Oh my god no... I got Ultimate Combat, which was the latest version of that back about 6 or so years ago... Wow did it fail to live up to the billing... Was supposed to be a simulator for space, ground and sea. Didn't do any of them really well IMO.
Space was fairly easy to beat, sea and ground simply stunk to high heaven...
But you dare to say anything even remotely negative about the game on the official forms and you got massively flamed by the "Supreme Commander" Derek Smart...
I once questioned the instruction manual about how hard it was to follow and the lack of anything remotely like a tutorial... He told me that if I wasn't smart enough to figure it out on my own then I shouldn't be playing His game... Also the instruction manual he wrote was award winning... What award you get for manuals I don't know, but apparently he won it.
Derek Smart would last maybe five minutes in Stormshade's shoes before 'sploding and banning everyone on the blessed forums. I swear, most delicate ego on the 'net.... Anyway, I wouldn't give him any more thought, his games are not worth the effort or money.
You can't compare EVE and STO. Sure, EVE has a huge game-universe and a lot of things to do... but if you want to do any of that, you need a corporation. And the most interesting stuff is in low-sec space. (Except maybe wormholes, but again, you need groups to enjoy that, too.) Pretty much the most interesting thing a solo person can do is maybe try wormhole exploration, and seeing if you can make it to the EVE system. (Managed it once, but I've been told I was damn lucky.) If you're just wanting to get some fun in, you're out of luck. As has been noted, the PvE missions are banal and more-of-the-same. (And all those EVE fiscal horror stories? Most are true. Yeah, no, sorry, I play to get away from news about broker malfeasance! )
Now, STO could do with a lot more content -- I've got lots of theories on how it came to be this way, but they're all pretty moot -- and there's legitimate concerns about if Cryptic will have the wherewithall and resources to actually make a decent game great. But STO is not EVE, and never will be, and shouldn't try to be. Of course, you could try to compare the two, and, sure, EVE'll come up strong in a lot of ways. It's also had eight years of constant dev attention. How will STO look in eight years? Well, pretty much 'dead' or 'better' are the only two answers. How MUCH better isn't even worth speculating about, really, since some people will say 'It'll be awesome!' and some people will say 'It will suck!' The correct answer is, natch, 'We have no damn clue what it'll be like in eight years.'
I've been playing both, probably EVE for the past 3 months.
Here's my thoughts:
Game Universe
EVE: large, simulated universe, but it
gets a bit boring traveling from one place
to the next. The places look the same.
The new Planetary interaction feature is
a very dull, repetitive mini-game. It wouldn't
be so bad if it didn't have a 5 second DELAY
just to start mining a new resource. It's nuts.
More than half the star systems you can't
go to without getting immediately destroyed
by gankers.
I guess the reviewer didn't notice but:
THERE ARE NO ALIENS IN THE UNIVERSE!!!!
STO: Right from the start: ground & space game.
EVE has been talking about a ground game
for many years & they are still working on
it! What is coming out is "Walking in Stations"
& you don't get to go to planets but into
other Space Stations. My guess is that there
will be a very limited number of floor plans
for the space stations that may make it
repetitive. WiS (Incarna) is the answer to the Star
Wars threat, but I can't imagine it being
all that good right away when it's released,
which seems to be in August/Fall 2011
instead of June 2011 (which I heard earlier).
For STO, it's just a matter of putting in
a giant amount of content. Also for some
reason STO makes space look smaller as if
you could travel across the entire galaxy
through "Tron" Space. They should add
several star systems into each sector at
some point. If you ask me, they should
get rid of "Tron" Space & just let people
travel to sectors of stars & then choose
which star system to go to on a map. Maybe
turn it into a mini-game where if you TRIBBLE
up on the mini-game you end up in an
Klingon encounter or some Kirkian story.
For the Unknown or Wild Space,
just roll the dice & present the adventure
when hitting the sector.
