Im somewhat new to the game, I bought it about 2 weeks ago and decided to play out my fed character to RA5 before jumping over to a Klingon character. This occured 2-3 days ago, and after two days of playing as a Klingon I wish to humbly offer my feedback to any who will listen.
My biggest issue is the concept. From what I've heard, Klingons were conceptualized as a "pure PvP" race. This seems the only logical conclusion assuming the utter lack of missions other than PvP. If this is the case, however, It needs to be drastically redone. Some will complain about the one side or another being stronger, and Ive found that with proper tactics neither side is so much stronger as to render them unplayable. However, the main problem is this: The Klingons are so much harder to rank up that it creates numbers problems. Any Fed RA can tell you they outnumber the klingons anywhere from 10 to 1 to approaching 100 to 1 in the queue lines. Similarly, When you are a Lt, the Klingons typically outnumber Feds in PvP queues by anywhere from 10 to 1 ranging to 20 to 1.
My Humble solution:
A lot of people will cry out for more content for Klingons. This would be nice and all, but I realize how much time/work it would take on the part of the developers and I believe this would fix it much quicker. Make the "expanse" missions worth much greater mission reward, therefore with a reasonable but not overwhelming effort, one could boost themselves to a higher rank more easily, thus taking those Klingons that are concentrated in the Lt and Lt Cmdr ranks and moving them up into the higher ranks where the PvP action is sadly missing. This would help to relieve the pressures on the number differences at all ranks and be a good fix-gap while developers work on more Klingon content.
Your assessment seems spot on with many regarding the Klingons. Before beta, in beta, approaching release.. We beg'd Cryptic not to implement the klingons as a 'monsterplay' idea. We asked to ship as Federation only and finish our content.. But what the fan's want is not what Cryptic was allowed to do.
They had a release date given to them, or they would have lost the rights. And a one Faction launch was not getting the interest they were comfortable going with.
Hence the 45 day patch adding much of what should have been in at launch, but just quite didn't make it. Now granted it's comming to late for many, and adding the Fed v Fed pvp, which does nothing to help the Klingon Fed PvP issues currently. Still it's a step to fix the sad state of red-headded step child feel that is Klingon game play.
In my opinion, Cryptic needs to think outside the 'Arena' que to help the gameplay.. Make the neutral zone the Neutral zone. You enter, and become the enemy signal contact. Add fleet encounters. One issue my, and I'm sure many fleets are facing is level differences to grouping. Why can't a few Lt Cdr's fly escort for a Rear Admiral? Don't we have an escort class for this?
Add, or implement a fleet action zone between Granalda station, an K-7 that different ranks players can 'choose' to enter, not que from away.. you fly there and fight for control in the Neutral zone.
This would allow fleets to form up groups to learn how to work together.. not the 'Oh your a Lt10, well go play in the Khaless expanse' we currently experience. It would also fix some que issues of how players que for multiple arenas, and hold up others waiting to enter, because they are afk with the engage count down timer clicking.
Cryptic has said they want consentual PvP, and that they don't want Fed fleet's parked over Qo'nos, or Negh'Vars chasing the little nublets about Sol.. that's fine. I think the arena option currently in place needs more. Adding open battle zones between K-7 and Granalda, or a new NPC to offer a mission instance zone at those locations is a thought.
We used to get much more exp for pvp. It was nerfed into the ground. The nebula's and expanses are just copies of each other with different ships. They are boring. Yes increase the exp 10 or 100 fold please until there is some real content.
T1 there were no feds to fight even during prime USA time. Puzzling or alarming, or both. Either nobody new is buying the game or low level feds are not into pvp.
Welcome to the warrior's side.
I played Klingon knowing full well it was pretty much PvP, and I really stay away from pure PvP games because they don't seem to offer tactics, skill or anything other than button mashing...this is only my opinion and lack of twitch skills.
I love playing this, especially the Klingon side as it offers more skill, planning and quick thinking (granted, there is some button mashing involved), since I played the Star Fleet Command series, I have an understanding of how the ships work (I know, SFC is 2-D, but the shield management and some other things transfered nicely).
