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This game has gone to the dogs
admiralwolf
Member Posts: 28 Arc User
Before much longer I'll be starting my 5th year in STO...that is if I choose to stay, which I seriously doubt now I will. I used to be among STO's strongest supporters, yet at this point I'm seriously considering leaving the game. Put simply, the powers-that-be have screwed this game so badly, it's not worth my time any longer.
I have 6 toons, and each flies among the most powerful ships in STO, Fleet level advanced weaponry (typically Fleet Advanced Antiproton DHCs, MK XII purple tac consoles, etc. etc....Tactical Scimitars, D'Kora's (with their +30 to all weps,) Armitage carrier escorts, Kumari, Fleet Ha'feh Assault Warbird....etc.) and if you imagine after nearly 5 years here I'm not well versed at ship's builds and the selection and use of weapons, you're in la la land. As a former USAF fighter pilot I do know something of tactics and I'm aggressive in the extreme in combat.
I've been seeing for the past two years changes being implemented which make all the work I've done to create the most devastating ships in the game, useless.
Most definitively; the best example of this is the mission I completed moments ago, Infected Space elite. 5 members on the team, one sits off at 45 Km and NEVER joins in the battle(s), midway through a second player for whatever reason leaves the mission and never returns. The remaining three of us complete the mission, with the last two team members getting flamed at least 5 times each... often unavailable for extended periods...leaving only me to fight; especially the final cube. (I was never roasted).
Once upon a time we were rewarded fairly for our efforts, that ended long ago. After nearly completing this ISE singlehanded, my rewards were ONE Borg Neural Processor and 85 Omega Marks. (meaning those two NOOBS who spent most of their time awaiting respawn received 11 and 6 procs to my one. The concept of "rolls" as they've long applied to mission rewards is the ultimate in unfair treatment of players who work hard to build the best ships possible, fight harder than most and through the application of all combined skills and effort are rewarded with minimal prizes, because the "roll' fell in someone else's favor, rather than being based on applied DPS or efforts or skills.
This isn't the exception to the "rolls" programming either, it's the norm. PWE and Cryptic have no idea what "fairness" is and such a concept has; over the past two years, become unknown in the game.
Another good example of this is how only via participation in fleets can any player acquire the finest equipment. PWEs and Cryptic's pushing for fleet participation forces us to join groups of people; who from two previous experiences I want NOTHING more or ever again to deal with. The last so-called fleet commander calls himself the fleet "dictator", chases skirts ONLY and having achieved T5 shipyard(s) and stores sells to anyone...fleet members or not, anything anyone wants so long as you're willing to pay HIM 10 million EC's for temporary access to the base store(s) and shipyard(s). The fleet members earn the T5 stores and equipment, yet HE profits hugely having never contributed Marks/Dilith, etc himself (as I've said, his time in game is spent chasing skirts ONLY)
Attn : PWE/Cryptic...some of us prefer to avoid such nonsense...and in doing so you've; by design, favored the fleets and put those of us who prefer not to join them at a great disadvantage. You've consistently demonstrated a complete absence of fairness to ALL players and an absolute lack of character inasmuch as I'm all to aware you're very much aware of the sordid goings on in many of the fleets...and yet force us all to join them or we must settle for substandard equipment availability.
I'm certain I'm far from being alone in my complaints against such loathsome practices and choices made by PWE/Cryptic, their completely prejudiced support for fleets and how players are funneled into them if they want to acquire decent equipment. I'm equally aware the powers-that-be are complicit in the abuse of fleet membership, inasmuch as my last "fleet commander" was "silenced" at least a half-dozen times for extremes in verbal abuse of people within the fleet. Even so, the self-described "dictator" remains with the blessings of the game's management.
ALL T5 level equipment made available to fleet members, should somehow be also made available to non-fleet players. I'm sure; if this were enacted players would increase their number of characters (I know I would) and PWE/Cryptic would make a financial killing were the equipment in question made available via the C-Store/Z-Store as well. More importantly, they'd demonstrate a true caring about ALL of the players and not just those whom submit to little dictators.