Player Character
EVE: Character progression is mind-numbingly
slow. At the start it seems it moves pretty
quick, but after you surpass the 1.6 million
skill point level, it goes to a crawl. So
every time you play you'll be repeating grind
for weeks until that next training is complete
for the next skill. And maybe it'll change a small piece
of the game or maybe not.
Character portraits & design appearance
are not all that interesting.
STO: Player progression seems too fast, but
then it goes back to not enough game content
I guess. I like the ability to customize the
appearance. It's a good feature to have so
there is no point it can't belong to Star Trek even
if it came from Champions Online.
It's probably not as good as Spore's creature
creator but it's ok. It'd be more amazing if
it had something similar to Spore, but anyway.
Solo & Group Experience
EVE: Solo is takes a very long time. Currently
it takes me abot 2.5 hours to clear a pirate
infestation one time! This involves fleeing for
repairs, or resupplying. After that mission,
I don't want to play anymore. I don't want to
spend all day grinding in combat, but right
now that's about the only thing interesting to
do in game.
Group is supposed to be better. But say you
join a Corp in Null space. It could be 60 jumps
from where you are! That's gonna take all day
to get there. Plus you'll have to wait
somewhere nearby for an escort because if you
go in low-sec or null space by yourself, you'll
be dead. Group experience means you'll have
many chances to have your ship destroyed &
run out of ISK. Believe me the hassles of
buying, building a new ship isn't fun after
the first few deaths. It's tedious & time
consuming. The Corps usually provide cheap
replacement ships at least.
Another issue. Let's say you want to stay in
safe space but be in your corp in null space
too. You can do what they call a clone jump
to move to a clone rather than travel star
systems. It takes 24 hours of real time to
do this each time! So it's a bit of bother.
STO: The game feels like an MMO Single-player
RPG. Which isn't so bad as you can quit anytime
you like & pick up where you left off later.
They really should add some multi-player
missions though for people who want to do
that. They did this well with City of Heroes
& I don't understand why they didn't repeat
it in some way for STO.
Maybe add some timed missions that have to
get done to put some pressure on the gamers
would be good as well. STO has a very casual
feel to it, but they should offer options
such as timed missions & multi-play to give
some pressure/challenge.
End Game/PVP
EVE: It'll take you billions of hours &
a ton of cash to get to the End game. PVP
is hard & can be pretty frustrating when
your ship is killed & then you are pod-killed
immediately after. I think it's like 30 years
in real time to learn every skill in the
game.
STO: Haven't played it enough to reach the
end game yet. LOL. But we'll see. I only
play on the weekends.
Community
EVE: There are many friendly folks that will
help. But you do have a ton of gankers that
will be eager to destroy you too. Lot of scams
also. EVE has made the news on some of the
overall nastiness of its game. And I'm sure
gamers that get burned by EVE probably quit
the game in total disgust.
STO: I asked a question on the chat once
& got a reply. Killed about 200 Klingons
in space with some other players, no real
problems since there isn't any player
killing. Overall, community doesn't have
a strong presence in the game since it
seems to be played as an individual
experience. I wonder if The Old Republic
will be more like Star Trek than EVE.
Controls:
EVE: Mouse & Keyboard. Space combat &
setting up your weapons & defenses is very
straight forward & easy. Also, flying for some
reason is easier than STO. No joystick or
xbox 360 controller support however for any
thing in the game!
STO: Mouse & Keybaord with some bind hacks
you can get an Xbox 360 Controller to work (still
need to test it) & that is a good thing. The interface
is typical fair that reminds me of Champions Online
& City of Heroes, pressing number keys. But at
least it works with a 360 controller.
I haven't played much EVE in the past couple of
weeks & contemplating giving it up for the time
being. It requires a lot of time that I'm just not
willing to commit anymore. I may jump back into
it next year once they get Incarna rolling.
When I read stories like this I'm glad Star Trek Online is not like EVE.... And it makes me glad that I'm out of that cut throat world.
