Could you pls flip the stats instead of insane hp have them do insane damage or just tripple the npc.
Right now you are forcing players on elite to become cookie cutter hull eating builds not everyone wants to play grav well wars or tbr tag.
Also as game designer you should know how people mental gratification works they would rather have a hard time killing tons of mobs. This stimulates the mind more and leaves players with more gratification. Killing a small amount of mobs over long time frame with no mental difficulty (zombie mode) does not stimulate mental gratification but frustrates.
Gameplay now is boring and frustrating and forces player base into cookie cutter builds..
Nova Core
ParadiseKiller
House of Beautiful Orions Zeadonouse ToLate
Cryptic, please remember that casuals ho play an hour a week and do not spend money on the game are useless for any MMO. Look at this thread, they barely scored 50 pages of qqing in 4 days. If the new difficulty would be a problem for majority, this topic would have grown to 1,000-2000 pages in 1-2 days. End game content must be hard... end game gear must be hard to obtain...
This how all successful mmo work:
"Make no mistake, end-game is all about challenging harder and harder content and having fun while doing so. As you complete content you will gain better gear, which can be used to challenge even harder content. If your gear is not good enough then you will struggle with content, so it is important to not get too far ahead of yourself. While it may feel that end-game is all about gear, the main thing is having fun. The gear rewards you for taking on the challenges and gives you the feeling of getting stronger as you beat higher challenges."
Boy we can sure tell this person is a forum troll, simply by the comment and, how few posts hey have made.
Game is fine as it is. L2P or you will be repurposed.
Endgame content is tuned around level 60.
The previously difficulty was a joke. ISE was doable in shutles.
Was that how the startrek spirit was, Federation destroying everything by just breathing in enemy direction ? Or was a struggle with planning and calculated risks ?
Could you pls flip the stats instead of insane hp have them do insane damage or just tripple the npc.
Right now you are forcing players on elite to become cookie cutter hull eating builds not everyone wants to play grav well wars or tbr tag.
Also as game designer you should know how people mental gratification works they would rather have a hard time killing tons of mobs. This stimulates the mind more and leaves players with more gratification. Killing a small amount of mobs over long time frame with no mental difficulty (zombie mode) does not stimulate mental gratification but frustrates.
Gameplay now is boring and frustrating and forces player base into cookie cutter builds..
Solo play so boring it hurts. I've been doing some patrols on elite for XP, and the NPCs can't shoot their way out of a paper bag. I've been alt-tabbing to a web browser while fighting battleships... my shield and hull heal procs outheal its damage while it takes forever to wear down its hull.
I guess they wanted to make STO more like Eve, huh?
And as for the queues on Advanced... I don't play games for a frustrating, timer-based challenge. I play them for an entertaining escape. I want the frustration to stay in Real Life where it belongs.
Game is fine as it is. L2P or you will be repurposed.
Endgame content is tuned around level 60.
The previously difficulty was a joke. ISE was doable in shutles.
Was that how the startrek spirit was, Federation destroying everything by just breathing in enemy direction ? Or was a struggle with planning and calculated risks ?
I suppose it is, if you have a job and buy dil rather than farming it
As it is, you have to be jobless to earn dil to reach that daily cap
No dil cap raise, just dil harder to get.
Free 2 play, some say it's pay2win... I say it's pay2notgrind
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone elses opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. ~ Oscar Wilde
Game is fine as it is. L2P or you will be repurposed.
Endgame content is tuned around level 60.
The previously difficulty was a joke. ISE was doable in shutles.
Was that how the startrek spirit was, Federation destroying everything by just breathing in enemy direction ? Or was a struggle with planning and calculated risks ?
It's not fine as it is. The curve has been boosted so high it makes new players impossible to reach level to do any advanced content even.Even FA is overly hard for the poor lower tier captains who queue.
Great, some people could do it in shuttles, they made a new elite. There is the increased difficulty with the new system.... but you still need TIERS of difficulty along a curve to aid in leveling. normal/hard/insane...... not normal/almost wacko/insane. Especially in a system where people are mostly locked out of gear for almost wacko content that is gated by materials only attainable by playing almost wacko content content.
Game is fine as it is. L2P or you will be repurposed.
Endgame content is tuned around level 60.
The previously difficulty was a joke. ISE was doable in shutles.
Was that how the startrek spirit was, Federation destroying everything by just breathing in enemy direction ? Or was a struggle with planning and calculated risks ?
Problem is it's not tuned...All it is is ships tickling each other until one explodes from laughing too hard. Normal and Advanced should have stayed the same until they get the scaling worked out for the level increase. I do agree elite should be strap on your jock strap because it's going to get rough, but there is a glaring problem when Superior Beam Upgrade Kits have quintupled in price. Even Engineer ones are over 1 mil now. The reason is simple, people can't complete the STFs to get the Mats combined with people buying them up to get high enough tiered gear to maybe complete them.
