Dear Cryptic..

wufangchu · May 2013

Will you please get a clue??
Last night i ran three STF elite missions and this morning the "Easy" CE mission. In every single one of them ( after the "emergency" maintenance ), everyone one else quit the STF's in disgust, leaving me by myself.. I'm sorry, but my little ship cannot solo a borg cube and it certainly cant solo the CE.. I can only assume that these other people at some point will also stop playing the game, so will you PLEASE get a clue and DE-buff whatever it was you did to make everything so screwed up with these missions. i do NOT want to play alone..

dragashein · May 2013

Don't know about the people you've been running with in PUGs, but I've been having issues with maintaining a stable connection which occasionally causes me to drop out of a STF and not be able to return in a timely fashion. This could be why you're finding yourself trying to solo these things.

Admittedly, part of my connection issue has been the fault of ISP - they seem to be having issues with maintaining a stable service; something that's been an issue for the last two or three months...

the1tigglet · May 2013

Was wondering why people kept leaving before we ever got started happened to me three times and it's not limited to space. People just join STFs apparently and then drop (not disconnect mind you just leave entirely).

Not sure what's happening but yeah they definitely need to fix whatever it is, this is getting old. Half my fleet is talking about leaving the game because they can't connect for more then five minutes.

darthwoo · May 2013

I've been trying to do my daily rounds of Big Dig on all my alts, but I can't even stay in a single instance of it for more than 5 seconds. I try to rejoin ten times, same thing happens every time. I try a new instance an hour later, same thing. This is just getting absurd.

misterde3 · May 2013

A friend told me an hour ago that he'd tried to run Mirror Events earlier and always got kicked from the map right at the start...I beginning to see a pattern here...

wufangchu · May 2013

I just pulled up outside ESD.. There were fifteen ships there.. ONLY 15.. Normally its so full i'm complaining about the congestion.. People are leaving, thats the bottom line.. Bran?/ Cryptic?? Please rethink your stratagem because your now driving people away..

marc8219 · May 2013

Server seems pretty busy to me since last down time yesterday.

You really should be able to solo cubes in STFs though or you need to work on your build. Its possible with any character class or ship type, I use soloing a cube on elite as one of my tests to see if a new build is viable or not. Even without rep gear yet its not that hard.

blafi · May 2013

wufangchu wrote: »

I just pulled up outside ESD.. There were fifteen ships there.. ONLY 15.. Normally its so full i'm complaining about the congestion.. People are leaving, thats the bottom line.. Bran?/ Cryptic?? Please rethink your stratagem because your now driving people away..

You were put in an unpopulated instance because the others where already too crowded seems to be what happened there.

jam3s1701 · May 2013

blafi wrote: »

You were put in an unpopulated instance because the others where already too crowded seems to be what happened there.

Was going to say the same, but not so nicely lol

Unknown · May 2013

This content has been removed.

wufangchu · May 2013

Well, it just happened again.. During the STf, Infected: The Conduit, all the players left after almost an hour and a half of trying to kill ( unsuccessfully ) the borg tactical cube.. Time and time again we'd get it down to 79%, and time and time again because we're all so damaged at that point, it would kill all five of us and repair itself to full during the two minute wait periods.. Thes folks werent booted off, they left, and i cant say as i blame them.. this is ridiculous.

equinox976 · May 2013

Its probably 'working as intended'.

wufangchu · May 2013

equinox976 wrote: »

Its probably 'working as intended'.

Dont fuel my imagination.. I mean really, if they want to kill a franchise the best way to do it is drive off the customers, and th best way to do that is make the game as un-enjoyable and un-winable as possible.. They are doing a very good job of those two things..

nirramin · May 2013

wufangchu wrote: »

Well, it just happened again.. During the STf, Infected: The Conduit, all the players left after almost an hour and a half of trying to kill ( unsuccessfully ) the borg tactical cube..

But how did you achieve such remarkable results?
Really, you could not kill tac cube? Really? Did you try shoot it? Or heal each other's ships and shields?