As for mission rewards; most especially as they apply to elite level STFs, once again players should EARN their rewards and NOT merely be given to them randomly based on the results of a random number generator. And don't you dare to suggest that's how the system's setup now... I've experience far too many occurrences of sleepers/sponges who accept elite STFs missions and flyoff to "safe" locations as they sit there "needing/greeding" rewards and post copied and pasted system messages indicating THEY received the 11 or 6 procs...laughing as they poof away from the scene of their crimes.
So someone tell me...why the heck would anyone want to continue placing oneself repeatedly into a situation; like STO, where fairness...for ALL players is completely absent and managerial prejudicial treatment is always putting non-fleet players at such great disadvantages?
I'm one of the "original" players here...few have been here longer. I've seen changes over the past 4 years that anyone with dignity and honor would strongly resent and object to (and I assure you MANY do!!!)
I'm tired of the TRIBBLE....it's time to find another game...this one has gone to the dogs.
I have 6 toons, and each flies among the most powerful ships in STO, Fleet level advanced weaponry (typically Fleet Advanced Antiproton DHCs, MK XII purple tac consoles, etc. etc....Tactical Scimitars, D'Kora's (with their +30 to all weps,) Armitage carrier escorts, Kumari, Fleet Ha'feh Assault Warbird....etc.) and if you imagine after nearly 5 years here I'm not well versed at ship's builds and the selection and use of weapons, you're in la la land. As a former USAF fighter pilot I do know something of tactics and I'm aggressive in the extreme in combat.
I've been seeing for the past two years changes being implemented which make all the work I've done to create the most devastating ships in the game, useless.
Most definitively; the best example of this is the mission I completed moments ago, Infected Space elite. 5 members on the team, one sits off at 45 Km and NEVER joins in the battle(s), midway through a second player for whatever reason leaves the mission and never returns. The remaining three of us complete the mission, with the last two team members getting flamed at least 5 times each... often unavailable for extended periods...leaving only me to fight; especially the final cube. (I was never roasted).
Once upon a time we were rewarded fairly for our efforts, that ended long ago. After nearly completing this ISE singlehanded, my rewards were ONE Borg Neural Processor and 85 Omega Marks. (meaning those two NOOBS who spent most of their time awaiting respawn received 11 and 6 procs to my one. The concept of "rolls" as they've long applied to mission rewards is the ultimate in unfair treatment of players who work hard to build the best ships possible, fight harder than most and through the application of all combined skills and effort are rewarded with minimal prizes, because the "roll' fell in someone else's favor, rather than being based on applied DPS or efforts or skills.
This isn't the exception to the "rolls" programming either, it's the norm. PWE and Cryptic have no idea what "fairness" is and such a concept has; over the past two years, become unknown in the game.
Another good example of this is how only via participation in fleets can any player acquire the finest equipment. PWEs and Cryptic's pushing for fleet participation forces us to join groups of people; who from two previous experiences I want NOTHING more or ever again to deal with. The last so-called fleet commander calls himself the fleet "dictator", chases skirts ONLY and having achieved T5 shipyard(s) and stores sells to anyone...fleet members or not, anything anyone wants so long as you're willing to pay HIM 10 million EC's for temporary access to the base store(s) and shipyard(s). The fleet members earn the T5 stores and equipment, yet HE profits hugely having never contributed Marks/Dilith, etc himself (as I've said, his time in game is spent chasing skirts ONLY)
Attn : PWE/Cryptic...some of us prefer to avoid such nonsense...and in doing so you've; by design, favored the fleets and put those of us who prefer not to join them at a great disadvantage. You've consistently demonstrated a complete absence of fairness to ALL players and an absolute lack of character inasmuch as I'm all to aware you're very much aware of the sordid goings on in many of the fleets...and yet force us all to join them or we must settle for substandard equipment availability.