I do agree, it would be nice to gt some better drops, but the grind is the grind....long and sometimes boring (join up with a few folks and it livens it up nicely).
If you want a faster leveling experience, PvP is the way to go. Not only does continue to teach me what to do and what not to do, but I find the change of pace refreshing, the thrill of the hunt edgy and over all fun, especially if I am in a group that works well together. We can turn a losing match from 0-5 to 15-5 or 15-14....I love it.
Some more PvE would be nice or at least more PvP maps or different "plots" with rewards might be a good start.
Well, I have totally lost my train of though and had a few other things to say but am at a loss now.
If you join a fleet that helps too.
Enjoy the game! I'm sure I will see you on the battlefield.
Klingons being a PVP focused faction is great but it sucks when the PVP experience is so limited. In T5 you pretty much end up playing the vast majority of matches on cracked planet with a few capture and holds thrown in. You do this over and over and it gets incredibly boring. There is no achievements to unlock, gear to earn, ladders to climb, zones or wars to be won.....there is nothing besides a monthly subscription fee.
Klingons being a PVP focused faction is great but it sucks when the PVP experience is so limited. In T5 you pretty much end up playing the vast majority of matches on cracked planet with a few capture and holds thrown in. You do this over and over and it gets incredibly boring. There is no achievements to unlock, gear to earn, ladders to climb, zones or wars to be won.....there is nothing besides a monthly subscription fee.
Single player game as an MMO = fail...just ask that other game that failed right out the gate doing the same thing...
Any Fed RA can tell you they outnumber the klingons anywhere from 10 to 1 to approaching 100 to 1 in the queue lines. Similarly, When you are a Lt, the Klingons typically outnumber Feds in PvP queues by anywhere from 10 to 1 ranging to 20 to 1.
I'm similar to you - Fed up to RA5, now rolling a Klingon. I only got into PvP at Captain level, just to try it out. Since the Feds don't need to do PvP while they level up, they can simply ignore it. I am sure part of the reason Feds avoid it is all the horror stories of how unwinnable it is.
All that changes once Feds become RA. Then PvP is the only way to get rewards, and why you see the queues so lopsided. As for why there are so few Klingons in RA PvP I'm not sure. Is it because there are just fewer RA/BG Klingons, or they are all playing Infected, or what?
I'm similar to you - Fed up to RA5, now rolling a Klingon. I only got into PvP at Captain level, just to try it out. Since the Feds don't need to do PvP while they level up, they can simply ignore it. I am sure part of the reason Feds avoid it is all the horror stories of how unwinnable it is.
All that changes once Feds become RA. Then PvP is the only way to get rewards, and why you see the queues so lopsided. As for why there are so few Klingons in RA PvP I'm not sure. Is it because there are just fewer RA/BG Klingons, or they are all playing Infected, or what?
Level up to BG and you will understand why there are few T5s playing on our side. PvP is usually the end-game in most MMOs; but in here Klingons have to do 500+ PvP matches to level up. By the time we get to BG5 we PvPed our butt out, and there is now no point in doing it. My BG now logs in only for the daily, and than logs off. There simply is no point. Maps are the same as in T1, abilities are the same and we get nothing in return for PvPing.
Level up to BG and you will understand why there are few T5s playing on our side. PvP is usually the end-game in most MMOs; but in here Klingons have to do 500+ PvP matches to level up. By the time we get to BG5 we PvPed our butt out, and there is now no point in doing it. My BG now logs in only for the daily, and than logs off. There simply is no point. Maps are the same as in T1, abilities are the same and we get nothing in return for PvPing.
Yeah, i love pvp, but even as a ltc9, i am getting bored with the same couple of maps over and over and over.
Klingons are here to provide challenging entertainment for Feds because, as we all know, there is ZERO challenge to STO PvE. The need for Klingons will disappear with FvF. The need to play Klingon will also disappear. Everyone that wants to be a Klingon can be a FEDERATION Klingon, they will get Fed PvE and they can PvP. At that point why submit yourself to the Klingon grind, just so you can fly the cool Klingon ships, wear "Klingon" clothing and get Tribbles to screach at you?
