The Universal BOFF stations on the B'rel I think was done as it was on all KDF BOPs to allow for the lack any any decent science ships, but it still isn't a very viable science ship due to the lack of hull and shield points.
While the Universal slots can allow for a lot, the sacrifices the ships have for it doesn't make it all that much of an advantage at all. It's only really a viable PvP ship and what 90% (?) of the STO community doesn't play PvP due to all the shines and expense you need to stay competitive today.
The BOP class in general needs a buff, none of are are saying turning them into fully fledged escorts just beef them up a bit with some more hull a more destroyer like shield modifier and perhaps an addition aft (or fore to spice things up a bit) weapon slot. The Raptor and destroyer class would still be a harder ship in terms of durability, it would just allow the ship to be a more viable choice for players in the PvE environment.
Support the Game by Supporting the KDF, equality and uniqueness for all factions!
So, after looking over the stats of the Fleet T'varo Light Warbird Retrofit, I realized that the ship is significantly better than the B'rel Fleet Bird-of-Prey Retrofit.
The T'varo has 4 tactical consoles, while the B'rel has 4 engineering consoles.
The B'rel has +15 weapon power, while the T'varo has +10 weapon, +5 engine.
Those two items plus the fact that romulan and reman captains get a freaking ridiculous bonus cloak traits is what makes the b'rel obsolete.
KDF : Lets build a bird of prey raider that has a super-cloak that only works when firing torpedoes!
KDF Engineers: Ok! Here, we've given them +15 weapon power and 4 engineering consoles.
KDF : What? I just told you torpedoes not guns. Why use would I have for guns if it disables my special cloak? Why did you put 4 engineering consoles when this ship is an ambush attack vessel?
KDF Engineers: Thats what the chief designer said to do.
KDF : Wait... isn't he the son of the Quonos transporter officer?
KDF Engineers: Yes
KDF : /facepalm
Solution as a 'modernizing pass' for the B'rel T5:
Replace +15 weapon power with passive ship unique ability: During ambush (5 seconds after decloak), global timers for torpedoes are removed.
Replace the consoles with:
1 engineer
4 science
4 tactical
Those two items plus the fact that romulan and reman captains get a freaking ridiculous bonus cloak traits is what makes the b'rel obsolete.
KDF : Lets build a bird of prey raider that has a super-cloak that only works when firing torpedoes!
KDF Engineers: Ok! Here, we've given them +15 weapon power and 4 engineering consoles.
KDF : What? I just told you torpedoes not guns. Why use would I have for guns if it disables my special cloak? Why did you put 4 engineering consoles when this ship is an ambush attack vessel?
KDF Engineers: Thats what the chief designer said to do.
KDF : Wait... isn't he the son of the Quonos transporter officer?
KDF Engineers: Yes
KDF : /facepalm
Solution as a 'modernizing pass' for the B'rel T5:
Replace +15 weapon power with passive ship unique ability: During ambush (5 seconds after decloak), global timers for torpedoes are removed.
Replace the consoles with:
1 engineer
4 science
4 tactical
Fleet:
2 engineer
4 science
4 tactical
As I've noted in other, similar threads... Cryptic does not seem to have any interest in updating old ships. After it's been in the C-Store for a month, Cryptic forgets it even exists.
The closest you're gonna get is a new BoP you can buy from the C-Store. They want to sell new ships, not update old ones people have already bought.
Bring the hull and shields of the B'rel in line with the t'varo at all levels and I think maybe you might have a balance.
Though it is worth mentioning the singularity mechanic is a double edged sword. The cloak on the t'varo is more effective than the b'rels at 0 singularity. With full singularity you're visible to most things and the only way to get rid of charge is to discharge before cloaking which means you can't really store it for later.
I think having -1 ensign boff slot and -1 rear weapon slot is worth having full universal boff slots. Seen some great brel support ships out there as they can heal and use sci skills while staying mostly cloaked and untargetable.
As I've noted in other, similar threads... Cryptic does not seem to have any interest in updating old ships. After it's been in the C-Store for a month, Cryptic forgets it even exists.
The closest you're gonna get is a new BoP you can buy from the C-Store. They want to sell new ships, not update old ones people have already bought.
It honestly does feel as if that is the case, but if that is true why do people continue to play the game if Cryptic is proving to be such a terrible company in the Free to Play market?
Player retention is of vital importance. The more players you get, and the happier you make them, the more likely they'll invest in your product. Cryptic continued stance toward ignoring major aspects of their game has resulted in my decision to never support the company directly through purchasing Zen through their store. If they showed a desire to keep their game balanced, that would be different. Just.. as it is right now, they honestly don't care about me as a player. They are relying entirely upon me being an irresponsible consumer who feeds them funds they certainly haven't earned.
