I don't see what all the rush is about... Why does everything have to be done as fast as possible?
You all do it to yourselves... I have no sympathy....
In order to 'steadily' move up the Reputation System, you need to log into the system everyday. Casual players do not have that type of luxury. Instead of taking about one to two months to complete the reputation system, the normal casual player will hit the end in two to three months. Keep in mind that that does not involve buying anything.
I don't know about you, but I have to deal with real life.
50,000 xp (t3) takes a hardcore player 18-20 days to complete.
(Player has to sign in for 18 to 20 days straight.)
Casual players sign in a few times a week for a few hours, so the system feels like an impossible hill to climb. "Star Trek: Online's" reputation system, fleet bases, and embassies are not meant for casual players, for they require people to log into the system 24/7 to make any progress. Do you want that fleet weapon or armor? See you in six to seven months.
I recently made an alt and initially I didn't want him to have to go through the rep system.
But eventually I got so sick of tired of of the slow reload on the ground I figured might aswell get a MK X set just for that.
I just looked at the dil price per piece and went that's not too crazy however I got caught napping because I of course forgot to check the numbers of marks you need which is 750.
I might eventually play those 10 additional stf's on him someday but I just don't have it in me right now.
It's the reaction I predicted of myself with the reputation system.
I will get some items sure but I will do as little as possible and ignore items if it gets me off grinding.
More and more it's become a question of what I can live without.
Pre season 7 I'd still be playing stf after getting everything, now it's like well can I live without playing ground again in exchange for not grinding.
Instead of gameplay being on-going for me it is now finitive and I am cutting corners all I can.
To me that was the ultimate mistake of the reputation system, instead of playing stf for stf, you play them for external rewards - once you have those or stop caring about them then what.
I think the rush is about two possible things. The first is that people will always rush to get things first. When I heard that tribble let you get almost everything for free that is in the reputation store, I headed right to Tribble to test it out. The second is that there is more reputation systems coming out. Therefore, the people that rush now will have a nice break between when they get their final reward and Season 8 launches. Thankfully, most reputations will be like the Romulan system where you don't require a team, skills, and good equipment to progress through.
Not sure what the devs will do for the next STFs. Will all future STFs be part of Task Force Omega so we just have to grind Omega Marks for the new sets that are introduced or will each set of STFs have its own Reputation system? After all Terradrome is being redone and will most likely have other Undine STFs to go with it so there could be an Undine Reputation. The Iconians needs to be dealt with eventually so that could be another reputation. There could be another STF series dealing with Amar Singh which supposedly starts off with the Children of Khan STF so that could be another STF. So it is possible that we will eventually have at least 4 Reputations that mostly deal with STFs. Makes more sense IMO to have one STF Reputation and all the new STFs add things to the Omega Store and Omega Reputation system. Could have Anti-Undine Combat Consumables where one is a hypo that protects against psionics instead of plasma and Anti-Undine Ground Weaponry with brand new STF space and ground sets that are better against the Undine than the Borg.
I think the rush is about two possible things. The first is that people will always rush to get things first...
People want to see quick results for the time they invest into something.
Instant gratification.
Welcome to the material world.
Since I will be going back to work full-time in January, the only time I will have to log into "STO" is on the weekends. So, that is 5.600 xp for two days, and 44,400 xp needed to reach the end. 8.928571428571429 weeks (two and a half months) to complete the last tier without buying anything. Keep in mind that I am going to take a few days off, so I can also enjoy certain things in real life. Instead of finishing the remaining tier in two and a half months, I am most likely going to complete it in three and a half to four months.
Why would I want to work through a system, which will take longer than a few days to be rewarded?
After I began playing a single-player offline game, (started an rpg two days ago), I have been able to get armor, shields, and weapons upgrades every half hour. Why do I have to wait four months to make progress?
Not worth the effort.
Once Cryptic realizes the flaws in "Star Trek: Online", they will be able to make casual players happier.
Yes.I have alts that I am working on eg my KDF Geer as well as my main Fed Tac.I am doing normals which I know gives lowers rep amd I do The Cure and Kitimor not Infected.
How do you get omega rep by doing Tau Dewa?I do agree with linyive as it would of been better for new players coming into the game.
250 Omega is just to much for to get on 2 or 3 charactors.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Age StarTrek-Gamers Administrator
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer Star Trek Gamers
Doing it once a day for five days is still a grind.
You can run a single ISE each day to cover your Omegas for both Reps. Thing is, you're running that same ISE every single day for near 30 days. That's a grind.
You go to log in - what do I need to do?
Run the race. DOFF Winterland. Head to Tau Dewa. Repeat missions for the daily. If an Alert pops, do you risk hitting it? Sure, why not - it's something different. Hey, you got it - cool. Okay, back to repeating missions in Tau Dewa. Hit up that ISE. Well, TRIBBLE - you don't have the 200k+ EC that you need to cover the cost for the rep projects. Are you KDF? Oh well, too bad. Are you Fed? Hit up SB24 and you'll likely get the 200k+ from there and what you did in Tau Dewa.
Well then, that was fun! Not.
Oh, you have more than one toon? Yeah, go do the same stuff with the next one. Another? Yep, do it again.
What's that? You don't want to wait to do the grind for gear until after you've completed the grind for the rep to get the passives? Well, you might as well hold off grinding any of the store stuff or the sets - cause you'll likely be at the next tier of it before you can complete it. Okay, so you just want the secondary Rom/Borg sets? Sure, knock yourself out - yep, that's right - near a weeks worth of Marks for each if you stuck to your one ISE a day.
So you'll do two a day! Waiting an hour between being able to do them. Well, that's some time to go farm Dil and EC to help pay for the various things you're doing, right?
Well, what about running CSE/KASE? Are you crazy? With all the people realizing that they can get 3-4x as many Marks from an Elite as a regular STF... going into them for the first time in their boats of random gear where they haven't even bothered running replays to try to gear up and having no clue whatsoever about what to do/what not to do in an ESTF that you can actually fail, losing out on the time you invested in it as well as having to eat the CD? Yeah, no thanks...have fun with that.
Hrmm, let's see - pre S7 you could Borg out in a night's play of pretty damn casual STFs. You might even find a Mk X or Mk XI piece from one of the other sets. Over a weekend, you could usually complete one or more of the Mk X/Mk XI sets - usually you'd be done in a week or two for that... then you could hit up the grind in ESTFs (course, you'd have a better idea of what to do in those STFs - have tweaked your build some from your experience in a team environment - and that rainbow/skittles boat with random consoles you picked up the first hour you played would be a distant memory...but S7 fixed that, am I right?)...