Maybe Cryptic wil give free memberships to Klingon only players or pay the incarcerated 50 cents an hour to play Klingon. That is what I see as the future of the Klingon faction.
But hey, maybe the mythical 45-day update will be all that and then some. Sure would be nice to win the lottery too.
Klingons are here to provide challenging entertainment for Feds because, as we all know, there is ZERO challenge to STO PvE. The need for Klingons will disappear with FvF. The need to play Klingon will also disappear. Everyone that wants to be a Klingon can be a FEDERATION Klingon, they will get Fed PvE and they can PvP. At that point why submit yourself to the Klingon grind, just so you can fly the cool Klingon ships, wear "Klingon" clothing and get Tribbles to screach at you?
Maybe Cryptic wil give free memberships to Klingon only players or pay the incarcerated 50 cents an hour to play Klingon. That is what I see as the future of the Klingon faction.
But hey, maybe the mythical 45-day update will be all that and then some. Sure would be nice to win the lottery too.
You forgot the part where Klingons are suppose to die in a blaze of glory , only surpassing in speed that at which Ai , die in PvE. For the glory and ego padding that is the Federation player.
P.S : Cryptic really needs to run that in the advertisment for this game, it might spur sales.
We used to get much more exp for pvp. It was nerfed into the ground. The nebula's and expanses are just copies of each other with different ships. They are boring. Yes increase the exp 10 or 100 fold please until there is some real content.
T1 there were no feds to fight even during prime USA time. Puzzling or alarming, or both. Either nobody new is buying the game or low level feds are not into pvp.
Funnily enough, I bought my copy a few days ago and the guy behind the counter was shocked and said "you know this is the first copy we've sold?"... and this was from a large and popular hifi store in my area.
I don't understand what the logic was behind forcing everyone to start a fed toon and only giving the option of creating a Klingon toon once you've played your fed toon to a certain level... it's basically forcing us to play the faction with the most variety and options as you can choose to PVE or PVP and not pigeon holed into one aspect of an MMO, and then given the opportunity to play a faction who may as well not even exist when you compare what you get out of being a Klingon as opposed to a fed. As a fed you can PVE and/or PVP. As a Klingon you can PVP or... PVP.
I always play the bad guys whenever the option is there, so was disappointed when i was forced to play a fed until a certain point, only to find out that the Klingons were neglected by Cryptic as there is no such thing as choice or options when playing a Klingon... Is there even a point in having a Klingon game play discussion board when all there is to do as a Klingon is PVP?
What's wrong with having both factions on equal grounds, giving BOTH the option of either being PVP'ers or PVE'ers, or both even...
May as well rename the faction to the NERF Empire. The introduction could be... "Hey! Do you like to PVP? Excellent! Because that's all you're going to do in the NERF Empire! You're not going to have it half as good as the FED's and you'll always be outnumbered in PVP (even though you're the pure PVP faction), but hey, at least you get to be a bad guy and fly cool looking ships! Welcome to NERF! Prepare to be WTFPWND!"
Why would anyone want to play a Klingon when there is absolutely nothing in the Klingon faction that is appealing? Especially after playing the fed side first (by force). Aapart from the fact that you get to be a "bad guy", there's no other reason why anyone would want to play a Klingon over a fed, unless they were hard core PVP'ers to the point where they are more than happy to do nothing but PVP, including a PVP leveling grind (which I didn't find very appealing). But even then, you can be a hard core PVP'er on the FED side, which gives you many more options and choices that the Klingon faction is lacking.
What do you get as a Klingon that the FED's don't get? NOTHING! What do you get as a FED that the Klingons don't get? EVERYTHING! Not a hard choice to make...
And to think that the Horde use to QQ all the time because they felt the Alliance faction was favored by the devs... This is far worse than any Alliance vs Horde issues WoW ever had. It's a shame too because the only reason I wanted to play STO in the first place was because I had the option of playing a Klingon. But there is nothing to do as a Klingon unless you find a repetitive PVP leveling grind appealing.
Hopefully the game will hold my interest for a little while longer while they do something about balancing the factions... good thing i didn't tell my dad and brothers to pick up the game yet cause I wouldn't have heard the end of it lol.