It honestly does feel as if that is the case, but if that is true why do people continue to play the game if Cryptic is proving to be such a terrible company in the Free to Play market?
Player retention is of vital importance. The more players you get, and the happier you make them, the more likely they'll invest in your product. Cryptic continued stance toward ignoring major aspects of their game has resulted in my decision to never support the company directly through purchasing Zen through their store. If they showed a desire to keep their game balanced, that would be different. Just.. as it is right now, they honestly don't care about me as a player. They are relying entirely upon me being an irresponsible consumer who feeds them funds they certainly haven't earned.
People play the game largely because it's a fun and free casual experience (the free part being key). It also doesn't smack you over the head with the C-Store, despite what other people may claim -- it gives you a full leveling experience that's paced reasonably well for new, casual players, it gives you all of the starships you'll need if you don't feel like buying one, and it gives you unrestricted access to all of its content.
It doesn't make you pay for things like action bar space, it doesn't limit your cosmetic options (such as, the ability to show/hide armor and weapons), and it doesn't pop up with messages every time you load into a zone saying "Wouldn't you prefer not having your ship's system break down every other minute in the middle of combat? Unlock the 'can actually play the game' option in the C-store now!".
Say what you will about lockboxes and $50 ship packs, but neither of those are impeding your ability to enjoy the game, while it still makes Cryptic enough money to run a relatively successful, if also relatively small, F2P MMO.
I will agree that the bugs in this game are ridiculous, as there's clearly sloppy programming going on behind the scenes -- the game's graphics do not warrant such high temperatures on my GPU, and many bugs are annoyingly persistent. At the end of the day, though, I have fun running through the new Romulan story missions, the Atmosphere Assault mission, and continue to be very impressed with the new environment artwork as it comes (Romulan ship interiors are amazing). It's obvious that the artists really care about what they're doing over there, even if the programmers seem like they don't... and ultimately, I'm more willing to support the artists than I am to boycott the programmers.
People play the game largely because it's a fun and free casual experience (the free part being key). It also doesn't smack you over the head with the C-Store, despite what other people may claim -- it gives you a full leveling experience that's paced reasonably well for new, casual players, it gives you all of the starships you'll need if you don't feel like buying one, and it gives you unrestricted access to all of its content.
It doesn't make you pay for things like action bar space, it doesn't limit your cosmetic options (such as, the ability to show/hide armor and weapons), and it doesn't pop up with messages every time you load into a zone saying "Wouldn't you prefer not having your ship's system break down every other minute in the middle of combat? Unlock the 'can actually play the game' option in the C-store now!".
Say what you will about lockboxes and $50 ship packs, but neither of those are impeding your ability to enjoy the game, while it still makes Cryptic enough money to run a relatively successful, if also relatively small, F2P MMO.
I will agree that the bugs in this game are ridiculous, as there's clearly sloppy programming going on behind the scenes -- the game's graphics do not warrant such high temperatures on my GPU, and many bugs are annoyingly persistent. At the end of the day, though, I have fun running through the new Romulan story missions, the Atmosphere Assault mission, and continue to be very impressed with the new environment artwork as it comes (Romulan ship interiors are amazing). It's obvious that the artists really care about what they're doing over there, even if the programmers seem like they don't... and ultimately, I'm more willing to support the artists than I am to boycott the programmers.
Point taken. My previous comments were made primarily out of frustration, as is prone to happen when it comes to MMO games. But you're right. Cryptic is nowhere near the level of EA. There is a lot that we've been given, and considering they're working with the Champion's Online engine, they've done brilliantly with what they have to work with. I just wish they'd put as much effort into balance as they did into creating the Romulan faction.
Point taken. My previous comments were made primarily out of frustration, as is prone to happen when it comes to MMO games. But you're right. Cryptic is nowhere near the level of EA. There is a lot that we've been given, and considering they're working with the Champion's Online engine, they've done brilliantly with what they have to work with. I just wish they'd put as much effort into balance as they did into creating the Romulan faction.
STO is such a frustrating game because of how fun it can be. We know there's a shining gem of a game underneath all of the slop we have to wade through, which is why it's so incredibly frustrating to have to deal with things like bugs and imbalanced ships -- we really want this game to be as good as it should be.
Again, though... I don't think the programmers have the same passion that the art design team does. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that the programmers don't want to deal with old bugs because they don't like their jobs -- they probably just don't have the motivation to do bug fixes on top of new content without wanting to shoot themselves.