The difference is, in EVE you accept that that sort of risk is there from the moment you undock. It's deliberately designed to be played in a very different way to most MMOs-in EVE you are in competition with everybody, all the time; while STO (for example) provides no significant reason for you to compete with others.
Banking scams, corp theft, trickery, treachery-they're all "weapons" within EVE, and approached the right way, they can be just as fun as firing phasers at a Borg Cube. Investing yourself emotionally into the minutae of your wins and losses makes for a horrible experience in that context, in the same way that it does in PvP. You can't PvP without accepting that other players are going to blow up your ship, and you can't play EVE without accepting that people are going to do their best to take away all your resources however they can.
I love both games, though I admit I was playing EVE more rarely even in the months prior to STO's launch. But I think both are great examples of "niche" MMOs that are enjoyable when they're taken for what they are instead of what so-and-so thinks they should be.
One does not need to know much about the Star Trek universe in order to compare EVE and STO. Simply load up each game and play each one for an hour. EVE is a much better game overall. EVE is better in it's scope, it is better in it's character design, it is better in it's crafting, it is better in it's resource collection, it is better in it's PvP....it has everything that STO does not. Unfortunately, it also has an incredibly high learning curve. If STO could be more of what EVE is without much increase in it's learning curve, it would be much more popular than it is (except for the horrendously small universe). On the flip side, I wouldn't be against STO increasing the learning curve just a little bit. It is tiresome to see every MMO that comes out pandering to the IQ challenged and mentally handicapped.
The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives.
/threadhijack
I love this quote. Why, do you ask? Because of what's bolded. the DRIVING FORCE. Why is that so important? Because this is way Trek should be. Implying that we can eliminate personal wealth honestly is so ridiculously insane I wonder why Gene was smoking when he told the TNG crew "no money." But it is reasonable to assume that people don't pursue it with such drive and force that we do today, it's just simply there to be had.
By the time I joined TNG, Gene had decreed that money most emphatically did NOT exist in the Federation, nor did 'credits' and that was that. Personally, I've always felt this was a bunch of hooey, but it was one of the rules and that's that.
When I read stories like this I'm glad Star Trek Online is not like EVE.... And it makes me glad that I'm out of that cut throat world.
Things like that is exactly why I didn't play EVE very long. I like PvP and all, but not when some random jerkwads can gank me at nearly any time. I don't really enjoy my game when I'm having to look over my shoulder more than actually playing. Just not my cuppa.
One does not need to know much about the Star Trek universe in order to compare EVE and STO. Simply load up each game and play each one for an hour. EVE is a much better game overall. EVE is better in it's scope, it is better in it's character design, it is better in it's crafting, it is better in it's resource collection, it is better in it's PvP....it has everything that STO does not. Unfortunately, it also has an incredibly high learning curve. If STO could be more of what EVE is without much increase in it's learning curve, it would be much more popular than it is (except for the horrendously small universe). On the flip side, I wouldn't be against STO increasing the learning curve just a little bit. It is tiresome to see every MMO that comes out pandering to the IQ challenged and mentally handicapped.
It's better in its PvE and Ground Combat storylines too. :rolleyes:
The problem with that is... kinda like STO, Jumgate:Evolution has been "in development" for YEARS.... I am worried that it might never come out. Still it "looks" good from what little I have seen about it. You have to look at it from it's point of view, because it is leagues ahead of the original (now called Jumpgate Classic).
Interestingly enough, it appear that they have launched a new website, which hopefully means they are moving forward. Prior to that, information was rather stale to say the least. (Again, a page from STO's history book)
I think we wish STO had had that problem. It's problem is that it wasn't in development long enough.
Considering Cryptic scrapped everything Perpetual did? Nope, not one bit.