I'm certain I'm far from being alone in my complaints against such loathsome practices and choices made by PWE/Cryptic, their completely prejudiced support for fleets and how players are funneled into them if they want to acquire decent equipment. I'm equally aware the powers-that-be are complicit in the abuse of fleet membership, inasmuch as my last "fleet commander" was "silenced" at least a half-dozen times for extremes in verbal abuse of people within the fleet. Even so, the self-described "dictator" remains with the blessings of the game's management.
ALL T5 level equipment made available to fleet members, should somehow be also made available to non-fleet players. I'm sure; if this were enacted players would increase their number of characters (I know I would) and PWE/Cryptic would make a financial killing were the equipment in question made available via the C-Store/Z-Store as well. More importantly, they'd demonstrate a true caring about ALL of the players and not just those whom submit to little dictators.
As for mission rewards; most especially as they apply to elite level STFs, once again players should EARN their rewards and NOT merely be given to them randomly based on the results of a random number generator. And don't you dare to suggest that's how the system's setup now... I've experience far too many occurrences of sleepers/sponges who accept elite STFs missions and flyoff to "safe" locations as they sit there "needing/greeding" rewards and post copied and pasted system messages indicating THEY received the 11 or 6 procs...laughing as they poof away from the scene of their crimes.
So someone tell me...why the heck would anyone want to continue placing oneself repeatedly into a situation; like STO, where fairness...for ALL players is completely absent and managerial prejudicial treatment is always putting non-fleet players at such great disadvantages?
I'm one of the "original" players here...few have been here longer. I've seen changes over the past 4 years that anyone with dignity and honor would strongly resent and object to (and I assure you MANY do!!!)
I'm tired of the TRIBBLE....it's time to find another game...this one has gone to the dogs.
Post edited by admiralwolf on
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This discussion has been closed.
Comments
As for crappy people in STFs, good luck in other games. People do it in pretty much every game I've ever played, and the only way to counter it is to play a game with a decently-implemented votekick system. Sorry to say, even games like wow, with one of the better vote-kick systems, have more than their share of afking loot sponges.
Finally, I've noticed that the free-to-play model has contributed somewhat to this game's degradation. When you start replacing steady streams of new and interesting content with "more TRIBBLE to buy and lockboxes to pop open" you're going to end up with yet another carnival game destined to enjoy only fleeting prosperity.
Actually, I've nearly decided to sell my account to an old friend here. He's aware of my ships and equipment, as well as knows I maintain roughly 100 million EC's in my account bank.
Short of creating a 7th toon and equipping him, none of my current 6 characters are in need of anything. Every available Advanced Fleet console has already been earned and installed for every toon. ALL of their weaponry; both space and on the ground is Advanced Fleet level Antiproton based and all armor/personal shields are also Advanced Fleet level.
Yup...after being here for so very long and seeing what's become of STO...my only participation is likely to become writing for MMO game associated periodicals. (as I have a few times in the past)
As regards STO I've recently completed the equivalent of an "Op Ed", which should I leave will surely be published. (Two editors have already read the piece and cannot publish it without my expressed written permission.) What surprised me was both editors were already very much aware of such complaints against the game. STO; in recent years has greatly fallen from grace...and deservedly so.
I love the game...but let's face it, extremes in prejudicial treatment against non-fleet players, repetitive abuse of players by fleet commanders and admirals while in response the game's management does nothing to put a stop to the abuse, these so-called "rolls" as they apply to mission rewards, together with how PWE/Cryptic have eliminated many missions dilithium rewards, etc., etc., etc....are have become well known within the game itself specifically and among the MMO gaming community, generally speaking.
I fixed that for you
With ARC soon to be mandatory few actually are outraged and have protested this then take the new FE its a damn money grab give free ship and 2 piece of set place advanced version and third console in lobi store.
And how many people are up in arms about this? not many then as you mentioned fleets being forced to be in them so players can acquire elite gear is BS.
