Is it just me or has anyone noticed that STO doesn't really encourage team play? I have made it all the way to RA5 with little or no help from anyone.
Kinda reminds me of Mass Effect where me and my NPC guys can do all the content, with no help from anyone. Ah well kinda odd to have an MMO and not need the MM just the O...
And for all those people that start about the new slider for normal, advanced and elite. They have those same sliders in most all console and and non MMO's.
Is it just me or has anyone noticed that STO doesn't really encourage team play? I have made it all the way to RA5 with little or no help from anyone.
Kinda reminds me of Mass Effect where me and my NPC guys can do all the content, with no help from anyone. Ah well kinda odd to have an MMO and not need the MM just the O...
And for all those people that start about the new slider for normal, advanced and elite. They have those same sliders in most all console and and non MMO's.
I could not agree more my friend, this game is silly easy with no reasion at all to have a group.
I would argue that a MMORPG does not need to "encourage" team play (what you really mean is force it). Some people like to solo, some people like to team. There are people who like to team but have limited time to play occasionally and want the option to solo but play "around" their mates.
Any more, as the MMORPG population grows older on average it is a bad idea to enforce teaming due to shifts in lifestyle and importance of real life over a game.
The only reason anyone needs to team is the desire to team.
Find a good team oriented guild. There are plenty of them out there
If you want a team play MMMO Lord Of the Rings online was made you. STO made it super easy to solo this game early and was major issue one guy made RA5 in 3 days. All the new stuff coming is ment to be run as a 5 man.
If you want a team play MMMO Lord Of the Rings online was made you. STO made it super easy to solo this game early and was major issue one guy made RA5 in 3 days. All the new stuff coming is ment to be run as a 5 man.
All I can say is LOL this game is so full of noobs.
So what you mean is you wanna play an MMO that is not really an MMO. Just an online game.. kinda like.. Pogo
I guess it really doesn't matter since the daily marks of honor don't require you to actually win to get credit. Kinda like everyone that plays gets a trophy cause they showed up and that is all that counts. Ah well, perhaps SWTOR will be more team oriented.
If you want a team play MMMO Lord Of the Rings online was made you. STO made it super easy to solo this game early and was major issue one guy made RA5 in 3 days. All the new stuff coming is ment to be run as a 5 man.
The issue with this so called MMO is that when you get to the level where you HAVE to depend on other people there is no one there because they soloed all the way up to RA 5. Yes it is wasy to level in this game and thats all well and good for casual players, like myself who's life does not revolve around the game, BUT I also like to progress as much as possible considering I am paying for it. I have played with casual and hardcore players in the past and what it all boils down to is that if you want to get your moneys worth you need to learn how to play the game as a team.
PvP is totally unbalanced, there have been instances that I have gone in and have had to go up against 4 escorts and a cruiser, I am not saying that it is a bad thing I give props to those players, great team work guys!! But there needs to be some guidelines as far as who is let in the zone to have an even playing field. You have people on your team who just fly off instead waiting for the rest of the team to get organized, why?? Because they don't know how to play an MMO, and if you don't know how to play an MMO I don't suggest trying to get into anything that requires you to play in a group because you will most likely be kicked out of the group due to the fact that some folks don't have the patience to help you.
As for the guy who leveled in 3 days, he either has absolutely no life what so ever or just has no job.
Again I am not a "hardcore" player, it's a game and I want to enjoy it, which I do, I just feel some things need to be tweaked a bit.
So what you mean is you wanna play an MMO that is not really an MMO. Just an online game.. kinda like.. Pogo
I guess it really doesn't matter since the daily marks of honor don't require you to actually win to get credit. Kinda like everyone that plays gets a trophy cause they showed up and that is all that counts. Ah well, perhaps SWTOR will be more team oriented.
MMORPGs in no way are institutions of required grouping. That fact is simply more apparent in STO. I have soloed at least one character to max in every MMORPG I have played, and I have played far more than the average MMO player... FAR more.