What do I do to avoid the grind for Omega Marks? I do as little as possible. I accept that I can no longer acquire gear in any semblance of a reasonable amount of time. I avoid ESTFs outside of ISE like the plague, because it's already not fun doing the grind without that additional nonsense (and I don't blame the players in the least, there was a system that worked - and - that's probably why they got rid of it). If I see a random Borg Alert during my travels that I haven't done that day, I'll do it. Why? Because at least it's something different - it's not part of the grind, repeating the same thing over and over and over until I get my grubby little hands on whatever shiny I'm after...
The game should be fun. It shouldn't be a job. We're not being paid to play, many are actually paying to play... could you imagine if you paid your boss each day for the work you did?
There's a vast difference between working hard for something, having a sense of accomplishment from having completed it... and... picking a pencil up from the left side of the desk and placing it on the right side of the desk, picking a pencil up from the left side of the desk and placing it on the right side of the desk, picking a pencil up from the left side of the desk and placing it on the right side of the desk, picking a pencil up from the left side of the desk and placing it on the right side of the desk, picking a pencil up from the left side of the desk and placing it on the right side of the desk, picking a pencil up from the left side of the desk and placing it on the right side of the desk, picking a pencil up from the left side of the desk and placing it on the right side of the desk, picking a pencil up from the left side of the desk and placing it on the right side of the desk, picking a pencil up from the left side of the desk and placing it on the right side of the desk, picking a pencil up from the left side of the desk and placing it on the right side of the desk, and that's what STO's become with S7...
Let me explain to you what acquiring good gear from the old system was like.
Say you want Mk XII ground gear in a reasonable amount of time. You play all three ground STFs, but thanks to those low odds loot bags, you get nothing. By the time you've finished all three, the first one or two are off cooldown, so you can do it again, and hope. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky on this second run of three. Oh, what's what? You didn't? Well, I guess you'd better do that again. Wow, you lucky dog, you got one piece in the third set! Surely you're well on your way!
Two months later and you still haven't gotten another set piece. You got a copy or two of the first one you got, though, and you've got two pieces of each Mk XI set. But no Mk XII. Two months. Hundreds of STF runs. And all you do all day to get those is run the same. Three. Missions.
Want the space set, too? Okay! Get out there and grind another three missions day after day for weeks or months at a time! You lucky son of a gun, you completed both Mk XI sets, but what's this? No Mk XII drops? Well don't that beat all.
Man, all that work, and you still haven't got what you wanted. And you've been at this for months! Yeah, that sounds like loads of fun!
Well let's go into another KASE and try again, just like we were doing this time two months ago. Gee, why are all these noobs in here? Surely it can't be because the Dil reward is much higher than for Normal STFs, could it? Plus the chance at awesome gear! And look, that noob with the Skittle 'scort linked the Mk XII piece you were missing, saying he just got it from his loot drop! Gee, isn't that swell? After doing none of the heavy lifting, the nooblet got the piece and you didn't! Man, that sounds like a blast!
Want to do something other than STFs? Sorry, you can't get good gear that way. You can't go to Defera or do Borg Red Alerts, no sir. Because God forbid you have options. No no no, you only want to play these same six fun missions over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and pray to Q you get the drop, because that right there is the definition of fun!
Tired of doing STFs? Too bad, that's all we've got at endgame. Maybe Starbase grinding if you're lucky, but who wants to grind? No, I love playing six missions on repeat! That's fun! Why would I ever do something different!? It's not like I need long term goals to earn, heavens no! Grinding Mk XII is enough for me.
Doing it once a day for five days is still a grind.
It's all relative, isn't it? Compared to before the rep system, this is great. Much less grind, new goodies. Also, all my previous, unused grind was converted to useful Omega Marks. I have 3 out of 5 toons that haven't had to do any STFs, yet; and probably won't have to. I'm happy.
__________________________________
STO Forum member since before February 2010. STO Academy's excellent skill planner here: Link I actually avoid success entirely. It doesn't get me what I want, and the consequences for failure are slim. -- markhawman
Yes.I have alts that I am working on eg my KDF Geer as well as my main Fed Tac. I am doing normals which I know gives lowers rep and I do The Cure and Kitimor not Infected.
First things first, Omega Marks are the easiest of the 3 Marks to get. Coming from someone like me that has 50+ alts - that is saying alot. However; you stated that you casually play, which means you will be getting Omega marks at a casual rate.
Second - The STFs you are doing are the longest ones - Infected is by far the fastest way to earn Omega Marks at a good pace. That is if you are doing the Space STFs.
I recommend switching to Elite and join the Elite channel - There are teams there that can romp Infected in under 15min - this is especially true if you can find a team that are composed of more than two Tactical professions in Escorts.
How do you get omega rep by doing Tau Dewa? I do agree with linyive as it would of been better for new player coming into the game.
Unless I'm mistaken - Tau Dewa is Rommie territory - So I think Romulan Marks are served in their sector. I might be wrong since I have yet to enter that region of space. In regards to new players, the new rep system mainly caters to them.
I'm old school and I'm use to grinding 100+ STFs to earn a Prototype drop.
250 Omega is just to much for to get on 2 or 3 charactors.
Pace yourself, there is no hurry, so try to focus on one alt at a time. This is especially true for casual players. There is no way around it.
Being casual means dropping in from time to time - You have to have a set goal mentality. What is your goal? And on what toon would you like to achieve in the Rep system?
Omega Marks are by far the easiest ones to achieve - I dread Fleet Marks and even Romulan marks, but I dread Fleet marks in particular. The Fleet Actions for them do not net enough on a consistant basis, and rubbing the Fleet trib only nets you 1 per hr.
The Ground Fleet actions are the more lucrative ones in regards to earning Fleet marks, but there are soo few ground actions for the FMarks.
Hey look.
It's another thread where people whine about the game, yet still continue to play it.
It would be nice if you have something more constructive to say. The OP has a legitimate topic at hand - especially when it comes to Fleet Marks. Sure Omega Marks are easy to come by than the other two marks, but the Fleet Marks themselves need serious overhauling - especially in the space portion of the Fleet Actions.
Omega Marks are by far the easiest ones to achieve - I dread Fleet Marks and even Romulan marks, but I dread Fleet marks in particular. The Fleet Actions for them do not net enough and a consistant basis, and rubbing the Fleet trib only nets you 1 per hr.
The Ground Fleet actions are the more lucrative ones in regards to earning Fleet marks, but there are soo few ground actions for the FMarks.
It would be nice if you have something more constructive to say. The OP has a legitimate topic at hand - especially when it comes to Fleet Marks. Sure Omega Marks are easy to come by than the other two marks, but the Fleet Marks themselves need serious overhauling - especially in the space portion of the Fleet Actions.
