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Reputation System - my Feedback
zerobang
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
I don't know why but i feel the need to share my feelings about the Reputation System.
things i like:
- it gives me SOMETHING to do... while i wait for the next big thing
- i very much like that it gives your character new abilities and i think that is the only reason i actually am playing it, no matter what items the Rep Systems might reward.
things that are odd:
- Eppoh tagging:
#1 complaint: why do we have we gotten a "Eppoh" breeding game, when all we ever wanted was a TARG breeding game? You know, the thing the Dev's are teasing us about forever now, something unique to the KDF... COMBAT Targs... nope KDF you get nothing and you will like it! Go hunt romulan rabbits!
#2 complaint: it is a silly activity that would in any mmo at best be a tutorial exercise, but in Star Trek Online it is "Endgame Content". So in the tutorial i shoot Borg and then Klingons, but at Endgame i run in circles pressing F tagging rabbit thingies... i think the Game Designers of STO got their gameplay experience reversed a bit here? Or maybe i'm just not the Target audience for this specific quest.
#3 The Winter Event Eppohs provided easily enough Romulan marks to get me through the complete Romulan Reputation System, 50 Rom Marks per eppoh would have been enough to start a days projects, no we get 200, enough for 4 days!
- Borg Conversion Crate: first it was supposed to unlock at the end, then tier 3 then instantly -> i don't know what the hell the Dev's were thinking here... makes no sense to me.
- the frequent changes at the start when Reputation Projects were changed from 2 to 1 day and the requirements cut by half. To me that felt like rushed design, either it wasn't ready when released or the Datamining showed very negative results so it was made easier.
all of these things scream rushed design and re-design decisions to me to the point of damage control, and i find it confusing when things change that fast, it looks to me like the designers have no real idea what they are doing, what their goals with the system are etc. or like they had an idea and then got negative feedback and were forced from above to change it.
things i do NOT like:
- i do not like the waiting part of the entire Reputation System, if it is a grind, then LET ME GRIND!
I have enough resources by now to just hammer in the buttons and get on with it, but every button press takes 20 hours. Artificial Delays / Timegates / Cooldowns, call it what you want it is annoying like hell.
- i do not like that all the Reputation XP projects are the exact same, there is no Gameplay consideration to earning these XP, it is just a 3 types of currency sinks, Marks, eXPertise, and EC.
- i do not like that Hypos are one of the things i have to slot, it messes around with my powertray,
- buying stacks of 20 is annoying LIKE HELL, i have 10 Characters so i have to buy 500 Hypos, 500 Shield Charges and 600 Regenerators every day... in STACKS OF 20!
That results in 80x buying a stack of 20, doubleclick the item, drag the (very thin) Slider to 20, press buy. ...80 times! Then put it all in the maxed out account bank (my Ferengi is buying at discount!) about 30% of it fits in there, let my various chars grab the items... relog 2times to the Ferengi and fill it up again...
micro management .... micro management .... micro management .... DAILY!
my next Logitech G700 is better be paid for by dStahl he already broke 2 of them by this mouse clicking madness.
It is annoying like hell, it requires a crazy amount of inventory / bank slots, you can't even buy them in mass and bank a few stacks because even with maximum Bank slots purchased it still fills up everything.
next point:
- i do not like that Romulan Marks REPLACE dilithium on the reward table, dilithium is the "spend time in game"-currency, if i spend time and dont get dil for that time then that is not what was advertised to us when F2P was in the making.
- i do not like that Romulan and Omega Marks are MARKS, they should instead be XP.
Marks are a currency, later when i do not need it anymore because i'm done with it and got all the gear i need from it, i will need to convert that currency, extra clicks, extra micromanagement, extra limitations.
Why not just make it XP and reward dilithium directly from the missions, i don't care if you then change Romulan/Omage XP into expertise...
with more reputation system there will be more Marks, more reasons to convert stuff around... it will soon get cluttered again in the currenies tab of the inventory, just like it was before Dilithium was a thing.
And the Dev's don't learn, they keep doing it over and over again, everytime new content is introduces they add some obsolete new currency to it to make us play it.