My bad your right Ayenn. I have been looking all around for some info .. finally went to STO FAQ page and there is was.
"Q: What is an MMORPG?
A: MMORPG is an acronym for massively multiplayer online role-playing game. In an MMORPG, millions of players from around the world can interact with each other to socialize or achieve common goals in a persistent gameplay world."
There it is "can interact with each other to socialize or achieve common goals in a persistent game play world."
So basically I have only encountered "Captain Kirk Superstar wannabe's" that have no clue or intention of actually to buffing/healing a fellow player. Thus not contributing or helping in fleet/team missions because that is just the way the game is.
If they opened all other assignment slots to Commander then I could really maximize my solo potential. Now that would be even more awesome if my own bridge crew could do infected, the cure and KA. Dare I say it .. even kill CE...
Even better remove Fleet actions and daily mark missions and lets just make it a game of entitlement, give my marks for paying my monthly fee and logging in everyday.
I as well have played many many MMO's and spent more hours then I really wanna know playing them.
It would seem Obamaisim (the right to have everything handed to you for free) has spreed beyond the border's of America and has now invaded the MMO realm.
I would argue that a MMORPG does not need to "encourage" team play (what you really mean is force it). Some people like to solo, some people like to team. There are people who like to team but have limited time to play occasionally and want the option to solo but play "around" their mates.
Any more, as the MMORPG population grows older on average it is a bad idea to enforce teaming due to shifts in lifestyle and importance of real life over a game.
The only reason anyone needs to team is the desire to team.
Find a good team oriented guild. There are plenty of them out there
OMG are you serious thats ****ing funny whats the point in grouping ( even if it is desired) if the content is of no challange? 90% of the people responding to these types of posts sound like they need to spend there time on single player games not in MMO's.
OMG are you serious thats ****ing funny whats the point in grouping ( even if it is desired) if the content is of no challange? 90% of the people responding to these types of posts sound like they need to spend there time on single player games not in MMO's.
i have to agree the need for grouping in this game is not necessary. i still cannot understand why it "auto groups" you in an instance when the other players have no understanding as to what being part of a group entails. For example i got "auto grouped" in a ground instance a simple search and scan and it was like a damned race to get to the next item to scan. and yes grouping should be a CHOICE for the players involved. and i do beleive there should be missions that are near impossible to complete solo. its called a CHALLENGE.. to test your knowledge of the game and its features and to see how different skills working together can accomplish a task/
Yea I hear ya there have you tryed Infected with one of those "solo" players, God what a nightmare.
You get people who have no clue how to play as a team and they expect to be able to do the zone then leave when it gets tough and TRIBBLE the rest of the group happens everyday.
I have to agree with the OP. I've only been playing for a week, but the near total lack of socialization, save for the endless mostly rambling zone chat that goes on. I didn't realize how much I actually enjoy the teaming from other MMO's till I played this. I've tried chatting with people who wind up in the same instance I happen to be in, but so far almost no responses. It's a little odd. lol
OMG are you serious thats ****ing funny whats the point in grouping ( even if it is desired) if the content is of no challange? 90% of the people responding to these types of posts sound like they need to spend there time on single player games not in MMO's.
If you play at "normal" setting there is no challenge. bump it up to elite and play. The, get a group of competent players together and the challenge and reward increase. It's not rocket science. The rewards for grouping are there. All ya have to do is activate them.
And yeah, I am serious. If you don't understand that is your short-falling, not mine. I group AND solo. Admittedly I only group with people I know are reliable. PUGs and auto groups, especially auto groups, are almost always a friken hassle.
If you play at "normal" setting there is no challenge. bump it up to elite and play. The, get a group of competent players together and the challenge and reward increase. It's not rocket science. The rewards for grouping are there. All ya have to do is activate them.
And yeah, I am serious. If you don't understand that is your short-falling, not mine. I group AND solo. Admittedly I only group with people I know are reliable. PUGs and auto groups, especially auto groups, are almost always a friken hassle.