I agree SO much with all this right here. Ever since season 7 began, it has improved in some ways, like the Fleet Action Daily helps, but for the most part, it is a MAJOR pain to even try and get Fleet Marks in decent amounts.
I remain empathetic to the concerns of my community, but do me a favor and lay off the god damn name calling and petty remarks. It will get you nowhere.
I must admit, respect points to Trendy for laying down the law like that.
So if you have any complaints about anything whatsoever you should just quit then and there, be it school, work, family? What about life?
Well by that logic you should quit the forum today because you just complained about it, and also end yourself because you just complained about life, rookie troll is rookie...
The only way things ever get done is people not being content, passive and conflict shy.
Do you remember the time they wanted us to pay dil for doing reputation? Did it magically solve itself by people who passively play the game quietly?
Anyway about the grinding when doing christmas event on 4 characters and reputation on 3 it might feel extra over the top.
At the same time I am pretty sure that's what they wanted. That you had something to invest a lot of time in.
But I will have to repeat what everyone else says it doesn't help the casuals.
You know if at least the price of items were pure dilithium so people could buy their way there it would make sense to me.
They inflate your game time by time gating you and then earn money on you buying zen for dil.
That would make total sense to me. However you are still forced into elite stf, still forced to go get optionals on the ground and still forced to farm an industrial park full of marks.
So the whole we are protecting and helping the casuals argument is totally invalid. You only get borg marks on elite so we are back to square one.
I don't deny it's great they added new items even new animations but it could have been done a lot smarter and without killing the original stf in any number of ways.
Another thing is how do you help causuals without handing the game over to high rollers?
I don't see a scenario where hardcore people won't always benefit exponentially more.
So to me the whole idea in itself of helping casuals is impossible because everyone else will always be that step further.
If you lower the bar a little for them well you lower the bar a lot for everyone else.
I also don't get why people who pay money to play aren't allowed advance faster.
Let f2p'ers do the grinding and let cash people buy their way through it if they wish.
Why do cash people have to grind just as much as f2p'ers.
Where did the time-money concept go?
You aren't forced to do anything. Its a video game. Nobody puts a gun to your head and tells you to do the Omega rep. If you don't want to do STFs, don't do them.
Anyway about the grinding when doing christmas event on 4 characters and reputation on 3 it might feel extra over the top.
At the same time I am pretty sure that's what they wanted. That you had something to invest a lot of time in.
I can sympathize with you in regards to the Christmas event, I'm running it on 46 toons now, actually it isn't bad now - though I must admit I stop playing after I am done. Takes me about 3hrs to cycle through.
Unfortunately; I am missing out on purchasing holiday trinkets, the fun racing, the snow gun & the Hunt for Snowman MobyDick. :P
I also temporarily abandon all Fleet projects and personal Rep projects - until the event is over.
I currently have 600 pics on many toons and about 560 pics on the rest. So I am almost done. I refuse to buy appreciation packages at the Lobi store - 2 to 6 pics per box is highway robbery in my opinion. Thats the price of a key.
Granted that you mostly get 4 to 5 Lobi per key use - You add the numbers, it is criminal to earn just 2 to 6 pic. Well enough of my rambling. :P
But I will have to repeat what everyone else says it doesn't help the casuals.
You know if at least the price of items were pure dilithium so people could buy their way there it would make sense to me.
They inflate your game time by time gating you and then earn money on you buying zen for dil.
That would make total sense to me. However you are still forced into elite stf, still forced to go get optionals on the ground and still forced to farm an industrial park full of marks.
So the whole we are protecting and helping the casuals argument is totally invalid. You only get borg marks on elite so we are back to square one.
When I read your post I had to step back for a moment - I seem to remember that the DEVS originally wanted STO to cater to the casual gamer that will come and go, take a break here and there etc... The game is built around the casuals, afterall thats why it is F2P - However; the game mechanics is anything but casual - it is designed for heavy grinding but at your pace. This is not about protecting casuals, but about trying to balance the game to accomodate both style of gameplay.
It is a pace yourself type of game now, yet it also caters to hardcore farmers etc...
I don't deny it's great they added new items even new animations but it could have been done a lot smarter and without killing the original stf in any number of ways.
I agree with you, I am not a fan of the Rep system and I am one of those old school EliteSTF'ers - There could have been a better way of changing things without completely destroying the old system.
Another thing is how do you help casuals without handing the game over to high rollers?
I don't see a scenario where hardcore people won't always benefit exponentially more.
So to me the whole idea in itself of helping casuals is impossible because everyone else will always be that step further.
If you lower the bar a little for them well you lower the bar a lot for everyone else.
There will always be player at a advantage than others, in gaming there is no such thing as fair - one will always benefit while the others will suffer - This is especially true in MMO's. Devs can try to balance as much as possible, but new loopholes will be exploited, new means to get a one upper will be sought, this is true with many MMO's.
I also don't get why people who pay money to play aren't allowed advance faster.
Let f2p'ers do the grinding and let cash people buy their way through it if they wish.
Why do cash people have to grind just as much as f2p'ers.
Where did the time-money concept go?
You have a very valid point and one that I must say I have to agree with. At the moment the only difference between subscribers/lifers & F2Pers is how much closet space you can have and how much funds you can carry - with one or two other minor differences.
Basically there really is no benefit in becoming a solid monthly subscriber, since you can sub for the day, open the options, cancel and still reap its rewards.
I know folks will hate me for saying this, but if you cancel a sub, many things that you benefit from as a sub, should be immediately removed or modified with restrictions. Just a vain thought.
Truth be told, the whole sub thing needs serious revamping as well. Make it a worth while pursuit.
Reduce sub cost to about 10 dollars - slightly increase monthly zen stipend to encourage more buying power and revamp rep and starbase system for subscribers - especially fleet leaders that are subscribers or lifers. Just a thought.
It would be nice if you have something more constructive to say. The OP has a legitimate topic at hand - especially when it comes to Fleet Marks. Sure Omega Marks are easy to come by than the other two marks, but the Fleet Marks themselves need serious overhauling - especially in the space portion of the Fleet Actions.
I'm not bashing the OP.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
500 years in the future and we still look like schmucks when getting our ID photos taken...
You have a very valid point and one that I must say I have to agree with. At the moment the only difference between subscribers/lifers & F2Pers is how much closet space you can have and how much funds you can carry - with one or two other minor differences.
I also don't get why people who pay money to play aren't allowed advance faster. Let f2p'ers do the grinding and let cash people buy their way through it if they wish. Why do cash people have to grind just as much as f2p'ers? Where did the time-money concept go?
Both of you made slightly flawed assumptions.
Even though I am a 'Free to Play' player, I have also injected over $200 into zen. If that does not qualify me as a paying customer, I must have been wasting my time.