If the Klingons were a race that really existed as they do in the Star Trek world, I think Cryptic would be in serious trouble as I am sure they'd be pretty offended by the effort (or lack of) they've put into building the Klingon Empire.
I tell you one thing, when i entered tier 5 pvp, i didnt recognise half of the beam weapons that the feds were using. I still dont know what half of them are. The feds are all armed to the teeth with purple gear....took a while to get over the shock of how lethal some of it is.
Shields.....erm....didnt i have shields a moment ago?
Comments
Your assessment seems spot on with many regarding the Klingons. Before beta, in beta, approaching release.. We beg'd Cryptic not to implement the klingons as a 'monsterplay' idea. We asked to ship as Federation only and finish our content.. But what the fan's want is not what Cryptic was allowed to do.
They had a release date given to them, or they would have lost the rights. And a one Faction launch was not getting the interest they were comfortable going with.
Hence the 45 day patch adding much of what should have been in at launch, but just quite didn't make it. Now granted it's comming to late for many, and adding the Fed v Fed pvp, which does nothing to help the Klingon Fed PvP issues currently. Still it's a step to fix the sad state of red-headded step child feel that is Klingon game play.
In my opinion, Cryptic needs to think outside the 'Arena' que to help the gameplay.. Make the neutral zone the Neutral zone. You enter, and become the enemy signal contact. Add fleet encounters. One issue my, and I'm sure many fleets are facing is level differences to grouping. Why can't a few Lt Cdr's fly escort for a Rear Admiral? Don't we have an escort class for this?
Add, or implement a fleet action zone between Granalda station, an K-7 that different ranks players can 'choose' to enter, not que from away.. you fly there and fight for control in the Neutral zone.
This would allow fleets to form up groups to learn how to work together.. not the 'Oh your a Lt10, well go play in the Khaless expanse' we currently experience. It would also fix some que issues of how players que for multiple arenas, and hold up others waiting to enter, because they are afk with the engage count down timer clicking.
Cryptic has said they want consentual PvP, and that they don't want Fed fleet's parked over Qo'nos, or Negh'Vars chasing the little nublets about Sol.. that's fine. I think the arena option currently in place needs more. Adding open battle zones between K-7 and Granalda, or a new NPC to offer a mission instance zone at those locations is a thought.
T1 there were no feds to fight even during prime USA time. Puzzling or alarming, or both. Either nobody new is buying the game or low level feds are not into pvp.
I played Klingon knowing full well it was pretty much PvP, and I really stay away from pure PvP games because they don't seem to offer tactics, skill or anything other than button mashing...this is only my opinion and lack of twitch skills.
I love playing this, especially the Klingon side as it offers more skill, planning and quick thinking (granted, there is some button mashing involved), since I played the Star Fleet Command series, I have an understanding of how the ships work (I know, SFC is 2-D, but the shield management and some other things transfered nicely).
I do agree, it would be nice to gt some better drops, but the grind is the grind....long and sometimes boring (join up with a few folks and it livens it up nicely).
If you want a faster leveling experience, PvP is the way to go. Not only does continue to teach me what to do and what not to do, but I find the change of pace refreshing, the thrill of the hunt edgy and over all fun, especially if I am in a group that works well together. We can turn a losing match from 0-5 to 15-5 or 15-14....I love it.
Some more PvE would be nice or at least more PvP maps or different "plots" with rewards might be a good start.
Well, I have totally lost my train of though and had a few other things to say but am at a loss now.
If you join a fleet that helps too.
Enjoy the game! I'm sure I will see you on the battlefield.
Single player game as an MMO = fail...just ask that other game that failed right out the gate doing the same thing...
Hellgate suckdone?
All that changes once Feds become RA. Then PvP is the only way to get rewards, and why you see the queues so lopsided. As for why there are so few Klingons in RA PvP I'm not sure. Is it because there are just fewer RA/BG Klingons, or they are all playing Infected, or what?
Level up to BG and you will understand why there are few T5s playing on our side. PvP is usually the end-game in most MMOs; but in here Klingons have to do 500+ PvP matches to level up. By the time we get to BG5 we PvPed our butt out, and there is now no point in doing it. My BG now logs in only for the daily, and than logs off. There simply is no point. Maps are the same as in T1, abilities are the same and we get nothing in return for PvPing.