To be fair, the difficulty slider is new. But I can confirm that it's a lot of fun to play on Elite and doing an exploration daily with others. If Elite play was a little faster* (kinda ironic, considering that generally the game just plays too fast), too, it could be the best thing ever.
*) Actually, let me take that back. The individual combat has the right length for me. That's how I like it. But it would be better if I wouldn't have to do 5 of them.
It would seem Obamaisim (the right to have everything handed to you for free) has spreed beyond the border's of America and has now invaded the MMO realm.
It's more a No Child Left Behind (every body is special so no body is) description... That is a Bushisum
Is it just me or has anyone noticed that STO doesn't really encourage team play? I have made it all the way to RA5 with little or no help from anyone.
Kinda reminds me of Mass Effect where me and my NPC guys can do all the content, with no help from anyone. Ah well kinda odd to have an MMO and not need the MM just the O...
And for all those people that start about the new slider for normal, advanced and elite. They have those same sliders in most all console and and non MMO's.
yup I solo'd the game to the end and now ge to fly around as a rear admiral with nothing to do but the week of content we get every 2 months
Captain Picard, and all other Startrek heros are solo players, relying solely on their Bridge officers. An Federation Captain doesn't ask for Starfleet to help, every time when they smell an Klingon.
Captain Picard, and all other Startrek heros are solo players, relying solely on their Bridge officers. An Federation Captain doesn't ask for Starfleet to help, every time when they smell an Klingon.
I rest my case.
I would agree with this except:
Okay here goes
Kirk
Movie 7 I think it is enterprise vs the klingon ship that can fire while cloaked... sulu comes in to help kirk wasnt alone didnt watch the original series that much so dont remember any other group actions.
Picard
Commands a fleet in at least 4 episodes (romulan border and another searching for borg)
Fleet actions with borg
the epiosde where their being harassed by romulans something about taking the enterprise home as a trophy 2 klingon BOPS decloak to help
Sisko
countless fleet actions
Janeway
Ragtag fleet actions
in all these examples we see them working with others. We do have fleet actions but these above are fleet actions that are closer to quests. Captains working together on a single mission. And wanna get more except picard hardly ever goes on away missions because thats the rules. Thats why I am all for making 2 characters when you start the game. Your main the captain who basically is the ship and then your number one who goes on away missions and such.
Captain Picard, and all other Startrek heros are solo players, relying solely on their Bridge officers. An Federation Captain doesn't ask for Starfleet to help, every time when they smell an Klingon.
I rest my case.
Soooooooo...it is possible to take on CE with just your bridge officers???....SWEET!!! But just in case your talking about the actual show...PPSSSTTTT its not real, they are all actors, they are supposed to be able to kill the bad guys by themselves
Soooooooo...it is possible to take on CE with just your bridge officers???....SWEET!!! But just in case your talking about the actual show...PPSSSTTTT its not real, they are all actors, they are supposed to be able to kill the bad guys by themselves
lol well in her/his defense we are not real in the game either just a game lol we are the heroes and suppose to take on big fleets even if the main characters do get more help then we ever get oh and have working ships lol
Silly Ajac I know the game isn't real either, my point is that MMO's soul purpose, whether people like to admit it or not, is for people to work as a team which by reading your posts I see you already know that. People aren't looking at the big picture.
If someone has NEVER played an MMO jumps in this game goes through the entire leveling process and then desides they want to go further with it, they try to group and well no one wants to group with them because they ask too many questions, they don't know to heal their groupies, they don't know to be on the same target. Many aspects of this game are being missed because it can be soloed all the way to RA5, and thats unfortunate because this game has alot of potential. Hopefully the devs look and pay attention to these threads better then /cough SOE.
P.S. Ajac...you're alright dude hope to see you in game
Silly Ajac I know the game isn't real either, my point is that MMO's soul purpose, whether people like to admit it or not, is for people to work as a team which by reading your posts I see you already know that. People aren't looking at the big picture.