This could be the fault of the game engine, though. They've openly said how they've had to use workarounds and tricks to get things to happen, since they're using a modification of the Champions engine. Ultimately, it's an engine that's doing things it wasn't designed to, which results in a tangled backend that's probably a nightmare to work with.
That doesn't explain things like the Fleet Defiant not having its proper Fleet-worthy shield modifier, or why they don't go back and fix older ships to bring them up to par, but I suspect it does (at least partly) explain why there are so many legacy bugs in the game.
Again, though... I don't think the programmers have the same passion that the art design team does. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that the programmers don't want to deal with old bugs because they don't like their jobs -- they probably just don't have the motivation to do bug fixes on top of new content without wanting to shoot themselves.
In the context of this particular thread, though, you're not really discussing bugs. The difference between the B'Rel's layout and specs versus the T'Varo's layout and specs aren't rooted in bugs. For example, the B'Rel has less hull. That's not a bug.
Power creep isn't a bug. It's part of MMO design. That Cryptic wants you to buy new for sale ships to stay current, is how the game stays around. Giving out free upgrades to the ship you bought last year? Not part of their business model.
(SNIP)
I will agree that the bugs in this game are ridiculous, as there's clearly sloppy programming going on behind the scenes -- the game's graphics do not warrant such high temperatures on my GPU, and many bugs are annoyingly persistent. At the end of the day, though, I have fun running through the new Romulan story missions, the Atmosphere Assault mission, and continue to be very impressed with the new environment artwork as it comes (Romulan ship interiors are amazing). It's obvious that the artists really care about what they're doing over there, even if the programmers seem like they don't... and ultimately, I'm more willing to support the artists than I am to boycott the programmers.
About GPU heat, you could try setting options -> video -> advanced -> troubleshooting -> reduce CPU/GPU usage = on, and possibly Limit Frame Rate = 60, although the latter likely isn't needed.
10ms sleep per frame isn't a huge deal if you have powerful enough GPU, and I find it can reduce heat generation a lot. For my laptop, it makes the difference in being able to run the game for hours, or to shut down due overheating in about 30 minutes. Even on my desktop it helps to keep the GPU fan noise down.
Graphics are indeed surprisingly pretty. I was really upset with not being able to return to the tutorial colony, simply because the place looked beautiful. It felt like such a waste.
I agree with the premise completely as my Fleet B'rel has been mothballed in favor of the Fleet T'Varo - and I love the iconic B'rel - but:
Will there be a nerf to the T'varo - no way - that's like going to TRIBBLE off 1/2 the new players of romulans.
Buff the B'rel - i doubt it.
Question is this: How many B'rels will be sold if it gets a buff? not more that 1000 I guarentee - as it is a tricky ship to fly and very specialized. not many KDF use it.
Keeping the T,Varo retrofit C-store and Fleet T'varo with a Huge advantage - how many will it sell - 10,000++++
So there is no economic advantage to buff the B'rel - but there is a huge economic gain to make people want to role a Romulan + all the new gear purchases + ship purchases + doff slots+ new gear+++ etc etc etc
That is why Romulan stuff will be superiour for some time.
This is big business and new money is all that matters to keep the game going, which we all want. Might not be fair but is 100% reality.
I think the forward thinking scenario is to switch all ships over to singularity-style resource mechanics and have the mechanic favor the more shortchanged ships; in general, I think a Klingon resource mechanic should have more synergy with the BoP than more rugged ships and a Federation resource mechanic would give cruisers more to offer. Escorts would have raw power but cruisers would have better access to singularity style effects.
Have them accumulate differently and spend differently for each faction.
In the process, lower everyone's power level to 80, buff Fed cruisers to be an even match for Battlecruisers, and possibly re-evaluate cloak.
In general, I think ships should probably get 2 bonus engineer, tac, or sci consoles from where they are now. (Very few would get their bonus consoles as Tac slots but the weakest like the Aquarius and BoP might.)
However, I'd make all cloaks into consoles and give all ships that can use cannons 1 less bonus console.
So a fleet ship that has no cannons and no cloak equipped would have 12 console slots instead of 10.
But all ships with a cloaking device would need to use one of the 12 slots for a cloak and ships with cannons would only have 11 slots at the fleet level.
Only the weakest ships get any Tac consoles added from where they are now.
Or... You make cloaks innate for all ships.
Another thing I'd look at with certain ships that haven't gotten a fleet upgrade is to follow the basic pattern of the Vesta/Odyssey/etc. Probably make the D'Kyr, Galaxy-X, and a load of the Klingon ships fleet tier since there ARE fleet tier C-Store ships now and Gozer has said he doesn't intend for the older ships to be less powerful or desirable for new buyers. But raise the price $5 on those ships for any future buyers. (Which is more or less the revenue Cryptic would get by adding a fleet tier for those ships anyway.)