Newsflash: we want to play new content because it's NEW and FUN, not because some Number on a screen tells us to do 3 more to get X !
- i do not like that there are unlocks for items in a shop, that only means i have to pay twice for the same item, and i can't even properly preview it inside Holodeck (not everybody has access to Tribble), i can't see the pricetag of the item before i unlock it, if i decide it's too expensive i already waisted currency for the unlock.
- i do not like that the Shop Unlocks are inside the same category as the XP projects, there is a upgrade slot that is not used 99% of the time, let me slot the shop upgrade projects in the upgrade slot! then i can unlock stuff while i wait for XP projects to finish.
The XP projects are running 24/7, i do not want to waist time unlocking Shop Unlocks, in particular not any that are below Mk XII, instead i just do the XP projects until i unlocked Tier 5, then i will maybe bother with the shopping stuff,
Mk X and XI is obsolete by then.
The Reputation System is completed so fast and easy that there is no point in waisting time with low level X+XI items, either make them cheap like the temporary gear that it is, or get rid of it, it is just UI spam as far as i'm concerned.
- There should be a cancel button!
i can cancel DOff Assignments and get my items back, the same should be possible for the Reputation System, probably could use the same code with a few adaptations.
Final Word:
All of that is mechanics and micromanagement.
That stuff needs to be there to function, at worst it can be annoying like the Hypo replicating or the artificial (20 hour) delays, but in any case it does not provide any gameplay or fun. That is what the missions are for.
But the missions do not feel rewarding, not if EliteSTFs keep you going for 2 days in the System and if one purple Eppoh puts more currency in your account than running Minetrap 15 times.
All of this is content that is done in groups of 5 or 20, yet there are very low amounts of Fleetmarks awarded for it, the KDF base of our Fleet pretty much stopped any progress by now, because everybody concentrates on Fed side more than KDF anyway and now most of us are busy with the Rep System, the Fleetbase mark grinding felt like an MMO thing, we worked together on building something. The Reputation system distracts from that and feels like i'm now just doing stuff for myself again.
The reputation system is BORING.
I had hoped for something FUN, i don't know, a list of Accolades/Achievemts/mission Goals to reach to get the XP instead of this simplistic currency grind might have been fun.
- Kill 500 Salt Vampires
- Destroy 50 Tholian Web Weavers
- Complete Hive Space Elite without getting destroyed
stuff like that would mean a direct impact on gameplay, it be like Achievements to hunt for, only with a reward attached to it.
I don't care how time intensive or hard to achieve it is as long as it's FUN (just nothing impossible please.)
The thing is... it's not a grind, for it to be a grind it would require me to actually grind, but i can't because of the delays. If it is something to grind, then LET ME grind.
Instead it is just... well a reason to log in and do something for half an hour.
If i want it to be a grind i need 10 Characters to keep me busy... and i still run into the Timegates.
So it is, but it is not a grind.
It is, but it is not a gameplay challenge.
If it is anything then it is character progression, but with only 2 Choices, that are the same for every TAC/SCI/ENG profession! And only ONE choice at Tier 5, it really is nothing to customize one's character, it is just an ability that soon everyone will have and i don't want to miss out on it.
ok... that pretty much sums it up.
i don't love it, i don't hate it, it is just something on a checklist to get done.
it's not exciting, it is not boring... but it is something to do.
also i do not see this Reputation System as the final incarnation.
STFs have changed their rewards and how they play 3 times already, i have no reason to believe that this Reputation System is the final version, all it takes is a Dev with a new idea or some piece of tech and inspiration or an order from above and the whole Reputation System will be turned into something else again.
And to be honest, it is not awesome enough to be the final incarnation of STO's reward system. It is good enough for now, it does what it is supposed to do, but that is just it, and thats why, at some point in the future it will be replaced by the next best thing.
- STF changes
I mean just look at the whole EDC / Slavage / Tech System, that was planned out, a huge UI and drop system was build around it... and they just scrapped it for this new System that isn't that much better. It is still confusing (what do i get out of it? when? what does it cost? what can the items do?....)