If someone has NEVER played an MMO jumps in this game goes through the entire leveling process and then desides they want to go further with it, they try to group and well no one wants to group with them because they ask too many questions, they don't know to heal their groupies, they don't know to be on the same target. Many aspects of this game are being missed because it can be soloed all the way to RA5, and thats unfortunate because this game has alot of potential. Hopefully the devs look and pay attention to these threads better then /cough SOE.
P.S. Ajac...you're alright dude hope to see you in game
this company in a word SUCKS. They baiscally made a single play mmo. Id love to group but really no reason to. I really wish a better company got the license we'd have alot more fun more to do and wouldnt avoid noob zones. Heck even wow fixed thier noob zones no constant spam.
Kirk
Movie 7 I think it is enterprise vs the klingon ship that can fire while cloaked... sulu comes in to help kirk wasnt alone didnt watch the original series that much so dont remember any other group actions.
Picard
Commands a fleet in at least 4 episodes (romulan border and another searching for borg)
Fleet actions with borg
the epiosde where their being harassed by romulans something about taking the enterprise home as a trophy 2 klingon BOPS decloak to help
Sisko
countless fleet actions
Janeway
Ragtag fleet actions
in all these examples we see them working with others. We do have fleet actions but these above are fleet actions that are closer to quests. Captains working together on a single mission. And wanna get more except picard hardly ever goes on away missions because thats the rules. Thats why I am all for making 2 characters when you start the game. Your main the captain who basically is the ship and then your number one who goes on away missions and such.
You make a good case. I withdraw my statement.
As for people who say that movies are not RL? Well, I don't live in the illusion that STO is real life either. If you want my real opinion as leader of my fleet; I wished nobody did missions alone. All actions/missions should be fleetactions. Let the noobs pull our strings. I just wished there weren't rank restrictions on fleet actions. That one really sucks big time.
As for people who say that movies are not RL? Well, I don't live in the illusion that STO is real life either. If you want my real opinion as leader of my fleet; I wished nobody did missions alone. All actions/missions should be fleetactions. Let the noobs pull our strings. I just wished there weren't rank restrictions on fleet actions. That one really sucks big time.
If you actually read my post I said STO was not real life, but REAL people are playing it which means most real people like a challenge. If you wish no one did missions alone then you see our point and thats all that matters. No not ALL missions/actions should be fleet only, BUT there should be more content that includes group actions, there are times that I just want to go off by myself and blow stuff up yet there are times that I want to go out and group. I have met a few folks that are great players and I have run into some that aren't so great.
With all the Star Trek movies and shows that were made I am really shocked that there is not more content. It seems that choices for character design were number one on the developing list, then the spec tree was second.
I think the idea that enemy numbers should scale with group size was a mistake. It means the game is actually easier solo than in a group.
Now that there is a difficulty slider, they ought to make it so you could ramp the difficulty even higher, but aimed at a group of a given size. So you'd have normal, advanced, elite, small group, large group.
As for people who say that movies are not RL? Well, I don't live in the illusion that STO is real life either. If you want my real opinion as leader of my fleet; I wished nobody did missions alone. All actions/missions should be fleetactions. Let the noobs pull our strings. I just wished there weren't rank restrictions on fleet actions. That one really sucks big time.
as I said before though I am all for group actions they just dont now how to handle group stuff... they need to take a page from other mmos
have missions that are ment to be solo and then some ment to be in groups. I dont like forced grouping but as in most mmos you can just ignore the group missions if you dont wanna do them they dont effect progress to much and you still can enjoy the game.. like killing hogger in wow... you dont have to do it but if you wanan get some good xp and have fun with friends then do it. Or come back later when your super powerful and solo i just because you can. And on another note... I wish I could return to areas where I did missions with named ships and enemies and try them again as a rear admiral sometimes being over powered feels good when they gave you such a hard time as an ltc lol
First thing, MMO isn't meaning Online Team Play, it means Massively Multiplayer Online and in STO's case I think we can do with the Massively simply because you can't have large group of players in the same map/instance. People who say that a MMO should be team play only are simply wishing it was like this, it is their liking that they want to impose on others.