So how would you explain the videos being posted of groups completing the new Advanced and Elite queues with all optionals?
To brag. What else are such videos for? Besides whether its doable isn't the point, so much as whether its pugmade-able in something other than an AOE-DPS build. Otherwise you ground 2/3 of the possible builds in the game. Besides, outside of DS9's Dominion War stuff, how many episodes of Trek were solved by volume of fire? As it is now, we may as well be playing Gradius Online.
This is a rather interesting comment. So how would you explain the videos being posted of groups completing the new Advanced and Elite queues with all optionals? If others are able to do it, clearly everyone has the potential to do the same. It then becomes a question of build, gear and player experience. From that perspective, "learn to play" is valid.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating cookie cutter builds or being an elitist, just pointing out that it's clear that this new content is doable.
I dont think there is any question if its double because it is with the right build and gear.
What the real question is in my opinion.
IS IT FUN'.....
My experiance no...
I would have rather them double or triple the damage instead. So its fly by the seat of your pants hard and fun. Now its slow kills and BORING.
Nova Core
ParadiseKiller
House of Beautiful Orions Zeadonouse ToLate
Welcome to Delta Rising. A lot has changed in the game difficulty, and we are looking for your feedback.
Delta Rising was a massive addition, and we anticipate that we will need to make adjustments. So over the next few weeks expect changes in the baseline difficulty, advanced difficulty, and elite difficulty - and also expect rewards to change as we gather more metrics on play-times and success rates.
Our goal was to make basic difficulty and the story content something everyone can play - even with a standard T5 ship. Levels 1-50 are generally pretty easy at basic difficulty, so we felt 51-60 should step things up a bit. Although we expect 51-60 accessible everyone, those in T5 ships and non-upgraded gear should to start to feel a definite challenge as they approach level 60. We expect Advanced to be for more skilled players and those who have invested in the game (ships and gear). And we expect Elite to be for the best of the best. We don't expect most players to succeed on elite difficulty.
If I were to guess, I would expect basic to get some minor tuning, Advanced to get a little easier and Elite to get a lot harder - and rewards, like dilithium rewards, could potentially go up across queues once we are sure we are hitting the right mark. But this is just my guess at this time.
Until then, let us know your thoughts here, and we will take your feedback into consideration.
Thanks, and we hope you enjoy Delta Rising.
LLAP
THIS is the point of the entire thread.
The community has been engaged directly by Cryptic's Lead Developer, CaptainGeko (Al Rivera). This is a terrific opportunity to provide feedback, presuming this thread is still being read by Cryptic.
I'm not a moderator; however, I'm asking if some of you can please scale back your side conversations and focus on the topic at hand with specific feedback, as originally solicited.
I'd also ask if Cryptic could (please) issue a statement about their next steps.
(It's a presumption that the feedback here is going to result in some sort of change(s) to the STFs/PUGs. It would be nice to understand if a new direction is bein evaluated, or things remain status quo, or ??)
Using increased hitpoints as the primary means of increasing difficulty sends one message:
DPS is the only right way to play.
Healing is the wrong way to play.
CC is the wrong way to play.
Sure, those non-DPS roles can indirectly contribute, but only players doing the DPS are of much use.
If Cryptic wants there to only be one right way to play, they should permit and support only that one right way. Remove all ships not focused on DPS. Have a DPS counter prominent in the game. Announce throughout the game, the launcher, the websites, and social media that anyone not focusing on DPS is not playing the game the way it is meant to be played. Alienate your non-DPS players so only those who stick around are playing the game the right way.
I am also unhappy that reputation gear is now locked behind this new DPS requirement. If I choose the wrong way to play through team healing or CC, I increase the chance that the team will fail and lose out on the BNPs and other items needed for the reputation gear projects.
If high DPS is to be promoted in this manner, ways to promote Healing and CC should also be promoted. Rework the STFs to provide non-DPS alternatives. Give alternate objectives that require Healers to heal, and CC roles to CC. Allow the mission be succeed with just one of these roles or a combination of all three. Give us reasons to applaud and congratulate players who prefer roles other than the high DPS that has unfortunately become the standard metric of what makes a player any good.
Go ahead and keep the game how it is... it's your game after all. However, I believe it would benefit greatly from moving away from the current DPS-centric expectation.
Basic needs to be tuned back. I may have the best of everything and the best build and best strategy and blah blah blah, but random pugs I go into the queue with may not.
And as much as I like to blame other players for the state of the game, it isn't their fault they may not have the best of everything (especially if they aren't even level 50).
And game progress should not be determined on that. I should not have to carry my team, but at the same time game progress should not hinge on the weakest link.