All that was needed for STFs was to add the old XII sets for EDC, and the new ones as random drops. Add the Dilithium cost to the items and all would have been fine as far as i am concerned, of course many would have been angry about the dilithium cost, but we all knew it was coming sooner or later. Now the same change is just neatly packeged in a new shiny Reputation System ...that also makes you wait for it.
The old system awarded you for activity, the new system awards you for... patience?
....oh god, what a text i've written again :rolleyes:
anybody reading this? lol
things i like:
- it gives me SOMETHING to do... while i wait for the next big thing
- i very much like that it gives your character new abilities and i think that is the only reason i actually am playing it, no matter what items the Rep Systems might reward.
things that are odd:
- Eppoh tagging:
#1 complaint: why do we have we gotten a "Eppoh" breeding game, when all we ever wanted was a TARG breeding game? You know, the thing the Dev's are teasing us about forever now, something unique to the KDF... COMBAT Targs... nope KDF you get nothing and you will like it! Go hunt romulan rabbits!
#2 complaint: it is a silly activity that would in any mmo at best be a tutorial exercise, but in Star Trek Online it is "Endgame Content". So in the tutorial i shoot Borg and then Klingons, but at Endgame i run in circles pressing F tagging rabbit thingies... i think the Game Designers of STO got their gameplay experience reversed a bit here? Or maybe i'm just not the Target audience for this specific quest.
#3 The Winter Event Eppohs provided easily enough Romulan marks to get me through the complete Romulan Reputation System, 50 Rom Marks per eppoh would have been enough to start a days projects, no we get 200, enough for 4 days!
- Borg Conversion Crate: first it was supposed to unlock at the end, then tier 3 then instantly -> i don't know what the hell the Dev's were thinking here... makes no sense to me.
- the frequent changes at the start when Reputation Projects were changed from 2 to 1 day and the requirements cut by half. To me that felt like rushed design, either it wasn't ready when released or the Datamining showed very negative results so it was made easier.
all of these things scream rushed design and re-design decisions to me to the point of damage control, and i find it confusing when things change that fast, it looks to me like the designers have no real idea what they are doing, what their goals with the system are etc. or like they had an idea and then got negative feedback and were forced from above to change it.
things i do NOT like:
- i do not like the waiting part of the entire Reputation System, if it is a grind, then LET ME GRIND!
I have enough resources by now to just hammer in the buttons and get on with it, but every button press takes 20 hours. Artificial Delays / Timegates / Cooldowns, call it what you want it is annoying like hell.
- i do not like that all the Reputation XP projects are the exact same, there is no Gameplay consideration to earning these XP, it is just a 3 types of currency sinks, Marks, eXPertise, and EC.
- i do not like that Hypos are one of the things i have to slot, it messes around with my powertray,
- buying stacks of 20 is annoying LIKE HELL, i have 10 Characters so i have to buy 500 Hypos, 500 Shield Charges and 600 Regenerators every day... in STACKS OF 20!
That results in 80x buying a stack of 20, doubleclick the item, drag the (very thin) Slider to 20, press buy. ...80 times! Then put it all in the maxed out account bank (my Ferengi is buying at discount!) about 30% of it fits in there, let my various chars grab the items... relog 2times to the Ferengi and fill it up again...
micro management .... micro management .... micro management .... DAILY!
my next Logitech G700 is better be paid for by dStahl he already broke 2 of them by this mouse clicking madness.
It is annoying like hell, it requires a crazy amount of inventory / bank slots, you can't even buy them in mass and bank a few stacks because even with maximum Bank slots purchased it still fills up everything.
next point:
- i do not like that Romulan Marks REPLACE dilithium on the reward table, dilithium is the "spend time in game"-currency, if i spend time and dont get dil for that time then that is not what was advertised to us when F2P was in the making.
- i do not like that Romulan and Omega Marks are MARKS, they should instead be XP.
Marks are a currency, later when i do not need it anymore because i'm done with it and got all the gear i need from it, i will need to convert that currency, extra clicks, extra micromanagement, extra limitations.