Not all 'Free to Play' players are ridding for free.
Actually it is not an assumption but a known fact that it really isn't worth it to subscribe. People who pay on a monthly basis compared to the F2P crowd are getting royally screwed over. So basically what I am saying is that it really is not worth it to subscribe.
Want access to the majority of sub perks, sub for a month to unlock the stuff, and then cancel your sub.
Even though I am a 'Free to Play' player, I have also injected over $200 into zen. If that does not qualify me as a paying customer, I must have been wasting my time.
It seems you are confused in regards to what vestereng and I were discussing. We are making reference to Subscribers perks and what they should get compared to F2P crowd. We are not bashing the F2P people, but merely making a clear statement that subscribers pay monthly, which they end up paying more over the span of a year.
Spending 200 dollars or 1,000 dollars on CStore purchases via Zen is not the same thing. Everyone has the fair right to spend on Zen - My question is - Is it worth subscribing? And yes I am a big advocate in regards to subscribers getting extra perks and faster rep leveling over a F2P.
F2P tend to be less committed than a subscriber, granted this is not always the case, but the general consensus is that they tend to be more casual - at least in theory.
Not all 'Free to Play' players are ridding for free.
Please stop the stereotyping and discrimination.
There is no stereotyping nor discrimination towards F2Pers - They are simply just that, Free to players, they can spend as little or as much as any other player. However; traditionally MMO's give extra perks to their subscriber base, for obvious reasons.
STO gives some perks, but they are far to few to make a sub worthwhile.
There is no stereotyping nor discrimination towards F2Pers - They are simply just that, Free to players, they can spend as little or as much as any other player. However; traditionally MMO's give extra perks to their subscriber base, for obvious reasons.
STO gives some perks, but they are far to few to make a sub worthwhile.
Ever since I saw that benefits for being a subscriber, I believe the only reason why gold members exist is due to lifetime subscriptions. If STO never had lifetime subscriptions, then everyone would be F2P. After all, why have such a lousy subscriber benefit program if PWE doesn't want most of the players to convert to F2P?
I still don't understand where all these "too much grind"-Threads come from...
I log on every day and do things I like. Sometimes it's PvP or Omega/STFs or Romulan Missions or fleet mark events or Foundry missions. All of these depends on my mood... Am I looking for some space battle or ground battle or story? It changes from day to day
I am T2 in Romulan and Omega Reputation and I am fine with it. I don't feel any need to hurry. To be honest: right now there's so much to do ingame that sometimes I don't know what to do (yeah, I know... it sounds strange ^^)
Ok.It looks like I am going to have to take my time with this and just work as I was on my commedations.I ma just use getting things done faster in other MMOs and btw I have contributed a large sum of $$ for zen not just this game but PWI as well.
It is avutally the cure and infected and khitomer as my fav. ground stf.
I will just use regualr equipment on normal stfs on my alts ground and space.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Age StarTrek-Gamers Administrator
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer Star Trek Gamers
I don't see where the big grind is for Omega marks, I was one of those unlucky few who ran over 1000 Elite STF's (not including space) and only had 1 proto tech to show for it. This new reputation system is far and away better, sure there are ways it could've been done better, but this will do just fine.
It's completely possible to do 1 Elite STF per day, (even only 1 ESTF per couple days will do) especially during the reputation bonus hour, and have marks to get you through Tiers 1-3 (with a decent team, ISE can be done in 15 min). Throw in an additional ESTF per couple of days to get you through 4-5 and that's it. You'll want to join the elitestf chat channel after you learn the proper strategies for the STF's you are going to play.
If you can only log on during the weekends, just do 7 ESTF's over the course of the weekend and your set for the week. Considering starting your reputation projects and collecting the rewards only take about 5 min, this shouldn't be difficult to do even if you work full time (unless you are traveling or something).
I do agree that we need more ways to get Fleet marks and Romulan marks.
One thing to remember is, you can play this game and have a good time without ever touching the reputation system If you don't want to. Play Foundry missions (good source of Fleet marks and dilithium btw), RP, whatever makes you happy.
This is not a grind, at least not one worth complaining about like the "Luck" based tech drop system we used to have.
I don't see where the big grind is for Omega marks, I was one of those unlucky few who ran over 1000 Elite STF's (not including space) and only had 1 proto tech to show for it. This new reputation system is far and away better, sure there are ways it could've been done better, but this will do just fine.
It's completely possible to do 1 Elite STF per day, (even only 1 ESTF per couple days will do) especially during the reputation bonus hour, and have marks to get you through Tiers 1-3 (with a decent team, ISE can be done in 15 min).
A big part of it is personal perception, which is heavily influenced by each person's past history.
Just to pick two examples for comparison (though each person will be different) -
> You, as you said, have previously run over 1000 ESTFs during the "random drop" era. So 1. ESTFs are a trivial thing to you, something you know like the back of your hand, and 2. the current system is easy to you, since you're used to just tossing back ESTFs like popcorn and are swimming in Omega marks. (and, conversely, you see Rom marks as coming slowly, because you're used to the torrent of marks from ESTFs)
>Me. New player, just this past month. First reputation thing I did in the game was New Rom. To me, Rom marks seem really easy - run around, solo, doing random makework (much of it not even combat) and get bunches of marks. Having experienced this, I went to Defera expecting something similar.... only to find longer ground quests, requiring more effort & combat, for less marks. Haven't tried an STF, let alone an ESTF yet, for a variety of reasons. So, in my perception, Rom marks flow like water, and Omegas are a tedious grind.
Not saying my perception is correct, just saying that differing experiences can give people very different views of the same system. And each other person will have their own
Not saying my perception is correct, just saying that differing experiences can give people very different views of the same system. And each other person will have their own
I have to agree with this, everyone looks at this game from a different angle.
There is a strong carrot and stick mentality to the reputation system among a lot of the hard core STF crowd that I know. There is a definite arms race going on with people rushing to complete all the tiers and understandably gain all the shiny new toys that come with it.
For me personally I'm in no rush. I prefer the new rep system, although it still has it's pitfalls, to the old purely because it is a measured means of tracking your progress rather than just a frustrating 500 runs hit and hope approach.
I can log in, run a few stfs or just kick start one of the rep projects and never have to worry about doing Infected Ground Elite ever again. Although I do miss that great "golden ticket" moment when you ran to Roxy after getting a proto drop.
Personally speaking it opens up a degree of choice as to which missions I want to play now rather than need to play.
Only downside of this is the decline in ground games but to be honest I know I'll hit T5 sooner or later so why rush?
The Omega marks ain't a real problem really.
If you do Elite stfs you will atleast get 60 marks on each, so doing them all will at a minimum
give you 240 marks.