It has little to do with learning to play. The NPCs are just too strong on Basic at the moment. Fleet Alerts are near impossible to complete without a team full of DPS-centric level 50+ escorts in the pugwash queues.
Using increased hitpoints as the primary means of increasing difficulty sends one message:
DPS is the only right way to play.
Healing is the wrong way to play.
CC is the wrong way to play.
Sure, those non-DPS roles can indirectly contribute, but only players doing the DPS are of much use.
If Cryptic wants there to only be one right way to play, they should permit and support only that one right way. Remove all ships not focused on DPS. Have a DPS counter prominent in the game. Announce throughout the game, the launcher, the websites, and social media that anyone not focusing on DPS is not playing the game the way it is meant to be played. Alienate your non-DPS players so only those who stick around are playing the game the right way.
I am also unhappy that reputation gear is now locked behind this new DPS requirement. If I choose the wrong way to play through team healing or CC, I increase the chance that the team will fail and lose out on the BNPs and other items needed for the reputation gear projects.
If high DPS is to be promoted in this manner, ways to promote Healing and CC should also be promoted. Rework the STFs to provide non-DPS alternatives. Give alternate objectives that require Healers to heal, and CC roles to CC. Allow the mission be succeed with just one of these roles or a combination of all three. Give us reasons to applaud and congratulate players who prefer roles other than the high DPS that has unfortunately become the standard metric of what makes a player any good.
Go ahead and keep the game how it is... it's your game after all. However, I believe it would benefit greatly from moving away from the current DPS-centric expectation.
I also echo this 100%.
If you want to sell more science ships and cruisers in the C-store, make them equally desirable as escorts. Since cruisers and science ships are not made for DPS e-peen stroking, do not be surprised if your sales are hit there.
There is no engaging support-based gameplay. I have said this for months (if not years).
Stop reaching for the low-hanging fruit by pandering to tactical capabilities and put some thought and effort into making healing/support/crowd control as equally fun, rewarding, and viable as damage output.
If anyone in your dev meetings at the table produces outside-the-box or seemingly unorthodox ideas on how to steer the game away from the DPS meta and and offers suggestions on how to make support gameplay more appealing, listen to them. Listen to them and seriously consider implementing their suggestions.
I have faith in their capability for these suggestions, but I have a feeling their ideas are being ignored.
If your solutions to new science vessels is to produce more "tactical-focused" science vessels, and your solutions to new cruisers is to produce more "tactical-focused" cruisers, it may be time to take a big step back and consider there is a problem with this trend, rather than what defines a science vessel or cruiser.
This isn't innovation. This is pandering.
If my feedback is too vague, I will offer specific suggestions.
Offer Starfleet Medical badges that can be turned in after preventing crew attrition in space (You saved lives in a fierce war? Have a reward!), or offer an RNG-based system where you may get a special item when your science vessel discovers a 'crucial' weakness in the enemy's biology.
Offer Starfleet Engineering badges for discovering how to alter shield modulation facing, which can then be turned in for special items (that can't be acquired elsewhere, or easily acquired elsewhere).
Tie it into the R&D system if you want. The more field testing you do, the more knowledge you gain in particular trees.
Introduce Science-slanted and Engineering-slanted space sets (or console sets for 4 or 5 engineering/science slots) with extremely powerful abilities that put those vessels on par with escorts. Make those sets only acquirable by scoring the player on how good of an engineer, scientist, or medical specialist they are.
Introduce more team scoring (like in Borg Disconnected) where scores can be increased by saving friendly vessels if they reach 20% health or lower. The lower their health, the higher the score since you save them from the brink of destruction. Tie it into fleet mark or dilithium percentages. If you have a particulrlay good support ship that knows how to rescue teammates or cripple the enemy, give your entire team payout an additional dilithium or fleet mark reward. This offers players the opportunity to diversify their teams with good support players for the possibility of additional rewards.
Pick up Prisoner doffs for your brig by landing successful Boarding Parties (with abilities like Boarding Party III having a higher chance of picking up Prisoners of Blue or Very Rare quality).
Introduce mechanics to science abilities like gravity well or viral matrix. Introduce scoring additions to PvE content based on how many targets infected by Viral Matrix, or introduce perks or achievements by managing to corral incredibly large numbers of capital ships (fighters and shuttles don't count) into a single gravity well.
There are so many ways you can go about it with existing technology with the game. You really just need to put the time and labor hours into it. By doing so, you make this game far more engaging for years to come as support ships become just as interesting and desirable in matches as tactical-focused ships.
Im a DPS junkie. I try to squeeze all I can out of all of my tac ships and at the expense of survivability. I averaged between 15k and 30K in the old ISE depending on my ship.
I never played any STF on Normal before the patch so I dont really know how easy it was but I can say the new normal is nowhere near as difficult as the old Elite and the new Advanced seems 20-30 levels above the old Elite. Heaven forbid I get to lvl 60 and try hitting up an Elite que.
