement.
Fundamentally Cryptic have laid the foundation for an very very good MMO, they aimed at the casual gamer and have almost hit the mark.
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Even many "casuals" who play sparingly are already at or near Admiral rank and have nothing to do.
Now everyone is clamoring for new content. The game hasn't even been out for a month.
When the nerf bat hit at the end of OB, this is exactly what many people (self included) said would happen.
To appease the inept who can't overcome any learning experience in a game, the Devs dumped the IQ requirement to win to a sub chimpanzee level. As if having ZERO consequence for playing zerg weren't enough, they then made enemies have no bite at all.
In the process, they ****ed off those who do want to learn, adapt, and overcome hurdles.
Now lo and behold the people who whined it was too hard are right there at the end as well and want "more more more" new content they can plow through in a day or two.
With how easy the game is, no company in the history of gaming can pump out content at a rate to appease the masses.
PS: The one saving grace this game has is the Crystalline Entity. It's the ONE mission that requires thought, strategy, and/or teamwork to win in what is SUPPOSED to be an MMORPG.
For example it would be good to have a mission to explore a newly dicovered sector/ of Borg lair that required skilled play and group co-operation to actually get through.
We need challenges!!!!
upgrade your away teams weapons, armor, and shields. It is a little touch and go there till you get 4 BOs on the ground. Once that happens you can almost AFK the ground missions.
I completely agree, ridiculously easy as someone else put it sums it up quite nice...
Here's hopping for a difficulty slider.
Cheers
And the sad thing is, people complain that CE is too hard. It is THE ONLY mission in the game that requires any form of thought other than zerg and spam.
Out of all the issues with this game, the #1 problem, IMO, is the ridiculous ease of space and ground combat. Same level, and even +1 and +2 enemies are an absolute joke. Not the slightest bit of challenge, unless you're playing with your eyes closed. There is simply no fun whatsoever in getting cool new skills and equipment when they are just not needed. Every mission is a breeze. Now, in most other MMOs, this isn't too much of an issue, because if you find content your level too easy, you can just move on to another area where quests and content are higher level and more challenging. However, the extreme linear nature of STO is such that you must complete missions your level before you can move on to other ones. This, combined with the lack of content, means you are pretty much always doing very easy content. It kills the fun of the game completely.
Hear hear! certainly there needs to be sectors that require great skill and player levels. I'm very dissappointed in the walk in the park missions. Sure you need these at the lower levels to get the feel of the game, but we need to feel challenged so there is a sense of achievement.
Fundamentally Cryptic have laid the foundation for an very very good MMO, they aimed at the casual gamer and have almost hit the mark.