That's irrelevant. The fact is the game was in a state of development since 2004. I think we would have seen a much different game had Cryptic taken it at first (for one thing, the engine itself would probably have more similarities to CoH, considering it was released around that time). By 2010 it was in danger of being relegated to "Duke Nukem Forever" status until it was finally released.
Granted. Still, in this environment there has to be a balance between speed and development. STO launched way earlier than it should have, there's no denying that. Even dstahl admits it.
This to me is my biggest frustration with STO, the game has such potential, yet feels so unfinished and unpolished at the same time. Heck, if it wasn't for the raising the level cap I would have maxed level before my free month was up. That was playing pretty casual, too.
I'm glad dstahl is at the helm and all, just wish Atari would grant them the resources to do the things that need to be done, in the time it needs to be done.
When I read stories like this I'm glad Star Trek Online is not like EVE.... And it makes me glad that I'm out of that cut throat world.
EVE does bring out the absolute worst in humanity, and actually encourages sociopathic behavior. In fact, people take joy in killing things for no other reason than they're expensive, regardless of any "actual" harm done between parties.
Imagine the whole world is a very rainy Ferenginar and that you have to join a player corporation to find any sort of shelter. That's what it's like to live in EVE. People talk about the gobs of RL time you must invest, but that's the same thing that keeps you from wholesale giving up on it. As soon as I find a way to cash out, I'm gone.
Granted. Still, in this environment there has to be a balance between speed and development. STO launched way earlier than it should have, there's no denying that. Even dstahl admits it.
This to me is my biggest frustration with STO, the game has such potential, yet feels so unfinished and unpolished at the same time. Heck, if it wasn't for the raising the level cap I would have maxed level before my free month was up. That was playing pretty casual, too.
I'm glad dstahl is at the helm and all, just wish Atari would grant them the resources to do the things that need to be done, in the time it needs to be done.
I'm also willing to bet CBS was also pressuring them to get SOMETHING out there, figuring they could capitalize off the new movie.
There was this great game, And I'm not sure who compared it to Eve, but if eve had been designed as a larger, multilayer version of Free lancer, then the game would be infinitely better. Instead of a simple mouse flight option. I have to do right click drop down menus just to get anything done. And the interface is so cluttered, that it's easy to forget that there's a ship flying through space behind all of that.
STO dose one thing right at the moment. It engages you. If you play a PvP match, or even just a friendly Challenge map, you can feel the thrill of combat as you have to sit there reacting in real time to situations, all while still actually flying your ship. I have never had as much fun PvPing in a game as I do STO, becasue it actually gets my blood pumping. I know that it's going to be my skill and decisions determining my outcome, and If you get a team together, then you can do some real damage.
I had gotten frustrated with the controls of EvE in the first few hours that I let my free month expire with out putting in any more time then the initial day. EvE's has many faults.
1) Lack of a minimal, intuitive interface.
2) Lack of intuitive controls.
3) almost all game play is determined by the players. (While this is listed as a problem, having game play emerge becasue of player actions isn't a bad thing, when the game relies on it almost exclusively, then you have a problem.)
4) As big as space is in EvE, most of it is pointless waste of space. You spend so much time traveling with an autopilot, that you forget that your even flying a ship, much less playing a game.
5) It focuses so much on a sort of realism, that it almost neglects the idea that games should be fun and accessible. Halo wouldn't be nearly as fun if you were bogged down with a heavier interface and more things like dealing with broken bones and such.
A game should be fun. It should balance arcade ease of playability with depth of world. IN other words. It should be fairly easy and intuitive to pick up and go, while providing challenges that can be over come. While also providing a world in which you get lost and involved in. Both STO and EvE fail at this. STO fails becasue it has lack of content, which even given a proper development time would still be an issue. EvE has a lack of much to do beyond training your character and forming Corporations to stake out territory. Eve is Very focused on how you should play, (as in in comes back to PvP) and while it does that superbly, you will never get a deep and involved story out of it. STO is however on a track that will remedy the situation. Fixing problems like ground combat, replacing sector space, opening up instances to be larger and hold more with out overloading the servers. They have stories to get into, even brief ones that leave you wanting more (the weekly episodes) and also giving players the opportunity to fill in the gaps with their own content. EvE is not going to change much from what it is. It has established itself, Start trek is still growing and defining what it is and will be.
