So, I've cancelled my subscription for the time being, because STO just doesn't feel like Star Trek, nor is it very fun at the moment. But I'd like to see it improve, and then I'd happily return.
One of the problem is that the lack of incentive for social interaction. It feels like a single player game. I know there's PvP, but it still doesn't feel like a social game.
Here's one idea for a new aspect that could perhaps be added to the game:
Players should be able to invite each other to little training sessions, in holodecks, firing ranges, or in special training zones. The training might involve ground combat, space combat, science, engineering, or some other aspect of a star fleet officers skills.
When training with another player, the number of skill points (or whatever) you get would depend on the skill of your training partner. For example, the skill points earned from a training session might be 1 point as a base amount and then 1% of whatever your training partner already had (note: those points aren't taken off them, they're just shared). So if my character was highly skilled in, say, ground combat, then if you did a ground combat training excercise with me, you'd get a bigger boost in ground combat skills then if you trained with a brand new player. It would be as if the more skilled you are at something, the better a teacher you are.
It would be very non-zero sum. Unlike trading an item, you wouldn't lose anything by teaching a skill. It would be win win. It would encourage cooporation amongst players. Specifically, it would encourage people at similar levels of skill to work together because then both people would maximise the bennefit.
Or, if you helped out players at lower ranks than you, you could receive a special teaching bonus which increases how well regarded you are in Star Fleet. Or it could be made into a quest (e.g., "Find 3 PC ensigns and train them in something")
Maybe to encourage ongoing relationships, if you've trained with a particular player before, perhaps it becomes easier to learn skills form them the next time. Say, for example, you get 3% of your training partners skill points if you've trained with them before.
I think STO should be more about gaining skills and cooperating with others than about collecting physical objects. It would make grinding more fun if it was social.
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