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Ultra-Rare Purple....Not Rare Enough

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
I haven't seen any posts on this but we all know that at the RA5 level getting yourself all purples (Weapons, Engines, Shields, Deflectors) is WAY too easy. Run B'Tran X times, get gear. And this is to get the "Ultra-Rare" purple gear...come on.

During the Season 2 update where they (hopefully) expand up to Level 50 I think they need to add a new level of gear, perhaps a Gold or some other color and call it Epic or whatever I don't care. But there "Epic" items should only drop off STF bosses (current and future) and perhaps be given as rewards for completing an STF mission or a full STF chain.

I want some items in the game that are HARD to get and take invested time and luck (not 12 to 18 months like Excalibur in FFXI though). And (I know I am I gonna get flamed for this) it should REQUIRE you to team (i.e. STFs) and not obtainable by solo play. Everything in the game, including the "best" purple gear is available to everyone. The STF are difficult (well somewhat) and take time and patience, but there is no reward for them. There should be IMHO.

What can we upgrade to while leveling 45-50 when it happens?

Comments? Suggestions?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    The real rare stuff now is the stuff that drops with different procs than the Btran gear. The STF stuff is still better than exploration stuff too for specific enemies.

    I'm guessing by season 2 this summer we should see either MK XI or "Very Very Rare"
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Oh and I thought I simply didn't get the point... Purple gear, ultra rare, certainly not. Every RA5 flies around with it, and most RA1 - 4 too. I thought 'ultra rare' means that not everyone has it, that - if you are lucky - you get a few of these items as drops and not simply buy everything from vendors. Purple gear is not 'ultra rare', its common for RAs, just 'taking longer to get' because it takes longer to collect marks than it takes to make energy credits.

    So I support the idea of drop/reward only 'elite', 'epic', 'Q powered' or whatever.

    When we get the missing levels, all we can do is max out points in weapons we already have, now that all types exist as purple. That's nice, but really not enough.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I was there when more then one MMO went that way. Super rare items. That just brought out the worst in people. Stuff was sold only for real money. Guild leaders toke everything. It raised prices on carp items.I could go on for hours. Badges fixed many things. Were the Items may seem cheap wait for that boss that only can be hurt with plasma weapons. You will need all new gear and everyone one your team as well.
    Stuff will not seem so cheap then.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I agree with Sleeves, having to spend months or years grinding for gear is just an exercise in futility. I'd much rather play the game becuase I enjot it than becuase I have to grind raid X Y times to get gear Z.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I think the MMO-player that lurks deep inside you all has missed the basic design of this game's loot system.

    You want something that this game never intends to give you.

    Your current Mk X Very Rare weapon is not significantly superior to a common Mk X weapon.

    That's on purpose.

    That's intended.

    This game isn't going to serve that need to have better and better loot. Another proc that happens 2.5% of the time? That may make you feel better about your time spent in-game. But it shouldn't. You're being scammed. It's a shell game. You look at the color purple and all reason exits the building.

    This loot is easy to get because all loot is easy to get.

    If you play this game to "raid" for "loot" you are not going to be satisfied.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    superchum wrote: »
    I think the MMO-player that lurks deep inside you all has missed the basic design of this game's loot system.

    You want something that this game never intends to give you.

    Your current Mk X Very Rare weapon is not significantly superior to a common Mk X weapon.

    That's on purpose.

    That's intended.

    This game isn't going to serve that need to have better and better loot. Another proc that happens 2.5% of the time? That may make you feel better about your time spent in-game. But it shouldn't. You're being scammed. It's a shell game. You look at the color purple and all reason exits the building.

    This loot is easy to get because all loot is easy to get.

    If you play this game to "raid" for "loot" you are not going to be satisfied.

    I raided your ship's mess and stole all your cookies and I am very satisfied *burp*.

    Part of this problem, in my opinion, stems from the lack of variety in items. You can guarantee that you will have seen pretty much everything you get in one form or another. Very rare at RA are, in fact, pretty common but that's due in part to the fact that a lot of the RA crowd were max level when they came into the game. Purple stuff is dropping earlier in the game now and at different stages through your career. Unfortunately this is still limited to the same set of items either scaled down or up depending on your character's level.

    How would I like to see it changed? More variety..... please...... I don't care about insignificant % chances for TRIBBLE, I want solid stat boosts on things. It might be a phaser cannon with reduced weapons drain, or *gasp* increased damage! Imagine that, no more carbon copies on every other ship flying... What about hybrid weapon damage types? Another unique item I've seen only once in the game and that is limited to a single Mk V or VI item through your character's life to date. The only real beneficial item I can think of that I'd count as worth having in the game is the Mk IV Efficient enginers! What happened after these engines were put in the game? Did the Devs suddenly decide that wasn't how they wanted items in the game? Casual MMORPG or not, one of the things that keeps people playing is the seemingly endless quest to get new stuff for their characters but in STO there is such little variety that most of us have seen it all in essence.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    superchum wrote: »
    I think the MMO-player that lurks deep inside you all has missed the basic design of this game's loot system.