That's irrelevant. The fact is the game was in a state of development since 2004. I think we would have seen a much different game had Cryptic taken it at first (for one thing, the engine itself would probably have more similarities to CoH, considering it was released around that time). By 2010 it was in danger of being relegated to "Duke Nukem Forever" status until it was finally released.
I suppose that depends how you define "the game". Cryptic made STO pretty much from the ground-up themselves, using their engine and resources. It was a separate project from the one Perpetual was working on. Sure, they might have the same name and might have lived under the same release date, but "the game" is content and code--all of which started anew when Cryptic took the helm.
I'm not sure why CBS chose Perpetual to develop the game to begin with, but I'm sure the situation would have been different in the beginning. Cryptic wouldn't have had their engine and building STO might have meant a new cradle-to-grave development process for them. With their attention already on building Champions I doubt they would have even been in a position to take STO on at that time.
I don't think CBS ever took a Star Trek MMO seriously. Even with Trek fading at the time, they had the resources to take it to a serious developer that would have had the resources to have a proper development cycle. That Atari seems happy with ~100k subscribers only reaffirms that. Nobody was willing to aim as high as they could have and should have.
EVE Online, the online job you pay to work. Watch your ship fly circles, watch little circles turn white then fire (oooo ahhhh Zzzzzz) Select skills to learn and watch 30 day counters tic away. There isn't one thing fun in this game. The systems are pretty. Everything else is ugly and boring. EVE vs STO is like comparing a calculator to an IPAD.
Comments
Derek Smart would last maybe five minutes in Stormshade's shoes before 'sploding and banning everyone on the blessed forums. I swear, most delicate ego on the 'net.... Anyway, I wouldn't give him any more thought, his games are not worth the effort or money.
You can't compare EVE and STO. Sure, EVE has a huge game-universe and a lot of things to do... but if you want to do any of that, you need a corporation. And the most interesting stuff is in low-sec space. (Except maybe wormholes, but again, you need groups to enjoy that, too.) Pretty much the most interesting thing a solo person can do is maybe try wormhole exploration, and seeing if you can make it to the EVE system. (Managed it once, but I've been told I was damn lucky.) If you're just wanting to get some fun in, you're out of luck. As has been noted, the PvE missions are banal and more-of-the-same. (And all those EVE fiscal horror stories? Most are true. Yeah, no, sorry, I play to get away from news about broker malfeasance!
Now, STO could do with a lot more content -- I've got lots of theories on how it came to be this way, but they're all pretty moot -- and there's legitimate concerns about if Cryptic will have the wherewithall and resources to actually make a decent game great. But STO is not EVE, and never will be, and shouldn't try to be. Of course, you could try to compare the two, and, sure, EVE'll come up strong in a lot of ways. It's also had eight years of constant dev attention. How will STO look in eight years? Well, pretty much 'dead' or 'better' are the only two answers. How MUCH better isn't even worth speculating about, really, since some people will say 'It'll be awesome!' and some people will say 'It will suck!' The correct answer is, natch, 'We have no damn clue what it'll be like in eight years.'
DUDE where the hell did you find this? is it still on? Is it still playable? This game looks cool.
Ouch that is just horrible.
Here's my thoughts:
Game Universe
EVE: large, simulated universe, but it
gets a bit boring traveling from one place
to the next. The places look the same.
The new Planetary interaction feature is
a very dull, repetitive mini-game. It wouldn't
be so bad if it didn't have a 5 second DELAY
just to start mining a new resource. It's nuts.
More than half the star systems you can't
go to without getting immediately destroyed
by gankers.