Yeah, i love pvp, but even as a ltc9, i am getting bored with the same couple of maps over and over and over.
Klingons are here to provide challenging entertainment for Feds because, as we all know, there is ZERO challenge to STO PvE. The need for Klingons will disappear with FvF. The need to play Klingon will also disappear. Everyone that wants to be a Klingon can be a FEDERATION Klingon, they will get Fed PvE and they can PvP. At that point why submit yourself to the Klingon grind, just so you can fly the cool Klingon ships, wear "Klingon" clothing and get Tribbles to screach at you?
Maybe Cryptic wil give free memberships to Klingon only players or pay the incarcerated 50 cents an hour to play Klingon. That is what I see as the future of the Klingon faction.
But hey, maybe the mythical 45-day update will be all that and then some. Sure would be nice to win the lottery too.
You forgot the part where Klingons are suppose to die in a blaze of glory , only surpassing in speed that at which Ai , die in PvE. For the glory and ego padding that is the Federation player.
P.S : Cryptic really needs to run that in the advertisment for this game, it might spur sales.
Funnily enough, I bought my copy a few days ago and the guy behind the counter was shocked and said "you know this is the first copy we've sold?"... and this was from a large and popular hifi store in my area.
I don't understand what the logic was behind forcing everyone to start a fed toon and only giving the option of creating a Klingon toon once you've played your fed toon to a certain level... it's basically forcing us to play the faction with the most variety and options as you can choose to PVE or PVP and not pigeon holed into one aspect of an MMO, and then given the opportunity to play a faction who may as well not even exist when you compare what you get out of being a Klingon as opposed to a fed. As a fed you can PVE and/or PVP. As a Klingon you can PVP or... PVP.
I always play the bad guys whenever the option is there, so was disappointed when i was forced to play a fed until a certain point, only to find out that the Klingons were neglected by Cryptic as there is no such thing as choice or options when playing a Klingon... Is there even a point in having a Klingon game play discussion board when all there is to do as a Klingon is PVP?
What's wrong with having both factions on equal grounds, giving BOTH the option of either being PVP'ers or PVE'ers, or both even...
May as well rename the faction to the NERF Empire. The introduction could be... "Hey! Do you like to PVP? Excellent! Because that's all you're going to do in the NERF Empire! You're not going to have it half as good as the FED's and you'll always be outnumbered in PVP (even though you're the pure PVP faction), but hey, at least you get to be a bad guy and fly cool looking ships! Welcome to NERF! Prepare to be WTFPWND!"
Why would anyone want to play a Klingon when there is absolutely nothing in the Klingon faction that is appealing? Especially after playing the fed side first (by force). Aapart from the fact that you get to be a "bad guy", there's no other reason why anyone would want to play a Klingon over a fed, unless they were hard core PVP'ers to the point where they are more than happy to do nothing but PVP, including a PVP leveling grind (which I didn't find very appealing). But even then, you can be a hard core PVP'er on the FED side, which gives you many more options and choices that the Klingon faction is lacking.
What do you get as a Klingon that the FED's don't get? NOTHING! What do you get as a FED that the Klingons don't get? EVERYTHING! Not a hard choice to make...
And to think that the Horde use to QQ all the time because they felt the Alliance faction was favored by the devs... This is far worse than any Alliance vs Horde issues WoW ever had. It's a shame too because the only reason I wanted to play STO in the first place was because I had the option of playing a Klingon. But there is nothing to do as a Klingon unless you find a repetitive PVP leveling grind appealing.
Hopefully the game will hold my interest for a little while longer while they do something about balancing the factions... good thing i didn't tell my dad and brothers to pick up the game yet cause I wouldn't have heard the end of it lol.
If the Klingons were a race that really existed as they do in the Star Trek world, I think Cryptic would be in serious trouble as I am sure they'd be pretty offended by the effort (or lack of) they've put into building the Klingon Empire.
Shields.....erm....didnt i have shields a moment ago?