Most experienced players can "feel" the difference almost like flying by the seat of their pants and to be honest I fly that way too.
I wont go into detail or specifics of my experiences thus far since the release of DR but everyone complaining about the rewards cut and the new longer grindfest are accurate in their responses. There is no fun playing advanced ques now. I will probably never enter an Elite que until this gets fixed and the rewards are absolutely appalling. You have taken a game that I have thoroughly enjoyed playing and turned it into a game I am seriously have second thoughts about.
The old Elite difficulty is not in the game anymore. You go from what I call super easy(Normal) to damn near impossible(Advanced). That gap needs to be fixed. Make advanced the new Elite, turn the current Advanced back to the old Elite difficulty and for heaven's sake bring back the old rewards and up the Elite rewards to something higher as to give everyone a goal to shoot for with their builds. Why would I play advanced there are few rewards and why would I bother with Elite if my team cant even kill the first cube. This is so wrong on every level.
As I said earlier, Im a DPS junkie but sometimes I am not in the mood to go ballz out...I enjoy the casual play as well on my other toons.
As for ground or storyline...I have no idea as that is not my type of gameplay...Im all Space.
I'd also ask if Cryptic could (please) issue a statement about their next steps.
(It's a presumption that the feedback here is going to result in some sort of change(s) to the STFs/PUGs. It would be nice to understand if a new direction is bein evaluated, or things remain status quo, or ??)
Agreed. I keep coming to this thread hoping Cryptic are going to post something about this feedback...and hoping they restore my faith (and expenditure) as a casual player who USED to love the casual gameplay and excellent storylines.
Come on Cryptic, please respond to all thisfeedback and do not keep us all in the dark on weather this is likely to change anytime soon at all...
This is a rather interesting comment. So how would you explain the videos being posted of groups completing the new Advanced and Elite queues with all optionals? If others are able to do it, clearly everyone has the potential to do the same. It then becomes a question of build, gear and player experience. From that perspective, "learn to play" is valid.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating cookie cutter builds or being an elitist, just pointing out that it's clear that this new content is doable.
I'm not surprised that people who were building min-max DPS ships before are still doing so, nor have I ever said the content wasn't doable by such players. And Elite difficulty should require that.
Advanced should not require such perfection. Advanced should require a knowledge of the mission objectives and a reasonable grasp of game mechanics. Or in other words, it should be about as hard (or as easy, if you will) as the *old* Elite. And Normal should be for players who don't know anything going in or sub-par players who don't care or have time to progress.
This is a rather interesting comment. So how would you explain the videos being posted of groups completing the new Advanced and Elite queues with all optionals? If others are able to do it, clearly everyone has the potential to do the same. It then becomes a question of build, gear and player experience. From that perspective, "learn to play" is valid.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating cookie cutter builds or being an elitist, just pointing out that it's clear that this new content is doable.
Oh it is of course possible to do these missions... its at least shown in videos... so it must be possible.
However.... its done by people which have the ships and the gear already that allow them to do these missions.
How should somebody who does not have such ships and such gear do the mission if the only way to get hands on such gear is to play the mission.
Its a paradoxon.
You can only win the mission if you have the gear but you can only get the gear if you won the mission.
Smartasses which say that everyone can do the hardest missions forget that not everyone is online 24/7.... that there are ppl which play just to have fun... and that without such casual players this game already would be long dead.
If just enough ppl lose their fun on these missions (and it looks like this is the case atm) and leave the game then delta rising is just about the last season you have got to play.
QQ about Elite mode is hilarious. If it is too hard for you then simply que for normal or advanced. Fixed.
Elite is supposed to be a challenge. I don't think there is a lvl60 character with mk14 gold quality gear yet. Elite is meant to be played with top gear, not the outdated stuff others got now.
__________________
[Combat (Self)] You lose 6549 (7572) Cold from the torment of the underworld.
QQ about Elite mode is hilarious. If it is too hard for you then simply que for normal or advanced. Fixed.
Elite is supposed to be a challenge. I don't think there is a lvl60 character with mk14 gold quality gear yet. Elite is meant to be played with top gear, not the outdated stuff others got now.
ppl are complaining about normal or adv. being too hard for most players meanwhile
QQ about Elite mode is hilarious. If it is too hard for you then simply que for normal or advanced. Fixed.
Elite is supposed to be a challenge. I don't think there is a lvl60 character with mk14 gold quality gear yet. Elite is meant to be played with top gear, not the outdated stuff others got now.
I haven't seen any QQ over elite mode...... all teh QQ'ing I've seen is over the difficulty setting for Advanced stuff and entry level queue normal stuff.
QQ about Elite mode is hilarious. If it is too hard for you then simply que for normal or advanced. Fixed.
