I'm very sorry for my not reading the entire thread to see if what I'm about to mention has already been addressed.
I am often coming across K-side explore missions (vs Starfleet) where the writing is just terrible. In these missions, Starfleet is either uncharacteristically aggressive or simpering weasels who lash out violently when confronted.
In one very memorable mission, the Starfleet officer whinges (seriously) about the klingons having so much space of their own and all they (the federation) wanted was just a little piece. Obviously there are humans that might act that way, but they would never be promoted into a command position.
Yes, there are missions with poor writing Starfleet side, as well, but there is precious little writing involved K-side. The ratio of bad writing to good is far higher than should be acceptable.
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In every mission involving Starfleet, they are always always extremely aggressive. Yes, the Empire is at war with the Federation, but Starfleet would not compromise its standards in the situations presented. Starfleet, as a rule, gives even enemies a chance to prove they are confronting them with intentions besides violence.
It is my assertion that, when presented with a mission to destroy Starfleet installations or Federation facilities, all Starfleet ships should appear as friendlies (but attackable, as when you are confused) and should hail you requesting your intentions. At that point you could declare the reason for your presence and end communications (refusing further hails). The ships would remain friendly, allowing you a chance to change your mind and leave in peace, until you initiated an attack. At that point, alerted to the presence of a Klingon aggressor, all other ships would switch to aggressive status.
Instead of the simpering Starfleet captain crying that the Klingons have so much and the poor Federation so little, the mission should be presented in two parts and in two different ways:
Method one would involve cloaking as soon as the player warps in. She would approach the Starfleet vessel(s) while cloaked and initiate an attack. The Starfleet ship would retaliate immediately and the tactical officer would indicate there are Starfleet away teams on the planet. The player would then beam down to the planet and engage the ground forces. This method would allow players who are not interested in RP or story to bypass them and move directly into the hack and slash (or pew pew) aspect of the game.
Method two could be for players who enjoy reading the stories, NPC dialogue and RP. First, the captain of the Starfleet ship requests the intentions of the Klingon ship. When we respond with a demand for why they are in Klingon territory, they would announce that they are on a scientific mission to survey the planet (or perhaps are pursuing a criminal, entity or anomaly). The Klingon dialogue would taunt the Captain of the other ship, advising them to run home to their precious Federation or die like warriors to which the other captain would ask for more time to complete the mission or retrieve away teams. The player could then offer a final statement before cutting communication and refusing further hails. Once within range, the situation would flow in the same manner as method one with the exception of the tactical officer giving confirmation of away teams on the planet's surface.
There is an enormous opportunity for story-writing and possibly even "choose your own adventure" style explore/story missions, since Starfleet are so keen on peaceful resolutions. A metaphorical hundred dollar bill laying on the ground that you, Cryptic, can take or ignore.
I am often coming across K-side explore missions (vs Starfleet) where the writing is just terrible. In these missions, Starfleet is either uncharacteristically aggressive or simpering weasels who lash out violently when confronted.
I can;t say that I have seen this too much, but I agree they tend to be agressive. However, remeber that the missions are from the Klingon perspective, and may not be as it seems to the Klingons.
I had a mission where the Federation was sabotaging a planet with large amounts of radiation. So we attacked! However, we never talked to the Feds. Perhaps the Federation was investigating a large increase in radiation and we just assumed they were causing it. Seems pretty Klingon to me.
All stories have three sides, yours, thiers, and the truth. With that in mind some of the writting might not seem so bad.
Hopefully in the future we will get more detailed and indepth stories with alternative endings and confrontations.
Well I think this is present on all sides. I have also laughed at entering a zone, having a Fed NPC hail me, then they start firing before I've even moved. Very funny (must be some of the "Empire" Feds leaking in through a gateway some where) : )
But more importantly is the silly milling about NPCs. They aren't really doing anything but standing out in the middle of a field or nervously pacing. This problem admittedly exists in many MMOs though. But since the topic seems to be immersion in game play to make it more in line with the ST universe I'd thought I'd mention it.
All in all the storyline needs a revamp for the KDF. Its has already been stated in many threads though what is lacking is a KDF feel to the missions you need to do. I believe Cryptic in a rush to deploy items to stem the hemorrhage of KDF players, just cut-and-pasted pretty much what they could. This was both good and bad. Good in the sense that there was something more to do, bad in respect to the missions were obviously Fed missions with a little bit of the dialogue changed. So what you are left with is what many have called the lack-of-vision on the part of the developers.