I guess the reviewer didn't notice but:
THERE ARE NO ALIENS IN THE UNIVERSE!!!!
STO: Right from the start: ground & space game.
EVE has been talking about a ground game
for many years & they are still working on
it! What is coming out is "Walking in Stations"
& you don't get to go to planets but into
other Space Stations. My guess is that there
will be a very limited number of floor plans
for the space stations that may make it
repetitive. WiS (Incarna) is the answer to the Star
Wars threat, but I can't imagine it being
all that good right away when it's released,
which seems to be in August/Fall 2011
instead of June 2011 (which I heard earlier).
For STO, it's just a matter of putting in
a giant amount of content. Also for some
reason STO makes space look smaller as if
you could travel across the entire galaxy
through "Tron" Space. They should add
several star systems into each sector at
some point. If you ask me, they should
get rid of "Tron" Space & just let people
travel to sectors of stars & then choose
which star system to go to on a map. Maybe
turn it into a mini-game where if you TRIBBLE
up on the mini-game you end up in an
Klingon encounter or some Kirkian story.
For the Unknown or Wild Space,
just roll the dice & present the adventure
when hitting the sector.
Player Character
EVE: Character progression is mind-numbingly
slow. At the start it seems it moves pretty
quick, but after you surpass the 1.6 million
skill point level, it goes to a crawl. So
every time you play you'll be repeating grind
for weeks until that next training is complete
for the next skill. And maybe it'll change a small piece
of the game or maybe not.
Character portraits & design appearance
are not all that interesting.
STO: Player progression seems too fast, but
then it goes back to not enough game content
I guess. I like the ability to customize the
appearance. It's a good feature to have so
there is no point it can't belong to Star Trek even
if it came from Champions Online.
It's probably not as good as Spore's creature
creator but it's ok. It'd be more amazing if
it had something similar to Spore, but anyway.
Solo & Group Experience
EVE: Solo is takes a very long time. Currently
it takes me abot 2.5 hours to clear a pirate
infestation one time! This involves fleeing for
repairs, or resupplying. After that mission,
I don't want to play anymore. I don't want to
spend all day grinding in combat, but right
now that's about the only thing interesting to
do in game.
Group is supposed to be better. But say you
join a Corp in Null space. It could be 60 jumps
from where you are! That's gonna take all day
to get there. Plus you'll have to wait
somewhere nearby for an escort because if you
go in low-sec or null space by yourself, you'll
be dead. Group experience means you'll have
many chances to have your ship destroyed &
run out of ISK. Believe me the hassles of
buying, building a new ship isn't fun after
the first few deaths. It's tedious & time
consuming. The Corps usually provide cheap
replacement ships at least.
Another issue. Let's say you want to stay in
safe space but be in your corp in null space
too. You can do what they call a clone jump
to move to a clone rather than travel star
systems. It takes 24 hours of real time to
do this each time! So it's a bit of bother.
STO: The game feels like an MMO Single-player
RPG. Which isn't so bad as you can quit anytime
you like & pick up where you left off later.
They really should add some multi-player
missions though for people who want to do
that. They did this well with City of Heroes
& I don't understand why they didn't repeat
it in some way for STO.
Maybe add some timed missions that have to
get done to put some pressure on the gamers
would be good as well. STO has a very casual
feel to it, but they should offer options
such as timed missions & multi-play to give
some pressure/challenge.
End Game/PVP
EVE: It'll take you billions of hours &
a ton of cash to get to the End game. PVP
is hard & can be pretty frustrating when
your ship is killed & then you are pod-killed
immediately after. I think it's like 30 years
in real time to learn every skill in the
game.
STO: Haven't played it enough to reach the
end game yet. LOL. But we'll see. I only
play on the weekends.
Community
EVE: There are many friendly folks that will
help. But you do have a ton of gankers that
will be eager to destroy you too. Lot of scams
also. EVE has made the news on some of the
overall nastiness of its game. And I'm sure
gamers that get burned by EVE probably quit
the game in total disgust.