Elite is supposed to be a challenge. I don't think there is a lvl60 character with mk14 gold quality gear yet. Elite is meant to be played with top gear, not the outdated stuff others got now.
The big deal is the slash to rewards and the extra time it takes to do any of the modes
More work, less loot. Pointless in other words.
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone elses opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. ~ Oscar Wilde
QQ about Elite mode is hilarious. If it is too hard for you then simply que for normal or advanced. Fixed.
Elite is supposed to be a challenge. I don't think there is a lvl60 character with mk14 gold quality gear yet. Elite is meant to be played with top gear, not the outdated stuff others got now.
The irony of this is, that even the normal queues are kinda wonky in numbers. The massive HP scaling affects them aswell.
Of course all thoose 'Elite' players that appreciate the nerf in rewards and the add up of HP to ridicolous numbers just because its a great "Challenge" now will realize that they will have noone left to play any queue with them.
Granted. You can play with your elite friends... but not everyone is online at the same time and sometimes you might want to join a public queue and realize noone queues up for them anymore.
Its not that the majority of the STO players is to dumb or not properly geared for the queues. Its the fact that there is ridicolous amounts of HP and a strict timer in their way to sucessful complete an STF.
At the current state I would say, theres like 1 or 2% of the STO population who could run the queues sucessfull.
So yeah if you dont want it changed you elite guys will find yourselves in your little "Elite Club" waiting all day for your elite friends to come online to finally get a queue going.
Oh and I am not saying this because I fly a crappy ship with crappy gear. No.
I invested quite some time gearing out my ships and work on them loadouts. I own Ultra Rare MK XIV gear and I am no beginner aswell.
Yet I find myself unable to complete the Advanced ones... as are most of my fleetmates, and they surely are no beginners aswell...
While true, Advanced shouldn't be for those in sub-par ships with common gear either. The Devs have posted they intend Advanced and Elite to be for those who "have invested in the game", meaning store bought ships and Fleet/Rep gear.
The big issue is getting what you need as far as drops on Normal to allow you to get gear to advance to Advanced or Elite.
Do you support allowing VR mats and what was the "elite" component to drop from normal queues? Right now my progress through Delta Rep is hindered because there's no real reliable way to get APCs.
If so...is there really a need to have "Advanced" versions versus "Elite" versions?
I don't have an issue with there being an exclusive elite mode queue, what i do have an issue with is that queue will grant special rewards, that i also need to advance, only to those elites who complete it.
I think it would be better if normal and advanced were accessible and to all players, with the best standard kit for the level they are, if you cant complete a queue with gear that's readily available in the game, then what exactly is that gear good for?
Elite queues should yield exactly the same rewards as advanced, the only difference here should be perhaps special accolades, like with no win. Rewards themselves should go back to the way they were.
As it is, the fun has left the game, my years of levelling and experience count for nothing, and even if successful award next to nothing.
But seriously, creating powerful new ships for everyone, then simply making all enemies tougher, and nerfing rewards at the same time, seems at best unbelievable, and at worst like a scam.
Of course all thoose 'Elite' players that appreciate the nerf in rewards and the add up of HP to ridicolous numbers just because its a great "Challenge" now will realize that they will have noone left to play any queue with them.
Absolutely. Let the elite DPS kings look down upon us mere peasants while they scoff "Oh, what ARE you complaining about? Its SOOOOOO easy". Whatever makes them happy. They can be the small minority who can still enjoy endgame and feel superior.
They best enjoy it now though as they'll have precious few people to show it off to within a few months. Players will flock from this game in their thousands, taking their wallets with them. They'll be lucky if they have a game as a result this time next year.
You want feedback?
Ok...
Tell us why you ignored the feedback during beta when this was brought up?
You ignored it then, why should we believe you won't ignore it now?
Comments
Could you pls flip the stats instead of insane hp have them do insane damage or just tripple the npc.
Right now you are forcing players on elite to become cookie cutter hull eating builds not everyone wants to play grav well wars or tbr tag.
Also as game designer you should know how people mental gratification works they would rather have a hard time killing tons of mobs. This stimulates the mind more and leaves players with more gratification. Killing a small amount of mobs over long time frame with no mental difficulty (zombie mode) does not stimulate mental gratification but frustrates.
Gameplay now is boring and frustrating and forces player base into cookie cutter builds..
ParadiseKiller
House of Beautiful Orions
Zeadonouse
ToLate
Boy we can sure tell this person is a forum troll, simply by the comment and, how few posts hey have made.
Good old troll accounts!
Praetor of the -RTS- Romulan Tal Shiar fleet!
Endgame content is tuned around level 60.
The previously difficulty was a joke. ISE was doable in shutles.
Was that how the startrek spirit was, Federation destroying everything by just breathing in enemy direction ? Or was a struggle with planning and calculated risks ?