But if PWE and cryptic were to all of a sudden decide to make elite gear avaiable for none flet members they would put them in lock boxes or the lobi store.
as for me im gonna play till the day ARC is implemented then im taking this game off my computer and walking away.
Worst of all when people complain about serious issues neither PWE or Cryptic pays attention they continue on their planned agendas.
Thread backfire?
As a Fleet Admiral, I've seen what my counterparts in other fleets are willing to do to get ECs and cred among their peers. I have seen and heard about some pretty shady stuff that goes well beyond what admiralwolf has expressed here. There really needs to be more review and oversight of fleets. At the very least, some kind of code of conduct or terms of service that sets out some basic guidelines about how a fleet is to be administered, and what penalties exist if those guidelines are violated. I think that the next big problem with fleets is going to be the creation of phishing fleets, staffed by scam artists claiming to offer discounted ZEN and dilithium to the unsuspecting and uninformed. They are already beginning to spam players (myself included). The next step is only logical.
The problem with the way rewards are allotted to players is also a very valid criticism. But I think a greater (relatively unaddressed) problem is that small clique of players who think their mission in the game is to mercilessly insult and criticize any other captain who doesn't measure up to their arbitrary "standards", which they themselves rarely meet. These people do more to turn people off of STO than a lot of what one can pin on Cryptic or PWE. I was hounded by one of these people for hours; their goal, it seemed, was to convince me to leave the game and never come back. Those players who see STO as their personal fiefdom need to be weeded out for the good of the community.
As for the fleet issue, perhaps it's time that non-fleet members are given access to a special part of ESD/Qo'nos/Romulan Flotilla that will provide them with the means of obtaining fleet-equivalent gear. Attempting to coerce people into joining anything is a bad idea, whether in-game or in real life. Besides, with the dysfunction that exists in so many fleets, continuing to make that push is tantamount to slitting one's own throat.
All of the above said, I won't give up on STO. This is all that remains of the prime timeline that gave us nearly 40 years of enjoyment. I'm too much of a Star Trek fan to let go of that.
And, admiralwolf, if you want, you're welcome to join the fleet I'm in, if only to get the fleet-level upgrades. Assuming everything you've written is true, and I have no reason to question your integrity on this, it's only fair.
- you can quit your fleet if you don't like how it is run and look for another one
- i do not see what is wrong with giving non fleet players access to fleet gear (and i think it is unlikely that anybody would pay 10 million EC for that access)
- for your STF problem... just go to EliteSTF or PublicEliteSTF chat channels... no AFKers in there. (i agree it is an annoying problem)
- rewards in this game are lackluster... points here, points there... it is all just grind at this point to move % bars.
- Fleet gear is not necessarily THE BEST gear in the game, Rep Gear, LockBox gear... and simple Mk XII purple items from drops are just as good, if not better. It all comes down to what build you are going for. Fleet gear has a lot of DMG stats, yet Crit and Acc is what players want most.
that said, i just paused playing when the Scimitar was released few months ago, after the disappointing LOR experience. (disappointing as in: one big, somewhat fun, chunk of content... and after that the same old boring endgame again... with even more bugs now)... 2 weeks of fun and 6 months of wait with a bugged to hell client is not what i call "being entertained".
...
playing mostly Marvel Heroes now, seeing patches every week that have more lines than what Cryptic produces in 3 months really puts this maintenance mode game into perspective.
And BF3 and from today on BF4... and TODAY i will take a look at that new mission with Worf voice overs, because that is the first time in a long time that something in STO "happens" that isn't cookie cutter TRIBBLE. ... i hope.
If that can't get me back into the STO mood, i doubt Season 8 will with that odd Dinosaur stuff, i will give it a chance but i expect another grind zone for another stupid slowly moving reputation % bar with another set of boring but expensive gear attached as reward... plus new *must have* power creep skills for all 11 characters. Busy work != Entertainment.
That said, a lot of your problems seem to be due primarily to the behaviour of other players, not so much the game itself - and it's not going to differ much from game-to-game.
