I finally figured out what's been bothering me about STO.
No real visual customization of the ships via loot.
In most MMORPGs you get armor or etc as loot at equiping it alters the look of your avatar. In STO you don't really seem to get this option (or I'm just missing it completely). You can cusomize the basic design at the star base, but you're stuck with a certain list of parts/materials/etc. For about 10 lvls I'm pretty much stuck with this one ship, then i'm stuck with another. My only real big decision is which of the ships i'll be stuck with. So I design my ship from the stock parts and thats it for about 10 lvls. Kinda dull.
So how does anyone know you got that rare engine drop? They don't as the loot only really effects preformance and not how your ship looks. When your cruser starts dropping mines they'll know somethings up but that's all. You cant look at a Escort and say "why does it have a unique saucer section? I've never seen that one before!"
I feel that this is what might be making STO lack a bit in my opinion. In most other MMORPGs you keep track of your progression by the equipment your avatar has, this is shown to you constantly in how your avatar looks. Plus it give you motivation. You think that cool purple spiky armor on that knight looks really cool and you want it so you go out to find it. STO's missing that.
What I think would really add to the game's staying power and draw would be if we could start seeing some ship parts appearing in the loot. For a quest you get to pick between a nice new engine or a new set of Nacelles. One will boost preformance and the other will alter how your ship looks.
Yes; that's the part I dislike most about other MMOs. I want to identify with my avatar, without having to choose to be crippled in play if I want to keep my look. This is the formula that has always worked for Cryptic, and been most praised by critics; user-driven customization, not loot-driven.
Good point there. Binding equipment to the visual appearance of your avatar can bring up issues like that.
So, maybe empty ship parts? No bonuses, they just add new parts to the ship customization tool? I know I'd be willing to quest for a new saucer section for my fed ship or a new set of wings for my kling bird of prey.
I think the general idea is that most ship types tend to look the same. The Enterprise D and the Yamato looked identical as did the TOS Enterprise and the TOS Defiant. I'm surpirsed Cryptic has given us as much ship customization as they did. In STO cusomizaton is about the captains rather then the ships.
I think the general idea is that most ship types tend to look the same. The Enterprise D and the Yamato looked identical as did the TOS Enterprise and the TOS Defiant. I'm surpirsed Cryptic has given us as much ship customization as they did. In STO cusomizaton is about the captains rather then the ships.
Very true. Though the problem there is that you won't really be looking at your captain alot. The ship kinda dominates your gaming experience with bits of ground combat mixed in.
Very true. Though the problem there is that you won't really be looking at your captain alot. The ship kinda dominates your gaming experience with bits of ground combat mixed in.
True. But doesn't the fun really come from flying the Galaxy, Intrepid, or Defiant and knowing you're doing something your screen idols were also doing?
The fact that I can choose from 3 different types of Galaxies, give them 4 different hull tints, give them various trim paint designs of varying colors, give them different windows, and then on top of it all mix and match pieces from the 3 different ships really does give us a lot of options.
True. But doesn't the fun really come from flying the Galaxy, Intrepid, or Defiant and knowing you're doing something your screen idols were also doing?
The fact that I can choose from 3 different types of Galaxies, give them 4 different hull tints, give them various trim paint designs of varying colors, give them different windows, and then on top of it all mix and match pieces from the 3 different ships really does give us a lot of options.
If this were the first ST game ever, then yes. But there have been a couple in recent years so it's nothing new. It's just that this one might not suck and that's the hope ^_^
And yes there are many options. Though really about 3 per ship. The tints and colors aren't a huge surprise though. But after that you're still playing around with the same ship everyone else is. No drive to compete, no way to show off. And they've allready nixed the "pure ship design" concept by letting us pick and choose parts from similar ships, so it wouldn't be a huge jump in game concept. Programming though, i have no idea.
I agree. I mean my ship is decked out with polaron weapons....I'm sure it would look different in some way...and all our armor makes us looks quite similar. It definitely takes some fun from the creation process.
I don't know if I would want more parts such as saucers, but a reflection of the weapons on the ship. If I'm using a beam phaser, then I would expect to see the TNG style "strip" phaser. With the dual type weapons the TOS Movie style twin ball phaser. Different torpedo types? Perhaps a different glow in the torp bays. Same for impulse types. Different design/ color for deflectors. Different shield effect/ color for shield types. I'm sure you all get the idea. This would allow for the "standardiziation" effect you get from the limited and open options of ships, but a reflection of your loadout on your ship. Does all this make sense? Anyone agree? This at least would allow us to choose the design that best fits our imagination but still a way for everyone to show off their awesome loot.
Yes; that's the part I dislike most about other MMOs. I want to identify with my avatar, without having to choose to be crippled in play if I want to keep my look. This is the formula that has always worked for Cryptic, and been most praised by critics; user-driven customization, not loot-driven.
Star Wars Galaxy had it so equipped armor or clothing would affect your stats, but you could choose to equip clothes appearance only over them. That could be one way of going about it if you want to be able to see what you have equipped but not be forced to see it if you wanted to use it.
The issue with this is that CBS has no small amount of say in the visual style of the game. It seems clear they've allowed a certain amount of customization, but would they allow more? Would they allow different colored impulse engines? I suppose we may as well ask.
I do agree that more cosmetic options for ships would be nice, whether unlockable or whatever (I would say unlockable, replacing some sort of actual loot with a cosmetic detail doesn't strike my fancy).
I would disagree, however, that the ship based play takes up more of your experience than ground based, but that's just me.
Very true. Though the problem there is that you won't really be looking at your captain alot. The ship kinda dominates your gaming experience with bits of ground combat mixed in.
Ok, just show us where the famous captains have fully customized their ships.