Solo play so boring it hurts. I've been doing some patrols on elite for XP, and the NPCs can't shoot their way out of a paper bag. I've been alt-tabbing to a web browser while fighting battleships... my shield and hull heal procs outheal its damage while it takes forever to wear down its hull.
I guess they wanted to make STO more like Eve, huh?
And as for the queues on Advanced... I don't play games for a frustrating, timer-based challenge. I play them for an entertaining escape. I want the frustration to stay in Real Life where it belongs.
I suppose it is, if you have a job and buy dil rather than farming it
As it is, you have to be jobless to earn dil to reach that daily cap
No dil cap raise, just dil harder to get.
Free 2 play, some say it's pay2win... I say it's pay2notgrind
It's not fine as it is. The curve has been boosted so high it makes new players impossible to reach level to do any advanced content even.Even FA is overly hard for the poor lower tier captains who queue.
Great, some people could do it in shuttles, they made a new elite. There is the increased difficulty with the new system.... but you still need TIERS of difficulty along a curve to aid in leveling. normal/hard/insane...... not normal/almost wacko/insane. Especially in a system where people are mostly locked out of gear for almost wacko content that is gated by materials only attainable by playing almost wacko content content.
Problem is it's not tuned...All it is is ships tickling each other until one explodes from laughing too hard. Normal and Advanced should have stayed the same until they get the scaling worked out for the level increase. I do agree elite should be strap on your jock strap because it's going to get rough, but there is a glaring problem when Superior Beam Upgrade Kits have quintupled in price. Even Engineer ones are over 1 mil now. The reason is simple, people can't complete the STFs to get the Mats combined with people buying them up to get high enough tiered gear to maybe complete them.
To brag. What else are such videos for? Besides whether its doable isn't the point, so much as whether its pugmade-able in something other than an AOE-DPS build. Otherwise you ground 2/3 of the possible builds in the game. Besides, outside of DS9's Dominion War stuff, how many episodes of Trek were solved by volume of fire? As it is now, we may as well be playing Gradius Online.
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1254401
I hope a dev or other team member posts an acknowledgement at least so I won't feel like I'm being ignored.
Helpful Tools: Dictionary.com - Logical fallacies - Random generator - Word generator - Color tool - Extra Credits - List of common English language errors - New T6 Big booty tutorial
I dont think there is any question if its double because it is with the right build and gear.
What the real question is in my opinion.
IS IT FUN'.....
My experiance no...
I would have rather them double or triple the damage instead. So its fly by the seat of your pants hard and fun. Now its slow kills and BORING.
ParadiseKiller
House of Beautiful Orions
Zeadonouse
ToLate
THIS is the point of the entire thread.
The community has been engaged directly by Cryptic's Lead Developer, CaptainGeko (Al Rivera). This is a terrific opportunity to provide feedback, presuming this thread is still being read by Cryptic.
I'm not a moderator; however, I'm asking if some of you can please scale back your side conversations and focus on the topic at hand with specific feedback, as originally solicited.
I'd also ask if Cryptic could (please) issue a statement about their next steps.
(It's a presumption that the feedback here is going to result in some sort of change(s) to the STFs/PUGs. It would be nice to understand if a new direction is bein evaluated, or things remain status quo, or ??)
DPS is the only right way to play.
Healing is the wrong way to play.
CC is the wrong way to play.
Sure, those non-DPS roles can indirectly contribute, but only players doing the DPS are of much use.
If Cryptic wants there to only be one right way to play, they should permit and support only that one right way. Remove all ships not focused on DPS. Have a DPS counter prominent in the game. Announce throughout the game, the launcher, the websites, and social media that anyone not focusing on DPS is not playing the game the way it is meant to be played. Alienate your non-DPS players so only those who stick around are playing the game the right way.
I am also unhappy that reputation gear is now locked behind this new DPS requirement. If I choose the wrong way to play through team healing or CC, I increase the chance that the team will fail and lose out on the BNPs and other items needed for the reputation gear projects.
If high DPS is to be promoted in this manner, ways to promote Healing and CC should also be promoted. Rework the STFs to provide non-DPS alternatives. Give alternate objectives that require Healers to heal, and CC roles to CC. Allow the mission be succeed with just one of these roles or a combination of all three. Give us reasons to applaud and congratulate players who prefer roles other than the high DPS that has unfortunately become the standard metric of what makes a player any good.
Go ahead and keep the game how it is... it's your game after all. However, I believe it would benefit greatly from moving away from the current DPS-centric expectation.
STO Resources: <Ship Comparison - All Tiers + Small Craft + Hangar Pets> <Damage Resistance>
<R&D + Upgrade Costs> <Duty Officer Finder> <Suliban Doff Reqs> <Fleet Costs> <Rep Costs>
<Keybind Tour the Galaxy> <Fleet / Armada Management> <Currency Exchange> <Other STO Links>
Basic needs to be tuned back. I may have the best of everything and the best build and best strategy and blah blah blah, but random pugs I go into the queue with may not.