What about the bug where the tri-corder does not work in just about ALL ground missions and the scanner does not work in just about ALL the space missions? Was this bug overlooked or just ignored?
The initial post on this thread and the quote above hit the issues dead on. They say the useless tricorder isnt a bug...fine. But after running around some hazy planet looking for a needle in a haystack ive found that applying vice grips to my testes is less painful. My fed guy clicks the tricorder and runs right to where it points...the klingon runs about using a blind persons cane...there are so many cases where huge gaps exist between fed and Klingon gameplay...its really amazing that these issues get put into production.
Your ops dept needs to read an ITILS book for starters.. and then dock each QA person 1000 bucks for each bug missed that slips into production...then these messy issues will clear up damned quick :rolleyes:
To be honest, many of you sound like obnoxious fans at a ball game.
Pointing out bugs is good, calling people - companies - names, accusing a GM of saying people are liars?
Give me a break. If you feel so strongly, perhaps your time would be better spent elsewhere. Or is championing your cause in a video game truly your life's calling?
just some observations from leveling up my BG: when entering a cluster-mission (space) or beaming down on the planet (ground) check your questlog: if there is an entry for the mission you are in, then this mission will reward you the exp upon its completition. No entry = no exp reward at the end. according to my observations in those last two clusters approx. 60-70%(!) of all cluster-missions i got, did not give a reward.
there are several ground missions with buildings, where the enemies are spawned on their roof. since in the star-trek universe the fire ladders are obsolete, those missions can not be completed.
some missions seem to be copies from the fed-side: you want anomalies? go farm them there
Thanks for the tip Snowpig. I had noticed a lot of missions did not show up in the log, and that XP was not being gained at the same rate all the time, but I never associated the two.
When I saw the tricorder "It's not a bug, it's a feature!" paraphrasing, I must say in all honesty my expectations were met to my disappointment.
Those who are still trying to report these issues in a positive way are extremely patient people.
I want to follow up on this because I am your pal (and I the klingon side so much. The only thing feds are good for is federalizing my garden).
I have been talking to some programmers to figure out what is going on and it turns the people who mentioned the destructible objects is correct. The Tri-corder is not bugged, but it can only "see" the "interact" objects.
We are working on a fix for it. There have been a lot of good suggestions on what we could do for a fix and our programmers will figure out the fastest and easiest solution and get it put in. Keep in mind though, no fix is ever as easy as we would like it to be so there is no ETA on when it will go in.
I will let you in on a secret to tide you over until then though. The objects that you have to destroy in the ground "destroy 5 of X" missions are not randomly placed. There are several different patterns in placement that they show up as. Once you figure out the patterns you wont even need the tricorder.
As my sig says I am a huge supporter of player resourcefulness. All you need is a good head on your shoulders and a keen eye for observation and the objects will jump out at you.
Now I have a challenge for you. Personally I don't believe that you have come across the same bugged star cluster map twice. The only way I can tell is from the bug report tickets you send in, so here is the challenge. As you are submitting tickets for the bugged star clusters, if you believe 100% that you have already been to this same bugged map then send me a PM. I will look through your bug reports and verify if your claim is correct. There will need to be a bug report from each time for me to compare. No I don't have any prizes but I will admit that I was wrong and you were right and you could put that in your sig.
Also keep in mind that i can see the time stamps from the bug reports, and when you completed the mission so I can tell if you try and cheat by sending a bug report, then leaving and sending another bug report.
Dude my klingon tricorder has never worked on the ground. I filed a ticket and the response was "it has been moved to bug reports" which didn't help me at obviously. I remember two missions in particular.....where you had to deactivate 5 or 6 borg devices (or something like that) and one where you had to destroy a bunch of piles a tribbles. Either neither case did my tricorder work so I quit doing those missions. Am I doing something wrong because i would really like to NOT skip things. I have tried the "v" button and the little button on the minimap but i get nothing. HELP A BROTHER OUT DUDE
Tricorders do OCCASIONALLY work for Klingons. Tricorders are designed to point to things that you can interact with (i.e. press F near.) They do NOT detect things that you are suppose to shoot. So if you are hunting Tribbles, the Tricorder is useless. However, if you have to poison a water supply, it will point you to that.
Tricorders do OCCASIONALLY work for Klingons. Tricorders are designed to point to things that you can interact with (i.e. press F near.) They do NOT detect things that you are suppose to shoot. So if you are hunting Tribbles, the Tricorder is useless. However, if you have to poison a water supply, it will point you to that.
Something to keep in mind.