How about we remove the universal BO slots from B, except for one LC slot. In exchange we could give it one extra ensign slot. That should be a good trade, yes?
Lets also make it's battle cloak slowly fade while it's in combat, and in turn we could give it a bit more hull and shields.
We should also cut it's power levels all around by 20% or so, and in exchange give it an extra aft weapon slot.
Maybe nerf it's maneuvering a bit, and give it some extra crew to compensate.
How about we remove the universal BO slots from B, except for one LC slot. In exchange we could give it one extra ensign slot. That should be a good trade, yes?
Lets also make it's battle cloak slowly fade while it's in combat, and in turn we could give it a bit more hull and shields.
We should also cut it's power levels all around by 20% or so, and in exchange give it an extra aft weapon slot.
Maybe nerf it's maneuvering a bit, and give it some extra crew to compensate.
The only way you could change a BOP's BOff slots is if you gave the KDF some science vessels as choices while leveling, and since all science vessels (Gorn ships) are C-Store only, that isn't going to happen. Considering they have such versatility, the lack of an ensign Boff slot is a valid balancing point. The other drawbacks, however, are no longer valid.
All in all, BOPs just need to be brought up to Escort level durability, and given another weapon slot. Considering the fact that KDF Battle Cloak is inferior to Romulan Battle Cloak, and Romulans have escorts with battle cloak, there's no reason why BOPs need to be so weak anymore.
The only way you could change a BOP's BOff slots is if you gave the KDF some science vessels as choices while leveling, and since all science vessels (Gorn ships) are C-Store only, that isn't going to happen. Considering they have such versatility, the lack of an ensign Boff slot is a valid balancing point. The other drawbacks, however, are no longer valid.
All in all, BOPs just need to be brought up to Escort level durability, and given another weapon slot. Considering the fact that KDF Battle Cloak is inferior to Romulan Battle Cloak, and Romulans have escorts with battle cloak, there's no reason why BOPs need to be so weak anymore.
Well said I couldn't agree more, plus the few science ships the KDF do have aren't that good to begin with and so many KDF players don't use them and even less buy them, which is another issue Cryptic needs to look at. They also need to stop making it so only Gorn have science ships, spread the love around.
There have been good suggestions in the KDF fleet section for viable KDF science ships, but fallen on deaf ears with Cryptic. The D5 Science ship suggestion has been my favourite and was pretty recent in it's suggestion.
All in all I think they need to allow for more input from the community, I can see STO if it keeps going the way it going loosing more paying customers than it will gain if this trend keeps going restricting more and more to boxes, nerfing things without even adding them to the patch notes or getting community input and forcing people to need to buy the latest stuff just to stay competitive. I won't even start on the rep grind.
Support the Game by Supporting the KDF, equality and uniqueness for all factions!
Well said I couldn't agree more, plus the few science ships the KDF do have aren't that good to begin with and so many KDF players don't use them and even less buy them, which is another issue Cryptic needs to look at. They also need to stop making it so only Gorn have science ships, spread the love around.
There have been good suggestions in the KDF fleet section for viable KDF science ships, but fallen on deaf ears with Cryptic. The D5 Science ship suggestion has been my favourite and was pretty recent in it's suggestion.
All in all I think they need to allow for more input from the community, I can see STO if it keeps going the way it going loosing more paying customers than it will gain if this trend keeps going restricting more and more to boxes, nerfing things without even adding them to the patch notes or getting community input and forcing people to need to buy the latest stuff just to stay competitive. I won't even start on the rep grind.
There are still a number of ships belonging to the Klingon's allies that are not available as playable ships. The Zilant Battleship is one such example. There are also other Birds of Prey that I hear exist that are not in the game, so there are in-game models that could be touched up and added to the KDF.
Another sad part about the B'rel vs the T'varo. The T'varo has a console included with it, while the B'rel is priced the same, but includes no console. It'd be nice, but is really just wishful thinking that Cryptic would lower the price when you get less for the same investment.
I don't know about the superiority of the rom cloak - seems to me when my singularity goes up, I'm pretty much target whether my cloak is up or not, the difference being when the cloak is up I don't have shields.
Well said I couldn't agree more, plus the few science ships the KDF do have aren't that good to begin with and so many KDF players don't use them and even less buy them, which is another issue Cryptic needs to look at. They also need to stop making it so only Gorn have science ships, spread the love around.