And as much as I like to blame other players for the state of the game, it isn't their fault they may not have the best of everything (especially if they aren't even level 50).
And game progress should not be determined on that. I should not have to carry my team, but at the same time game progress should not hinge on the weakest link.
It has little to do with learning to play. The NPCs are just too strong on Basic at the moment. Fleet Alerts are near impossible to complete without a team full of DPS-centric level 50+ escorts in the pugwash queues.
I also echo this 100%.
If you want to sell more science ships and cruisers in the C-store, make them equally desirable as escorts. Since cruisers and science ships are not made for DPS e-peen stroking, do not be surprised if your sales are hit there.
There is no engaging support-based gameplay. I have said this for months (if not years).
Stop reaching for the low-hanging fruit by pandering to tactical capabilities and put some thought and effort into making healing/support/crowd control as equally fun, rewarding, and viable as damage output.
If anyone in your dev meetings at the table produces outside-the-box or seemingly unorthodox ideas on how to steer the game away from the DPS meta and and offers suggestions on how to make support gameplay more appealing, listen to them. Listen to them and seriously consider implementing their suggestions.
I have faith in their capability for these suggestions, but I have a feeling their ideas are being ignored.
If your solutions to new science vessels is to produce more "tactical-focused" science vessels, and your solutions to new cruisers is to produce more "tactical-focused" cruisers, it may be time to take a big step back and consider there is a problem with this trend, rather than what defines a science vessel or cruiser.
This isn't innovation. This is pandering.
If my feedback is too vague, I will offer specific suggestions.
Offer Starfleet Medical badges that can be turned in after preventing crew attrition in space (You saved lives in a fierce war? Have a reward!), or offer an RNG-based system where you may get a special item when your science vessel discovers a 'crucial' weakness in the enemy's biology.
Offer Starfleet Engineering badges for discovering how to alter shield modulation facing, which can then be turned in for special items (that can't be acquired elsewhere, or easily acquired elsewhere).
Tie it into the R&D system if you want. The more field testing you do, the more knowledge you gain in particular trees.
Introduce Science-slanted and Engineering-slanted space sets (or console sets for 4 or 5 engineering/science slots) with extremely powerful abilities that put those vessels on par with escorts. Make those sets only acquirable by scoring the player on how good of an engineer, scientist, or medical specialist they are.
Introduce more team scoring (like in Borg Disconnected) where scores can be increased by saving friendly vessels if they reach 20% health or lower. The lower their health, the higher the score since you save them from the brink of destruction. Tie it into fleet mark or dilithium percentages. If you have a particulrlay good support ship that knows how to rescue teammates or cripple the enemy, give your entire team payout an additional dilithium or fleet mark reward. This offers players the opportunity to diversify their teams with good support players for the possibility of additional rewards.
Pick up Prisoner doffs for your brig by landing successful Boarding Parties (with abilities like Boarding Party III having a higher chance of picking up Prisoners of Blue or Very Rare quality).
Introduce mechanics to science abilities like gravity well or viral matrix. Introduce scoring additions to PvE content based on how many targets infected by Viral Matrix, or introduce perks or achievements by managing to corral incredibly large numbers of capital ships (fighters and shuttles don't count) into a single gravity well.
There are so many ways you can go about it with existing technology with the game. You really just need to put the time and labor hours into it. By doing so, you make this game far more engaging for years to come as support ships become just as interesting and desirable in matches as tactical-focused ships.
I never played any STF on Normal before the patch so I dont really know how easy it was but I can say the new normal is nowhere near as difficult as the old Elite and the new Advanced seems 20-30 levels above the old Elite. Heaven forbid I get to lvl 60 and try hitting up an Elite que.
Most experienced players can "feel" the difference almost like flying by the seat of their pants and to be honest I fly that way too.
I wont go into detail or specifics of my experiences thus far since the release of DR but everyone complaining about the rewards cut and the new longer grindfest are accurate in their responses. There is no fun playing advanced ques now. I will probably never enter an Elite que until this gets fixed and the rewards are absolutely appalling. You have taken a game that I have thoroughly enjoyed playing and turned it into a game I am seriously have second thoughts about.
The old Elite difficulty is not in the game anymore. You go from what I call super easy(Normal) to damn near impossible(Advanced). That gap needs to be fixed. Make advanced the new Elite, turn the current Advanced back to the old Elite difficulty and for heaven's sake bring back the old rewards and up the Elite rewards to something higher as to give everyone a goal to shoot for with their builds. Why would I play advanced there are few rewards and why would I bother with Elite if my team cant even kill the first cube. This is so wrong on every level.