Thanks,
Duncan
ok the tribbles were a bad example. but say you are supposed to deactivate a certain number of whatever....shouldn't the tricorder tell you where to go? the feds does. mine doesn't. mine has never worked.
Tricorders do OCCASIONALLY work for Klingons. Tricorders are designed to point to things that you can interact with (i.e. press F near.) They do NOT detect things that you are suppose to shoot. So if you are hunting Tribbles, the Tricorder is useless. However, if you have to poison a water supply, it will point you to that.
Something to keep in mind.
Ummm, well maybe they SHOULD detect ALL mission objectives?? I do not think that's I've seen a Star trek episode or movie where an away team could not scan an object because it was able to be destroyed. Mission objective objects don't even blink to stand out from the terrain.
What about in space, when you have to destroy derelict ships? Why don't they show on the mini map? Why cant i find them with a scanner? All these stupid little BUGS ( yes, they ARE bugs. I don't care what Dev says "it's not a bug, it's a feature!) make for an extra crappy game play experience.
Now Craptic is talking about adding another faction... Hey, how about you fix the 2nd faction before you heap another helping of garbage on us with a 3rd faction?
Ummm, well maybe they SHOULD detect ALL mission objectives?? I do not think that's I've seen a Star trek episode or movie where an away team could not scan an object because it was able to be destroyed. Mission objective objects don't even blink to stand out from the terrain.
What about in space, when you have to destroy derelict ships? Why don't they show on the mini map? Why cant i find them with a scanner? All these stupid little BUGS ( yes, they ARE bugs. I don't care what Dev says "it's not a bug, it's a feature!) make for an extra crappy game play experience.
Now Craptic is talking about adding another faction... Hey, how about you fix the 2nd faction before you heap another helping of garbage on us with a 3rd faction?
seriously dude. i mean some of the ground missions on klingon side
i.e. the ones where you have to kill 5 squads of somebody----sometimes they spawn ON TOP of the buildings. and I mean WAAAAYYYY up top. you can't shoot them unless you have boba fetts jet pack and this is star trek not the old republic.
Comments
I am often coming across K-side explore missions (vs Starfleet) where the writing is just terrible. In these missions, Starfleet is either uncharacteristically aggressive or simpering weasels who lash out violently when confronted.
In one very memorable mission, the Starfleet officer whinges (seriously) about the klingons having so much space of their own and all they (the federation) wanted was just a little piece. Obviously there are humans that might act that way, but they would never be promoted into a command position.
Yes, there are missions with poor writing Starfleet side, as well, but there is precious little writing involved K-side. The ratio of bad writing to good is far higher than should be acceptable.
-
In every mission involving Starfleet, they are always always extremely aggressive. Yes, the Empire is at war with the Federation, but Starfleet would not compromise its standards in the situations presented. Starfleet, as a rule, gives even enemies a chance to prove they are confronting them with intentions besides violence.
It is my assertion that, when presented with a mission to destroy Starfleet installations or Federation facilities, all Starfleet ships should appear as friendlies (but attackable, as when you are confused) and should hail you requesting your intentions. At that point you could declare the reason for your presence and end communications (refusing further hails). The ships would remain friendly, allowing you a chance to change your mind and leave in peace, until you initiated an attack. At that point, alerted to the presence of a Klingon aggressor, all other ships would switch to aggressive status.
Instead of the simpering Starfleet captain crying that the Klingons have so much and the poor Federation so little, the mission should be presented in two parts and in two different ways:
Method one would involve cloaking as soon as the player warps in. She would approach the Starfleet vessel(s) while cloaked and initiate an attack. The Starfleet ship would retaliate immediately and the tactical officer would indicate there are Starfleet away teams on the planet. The player would then beam down to the planet and engage the ground forces. This method would allow players who are not interested in RP or story to bypass them and move directly into the hack and slash (or pew pew) aspect of the game.
Method two could be for players who enjoy reading the stories, NPC dialogue and RP. First, the captain of the Starfleet ship requests the intentions of the Klingon ship. When we respond with a demand for why they are in Klingon territory, they would announce that they are on a scientific mission to survey the planet (or perhaps are pursuing a criminal, entity or anomaly). The Klingon dialogue would taunt the Captain of the other ship, advising them to run home to their precious Federation or die like warriors to which the other captain would ask for more time to complete the mission or retrieve away teams. The player could then offer a final statement before cutting communication and refusing further hails. Once within range, the situation would flow in the same manner as method one with the exception of the tactical officer giving confirmation of away teams on the planet's surface.