That is on one run each.
And you can do it over and over after the cooldowns.
So infact, you can aquire the equipment alot faster now than before S7.
Getting Romulan marks and dilithium is however a bit more difficult.
And then capping on how much Dilithium you can refine everyday stops progress.
They should atleast raise the cap to 15000 since most of the space equipment costs that much.
A big part of it is personal perception, which is heavily influenced by each person's past history.
Just to pick two examples for comparison (though each person will be different) -
> You, as you said, have previously run over 1000 ESTFs during the "random drop" era. So 1. ESTFs are a trivial thing to you, something you know like the back of your hand, and 2. the current system is easy to you, since you're used to just tossing back ESTFs like popcorn and are swimming in Omega marks. (and, conversely, you see Rom marks as coming slowly, because you're used to the torrent of marks from ESTFs)
>Me. New player, just this past month. First reputation thing I did in the game was New Rom. To me, Rom marks seem really easy - run around, solo, doing random makework (much of it not even combat) and get bunches of marks. Having experienced this, I went to Defera expecting something similar.... only to find longer ground quests, requiring more effort & combat, for less marks. Haven't tried an STF, let alone an ESTF yet, for a variety of reasons. So, in my perception, Rom marks flow like water, and Omegas are a tedious grind.
Not saying my perception is correct, just saying that differing experiences can give people very different views of the same system. And each other person will have their own
This pserson some what know what I ma talking about.There is you and me as I have always played casual games and for those who paid subs were grinding away on this game as it was Pay to Play a lot like World of ******** which makes you grind because you want elite geer and you are paying for it so you play for hrs and hrs.
I have never paid to play a game even this one as I ma a closed beta tester going back to Jan 09.I wasn't got to p2p when I have other game going on which I am still playing.These games aren't pay to play which is what most of you are use to.These game even PWI do not have any grind to them.
I got back into it once it went free.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Age StarTrek-Gamers Administrator
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer Star Trek Gamers
I'm an old school STO player so my mindset is based upon a Lifer/sub gamestyle, with less grind and desire for more story content.
I admit that I desire more story content over any other type system. I do despise a Grinding base mentality and admit that I am a huge fan of F2P Games like Guild Wars & LOTRO.
With the exception of buying the game, GW is F2P with minimum grind - with the Grind being of course optional. The Grind is relegated to Ectos, obsidian shards, and holiday candy etc... Yet GW has one of the best story base content. I know it is not entierly perfect, it does deliver in content.
STO content is almost if not always tied with a grind tag with a Dilithium price tag. Yes, I agree they are two distinct & totally different animals, but I feel that Cryptic could use a few pointers from games like GW & LOTRO.
Omega marks are easy to obtain, but I am viewing it from the eyes of an STO vet. New players may not see this rep system the way I do.
Is it easier to obtain Mk XII through the Rep system? Yes
Is it easier to obtain Omega Marks via STFs? Yes
Is it better than the old system? In my opinion, "NO"
Why? The old system, though longer, everything was free & you earned a considerable amount of Dilithium during the farming process at a rapid pace.
Well, for me omega rep is no problem. I like running STF's. Doing all 4 with optional objective gives me more than enough omega marks. I'm sitting on thousends of them.
The Romulan marks on the other hand are way less fun to get. As Klingon I don't breed fluffy space bunnies. The bloody Tholian red alert still doesn't work, so it is the system patrol for me. 50-75 marks. Often not enough, so I am lacking behind. Not to mention 500 marks for one item is in this situation not that easy to come by.
I think the gameplay surrounding the acquisition of Omega Marks are better designed and somewhat player friendly. You obtain both a good amount of Omega Marks and Dilithium, at a good pace.
It is this pace that makes obtaining Omega Marks more fun and entertaining.
This is not true for both the Fleet Marks and the Romulan Marks. Though they are not considered STFs but more like Fleet events, I feel this is the problem with those events.
I feel that the Fleet Marks events, along with the Romulan Marks events be branded as STFs, and that Cryptic make events similar to the Omega ones.
I mean the Ground portion of these events are very weak and lack a good amount of marks - Fleet marks are spread out throughout other events like the Foundry for an example.
I mean running foundry missions that are about an hr long with a 30min cool down is not a feasible way to obtain them. Though the change is a welcoming site, yet they could do more to obtain Fleet Marks. Afterall; All starbase projects heavily rely on them.
I like doing the STF's before S7 but now the STF's just seem to be a pointless grind and a waste of time Also Ground STF's have died a death as most people prefer to do the space ones so now I tend to do STF's (Sometimes only infected) if I'm waiting for something else or only a few minutes in game. I thinking of waiting till Season 8 and then if there is no decent story content and less of the mindless grind then I will seek pastures new and use the uninstall button
NO TO ARC
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
I think the gameplay surrounding the acquisition of Omega Marks are better designed and somewhat player friendly. You obtain both a good amount of Omega Marks and Dilithium, at a good pace.
It is this pace that makes obtaining Omega Marks more fun and entertaining.
This is not true for both the Fleet Marks and the Romulan Marks. Though they are not considered STFs but more like Fleet events, I feel this is the problem with those events.
See, I find the acquisition of Rom marks to be more player friendly than Omega. Because there are all sorts of options to earn decent amounts of Rom marks solo (yes, yes "it's an MMO". :P I'm one of those silly MMO players who doesn't have any RL friends in-game, and tends to play them entirely solo. I'm terrible at socializing with strangers, so the idea of pugging - and being abused for not being a l33t d00d - just doesn't appeal). Whereas if you want to get anywhere with Omega, it's all about those daunting-seeming STFs.
But, yes - I can see that if you're someone who's completely used to/comfortable with the ESTFs, the contrast between "I can slam out a few trivially easy/quick combats with my regular group of similarly-skilled fleet buddies and have hundreds of marks" and "I have to run around doing all sorts of filler quests for 10-20 marks each" would feel less "friendly".
(Which is why my normal response to "Give New Rom some STFs!" is "sure - as long as you also put more New Rom style rewards on Defera. )
Comments
I don't know about you, but I have to deal with real life.
50,000 xp (t3) takes a hardcore player 18-20 days to complete.
(Player has to sign in for 18 to 20 days straight.)
Casual players sign in a few times a week for a few hours, so the system feels like an impossible hill to climb. "Star Trek: Online's" reputation system, fleet bases, and embassies are not meant for casual players, for they require people to log into the system 24/7 to make any progress. Do you want that fleet weapon or armor? See you in six to seven months.
But eventually I got so sick of tired of of the slow reload on the ground I figured might aswell get a MK X set just for that.