That your builds are outdated is not cryptic's fault, its your own fault not learning to adapt.
It would be utterly boring to run the same builds all the time.
I find the most fun with this game is to fiddle around with builds, and figure out a unique build that noone else has been able to do. Every time cryptic come with some change, or implement new stuff into the game im all gitty. Because i get new toys to play with. New builds to try out.
If Cryptic did not make changes or come with new content to the game i would of quit ages ago. But with the constant flow of new content cryptic provides, they always keep me interessted.
Playing an MMO is all about playing (with and against other players) vs environment. And your blabbering about not getting enough neural proccessors from stf's is just silly. STF's today are way to easy to plough through because of the constant "new stuff" and that people have learned how to build stronger ships. If you have trouble doing STF's you should really considder getting yourself new ship-builds, and considder finding a fleet that actually can help you make decent builds. There are like many others has commented in this thread fleets that have max tier5 starbases and holdings that dont require anything from you other than just being in the fleet and have fun.
So instead of whining on the forums, please go seek out a new fleet, find people you enjoy playing with, and learn how to rebuild your ships so they can perform better.
People being annoying is not the game s fault. perhaps they can do a better job of limiting how people can TRIBBLE others over but Its an MMO and sometime you team with bad apples. Find a new fleet, team with many of the other fantastic players.
this is hardly the end of the world. The game has not gone to the dogs. this year alone they have released some of their best stuff.
but do what you want.
Valdus | Charn | Costello | Typhus | Thyran
I personally like the idea that fleet members should 'earn' the good fleet stuff but basically be an active member of the fleet and have whatever fleet equipment you want.
I am now bracing myself for the torrent of nay sayers who are sure to tell me this is the wrong way a fleet should be run.
IT'S THE WRONG WAY!!! Hahah JK dude.
Dradex by any chance? LOL
Indeed it is
While I am sort of okay with the idea of fleet gear and all that I do find the idea of all these Fleet ships to be a bit stupid.
It has gotten to the point where if your ship is not a fleet ship it is probably TRIBBLE. Moreover, the new ships are generally only worth getting if it is the fleet version. However, working up a fleet to the point to get the best ships is anything but easy. This means that if you do not have access to these ships (which they often put behind Tier V ship yards) then you may as well not bother buying most of the C-Store ships.
Moreover, they keep adding new holdings and for smaller fleets who are struggling to get anything off the ground having yet ANOTHER project to work on is a major headache and disappointing. It irks me even more that they are putting the Vet ships behind a whole NEW grind. I am fine with the idea of them costing a Module or two but instead of making you have to build up a whole NEW holding to have a chance of claiming them it should only require a Tier I Shipyard.
I have only ever bought ONE fleet ship because the T'Varo was amazingly on the first Tier. It is not unlikely that I will only EVER buy that one ship from fleet stores. Furthermore, I actually passed on both the new Romulan Flight-Deck Warbird and the Avenger because I realized that both would be pretty worthless unless I got the Fleet Versions and I could not do that so as a result I passed on them altogether which is NOT my normal behavior. I have bought a LOT of ships in this game. It is fair to say I have almost every ship available to all THREE factions but that is going to slow down at this point.
Sorry to hear you may go OP... If folks like you who actually are good players all leave then we will be stuck with just the bad players.
The best-kept secret in Star Trek Online: you can do just fine in any ship.
I'll just stay here and have fun with STO and season 8!
Very true.
And I keep trying to tell people this. There is no "I win" button and the whole point of playing a game is to have FUN. That should be your only motivation.
I took 2.5 years off and only returned about a month ago and I'm really enjoying it once more.
I too am a Fleet Leader (of a currently tiny fleet in STO but we've covered many games since starting in 2000) and we've always been friendly and family oriented. I've got us almost to tier 1 single handed and whilst I'd welcome the help (and will hopefully be getting it soon when other Clanmates come to STO) I won't pressure anybody or stoop to the tactics I'm hearing in this thread.