There is an enormous opportunity for story-writing and possibly even "choose your own adventure" style explore/story missions, since Starfleet are so keen on peaceful resolutions. A metaphorical hundred dollar bill laying on the ground that you, Cryptic, can take or ignore.
I can;t say that I have seen this too much, but I agree they tend to be agressive. However, remeber that the missions are from the Klingon perspective, and may not be as it seems to the Klingons.
I had a mission where the Federation was sabotaging a planet with large amounts of radiation. So we attacked! However, we never talked to the Feds. Perhaps the Federation was investigating a large increase in radiation and we just assumed they were causing it. Seems pretty Klingon to me.
All stories have three sides, yours, thiers, and the truth. With that in mind some of the writting might not seem so bad.
Hopefully in the future we will get more detailed and indepth stories with alternative endings and confrontations.
Thanks,
Duncan
But more importantly is the silly milling about NPCs. They aren't really doing anything but standing out in the middle of a field or nervously pacing. This problem admittedly exists in many MMOs though. But since the topic seems to be immersion in game play to make it more in line with the ST universe I'd thought I'd mention it.
All in all the storyline needs a revamp for the KDF. Its has already been stated in many threads though what is lacking is a KDF feel to the missions you need to do. I believe Cryptic in a rush to deploy items to stem the hemorrhage of KDF players, just cut-and-pasted pretty much what they could. This was both good and bad. Good in the sense that there was something more to do, bad in respect to the missions were obviously Fed missions with a little bit of the dialogue changed. So what you are left with is what many have called the lack-of-vision on the part of the developers.
The initial post on this thread and the quote above hit the issues dead on. They say the useless tricorder isnt a bug...fine. But after running around some hazy planet looking for a needle in a haystack ive found that applying vice grips to my testes is less painful. My fed guy clicks the tricorder and runs right to where it points...the klingon runs about using a blind persons cane...there are so many cases where huge gaps exist between fed and Klingon gameplay...its really amazing that these issues get put into production.
Your ops dept needs to read an ITILS book for starters.. and then dock each QA person 1000 bucks for each bug missed that slips into production...then these messy issues will clear up damned quick :rolleyes:
Pointing out bugs is good, calling people - companies - names, accusing a GM of saying people are liars?
Give me a break. If you feel so strongly, perhaps your time would be better spent elsewhere. Or is championing your cause in a video game truly your life's calling?
Game is months old.
there are several ground missions with buildings, where the enemies are spawned on their roof. since in the star-trek universe the fire ladders are obsolete, those missions can not be completed.
some missions seem to be copies from the fed-side: you want anomalies? go farm them there
When I saw the tricorder "It's not a bug, it's a feature!" paraphrasing, I must say in all honesty my expectations were met to my disappointment.
Those who are still trying to report these issues in a positive way are extremely patient people.
Dude my klingon tricorder has never worked on the ground. I filed a ticket and the response was "it has been moved to bug reports" which didn't help me at obviously. I remember two missions in particular.....where you had to deactivate 5 or 6 borg devices (or something like that) and one where you had to destroy a bunch of piles a tribbles. Either neither case did my tricorder work so I quit doing those missions. Am I doing something wrong because i would really like to NOT skip things. I have tried the "v" button and the little button on the minimap but i get nothing. HELP A BROTHER OUT DUDE
TRIBBLE
Something to keep in mind.
Thanks,
Duncan
ok the tribbles were a bad example. but say you are supposed to deactivate a certain number of whatever....shouldn't the tricorder tell you where to go? the feds does. mine doesn't. mine has never worked.
Ummm, well maybe they SHOULD detect ALL mission objectives?? I do not think that's I've seen a Star trek episode or movie where an away team could not scan an object because it was able to be destroyed. Mission objective objects don't even blink to stand out from the terrain.
What about in space, when you have to destroy derelict ships? Why don't they show on the mini map? Why cant i find them with a scanner? All these stupid little BUGS ( yes, they ARE bugs. I don't care what Dev says "it's not a bug, it's a feature!) make for an extra crappy game play experience.
Now Craptic is talking about adding another faction... Hey, how about you fix the 2nd faction before you heap another helping of garbage on us with a 3rd faction?
seriously dude. i mean some of the ground missions on klingon side
i.e. the ones where you have to kill 5 squads of somebody----sometimes they spawn ON TOP of the buildings. and I mean WAAAAYYYY up top. you can't shoot them unless you have boba fetts jet pack and this is star trek not the old republic.