I just looked at the dil price per piece and went that's not too crazy however I got caught napping because I of course forgot to check the numbers of marks you need which is 750.
I might eventually play those 10 additional stf's on him someday but I just don't have it in me right now.
It's the reaction I predicted of myself with the reputation system.
I will get some items sure but I will do as little as possible and ignore items if it gets me off grinding.
More and more it's become a question of what I can live without.
Pre season 7 I'd still be playing stf after getting everything, now it's like well can I live without playing ground again in exchange for not grinding.
Instead of gameplay being on-going for me it is now finitive and I am cutting corners all I can.
To me that was the ultimate mistake of the reputation system, instead of playing stf for stf, you play them for external rewards - once you have those or stop caring about them then what.
Not sure what the devs will do for the next STFs. Will all future STFs be part of Task Force Omega so we just have to grind Omega Marks for the new sets that are introduced or will each set of STFs have its own Reputation system? After all Terradrome is being redone and will most likely have other Undine STFs to go with it so there could be an Undine Reputation. The Iconians needs to be dealt with eventually so that could be another reputation. There could be another STF series dealing with Amar Singh which supposedly starts off with the Children of Khan STF so that could be another STF. So it is possible that we will eventually have at least 4 Reputations that mostly deal with STFs. Makes more sense IMO to have one STF Reputation and all the new STFs add things to the Omega Store and Omega Reputation system. Could have Anti-Undine Combat Consumables where one is a hypo that protects against psionics instead of plasma and Anti-Undine Ground Weaponry with brand new STF space and ground sets that are better against the Undine than the Borg.
Instant gratification.
Welcome to the material world.
Since I will be going back to work full-time in January, the only time I will have to log into "STO" is on the weekends. So, that is 5.600 xp for two days, and 44,400 xp needed to reach the end. 8.928571428571429 weeks (two and a half months) to complete the last tier without buying anything. Keep in mind that I am going to take a few days off, so I can also enjoy certain things in real life. Instead of finishing the remaining tier in two and a half months, I am most likely going to complete it in three and a half to four months.
Why would I want to work through a system, which will take longer than a few days to be rewarded?
After I began playing a single-player offline game, (started an rpg two days ago), I have been able to get armor, shields, and weapons upgrades every half hour. Why do I have to wait four months to make progress?
Not worth the effort.
Once Cryptic realizes the flaws in "Star Trek: Online", they will be able to make casual players happier.
How do you get omega rep by doing Tau Dewa?I do agree with linyive as it would of been better for new players coming into the game.
250 Omega is just to much for to get on 2 or 3 charactors.
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer
Star Trek Gamers
Let me explain to you what acquiring good gear from the old system was like.
Say you want Mk XII ground gear in a reasonable amount of time. You play all three ground STFs, but thanks to those low odds loot bags, you get nothing. By the time you've finished all three, the first one or two are off cooldown, so you can do it again, and hope. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky on this second run of three. Oh, what's what? You didn't? Well, I guess you'd better do that again. Wow, you lucky dog, you got one piece in the third set! Surely you're well on your way!
Two months later and you still haven't gotten another set piece. You got a copy or two of the first one you got, though, and you've got two pieces of each Mk XI set. But no Mk XII. Two months. Hundreds of STF runs. And all you do all day to get those is run the same. Three. Missions.
Want the space set, too? Okay! Get out there and grind another three missions day after day for weeks or months at a time! You lucky son of a gun, you completed both Mk XI sets, but what's this? No Mk XII drops? Well don't that beat all.
Man, all that work, and you still haven't got what you wanted. And you've been at this for months! Yeah, that sounds like loads of fun!
Well let's go into another KASE and try again, just like we were doing this time two months ago. Gee, why are all these noobs in here? Surely it can't be because the Dil reward is much higher than for Normal STFs, could it? Plus the chance at awesome gear! And look, that noob with the Skittle 'scort linked the Mk XII piece you were missing, saying he just got it from his loot drop! Gee, isn't that swell? After doing none of the heavy lifting, the nooblet got the piece and you didn't! Man, that sounds like a blast!
Want to do something other than STFs? Sorry, you can't get good gear that way. You can't go to Defera or do Borg Red Alerts, no sir. Because God forbid you have options. No no no, you only want to play these same six fun missions over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and pray to Q you get the drop, because that right there is the definition of fun!
Tired of doing STFs? Too bad, that's all we've got at endgame. Maybe Starbase grinding if you're lucky, but who wants to grind? No, I love playing six missions on repeat! That's fun! Why would I ever do something different!? It's not like I need long term goals to earn, heavens no! Grinding Mk XII is enough for me.
I Support Disco | Disco is Love | Disco is Life
It's another thread where people whine about the game, yet still continue to play it.
500 years in the future and we still look like schmucks when getting our ID photos taken...
It's all relative, isn't it? Compared to before the rep system, this is great. Much less grind, new goodies. Also, all my previous, unused grind was converted to useful Omega Marks. I have 3 out of 5 toons that haven't had to do any STFs, yet; and probably won't have to. I'm happy.
STO Forum member since before February 2010.
STO Academy's excellent skill planner here: Link
I actually avoid success entirely. It doesn't get me what I want, and the consequences for failure are slim. -- markhawman
First things first, Omega Marks are the easiest of the 3 Marks to get. Coming from someone like me that has 50+ alts - that is saying alot. However; you stated that you casually play, which means you will be getting Omega marks at a casual rate.
Second - The STFs you are doing are the longest ones - Infected is by far the fastest way to earn Omega Marks at a good pace. That is if you are doing the Space STFs.
I recommend switching to Elite and join the Elite channel - There are teams there that can romp Infected in under 15min - this is especially true if you can find a team that are composed of more than two Tactical professions in Escorts.
Unless I'm mistaken - Tau Dewa is Rommie territory - So I think Romulan Marks are served in their sector. I might be wrong since I have yet to enter that region of space. In regards to new players, the new rep system mainly caters to them.
I'm old school and I'm use to grinding 100+ STFs to earn a Prototype drop.
Pace yourself, there is no hurry, so try to focus on one alt at a time. This is especially true for casual players. There is no way around it.
Being casual means dropping in from time to time - You have to have a set goal mentality. What is your goal? And on what toon would you like to achieve in the Rep system?
Omega Marks are by far the easiest ones to achieve - I dread Fleet Marks and even Romulan marks, but I dread Fleet marks in particular. The Fleet Actions for them do not net enough on a consistant basis, and rubbing the Fleet trib only nets you 1 per hr.
The Ground Fleet actions are the more lucrative ones in regards to earning Fleet marks, but there are soo few ground actions for the FMarks.