Personally, I don't mind being able to solo the entire game, further more, I'd be frustrated if I was not able to.
The reason is that when you join a team there's almost always one or two players that "know it all" and will not hesitate to insult (you noob) or pressure those who makes little mistakes and have less experience in teaming. IMO this is the real problem with many MMOs and why a lot of people aren't teaming.
All we need if a few nice features that makes teaming fun rather than mandatory. Not make a mission so hard that you have no choice of teaming, because it will put alot of pressure on those casual players that have a less team oriented style of play. Pressure means stress and that means "not having fun" and ends up in people not wanting to repeat the experience, hence players are either leaving the game or soloing it.
Flight formations(auto pilot in position), Team skills that can be activate only while in a team(ie: shared shields), team only rewards(team badges to buy interesting gear). Have the ennemies call in reinforcement when a team of feds is coming their way.
In short, teaming should be an alternative, not forced upon us.
And as for Sulu coming to help Kirk, it's in the 6th movie, The undiscovered country, and I will add that such occurence are extremely rare in all the Startrek series/movies. I own all the series and movies on Dvds and must have watched them all 4 or 5 times and I would say that Starships are teaming in about 0.01% of all the episodes.
I would argue that a MMORPG does not need to "encourage" team play (what you really mean is force it). Some people like to solo, some people like to team. There are people who like to team but have limited time to play occasionally and want the option to solo but play "around" their mates.
It's possible to encourage team play without requiring it. The way the game is setup now there is no real incentive to play on a team (except for the STFs). Missions generally take longer and don't give noticeably better rewards (you get more kill XP, but kill XP is laughable). Plus you have the added difficulty of finding people of similar level who have the same misisons available (unless you want to grind DSEs or Exploration missions)
As a counter-example consider City of Heroes. Soloing from 1-50 is perfectly viable but so is teaming. When teaming you can do missions belonging to whichever person you want and everybody gets the same XP. Due to the way kill XP is balanced you tend to level faster in a group giving incentive to group without requiring it.
Comments
I could not agree more my friend, this game is silly easy with no reasion at all to have a group.
Any more, as the MMORPG population grows older on average it is a bad idea to enforce teaming due to shifts in lifestyle and importance of real life over a game.
The only reason anyone needs to team is the desire to team.
Find a good team oriented guild. There are plenty of them out there
All I can say is LOL this game is so full of noobs.
I guess it really doesn't matter since the daily marks of honor don't require you to actually win to get credit. Kinda like everyone that plays gets a trophy cause they showed up and that is all that counts. Ah well, perhaps SWTOR will be more team oriented.
The issue with this so called MMO is that when you get to the level where you HAVE to depend on other people there is no one there because they soloed all the way up to RA 5. Yes it is wasy to level in this game and thats all well and good for casual players, like myself who's life does not revolve around the game, BUT I also like to progress as much as possible considering I am paying for it. I have played with casual and hardcore players in the past and what it all boils down to is that if you want to get your moneys worth you need to learn how to play the game as a team.
PvP is totally unbalanced, there have been instances that I have gone in and have had to go up against 4 escorts and a cruiser, I am not saying that it is a bad thing I give props to those players, great team work guys!! But there needs to be some guidelines as far as who is let in the zone to have an even playing field. You have people on your team who just fly off instead waiting for the rest of the team to get organized, why?? Because they don't know how to play an MMO, and if you don't know how to play an MMO I don't suggest trying to get into anything that requires you to play in a group because you will most likely be kicked out of the group due to the fact that some folks don't have the patience to help you.
As for the guy who leveled in 3 days, he either has absolutely no life what so ever or just has no job.
Again I am not a "hardcore" player, it's a game and I want to enjoy it, which I do, I just feel some things need to be tweaked a bit.