And while you´re at it: show me an episode where Picard lingered at SOL just to let the world know he just found this epic phaser :-D
I have to say I agree, perhaps the ability to modify your ship be it skins or whatnot there were "modified" variants in the star trek universe what about a skin that adds borg looking tech to the outer hull of a starship like from the voyager series or special few new nacelles and saucers etc. possibly even whole new ship class variants, like for example the runabout could be standard but you could get the sensor pod from a fleet action reward or something like that.
Ok, just show us where the famous captains have fully customized their ships.
And while you´re at it: show me an episode where Picard lingered at SOL just to let the world know he just found this epic phaser :-D
Ah, that argument won't necessarily work here. I'll admit I cannot show you any example of ships like that. But can you show me where a Miranda class cruiser appears with a nonregulation paint job, and the nacelles from a Centaur class cruiser? Or vice versa? They've allready allowed customization. The point I'm trying to make is that by furthering it to unique components they give players a reason to keep playing and to explore and do the rough quests. Something that STO kinda lacks at the moment. I spent MANY hours grinding red dragonettes in WoW just to get that damned red dragonette pet. The pet didn't do a damned thing either. It just flew around and looked cool. Does STO have a similar draw for getting/keeping the players really involved?
As for Picard, he didn't have to. He had (in game terms) the most epic of all drops, a the first Galazy Class war ship! The shows all (ok, except for DS9 but that had the Defiant) centered around captains who were commanding the the best ships of their day. Ships that were unique in their design, both visually and in terms of preformance.
Meanwhile, in game every Fed player (aside from those who preordered at gamestop) gets a miranda class cruiser (with a few parts to swap around) for about 10 levels. Even after you finish playing around with the 3 saucer and nacelle options, it's still the same thing everyone else is flying around.
Plus while most of the shows took place onboard (within) the ships (or on away missions), in STO the majority of time is spent looking at a greyish ship from behind. The shows really focused on the interaction between characters and cultures and delved into deep issues. STO consists largely of "go here, kill these ships, beam down, kill those guys (or activate those items)" type quests.
Course, this might well be a moot discussion and implimenting something like this may be too damned difficult for the devs to do anytime soon.
I have to say I agree, perhaps the ability to modify your ship be it skins or whatnot there were "modified" variants in the star trek universe what about a skin that adds borg looking tech to the outer hull of a starship like from the voyager series or special few new nacelles and saucers etc. possibly even whole new ship class variants, like for example the runabout could be standard but you could get the sensor pod from a fleet action reward or something like that.
That's an interesting idea. Maybe a drop for a high lvl borg mission?
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So, maybe empty ship parts? No bonuses, they just add new parts to the ship customization tool? I know I'd be willing to quest for a new saucer section for my fed ship or a new set of wings for my kling bird of prey.
Very true. Though the problem there is that you won't really be looking at your captain alot. The ship kinda dominates your gaming experience with bits of ground combat mixed in.
The fact that I can choose from 3 different types of Galaxies, give them 4 different hull tints, give them various trim paint designs of varying colors, give them different windows, and then on top of it all mix and match pieces from the 3 different ships really does give us a lot of options.
If this were the first ST game ever, then yes. But there have been a couple in recent years so it's nothing new. It's just that this one might not suck and that's the hope ^_^
And yes there are many options. Though really about 3 per ship. The tints and colors aren't a huge surprise though. But after that you're still playing around with the same ship everyone else is. No drive to compete, no way to show off. And they've allready nixed the "pure ship design" concept by letting us pick and choose parts from similar ships, so it wouldn't be a huge jump in game concept. Programming though, i have no idea.
Star Wars Galaxy had it so equipped armor or clothing would affect your stats, but you could choose to equip clothes appearance only over them. That could be one way of going about it if you want to be able to see what you have equipped but not be forced to see it if you wanted to use it.
I do agree that more cosmetic options for ships would be nice, whether unlockable or whatever (I would say unlockable, replacing some sort of actual loot with a cosmetic detail doesn't strike my fancy).
I would disagree, however, that the ship based play takes up more of your experience than ground based, but that's just me.
Ok, just show us where the famous captains have fully customized their ships.
And while you´re at it: show me an episode where Picard lingered at SOL just to let the world know he just found this epic phaser :-D
Ah, that argument won't necessarily work here. I'll admit I cannot show you any example of ships like that. But can you show me where a Miranda class cruiser appears with a nonregulation paint job, and the nacelles from a Centaur class cruiser? Or vice versa? They've allready allowed customization. The point I'm trying to make is that by furthering it to unique components they give players a reason to keep playing and to explore and do the rough quests. Something that STO kinda lacks at the moment. I spent MANY hours grinding red dragonettes in WoW just to get that damned red dragonette pet. The pet didn't do a damned thing either. It just flew around and looked cool. Does STO have a similar draw for getting/keeping the players really involved?
As for Picard, he didn't have to. He had (in game terms) the most epic of all drops, a the first Galazy Class war ship! The shows all (ok, except for DS9 but that had the Defiant) centered around captains who were commanding the the best ships of their day. Ships that were unique in their design, both visually and in terms of preformance.
Meanwhile, in game every Fed player (aside from those who preordered at gamestop) gets a miranda class cruiser (with a few parts to swap around) for about 10 levels. Even after you finish playing around with the 3 saucer and nacelle options, it's still the same thing everyone else is flying around.
Plus while most of the shows took place onboard (within) the ships (or on away missions), in STO the majority of time is spent looking at a greyish ship from behind. The shows really focused on the interaction between characters and cultures and delved into deep issues. STO consists largely of "go here, kill these ships, beam down, kill those guys (or activate those items)" type quests.
Course, this might well be a moot discussion and implimenting something like this may be too damned difficult for the devs to do anytime soon.
That's an interesting idea. Maybe a drop for a high lvl borg mission?