There have been good suggestions in the KDF fleet section for viable KDF science ships, but fallen on deaf ears with Cryptic. The D5 Science ship suggestion has been my favourite and was pretty recent in it's suggestion.
All in all I think they need to allow for more input from the community, I can see STO if it keeps going the way it going loosing more paying customers than it will gain if this trend keeps going restricting more and more to boxes, nerfing things without even adding them to the patch notes or getting community input and forcing people to need to buy the latest stuff just to stay competitive. I won't even start on the rep grind.
It's possible they'll loose some players, but that'll happen regardless. I think the turnaround of playerbase currently in F2P scene is pretty high. People come, play a while, and leave. The people who stay for long haul aren't necessarily the ones who bring the most revenue. And unless the new ships are superior to old ones, there is no reason for old playerbase to buy them - and for the new people it gives a sense of superiority when they can spend cash to buy the latest brand, and that latest brand is more powerful than the older ships that are more widely spread.
What comes to lockboxes, I hate the whole concept. I loathe how real money gambling has made it's way into MMO games, but since people buy them and spend hundreds of dollars just to get the big win, they are going to stay unless some legal changes make them illegal. What makes it even more strange is, there is generally no information about how likely or unlikely any particular content is - so you're expected to buy them complitely blind. And still people do. Personally I have never bought keys, and never opened the boxes.
Honestly, if Cryptic doesn't care about player retention, it'd be nice for them to be polite enough to come out and say it, rather than play coy and pretend that they care. I'd like to think that they do care, and that they're willing to take the necessary steps to draw in more long-term players. It's just that they have a long way to go if they want to get there.
One of the first steps is making the current ships balanced. I've heard that Cryptic is one of those companies that couldn't even balance while standing on both feet, and cite Champion's Online as a prime example. I don't play Champions Online, so I couldn't say, but I'd like to hope that they'll show their true colors and their true intentions now that LoR is out.
Well... the deliberate power creep theory is pretty well thrown out by the fact that the Jem'hadar attack ship is now nearly a year and a half old and still, if I remember correctly, the most powerful ship in the game, even significantly outstripping the later lockbox ships. Plus... my MVAM is still performing at a fairly high level.
I love the T'varo, but it's no bug. I wouldn't even say it obsoletes the B'rel - the B'rel is a better science ship, more reliably stealthy, and doesn't have the power level penalty. The T'varo is more akin to a tiny, cloak-firing escort than a bird of prey.
Well... the deliberate power creep theory is pretty well thrown out by the fact that the Jem'hadar attack ship is now nearly a year and a half old and still, if I remember correctly, the most powerful ship in the game, even significantly outstripping the later lockbox ships. Plus... my MVAM is still performing at a fairly high level.
I love the T'varo, but it's no bug. I wouldn't even say it obsoletes the B'rel - the B'rel is a better science ship, more reliably stealthy, and doesn't have the power level penalty. The T'varo is more akin to a tiny, cloak-firing escort than a bird of prey.
I'm not saying that the B'rel is useless. I'm saying that the penalties forced upon the B'rel are no longer necessary as other ships that fill a roughly similar role are statistically superior. The BOP class has many downsides, and newer ships simply have fewer downsides, while having greater boons.
I'm not saying that the B'rel is useless. I'm saying that the penalties forced upon the B'rel are no longer necessary as other ships that fill a roughly similar role are statistically superior. The BOP class has many downsides, and newer ships simply have fewer downsides, while having greater boons.
This is very true. However, the B'rel still has advantages, namely its four universal bridge officer slots whereas the T'varo forces you into a tactical role if you want to build a cloaking torpedo boat.
That being written, I am very much in favor of a balance pass on all the ships. It is sad that some of the most iconic ships in Trekdom (the Galaxy, Intrepid, and B'rel) are being left so far behind.
This is very true. However, the B'rel still has advantages, namely its four universal bridge officer slots whereas the T'varo forces you into a tactical role if you want to build a cloaking torpedo boat.
That being written, I am very much in favor of a balance pass on all the ships. It is sad that some of the most iconic ships in Trekdom (the Galaxy, Intrepid, and B'rel) are being left so far behind.
no it's not. i am flying it with moderate to good success as a sci torpedo boat
no it's not. i am flying it with moderate to good success as a sci torpedo boat
I would hardly call it a science torpedo boat if the commander level BOFF is not science and it forces you to give up more than half of your potential science BOFF abilities.
Now, I'm sure it is workable as a science-oriented tactical torpedo boat (you can get up to five science BOFF abilities), but that is hardly the nine I generally fly with or the eleven that the B'rel is capable of.
Furthermore, the nice thing about the B'rel is that it allows you to switch between a tactical and science Commander at will, allowing you to adjust to the PvP environment dynamically.