It would be nice if you have something more constructive to say. The OP has a legitimate topic at hand - especially when it comes to Fleet Marks. Sure Omega Marks are easy to come by than the other two marks, but the Fleet Marks themselves need serious overhauling - especially in the space portion of the Fleet Actions.
I agree SO much with all this right here. Ever since season 7 began, it has improved in some ways, like the Fleet Action Daily helps, but for the most part, it is a MAJOR pain to even try and get Fleet Marks in decent amounts.
Well by that logic you should quit the forum today because you just complained about it, and also end yourself because you just complained about life, rookie troll is rookie...
The only way things ever get done is people not being content, passive and conflict shy.
Do you remember the time they wanted us to pay dil for doing reputation? Did it magically solve itself by people who passively play the game quietly?
Anyway about the grinding when doing christmas event on 4 characters and reputation on 3 it might feel extra over the top.
At the same time I am pretty sure that's what they wanted. That you had something to invest a lot of time in.
But I will have to repeat what everyone else says it doesn't help the casuals.
You know if at least the price of items were pure dilithium so people could buy their way there it would make sense to me.
They inflate your game time by time gating you and then earn money on you buying zen for dil.
That would make total sense to me. However you are still forced into elite stf, still forced to go get optionals on the ground and still forced to farm an industrial park full of marks.
So the whole we are protecting and helping the casuals argument is totally invalid. You only get borg marks on elite so we are back to square one.
I don't deny it's great they added new items even new animations but it could have been done a lot smarter and without killing the original stf in any number of ways.
Another thing is how do you help causuals without handing the game over to high rollers?
I don't see a scenario where hardcore people won't always benefit exponentially more.
So to me the whole idea in itself of helping casuals is impossible because everyone else will always be that step further.
If you lower the bar a little for them well you lower the bar a lot for everyone else.
I also don't get why people who pay money to play aren't allowed advance faster.
Let f2p'ers do the grinding and let cash people buy their way through it if they wish.
Why do cash people have to grind just as much as f2p'ers.
Where did the time-money concept go?
I can sympathize with you in regards to the Christmas event, I'm running it on 46 toons now, actually it isn't bad now - though I must admit I stop playing after I am done. Takes me about 3hrs to cycle through.
Unfortunately; I am missing out on purchasing holiday trinkets, the fun racing, the snow gun & the Hunt for Snowman MobyDick. :P
I also temporarily abandon all Fleet projects and personal Rep projects - until the event is over.
I currently have 600 pics on many toons and about 560 pics on the rest. So I am almost done. I refuse to buy appreciation packages at the Lobi store - 2 to 6 pics per box is highway robbery in my opinion. Thats the price of a key.
Granted that you mostly get 4 to 5 Lobi per key use - You add the numbers, it is criminal to earn just 2 to 6 pic. Well enough of my rambling. :P
When I read your post I had to step back for a moment - I seem to remember that the DEVS originally wanted STO to cater to the casual gamer that will come and go, take a break here and there etc... The game is built around the casuals, afterall thats why it is F2P - However; the game mechanics is anything but casual - it is designed for heavy grinding but at your pace. This is not about protecting casuals, but about trying to balance the game to accomodate both style of gameplay.
It is a pace yourself type of game now, yet it also caters to hardcore farmers etc...
I agree with you, I am not a fan of the Rep system and I am one of those old school EliteSTF'ers - There could have been a better way of changing things without completely destroying the old system.
There will always be player at a advantage than others, in gaming there is no such thing as fair - one will always benefit while the others will suffer - This is especially true in MMO's. Devs can try to balance as much as possible, but new loopholes will be exploited, new means to get a one upper will be sought, this is true with many MMO's.
You have a very valid point and one that I must say I have to agree with. At the moment the only difference between subscribers/lifers & F2Pers is how much closet space you can have and how much funds you can carry - with one or two other minor differences.
Basically there really is no benefit in becoming a solid monthly subscriber, since you can sub for the day, open the options, cancel and still reap its rewards.
I know folks will hate me for saying this, but if you cancel a sub, many things that you benefit from as a sub, should be immediately removed or modified with restrictions. Just a vain thought.
Truth be told, the whole sub thing needs serious revamping as well. Make it a worth while pursuit.
Reduce sub cost to about 10 dollars - slightly increase monthly zen stipend to encourage more buying power and revamp rep and starbase system for subscribers - especially fleet leaders that are subscribers or lifers. Just a thought.
500 years in the future and we still look like schmucks when getting our ID photos taken...
Even though I am a 'Free to Play' player, I have also injected over $200 into zen. If that does not qualify me as a paying customer, I must have been wasting my time.
Not all 'Free to Play' players are ridding for free.
Please stop the stereotyping and discrimination.
Actually it is not an assumption but a known fact that it really isn't worth it to subscribe. People who pay on a monthly basis compared to the F2P crowd are getting royally screwed over. So basically what I am saying is that it really is not worth it to subscribe.
Want access to the majority of sub perks, sub for a month to unlock the stuff, and then cancel your sub.
It seems you are confused in regards to what vestereng and I were discussing. We are making reference to Subscribers perks and what they should get compared to F2P crowd. We are not bashing the F2P people, but merely making a clear statement that subscribers pay monthly, which they end up paying more over the span of a year.
Spending 200 dollars or 1,000 dollars on CStore purchases via Zen is not the same thing. Everyone has the fair right to spend on Zen - My question is - Is it worth subscribing? And yes I am a big advocate in regards to subscribers getting extra perks and faster rep leveling over a F2P.
F2P tend to be less committed than a subscriber, granted this is not always the case, but the general consensus is that they tend to be more casual - at least in theory.
There is no stereotyping nor discrimination towards F2Pers - They are simply just that, Free to players, they can spend as little or as much as any other player. However; traditionally MMO's give extra perks to their subscriber base, for obvious reasons.
STO gives some perks, but they are far to few to make a sub worthwhile.
Ever since I saw that benefits for being a subscriber, I believe the only reason why gold members exist is due to lifetime subscriptions. If STO never had lifetime subscriptions, then everyone would be F2P. After all, why have such a lousy subscriber benefit program if PWE doesn't want most of the players to convert to F2P?
I log on every day and do things I like. Sometimes it's PvP or Omega/STFs or Romulan Missions or fleet mark events or Foundry missions. All of these depends on my mood... Am I looking for some space battle or ground battle or story? It changes from day to day
I am T2 in Romulan and Omega Reputation and I am fine with it. I don't feel any need to hurry. To be honest: right now there's so much to do ingame that sometimes I don't know what to do (yeah, I know... it sounds strange ^^)
It is avutally the cure and infected and khitomer as my fav. ground stf.
I will just use regualr equipment on normal stfs on my alts ground and space.