STO: I asked a question on the chat once
& got a reply. Killed about 200 Klingons
in space with some other players, no real
problems since there isn't any player
killing. Overall, community doesn't have
a strong presence in the game since it
seems to be played as an individual
experience. I wonder if The Old Republic
will be more like Star Trek than EVE.
Controls:
EVE: Mouse & Keyboard. Space combat &
setting up your weapons & defenses is very
straight forward & easy. Also, flying for some
reason is easier than STO. No joystick or
xbox 360 controller support however for any
thing in the game!
STO: Mouse & Keybaord with some bind hacks
you can get an Xbox 360 Controller to work (still
need to test it) & that is a good thing. The interface
is typical fair that reminds me of Champions Online
& City of Heroes, pressing number keys. But at
least it works with a 360 controller.
I haven't played much EVE in the past couple of
weeks & contemplating giving it up for the time
being. It requires a lot of time that I'm just not
willing to commit anymore. I may jump back into
it next year once they get Incarna rolling.
The difference is, in EVE you accept that that sort of risk is there from the moment you undock. It's deliberately designed to be played in a very different way to most MMOs-in EVE you are in competition with everybody, all the time; while STO (for example) provides no significant reason for you to compete with others.
Banking scams, corp theft, trickery, treachery-they're all "weapons" within EVE, and approached the right way, they can be just as fun as firing phasers at a Borg Cube. Investing yourself emotionally into the minutae of your wins and losses makes for a horrible experience in that context, in the same way that it does in PvP. You can't PvP without accepting that other players are going to blow up your ship, and you can't play EVE without accepting that people are going to do their best to take away all your resources however they can.
I love both games, though I admit I was playing EVE more rarely even in the months prior to STO's launch. But I think both are great examples of "niche" MMOs that are enjoyable when they're taken for what they are instead of what so-and-so thinks they should be.
The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.
Ugh, the Battlecruiser series... emptiest sandbox ever. And looked so shiny at first, too.
Bummer i was wondering why the screen shots looked good but ive never heard of it before
/threadhijack
I love this quote. Why, do you ask? Because of what's bolded. the DRIVING FORCE. Why is that so important? Because this is way Trek should be. Implying that we can eliminate personal wealth honestly is so ridiculously insane I wonder why Gene was smoking when he told the TNG crew "no money." But it is reasonable to assume that people don't pursue it with such drive and force that we do today, it's just simply there to be had.
Did I mention how much I love RDM?
Things like that is exactly why I didn't play EVE very long. I like PvP and all, but not when some random jerkwads can gank me at nearly any time. I don't really enjoy my game when I'm having to look over my shoulder more than actually playing. Just not my cuppa.
It's better in its PvE and Ground Combat storylines too. :rolleyes:
I think we wish STO had had that problem. It's problem is that it wasn't in development long enough.
Yeah, unfortunately in the game design world STO had a development cycle equivalent to 'blink and you missed it'
erm...were you guys asleep when Perpetual was at the helm or something?
Considering Cryptic scrapped everything Perpetual did? Nope, not one bit.
I think the point is, any game not developed by SOE or Blizzard needs a lightning fast development cycle or it will never go live in this market.
TOR would like to say 'Hi'
Leviathan99 was a tad bit wrong... anything made out of the power houses can take their time..
:Power houses:
SOE
EA ( TOR )
Activision / blizzard
That's irrelevant. The fact is the game was in a state of development since 2004. I think we would have seen a much different game had Cryptic taken it at first (for one thing, the engine itself would probably have more similarities to CoH, considering it was released around that time). By 2010 it was in danger of being relegated to "Duke Nukem Forever" status until it was finally released.
This to me is my biggest frustration with STO, the game has such potential, yet feels so unfinished and unpolished at the same time. Heck, if it wasn't for the raising the level cap I would have maxed level before my free month was up. That was playing pretty casual, too.