I can understand why people don't like being oneshotted. I can understand, why people don't like chasing spheres all over the map (well.. well-placed Gravity Well can help somewhat...). But problem with killing one tactical cube? :rolleyes:

nirramin · May 2013

reyan01 wrote: »

I can't emphasise this enough: Gravity Well doesn't do a thing anymore. I played ISE using my Vesta yesterday. With an overcharged warp core, I was running 130 Aux, have a MkXII Embassay Particle Generator consoles equipped and my sci character has full points to the Particle Generation skill.

Each time I used GWIII the Spheres simply flipped EPtE's on and off they flew. Writing a polite letter requesting that they behave themselves would have been more effective.

I mean, it does work if you can debuff the spheres (when they use EPtE's), with Subnucleonic Beam or Chroniton torpedoes for example, but Subnucleonic Beam can't be relied upon as it's cooldown is just too prohibitive, and chroniton torpedoes may slow them, but they lack the DPS to do much else.

Particle Generators does not improve 'pull' of the well, only its damage. Do you have any points in Graviton Generatos?
I noticed that my GWs become less effective on targets, but thought it was because my sci is specced fully in Particles with zero point in Gravitons.

getabigdogupyou · May 2013

My old fleet pretty much all went to play Guild wars a while back but about 30 of them came back for the LOR game play less than 10 are still back and a few did charge backs on their cards so they would get perma banned and never be tempted to come back again..

I can only say as a lifer and sto hard core fan that this is damaging our rep and I am noticing the population dcrease at my usual hang out spots we should be seeing more peoplenot less.....................

beefsupreme79 · May 2013

nirramin wrote: »

But how did you achieve such remarkable results?
Really, you could not kill tac cube? Really? Did you try shoot it? Or heal each other's ships and shields?

I can understand why people don't like being oneshotted. I can understand, why people don't like chasing spheres all over the map (well.. well-placed Gravity Well can help somewhat...). But problem with killing one tactical cube? :rolleyes:

have you done an elite stf since lor? they are waaaaay harder, and without a perfect team of all maxed charachters, its very difficult. oh and one shot invisi torps are common now, even while speeding away on evasive....lame as fck

rylanadionysis · May 2013

beefsupreme79 wrote: »

have you done an elite stf since lor? they are waaaaay harder, and without a perfect team of all maxed charachters, its very difficult.

My escort tanks the elite level tac cube all of the time. Just did it last night in a fleet stf.

Ive noticed this with a lot of pug groups... that the players are flying very very poorly set up ships and clearly have no idea how to fly them properly.

When one person in a fleet advanced escort using tt2, tss1/tss3, he2, rsp, and epts 1 (and using evasive to get out of 10k range when in a full cooldown situation) can tank the tac cube but these people couldnt, it becomes plainly obvious what the problem is... and it isnt the mob.

If youre down with it ill get on my old advanced escort and use non fleet gear and prove it can be done with that, too. Heck my fleet ship isnt even maxed out, im still using mk xi disruptor DHCs and mk xi borg gear O_O

alexrichards · May 2013

If a MOB requires to you play in a very specific way in a game with multiple possible combinations then yes, it is the MOB that is at fault. I'm not saying a ship decked out with standard gear should be able to do all these things but, requiring you to have an exact boff power layout and specific maxed gear is bad game design.

nirramin · May 2013

beefsupreme79 wrote: »

have you done an elite stf since lor? they are waaaaay harder, and without a perfect team of all maxed charachters, its very difficult. oh and one shot invisi torps are common now, even while speeding away on evasive....lame as fck

Yes, I did. It is more difficult than before, but somehow I've managed not to die even last time, when I aggroed cube and keep it on me till the end.
Maybe it's because of that great "oh,cra~" button from t5 rom reputation, maybe it's because of 'Miracle Worker' -- I don't know. But in the end, my fleet tac escort retrofit (2pc mk XI Borg + Mk XI MACO shields, one blue mkXI neutronium console) survived.

So, I repeat: I can understand why spheres' EPtE is bad. I can understand why being oneshotted is bad. What I can't understand is why five man team can't kill one tac cube in hour and a half?

