There are a lot of things that could be done, both large and small, to improve the quality of PvE in STO.
I'm sure a lot of this has already been said, but most of it probably needs to be said again. For lack of a more formal and deliberate method, I will simply rattle off points as they come to mind. Most of this is in regards to SPACE since that portion is my personal area of interest.
Please enjoy my carefully crafted wall of text as I wax poetic about one of the nerdiest topics in the galaxy.
In no particular order:
-'Defend' Missions
'Defend this base' and 'defend that ship' would be a LOT more interesting if the enemies could actually, you know, hurt the stuff you're supposed to be defending. NPC starships appear to be invulnerable (and useless), and enemies don't even bother to shoot at the stations and bases that are supposed to be defended in the millions of identical 'defend base' missions throughout the game. The game needs to be changed in such a way that you can 'lose' a defend mission because you failed to defend the objective.
-Fleet Actions
Currently, fleet actions are a largely pointless exercise undertaken by an unrealistically homogeneous level-band of players all in the same tier of ship. Fleet actions should be redesigned to combine a wider range of levels (or ALL levels) with appropriate challenge and rewards for all levels. Wolf359, First Contact, and the Dominion war all featured ships of various types cooperating against a common foe. Fleet actions should also be worthwhile. I shouldn't spend 2 hours struggling against the Crystalline Entity to finally get it down and receive a few measly skill points and an aux battery. 5 man ground missions are NOT endgame content! Fleet actions should be the panultimate endgame content with actual FLEETS in mind.
-Dailies
Dailies are great, but at the moment they are too few and far between, and their rewards are too concentrated. I suggest multiplying the number of dailies by 5 and dividing the badge rewards by 5.
-Loot
Loot is entirely too generic and underwhelming for both ground and space. Loot should be randomized, and any foe, regardless of difficulty setting, should have some chance of dropping really honestly good loot. The 'Rare' and 'Very Rare' modifiers on loot are much too generic and boring. There should be mods that add damage, possibly of various types, and more varied effects. An example might be a phaser array that has increased DPS as well as increased power consumption. There NEEDS to be a certain "Slot Machine" element to the loot system to keep it interesting, and to keep players logging in.
-Movement / Dynamics
Plenty of people have suggested things like adding roll and horizontal strafing, which, if they are possible in this engine, would be great. However, those things are forgivable given the game's limitations. What irks me are the limits on your ship's pitch. I absolutely hate having such limited angles of ascent and descent. When I see an enemy 20k above me I get a feeling of dread because I know I'm about to have to do a slow and painful upward spiral to get into weapons range. I suggest increasing the angle of ascent or descent by at least 10-15 degrees... a full 90 degrees up or down is not necessary, nor are vertical loops, but the current angles are just plain irritating.
-Difficulty Slider
Let me first say, this has been a GREAT addition to the game. I have really been enjoying solo missions on Advanced, and teaming on Elite. The death penalty seems about right. What it lacks is incentive. Sure, I have seen a few half decent blue drops from the higher difficulties, but nothing that really stands out as a good reason to set B'Tran to Elite when I'm doing my Chart dailies. This goes along with my above suggestion on loot. Enemy ships should have a small chance to drop worthwhile loot, and that chance should increase in higher difficulties. No, I do not consider a generic blue Mk IX deflector worthwhile loot, and judging by exchange prices, neither does anyone else.
-HandMade Not CopyPasta
Generic same-ish missions are fine for some things, but if all I have to do on any given day is 3 generic explorations, some PvP and a handful of ground-oriented missions, I am (I AM) getting bored very quickly. This game needs more handmade, engaging, thoughtful, interesting, Star Trek(tm) style space missions to give it that legitimate Trek feel.
-Let Us Fail
At this point, the only way I have found to 'fail' a mission is to give up. The key to success in even the more challenging missions is nothing more than persistence. Throw enough respawns at something and it will eventually die. We as players need to be able to fail, or else there is no thrill in success. A time limit would be an obvious and boring example, an "enrage timer", if you will. Better failure conditions would be things like the above "defend" example where you let your objective die. Limited or gradually receding respawn locations might add tension, increasing the work required to continue if we TRIBBLE up too badly.
The penalties for failure need not be severe. As players we simply need to be aware that it is possible to fail, and that alone would be motivation to avoid it.
All that aside, STO has done a lot of things right. Space combat is fun and engaging, PvP is great despite some balance issues. The skill system is on the right track and has loads of potential. Character customization options, both aesthetic and functional, are excellent. Star Trek as a franchise, in my opinion, is goldmine material for an MMO, it just needs a developer willing to invest the time and money to flesh it out into what it deserves to be.
No rational adult with experience in the genre expects an MMO to be perfect near release, the vast majority are far from it. Cryptic as a developer, and we as players, need to demand more. Don't give up. Don't settle. Don't stop making it better. At some point, STO really could become something amazing, it just needs push in the right direction.
Regarding Defend Missions, Pitch, Failure, and Star Trek-y content...
/agree
Regarding Loot I'm ambivalent.
Regarding Fleet Actions/STF:
Fleet actions need some work, but the idea of an MMO with five-man end game comment is fantastic. I pray that doesn't change. The need to have 40+ people to perform end game content is what turned me off to EQ, WoW, EQ2, and even WAR (a game which I thought would change my mind on that subject because it was predicated on that need!). I'm extremely happy to have found a game in which I can look forward to being able to play with my friends at all levels of play.
Finally, I think your final conclusions are correct; we're all going to keep pushing the developers and ourselves hard to perceive and implement better "gamery." I just hope we can do it with tact and grace instead of "OMGBBQtrololololSwearWord-expletivex5!"
Regarding Fleet Actions/STF:
Fleet actions need some work, but the idea of an MMO with five-man end game comment is fantastic. I pray that doesn't change. The need to have 40+ people to perform end game content is what turned me off to EQ, WoW, EQ2, and even WAR (a game which I thought would change my mind on that subject because it was predicated on that need!). I'm extremely happy to have found a game in which I can look forward to being able to play with my friends at all levels of play.
To clarify, I never envisioned a 40-person "raid" as the endgame of STO, but something more like 10 people would be great for my taste. To each their own, but I simply feel that there should be more of a reason to form a fleet than to split off into 5-man groups.
Loot in this game sucks. Add to that there is no crafting. No place to put it even if you wanted to save a variety. I'm spoiled. EvE loot and inventory is unlimited for all intenet and purpose and loot database is as broad reaching as the inventory caps. That said, STO has a big hill to climb to make me happy. They would be smarter to look to the non MMO crowd and lower expactations,
Comments
/agree
Regarding Loot I'm ambivalent.
Regarding Fleet Actions/STF:
Fleet actions need some work, but the idea of an MMO with five-man end game comment is fantastic. I pray that doesn't change. The need to have 40+ people to perform end game content is what turned me off to EQ, WoW, EQ2, and even WAR (a game which I thought would change my mind on that subject because it was predicated on that need!). I'm extremely happy to have found a game in which I can look forward to being able to play with my friends at all levels of play.
Finally, I think your final conclusions are correct; we're all going to keep pushing the developers and ourselves hard to perceive and implement better "gamery." I just hope we can do it with tact and grace instead of "OMGBBQtrololololSwearWord-expletivex5!"
To clarify, I never envisioned a 40-person "raid" as the endgame of STO, but something more like 10 people would be great for my taste. To each their own, but I simply feel that there should be more of a reason to form a fleet than to split off into 5-man groups.