Why not just make it XP and reward dilithium directly from the missions, i don't care if you then change Romulan/Omage XP into expertise...
with more reputation system there will be more Marks, more reasons to convert stuff around... it will soon get cluttered again in the currenies tab of the inventory, just like it was before Dilithium was a thing.
And the Dev's don't learn, they keep doing it over and over again, everytime new content is introduces they add some obsolete new currency to it to make us play it.
Newsflash: we want to play new content because it's NEW and FUN, not because some Number on a screen tells us to do 3 more to get X !
- i do not like that there are unlocks for items in a shop, that only means i have to pay twice for the same item, and i can't even properly preview it inside Holodeck (not everybody has access to Tribble), i can't see the pricetag of the item before i unlock it, if i decide it's too expensive i already waisted currency for the unlock.
- i do not like that the Shop Unlocks are inside the same category as the XP projects, there is a upgrade slot that is not used 99% of the time, let me slot the shop upgrade projects in the upgrade slot! then i can unlock stuff while i wait for XP projects to finish.
The XP projects are running 24/7, i do not want to waist time unlocking Shop Unlocks, in particular not any that are below Mk XII, instead i just do the XP projects until i unlocked Tier 5, then i will maybe bother with the shopping stuff,
Mk X and XI is obsolete by then.
The Reputation System is completed so fast and easy that there is no point in waisting time with low level X+XI items, either make them cheap like the temporary gear that it is, or get rid of it, it is just UI spam as far as i'm concerned.
- There should be a cancel button!
i can cancel DOff Assignments and get my items back, the same should be possible for the Reputation System, probably could use the same code with a few adaptations.
Final Word:
All of that is mechanics and micromanagement.
That stuff needs to be there to function, at worst it can be annoying like the Hypo replicating or the artificial (20 hour) delays, but in any case it does not provide any gameplay or fun. That is what the missions are for.
But the missions do not feel rewarding, not if EliteSTFs keep you going for 2 days in the System and if one purple Eppoh puts more currency in your account than running Minetrap 15 times.
All of this is content that is done in groups of 5 or 20, yet there are very low amounts of Fleetmarks awarded for it, the KDF base of our Fleet pretty much stopped any progress by now, because everybody concentrates on Fed side more than KDF anyway and now most of us are busy with the Rep System, the Fleetbase mark grinding felt like an MMO thing, we worked together on building something. The Reputation system distracts from that and feels like i'm now just doing stuff for myself again.
The reputation system is BORING.
I had hoped for something FUN, i don't know, a list of Accolades/Achievemts/mission Goals to reach to get the XP instead of this simplistic currency grind might have been fun.
- Kill 500 Salt Vampires
- Destroy 50 Tholian Web Weavers
- Complete Hive Space Elite without getting destroyed
stuff like that would mean a direct impact on gameplay, it be like Achievements to hunt for, only with a reward attached to it.
I don't care how time intensive or hard to achieve it is as long as it's FUN (just nothing impossible please.)
The thing is... it's not a grind, for it to be a grind it would require me to actually grind, but i can't because of the delays. If it is something to grind, then LET ME grind.
Instead it is just... well a reason to log in and do something for half an hour.
If i want it to be a grind i need 10 Characters to keep me busy... and i still run into the Timegates.
So it is, but it is not a grind.
It is, but it is not a gameplay challenge.
If it is anything then it is character progression, but with only 2 Choices, that are the same for every TAC/SCI/ENG profession! And only ONE choice at Tier 5, it really is nothing to customize one's character, it is just an ability that soon everyone will have and i don't want to miss out on it.
ok... that pretty much sums it up.
i don't love it, i don't hate it, it is just something on a checklist to get done.
it's not exciting, it is not boring... but it is something to do.
also i do not see this Reputation System as the final incarnation.
STFs have changed their rewards and how they play 3 times already, i have no reason to believe that this Reputation System is the final version, all it takes is a Dev with a new idea or some piece of tech and inspiration or an order from above and the whole Reputation System will be turned into something else again.
And to be honest, it is not awesome enough to be the final incarnation of STO's reward system. It is good enough for now, it does what it is supposed to do, but that is just it, and thats why, at some point in the future it will be replaced by the next best thing.