It is more akin to a science-oriented escort if you want to fly it that way. One of the things I do like about the Romulan ships is that many of the warbirds allow a strong science orientation.
Comments
just tested some STF's with the T'Varo and B'Rel.
the T'Varo has been hitted by NPC while cloaked whole lotta more than the B'Rel.
almost like i haven't been cloaked at all.
perhaps a bug.
anyone tested this in PVP?
While the Universal slots can allow for a lot, the sacrifices the ships have for it doesn't make it all that much of an advantage at all. It's only really a viable PvP ship and what 90% (?) of the STO community doesn't play PvP due to all the shines and expense you need to stay competitive today.
The BOP class in general needs a buff, none of are are saying turning them into fully fledged escorts just beef them up a bit with some more hull a more destroyer like shield modifier and perhaps an addition aft (or fore to spice things up a bit) weapon slot. The Raptor and destroyer class would still be a harder ship in terms of durability, it would just allow the ship to be a more viable choice for players in the PvE environment.
Those two items plus the fact that romulan and reman captains get a freaking ridiculous bonus cloak traits is what makes the b'rel obsolete.
KDF : Lets build a bird of prey raider that has a super-cloak that only works when firing torpedoes!
KDF Engineers: Ok! Here, we've given them +15 weapon power and 4 engineering consoles.
KDF : What? I just told you torpedoes not guns. Why use would I have for guns if it disables my special cloak? Why did you put 4 engineering consoles when this ship is an ambush attack vessel?
KDF Engineers: Thats what the chief designer said to do.
KDF : Wait... isn't he the son of the Quonos transporter officer?
KDF Engineers: Yes
KDF : /facepalm
Solution as a 'modernizing pass' for the B'rel T5:
Replace +15 weapon power with passive ship unique ability: During ambush (5 seconds after decloak), global timers for torpedoes are removed.
Replace the consoles with:
1 engineer
4 science
4 tactical
Fleet:
2 engineer
4 science
4 tactical
As I've noted in other, similar threads... Cryptic does not seem to have any interest in updating old ships. After it's been in the C-Store for a month, Cryptic forgets it even exists.
The closest you're gonna get is a new BoP you can buy from the C-Store. They want to sell new ships, not update old ones people have already bought.
Though it is worth mentioning the singularity mechanic is a double edged sword. The cloak on the t'varo is more effective than the b'rels at 0 singularity. With full singularity you're visible to most things and the only way to get rid of charge is to discharge before cloaking which means you can't really store it for later.
I think having -1 ensign boff slot and -1 rear weapon slot is worth having full universal boff slots. Seen some great brel support ships out there as they can heal and use sci skills while staying mostly cloaked and untargetable.
It is through repetition that we learn our weakness.
A master with a stone is better than a novice with a sword.
Has damage got out of control?
This is the last thing I will post.
It honestly does feel as if that is the case, but if that is true why do people continue to play the game if Cryptic is proving to be such a terrible company in the Free to Play market?
Player retention is of vital importance. The more players you get, and the happier you make them, the more likely they'll invest in your product. Cryptic continued stance toward ignoring major aspects of their game has resulted in my decision to never support the company directly through purchasing Zen through their store. If they showed a desire to keep their game balanced, that would be different. Just.. as it is right now, they honestly don't care about me as a player. They are relying entirely upon me being an irresponsible consumer who feeds them funds they certainly haven't earned.
People play the game largely because it's a fun and free casual experience (the free part being key). It also doesn't smack you over the head with the C-Store, despite what other people may claim -- it gives you a full leveling experience that's paced reasonably well for new, casual players, it gives you all of the starships you'll need if you don't feel like buying one, and it gives you unrestricted access to all of its content.
It doesn't make you pay for things like action bar space, it doesn't limit your cosmetic options (such as, the ability to show/hide armor and weapons), and it doesn't pop up with messages every time you load into a zone saying "Wouldn't you prefer not having your ship's system break down every other minute in the middle of combat? Unlock the 'can actually play the game' option in the C-store now!".
Say what you will about lockboxes and $50 ship packs, but neither of those are impeding your ability to enjoy the game, while it still makes Cryptic enough money to run a relatively successful, if also relatively small, F2P MMO.
I will agree that the bugs in this game are ridiculous, as there's clearly sloppy programming going on behind the scenes -- the game's graphics do not warrant such high temperatures on my GPU, and many bugs are annoyingly persistent. At the end of the day, though, I have fun running through the new Romulan story missions, the Atmosphere Assault mission, and continue to be very impressed with the new environment artwork as it comes (Romulan ship interiors are amazing). It's obvious that the artists really care about what they're doing over there, even if the programmers seem like they don't... and ultimately, I'm more willing to support the artists than I am to boycott the programmers.