    You want something that this game never intends to give you.

    Your current Mk X Very Rare weapon is not significantly superior to a common Mk X weapon.
    I haven't missed it, I love it. Personally the character optimization aspects of MMOs (including gear optimization) really appeal to me. The advantage of the STO system is that I can spend my time cheerfully optimizing my character and gear but at the end of the day I'm not significantly more powerful than someone using white gear so we can still effectively team together without me completely overshadowing them.

    I get to do what I enjoy without the game needing to be warped around it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Exactly, like other said how about just more variety then.

    Why is there ONE MISSION in the game (Efficient Engines Mission) that offers rewards that are "different". Clearly the engines are a great reward (best reward in the game IMHO) but also it offers Pantrentic (sp?) Shields which offer VERY high Cap for that level but low Regen, but still it's unique. Why can't we have more of those. Why can we get Beam Arrays of DHCs that offer +1 or +2 to Weapons Power or special shields that offer +5 to shields. Or something that offers +Aux power for the Science officers. Something unique at least.

    Too much of this game is cookie cutter more so than some other MMOs I've played.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I have seen some purple drops that are quite rare..one had a 70 severity I think and another had 7% for a crit and some accuracy that was ungodly...i never won the drops so I do not recall the exact stats but they were high....same dps though....
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I agree with what's been said already -- I like the fact that I don't have to spend hours and hours every night just to get better and better gear. It's a fool's game that does that.

    The real appeal for me is, as others have said, the sheer customisability, not just of cosmetic features like clothes and hairstyle, but BOff skills, skill points, ship choice, weapon choice, play style, etc etc etc. There's no "right" way of playing or winning this game; that customisability and variety is far more appealing than purples with ever higher numbers on them.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    The exploration store doesn't offer every type of purple gear. Just one standard template. Particular weapons have a lot more variation, and your only hope is to grind for them. Heavily. The chance of getting any purple item is really low. The chance that a purple item is a weapon is low. The chance that a purple weapon happens to have the right energy type is low. The chance that a purple weapon with the right energy type has exactly the abilities you want is low.

    Sometimes, a blue item might actually have stuff you want more. And I am not just talking about Efficient Impulse Engines.

    But speaking of Efficient Impulse Engines: There is, by the way, more than one mission that gives unique loot. Most of it is just missed by people. There is a Overcharged Plasma Rifle with an insane damage variance (sometimes your exploit deals about as much as normal damage, sometimes it vaporizes a fully shielded enemy). There is some kind of Chroniton Torpedo (Chroniton Flux or some such) that seems to have better DPS than a regular Chroniton Torpedo. Someone else mentioned a few shield types. There is a beam weapon that seems to deal two damage types.

    But this is not stuff that you can grind for, as far as I know. You only get them in these missions, at the level they are. (And some of them are most likely broken if they were available at higher levels - like Efficient Impulse Engines.)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I have blue engines that are betterthan any of the garbage purple offered if the numbers can be believed.
    weapons have such a huge effect you can REALLY tell who has purple and who has green . <klaxon> ops not!
    the loot differences in this game as so subtle you have to get it ALL to notice identifiable differences. it's a time sink that makes 0.05 difference.

    The proper application of all the nerfed and changed abilites against people who do not grasp the constant game changes is a MUCH more powerful advantage over people the green vrs purple gear.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Well, IMO, the ability for a person to work at and equip themselves with "epic gear" that is almost as good as the 'teh epiq drops' is one of the huge draws of this game to me. It's one of the reasons I log on every day and do my dailies. I can see measurable progress every single day. I can plan on what my next acquistions could/should/might be. I feel like it gives me the chance to get my PvE and PvP fix in fairly well deleniated time frames, then move on and do whatever else I want to do with the time I have left to play. I am not hung on a 'raid' that might take 45 minutes, or 2.5 hours (provided the missions doesn't fall apart because some disco'd and never returned or got ****y and left cuz we weren't '|447 enuff)'. All those if's to get a ~chance~ at a purple drop that's an tiny upgrade in a a specific situation over what I can work daily for. I have done "Infected" three times times and ended up with a single blue drop. One.

    It is very clear that Cryptic made the concious decesion to attempt to make this game more, not less inclusive. They also included a path to upgrade your ship and character/bo's with more (albiet only slightly) powerful without having to spend countless hours raiding for gear with only a slight chance at the 'prize'. I applaud them for it. I do, however think the current system could be tweaked and improved to include people from BOTH camps.