I'm glad dstahl is at the helm and all, just wish Atari would grant them the resources to do the things that need to be done, in the time it needs to be done.
EVE does bring out the absolute worst in humanity, and actually encourages sociopathic behavior. In fact, people take joy in killing things for no other reason than they're expensive, regardless of any "actual" harm done between parties.
Imagine the whole world is a very rainy Ferenginar and that you have to join a player corporation to find any sort of shelter. That's what it's like to live in EVE. People talk about the gobs of RL time you must invest, but that's the same thing that keeps you from wholesale giving up on it. As soon as I find a way to cash out, I'm gone.
I'm also willing to bet CBS was also pressuring them to get SOMETHING out there, figuring they could capitalize off the new movie.
out of what EVE?
Oh come on now, Duke Nukem has been in development since 1997. That's hardly any time at all!
Always bet on DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKE
seriously, can't think of any other game that survived for more than 13 YEARS! truly a monument to the awesomeness of the Duke.
STO dose one thing right at the moment. It engages you. If you play a PvP match, or even just a friendly Challenge map, you can feel the thrill of combat as you have to sit there reacting in real time to situations, all while still actually flying your ship. I have never had as much fun PvPing in a game as I do STO, becasue it actually gets my blood pumping. I know that it's going to be my skill and decisions determining my outcome, and If you get a team together, then you can do some real damage.
I had gotten frustrated with the controls of EvE in the first few hours that I let my free month expire with out putting in any more time then the initial day. EvE's has many faults.
1) Lack of a minimal, intuitive interface.
2) Lack of intuitive controls.
3) almost all game play is determined by the players. (While this is listed as a problem, having game play emerge becasue of player actions isn't a bad thing, when the game relies on it almost exclusively, then you have a problem.)
4) As big as space is in EvE, most of it is pointless waste of space. You spend so much time traveling with an autopilot, that you forget that your even flying a ship, much less playing a game.
5) It focuses so much on a sort of realism, that it almost neglects the idea that games should be fun and accessible. Halo wouldn't be nearly as fun if you were bogged down with a heavier interface and more things like dealing with broken bones and such.
A game should be fun. It should balance arcade ease of playability with depth of world. IN other words. It should be fairly easy and intuitive to pick up and go, while providing challenges that can be over come. While also providing a world in which you get lost and involved in. Both STO and EvE fail at this. STO fails becasue it has lack of content, which even given a proper development time would still be an issue. EvE has a lack of much to do beyond training your character and forming Corporations to stake out territory. Eve is Very focused on how you should play, (as in in comes back to PvP) and while it does that superbly, you will never get a deep and involved story out of it. STO is however on a track that will remedy the situation. Fixing problems like ground combat, replacing sector space, opening up instances to be larger and hold more with out overloading the servers. They have stories to get into, even brief ones that leave you wanting more (the weekly episodes) and also giving players the opportunity to fill in the gaps with their own content. EvE is not going to change much from what it is. It has established itself, Start trek is still growing and defining what it is and will be.
I suppose that depends how you define "the game". Cryptic made STO pretty much from the ground-up themselves, using their engine and resources. It was a separate project from the one Perpetual was working on. Sure, they might have the same name and might have lived under the same release date, but "the game" is content and code--all of which started anew when Cryptic took the helm.
I'm not sure why CBS chose Perpetual to develop the game to begin with, but I'm sure the situation would have been different in the beginning. Cryptic wouldn't have had their engine and building STO might have meant a new cradle-to-grave development process for them. With their attention already on building Champions I doubt they would have even been in a position to take STO on at that time.
I don't think CBS ever took a Star Trek MMO seriously. Even with Trek fading at the time, they had the resources to take it to a serious developer that would have had the resources to have a proper development cycle. That Atari seems happy with ~100k subscribers only reaffirms that. Nobody was willing to aim as high as they could have and should have.