...Maybe they all were in Mirandas?:rolleyes:

gardat · May 2013

alexrichards wrote: »

If a MOB requires to you play in a very specific way in a game with multiple possible combinations then yes, it is the MOB that is at fault. I'm not saying a ship decked out with standard gear should be able to do all these things but, requiring you to have an exact boff power layout and specific maxed gear is bad game design.

I'm not sure you understand what an "elite" STF is. It's for experienced players who know what they are doing. If you don't know then of course you will explode a lot and fail things.

If you don't know how to survive and thrive in elite STFs you should be doing normal and learning how to improve your ship build and personal skills.

equinox976 · May 2013

reyan01 wrote: »

And to add to that I have found that, on one or two occasions, you get blindsided by spheres that used their newfound EPtE ability, shot off out of range, and decide to come running back to add insult to injury when 'big brother' (tac cube) hits you with a shield-drain blast.

They've definitely made things more challenging, but (for me) much less enjoyable.

johnny111971 · May 2013

I, for one, welcome increased difficulty in STF's (especially "Elite" STF's). A poster a couple above me commented about being able to tank a tac cube in his escort... Sorry, but that shouldn't be the case. The elite missions SHOULD require 5 skilled players to have the shot. The optional should not be considered a "given". Now, I don't think the EPtE was the best choice, but you know what... I feel (albeit small) sense of accomplishment when we hit those optional's again.

I am also in favor of creating a need for multiple classes/roles in the Elite STF's to make the optional doable... 2-3 Escorts, Healer, Tank... (aka your invisa-torp issue... If you had a proper tank (Speced to grab & hold Agro (yes this means Threat Control)... and take a lot of damage), and the invisatorps did a respectable amount of damage (something that would lay waste to an escort, cripple a science ship (kill it if it is any < than say 95% hull & shields), but say take 80% of a decently built cruisers hull), and fire no more than say once a minute or two. End result, if your tank grabs agro, it will be fighting to stay alive, while your escorts are "givin it all they got", and your healer is throwing heals to the team.

Picture the spheres and Tac Cube acting in tandem... the tank is occupying the cube (not going to kill it... but keeping its weapons trained on the tank), your escorts are engaging the spheres, you healer/cc is grouping the spheres and tossing heals, debuffing the tac cube... making optional with a minute or so to spare.

Now.. take away the tank... the cube starts man handling the escorts for "doing to much damage" (making them his b@#ch, for lack of a better term), the healer/cc is overwhelmed and is gone to full aux mode, forgoing any dps for that little extra heal, or pushing the spheres away to lighten the attention on the escorts"... escorts fall, people begin dieing... eventually the team succeeds in defeating the borg... the optional is dicey... the team is going to really have to work at it.

Now, take away the healer... everything seems fine with the extra DPS, until the tank gets hit with a crippling (80% hit), and is still taking fire... heals on CD... the tank falls, tac cube again begins to make TRIBBLE of the escorts... escorts, without any healing support, were already having a difficult time keeping alive against the spheres, and when the cube wonders over... team regroups.... again the optional is dicey... its going to be close (if not missed).

Take away escorts... the team is doing alright, tanks and tanking, healers are healing, both throwing all they have at the enemy... but the team lacks the dps to dispatch the enemy in sufficient time to insure optional success... again... its going to be close.

Thats how an Elite STF should go, and only if the team playing is truly elite, a good team accustomed to playing together. For normals... back it down a little.

Give them powers, give them AI, give them teeth... you get my vote... but this just EPtE and running away like a frightened school girl... is beneath them.

I really would like the days to return when you see "LF Sci Healer, Eng Tank, for KA elite" and a lot less of "Go Tac or Go Home"

johnny111971 · May 2013

reyan01 wrote: »

And to add to that I have found that, on one or two occasions, you get blindsided by spheres that used their newfound EPtE ability, shot off out of range, and decide to come running back to add insult to injury when 'big brother' (tac cube) hits you with a shield-drain blast.

You know what.. thats a perfect use for the EPtE skill...and a pretty smart tactic on their part...

johnny111971 · May 2013

reyan01 wrote: »

But as I noted in my last, and other previous, post; CC is a thing of the past. EPtE negates it and it is not, therefore, a consideration anymore.