As I said earlier, Im a DPS junkie but sometimes I am not in the mood to go ballz out...I enjoy the casual play as well on my other toons.
As for ground or storyline...I have no idea as that is not my type of gameplay...Im all Space.
Agreed. I keep coming to this thread hoping Cryptic are going to post something about this feedback...and hoping they restore my faith (and expenditure) as a casual player who USED to love the casual gameplay and excellent storylines.
Come on Cryptic, please respond to all thisfeedback and do not keep us all in the dark on weather this is likely to change anytime soon at all...
I'm not surprised that people who were building min-max DPS ships before are still doing so, nor have I ever said the content wasn't doable by such players. And Elite difficulty should require that.
Advanced should not require such perfection. Advanced should require a knowledge of the mission objectives and a reasonable grasp of game mechanics. Or in other words, it should be about as hard (or as easy, if you will) as the *old* Elite. And Normal should be for players who don't know anything going in or sub-par players who don't care or have time to progress.
Oh it is of course possible to do these missions... its at least shown in videos... so it must be possible.
However.... its done by people which have the ships and the gear already that allow them to do these missions.
How should somebody who does not have such ships and such gear do the mission if the only way to get hands on such gear is to play the mission.
Its a paradoxon.
You can only win the mission if you have the gear but you can only get the gear if you won the mission.
Smartasses which say that everyone can do the hardest missions forget that not everyone is online 24/7.... that there are ppl which play just to have fun... and that without such casual players this game already would be long dead.
If just enough ppl lose their fun on these missions (and it looks like this is the case atm) and leave the game then delta rising is just about the last season you have got to play.
Elite is supposed to be a challenge. I don't think there is a lvl60 character with mk14 gold quality gear yet. Elite is meant to be played with top gear, not the outdated stuff others got now.
[Combat (Self)] You lose 6549 (7572) Cold from the torment of the underworld.
In-game handle @Janetza
ppl are complaining about normal or adv. being too hard for most players meanwhile
I haven't seen any QQ over elite mode...... all teh QQ'ing I've seen is over the difficulty setting for Advanced stuff and entry level queue normal stuff.
The big deal is the slash to rewards and the extra time it takes to do any of the modes
More work, less loot. Pointless in other words.
The irony of this is, that even the normal queues are kinda wonky in numbers. The massive HP scaling affects them aswell.
Of course all thoose 'Elite' players that appreciate the nerf in rewards and the add up of HP to ridicolous numbers just because its a great "Challenge" now will realize that they will have noone left to play any queue with them.
Granted. You can play with your elite friends... but not everyone is online at the same time and sometimes you might want to join a public queue and realize noone queues up for them anymore.
Its not that the majority of the STO players is to dumb or not properly geared for the queues. Its the fact that there is ridicolous amounts of HP and a strict timer in their way to sucessful complete an STF.
At the current state I would say, theres like 1 or 2% of the STO population who could run the queues sucessfull.
So yeah if you dont want it changed you elite guys will find yourselves in your little "Elite Club" waiting all day for your elite friends to come online to finally get a queue going.
Oh and I am not saying this because I fly a crappy ship with crappy gear. No.
I invested quite some time gearing out my ships and work on them loadouts. I own Ultra Rare MK XIV gear and I am no beginner aswell.
Yet I find myself unable to complete the Advanced ones... as are most of my fleetmates, and they surely are no beginners aswell...
Star Trek Online Intro HD [3rd Fleet Anniversary]
Join Date: Jul 2009
Do you support allowing VR mats and what was the "elite" component to drop from normal queues? Right now my progress through Delta Rep is hindered because there's no real reliable way to get APCs.
If so...is there really a need to have "Advanced" versions versus "Elite" versions?
I think it would be better if normal and advanced were accessible and to all players, with the best standard kit for the level they are, if you cant complete a queue with gear that's readily available in the game, then what exactly is that gear good for?
Elite queues should yield exactly the same rewards as advanced, the only difference here should be perhaps special accolades, like with no win. Rewards themselves should go back to the way they were.
As it is, the fun has left the game, my years of levelling and experience count for nothing, and even if successful award next to nothing.
But seriously, creating powerful new ships for everyone, then simply making all enemies tougher, and nerfing rewards at the same time, seems at best unbelievable, and at worst like a scam.
Absolutely. Let the elite DPS kings look down upon us mere peasants while they scoff "Oh, what ARE you complaining about? Its SOOOOOO easy". Whatever makes them happy. They can be the small minority who can still enjoy endgame and feel superior.
They best enjoy it now though as they'll have precious few people to show it off to within a few months. Players will flock from this game in their thousands, taking their wallets with them. They'll be lucky if they have a game as a result this time next year.
Ok...
Tell us why you ignored the feedback during beta when this was brought up?
You ignored it then, why should we believe you won't ignore it now?