MMORPGs in no way are institutions of required grouping. That fact is simply more apparent in STO. I have soloed at least one character to max in every MMORPG I have played, and I have played far more than the average MMO player... FAR more.
Or a lie or a internet myth.
"Q: What is an MMORPG?
A: MMORPG is an acronym for massively multiplayer online role-playing game. In an MMORPG, millions of players from around the world can interact with each other to socialize or achieve common goals in a persistent gameplay world."
There it is "can interact with each other to socialize or achieve common goals in a persistent game play world."
So basically I have only encountered "Captain Kirk Superstar wannabe's" that have no clue or intention of actually to buffing/healing a fellow player. Thus not contributing or helping in fleet/team missions because that is just the way the game is.
If they opened all other assignment slots to Commander then I could really maximize my solo potential. Now that would be even more awesome if my own bridge crew could do infected, the cure and KA. Dare I say it .. even kill CE...
Even better remove Fleet actions and daily mark missions and lets just make it a game of entitlement, give my marks for paying my monthly fee and logging in everyday.
I as well have played many many MMO's and spent more hours then I really wanna know playing them.
OMG are you serious thats ****ing funny whats the point in grouping ( even if it is desired) if the content is of no challange? 90% of the people responding to these types of posts sound like they need to spend there time on single player games not in MMO's.
i have to agree the need for grouping in this game is not necessary. i still cannot understand why it "auto groups" you in an instance when the other players have no understanding as to what being part of a group entails. For example i got "auto grouped" in a ground instance a simple search and scan and it was like a damned race to get to the next item to scan. and yes grouping should be a CHOICE for the players involved. and i do beleive there should be missions that are near impossible to complete solo. its called a CHALLENGE.. to test your knowledge of the game and its features and to see how different skills working together can accomplish a task/
You get people who have no clue how to play as a team and they expect to be able to do the zone then leave when it gets tough and TRIBBLE the rest of the group happens everyday.
If you play at "normal" setting there is no challenge. bump it up to elite and play. The, get a group of competent players together and the challenge and reward increase. It's not rocket science. The rewards for grouping are there. All ya have to do is activate them.
And yeah, I am serious. If you don't understand that is your short-falling, not mine. I group AND solo. Admittedly I only group with people I know are reliable. PUGs and auto groups, especially auto groups, are almost always a friken hassle.
To be fair, the difficulty slider is new. But I can confirm that it's a lot of fun to play on Elite and doing an exploration daily with others. If Elite play was a little faster* (kinda ironic, considering that generally the game just plays too fast), too, it could be the best thing ever.
*) Actually, let me take that back. The individual combat has the right length for me. That's how I like it. But it would be better if I wouldn't have to do 5 of them.
It's more a No Child Left Behind (every body is special so no body is) description... That is a Bushisum
yup I solo'd the game to the end and now ge to fly around as a rear admiral with nothing to do but the week of content we get every 2 months
I rest my case.
I would agree with this except:
Okay here goes
Kirk
Movie 7 I think it is enterprise vs the klingon ship that can fire while cloaked... sulu comes in to help kirk wasnt alone didnt watch the original series that much so dont remember any other group actions.
Picard
Commands a fleet in at least 4 episodes (romulan border and another searching for borg)
Fleet actions with borg
the epiosde where their being harassed by romulans something about taking the enterprise home as a trophy 2 klingon BOPS decloak to help
Sisko
countless fleet actions
Janeway
Ragtag fleet actions
in all these examples we see them working with others. We do have fleet actions but these above are fleet actions that are closer to quests. Captains working together on a single mission. And wanna get more except picard hardly ever goes on away missions because thats the rules. Thats why I am all for making 2 characters when you start the game. Your main the captain who basically is the ship and then your number one who goes on away missions and such.