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer
Star Trek Gamers
It's completely possible to do 1 Elite STF per day, (even only 1 ESTF per couple days will do) especially during the reputation bonus hour, and have marks to get you through Tiers 1-3 (with a decent team, ISE can be done in 15 min). Throw in an additional ESTF per couple of days to get you through 4-5 and that's it. You'll want to join the elitestf chat channel after you learn the proper strategies for the STF's you are going to play.
If you can only log on during the weekends, just do 7 ESTF's over the course of the weekend and your set for the week. Considering starting your reputation projects and collecting the rewards only take about 5 min, this shouldn't be difficult to do even if you work full time (unless you are traveling or something).
I do agree that we need more ways to get Fleet marks and Romulan marks.
One thing to remember is, you can play this game and have a good time without ever touching the reputation system If you don't want to. Play Foundry missions (good source of Fleet marks and dilithium btw), RP, whatever makes you happy.
This is not a grind, at least not one worth complaining about like the "Luck" based tech drop system we used to have.
A big part of it is personal perception, which is heavily influenced by each person's past history.
Just to pick two examples for comparison (though each person will be different) -
> You, as you said, have previously run over 1000 ESTFs during the "random drop" era. So 1. ESTFs are a trivial thing to you, something you know like the back of your hand, and 2. the current system is easy to you, since you're used to just tossing back ESTFs like popcorn and are swimming in Omega marks. (and, conversely, you see Rom marks as coming slowly, because you're used to the torrent of marks from ESTFs)
>Me. New player, just this past month. First reputation thing I did in the game was New Rom. To me, Rom marks seem really easy - run around, solo, doing random makework (much of it not even combat) and get bunches of marks. Having experienced this, I went to Defera expecting something similar.... only to find longer ground quests, requiring more effort & combat, for less marks. Haven't tried an STF, let alone an ESTF yet, for a variety of reasons. So, in my perception, Rom marks flow like water, and Omegas are a tedious grind.
Not saying my perception is correct, just saying that differing experiences can give people very different views of the same system. And each other person will have their own
I have to agree with this, everyone looks at this game from a different angle.
There is a strong carrot and stick mentality to the reputation system among a lot of the hard core STF crowd that I know. There is a definite arms race going on with people rushing to complete all the tiers and understandably gain all the shiny new toys that come with it.
For me personally I'm in no rush. I prefer the new rep system, although it still has it's pitfalls, to the old purely because it is a measured means of tracking your progress rather than just a frustrating 500 runs hit and hope approach.
I can log in, run a few stfs or just kick start one of the rep projects and never have to worry about doing Infected Ground Elite ever again. Although I do miss that great "golden ticket" moment when you ran to Roxy after getting a proto drop.
Personally speaking it opens up a degree of choice as to which missions I want to play now rather than need to play.
Only downside of this is the decline in ground games but to be honest I know I'll hit T5 sooner or later so why rush?
If you do Elite stfs you will atleast get 60 marks on each, so doing them all will at a minimum
give you 240 marks.
That is on one run each.
And you can do it over and over after the cooldowns.
So infact, you can aquire the equipment alot faster now than before S7.
Getting Romulan marks and dilithium is however a bit more difficult.
And then capping on how much Dilithium you can refine everyday stops progress.
They should atleast raise the cap to 15000 since most of the space equipment costs that much.
I have never paid to play a game even this one as I ma a closed beta tester going back to Jan 09.I wasn't got to p2p when I have other game going on which I am still playing.These games aren't pay to play which is what most of you are use to.These game even PWI do not have any grind to them.
I got back into it once it went free.
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer
Star Trek Gamers
I'm an old school STO player so my mindset is based upon a Lifer/sub gamestyle, with less grind and desire for more story content.
I admit that I desire more story content over any other type system. I do despise a Grinding base mentality and admit that I am a huge fan of F2P Games like Guild Wars & LOTRO.
With the exception of buying the game, GW is F2P with minimum grind - with the Grind being of course optional. The Grind is relegated to Ectos, obsidian shards, and holiday candy etc... Yet GW has one of the best story base content. I know it is not entierly perfect, it does deliver in content.
STO content is almost if not always tied with a grind tag with a Dilithium price tag. Yes, I agree they are two distinct & totally different animals, but I feel that Cryptic could use a few pointers from games like GW & LOTRO.
Omega marks are easy to obtain, but I am viewing it from the eyes of an STO vet. New players may not see this rep system the way I do.
Is it easier to obtain Mk XII through the Rep system? Yes
Is it easier to obtain Omega Marks via STFs? Yes
Is it better than the old system? In my opinion, "NO"
Why? The old system, though longer, everything was free & you earned a considerable amount of Dilithium during the farming process at a rapid pace.
The Romulan marks on the other hand are way less fun to get. As Klingon I don't breed fluffy space bunnies. The bloody Tholian red alert still doesn't work, so it is the system patrol for me. 50-75 marks. Often not enough, so I am lacking behind. Not to mention 500 marks for one item is in this situation not that easy to come by.
It is this pace that makes obtaining Omega Marks more fun and entertaining.
This is not true for both the Fleet Marks and the Romulan Marks. Though they are not considered STFs but more like Fleet events, I feel this is the problem with those events.
I feel that the Fleet Marks events, along with the Romulan Marks events be branded as STFs, and that Cryptic make events similar to the Omega ones.
I mean the Ground portion of these events are very weak and lack a good amount of marks - Fleet marks are spread out throughout other events like the Foundry for an example.
I mean running foundry missions that are about an hr long with a 30min cool down is not a feasible way to obtain them. Though the change is a welcoming site, yet they could do more to obtain Fleet Marks. Afterall; All starbase projects heavily rely on them.
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
I would love the option of trading Fleet Credits for any type of marks you need.
So if I have too many fleet credits, why not give the player the option to trade some for marks of your choice, especially Fleet Marks.
See, I find the acquisition of Rom marks to be more player friendly than Omega. Because there are all sorts of options to earn decent amounts of Rom marks solo (yes, yes "it's an MMO". :P I'm one of those silly MMO players who doesn't have any RL friends in-game, and tends to play them entirely solo. I'm terrible at socializing with strangers, so the idea of pugging - and being abused for not being a l33t d00d - just doesn't appeal). Whereas if you want to get anywhere with Omega, it's all about those daunting-seeming STFs.
But, yes - I can see that if you're someone who's completely used to/comfortable with the ESTFs, the contrast between "I can slam out a few trivially easy/quick combats with my regular group of similarly-skilled fleet buddies and have hundreds of marks" and "I have to run around doing all sorts of filler quests for 10-20 marks each" would feel less "friendly".
(Which is why my normal response to "Give New Rom some STFs!" is "sure - as long as you also put more New Rom style rewards on Defera.