- STF changes
I mean just look at the whole EDC / Slavage / Tech System, that was planned out, a huge UI and drop system was build around it... and they just scrapped it for this new System that isn't that much better. It is still confusing (what do i get out of it? when? what does it cost? what can the items do?....)
All that was needed for STFs was to add the old XII sets for EDC, and the new ones as random drops. Add the Dilithium cost to the items and all would have been fine as far as i am concerned, of course many would have been angry about the dilithium cost, but we all knew it was coming sooner or later. Now the same change is just neatly packeged in a new shiny Reputation System ...that also makes you wait for it.
The old system awarded you for activity, the new system awards you for... patience?
....oh god, what a text i've written again :rolleyes:
anybody reading this? lol
Post edited by zerobang on
0
Comments
It really was boring and annoying buying all the stuff, especially hypos and reg.
I know there's a lot more to your post :P, but....
...not every bit of content at "max level" needs to be Super Elite Group STF Endgame type stuff (or, well, "raids" in other games). It's nice to have a mix of stuff, so that there's 1. something for all types of players, and 2. something you can do when you don't want to be Teaming Up For Something Serious.
So, yeah.... you may just not be the target audience for that particular activity.
tl;dr - there's room for "silly activities" at End Game. :P
Also, don't forget that the devs used placeholders for rep-items, hoping none would discover it...
:mad:
But out of your whole post there are a few things I would like to comment on.
First off, you are complaining about 20 hour wait times. *****. Please. Just be happy it isn't 40 hours anymore. And you have all the materials, blah blah blah. This is supposed to be an INVESTMENT of both time and resources. This is not an instant gratification game. There are plenty of us who have gone all the way to tier 5 with these limits, myself included. Yes, it was annoying, yes it was time-consuming, but you know what, everything good in life isn't cheap, it isn't free, and it takes time.
Secondly, your complaints on the marks instead of dil. Um... news flash, you can convert marks into dil. At a very fair rate too. 50 marks for 500 dil. Herp!!!
Thirdly, none of the blind unlocks cost dil, and the items that do cost dil, you can review them before slotting them. Which brings me to the cancel button you're asking for. You do know it warns you that you cannot cancel a project once you have it slotted/started right? It specifically tells you that and asks you for a confirmation. And if you slot projects in the next project tab, that's your own fault then. You need to pay attention to what it is you're doing.
However, I do agree that the cap of 20 on regens and hypos is rather annoying. But that's about the only thing I agree with on your post.
The old drop system was fine. People were not as unlucky as they claim. They were just pissed they couldn't trick out their ships with MK XII gear as fast as you could with EDC gear. I think Cryptic just didn't put much thought into creating a compelling system for earning gear. Creating more currency (wasn't dilithium suppose to be THE answer to all of the uber old currencies prior to F2P?) and resource gates has got to be one of the greatest MMOG cop outs around.
WE... need MORE... ellipsis abuse on the... internet.
I guess I have completely lost all hope for this to ever happen. I feel empty inside now.:(
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
I'd much rather be able to get more out of my time online at the weekends, rather than the game feeling like it's becoming a chore; it is, after all, supposed to be a game
Agreed; for fleet projects I don't mind so much as it's characterful to have different requirements for the projects, and since you're unlikely to come along with everything required for a fleet project in one go it's not such a big deal. One of reputation projects (unlocks etc.) are fine as well. But for the repeating projects, I'd rather just have a list announcing X marks, X expertise and X energy credits and a big button that hands that over. There's no reason whatsoever to do these projects piecemeal, unlike the fleet projects which have much higher requirements.
Absolutely agreed; the store unlocks should be automatic when you tier up, or at the very least be for large categories (i.e - anti-borg weaponry). The wiki doesn't have all the info on store unlocks yet, so I won't be getting any of them personally. I was fine with requisitioning the last of the borg sets I needed, but I don't like the idea of store unlocks; an always accessible faction specific store, sure, I like that idea, but I have to unlock each thing?