Soooooooo...it is possible to take on CE with just your bridge officers???....SWEET!!! But just in case your talking about the actual show...PPSSSTTTT its not real, they are all actors, they are supposed to be able to kill the bad guys by themselves
lol well in her/his defense we are not real in the game either just a game lol we are the heroes and suppose to take on big fleets even if the main characters do get more help then we ever get oh and have working ships lol
If someone has NEVER played an MMO jumps in this game goes through the entire leveling process and then desides they want to go further with it, they try to group and well no one wants to group with them because they ask too many questions, they don't know to heal their groupies, they don't know to be on the same target. Many aspects of this game are being missed because it can be soloed all the way to RA5, and thats unfortunate because this game has alot of potential. Hopefully the devs look and pay attention to these threads better then /cough SOE.
P.S. Ajac...you're alright dude hope to see you in game
this company in a word SUCKS. They baiscally made a single play mmo. Id love to group but really no reason to. I really wish a better company got the license we'd have alot more fun more to do and wouldnt avoid noob zones. Heck even wow fixed thier noob zones no constant spam.
You make a good case. I withdraw my statement.
As for people who say that movies are not RL? Well, I don't live in the illusion that STO is real life either. If you want my real opinion as leader of my fleet; I wished nobody did missions alone. All actions/missions should be fleetactions. Let the noobs pull our strings. I just wished there weren't rank restrictions on fleet actions. That one really sucks big time.
If you actually read my post I said STO was not real life, but REAL people are playing it which means most real people like a challenge. If you wish no one did missions alone then you see our point and thats all that matters. No not ALL missions/actions should be fleet only, BUT there should be more content that includes group actions, there are times that I just want to go off by myself and blow stuff up yet there are times that I want to go out and group. I have met a few folks that are great players and I have run into some that aren't so great.
With all the Star Trek movies and shows that were made I am really shocked that there is not more content. It seems that choices for character design were number one on the developing list, then the spec tree was second.
Now that there is a difficulty slider, they ought to make it so you could ramp the difficulty even higher, but aimed at a group of a given size. So you'd have normal, advanced, elite, small group, large group.
as I said before though I am all for group actions they just dont now how to handle group stuff... they need to take a page from other mmos
have missions that are ment to be solo and then some ment to be in groups. I dont like forced grouping but as in most mmos you can just ignore the group missions if you dont wanna do them they dont effect progress to much and you still can enjoy the game.. like killing hogger in wow... you dont have to do it but if you wanan get some good xp and have fun with friends then do it. Or come back later when your super powerful and solo i just because you can. And on another note... I wish I could return to areas where I did missions with named ships and enemies and try them again as a rear admiral sometimes being over powered feels good when they gave you such a hard time as an ltc lol
Personally, I don't mind being able to solo the entire game, further more, I'd be frustrated if I was not able to.
The reason is that when you join a team there's almost always one or two players that "know it all" and will not hesitate to insult (you noob) or pressure those who makes little mistakes and have less experience in teaming. IMO this is the real problem with many MMOs and why a lot of people aren't teaming.
All we need if a few nice features that makes teaming fun rather than mandatory. Not make a mission so hard that you have no choice of teaming, because it will put alot of pressure on those casual players that have a less team oriented style of play. Pressure means stress and that means "not having fun" and ends up in people not wanting to repeat the experience, hence players are either leaving the game or soloing it.
Flight formations(auto pilot in position), Team skills that can be activate only while in a team(ie: shared shields), team only rewards(team badges to buy interesting gear). Have the ennemies call in reinforcement when a team of feds is coming their way.
In short, teaming should be an alternative, not forced upon us.
And as for Sulu coming to help Kirk, it's in the 6th movie, The undiscovered country, and I will add that such occurence are extremely rare in all the Startrek series/movies. I own all the series and movies on Dvds and must have watched them all 4 or 5 times and I would say that Starships are teaming in about 0.01% of all the episodes.
As a counter-example consider City of Heroes. Soloing from 1-50 is perfectly viable but so is teaming. When teaming you can do missions belonging to whichever person you want and everybody gets the same XP. Due to the way kill XP is balanced you tend to level faster in a group giving incentive to group without requiring it.