Point taken. My previous comments were made primarily out of frustration, as is prone to happen when it comes to MMO games. But you're right. Cryptic is nowhere near the level of EA. There is a lot that we've been given, and considering they're working with the Champion's Online engine, they've done brilliantly with what they have to work with. I just wish they'd put as much effort into balance as they did into creating the Romulan faction.
That's fine. But the thing is, it's trading power (which the B'Real doesn't have to do) for access to lackluster singularity powers.
The B'Real is better. To quote AT&T's commercials, More is Better.
STO is such a frustrating game because of how fun it can be. We know there's a shining gem of a game underneath all of the slop we have to wade through, which is why it's so incredibly frustrating to have to deal with things like bugs and imbalanced ships -- we really want this game to be as good as it should be.
Again, though... I don't think the programmers have the same passion that the art design team does. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that the programmers don't want to deal with old bugs because they don't like their jobs -- they probably just don't have the motivation to do bug fixes on top of new content without wanting to shoot themselves.
This could be the fault of the game engine, though. They've openly said how they've had to use workarounds and tricks to get things to happen, since they're using a modification of the Champions engine. Ultimately, it's an engine that's doing things it wasn't designed to, which results in a tangled backend that's probably a nightmare to work with.
That doesn't explain things like the Fleet Defiant not having its proper Fleet-worthy shield modifier, or why they don't go back and fix older ships to bring them up to par, but I suspect it does (at least partly) explain why there are so many legacy bugs in the game.
In the context of this particular thread, though, you're not really discussing bugs. The difference between the B'Rel's layout and specs versus the T'Varo's layout and specs aren't rooted in bugs. For example, the B'Rel has less hull. That's not a bug.
Power creep isn't a bug. It's part of MMO design. That Cryptic wants you to buy new for sale ships to stay current, is how the game stays around. Giving out free upgrades to the ship you bought last year? Not part of their business model.
Many folks aren't taking into account how Singularity Charge affects Stealth.
Look at your Stealth value with 0 Charge.
Look at your Stealth value with 100 Charge.
Cryptic said that 5 pip Singularity would affect Stealth...
...and ouch, it does.
About GPU heat, you could try setting options -> video -> advanced -> troubleshooting -> reduce CPU/GPU usage = on, and possibly Limit Frame Rate = 60, although the latter likely isn't needed.
10ms sleep per frame isn't a huge deal if you have powerful enough GPU, and I find it can reduce heat generation a lot. For my laptop, it makes the difference in being able to run the game for hours, or to shut down due overheating in about 30 minutes. Even on my desktop it helps to keep the GPU fan noise down.
Graphics are indeed surprisingly pretty. I was really upset with not being able to return to the tutorial colony, simply because the place looked beautiful. It felt like such a waste.
I think the forward thinking scenario is to switch all ships over to singularity-style resource mechanics and have the mechanic favor the more shortchanged ships; in general, I think a Klingon resource mechanic should have more synergy with the BoP than more rugged ships and a Federation resource mechanic would give cruisers more to offer. Escorts would have raw power but cruisers would have better access to singularity style effects.
Have them accumulate differently and spend differently for each faction.
In the process, lower everyone's power level to 80, buff Fed cruisers to be an even match for Battlecruisers, and possibly re-evaluate cloak.
In general, I think ships should probably get 2 bonus engineer, tac, or sci consoles from where they are now. (Very few would get their bonus consoles as Tac slots but the weakest like the Aquarius and BoP might.)
However, I'd make all cloaks into consoles and give all ships that can use cannons 1 less bonus console.
So a fleet ship that has no cannons and no cloak equipped would have 12 console slots instead of 10.
But all ships with a cloaking device would need to use one of the 12 slots for a cloak and ships with cannons would only have 11 slots at the fleet level.
Only the weakest ships get any Tac consoles added from where they are now.
Or... You make cloaks innate for all ships.
Another thing I'd look at with certain ships that haven't gotten a fleet upgrade is to follow the basic pattern of the Vesta/Odyssey/etc. Probably make the D'Kyr, Galaxy-X, and a load of the Klingon ships fleet tier since there ARE fleet tier C-Store ships now and Gozer has said he doesn't intend for the older ships to be less powerful or desirable for new buyers. But raise the price $5 on those ships for any future buyers. (Which is more or less the revenue Cryptic would get by adding a fleet tier for those ships anyway.)
Lets also make it's battle cloak slowly fade while it's in combat, and in turn we could give it a bit more hull and shields.