Agreed again; I've already slowed the daily projects inadvertently by opening a requisition project too soon (thinking I had enough marks). It also clutters the interface when there's easily room to have three or four slots for running miscellaneous projects (in addition to the two daily ones); they could then be categorised which would tidy up the interface immensely.
My main gripe is that the borg engines, shields and deflector set is now only available at Mk X unless I've made a huge mistake somewhere. For the sets that are available at higher levels I don't like that they're implemented as separate entries; I'd personally rather temporary projects show up to upgrade each item I currently have. So for example if I have the borg shields Mk X, then an upgrade project would become available that upon completion will upgrade my shields to Mk XI, then another to upgrade from Mk XI to Mk XII maybe?
Game Balance - Ship Size and Wingmates
yes marks are a bit of a grind to get...but at least we arent locked down to a daily amount like dilth is.....
Luckily, with the old loot system, I was able to aquire all the borg and Maco MK XII stuff because I put my time into the STF grind and I was awared for it. I did not have to pay DIL or XP or hypos lol. I took my salvage, and went to the vendor when i was lucky enough to get the drop.
As for the Adapted MACO, it is just the klingon honor guard set with a different name...no thanks, they can keep it.
A good idea and a fair solution for everyone would have been to take these new Omega Marks and create a vendor that would accept those in return for gear...not this rep system/dil/time sink garbage. Get so many marks, turn them in for a piece of gear that you earned with your time.
And finally, for the Romulan space set I hear about...Its an exact copy of the Reman set, with a different color on your hull and same set powers. Wow PWE, nice one!
However, the romulan missions could really do with a dilithium reward from the missions; compare to the elite task force omega PvE missions and you can easily max out your dilithium and earn a few hundred Omega Marks to boot by only doing a handful of the missions. Sure they're a bit longer overall than the Romulan missions, but the rewards are just so much better.
Game Balance - Ship Size and Wingmates
But yeah, since I'm switching to plasma weapons the Romulan ones seem like a good option, at least until I get the fleet ones perhaps; it's just that I have absolutely no idea, as hiding items behind store unlocks just means we don't know what they do, or if they're worth the effort! Store unlocks sorely need to be automatic, with marks being a part of their cost instead.
There really is too big a disparity between earning Romulan and Omega Marks; I've done Azura Nebula rescue five times today, with three of those times yielding little besides Bird of Prey and Mogai rescues, meaning I barely earned 60 marks on top of the ones I got for the Tau Dewa patrol. Meanwhile I did four Task Force Omega Elite missions and earned well 300 marks and nearly 4,000 dilithium! Not to mention the loot drops from the Romulan missions are pathetic; mostly just flotsam to sell at the store, very rarely anything worth putting on the exchange. Even worse is facing so many damn Tholians; they're nice as a change of pace from other enemies, but they're easily one of the most annoying with all the subsystem disabling and damn web walls I can't always seem to target properly! They're no more fun to face on the ground either. I know I could do the Vault ensnared mission instead but it's not much better for earning marks; the optional objectives are a lot of work for hardly any additional reward, and the mission takes longer overall.
Game Balance - Ship Size and Wingmates
And with the winter wonderland event, you can get 100-200 marks every day after an initial 3 days. I'd say that's nice, wouldn't you? So that takes 20 minutes of your time (winter wonderland + epohh tagging), then do the tau dewa. If you're not interested in drops, do acamar 7 times on normal (20 minutes tops), and blam, 60 more marks. IMO, 560 marks a day is quite a nice haul, wouldn't you agree?
Also, for the epohh tagging, try to find another person to do it with you. That way you'll get maxed epohh tags dropped (unless you can somehow solo tag 30 of those little ******s in the time allotted).
For winter epohhs, it is entirely possible to have 100 to 200 Romulan Marks each day since you are not relying on crits to purchase epohh pups.
I dunno, I didn't get my character to the rank of Vice Admiral to see them running around catching little bunny... things. If I wanted to do that I'd play a Pok?mon game; the big appeal of STO for me has always been space combat, as running around doing menial work on the ground has been the main reason for me quitting other MMO's as soon as the trial period runs out (if not sooner). Maybe that's just my problem, but grinding of romulan marks in space is pathetic, and while I don't mind visiting New Romulus now and then, I don't want to grind marks there.