And as for Sphere's running away like frightened schoolgirls - like frightened schoolgirls they run straight for their Dad/Big Bro (tac cube/gate/whatever other backup is around).

like I said, EPtE may not have been the best choice... but it is a step in the right direction. I do think that some of the spheres should have it... but maybe not all.

As stated by someone in a previous post... it shouldn't be that you require a very specific boff power... it should be, a mix of powers that your enemies has, a mix that can change and is random... sometimes you GW will work, and other times it wouldn't and shouldn't...

Take PVP for example, we all know... we can build to avoid a particular power, develop a counterto a particular power/drain/ability... but we give up something somewhere else... so maybe our GW (by the way I prefer sci healer/cc myself)) works 70% of the time...

grimrak1 · May 2013

My fleet and allies were rather concerned with the reports of STFs being rather hard and taking an hour and a half to kill a single tac cube. After a lot of disucssion, five random guys from our inter-fleet channel got together to test these out. We had to rush as the server was coming down, so we ended up with three beam cruisers, a beam dreadnought carrier and a bugship, captained by four tacs and an engineer.

Took us roughly five minutes.

Yeah, the spheres are kind of funny now that they've got EPTE, but they're hardly invincible. The cubes melted, the gate did practically nothing, and the nanite spheres didn't even have enough time to get halfway to the generators before we blew them up.

One of our team members recorded it for everyone to watch, if you wanted some pointers on how to beat an STF. It sounds like some of you may need it. :cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ_dTfZpkTE

johnny111971 · May 2013

hit reply too soon...

I don't think that we should have a power that is 100% effective everytime we throw it (talking about offensive (i include slow and hold in this group) abilities... anymore than every sphere should have EPtE making the GW a useless skill.

johnny111971 · May 2013

grimrak1 wrote: »

My fleet and allies were rather concerned with the reports of STFs being rather hard and taking an hour and a half to kill a single tac cube. After a lot of disucssion, five random guys from our inter-fleet channel got together to test these out. We had to rush as the server was coming down, so we ended up with three beam cruisers, a beam dreadnought carrier and a bugship, captained by four tacs and an engineer.

Took us roughly five minutes.

Yeah, the spheres are kind of funny now that they've got EPTE, but they're hardly invincible. The cubes melted, the gate did practically nothing, and the nanite spheres didn't even have enough time to get halfway to the generators before we blew them up.

One of our team members recorded it for everyone to watch, if you wanted some pointers on how to beat an STF. It sounds like some of you may need it. :cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ_dTfZpkTE

This is exactly what is wrong with the game tho... .on a "set" or pre-made team... I don't have any issues either... none... I wouldn't say i've completed all the missions in 5 minutes... I didn't watch the video, but 3 Elite STF's in 5 minutes is insane... 5 minutes per is insane...

What it should be is tips to finish with 5 minutes on the timer.... not dps sausage fests.

gardat · May 2013

johnny111971 wrote: »

This is exactly what is wrong with the game tho... .on a "set" or pre-made team... I don't have any issues either... none... I wouldn't say i've completed all the missions in 5 minutes... I didn't watch the video, but 3 Elite STF's in 5 minutes is insane... 5 minutes per is insane...

What it should be is tips to finish with 5 minutes on the timer.... not dps sausage fests.

Shouldn't you watch the video before commentating on it? Also I'm pretty sure he said it was one STF.

grimrak1 · May 2013

johnny111971 wrote: »

This is exactly what is wrong with the game tho... .on a "set" or pre-made team... I don't have any issues either... none... I wouldn't say i've completed all the missions in 5 minutes... I didn't watch the video, but 3 Elite STF's in 5 minutes is insane... 5 minutes per is insane...

What it should be is tips to finish with 5 minutes on the timer.... not dps sausage fests.

Yeah you should probably watch the video. We did one STF, not three. Also, not a premade, it was literally a pick up group of guys from our allied fleets.

lordmalak1 · May 2013

Thanks for dropping me into an STF this morning where the optional was already blown and 2 guys had already left.

...And thanks to the guys that stayed, we sure shredded all the borg that spawned in the barely started mission.

Dear Cryptic..

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