An MMO is usually a long term game anyway so rushing to do everything just leaves one rather bored.
Right, I must stop blathering and get to my regeneration alcove.
Cheers.
Builds:
http://tinyurl.com/kqqg8f5
http://tinyurl.com/n3ewgcw
If your fleet leader is crappy, nothing is stopping you from simply leaving and joining another fleet. The fleet gear is meant as a reward for the hard work it takes to build a fleet. The players in fleets are not being given the best gear. In fact, even earning the fleet credits to buy a lot of it costs more than any equivalent reputation gear. The 100k fleet credits it costs to buy an elite scorpion hangar (for example) would take 100,000 dilithium, 334-400 white duty officers (at least 20k each so more then 8M EC most likely), or a similar amount of commodities. Combine this with the cost of provisioning the projects all the way up, and fleet gear becomes more expensive then C-store ships.
I can get any C-store ship for ~350k dilithium, which would not be enough to equip that same ship with elite fleet equipment unless you are lucky enough to contribute fleet marks (which in a mature fleet are a very small proportion of possible contributions). Even lobi store gear is not much more expensive, considering that you can get a key for about 13.5k dilithium worth of zen, which gives you a few Lobi and a chance to get something worth tens of millions on the exchange.
The fact is, you can get everything in this game without spending a cent. Easy ways exist to convert between Zen, EC and Dilithium. This is so far beyond what many other free games are pushing that it is a major plus for STO. I have played games where it would take as long to grind one gear upgrade from level 9 to 10 (out of 15) as it would to get to tier 5 in all 3 reputations. You have it better then you realize.
To address the STF rewards:
The random system is the only way to go. Otherwise, you will have people farming 1st place by circle healing and overheal damage. Instead of a ****ty player who is still trying to contribute, you get someone in a 10k DPS scimitar unloading into the gateway in ISE for 10 minutes while you are shooting the transformers. He gets 1st place through aggregate damage while contributing absolutely nothing to the STF.
The system works for minefield and SB24 because there is really no way to game it - every damage point counts for something and you can't get enough healing to overcome damage without taking fire from something. In a STF this is not true. You can deal 10M damage without contributing anything due to NPC heals and mission requirements.
If you can't handle public queueing, join one of the many channels setting up STFs. PublicEliteSTF rarely requires waiting more then 5 minutes for any game, if that. If you are as good as you imply, you can join DPS5K or DPS11K, etc and play with other high output players, finishing an ISE run with 11 minutes left on the optional. Beyond that, you can join a different fleet and find some friends to play with. I am in a tier 2 fleet and can usually get at least one other person to play with me, if not 2 or 3 - and this is with me playing from a time zone 1:30 ahead of EST and 3 hours behind Europe (so pretty ****ty as it goes).
The fact is, you are doing absolutely nothing to improve your own gameplay experience and therefore deserve the hardships you get. You expect all the perks of a free game, with none of the drawbacks. It is not cheap to create new content or even to run servers, yet you seem to not be willing to support the game you have played so much due to problems entirely of your own creation.
If you want to enjoy STO, you need to enjoy STO. Get out there and actually try, as opposed to crying in your computer chair that some AFKer just got all of 2000 dilithium's worth of BNPs while you only got your 85 marks and 960. Stop being the problem and start finding solutions.
Is a fleet ship a "must" - No
Are you being held "hostage" by your fleet - No
Can you avoid "AFK'ers" and the public que - Yes (been able to for years)
Has all of the above been common / public information for years - YES
So, what is left in this thread??
I see now, this is a "Look at me, over here, ME, ME, ME, give me your attention, I need to be the centre of attention, I NEED YOU TO VALIDATE MY EXISTENCE AND LOVE ME" - thread.
Sad, lonely thread creator, we are here for you. Do not feel depressed or sad, you are not alone. Here, have a hug [/sarcastic comment]
get over yourself.
If you want to really help offer real suggestion for the game improvement. stop threatening to leave. and most of all stop crying