Game Balance - Ship Size and Wingmates
You're absolutely right!
Tag eppoh is annoying, the reputation system is boring and there is no end game content.
The devs do not know to create end game content, then they create silly mini games and then attached new items and rewards. This is the formula for the new season!
No end game content. So what are STFs? What is the story on New Romulus? Obviously they don't count.
When STFs was implemented? Season 5? Now we go to season 8 and you think that 4 or 5 Cutscenes are story ?
Sorry I have played best MMOs before. Sto was good, now is not. If PWE want more money they need do better than mini games.
I only play because foundry has amazing missions.
But the reputation gear should be seen as your endgame gear, the be-all and end-all (even if the stats tell another story). It should be suitably expensive and hard to get, along the same lines as requiring near a hundred million EC in order to get your purple Mk XII equipment and weapons the exchange, or the relentless grind of children's toys to get the consoles you need.
Game Balance - Ship Size and Wingmates
Also they count as different set so now i don't have the 3 piece set bonus cause 2 piece are mk X and 1 mk XI so i'm stuck to wait without a set bonus that i've already achieved.
I'm not sure what possessed me to do so but I foolishly chose the +30 shield systems skill bonus in the Romulan tier II upgrades, but I think I'd much rather have the +3% critical chance.
Game Balance - Ship Size and Wingmates
Um... no? It specifically warns you before picking that you CANNOT CHANGE IT ONCE YOU'VE PICKED IT. It tells you very specifically that your choice is permanent. You pick the wrong one, you live with it.
I heard that a skill respec on your character can allow you to change reputation abilities, but I haven't seen it said definitively anywhere so that's a bit much to risk (and very expensive) just to change one reputation ability choice.
It's not as if the abilities are all that easy to choose from in the first place, as some of them are very uncertain in value, for example; in the tier IV omega abilities you can choose the graviton amplified (2.5% chance per hit to deal kinetic damage ignoring shields) or superior shield repair (bonus shield regeneration), but the value of each is difficult to way up.
For me the shield repair is about 240 every 6 seconds, which is about an 18% boost; that's better than the consoles for boosting regeneration, but with the full borg set and my abilities it probably wouldn't make all that much difference in practice. I think science officers may get more out of it?
But then the kinetic damage; in the description it's something like 11.3 damage unless you remember to go into a system to recheck the values, for me the damage is around 750, which is about what the kinetic cutting beam does per second. But it's a bit of a weird one to quantify as with a 2.5% chance that's what... ~19 extra damage per shot, but then you have to factor in that it ignores shields so it's kind of like the plasma proc... it's pretty hard to gauge if that's a better choice than extra shield regeneration.
It's just like the tier II romulan option that I'd like to change; +30 shield systems sounds good, but what does that actually do in practice? I'm not sure it gives me enough of a boost to warrant it over +3% crit chance, but I had no idea at the time I chose it.
Game Balance - Ship Size and Wingmates
The point is, I have several characters and I like to see them as personages with different ideas and backgrounds. So let's say one of them doesn't care about the whole Romulan issue. No reputation, no perks, what about that?
That is my main issue with any reputation system, a blank character can have them all and a character that has personality should make choices.
This type of attitude from Cryptic would cost them customers. It has many times for other companies. It is a game. A game is not supposed to TRIBBLE you over for making the wrong choice. Unless of course it is a puzzle story game about making choices which this is not. This would also be different if the reputation perk choices were even remotely balanced against one another.
3% crit or like 5% more maximum shield when all stats are calculated? That isn't a real choice but I digress.
Thankfully if you use a respec token and refund all skill points it resets your reputation picks as well last I heard. In addition Cryptic is planning on allowing a respec of these choices via some other method but with no ETA so likely around when re-species and re-traits are allowed.
Does anyone know how to get this message to Cryptic with enough force for them to listen?
The only thing I would add is to bring in (or rather back) some "anti-borg" weapons, something: powerful, fun to use, and most importantly, wont be of any use in PvP.