    What I would MUCH rather see is added variety derived from the ability for CRAFTERS to take an item you already have and upgrade it. You already own a Mk X blue con combat impulse engine, carry it to a crafter with 100 of each data type, and your engine, and for whaever fee he sets, he combines your item with your data and you get say A Mk X PURPLE engine, or a Mk X EFFECIENT Blue engine. The possblities are boundless. And to satisfy the people who must 'raid' to find enjoyment, have the mobs in the STF's drop say a stack of 10 ever so often, data that can be rolled for. This system would allow people in BOTH camps to enjoy the fruits of thier efforts and not feel someone else is getitng something they can't, because they don't play the game the same way. It has the additional benefit of making the crafters MUCH sought after, and would reward them for the effort they put into learning their crafts.

    This would create a new economy that would drive down the ridiculous prices on the Exchange, make people pick up the anaomolous data they mostly leave laying about, AND helps the crafters. It's really a win-win-win situation.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    The exploration store doesn't offer every type of purple gear. Just one standard template.

    I am sorry, I really can't agree with this. The Fleet merchant now carries every weapon in every damage type, as does the PvP merchant. (and the Shipyard if you count greens). The ONLY variance I have seen is some of the bonuses have been shifted slightly. For instance, the purple quantum torps at the PvP merchant are +2% crit and +40 crit severity, where as the Fleet merchant variety is +2% crit, +20% crit severity and has an accuracy bonus of +.1 or .2 (can't remember which)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Harlech wrote:
    I am sorry, I really can't agree with this. The Fleet merchant now carries every weapon in every damage type, as does the PvP merchant. (and the Shipyard if you count greens). The ONLY variance I have seen is some of the bonuses have been shifted slightly. For instance, the purple quantum torps at the PvP merchant are +2% crit and +40 crit severity, where as the Fleet merchant variety is +2% crit, +20% crit severity and has an accuracy bonus of +.1 or .2 (can't remember which)

    That variety should have been in game day one ; making ALL of EVERYTHING antiproton was juvenile. A 17 year old Radio Shack assistant manager would have managed that better.

    That said, the gameplay differences of purple gear is nothing compared to being prepared to implement strategies against the newests nerfs. a TRIBBLE green player can rack up MANY kills against purple time sink devotee's with 30 minutes of reading.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    This is a difficult situation.

    Demographics show that "casual" players outnumber "hardcore" players, yet it is also reasonable to provide those who put forth more effort with greater rewards. I can link to some demographic information, if you would like. At any rate, you can see this reflected through the ongoing development of most major MMOs in recent years.

    So, what goes on is a tug of war between rewarding players who play hard, and trying to attract the largest pool of customers possible.

    This issue becomes compounded when PvP is allowed, as some players will feel that they are directly being gimped for not playing enough. This manifests in forums as the old "I have a life and can't spend lots of time in a game" argument. The counter argument being "we spend extra time and effort, shouldn't we be rewarded for that". Flames generally follow shortly after one or both of these.

    Like I said, this is not so clear cut.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I'm hoping that the crafting system (once the overhaul is complete) is where things really get interesting.

    Let us craft better than purple items and modify our ships.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Harlech wrote:
    I am sorry, I really can't agree with this. The Fleet merchant now carries every weapon in every damage type, as does the PvP merchant. (and the Shipyard if you count greens). The ONLY variance I have seen is some of the bonuses have been shifted slightly. For instance, the purple quantum torps at the PvP merchant are +2% crit and +40 crit severity, where as the Fleet merchant variety is +2% crit, +20% crit severity and has an accuracy bonus of +.1 or .2 (can't remember which)
    He was talking about the distribution of bonuses. Purple weapons get three bonuses from the list of 10% Accuracy, 2% crit chance and 20% crit severity and chance of bonus damage to Borg (this one is only available through STFs). The ones in the exploration and PvP stores only give a fixed bonus distribution but it isn't the only distribution available. So if you want a purple weapons with, say, +6% crit chance you can't get it through the store.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Phoenixace wrote: »

    Comments? Suggestions?

    The problem inherent with that level of exclusivity means that folks who don't have any particular desire to play "raid" type content (artificially inflated difficulty levels just make something harder to force teaming do not appeal to me - and I'm in a Klink fleet that routinely runs these things) would never have access to that new "epic" gear. In effect, you would be forcing people into content just to stay competitive. Unless you don't want these components to have any effect in PvP? ---- That's a another can of worms, where some items work in PvE only, and some in PvP only... and would only make gearing up unnecessarily complex.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Yeah, I think that Purples are a bit too common to come by, hopefully a new level of loot will come in that will actually mean something significant - an STF based loot (the Borg Medic kit from the Cure would be a good example) or perhaps a T4 crafted item, something....that requires effort.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    hey man, thanks for starting this thread. I have some opinions on the loot drops, both in missions and exploration missions. Yeah the purple stuff is easy to get, but takes you a while to get. Like a shield or def array. But the loot drops on elite are still pretty bad. I want a blue eps flow reg mk X or something good....not another rare dibirium hull plating. The rare items that drop are pretty common. This should be fixed. I just more of a chance to get an actual mk X rare or very rare item that is worth something.
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