We should also cut it's power levels all around by 20% or so, and in exchange give it an extra aft weapon slot.
Maybe nerf it's maneuvering a bit, and give it some extra crew to compensate.
The only way you could change a BOP's BOff slots is if you gave the KDF some science vessels as choices while leveling, and since all science vessels (Gorn ships) are C-Store only, that isn't going to happen. Considering they have such versatility, the lack of an ensign Boff slot is a valid balancing point. The other drawbacks, however, are no longer valid.
All in all, BOPs just need to be brought up to Escort level durability, and given another weapon slot. Considering the fact that KDF Battle Cloak is inferior to Romulan Battle Cloak, and Romulans have escorts with battle cloak, there's no reason why BOPs need to be so weak anymore.
Well said I couldn't agree more, plus the few science ships the KDF do have aren't that good to begin with and so many KDF players don't use them and even less buy them, which is another issue Cryptic needs to look at. They also need to stop making it so only Gorn have science ships, spread the love around.
There have been good suggestions in the KDF fleet section for viable KDF science ships, but fallen on deaf ears with Cryptic. The D5 Science ship suggestion has been my favourite and was pretty recent in it's suggestion.
All in all I think they need to allow for more input from the community, I can see STO if it keeps going the way it going loosing more paying customers than it will gain if this trend keeps going restricting more and more to boxes, nerfing things without even adding them to the patch notes or getting community input and forcing people to need to buy the latest stuff just to stay competitive. I won't even start on the rep grind.
There are still a number of ships belonging to the Klingon's allies that are not available as playable ships. The Zilant Battleship is one such example. There are also other Birds of Prey that I hear exist that are not in the game, so there are in-game models that could be touched up and added to the KDF.
Another sad part about the B'rel vs the T'varo. The T'varo has a console included with it, while the B'rel is priced the same, but includes no console. It'd be nice, but is really just wishful thinking that Cryptic would lower the price when you get less for the same investment.
It's possible they'll loose some players, but that'll happen regardless. I think the turnaround of playerbase currently in F2P scene is pretty high. People come, play a while, and leave. The people who stay for long haul aren't necessarily the ones who bring the most revenue. And unless the new ships are superior to old ones, there is no reason for old playerbase to buy them - and for the new people it gives a sense of superiority when they can spend cash to buy the latest brand, and that latest brand is more powerful than the older ships that are more widely spread.
What comes to lockboxes, I hate the whole concept. I loathe how real money gambling has made it's way into MMO games, but since people buy them and spend hundreds of dollars just to get the big win, they are going to stay unless some legal changes make them illegal. What makes it even more strange is, there is generally no information about how likely or unlikely any particular content is - so you're expected to buy them complitely blind. And still people do. Personally I have never bought keys, and never opened the boxes.
One of the first steps is making the current ships balanced. I've heard that Cryptic is one of those companies that couldn't even balance while standing on both feet, and cite Champion's Online as a prime example. I don't play Champions Online, so I couldn't say, but I'd like to hope that they'll show their true colors and their true intentions now that LoR is out.
I love the T'varo, but it's no bug. I wouldn't even say it obsoletes the B'rel - the B'rel is a better science ship, more reliably stealthy, and doesn't have the power level penalty. The T'varo is more akin to a tiny, cloak-firing escort than a bird of prey.
I'm not saying that the B'rel is useless. I'm saying that the penalties forced upon the B'rel are no longer necessary as other ships that fill a roughly similar role are statistically superior. The BOP class has many downsides, and newer ships simply have fewer downsides, while having greater boons.
This is very true. However, the B'rel still has advantages, namely its four universal bridge officer slots whereas the T'varo forces you into a tactical role if you want to build a cloaking torpedo boat.
That being written, I am very much in favor of a balance pass on all the ships. It is sad that some of the most iconic ships in Trekdom (the Galaxy, Intrepid, and B'rel) are being left so far behind.
no it's not. i am flying it with moderate to good success as a sci torpedo boat
I would hardly call it a science torpedo boat if the commander level BOFF is not science and it forces you to give up more than half of your potential science BOFF abilities.
Now, I'm sure it is workable as a science-oriented tactical torpedo boat (you can get up to five science BOFF abilities), but that is hardly the nine I generally fly with or the eleven that the B'rel is capable of.
Furthermore, the nice thing about the B'rel is that it allows you to switch between a tactical and science Commander at will, allowing you to adjust to the PvP environment dynamically.
It is more akin to a science-oriented escort if you want to fly it that way. One of the things I do like about the Romulan ships is that many of the warbirds allow a strong science orientation.